The Death Mage That Doesnt Want A Fourth Time 132 (1/2)
The Aion was troubled by the fact that the process of nor at all
“What shall we do, Duke Marme? At this rate, our position in our homeland…” said a military civil official, inside the conference room of one of Duke Sauron’s army’s forts that had been seized by the Amid Empire’s army
A vein surfaced on the forehead of a ed man whose hairline had receded to the top of his head “dahis fist against the thick, round table
He was Duke Marme… the cousin of the Amid Empire’s current emperor, Marshukzarl
Duke Marme had assumed the position of supre the Sauron Duchy in the spring of this year
The political ressed for multiple years after the Sauron Duchy was occupied, and Duke Marme, the head of the Mar connected to the imperial fah spirits, thinking that he would ress rapidly
However, he had co up this new post
All of the “improvements” and “political measures” that Duke Marme and his retainers could come up with had already been tried by his predecessors And this had led to the current situation
Even when they were exe taxes in full for a period of tihere put in place, the people of the Sauron region would not yield to the Amid Empire No matter how much time passed, they referred to the A army,’ supported the resistance behind the scenes despite not showing any signs of rebellion on the surface, and they aiting for the return of Duke Sauron’s children, who had fled to the Orbaudom
The political ainst Vida’s races like Beast-people and titans, which were co time due to the orders of Emperor Marshukzarl, and this had not caused any problems, at least on the surface However, other political measures had caused problems to surface
Trying to do soht with hi about, but the situation had only worsened
“The people have a deep-rooted resistance to the construction of a Church of Alda and religious conversion, so we cannot gather workers In fact, there have been conflicts between the people and the soldiers trying to recruit workers, devolving into bloodshed…”
The national religion of the Amid Empire, the faith that placed Alda, the God of law and fate, at the highest position – coion The political ion, which had flourished in the Sauron region, had not progressed at all
“Again… It ather a dozen more armed soldiers, the commoners won’t riot so easily You should have received permission froh soldiers gathered So why are you not doing this?” asked the grand chamberlain of the Marme family of dukes
“No, that is… the first ones to act violently were the soldiers, the ones that belong to Duke Marme’s army…” the civil official said
“What?! Are you saying that those who belong to the duke’s arrand cha understood the situation now
The pale-faced civil official continued his report “So into a puddle of water, sendingonto one of the soldiers’ shoes When he tried to discipline the child, the child’s parents apparently interfered, and… the blood rose to the soldier’s head and he drew his sword He punished the father on the spot before the other soldiers could stop him”
“So that was the cause of the rebellion Has the grand chaht to punish civilians?” asked afor the civil official
“Silence! It has not been long since those soldiers were recruited, and it is you civil officials who sih soldiers and then ask us to send rand chamberlain shouted
“We did indeed request for more soldiers, but it is supposed to be the work of you military officers to decide who to actually dispatch!” the civil official’s superior shouted back
“SILENCE!” Duke Marme bellowed “Are there any other reports?!”
“Y-yes! The reconstruction of the fort in the Scylla territory has been delayed According to prelies and a teaineers dispatched, the delay could be reduced to the end of autumn, but…” another civil official reported
“You bastard, didn’t you say at the start of summer that ‘the delay could be reduced to the end of summer?!’ We’ve dispatched the valuable, skilled individuals arand chamberlain demanded
“I-I’ ofwell, so the construction work is not progressing”
“damn, are there any other reports?!” the duke shouted, saliva flying from his mouth
The pale-faced civil officials delivered their reports one by one Complaints from the Adventurers’ Guild, as well as petitions froes – had stacked up like a mountain
On top of that, the ress in the reformation of the resistance exter, as well as increasing nu unable to h they were not seriously ill
As only half a year had passed since Duke Marme took up this post, these problems were not entirely the responsibility of him and his retainers
All of these are due to the resistance’s achievedew as he moistened his throat with black tea at a seat at the end of the conference hall, watching the duke’s face growing darker and darker as if it was completely unrelated to him
The Aun when they alloo influential resistance organizations to for Princess Knight and the Reborn Sauron Duchy Army that was led by Duke Sauron’s son, Raymond Paris
The two resistance organizations had become a source of hope to the local populace that the Amid Empire’s army had tried to force to become accustomed to everyday life under occupation This had ainst the empire
Due to this, the Amid Empire’s army had become unable to hire the local populace as workers to becouards or build new forts and other military installations
They had hired co numerous checks, but h rate of success in infiltrating the workforce and had continued to cause incidents to occur
One ht think that these problems could be solved if workers and necessaryshi+eld-nation, whose national borders were close to the Amid Empire mainland, but this was no simple matter
Rebels existed in both the A shi+eld-nation, and the Aroup up with the resistance, even the mainland’s public order could become unstable
Even if this weren’t the case, the Mirg shi+eld-nation still hadn’t reorganized its arth in the expedition to the Boundary Mountain Range three years ago
As for workers, bringing them from the Empire or its vassal nations would be a poor move as well
First of all, this would plainly coh labor costs Alda, the God of the eht that “those ork should be given appropriate rewards” Workers’ wages could not be unjustly lowered
And the workers of the occupied nation would think that their work had been stolen fro the Sauron Duchy’s commoners and the Workers’ Guild In the worst-case scenario, the neorkers could clash with the co to a riot
Even if things did not progress that far, doing this would create e of
Due to these various reasons, the national border on the Mirg shi+eld-nation’s side had been blockaded with travel back and forth across the border being heavily regulated, but this had caused delays in the transportation of goods
The duchies of the Orbau of the kingdom, so they had become able to function independently to some extent
But not everything was available in abundant a the traders of the Co a profit because of this
It wasn’t only those ere involved in trading; because people could no longer travel back and forth to other places, the mercenaries of the Mercenaries’ Guild, who norratory birds, had beco
Thees that the occupying arerous were already under surveillance, and research considered taboo by the Alda religion had been forbidden as well, so this was just adding oil to the flames
The Adventurers’ Guild didn’t have as many complaints, but adventurers were also unable to leave the Sauron region And adventurers of D-class or loere more often employed by commoners and merchants than by noble army and became hated, their incomes would drop sharply
And the occupying army did not have an unlimited number of personnel
Duke Mare in size compared to other armies owned by nobleht his entire arion He had needed to leave some of the army behind to ht too many, he would have faced proble places for them to stay That hy only a third of his ar army
However, the soldiers of the duke’s ar in a place with a different climate for an extended period of time, so it was only natural that some of them would becoing an ar the public order of a duchy on an expedition that they weren’t accustomed to
It wasn’t as if there were no methods available to improve these problems The resistance simply needed to be exterminated
To say that things would go well if the resistance were to disappear would seem to be an excuse, but the resistance’s interference was preventing the occupying ar personnel andas they existed, the co army
It wasn’t as if things would go smoothly the day after the resistance was defeated, but the situation would certainly improve
A good opportunity for that had coer brother Rick Paris of the Reborn Sauron Duchy Arether
If the Sauron Liberation Front had been destroyed as well, the Aressed several steps forward by now Duke Marme wouldn’t have needed to take up this position, either
However, the Liberating Princess Knight had gathered the scattered remnants of the Reborn Sauron Duchy Arle, very stable organization
And the elite resistance exter of this year had been annihilated by the elite squads led by the Liberating Princess Knight, so the chances of the occupying ar able to exterminate the resistance were slim now
Especially with Duke Mar at the top, Cuoco la once more
“Curse those lowborn fools! If they want requests, I have given theo and hunt on their own in the Devil’s Nests!”
“Your Excellency, ill you do if you do not take the Adventurers’ Guild’s concerns into account and they join forces with the resistance?” a civil official asked
“Then send the requests to build the Church to the Adventurers’ Guild as well! Even those savages should be able to transport stone!”
“Th-that would encroach on the domain of the Workers’ Guild…”
“What domain have those who do not cooperate with us to spread the traditional holy teachings of Alda! Those heretics orshi+p a leicked woman!”
It’s started again
Cuoco was a traitor who sold inforanization, the Sauron Liberation Front, teredients they offered However, he had anotherhis country other than the delicious food
Duke Mar the supreme commander had been decided in the winter of last year, and after hearing this, Cuoco had guessed that the duke, as well as the other noble Cuoco himself, had been chosen by the emperor as sacrificial lambs
Duke Mar connections to the Church of Alda in the eressively that even those in the empire think that he is too radical
Even though worshi+pping Vida was forbidden in the Aed Vida hadrotesque races, but even so, she was a Goddess who had created the world with Alda and the others, and she had fought against the De
In other words, for many Alda believers, Vida was a prisoner that deserved to be punished for her mistakes, and once she had atoned, she would one day return to her place as the Goddess who ruled over the life attribute
Despite that, Duke Marme denounced Vida as a lewd and wicked wo nobleed the people of his land to leak information so that he could hunt down adherents of Vida, only to have the Pope repri, “What do you take the law to be?!”
That wasn’t all Duke Marme treated adventurers as lowborn individuals
There were probleion
The Amid Empire and its vassal states had a tendency to not use adventurers in its military activities That was because there was a historical event in the past, before the foundation of the ee nuainst another nation, leading to a shortage of strength to exterh they did not lose the war, da the nation to fall apart
That didn’t mean that adventurers weren’t trusted, but Duke Marainst adventurers unjustly other than extraordinary exceptions such as the Thunderclap Schneider
Still, if the region would stay quiet, then it would be fine It is a fa history; the vassals are exceptional, but… the rand chamberlain… At the very least, the e thes worse, and that things will not get better
As Cuoco spent his ti hihts, Duke Marme’s irritation reached a peak
“Curse you, Marshukzarl! You set a trap for ion, forced the Marme family of dukes to bear the failure of the political th as the emperor!”
“M-Master, please stop referring to His Excellency the emperor without any honorifics!”
Surprisingly, it see as Cuoco
He couldn’t destroy a family of dukes, so he’s forced the current Duke Marme to retire But he could easily destroy a fa in debt Well, if that’s all, I don’t really mind, but…
He would sis, then repay his debt by working as an adventurer He had always accommodated the Adventurers’ Guild up until now, and he was quite confident in his own fighting strength
His fain with, so he had resigned himself to this fate as well
But if I ht be forced to live a life of faith as a priest, or they ht announce that I have ‘co responsibility’ I don’t want that
Eating delicious food was life A modest life as a priest would be unbearable Cuoco didn’t want to die, either
“Silence! All of this is because you cannot handle the resistance, is it not! Everything would go well if it were not for them!” Duke Marme shouted
Personally, I would like if Iris-dono and the others could coordinate with the Orbau ht or even a er need to repay my debt