Grimacing, I reluctantly nodded and said, “There’s a council meeting soon. Write a proposal request and get me a copy of your invention’s blueprints. I’ll use them to ask the council to approve funding. It’ll be submitted as a formal proposal from the Demon Army, so hopefully that’ll help sway the viceroys.”
Ryucco hopped off the desk and turned to me with a satisfied smile. “All right. I’ll go get the dragonkin to write it up. Let me know when the money’s here!”
There’s no guarantee they’ll agree to the proposal, you know...
I headed back to my office, where I found yet more problems awaiting me.
“While relations with Rolmund are improving, the Demon Army’s standing with the northern territories has continued to decline,” Baltze said, handing me a sheaf of reports.
“I was prepared for this to happen,” I replied with a wan smile as I skimmed through the reports. “Understandably, many people in the northern cities still hate demons. For better or worse, we bear responsibility for the actions of the second regiment.”
“That may be the case, but the Demon Army has diligently defended the northern cities for the better half of twenty years. You’d think they wouldn’t have any complaints about us by now.”
I gave Baltze a simper and said, “The thing about military organizations is that the moment there’s peace, people start to dislike them. Furthermore, we’re still outsiders from their perspective. You can’t blame them for being unwelcoming.”
I could spread propaganda that Rolmund was still a serious threat to make people more willing to rely on the Demon Army, but if I wasn’t careful, that could sour diplomatic relations with Rolmund. In the worst case, it could lead to an actual war, which I wanted to avoid at all costs. Besides, I had a better idea that was more my style.
“The older folk might not like us, but from what I hear, the younger generation is friendlier towards demons. They’ve been interacting with our kind since they were old enough to talk, so they’re not scared of us the way older people are. In fact, some of the younger boys idolize how dragonkin conduct themselves, aspiring to be like you guys.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Baltze said, smiling.
It was difficult to read dragonkin expressions, but once you got to know them, you became much better at picking up on the subtle changes in their lizard-like faces. Hopefully, the day would come when most humans were familiar enough with dragonkin to do the same. Of course, I planned to do everything in my power to make that day come as soon as possible.
“Let’s have the soldiers stationed in the north start building more leisure facilities in their respective cities to improve their image among the residents,” I suggested. “I’ll talk to Forne and find out what the best options might be.”
“Thank you. To be frank, I’m not sure what kinds of things humans would enjoy.”
Plus one to my list of things to take care of. But this, too, was the job of the Demon Lord’s Vice-Commander. Humans were querulous enough that they frequently fought with one another, so ensuring peace between demons and humans was an important and daunting task.
After Baltze left, a Commonwealth Committee clerk entered with a report in her hands. “My lord, there’s trouble in the north.”
“If you’re referring to the Demon Army’s falling reputation, I’m already aware of the situation.”
“No, it’s not that. There’s a conflict within the Sonnenlicht Order. Immigrants from Rolmund seem to consider Meraldian orthodox heretical, leaving the two churches at odds. It’s possible the split could turn violent.”
You both are part of the same godsdamned religion. Can’t you get along? I thought as I read through the report she handed me.
With a long sigh, I said, “We’ll have to be careful about this. People are far more sensitive to small differences among those they consider part of their in-group than to larger differences with those they consider outsiders.”
The clerk furrowed their brow and asked, “Is that really true?”
“Trust me, it is. At the very least, that’s how humans seem to a werewolf like me.”
In truth, I’d just read up on human psychology in my past life, but I doubted this clerk would easily grasp such a concept. Regardless, the biggest issue here was that I wasn’t a member of the Sonnenlicht Order, so it wasn’t really my place to interfere.
“Anyway, I think it’s best if we discuss this with Archbishop Yuhit.”
“Y-You mean I’ll get to speak with him?!” the clerk exclaimed, her eyes lighting up.
She was likely a member of the Sonnenlicht Order herself, and every member of Sonnenlicht’s Meraldian church knew of the famed Archbishop Yuhit. Granted, he’d damaged his leg during his time in prison, and was now so old that he’d retired from active public service. These days, he spent most of his time dispensing what advice he could to Sonnenlicht priests and adherents.
“I’m sure His Grace will be willing to help you, Lord Veight!”
“He probably will, but I really don’t want to burden him...”
Yuhit looked older every time I saw him, and it pained me to watch as he slowly succumbed to age. His granddaughter, Yuhette, would most likely succeed him, but she was still young and only a low-ranking priestess at the moment. It probably didn’t help that Friede was dragging her around on adventures all the time, preventing her from building the political and religious connections she needed.
Unaware of my worries, the clerk smiled and said, “It’s true what everyone says—just bring your problem to Lord Veight, and he’ll solve it for you.”
“Haha... Yes, I’ll do my best.”
I felt my reputation starting to precede me again, but at least this meant everyone reported critical information to me first. My greatest fear was that people on the ground would stop reporting to me, and things would worsen without my knowledge. In the past, it was a lack of information that caused me to make critical errors in Rolmund and Kuwol.
With a gentle smile, I said, “There are some things even I can’t solve, but I’ll do all I can to help. So feel free to report everything you think is important to me from now on.”
“Of course, Lord Veight!” The clerk left, beaming, and I let out another sigh. I’d have to schedule a meeting with Yuhit, but my schedule was already packed with council meetings, university lectures, helping with Master’s research, and inspections.