DURING the afternoon of the day that he managed to escape from the Ira cultists in Dragontan by deactivating his double’s disguise, Takuto attended a regular meeting at the Palace. Being able to be in two places at once was just one of the many perks to having a body double. The Botchling on its own had high Strength stats and a nice lineup of skills. Takuto’s prospective strategies expanded tenfold with the double’s addition.
“All right, my inspection of Dragontan more or less went as expected, so I might as well decide on our policies for Seldoch while I’m at it.”
The meeting consisted of Mynoghra’s empire-management council members. While Mynoghra had made progress in recruiting useful personnel from outside the fold, such as Yona’Yona and Inquisitor Krähe Imlerith, only a select few were allowed to participate in the council meetings.
The council only consisted of the longest-serving members who had remained loyal since the founding of Mynoghra: Elder Moltar, Gia, Emle, and the Elfuur Sisters. The only others allowed to attend were the Dark Elves, who handled clerical tasks such as taking notes and distributing materials, but they had been present since the start as well.
Takuto had a feeling that the current system would eventually have to change. Their administrative capacity couldn’t keep up with the empire’s growth. He wanted to respect the Dark Elves’ long-term loyalty, but they were reaching their limits. This was made all the more evident by the sheer size of Seldoch—their most recently obtained territory.
“The newly acquired city of Seldoch and its surrounding territory is a fertile and temperate region with few natural disasters. It has a large population, so it’ll undoubtedly contribute to increasing our empire’s national power,” Takuto said.
Joy blossomed on the council members’ faces. Considering the hardships they’d faced to get to this point, this was an achievement worth celebrating. The acquisition of new territory is extremely valuable to any nation and something worth rejoicing over. However, they couldn’t revel in their happiness for long.
“However, now that Mynoghra has finally stabilized its control over part of the Accursed Lands and the area around Dragontan, I have no doubt that we will require administrative skills beyond our current limitations to manage our third city,” Takuto announced.
Another problem came hot on the heels of their last one. All the joy slipped from the Dark Elves’ faces, replaced by grimaces and concerned frowns. Proof they understood what Takuto was telling them.
“So, rather than making any sudden, drastic changes to their government, I believe it would be safer to maintain the current system and slowly shift them over to a Mynoghra-style of governance. What are your thoughts on this?” Takuto asked.
Seldoch encompassed a vast territory that spanned from the borders of the Lawful and Dark Continents to approximately half of the now-defunct Divine Nation of Lenea. Takuto mostly referred to Seldoch itself because it was the most prominent city in the territory they had acquired, but there were many towns and villages in the surrounding areas that also needed to be managed.
Normally, it would be impossible to immediately govern a newly acquired land plundered from another nation without issue. Citizens don’t typically take kindly to being absorbed into an enemy nation. Squashing insurrections and revolts would be on the meeting agenda instead of this peaceful discussion if not for Vittorio’s subversive use of the Ira religion. Every single council member shared that understanding.
“There is no denying that Seldoch is on an entirely different scale from Dragontan,” Elder Moltar conceded. “Haphazardly trying to minutely control things from a distance won’t end well. I despise how incompetent I am to do anything about this problem, but I must concede to His Majesty’s point.”
“The empire’s expanding at a frightening speed to begin with. Moreover, both Dragontan and Seldoch were acquired by converting or occupying land from other countries. There’s not a whole lot we could do to improve things,” Takuto pointed out.
All the territory Mynoghra had acquired thus far had to be incorporated from an outside source. Normally, small settlements develop into cities over time through pioneering, but this was not the case for Mynoghra. The development of Mynoghra as an empire was built on exceptions and deviated from the norm. Elder Moltar spoke as if his incompetence was the cause of their limitations, but managing a nation was about more than the actions of one person.
“Besides, Seldoch is practically on the front lines. Or rather, it belonged to an enemy nation until we acquired it. We have to carefully consider the risk of it being recaptured—even if we plan never to let that happen,” Atou said, listing additional problems with Seldoch and its surroundings.
Gia firmly nodded his head in agreement, sharing in her concerns.
The newly acquired region of Seldoch shared a border with the El-Nah Alliance of Elementals and the Holy Kingdom of Qualia. A vast mountain range ran through the center of the Lawful Continent, separating El-Nah and Qualia, but the mountain range ended in the frigid region to the north and in the region to the south that connected to the Dark Continent, allowing passage between the two allies. And because the heavy snowfall to the north made it difficult to traverse, El-Nah and Qualia routed almost all travel through Seldoch.
In other words, Mynoghra’s newly acquired territory was just as important geographically. It only made sense that both El-Nah and Qualia would want to retake it. If nothing else, they would never be okay with leaving it in the hands of an evil nation like Mynoghra.
“Fortunately, thanks to the spread of Ira, the people of Seldoch are particularly fond of our country,” Elder Moltar said. “We couldn’t ask for more as the reigning government.”
“That’s the one thing we don’t have to worry about,” Takuto agreed. “It appears there’s no need to enact any conciliatory policies, so let’s keep our investments to a minimum and focus on strengthening our position for now. We can buy ourselves some time if we construct a Flesh Tree and a Chapel for the Cult of Ira.”
The move Vittorio made on the Divine Nation of Lenea was extremely crafty and ruthless. He used his skills to forcefully convert the residents to the Cult of Ira. This normally would never work. In Eternal Nations, the enemy nation’s religious units would have taken measures to prevent conversion, and if it were peacetime, believers in the Holy God Arlos would have acted.
Vittorio could only pull off this tactic because the TRPG forces—Erakino, the two Saints, and the Game Master—had made such a mess of things that it bred utter chaos, which he could take advantage of. The opportunity to acquire land and a city of this scale would likely never come again. It was an unforeseen and unexpected burden to bear, but if they could overcome the struggle, the reward would be immense.
And if he couldn’t overcome an obstacle of this level, then could he really call himself Takuto Ira? Takuto was determined to make it work.
“But, sire, who will you put in charge of Seldoch? We can make use of the current government, but I strongly believe that we need to appoint a governor who can exercise authority over the region,” Elder Moltar pointed out.