CH 373

Oh, come, on, you absolute idiot! What are you doing?!

I was panicking~ I was seriously panicking~~… I wondered what I would do when that idiot Harold suddenly pressed a lit torch to his face.

But I can’t rush over in a panic when I’m acting arrogant as King Karruzer. I managed to act like it and cast a still incomplete recovery spell. It seems that I somehow managed to save his life, but the scars from his burns could not be completely healed with unfinished recovery magic, and his face has changed so drastically you can no longer recognize him or guess what his face used to look like.

I’m on the verge of depletion of mana at once from using recovery magic. That idiot! If the soldiers of the Kingdom of Wessek cause a rebellion now, we’re in trouble. Thinking that it would be difficult to protect everyone if too many people came with me, it might become revenge for coming with the bare minimum necessary.

If my mana is full, no matter how many Wessekian soldiers there are, they aren’t even enemies on even plain, but right now I’m on the verge of running out of mana, let alone fighting, I can’t stay awake.

In this world, there is no such thing as recovery magic that heals wounds. There are various spells that seem to be protective charms, but it is doubtful whether they are really effective. I think they don’t work at all.

So I’ve been researching recovery magic for a long time. Even though my research hasn’t made much progress, recently I’ve finally become able to use magic to activate the cells and increase self-healing power to heal quickly if it’s just an injury like a cut finger.

Moreover, in the end, this is just a matter of using magic to promote the healing of injuries by the body’s self-regeneration ability so that the wounds heal quickly. It just supercharges the natural healing process.

And even just that alone, the consumption of magical power is no joke. A huge amount of magical power is required to heal one small injury. It wasn’t worth the cost at all, and I was still in the process of researching how to suppress the consumption of magical power and make recovery more efficient.

If you want to heal this severe burn injury with that kind of recovery magic, you don’t even have to think about how much magic power you’ll consume. As a result, my magical power is on the verge of depletion. Moreover, even with that much magical power, it is still far from a complete recovery. More than anything else, I saved his life, and the burns seem to have improved considerably, but even so, I don’t think his face will ever return to its original form.

Honestly… this idiot… I’d understand if I handed down the punishment, but why are you doing this without me saying anything? Thanks to that, I have to spend extra time and effort.

…… Today has become a lost cause. You can’t use good judgment in situations like this. If I could have, I’m on the verge of running out of magical power, so I want to run away. I don’t want to be in the middle of enemy territory like this with 100 men and zero magical power. But if I go back to my army or ship now, they might think I’ve run away, or rather, I am running away…

If I could have, I’d like to run away and go home, but that might affect my future rule, so I’ll endure it. I decided to cover it up appropriately and say something like that to the people around me.

I withdraw to my room prepared by the Kingdom of Wessek. I gave the soldiers I brought in instructions on what to do, so they would do the rest on their own. In terms of individual ability, I will entrust the guarding of my room to Janzicka and Musashi, who are probably the two top soldiers. There shouldn’t be many opponents these two would lose to in a fight.

“Fu~~~……”

I remove the crown and remove the cloak. When I approached the bed, I got into it and fell down. I can’t do it anymore. I’m on the verge of running out of magic, and I can’t move anymore…

“…………”

………What happened? Where is here?

“Haa…”

I see……. Come to think of it, did I sleep in Wessek Royal Castle yesterday? I check my condition. Her magical power seems to be mostly recovered. I can’t tell if it’s completely full because I can’t see it in terms of numbers. However, it seems that the tank is full or close to it by feel.

But my body is a little tired. It’s not because I slept badly. Perhaps it was because I was exhausted to the point of running out of mana yesterday. So is my physical strength. Even if you intend to rest and recover, you may still be tired. I decided that this would be that kind of fatigue.

I can’t rest just because I’m tired. Get out of bed and get ready quickly. After the war is over, it’s more troublesome. Defeating an enemy is easy, but after defeating an enemy, it’s a lot of work to clean up after them and rule over the land you’ve taken from them.

Apparently, last night, Janzicka and Musashi took turns resting and guarding my room. Even though that’s their job, they were at their limit yesterday, so I may have asked too much. In the morning, while thanking them, I will ask them to tell me about the preparations such as meals. It’s going to be troublesome if I go out casually.

I finished the breakfast that was brought to me while thinking about today’s schedule. It’s a late morning compared to my usual. I’m not late enough to oversleep in this world, but I haven’t been able to do anything in my usual morning routine.

After completing the preparations, we move to the room prepared as the office. First of all, I’ll check what I’ve been investigating during the previous day and the reports.

“Were you able to properly collect the supplies left behind by Ignatz’s Unit?” I asked.

“Yes,” the messenger said. “The food was left in the castle’s underground storehouse, and the ammunition was left in the tents we had set up outside.”

Confirmation will be done verbally at the same time as the written report. It seems that most of the supplies that Ignatz left behind when they escaped after a surprise attack were recovered. Apparently, Robert’s Faction thought that the supplies were from Wessek.

The stolen food is stored in the underground warehouse of this castle. However, Robert’s Faction did not intend to turn this over to Wessek. It is clear from the previous interrogation that they were trying to get it as the spoils of war. They really are hopeless.

In the first place, those supplies belonged to us, not the Kingdom of Wessek, but I couldn’t believe they were thinking of stealing either one. With this country in the midst of a war, you would normally think that you would have to raise and maintain a large army, and would you take the supplies yourself?

Well, there’s no need to confirm that they’re idiots, but…

Next, it seems that the tents where Ignatz’s unit was stationed and the ammunition left there were left as they were. Aside from the bullets, if the gunpowder was damp, it would be useless, but apparently, there was no problem when we tested it. This made it easier to stockpile food and ammunition.

After that, it’s about recovering the stolen money and armor, but… it’s difficult to recover the items that have already been sold. The person who bought it just purchased the item without knowing it was stolen goods. If a noble told him it was legitimate, there would be no way to go against their word.

Of course, it’s also possible that they’re originally close friends with a merchant and other noblemen, but speaking of modern Japanese law, it’s not possible to say that a well-meaning third party can return for free the stolen goods they bought. If it’s something I really want to get back, I have no choice but to pay for it again and buy it back. Naturally, the cost will be charged to the nobles who thieved from us.

But if the other party says they have no more money, they can’t get what we want to recover even if tried, that’s it. You can’t shake a sleeve without an arm inside it.

Well… the nobles who were complicit in this rebellion will be confiscated of their household goods, all of their territories, and everything else. Soldiers had already been dispatched and their families had already been captured.

I said that I would execute 143 people at a time, but of course, I didn’t actually intend to go that far. Rather, it would be rare to find someone with such a large family. If I could collect even a few people who had a connection from one end to the other, I might be able to execute 143 people, but if I did that, there would be a big backlash.

As far as I know, the immediate family will be executed. It doesn’t change. However, the number of 100 or so people was just over-the-top and terrifying. All of those properties and territories will be confiscated, so there will be more that can be recovered than what Ignatz and his unit lost.

If the lost armor was an ancestral heirloom that has no price, there’s no choice but to buy it back somehow, but unless there are special circumstances like that, it’s not a big problem. If it’s a few pieces of armor or something like that, you can just buy a new one. In the first place, heavy armor won’t be very useful in the future…

While receiving reports appropriately, I also clean up the documents of my territory that have been brought from the ship. Ultimately, wherever I go, I end up with this pile of work.

Soldiers have been running all over the country since yesterday, so the families of the rebels have been captured one after another, and their property is being confiscated. It was reported that various places showed their allegiance to me.

The rebels weren’t immediately executed on the spot, and they were announced on a large scale about what kind of crime they would be judged for. It would be terrible if they thought I was killing all the innocent nobles. Signboards, handouts, and people who go around giving verbal explanations, in any case, will use every means to assert the legitimacy of our charges.

It is said that Harold killed himself in order to take responsibility for the crime against his ally, the Kingdom of Essek. Harold’s fame must have risen because we explained the details here and there. Well, he’s already dead to the world…

In reality, Harold’s Faction is now under me, and now they are working hard like hands and feet. Originally, Harold’s Faction wasn’t hostile to us, but since the incident earlier, they’ve strangely feared me or rather respected me… And so the days passed in Winchestel.

Several days have passed since the capture of Winchestel, and most of the lords of various places either surrendered or were executed, so the former Kingdom of Wessek was almost in our hands. There are still various problems, but for the time being, there are no more people who openly oppose us, and I can say that the Blish Isles, excluding Alvaland and Welez, is under my control.

We’re heading back to Laudin from Winchestel… and today there’s an important event. The feudal lords of each region are forcibly gathered and all are meeting together. My coronation will be held there.

I think the coronation ceremony would normally be in the form of someone conferring the throne on me. In Europe in the past, religious organizations guaranteed the authority of kings and crowned them. But I’m not going to be crowned by a religious organization. You don’t need that kind of background or backing. What I’m aiming for is a monarchy with power. Therefore, there is no need for the protection of religious organizations.

That’s why the coronation ceremony is just for the sake of clarity, but in reality, it might be something like our founding declaration. However, for the time being, I will take over the King of Wessek, or rather, it will be in the form of establishing a new country, including that.

Today’s ceremony is for me to be both King of Essek and King of Wessek, and I’m going to get rid of both. Yes. I’m not going to make it into some sort of Unified Kingdom. At the same time as the coronation, I will destroy those countries. Following in the footsteps of those two countries is…

“I hereby declare that the Kingdom of Essek and the Kingdom of Wessek will be destroyed on this day. And I declare the founding of a new country, the Kingdom of Angheland!”

“”””Uooooohhhh!”””””

“Good fortunes to the Kingdom of Angheland!”

“Heavens bless you, King Karruzer!”

My declaration was met with applause from the surroundings. Well, I don’t know to what extent they agree, but in this situation, there is no one who can openly oppose it. If there is dissatisfaction, it will be another war. But there are no longer any lords left who would oppose us.

Thus, when I became King of Essek and Wessek, I destroyed both countries and established the Kingdom of Angheland instead. There are still Alvaland and Welez left on the Blish Isles, but for the time being, I can only think that it was a success just to unify the other regions.

I can only stay here for a little over two weeks. Can Alvaland and Welez be unified in the next two weeks? Or do you want to focus on the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Angheland now without overdoing it? Well… if you’re going to do domestic affairs anyway, it’s easier to unify everything first and put it all together… So the answer is decided.

It’s going to be a series of battles from here, but I can’t help it. Rather than stopping and taking time, doing it all at once will result in less time and fewer victims. While proceeding with the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Angheland, prepare to invade Alvaland and Welez.

Perhaps… the Kingdom of Angheland will have a system of centralized power and absolute monarchy like never before. Most of the great nobles were killed or executed in this war. What’s more, I, the new king, invoked my authority to execute the lords of various places, and forcibly coerced the remaining people to submit.

Considering the history of this country, my authority is overwhelmingly strong. It is fundamentally different from a country like a loose federation like the Kingdom of Ploiss. Some people may have an image of a villainous country run by a dictator when they hear the word absolute monarchy. But it’s not. An authoritarian country with a strong leader has great advantages and strengths.

The problem is when the absolute ruler is an idiot. So that I and my successors don’t fall into that trap… that’s the only thing I have to be careful about. However, as long as it is protected, this national system will become a great power for the Kingdom of Angheland.