The Gozran Kingdom: Destroyed. The civil officials, led by the Third Princess, had been the backbone of its internal administration, but they were currently in exile. The Jidoen Kingdom: The nation of the Conqueror King, currently in a state of rapid expansion. They had recently conquered the Gozran Kingdom. The Izy Kingdom: A major power that the Gozran Kingdom once turned to for salvation. The Yunodenna Kingdom: A major power ruled by me—the narrator of this account.
I was the King of the Yunodenna Kingdom, a nation of the Human Race. Allow me to speak for a moment. While Yunodenna was a major power, we shared a border with a region teeming with roughly forty small, bickering states. To be frank, these territories were so microscopic it felt presumptuous to even call them countries, yet as long as they had a king, a nation they remained, no matter how sliver-thin their lands. The relationship between these neighbors was, at its core, abysmal. They had been at each other's throats for ages. Normally, humans would set aside their differences to unite against the looming threat of the Demon Kingdom, but these people lacked even a shred of solidarity. One might assume such a fractured region would be ripe for the taking, easily crushed by the surrounding powers. And yet, the neighboring countries never dared to lift a finger against them. The reason was simple: the moment you struck one, they all struck back. Naturally, it was expected for the victim of an attack to retaliate, but in that region, even the nations with zero stake in the conflict would join the fray. It was as if making an enemy of one meant making an enemy of them all. Even if you managed to crush a state or two, they wouldn't stop. They invaded with a complete disregard for profit or loss. Because they lived in a state of perpetual warfare, their soldiers were remarkably battle-hardened. In the end, any invading country usually found itself forced to abandon the conquered territory and retreat without gaining a single thing. And the moment the outsiders withdrew, the local nations went right back to slaughtering one another. What was this place? It was terrifying. It was better to leave it well alone. That was how the surrounding powers had viewed that dangerous region for generations.
Because they fought constantly, I once wondered if a single country would eventually triumph and unify the land... but it never happened. The people there simply lacked the capacity for governance. Since their nations were so minute, they had no means to improve their administrative systems. Consequently, even if a kingdom managed to expand its borders, it would inevitably fracture and return to its original state within a few years. I believed this cycle was a dead end, and apparently, there were people within that region who shared my sentiment. The King of a tiny nation called the Gozran Kingdom was one such man. Roughly thirty years ago, he pleaded with a major power outside the region—the Izy Kingdom—begging them for officials capable of governing. Normally, such a request would be a nuisance, but by a stroke of luck, the Izy Kingdom was currently embroiled in a succession crisis. They were stuck between a mediocre First Prince and an excellent Second Prince—a recipe for disaster. Fearing an internal power struggle, the King of Izy made a clean decision. The excellent Second Prince would be the heir. The mediocre First Prince was packed off to the Gozran Kingdom. I forget exactly what the official pretext was. It wasn't framed as exile; rather, it was something like "reinforcements" or a "diplomatic inspection." Regardless, a significant retinue of the First Prince’s faction followed him. I could not say what that mediocre First Prince truly felt in his heart, but he and his retainers threw themselves into the task of governing Gozran exactly as the local king had requested. Perhaps they planned to seize the throne eventually, or perhaps they were simply decent people. All I know is that the records suggest the prince seemed far more vibrant in Gozran than he ever had in Izy. Under the guidance of those who actually knew how to rule, the Gozran Kingdom gradually expanded. Over thirty years, it grew to three times its original size. We all thought that within another century, it might finally unify that chaotic region. But the reality was far different. The Gozran Kingdom hadn't actually learned how to govern. They had simply dumped everything onto the First Prince and his retainers. Their policy toward being taken over was effectively "Please, be our guest." Why the First Prince never formally seized the crown, I do not know. Perhaps he felt it was a lost cause, or perhaps he merely wished to avoid further strife. Regardless, he eventually married a commoner from Gozran and had a daughter. That daughter was then married off as the second wife to the son of the king who had originally asked for help. The child born of that union was the Third Princess of the Gozran Kingdom. She had been assisting with the management of the realm since she was five years old. Of course, the retainers who had followed the First Prince from Izy—and their children—supported her, but she was brilliant enough in her own right for her reputation to reach even our ears.
I'll be honest. I didn't realize it until quite recently, but for the past few years, the Gozran Kingdom was essentially being ruled by that Third Princess and her staff. In a way, they had already taken it over. I wondered what the First Prince of Izy would have thought of that. Since both he and his daughter had passed away, I suppose I would never get my answer.
Now, this brings me to the heart of the matter. Within that region of microscopic states, a new power began to expand rapidly: the Jidoen Kingdom. Its ruler, who styled himself the Conqueror King, had quadrupled his territory in a mere ten years. It was impressive. I was honestly struck by his success and wondered how he was managing to maintain such a sprawling realm. I assumed either a genius of internal affairs had been born there by chance, or they had recruited someone from abroad. However, they were nearing their breaking point. I predicted that, as per the usual pattern, the kingdom would collapse under its own weight because they couldn't govern what they had seized. But then, some idiot went and provoked the Jidoen Kingdom. They leaked word that the Third Princess of Gozran possessed legendary administrative skills. As luck would have it for Jidoen—and as a tragedy for Gozran—their territories were now adjacent. Jidoen attempted to "obtain" the Third Princess through negotiations, but there was no way the Gozran Kingdom would ever agree. If they gave her up, the administrative backbone of their thirty-year expansion would vanish, and the kingdom would implode. Furthermore, the Gozran King doted on the princess; she was the daughter of his old age. He stood his ground, refusing to let her be taken. In fact, he launched an attack on the Jidoen Kingdom himself. The result was a total war. Jidoen, led by its Conqueror King, emerged victorious. Gozran was swallowed whole and ceased to exist.
If Jidoen had captured the Third Princess as intended, I wouldn't be recounting all this. I could have simply watched from the sidelines as Jidoen unified that troublesome region or collapsed in its own time. Unfortunately, Jidoen failed to secure her. The Gozran King had smuggled the princess away before the final battle. Whether she fled to the Izy Kingdom—where she had kin—or elsewhere remained a mystery. All we knew was that a significant number of her skilled retainers had vanished with her.
Now, the Jidoen Kingdom was the problem. Their territory was massive. Their military might was formidable. The Conqueror King’s leadership was peerless. But their ability to govern was non-existent. Without the princess, they would inevitably collapse. It was an absolute certainty. It wouldn't have been an issue if they would just fall quietly, but those living within the country were resisting that fate with everything they had. That resistance arrived in the form of a letter.
"The Yunodenna Kingdom. The Jidoen Kingdom hereby surrenders to your country. If you find that unacceptable, then provide us with personnel who can assist with our governance."
I haven't summarized that, by the way. That was the entire content. It was a blunt, concise message that hardly felt like official state correspondence. Personally, I found the brevity refreshing, but the implications were a nightmare. Surrender? If my country accepted that, it would mean we had technically "intervened" in that region. We would become the enemy of every other state there except Jidoen. Please, stop! True, our nation was a major power. If it came to war, we would win. We could theoretically annex that entire region. But that was the trap. That region contained forty nations. Combined, they were more than double the size of our own territory. It was impossible. There was no way we could rule it all. Even if we conquered them, the locals would never listen to a word we said. Our own kingdom would collapse under the strain. A nation’s territory is supposed to be increased gradually over decades. You can't just double it overnight. The Jidoen Kingdom knew that. That was why they demanded personnel.
How villainous! Are these people the Angel Race in disguise? Just because we were a major power didn't mean we had human resources to spare! It was precisely because we were a major power that we were suffering from a labor shortage! We were doing our best, building Academies and the like, but it still wasn't enough. Furthermore, we had been sending our best and brightest to the frontline nations under the pretext of preparing for war against the Demon Kingdom. We were the ones who needed help with governance!
Good heavens... what was I supposed to do? A massacre? Wipe out the entire Jidoen Kingdom? I couldn't do that. If I did, we would become the pariahs of the Human Race. We were the ones who had formed the Great Alliance to Fight the Demon Kingdom to protect humanity, after all. Damn it all. Things were already chaotic enough with the appearance of that bizarre Six Dragon God Kingdom. I knew what would happen. If I let time pass, those lunatics would genuinely try to surrender to us. Give them people capable of ruling? I couldn't spare a single one. Every official I had was essential for balancing domestic interests. If I sent them away, I'd have a civil war on my hands. So... what if I gave them people who could simply read, write, and do basic arithmetic? Would that be enough to appease them? No, surely that was being too dismissive. Still, I tried sending twenty people who were merely literate and good with numbers. They were overwhelmed with gratitude. I see. So their situation was that dire...
The leaders of the past great powers were right. Never touch that region. Don't even try to use it. Never. As I carved that lesson into my heart, I returned to my administrative duties.
"The unification of that region... isn't a new major power on our doorstep a terrifying thought?" my minister asked. "If they try to govern a territory that size, they won't be able to move for fifty years. We'll be fine," I replied. "And what happens fifty years from now, when they can move?" "The King at that time won't be me." "..." "Don't look at me like that. I'll make sure we take countermeasures within those fifty years."