Chapter 221.1: Intermission – Friend, from Far Away

“Good!”

Mellisia Salisa fired herself up and puffed up her cheeks. She was the daughter of a slave and was 16 years old, an age where she outbloomed even flowers. She wore a maid’s uniform as she checked her appearance on the iron mirror.

“Uu…”

It seems she’d puffed her cheeks a bit too much, as she had to caress them like she was trying to relieve the pain. With a turn of her skirt, she left the room.

The reason she became a slave was because her parents had sold her. It was a common story at the village she lived. So since she was a fairly beautiful girl herself, she was eventually sold to a slave merchant. But it wasn’t a bad story by any means. After all, a year’s worth of food was exchanged for her.

It is common sense that expensive things would be treasured. Of course, there were slaves who couldn’t accept what has become of them, but Mellisia Salisa was not like them, and she was quickly able to come to terms with her newfound status as a slave. At the very least, by being a slave, she no longer had to fear starving to death. When she was free and was still at the village, even being able to eat everyday was a luxury.

The slave merchant that purchased her was a skilled businessman. He cultivated the obedient slaves, even going as far as to teach them how to read and write. Although there was little point in teaching labor slaves how to read and write.

That being said, the opposite was true when it came to high-class prostitutes. They were expected to know that much. Increase the value of the slaves and then sell them. It was difficult for Mellisia, but that was probably what the merchant had in mind.

For 2 years, the slave merchant traveled from country to country, until one day, he laid his eyes at the edge of the west: Germion Kingdom. The land of the holy knights that cut open the border lands. The feudal lord of the western region was an accomplished man and was said to have many skilled youths under him.

Apparently, the slave merchant had washed his hands of the southern and eastern regions and had set his sights on a territory with good prospects.

The slave merchant had planned to offer Mellisia Salisa to the knight that served beside the feudal lord in hopes of gaining a stable social position and protection for his business. He was really a skilled merchant.

The girl vaguely heard such a story from the slave merchant, leading her to hold sweet dreams of becoming a high-class prostitute who would one day be bound to a knight.

Had the merchant lived, he would’ve surely become an exceptional businessman, but due to the monster attack that occurred that day, he passed away. It was a pity, but he was caught up in a mob, and died. After that the goblin army came.

When Melissia Salisa watched the giant goblin cry out in victory, she felt as if she were watching something from a distant world.

“Good morning, Mellisia.”

“Good morning, master!”

“Didn’t I tell you to stop calling me that?”

“Then should I call you the Governor-General of the Western Capital?”

“…Uh, ‘master’ is fine.”

Her master shrugged his shoulders. From what she’s heard, he’s supposedly a former slave. But with his gentle face and his chestnut-colored hair, he didn’t look like it at all. When she looked at him, she couldn’t help but feel her heart beneath her abundant chest tighten.

According to a friend of hers who loved rumors, Yoshu the Flame Striker and Shumea the Flame Spear were ranked one or two among gladiators.

But she didn’t really care about that. No, it was not that she didn’t care, but as far as she was concerned, the Yoshu in front of her was enough.

“What do you have for me today?”

“There are 8 cases that have to be dealt with by noon. From noon onwards, there are 10 cases.”

“I guess I’ll have to do my best to deal with all of those then…”

Even the way he breathed was enough to send her heart going pitter-patter, but why? Mellisia didn’t understand.

“What is it?”

“Nothing! Nothing at all!”

“Really? Then in that case, please take care of it right away.”

Yoshu’s days as he unified the western capital began early. He would wake up before the sun rose, readily change his clothes, and by the time the sun had risen, he would have already started working. He dealt with all sorts of cases from complaints from merchants to elves destroying houses without permission to build a forest.

Recently, Yoshu has started to leave matters to other people, so the burden on him has lessened, but there were still many cases that he had to deal with himself.

Of those cases, the most important ones were those that dealt with goblins.

When Yoshu would begin working on dividing the people to plan the town, Mellisia would read a case relating to the goblins, upon which, Yoshu would make a decision. This was how Yoshu’s days usually went.

“Umm, I saw a goblin push his leftover bones into the back of an alley. Please deal with it. Kushinada-san of the 3rd District.”

“…”

When Yoshu stopped writing and turned to look at her, Mellisia felt herself go pleasurably numb. That was clearly a gaze of criticism, but to her nothing could be more lovely.

“Dispatch some soldiers and scold that goblin that can’t clean up after himself.”

“Yes!”

Yoshu suggested that Gi Ah should have been nearby to escort the people transporting goods.

“Gi Ah-dono? I understand.”

When she thought back to the goblin with a stern face, she stamped the document with a ‘Settled’ stamp and made it distinguishable from the others.

“Next. A request to exterminate monsters. It’s for the area between the western capital and the former colonial city, Middled.”

“Who’s the client?”

“Messa Deon Company.”

“…Hmm.”

Yoshu closed his eyes to gather his thoughts. Mellisia peeked at him from the side, wondering what was there to worry about. But her questions aside, it was a good opportunity to watch Yoshu acting like an adult from the side, so she couldn’t complain.

Yoshu was responsible for the entire western capital, but at the same time, he was also responsible for the developing guild in Middled and the western capital. Aid in the form of introducing jobs was much better than just giving stuff to people.

By giving jobs, not only can you shape the city as you imagine it, but you’ll also be able to maintain the public order. It’s important to remember that a large of portion of the people living in the western capital and Middled were made up of refugees from the border lands.

Feeding people isn’t enough to help refugees regain their self-respect.

Only by being able to make a living with their own abilities and feed themselves and their family will such people be able to recover their self-respect and the deterioration of the public order be prevented.

“Let’s offer some funds from the office of government-general of the western capital as well. Priority should be given to the subjugation jobs along the highway that’s under construction. Tell that to the Messa Deon Company. I don’t think they’ll refuse, but just to be safe.”

“Yes.”

“Also, perhaps we should also request to place a stone monument with the name of Messa Deon Company engraved on it at the entrance of the city.”

“Hah?”

“On it we could say that the name of Messa Deon has been engraved for the achievement of building the highway.”

“Are you sure it’s okay not to engrave the name of the governor-general of the western capital?”

When Yoshu heard Mellisia’s words, he broady smiled.

“To be rich is to seek honor. The same is true for people who hold sword fights. They have so much money they don’t know what to do with it, so they use it to buy honor. For that, no cost is too— No. That’s not quite right. What they use is their spare change.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Please take care of it. And also, to the people of the governor-general office, the stability of the city is the greatest honor they could ask for.

“…I understand!”

Yoshu’s job continued until the dead of the night. At the frontmost lines of a newly born country, the reach of the governor-general knew no limit.

“Elbert!”

Within the halls of the magnificent royal palace, a voice called out to Elbert. It was the month of Horus and with it came damp winds from the north. As the winds blew out from the halls, the garden outside was – as one would expect from Elrain, which possessed a nearby rich water vein – filled with green trees and dazzlingly thick leaves born from luxuriously drinking water.

“Dordias? What is it?”

“What do you mean what? I’m greeting you.”

With a pale countenance and a slender stature, Elbert looked just like a scholar. Contrast to him, the man called Dordias was a large muscular man. He did not look like a civil official at all. If one were to look only at his sunburned face and his beard, one could easily mistake him for a bandit. But he too was a fully-fledged civil official. As proof of that, the clothes he wore were that of the uniform of the lowest level civil official.

“So what business do you have with me?”

“Oh, nothing special. How about tonight?”

Dordias said as he made a gesture of tilting a mug. Elbert made a troubled face but nodded nevertheless.

“I don’t mind.”

“Ooh. Great. Then let’s do it at the Evening Moon Pavilion.”

After seeing off the broadly smiling man, Elbert went to his own office.

Elbert, who has achieved an extraordinary rise from imperial court official to imperial court chief, has more than 100 imperial court official as his subordinates. The job of the imperial court chief was – roughly speaking – the management of the imperial court.

If the king were to form the inner palace (reserved for women), its maintenance fees, the extension and structural alteration of the palace, the wages of the waiting maids that serve the inner palace, and the money for the clothes… All of that would be handled by the imperial court chief.

Because the authority the position entailed was enormous and because in the past it was the shortest route to getting on the good side of the royal family, there were many who vied for it. But now the attraction of that position grew less by the day.

And the reason for that was none other than the new king himself.

The king of monsters, who with each passing day, grew more and more likely to rule the entire southern region. Moreover, an intellectual, an existence who was the furthest thing from the things humans have come to call ‘monster’.

He showed no interest in the inner palace nor in the construction of a new palace. He did not even show interest in lavishing himself with food. In that case, what should they focus on? The answer was the processing of government affairs that have stagnated and the strengthening of the army.

No king was more fitting to rebuild the country, but to the people who longed to muster the power of the imperial court chief, there was no king more ill at ease than he, for the position of imperial court chief was one that grew in power according to the desires of the king.

Ever since, complaints from the inner palace have been pouring like flood water to the appointed Imperial court chief of the Monster King. After all, the money that they once were free to use lessened by the day. It would’ve been stranger had they not complained.

The servants of the king’s concubines, the civil officials, and in worse cases, even a person from the nobles would try to get Elbert to use discretion. They employed a variety of methods from intimidation to bribery, and even women.

Despite that Elbert never agreed to their demands. And in the end, the forces of the inner palace even laid their hands on his daughter, but thankfully, the elven warrior, Felbi, managed to save her just in the nick of time.

Since then, the elven man, Felbi, would see her frequently to protect her. Thanks to that, it was now impossible for him to betray the king, Elbert thought to himself as he wryly smiled at the pile of documents.

To any other government official, the working conditions he dealt with could only be described as ‘strange’. No matter what manner of disturbance visited him, Elbert wouldn’t falter, and would instead, faithfully clear the documents before him as quickly as he could. It was truly a ghastly sight.

He would defeat the servants and nobles that visited him in arguments, refuse to compromise in any way, and if needed, he himself would go out to speak with other government officials. He would keep that up until the dead of the night, but the next morning, he would rise earlier than anyone else and begin his work anew.

“Ohh, Elbert. I was waiting for you.”

Elbert ended his work for the day. When he showed his face at the Evening Moon Pavilion, Dordias’ face was already red, having helped himself at the back seat to some liquor.

“It seems I was late.”

“Don’t worry about it. I was enjoying myself. As someone from the countryside, the wine here at the imperial capital is truly to die for.”

As Dordias heartily laughed, he ordered more grape wine while finishing the remaining beer.

“…So what business do you have with me?”

“You’re the same as ever. At the very least, order something.”

“Alright. In that case…”

Seeing Elbert frown, Dordias wryly smiled while he called for a waitress and ordered. When the barmaid brought their food and grape wine, they toasted.

“To our motherland.”

“To my unchanging friend.”

As they knocked their cups, they drank a mouthful of grape wine.

“But my unchanging friend sure says some happy things.”

Dordias licked his cup, separated his mouth from it, and then turned to Elbert with a red face.

“…So, what are you really planning?”

From his red face, the only thing that didn’t appear intoxicated was his gaze. Dordias asked Elbert seriously.

“What do you mean?”

Elbert wore a face that looked as if he were analyzing the taste of the liquor as he drank and asked Dordias that back.

“Why would Seidian’s brilliant pupil so willingly throw mud on his name? Is it for Rishan’s sake? If you’re having a hard time getting by, you could just talk to me, couldn’t you?”

Elbert and Dordias were both students of the private school, Seidian, within Elrain Kingdom, and saw each other as rivals. The largehearted Dordias and the seemingly sensitive Elbert. For some reason, these two people with exact opposite personalities were able to get along.

“It has nothing to do with Rishan. Well, I won’t say that Rishan is completely unrelated, but at most, it only serves to bolster my resolve to work for his highness.”

“That’s the king of monsters, you’re talking about. If you walk around, you’ll hear all sorts of terrible rumors. In the past, you were the imperial court chief, but now, do you know what the people call you? They call you the demon king’s hound.”

Though Dordias spoke in hushed voices, with every word uttered, so did the anger in his voice became apparent.

“Are you angry, Dordias?”

“Am I angry? Of course, I am. What man wouldn’t become angry when he hears people talking ill of his friend!?”

Dorias took a handful of roasted beans and crushed them in his mouth.

Elbert wryly smiled at that.

“What’s so funny? I’m being serious here.”

“My friend, it’s such a joy to see you come from so far away.”

“…Are you making fun of me!?”

That was the first sentence they learned at Seidian. At the time, Elbert and Dordias had their desks lined up as they read aloud those words. As Dordias recalled those times, he gradually regained his calm.

Elbert asked him.

“Dordias, my friend, what is a country?”

“What?”

“I believe the country is the people.”

As Dordias quietly listened, Elbert continued.

“It was because of the king and his aides that this country was driven into the ground, and our motherland, Elrain, found itself on the brink of destruction.”

The king did not know how to use his power, while the nobles took advantage of that to allow tyranny to usurp the land. Eventually, that reached the army, and he soldiers, who were supposed to be protecting the land, were forced to throw their lives away in meaningless wars. It was because of that that the treasury of the kingdom was on the brink of bankruptcy.

Brandika Rual Fatina took advantage of that.

The country deteriorated and the people turned adrift in the streets.

It got to the point where the country had to borrow a vast amount of money from Fatina’s taxes and the merchants to buy food, and yet there were still people who couldn’t eat and had to be turned into soldiers. Where did the Red King source their limitless supply of soldiers? In truth, it was none other than the jobless men of Elrain Kingdom.

And then, the Red King was defeated.

What appeared next was the King of Monsters.

“At that, I thought, it was over. Elrain Kingdom was done for.”

Elbert seriously muttered those things and Dordias nodded. Though Dordias may be the lowest level of government official, obviously, he was still privy to the invasion of the Monster King.

“…But he is different. The country that every human king has forsaken, he alone is trying to save.”

“Impossible.”

“Of course, I thought so too as well. But you know… With all the problems being resolved by the day, and the increasing income of the country, I had no choice but to accept it.”

“…”

“Can you believe it? Just a few days ago, the king attended the imperial court meeting.”

“The same imperial court meeting that – for generations – the kings have left to their prime minister?”

“Dordias, my friend, I believe the country is the people.”

“Ahh.”

“This country whom everyone has turned their back to, that Monster King is saying he’s going to save it. Though history might erase the existence of this king, as someone born and raised in this land, I must repay this gratitude.”

“…And that’s why you will submit to the monsters?”

“Yes.”

It was because of that that Elbert asked Dordias.

—What is a country?

What exacty was the ‘country’ that they had to serve and protect? It was none other than the people themselves. And if that happiness could be realized, then even if it was under the rule of the King of Monsters, even if his name would come to be cursed as a traitor, Elbert would be satisfied.

“Forgive me, Elbert, my friend, for ever doubting you. You are indeed the brilliant student of Seidian, Elbert Noen.

That night, Elbert and Dordias spoke over wine regadring their dreams for the country just like they did before being appointed.

Afterwards, Dordias used his connections to recommend people to Elbert. Those recommended also came from Seidian, and together they formed the retainers of the Goblin King that supported his reign in Elrain Kingdom.

◇◆◇

“The young hero, Vilan Do Zul.

Though still green in the ears, not even 20 years of age, his talent in battle is more than sufficient to lead an army through a thousand battles. The king of Burnen Kingdom had noticed his talent from a young age and specifically appointed him to be the guard and escort of Saint Mira. And just as the king had predicted, young Vilan brought one achievement after another in battle.

Of his achievements, he stopped the invasion of Elrain Kingdom, he fought against the invasion of the Red King, fought against the siege of Germion Kingdom, and just recently, conquered Fatina. In the darkest hours of the Kushain Believers, a hero has appeared. A great general whose name resounds even among our allies, the strong and fierce goblin.

That is the young hero, Vilan Do Zul. “

“…Are you serious, Your Highness?” Vilan asked.

“Of course, I’m serious,” Mira said.

After the exaggerated contents of the letter were read aloud, Vilan couldn’t help but inadvertently look up at the ceiling.

“Is there a problem?”

Vilan turned to the old man, who was the highest ranking commanding officer of the army, for help, but he merely grinned and nodded as if he were listening to the selfish request of his grandchild.

“Her Highness couldn’t possibly be mistaken.”

As Vilan realized that he couldn’t rely on the old officer, he turned his eye to the civil officials, but they had already stiffened their expression and turned their faces away, as they did their best to appear as if they weren’t laughing.

As Vilan saw their shoulders shaking, he couldn’t help but wonder how pathetic a face he was making right now.

Vilan turned to the cardinals of the Kushain Believers.

They looked as if they had severed all ties to the world as they smiled like gentle old men and cut off whatever path of retreat may have existed with but a nod.

“Truly, Your Highness has been blessed with the eye of wisdom.”

Clearly, the word ‘malicious’ had been cut out specifically for old men like these, Vilan thought. He searched the room, looking for someone to save him, but unfortunately, a rock-like hand placed upon his shoulder stopped him.

It was none other than the old commanding officer, and his grip was so strong that Vilan couldn’t help but wonder if he were really past 60. He spoke in Vilan’s place as if he knew exactly how he was feeling.

“Vilan-dono may still be young, but his martial arts is unparalleled. The fact that he was able to conquer Fatina during the joint-battle with the goblins shows that he is more than adequate. There is no need to wait for Her Highness’ proposal. As a representative to the will of the entire army, I hereby request that he be given the rank of general.”

The eyes of the old man as he gave an opinion that was the exact opposite of Vilan’s was like that of a no-good adult playing a prank on someone. Vilan tried to say something in response to that pressure that gave him a feeling of deja vu, but…

“…Vilan. Are you not going to listen to me even though you listen to the goblins?”

There was a bad girl was in front of him.

With tears (fake) in her eyes, Mira folded her arms before her. That was clearly a posture taken to request something of someone. Despite knowing that Mira had a penchant for being sly and knowing full well that she was merely acting, Vilan still hesitated.

“…Vilan-kun. You know, as impolite as this may be, I actually see Her Highness as my grandchild. I adore her dearly.”

The old man himself hasn’t known her for that long, so what more the rest of the people here other than Vilan?

The pressure from the hand placed on Vilan’s shoulder became stronger. It was such a powerful grip that it seemed his bones might actually crumble under it. Vilan almost felt like screaming when the hoarse voice of an old man whispering like a demon reached his ears.

Vilan inadvertently turned his gaze toward that direction and immediately regretted his decision.

The old man’s eyes that were often as thin as a slit were wide-open and bloodshot. His eyes were dyed in a dangerous color as they stared into Vilan’s eyes like a maddened fanatic. No, he was glaring at him.

Frankly speaking, he was scary.

The pressure from this old man might actually be stronger than those goblins Vilan met a few days ago.

Were he to refuse this order here today, what would happen? Would this old man send out the assassin unit of the Kushain Believers and have them engrave their countless torture techniques upon his body?

Vilan made his decision.

“…Unworthy as I am, Your Highness, please allow me the honor of this position.”

“Wonderful, wonderful. That is how the youths should be.”

As the pressure on Vilan’s shoulders slackened, he heard the old man speak.

“As expected of Vilan Do Zul. Please continue to work hard and become the hope of our Kushain Believers.”

Mira wrapped up the meeting and ended the meeting for that day.

As Vilan Do Zul accepted the position of general, the elite guards – that might as well be called the standing guard – that would be placed under him was also established.

As he himself would be the one deciding the training schedule, the budget, and the human resources, it was easy to imagine how great the power his new position held, but it came with an equally tremendous workload.

Pulled up by the false reputation of being a young hero, Vilan’s reputation was rose, and he became so busy he could not find the time for a day off.

As expected, even Mira and the old general reflected a little on their actions, but had they been even a moment slower in providing him a skilled aide and staff officer, perhaps Vilan might have already fallen ill, both mentally and physically.

In any case, the elite guards that were established under the pretense of their great achievements would be joining the goblins as the Kushain Believers’ army.

Because they all wore red, these elite guards came to be known as ‘Akazone’.

Tl Note: The position that Vilan got is a specific kind of general meant to suppress the east or barbarians. The word Akazone comes from the characters for ‘red’ (aka) and ‘to equip’ (sonae), so that part is self-explanatory, but more importantly, both the position that Vilan acquired and the Akazone are historical terms. I’m not familiar with the history, but you can find out more from the link below… Maybe.

The link below is actually for the seitou taishogun (Big Shogun or Commander in Chief) and not seitou shogun (Just shogun or general) because that’s the best English page I could find.

Also, the reason akasonae is translated as akazone is because that’s what the Japanese dictionary said. It specifically spat out an English word, so I just rolled with it.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK TO THE ETYMOLOGY OF SEITOU