Chapter 5 – High-Speed Conquest of the Akitsushima Island

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“Work hard and briskly!”

“You will repay what you devastated with your reckless battles through reclamation. You’re one of the few who possess mana on this island, so make sure to contribute to the increase in productivity.”

“””Understood!”””

 

The three girls possessing the nicknames Oda Nobunaga, Takeda Shingen, and Uesugi Kenshin fell to their knees in front us magicians with our enormous amount of mana. Due to the crime of having started a war with casualties for the sole sake of unifying the island under their rule, the three had their positions as lords stripped off them.

Then again, since most of them ascended to that position through a coup d’etat in the first place, we decided to make it so that they were never inaugurated as lords. Nobunaga’s father Oda Nobuhide, who had been sheltered by the Houjou family, was reinstated as lord within for one day, just to pass on the family headship and nickname of Nobuhide to Nobunaga’s little brother Nobukatsu. The retired Nobuhide would assist Nobukatsu as advisor for a while.

The Oda family’s new nickname of Nobunaga disappeared for good and she returned to being Oda Kichiko.

The Takeda family reinstated Nobutora, who had been likewise sheltered by the Houjou family, as governor of the former Takeda territory for one day. Nobutora immediately passed on his nickname and the lordship to Shingen’s younger brother Nobushige and it was decided that the new nickname Shingen would never be used again.

They probably saw it as bad luck. Meanwhile, she returned to just being Takeda Harumi.

The Uesugi family was the same. A cousin of Tatsuko, who had previously succeeded the name Tamekage, inherited the family headship. The Kenshin nickname was branded as a taboo and the girl in question returned to being Uesugi Tatsuko.

The three girls, who were ousted from their homes, are now doing reclamation work with their mana under the observation of Doushi. It had been decided that they’d take responsibility by reviving and developing the eastern region which they had ravaged with their wars.

Even if they tried to run away, the one in charge of their surveillance was Doushi. And if they tried to get away on a small boat, they’d definitely turn into fodder for the serpents as mere intermediate magicians.

Previously we were able to confirm a significantly higher number of serpent nests in the seas around this island. Those three could maybe defeat several dozen serpents, if they worked hard. But, eventually their comrades would get killed and the other, enraged serpents would prey upon them.

There’s a proper reason for why this island didn’t have any exchange with the outside for more than 10,000 years.

Even if those three stole a magic airship, they wouldn’t know how to operate it, and assuming they managed to escape to another place, there was no guarantee that they’d be able to make a living there.

As such, the three obediently cleared land under Doushi’s watchful eyes. They seemed to be good at offensive magic, but since their inexperience was quite conspicuous as well, it resulted in them getting coached by Burkhart-san.

“Earl Baumeister-sama, we specialize in combat-related matters…”

“Please designate me to assist you when you are going to suppress the south!”

“Battles are where we shine the most.”

“Nope. You girls are hated by many of the eastern lords. Fixing the places you devastated with your battles takes priority.”

Those three are being called delinquents because they engaged in real wars which were completely incompatible with the rules of this island. The Oda family stole the lands of many other families, and so did the Takeda family. Meanwhile the Uesugi family took the land of defiant retainers and also grabbed some fiefs of other families.

Naturally, all of this led to casualties and now those three families felt ashamed, despite having new family heads. Because of that, I assigned Houjou Ujiyasu, who had protected the lords that lost their lands and their families, as the governor of all eastern lands and put Imakawa Yoshimoto, who recovered from his injuries, at his side as advisor. The lords, whom Ujiyasu had sheltered, also rejoiced as they were able to come back as governors.

Of course there might be some who are unhappy with it since they lost their status as lords, but it’s not like they’re delusional enough to oppose me who overwhelmed those three delinquents with magic. Besides, from their point of view, the three delinquents were much worse than I am.

Some people demanded those three to be executed, but I had those three engage in development work because it’d make it much easier for me to rule the region if I could redirect the discontent and anger aimed at the Baumeister House to those three. Since I was working them hard for the restoration and development, it’d also yield some benefits. Then again, having reached this way of thinking probably meant that I’ve become rather noble-like myself.

“Because of their personalities, they can only be used while being monitored by us, huh…? Quite dangerous.”

“True. We have many advanced magicians, so we can watch them properly.”

Even Lisa regards those three as having quite problematic personalities, it seems. Given that they’re intermediate magicians, they should be in high demand away from this island as well, but if those three were to participate in a dispute between nobles…they can’t read the situation, so it’s very likely that they’d produce casualties.

They’ve been expelled from their homes, but it was impossible to remove them from our surveillance.

This island has the unique trait that mana is passed on among lord families, but the amount of mana has gradually deteriorated over the many years, and even if it’s hereditary, it’s become normal for new magicians to have mana at an elementary level.

For this very reason, those three considered themselves as being chosen for being intermediate magicians, and they probably dreamed of conquering the world as their final goal. The breeding ground for those thoughts to blossom already existed on this island. The residents over here only accepted the rule by the foreign Baumeister House so readily because we have many advanced magicians.

Magicians capable of digging wells by punching through the basalt bedrock haven’t appeared on this island for the last few hundred years, so the people feared the danger of the water shortage becoming even more severe.

When we, who were able to dig wells, came here at such a time, the people naturally accepted us since we didn’t really abuse them with our governing either. There were also the plus points of being able to do trade with the outside and having the option of emigration.

The way of thinking by those three girls wasn’t that wrong. Even though their methods were utterly wrong.

“Uooohh───! For the foreign magicians to be so incredible───!”

There were others helping with the reclamation besides the three delinquents. Although their actions were those of delinquents, a certain number of supporters had left the main family and followed those girls. A dozen elementary magicians like Takeda’s Four Heavenly Kings were now assisting with the reclamation. Many of them had names I feel I’ve heard somewhere before.

“Still, it’s a nuisance since they require surveillance.”

“No kidding. And if they go on a rampage after we loosen the surveillance, the time and effort to put them down again will be a pain, too.”

Anyway, for now I must make sure that they don’t get any strange ideas by wringing out their mana for development. However, because I’ve assigned Lisa as observer in addition to Doushi, I’m troubled because the well-digging speed has dropped.

“Hey look, Shingen. Because you only use malicious methods, we’re not being trusted by our lord.”

“Should you really be talking about others? It was you who seriously injured Imakawa Yoshimoto with a surprise attack.”

“If you had been fighting fair and square like me, you wouldn’t have received such an evaluation.”

“That’s nothing I want to be told by a battle maniac like you, Kenshin.”

“You’re just scared because I fight without mercy.”

They were doing their work properly so as to not get scolded, but the three delinquents seemed to be quite close, given their lively conversation. Maybe they give off that impression even stronger because they’re currently in the same position?

“The family headship of the Odas has been taken from me by my younger brother Nobukatsu. If it’s him and my Dad, I guess acting as governors without a territory while receiving pay is just right for them.”

“It’s the same with our Nobushige. My father always favored him after all.”

“I don’t have any lingering affections towards the headship of the current Uesugi family. I’ll aim for another opportunity while practicing my magic for a while.”

“An opportunity, you say? Kenshin, are you going to hire soldiers again?”

“Shingen, what would be the point of me doing something like that at this point in time? I hate battles where I have no chance of winning.”

“Oh, what a coincidence, I also hate to lose.”

I guess it’s good that they at least don’t plan anything silly again. These three love to win, so they won’t thoughtlessly rebel in an effort to make a final stand.

“Nobunaga, did you come up with something?”

“It’s simple.”

“Oh, what is it?”

“The only place that hasn’t been subjugated on this island is the south. Our lord will accomplish the unification of this island which even Miyoshi Nagayoshi couldn’t achieve.”

“I know as much myself. What about it?”

Shingen looked as if wanting to ask Nobunaga why she’d bring up something so obvious now of all time.

“Hurry up and get to the point, Nobunaga.”

“Calm down, Kenshin. Think. What is it that we should aim for next? Indeed! There exists a method for me to rule over the whole island because I’m a woman. If I receive my lord’s affection and our child is assigned as governor of the whole island, it’s going to be my win!”

“You’re forgetting about Akitsushima Takaomi, Hosokawa Fujitaka, and Date Fujiko…”

Shingen knew about those three aiming to become my wives. The Shingen of this world seems just as good at gathering information as the one from Earth, I suppose.

“It’s not like there won’t be any opposition, but first I need to refine myself as a woman in various ways. The children born by Elise-sama and the other wives will ultimately inherit the Baumeister Earldom or become retainers. I shall improve my womanhood so that I’ll be loved by our lord and give birth to his child.”

“If Nobunaga says so, I, Takeda Shingen, shall not lose either.”

“In short, this is a battle between women, huh? Very well, I’ll take you up on that.”

Can’t those three have such a discussion in a place where I can’t hear them? I don’t need any more troublesome women in my life…

“Lisa, I don’t want those three.”

They’re quite beautiful, but in my mind they’re no more than delinquents at this point. In my previous life I’ve been a normal and serious student. Therefore, these three seem to be no more than women whom I instinctively reject as we don’t mesh.

There’s also no guarantee that they won’t cause any problems immediately after giving birth to my child, so I want to keep them at a distance.

“Do we need some place where we can make them disappear?”

“I wonder if we could toss them into the monster domain on the island where Lulu lived.”

Should we prevent them from getting any funny ideas by turning them into adventurers and having them hunt monsters every day? As party members, their former retainers will probably do fine.

“In that case, right now would be the perfect chance, huh?”

“You think so, Nobunaga?”

“Don’t you get it, Kenshin? Right now, only the middle-aged Lisa is at his side, correct?”

“Ohh, true! There are no other women here.”

“I, Shingen, shall receive our lord’s love. You two are unrefined lasses, so you’ll be ignored anyway.”

“Lisa, calm down.”

“Those three sure are funny…”

Those three are amazing for having such a conversation without even knowing that we can hear all of it. We’re quite a bit away from them, so Lisa and I have been using magic to listen in on their conversation, but being treated as old by those three, a cold smile formed on Lisa’s lips.

“There’s no demand for undeveloped women like you, Shingen. It’s clear that I, who has the biggest chest and tightest waist among us three, will be able to win his heart.”

“Nobunaga, we aren’t that different in bust size.”

“Do you think our lord will deal with a battle maniac like you? Right now, women need to be soothing.”

“Okay, and where would you be soothing, Nobunaga? I can agree if we’re talking about Elise-sama, but you…”

It’s just as Kenshin says. I don’t see me getting any soothing from those three.

“Humph, you’re just jealous because you’re losing to me. I’m the best among all the girls present here. And if I use my charm, I can easily win against a middle-aged woman like Lisa-sama.”

“Even if you can defeat Lisa-sama, you shouldn’t forget about me, you know?”

“Nobunaga and Shingen, don’t make me laugh. You shouldn’t forget that I, Uesugi Kenshin, a genius at battle and now at being a woman, is present.”

“……gh.”

“Lisa, calm down.”

Those three mistakenly believe we can’t hear them and thus are running their mouths about crazy stuff. Well, it’s not my problem either way.

“Wendelin-sama, please excuse me for a moment.”

“Make sure to not go too far, okay?”

Lisa left this place for a short while. I’m sure she went to put on her old outfit and make-up.

“Mmh, you fight poison with poison!”

 

＊

 

A few minutes later Lisa appeared in her old getup. Nobunaga and the other two became unable to move with the mouths gaping wide open due to the excessive shock.

“How dare you run your traps as you please! You girls will also be middle-aged in another ten years! If you have the free time to waste on pointless yapping, then spend it on working diligently instead! This is your punishment!”

Once Lisa casually released her 『Freezing』 at a nearby rock while roaring at the three, it immediately froze over solid. Her 『Freezing』 magic has been strengthened drastically compared to before while using my 『Absolute Zero』 as reference.

Next, Lisa fired an 『Ice Bullet』 at the entirely frozen rock, shattering it into small pieces. The fine rock splinters whirling through the air shone as they reflected the light of the sun.

“If you waste your time on thinking about unnecessary stuff while being useless, I’ll shatter you into smithereens and use you as field fertilizer! Got it?”

“””Ayessir!”””

The three were strictly observed by Lisa for the whole day and were forced to work on the reclamation until their bodies had no power left anymore.

 

 

 

On the next day Lisa had returned to her usual getup, but the three delinquents couldn’t help but worry when she might change into that getup again, and thus they started to obediently follow Lisa’s instructions.

 

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“I can easily imagine what those three might be thinking.”

“Do you think they understand that we’re making them work as punishment?”

 

Leaving the monitoring of the three delinquent girls to Doushi and Lisa, I teleported to Castle Ootsu. At present that place has completely transformed into the base of the Earl Baumeister family with Yuki, the vice-governor of Akitsushima Island, managing all the practical governmental work by herself.

Once you entrust her with troops, she will flawlessly command them, and in exchange for being unable to use magic, she’s a master at katana arts, spearmanship, ax arts, naginata arts, horsemanship, and ship handling, so calling her capable is a complete understatement. To add insult to injury, such a woman is below me.

Even though she could have been independent at any time with such ability, she backed her childhood-friend Ryouko, so she obviously has a strong sense of duty in her.

『She is an outstanding talent I would love to have work under me』

Even Roderich acknowledged her capability.

Once I told Yuki about the silly plan of those three delinquents, she pulled an appalled face.

“Having said that, if you had come a bit later to this Island, Milord, one of those three might have unified the island under her banner.”

“Maybe.”

Because those three had the sense of impending danger that the island would fall apart, if it wasn’t unified, they started to act like this. If not for my arrival, it’s very likely that those three would have plunged the island into a period of bloody wars. Then again, this hypothesis has lost all credibility now that we have come to this island.

“Since they get stupid ideas if they have too much mana left over, we will have them work on the cultivation of new land for a while. I would like them to at least understand that highlighting their womanly charms bears no meaning after they’ve repeatedly used coercive talk and actions as lords up until now. Milord, you are going to become Oryou-sama’s and my husband after all.”

“O-Okay…”

I inadvertently gave an ambiguous answer that could be taken as yes or no. I know it’s important to take those two as wives and have their children succeed in their positions for the sake of stabilizing the rule of the island.

But, some parts of me aren’t overly happy to be told so in such a straight manner.

“Right now suppressing the south is more important, Yuki-san.”

“Of course, the plans for that sire are already advancing. Is Yui-dono aware of it as well?”

“She is.”

At that point, Yui-san, the daughter of Matsunage Hisahide, entered the conversation. Yuki had set up a governor organization with the bureaucrats necessary to rule the island. The top of the organization was Ryouko, but since she was basically a priestess, she was nothing more than a figurehead.

Rather than actually ruling the land, Ryouko had been proceeding with the revival of shrines and the island’s religion, which resembled Shinto, as it had been in decline. She’d serve as mental and emotional support for the government as the top of the organization.

Given that forcibly introducing the teachings of our church would become a spark for a new conflict, we went with the same system as the Mizuho Dukedom used. At times like this, it’d be a big help to have Cardinal Hohenheim’s connections at hand to speed up the talks.

Since people from outside the Baumeister house will be forbidden to enter the island for a while anyway, there’s probably no priest who would attempt to carry out uninvited missionary work. As such, Ryouko was usually doing her medical treatment based on healing magic and divine rituals, which have been passed down in the Akitsushima family for generations, at the abandoned grand shrine close to Castle Ootsu.

The Hosokawa family with Yuki as its family head is in charge of the actual governing and Yui-san has been given the role to assist Yuki in her job as vice-governor. She can’t use magic either, but since she’s the only daughter of the Matsunage family, she has received a sophisticated education and is extremely good at what she does.

In addition, many bureaucrats and governors of the central area have become Yuki’s assistants. They have the position of central bureaucrats, who will rule this island.

Moreover, there are also people in charge of the regions that have been subjugated until now. In the north it’s the Date family, the center the Miyoshi family, in the west the Sogo family, and in the East the Houjou family. Underneath them are former lords who have changed their jobs into becoming governors.

As such, a pyramid-shaped ruling system has been successfully implemented. Since I don’t really get it, I left all of it to Yuki, though.

Some of the former lords were unsuited as governors, just like Kanenaka, and many people also became military officers of central bureaucrats because they didn’t feel like being governors.

Speaking of Kanenaka, he became responsible for the police guards who have been reorganized at the central government. They were practicing, patrolling, and occasionally helping out with the road expansion work.

Matsunage Hisahide also shifted to become a high-ranking civil official and displayed his shrewdness under Yuki. Given that Yui-san was a woman like Yuki, I assigned her to Yuki because I thought it’d be better for a woman to be at Yuki’s side, but those two might actually be on bad terms.

Whenever those two do work together, they seem to wrap it up very efficiently, but…

“If we manage to conquer the south, it will become possible to develop the land efficiently. Matsunage-dono is excellent, so how about having him take charge of the south? Yui-dono could also marry a son of an influential southern noble.”

“The Matsunage family has been a pillar of the central government. Even if we’re suddenly put in charge of the south, it’s likely that the local people won’t do as told. Besides, it looks like my father has his own thoughts about my future husband for the Matsunage family. It’s nothing you need to worry about, Yuki-san.”

As thought, those two are bad with each other. Yuki schemed to send the Matsunage family to the south. Yui-san brazenly brushed that idea aside.

『Don’t talk about matters of the Matsunage family, lass!』 was written on Yui-san’s face, but even after seeing it, Yuki disregarded it with a cool expression.

“Is the Matsunage family also going to welcome someone from the outside as a groom?”

“Maybe, but that is nothing you need to concern yourself with, Yuki-san. Everything depends on our Lord.”

While saying so, Yui-san cast a bewitching smile at me. Even as she was busily processing urgent work, she paid close attention to her personal appearance, unlike those three delinquents. She wore a well-fitting, modest bridal robe with a trailing skirt over her kimono, and although perfume didn’t exist on this island, she smelled nicely with a faint trace of incense.

Anyone would identify her as a pretty young lady and she was so refined that you wouldn’t expect her to just be one year older than me.

Yuki had also started to wear womanly garments after she started to stay in Castle Ootsu, but maybe because of her northern origin, Yui-san was clearly the winner when it came to appearance as a woman.

“Our lord is someone controlling this island. He should be free to choose whom he gives his affection to. Wanting legitimacy for your job as vice-governor through a blood relationship is fine and all, but it lacks consideration towards our lord. Those being too pushy are unromantic. It’s nothing I’d ever want to imitate either.”

“gh!”

Yuki gritted her teeth in frustration because Yui-san had hit the bull’s eye with her remark, so it was only understandable that I wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible.

 

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“With that said, women are scary.”

“Even I, as simple listener, was afraid. Though I can’t really talk about others.”

After leaving the office since I couldn’t bear the tense atmosphere there, I talked about the events to Ina, who had been training her spear in the castle’s courtyard.

“It means Yui-san also wants to give birth to your child, Wend. That Hisahide person seems like a man who would definitely scheme something like that.”

Certainly, he’s a middle-aged guy with parts that remind me of Cardinal Hohenheim. Somehow I feel he’d immediately betray me if this was a game…

Games and reality are completely different…then again, the Matsunage Hisahide of this world is a different person from the Hisahide on Earth.

“I think Hisahide-san is targeting Yuki-san’s job as vice governor.”

“So it’s like that after all…”

Yui-san wished to become the next family head of the Matsunages after giving birth to my child, and then she plans to oppose the Hosokawa family through her connections in the Baumeister House. Because the Akitsushima family are just figureheads, it’s meaningless to oppose them.

Setting the Hosokawa family as his target made me understand the shrewd character of Hisahide. Still, it’s not like it’d lead to armed conflict. Pointless factional disputes wouldn’t become a hindrance to the governing, so there was no reason for me to step in either.

Hisahide had lived in a world of Machiavellism under Miyoshi Nagayoshi, so he’s thinking it’s possible to make a career in the current system. At least, it’s pretty clear that he aims at forming a rivalry with the Hosokawa family over the post of vice-governor.

“Why did things turn out like this…?”

It’s weird. I should have conducted myself as proper noble after following the order from the Helmut Kingdom. And yet, why…?

“Umm…as someone who’s been with you a long time, it’s just my thoughts, but…”

“What is it, Ina?”

“I feel like it’d be best to not think too deeply about this.”

Is she telling me in other words to not fight my destiny and give up?

“It’s okay, Dear. No matter how many more wives you add, it won’t change our marital love.”

“Yep, it’s just as Elise says.”

Ina, Luise, Elise, sure say some nice things…

“Don’t worry, even if you have a hundred wives, Wend-sama, it won’t change our relationship at all.”

“If it actually comes true, it might be quite interesting instead.”

Yaaay, even Wilma and Katia are consoling me. Thanks!

“Wendelin-san, you’re the head of the Earl Baumeister House. We fully believe in your judgment.”

Even Katharina…thanks…her level of confidence in me being at max is somewhat painful. Moreover, Lisa wasn’t even here since she was watching the three delinquents.

The rest were…

“What is it? Do thou need my advice?”

“Help me, Therese!”

“Because I love thou…I’m the same as everyone else. But let me state my opinion. Personally I believe it’d be good for thou to take Ryouko, Yuki, and Yui as wives.”

“What’s the idea behind that?”

“Wendelin, statesmen must always think about the future while assuming the worst cases.”

“Assuming the worst?”

“The Akitsushima family is fine. They’re figureheads and will serve as religious authority. To be frank, anyone would do as long as they can support the Akitsushima family. Ideally you’d want to regularly switch capable families around.”

 

 

In short, allowing the post of vice governor to become hereditary for the Hosokawas bears a big risk, huh?

“Yuki is incredibly outstanding, but what about her child? Her grandchild? Or later generations? As soon as an incompetent family head takes the reins, it might cause the island’s government to become unstable.”

“And that’s why the Matsunage family is needed?”

“Yes. If the Hosokawa family drops out, the Matsunage family can take over. As long as the Baumeister House holds the authority to assign either family, it’ll prevent chaos on Akitsushima Island. Even if the other party is unhappy about it, it won’t matter thanks to the Baumeister House’s overwhelming power. It’s important to make it clear that they’ll be crushed to the ground if they have any problems with the way we handle things.”

“Whoa, that sounds really scary.”

“Luise, rulers basically get their significance out of being feared. If those below cause chaos because they take the ones above lightly, the ones suffering the most will be the common residents of a territory.”

We bitterly experienced it ourselves during the civil war in the Empire. Currently it’s going well, but we cannot afford to ease up on the island’s rule. However, I’d like to postpone the question of whom I’m going to take as a wife.

“I think it’ll be fine to go with those three girls. The little Date girl has said something about this as well, but it’d be a bad move to marry her.”

“…Indeed. Since their family head would inherit Wendelin-san’s blood, it’d be possible for the northerners to take a rebellious attitude.”

All the lords have been turned into governors, but since they’re in charge of their former fief, they still retain some of their influence. If a child between Fujiko and I were to become the head off the Date family at such a point, it’s thinkable that they’d compete with the central government, causing troubles for the ruling of the island.

“Children don’t really understand romantic relationships between men and women. They’ll keep agreeing to things irresponsibly.”

“Does that also apply to Lulu?”

“That girl is fine. Even if she becomes thine wife, she has no unnecessary strings attached. The only ones connected to her are the villagers, who were relocated, right? If you make her child the governor of the villagers’ new place, they’ll simply obey.”

Still, this way of cold and calculating way of thinking drives it once again home that Therese used to be a duchess.

“Uuugh! I cannot ignore those words!”

“Oh, it’s the young Date lass in person.”

“Don’t treat me as a lass! Don’t act arrogant just because your height and chest is a bit bigger. Once I reach your age, I will have a nice figure capable of rivaling you, Therese-dono!”

Apparently Therese had given Fujiko a warning since she knew that the girl was listening. You could also call it immature when dealing with a child, but Fujiko has aspects that make her seem older than she actually is. Therese likely chose this approach because she knew Fujiko would be able to comprehend.

“Lulu is going to become a good wife for Wendelin-sama.”

“Sure, do as thou like. Lulu poses no problem at all. Do thou like Wendelin?”

“Yes, I love him very much,” Lulu answered Therese’s question with a broad smile.

“I see, then it’s mutual love.”

Being told by a five-years-old girl that she loves me felt more like a daughter telling her father that she loves him.

“Isn’t there quite a difference in treatment between Lulu and I!? I also love Milord very much!”

“Thou were simply born into the wrong family. Since thou can’t choose the family thou are born into, it’s not thine fault, but its influence will accompany thou for the rest of thine life. Give it up!”

“Ugh! Are you saying it’s a lost cause because I’m the next head of the Date family.”

“That’s how it is. It’s not because of thine appearance or feeling. That much I can tell though.”

As long as someone comprehended, Therese wouldn’t be merciless to them. Or putting it another way, she has approved of Fujiko as an equal.

“In that case, I shall renounce my name as Date Fujiko, no, as Date, and simply become Fujiko!”

“Are thou seriously saying that?”

“I will be the same as Therese-dono since you abandoned your peerage and house. Actually, yesterday I got news from my father that my mother is pregnant. Since it fit timewise, I basically told him that I’d yield the family headship to that child. Our retainers won’t say anything either about me discarding my inheritance right, if the next child might be a man.”

Fujiko spoke in a way that made it hard to believe that she was still five years old. In the first place, the idea of her taking over the family only cropped up because the present family head fell ill with her being the only child.

But, he’s now healthy and his next child is already on the way. And with that it’s not really necessary to force Fujiko to take over the family, especially given that it’s not a time of wars anymore either.

“I see. So thou wish to become Wendelin’s wife, even if thou have to abandon thine family?”

“Correct. Milord is more important to me than the Date family.”

“If thou harbor such a strong resolve…there’s no problem at all. Thou possess a lot of mana, too.”

“Therese-dono, you’re a very reasonable person.

Hey, Therese! Don’t arbitrarily increase the number of my wives!

“Isn’t that great, Wendelin? The number of young wives has grown.”

“Arghhh───!”

“Milord, Lulu and I will become great wives.”

Since it looked like Fujiko would start crying, if I turned her down, I couldn’t say anything.

“Baaah───! What is going to happen to us?”

“Right! For us it’s just one or two more years!”

“Sensei, you’re not going to dump us, are you?”

“There’s no way I would. Agnes, Betty, Cindy, you’re my pupils…”

“””We’re your fiancées, right?”””

With this, it’s eight people…

Akitsushima Island, which possesses the same roots as the Mizuho people, might have something I didn’t anticipate.

This is how I arbitrarily decided to escape reality…

 

＊　　　＊　　　＊

 

“Now then, as for the situation in the south…”

Leaving the question of how many new wives I’d welcome for later──well, you can also call it stalling──it’s almost as if I belonged to a certain group of politicians…no, I used to be a humble commoner in my previous life.

Back on Earth, such politicians were criticized on TV, but now that I’m in a similar position, I know that things aren’t as easy as they may seem. Thus, I feel bad about having criticized them one-sidedly without knowing the circumstances.

The establishment of a governing system and the reorganization of the military forces…we increased the number of the standing army as much as possible and made sure that the residents could fully focus on their production.

Since it’s a transitional period, we have some of the soldiers work part-time to maintain public order, but once this subjugation of the southern territories is over, we plan to gradually decrease the standing army by gradually assigning reclaimed farmland to the soldiers.

Because we have already finished some of the steps towards that, we decided to carry out the southern subjugation at last.

A war council was held in the council room of Castle Ootsu where Yuki explained the situation in the south.

“There are four lords who largely divide the south among themselves. The Mouri family in the north, the Ryuzouji family in the mid-west, the Otomo family in the mid-east, and the Shimazu family in the south. They all have their respective, influential retainer families.”

“Which one is the strongest?”

“All of them are pretty much the same. But, the Shimazu family has four children who apparently are all intermediate magicians. This gives them some momentum right now.”

It’s possible that they’ll fervently resist, if we attack them, huh?

“The south has some leeway thanks to its seizable food production. They’re self-reliant, or rather, they do have some skirmishes with adjacent territories, but normally they don’t seek conflict.”

I heard that Kyushu was the region with the most violent clashes during Japan’s Warring states Era, but the southern powers of Akitsushima Island mostly consist of big lords who hate changes to the status quo. Because they’re fairly blessed with water and food, it sounds like they’ve had less wars than other regions.

“The subjugation will be simple then, right?”

“Yes, the subjugation will be no problem. But, the aftermath is going to become a hassle…”

 

＊

 

Yuki’s remark turned into reality.

As soon as the southern subjugation force under Kanenaka started to head southwards, the four big lords surrendered. Yuki was anxious that the four siblings of the Shimazu might put up a fight, but they didn’t do anything like that.

“We unified the whole island in no time, didn’t we?”

It might have been lacking for a game or novel, but it’s the best outcome for the one actually doing the conquest. However, a problem popped up afterwards.

“I believe the one in charge of the south should be the Otomo family as the one with the longest history. We landed on this island more than 10,000 years ago and are descendants of the group that supported the Akitsushima family,” declared the family head of the Otomo family, Sourin.

“That’s weird! Our Mouri family’s history is just as long!”

“What are you saying? Aren’t the Mouris descendants of humble servants who used the wipe the dirt away in front of the Akitsushima family’s castle?”

“That’s slander! Ancient documents clearly state that the ancestors of the Mouri family had served the Akitsushima family!”

“It’s a talk about events from 10,000 years ago. They probably wrote up some fitting lies.”

“Are you in any position to talk about others? In the first place, your family was discontinued and adopted boys many times over, didn’t it!?”

“You fool! Those were children from our branch families. The bloodline still continues!”

The head of the Mouri family, Motonari, started to argue that he was just as suited as governor.

“It’s embarrassing how they have no other merit than their age of the lineage, isn’t it? Our Ryuzouji is most suited as governor of the south.”

“You’re the most unsuited for this job!”

“You’re just an upstart!”

“We’re upstarts despite our 2,000 years of history? Aren’t you people just antiques?”

The pride about one’s lineage on this island is so vast that they’d regard all the nobles of the Kingdom and Empire as plain upstarts. They regard having a history of several thousand years as normal, after all.

Given that almost all lord families consist of magicians, it was probably easy to continue the family.

“Our Shimazu family has a history of 8,000 years. My four sons are all outstanding magicians. The Shimazu family, which combines lineage and true power, is the one suited to govern the south!”

Just when I thought that they surrendered fairly readily, we have this. They basically won’t fight any wars they can’t win either. Even if their territory is gone, they’ll keep their influence in the region as long as they’re governors. As such they cleverly decided that it’d be more beneficial to obediently surrender and then aim for the position of governor.

“Yuki’s prediction came true!”

Those four families were matched evenly in power, and since we didn’t fight, none of them lost any of their power. No matter whom I choose among those four, it’s a foregone conclusion that the other three will object. Maybe it was meaningless for them to have surrendered so easily.

“What should we do?”

“If we make a mistake in dealing with this matter…”

A war might break out over this.

If only I had some sort of reasonable basis to nominate one of those four…

“Ryouko, are they telling the truth about their lineage?”

“It’s also recorded in the ancient documents passed down in my family, but in the end it all happened 10,000 years ago. There are many cases where branch families succeeded the main family after it discontinued or usurped it, so I’d take their stories with a grain of salt…”

A blood relative of the lord wouldn’t be doubted as much if they were magicians. But, since members of branch families became the family head, the mana capacity within the family gradually ebbed down.

Just what is the cause for this peculiarity where mana is inherited among the lords? The genes shouldn’t be that different for them nobles in the Kingdom and Empire…

I guess I’ll have Arnest research this later. He might turn it down as being out of his field of expertise, though.

“So, what are we going to do?”

“Hmm, if a war broke out over the right to become governor, it’d be silly…I suppose I’ll use the Kingdom’s system as reference here…”

The minister posts in the kingdom are all shared by five families. I feel like it’d be smart to have those four families rotate every five years.

“Are those people going to accept such an irresponsible suggestion?”

“If I choose one family, it might lead to a war.”

“In reverse, I don’t think they’ll like such an ambivalent decision, you know…?”

Burkhart-san was worried about my proposal, but for better or worse, the inhabitants of this island resemble Japanese people. People believing that they have to eradicate others to become the sole option for the post of governor didn’t exist and my suggestion was accepted in no time.

 

＊

 

“The order will be decided through a lottery.”

“We’re your retainers, Earl-sama, so you’re free to do as you like, but a lottery…”

“If we use the number of retainers and allied lords to determine the order, you guys will argue again. This lottery is going to take place once every twenty years anyway, and if it’s a lottery you can easily explain it to your retainers and supporters.”

“Somehow there’s a lot of wishy-washy folks on this island, despite all the wars.”

“It’s better than people killing each other, isn’t it?”

As a result of the lottery, the Shimazu family would become the first governor. Then, the Otomo, Mouri, and Ryuzouji family would follow.

If they obediently listen to what they’re told by me, I don’t mind to approve at least that much of an exception.

“Finally the island has been conquered. It’s been such a drag.”

“You think so? Although it’s an island, it’s usually difficult to unify a land within three months. There’s still close to one month of my summer vacation left, too.”

The demon queen, who came to this island to work and play around, was surprised by the speed of our conquest.

“The faster this island becomes peaceful, the more Your Majesty’s company is going to profit, no?”

The teaching of agricultural techniques, the seeds and seedlings, as well as the sale of second-hand magic tools; Akitsushima Island being peaceful will increase the business opportunities, resulting in the demons being able to earn money here for an extended period of time, too.

“It’s just as Earl Baumeister says. There are many items which can’t be sold in the demon country because of their bad design or them being outdated. Currently Lyra is secretly buying them up. Many people throw them away as garbage even though they’re still usable, so we’re also collecting them for free.”

It was planned for those magic tools to arrive on this island in succession.

“We can use the magic tools cheaply bought from the demon country for the development of this island and use the magic tools discovered in historic ruins for the original Baumeister Earldom. The question would be how to prevent theft…”

A broke, elementary magician can steal quite a bit of items, if they use a magic bag. Nobles hostile to me or nobles eying to secure land here could have such magicians steal the magic tools. If the stolen goods are temporarily transported to their territory, they’ll be able to ignore any of my claims, too.

“Nobles who try to sabotage other nobles, eh…? Quite troublesome for those who cannot consider things on a wide scope. If it#s about theft protection, you just need to buy an anti theft tag, no?”

“A tag?”

“Every store in the demon country is using those.”

All demons are magicians, so they faced the same problem of thievery with a magic bag. Accordingly, they started selling magic tools which would loudly beep, if you put them into a magic bag.

“All the stores selling very expensive merchandise use those tags. You can only unlock them with special keys and just the store possesses those. If you try to force them apart, they’ll blare very loudly.”

“I’d really love to have those tags.”

We’re talking about Roderich here, so he’s accurately handling the management of the magic tools, but crimes and crime prevention is repeatedly evolving. Someone will definitely try to steal things, so it’s best to have many ways to prevent the theft.

“I’ll contact Lyra and have her obtain those tags. They aren’t overly expensive and you can even buy them through mail order.”

 

 

Just like this, Akitsushima Island was safely unified and I began my new rule while developing the land to gain the support of the people.

 

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