Benito, which was briefly split into two, has once again become one.
Well, technically, it was us who split it into two, but let’s not dwell on that.
Anyway, from now on, the king of Benito is not Andrea II, but Savoya I.
The legitimate bloodline of the Benito royal family that our empire worked so hard to find, you know.
“Chief of Staff of the Empire, Kael Klauwitz, comes to pay respects to the king of Benito.”
Since the king himself was established by us, Benito is practically a vassal state of our empire.
However, for the sake of outside appearances, it must formally exist as a normal kingdom.
I’ve also heard that the Imperial Foreign Ministry is doing its best to ensure it doesn’t appear too much like a vassal.
In that situation, meeting the ruler of Benito is also naturally an exchange of courtesies for me.
Of course, from Savoya I’s perspective, it’s probably like the one holding his leash is coming close.
“Welcome. Liberator of Benito. Thanks to you, the people of the entire Benito kingdom have finally escaped the horrors of war.”
Oh, and thanks to you, I’m standing here now instead of quietly minding my own business.
His unspoken complaint seemed clear in his expression, but I lightly ignored it.
What can you do? If you’re upset, you should have been born into the empire like me!
And besides, isn’t being a king better than being some random noble? Haha!
“Not at all, Your Majesty. The liberator of Benito is not me—it’s the many nobles and commoners of Benito who came together under the banner of justice to defeat the evil.”
“Ho ho ho.”
“I humbly ask you to bestow your praise on them.”
Absolutely no way can we allow anyone to say that the empire is the one who made Benito this way.
First, Benito declared war, and they even teamed up with Dedolant.
And it was your own nobles who pulled down your previous king.
With that said, those same nobles will likely argue that they didn’t betray their new king, Savoya I, and did everything out of loyalty.
Politics, this mud puddle, truly is something magnificent.
For the sake of legitimacy, people do things they would normally never do.
And more shockingly, I’ve even started adapting to some of this mess.
“I have a single request of the king of Benito.”
“Speak. Chief of Staff.”
“Although Benito is stabilizing thanks to its many loyal subjects, there are still areas of unrest. Unfortunately, we plan to deploy the Imperial Army to suppress all who continue to cause instability. We kindly ask for your permission.”
The south of Benito is already firmly in the empire’s grasp, but a part of the north remains.
There are still people in smaller cities across Benito who follow Andrea II as their king.
Unless we suppress all these people, the lingering resentment in Benito will never fully heal.
So what we’re looking for here is the authority to handle these individuals. The Imperial Army will take care of it, but the responsibility will be shared.
There’s not much Savoya I can do about it, since he’s already in our hands, anyway.
Besides, he probably knows that if he doesn’t eliminate these people, the bloodshed will eventually come back on him.
“The empire intends to involve itself in Benito’s affairs.”
“It’s not involvement but, rather, help as allies.”
“Help? Yes, help. Very well. Do as you wish, Chief of Staff.”
We just got the consent form signed from the surgery patient’s family.
Now it’s time to remove the leftover bits of the old Benito.
Question is, who will handle the surgery? Will the Empire operate directly? Nope.
“Don’t worry, this isn’t about the Empire taking control. We’ll ensure that a neutral and fair process is maintained by sending supervisors and officials.”
“Who will these officials be and where will they come from?”
“Gori Kingdom, Southern Kingdom nearby, and the Holy Kingdom will help take charge.”
Every kingdom around Benito—and even the Holy Kingdom—has their fair share of grudges against Benito. There’s no way they’ll act purely in Benito’s favor.
That said, the Holy Kingdom, on the surface, claims neutrality.
So, to Benito, it might seem like: “Oh great, these people really hate us!”
But if the Holy Kingdom just prays once and says, “Ah, we forgive all! We follow the will of the gods and won’t be swayed by petty emotions,” that’s it.
What can they do when even the Holy Kingdom claims to be impartial?
If they have any complaints, we could always let the Empire handle it—but that would make things even colder and harsher for Benito.
In the end, Benito, whether they like it or not, will have to undergo some form of restructuring under the supervision of neighboring kingdoms and the Holy Kingdom.
“When all the clean-up is done, what happens to our Benito?”
“Of course, we simply return to being the peaceful and prosperous southern kingdom we were before.”
“Under the order of the empire, correct?”
“That’s right. Only under the empire’s order can genuine peace and prosperity emerge, right?”
Of course, this is all just talk as the Chief of Staff. As a 1st-level classified matter, we do actually plan to carve off a small part of Benito’s territory.
Then, as a gift for their hard work, we’ll hand it over to Dugal and Ross Tannika.
“Living under the empire’s order with peace and prosperity.” Sounds nice, right?
But let’s be honest—we all know how long that’s going to last. At most, a few decades.
There will inevitably be conflict, and eventually, another war will break out.
The Empire is looking ahead to that next move.
Not a war between the Empire and other kingdoms—but wars between the kingdoms themselves.
And the Empire? We’ll just sit back and step in at the right moment as the righteous peacemaker.
Now there’s the matter of what happens to Atria and Dedolant’s territories.
At least half of it will be absorbed into Empire territory.
The leftovers? Trying to eat them all would definitely cause indigestion.
Let the Empire’s administration handle that—there are smarter experts at this kind of thing than I am.
“Chief of Staff.”
After finishing the meeting with the king of Benito, my aide handed me a communication device.
“It’s Charlotte from Nobogorod, responsible for the Atria front. Kaya is also there.”
“The ones who established Atria’s downfall?”
I grinned and took the device from my aide as we returned to the quarters where I activated the system.
There she was, my sister, with one hand resting on her waist.
[Brother. How was I?]
“You were excellent, Kaya. But today, you didn’t call me ‘Chief of Staff’? ”
[Oh no! I forgot again. Cough cough. Chief of Staff! How do you see my performance?!]
“It was impressive, Kaya. The Duke of the Empire and the Duchess will also be pleased.”
[Is Chief of Staff not happy?]
“I’m more delighted by your performance than by any success I’ve had.”
[Haha! Ah, yeah! Teehee! That’s really nice to hear!]
She seems to have picked up Charlotte’s way of speaking.
And she’s learning military strategies now too? This is a little scary. Our little sister is now as fierce as Lu Bu herself—is she merging into Zhuge Liang next?
[Kaya. Let Chief of Staff speak with you briefly.]
“Charlotte, good job.”
[Oh no, Atria was so conveniently weak, it was an easy battle.]
Crazy people. Is this some kind of game or gambling? All or nothing?
[Now all that’s left is Dedolant.]
“That’s correct, all that’s left is Dedolant.”
[What’s the plan? Shall we move in immediately?]
“I would love to, but with both Benito and Atria now in our grips, there’s a meeting to discuss future strategies, so I will need to return to the capital.”
[You’re always busy.]
“Yeah, my travels back and forth are getting a bit excessive.”
But it feels like this will be the last. Next, we’ll be discussing the end of all wars.
[Something worries me. Unlike Atria, Dedolant seems quite challenging. They might have prepared against werewolves.]
“Still, they’re on the verge of collapse, so although it’s difficult, it’s not impossible.”
Of course, the human and material losses won’t be comparable to those in Benito or Atria.
From what I’ve heard, they’re fighting with everything they’ve got until the very last person.
I really hope they consider surrendering, but that doesn’t seem likely.
There is a shared testimony among the field commanders who fought Dedolant: their commanders appear crazed, as if possessed.
[So, should we at least consider asking Dedolant’s king to surrender now?]
“Hmm, even if they surrender, there’d have to be a complete reset of the king and all the nobles—would they accept that?”
The current Dedolant is like a venomous snake that’s lost its mind.
It will probably bite anything it comes in contact with—even its own tail.
If they do surrender, we’re prepared to show minimal mercy.
But if they choose to fight to the end, the Empire will have to do what it’s been doing.
“It rains, but we must endure the dust.”
“…Gruber.”
“Sire.”
“What… What is the meaning of this?”
I somewhat expected the tense atmosphere.
But I never imagined it had gone this far.
“I apologize, Sire. But this is all for the sake of Dedolant and the Deo people.”
“Wha… What?”
“Sire, you have grown weak. The rest is up to us. Don’t worry—we will act in your name. And it will be recorded that way forever.”
King Cassius II stumbled backward, his body collapsing.
Feeling the life slowly draining from him, he sighed.
“O foolish… children…”
“We will fight until the end. We will use everything if it means the Empire will take nothing from us.”
May your reign be eternal, Sire.
Moments later, the dagger in Gruber’s hand drank the king’s bl**d.
