"......"
Rif. I had never expected to hear that name.
Once again, I was flooded with regret.
Rif of Jalsen Village — how could I forget that man. He was the first adventure party leader I had ever defeated, and the first person I had met in this world.
"......Tell me exactly how many villages have gone over to the adventure parties."
"Five villages, Your Greatness. All of them maintain self-defense militias."
"The bastards have been threatening us however they please!"
Suddenly, another man's voice cut in. He was a young man with muscles that looked ready to burst. He had bared his copper-toned upper body and dipped his head slightly toward me. His eyes blazed with fighting spirit.
"I'm sorry for the interruption! But if you leave it all to that old man, the sun will set before he finishes talking. I'll explain everything myself."
"This elder is the leader of a village. Do you have the qualifications to stand in for him?"
"I may be young, but I lead a village of my own."
Seeing that none of the envoys pushed back, it was clearly true. When I looked at the old man, he let out a sigh and retreated on his own. In his place, the young man stepped one pace forward.
"My Lord Demon! The reason a young pup like me ended up as a leader is because of those adventurer bastards. They've been going around the villages with the self-defense militia, telling everyone to join their side, haven't they? My father, the village chief, refused them outright."
The young man gritted his teeth.
"And they cut off my father's head just like that, is what I'm saying. My Lord, do you understand what that means? If we refuse, our heads say goodbye to our bodies. If we agree, we've barely got enough decent militia members to speak of, so we'd have to bet our lives fighting you, My Lord. Either way, there isn't a shred of luck to be found."
"Your Greatness......"
The old man bowed low.
"Please forgive this lowly child's rudeness. He has had no education, so his words are rough, but he was not born with an evil nature."
"Oh come on, old man, does it really matter? Is now really the time to worry about how we talk?"
"You brat! You shameless little wretch!"
The old man's voice boomed with surprising volume as he erupted in a shout.
"You must always show proper manners and follow due procedure when addressing your superiors!"
"Hmph. I don't know a thing about manners, and I've never learned a thing about procedure. But there's one thing I do understand."
The young man turned his blazing gaze toward us.
"The situation we're in right now is extremely important to the Demon Lord as well. So wouldn't it benefit the Demon Lord if we relayed the current situation as quickly as possible? Isn't caring for the other party the highest form of courtesy? Typical of an old man—always nitpicking about things that don't matter."
"Oh, you little—!"
I clicked my tongue inwardly. The young man and the old man were arguing over a worn-out topic. Personally, it was a rather interesting debate, and I wanted to hear a bit more from the young man, but this was neither the time nor the place. I raised my right hand.
—Coooom.
Thirty golems stomped their feet in unison. The sudden tremor made the people stagger. Some even fell. They looked at me in a panic.
"Before whom do you presume to conduct an unauthorized debate?"
"We are deeply sorry!"
"Please forgive us, great one!"
Nearly twenty members of the diplomatic envoy prostrated themselves on the ground in unison.
"It is always proper to observe due decorum. It is also correct that urgency demands the situation be conveyed swiftly. However, having observed the matter, young village chief—you have never been taught manners, and so even if you wished to show me proper courtesy, there is nothing you could do about it. For today, I shall permit the omission of formalities."
"As I said—you're a man who understands reason!"
The young man sprang to his feet from his prostrated position. Good grief—less human than beast. I sighed inwardly and spoke.
"However, it was wrong of you to berate the old man who offered you sound advice. Before you explain the situation to me, first offer a formal apology to the old man."
"Huh?"
The young man's face twisted with undisguised displeasure.
"W-Well, my lord? I am, after all, a village head as well."
"I shall personally teach you one lesson. Do not make me repeat myself. If you ever make me repeat my words needlessly again, there will naturally be a price to pay."
I had no intention of going easy on him. I didn't like the old man's way of explaining things either. He only answered what I asked and never offered any explanation of his own initiative. The young man had a point. I wasn't in a position to be that patient right now.
But if I sided with the young man here, the hierarchy among the village heads would be thrown into disarray. The old man had probably been chosen as the envoy's representative precisely because he was the eldest. In other words, age was their implicitly agreed-upon and traditional standard. If that standard collapsed, the village heads would inevitably be thrown into confusion about whom to put forward as their representative and how to negotiate between their positions. They would grow resentful toward me for having caused such chaos.
What they recognized as authority, I would likewise treat as authority. That was why I had ordered the young man to apologize. However, since the young man seemed far more capable of explaining than the old man, I would hear the explanation from him. One might say I was gaining both principle and practical benefit.
"Th-that... I am sorry, old one."
"Tch."
I raised my right hand. A tremor of etiquette once again rumbled through the ground. At that, the young man seemed to snap back to his senses and threw himself flat on the ground, performing a deep bow toward the old man.
"I am sorry for speaking so rudely. I shall never do it again, sir."
The old man gladly accepted the apology. He seemed almost burdened by the situation having gone this far. His expression conveyed that he was grateful I had personally helped him save face.
It wasn't done for his sake, but there was no need to correct that misunderstanding. Behind them, the other village heads of the envoy were nodding in satisfaction. A hologram appeared showing that their Affinity had increased. It proved that my actions had not been wrong.
"Now, give me the explanation you were so confident about, young village head."
"Ugh. As I said, some rascal called Rif or something is leading a party of adventurers and a militia. All told, there are at least seventy of them. My lord, I don't know if you're aware, but seventy well-trained warriors would be difficult even for soldiers to subdue."
"Seventy men moving together would have trouble securing food."
My eyes narrowed.
These villages had survived while a seventy-strong combat force was breathing down their necks. And they hadn't even chosen to resist me. What this implied was clear. They had offered something in exchange for their lives.
"What happened?"
"We handed over food. When they told us to choose between our lives and our wheat, what could we do? That's why we came to apologize, my lord."
The envoy once again threw themselves to the ground. They clamored on about forgiveness and apologies.
I had no interest in such things. I didn't care to nitpick about them having surrendered food to save their own villages. Were they my subjects or something? Were their villages part of my domain or something? By coming to apologize and share information, they had done their part as honorable men. It would be enough to roughly scare them with appearances and send them on their way. The village heads had known that when they came.
We have shown you our loyalty.
So even if you win your battle against the adventuring party, please do not punish us separately. We had our own circumstances and could only offer our grain to the other side.
The envoy had found the best play for their villages — a way to survive regardless of whether the adventuring party or I emerged victorious. If I were to push them too hard here? They would no doubt flip their attitude and threaten to join the adventuring party instead. It was a simple piece of business.
"......"
What caught my eye wasn't the envoy party silently proposing such an obvious and trivial transaction — it was the young man. He alone stood tall on both feet without bowing.
Before I could even open my mouth to ask, the young man spoke.
"I'll be honest with you. I really don't like the current situation one bit."
"You, you insolent—"
The old village chief was horrified.
"Ah, Chief, can you not sit still for just a moment? I despise this kind of game, I really do."
"What game, what are you talking about—"
"Ah, enough. Let me finish what I have to say first. Look. Elders, look! We hand over wheat we toiled all year to grow to those bastards, and we snitch information to the Demon Lord. Sure, that way you all lived well and played it smart — but I see things differently!"
The young man swept his gaze across the entire envoy.
"Let's just say the adventuring party wins. Then what? We're done? You think those five villages that banded together to form their militia will just peacefully disband and go back to being strangers? They already made suckers out of us once. Dammit — they took grain they didn't even harvest themselves! They've already tasted what seventy people gathered together can do. Do you really think they'll disband? Or do you think they'll keep scheming to fleece us?"
I was somewhat surprised. Just like before, the young man was cutting straight to the heart of the matter in his rough manner of speaking.
Perhaps the Acting skill would be necessary after all. I activated the skill in my mind and waited for the right moment.
"Elders. Don't tell me I'm wrong! We're sick and tired of that kind of scheme more than anyone. That's the sort of thing those lord bastards always used to pull — the ones you'd kill and still not feel satisfied. We're practically raising one more lord bastard right now."
"......"
"They broke the rule of not encroaching between villages! Those who break the rules must face punishment. Understand? If you don't want to be suckers, you have to crush them. So tell me — is it better for us to join forces among ourselves, or to join forces with the Demon Lord right here?"
The village chiefs looked at one another. They wore bewildered expressions, but they were clearly running profit calculations in their heads.
"I haven't the faintest idea what you've been doing with all those years of life. Even if the Demon Lord wins, our situation won't improve, will it? The moment it comes out that we're the kind of weasels who side with whoever's winning, do you think the Demon Lord will ever trust us? I'd stake my balls and swear on them—we'll be sorry someday, mark my words."
"BWAHAHAHAHA!"
I burst into roaring laughter. The young man and the envoy's gaze snapped toward me.
"Young village chief. State your name to me."
"Pa—Parsi, sir."
The young man answered in a voice that was clearly frightened. I flashed a grin.
"Parsi. I thought you were just some ignorant brat who didn't know the first thing about etiquette, but it seems you're a small tiger after all. You're right—every word you said. I do intend to make you all pay a price. However, there is one thing you've got wrong, young village chief."
"Wh—what is it?"
"The price I make you pay doesn't come after I've crushed the Adventurer's Guild. It comes before. Cutting off the enemy's supply lines is the most fundamental of fundamentals in military strategy. Your villages are known to serve as supply bases—why on earth would I not target you first? I will annihilate your villages first, thereby starving the enemy of provisions!"
The old men's faces turned pale. Once again, a parade of apologies began. I paid them no mind—my voice boomed over their heads all the same.
"That's enough. You have only two choices. Swear allegiance to me, or side with the Adventurer's Guild and become a band of rebels. Choose now!"
"O—O Great Being...! Even if we were to sw—submit to you... we have no means of protecting our villages from the rebels at once!"
The old man trembled from head to toe.
"Have mercy... please have mercy on us...!"
"Don't worry. Do you think I'd simply use you as cannon fodder?"
Having shown them the threat of death, it was time to offer them a path to survival.
"Th—then?"
"Swear to serve me, and I shall personally reveal the light to you."
I smiled a faint, cold smile.