While everyone was working on the matter regarding Lilith and Lilith herself was spending her time away drinking like no tomorrow with her old friend Camelia, Sol had his hands full working with Clara about the matters regarding Lustburg.
"Your Highness needs to have a meeting with the Highland family. Athena Highland has been chosen as the representative for the meeting from the Highland’s side."
"Hmm? Athena? What about the old man? Anything happened to him recently?"
"Sir Tyr is still very much healthy, Your Highness. I surmise that he wishes to introduce Athena to more important matters of the family through this and most likely wishes to make her spend more time with you."
"I see…"
Sol nodded in understanding and acknowledgment to Clara’s words. Athena had already been acting as a representative of their family every now and then before he left for the Astral Realm, so it was not anything new.
But now, it seemed that she would be taking full control of the Highland family’s affairs.
'Then again, Tyr is only a human, after all.'
He had to admit that after being around the divine beasts, he had forgotten that the lifespan of a human, no matter how powerful he may be or whatever realm they might have attained, was quite low, comparatively speaking.
Tyr was only a Duke-ranked human so living more than a hundred years would be complicated without some external supplement in use.
'I guess the same goes for Setsuna and Milia too. And… To a certain degree, Camelia as well.'
Even a King-ranked human had an average lifespan of 300 years or so. It was impossible to reach 500 without treading on the Demigod realm but that was a whole other matter altogether. Meanwhile, for the divine beasts, even events from 700 years ago still felt like fresh news. A past that wasn’t really a past but more akin to the events of a month ago at most.
He was still young, so he couldn't really understand the weight of his longevity but he hoped from the bottom of his heart that he would have those he loved always close to him and share their life together till the end.
'Well, I still have time.'
"I think your highness should take Athena Highland or at least a relative of hers as a concubine. This would strengthen the power of the royal family greatly."
Sol chuckled and shook his head, "I have honestly no romantic interest in Athena for now. As for the power of the royal family? As long as I am alive, no such thing will be necessary."
When he visited the Four Dukes family, he had a discussion with Tyr about Athena becoming his knight and possibly his fiancee or concubine.
Certainly, back then having the Highland on his back seemed very enticing. But now not much so. Anything that could actually threaten him currently would reduce Athena to nothingness in an instant.
If the witches, Camelia, and Lilith were not considered in the picture, Sol could say without a hint of arrogance that he was the strongest being in the entirety of Lustburg.
When you took into consideration that all those stronger than him were all his staunchest allies, then his control over Lustburg would never be in jeopardy no matter what.
Clara had to fight her inner urge to scream like a fan girl after hearing him speak so resolutely and with such unrestrained confidence. She adjusted her glasses and coughed lightly to gather her bearings before she made a fool of herself before her Lord…
"Your Highness is certainly strong. But power alone cannot assure the good functioning of a Kingdom as large as Lustburg."
Sol grimaced slightly after hearing her words. Lustburg was a very big country [1]. All in all, it covered no less than 3 million square kilometers.
If compared to his old world this was roughly equal to India in the area alone.
Furthermore, this was the result of having lost some territory to other countries during past wars. Prominently, during Neptune’s reign.
This world had a weird mix of technology and magic while retaining the lifestyle of medieval times. So, at the very least, the life of the citizens was pretty much assured at this point.
But since the territory was so big, problems always followed them around.
"When I came to Lustburg with Princess Lilin, we were attacked on the road by bandits not far from the capital."
Sol sighed as he listened to Clara’s report, "Furthermore since Queen Lilith focused mainly on the interior politics of Lustburg, the nobles on the frontier are more or less acting like kings in their territories and have increased the taxes greatly. Making life moderately harder for the citizens. It’s almost a tyranny at this point."
"Of course, after the recent purge, they calmed down. But human beings really have a short memory, don’t they? Some nobles are trying to skimp on the war resources they need to provide."
Sol wished he could instantly become a demigod and cover the entirety of the Lustburg at least as his territory.
Then this whole thing would change into a big simulation game as he would have absolute control over every part of the kingdom. This way nothing would be able to go past his supervision and he could instantly strike down any mishappenings in the kingdom before it could get out of hand like this.
'This is why I don't want to conquer the world.'
Dealing with one kingdom was hell already. Dealing with the world would be something he couldn't even start to imagine.
He shook his head to suppress those tiring thoughts, "I guess Milia is doing something about this?"
Clara gave an icy smile as she placed a list on his table, "There are many decisions we couldn't take as it would be abusing our authority. But now that you are present, I believe that it’s time to sort this situation."
Sol calmly read the list that could have been called a death note in a way.
After all, all those on this list were judged to be worthy of being executed.
Sol pondered a little before asking her an important question, "Any replacement ready?"
"Yes. But it would take time for them to acclimate and that is why… Milia made a simple proposal… Using the war as a means to achieve our goals."
"...."
Sol closed his eyes and replied with an indifferent tone, "You mean killing them covertly on the battlefield."
"Indeed. Lustburg already had too much turmoil in a short time span. So a mass assassination operation would only incite more chaos in the country and the people’s mind. But by using the war as a means we can keep our hands clean."
He could only form a bitter smile with his lips after hearing Clara’s words, "I wish I was the kind of person who could show outrage at such a proposal."
He stood up and waved his hand, "I will review the information about them and give my decision once I am done with the reviewing. Please bring me their complete background and the crime they are accused of."
Sol did not doubt Clara and doubted Milia even less.
If Milia judged that they needed to die then he was sure they needed to.
But… He refused to take this decision lightly.
He needed to know. Needed to understand all the reasons before steering those people to their untimely deaths.
From now on, all his decisions would affect millions of people. He couldn't just say <<I didn't know>> or <<This wasn't my choice>> just wash his hands off of the matter.
'I also need more competent and loyal retainers to use as administrators.'
Clara was a gem but she only had one body and mind. Even the Crown’s Shadow had basically been permanently changed into an open administrative institution because of how much work they were doing due to the lack of trustworthy and competent personnel.
'After I finish dealing with Lilith 's problem, I will ask Isis to help me with her undead.'
Just imagining a group of 100% loyal and tireless undead working on paperwork for him brought a small smile to his face and swept away the feeling of gloom that was burdening his mind.
He also needed to have a talk with the witches.
'I wonder if I can learn a way to create many clones.'
He felt like this wouldn't be impossible. After all, his power was still entirely linked with the concept of mirrors.
He should be able to create at least one copy of himself. The only problem was that he was quite scared to do it.
If the clone was his mirror then its personality might also be the opposite of his own.
'All that for the future.'
"Hmmm?"
Sol tilted his head in wonder as he heard someone running in the hallway outside…
"Who might it be?"
Clara had already left to go find the documents he had asked for but he doubted she would run like this.
His question was answered promptly when he felt the aura of Isis as she burst through the door with no consideration.
"Sol! Sol! We… We succeeded! We finally completed the perfect map and made a plausible plan that’s sure to work!"
Sol’s fist clenched unconsciously at the news.
Finally… The time had come.
He approached Isis and took her in his arms before giving her a deep searing kiss in the throes of excitement he felt from this news.
"Thank you."
She blushed slightly due to the curveball he threw at her but nestled herself in his arms the next moment, feeling quite happy with her actions.
"You should also thank Sheherazade later."
"Heh, I guess my debt to the little fairy is growing every day."
He shook his head as his expression became firm and resolute, "I will go and find Lilith. It’s time to end this…"
It was time to complete the main quest after clearing out all those damned cumbersome side quests.
Finally… It was time to end it all…
[1] :
The countries are in order by how large they are in kilometers.
Gluttony Foss with 18 million square.
Envilya with 10 million square.
Lustburg with 3 million square.
Southern pride with 2 million square.
Wratharis with 750000 square.
Greed dike with 700000 square.
And Slotsthein with 250000 square.
(AN: Question. Are you guys interested in kingdom building/Politics etc? This is a real question as once Sol officially becomes a King it will determine how much attention I place on those plots. I am the first to say that I am not the smartest dude around so don't expect some mind-blowing plot filled with twists and super complicated plans. But some kingdom-building could help expand the world. Even more so since my dude wants to conquer the world.)
