This is the story of Tiselle, who traveled to a human kingdom.
Greetings.
They call me the Conqueror King. I am a man of the human race.
I am the King of the Zidoen Kingdom.
Yes, a King. The highest authority in the land.
However, even a man as great as I often finds himself in situations he cannot comprehend. Well, being great doesn't necessarily make one wise. Hahaha.
……
How did it come to this?
My kingdom sits in a region where roughly forty small nations are constantly jostling for power. There are many names for this area, but in my land, we call it the Keilland Region. The name comes from an ancient agreement called the Keilland Contract. To be honest, no one is quite sure where the borders of the Keilland Region actually start or end…
Until now, there was no need to care. Nobody else did. I simply dealt with the problems as they appeared before me.
If there was no food, I attacked a kingdom that had some.
If there was no money, I attacked a kingdom that was wealthy.
Impulsive? Perhaps. Actually, you’re exactly right.
But what was wrong with that? You say I should make a plan? Do disasters or enemies ever arrive according to a schedule? Don’t say such foolish things. As a king, I must protect my subordinates and my people. I hate to say it, but the people of other lands come second. We simply weren't prosperous enough to show consideration for our neighbors. That is what it means to be a king.
……
Ah, now that I think about it, my mistake might have been letting the Third Princess of the Gozran Kingdom escape when we invaded. She was legendary for her talent in internal affairs. At the time, I managed to recover by threatening the Yunodenna Kingdom—or rather, by bowing my head to them until they sent twenty civil officials to help me out.
Then, through the introduction of that escaped Third Princess, a trio of female adventurers arrived.
I thought it was unusual for a group to be entirely women, but their manners toward a king were impeccable, so I permitted them to stay. Before I knew it, those adventurers had seized total control of the national administration.
You might think I’m lying, but it’s the truth. The civil officials in my Ministry of Internal Affairs practically shed tears of joy as they surrendered their seats to the adventurer named Tiselle. It wasn't just that they gave up their positions; they actually started following her orders with smiles on their faces.
My generals, who never cared for politics, were forced into submission by the raw power of the adventurer named Erika-teze. She treated those hardened warriors like children. I wouldn't even call it a fight; she just beat them senseless with some mysterious martial prowess. Now, those generals listen to Erika-teze more than they listen to me. I mean, they still do what I say, but they immediately peek at Erika-teze to see if she approves. Is that really acceptable, my generals!?
And then there was the third adventurer, Isree… She began catching every foreign intelligence agent lurking in my kingdom, one after another. While I was still reeling from the discovery that there were so many of them, she began pitching execution methods to me with a look of pure glee. It was terrifying.
I tried to resist. I explained that even if they were foreign spies, killing them without a second thought was bad business. It was better to file a complaint with their home countries and squeeze them for reparations.
Why was I the one forced to protect foreign spies? Because "it is an honor for a discovered agent to be killed on the spot"? What kind of insane custom is that!? Even on the front lines against the Demon Kingdom, things shouldn't be that barbaric! Or, well, probably. I don't know the details.
In any case, I threw the spies into the jail.
Perhaps dissatisfied with that, Isree started hunting bandits and thieves instead.
"It’s okay to execute these ones, right?" she asked.
No, it was not okay. Absolutely not.
And no, it’s not because I’m in league with them. Those bandits and thieves are still people of my kingdom. It's not hypocrisy, either. They only turned to crime because they were struggling to survive. As proof, look at the fact that they don't do things like kidnapping. They usually just steal food and leave it at that.
Now, I’m not saying the damage is zero. Since they take things by force, someone is bound to get hurt. But there's an unavoidable side to it…
Wait, look! Even Tiselle is saying we shouldn't kill them. Exactly. No killing. Yes, yes.
Forced labor… eh?
Hold on, hold on. Isn't that just execution by another name? No? You wouldn't do something so wasteful? You're saying that if they're desperate enough to be bandits, we should just give them jobs and food?
If we could do that, it wouldn't have been a problem in the first place! This entire region suffers from chronic food shortages!
……
Buy it from elsewhere? Every neighboring country is in the same boat. The Keilland Region has terrible agricultural productivity.
Buy from outside the region? That’s also impossible. No one wants to do business with this place. Why? Because my people keep attacking the merchants who try to come in! It can't be helped! We have no food!
We don't kill the merchants, though. We send them back safely. We just happen to take almost all of their cargo first.
"Don’t attack them because I’ll use Erika-teze’s connections to call in a company from the outside"? Where are these connections coming from? Even if a small-time merchant comes, there won't be enough food to—wait, what?
Isn't this the massive company that’s become incredibly influential in a certain superpower? Even I’ve heard of them! What kind of personal network does she have to be connected to a place like that?
Erika-teze is a former duke's daughter from that superpower? And she’s the one who founded the company?
……Eh?
For the time being, I promised that we wouldn't attack if a caravan from that company arrived. I even sent word to the surrounding kingdoms. There was nothing to be gained from attacking a purveyor of a superpower. "I didn't know" wouldn't be enough of an excuse to save us.
But even if we could buy food from them, how would we pay for it? I hate to admit it, but we have no money. If we searched, we might find a mineral vein, but we can't wait that long.
Loans? Even if she knows them, no one gives out loans without a prospect of being paid back. You need collateral. An undiscovered mineral vein doesn't count, does it? I don't really understand these things. The civil officials in the Ministry used to nag me about it constantly.
It’s fine? Well, if you say so, I’ll leave it to you…
Hm? What is it, Tiselle? A job for me? Something for the good of the country?
Well, if you put it like that, I’m the King, so I’ll do it. What do I need to do?
Call the kings of the surrounding nations for a conference? No?
Not just the surrounding ones, but every single king in the Keilland Region?
No, no. The ones nearby might listen if I threaten them with martial prowess, but the distant kings will just ignore me.
Attack them? Eh?
We just pass through the lands of those who agree to come? And for those who refuse, we attack them until they send a representative? But even if we expand the borders, the governance would be…
We won't govern them? For now, we just make them participate in the conference? You want me to gather every single one of them?
……………………………………
An army on the move requires a massive amount of money and food, you know. If I ignore that, the officials in the Ministry are going to get very loud.
It’s already taken care of? You’ve already spoken with the Great Yunodenna Kingdom and had them prepare the funds and supplies for the march? They’ll arrive within thirty days, so I should organize the army?
Uhhh, I don't quite understand how you pulled that off, but this is my area of expertise! Leave it to me!
I-I understand. First, I’ll write the letters and summon them to the conference. I’m not much for writing, but I’ll do my best!
Ah, wait. I don't actually know the borders of the Keilland Region. What should I do?
The King is the one who decides where the borders are?
……So I can just use my own judgment.
I’m going to do it. I’m really going to do it.