Chapter 313 City Project
Day 115
“This is a report on everything that happened during the past month, including yesterday’s events.”, Smacking folders down on my desk, Reiman informed me.
I took the folders and appraised them, honestly impressed that Reiman actually documented everything on paper. In fact, I was curious as to when Reiman had learned to write, but I didn’t say anything in order to avoid offending him. After all, Reiman was easily the most competent creature in Larm. I wouldn’t be shocked if he learned reading and writing just in case of anything. That was simply the kind of man he was.
He must have acquired the folders, paper and ink from one of the offices in the mansion. Although this mansion was structured solely for Percy McAllister, it had several offices. There was one massive office which clearly belonged to him, but the others were smaller and had items a person like Percy wouldn’t use. Most likely, those were the offices of his other workers who attended to other things for him.
Inside the folders, I got a compilation of events, plans and strategies Reiman had employed or was planning to employ during the war. His plans were turned upside down at the end it seems, but he still made the best of what he could, given his opponents unusual strategies. All this while providing aid to the South in a way. Well, we were lucky the South could spare some food for the cyclopes, because those guys were going to render us starving during the war. The cyclopes could fight and build. Aside their benefits, the cyclopes were walking burdens that I didn’t want to deal with.
Leaving them in the hands of Reiman was the best thing to do, but I wasn’t so cruel as to leave him with more work after what he’d just done. The cyclopes would simply need to return to the North. The West most likely couldn’t provide enough food for them in such short time periods.
The orcs and kobolds could return home at any point they wanted, but considering they were much more knowledgeable than we were in terms of infrastructure and smithery, I preferred them staying. The orc king was especially good at smithing apparently. And from the reports, both sides were eager to stay in the West, so I was willing to offer them their place here as long as we could upgrade this place.
At the moment, the West was going to undergo some serious renovations. Why you ask? Because everyone decided to grow bigger! Those shitty hob-goblins suddenly evolved into ogres or onis, depending on which were specialising in something. The ogres formed the majority, whereas the onis were specifically magic or elemental.
The Fenrir alliance, in collaboration with the silver back panthers were still in charge of maintaining security around the borders of the West. Shiro, Unmei and the Silver-back Panther King were ensuring that no humans crossed into the West or even if they did, not dangerously close to where our operations were.
We had eyes and ears everywhere with Reiman’s rats and the Fenrir alliance. I decided it’d be great too if we could have eyes in the sky, but that wouldn’t really work given the West didn’t have many highlands.
As I looked through everything, I had a sudden realisation. The answer felt obvious, but I still had to ask.
“Sunalla didn’t participate?”
“No. We’ve been unable to make any contact with the nymphs or guppies. It seems they completely vacated the West.”, He answered back quickly.
I looked through the folders and saw one with ‘List of Potential Allies’ written on it. It was at the very bottom of the pile, so I hadn’t seen it yet. I read through it and saw a few cancelled-out names like wyverns, dark elves and water nymphs.
The reasons were listed as well. Under the water nymphs, the reason written was: “Unavailable”. Considering what I’d seen in Atlantis, I wondered if something was happening that required the guppies to be taken down there. After all, they were brought here for their own safety. I imagined the journey to Atlantis alone must have been dangerous for them. Maybe I had to perform a check up on them. Not that I was excited to pay a visit to Elriek.
I shut the folder, then informed Reiman of my opinions on the entire situation.
The war was kind of messy, as all wars were. It was clear that Reiman had a decent level of control over the events, but things got out of hand towards the end and he had no real plan to counter that. If I hadn’t arrived, it was quite obvious that Reiman would have ended up losing. I berated him on that part. This wasn’t a matter of me feeling superior or anything, but rather I felt that Reiman had gotten a bit carless. He relied too heavily on his new unique skill [Devil’s Tactician], as stated in his reports.
The skill was one that broke down the current situation into a chess game for him to play around with. However, what he wasn’t considering that living creatures couldn’t be manipulated like an actual chess game, especially in a war. There was too much happening, too many emotions and opinions circling. Unless he could perfectly manipulate all of those, he would lose no matter how well he played. Besides that, there was also the matter of outsmarting the opposing chess master. It was possible he was smarter, but the chess pieces didn’t move like actual chess pieces. They jumped about the board in unconventional ways that would leave anyone watching bewildered.
Reiman assumed he’d received a great power and was better than the opposing side, however that practically caused him the war in the end.
“Ah… yes, you’re right.”, He bowed his head down apologetically.
“However, I must admit that it is impressive how you handled everything. You really were the best person for the job. I’m glad you’re my general.”
This wasn’t just lip service. I doubted anyone else under my service could have pulled it off. Reiman really deserved a lot of praise, ignoring the fact that he lost.
“I am glad to hear that…”, the look on his face was one of shock, awe and pride. I was surprised I could find so many emotions on a rat’s face, but I was glad that I could read his expressions.
“Alright then. Get the ogres, onis, orcs and kobolds to pick up the broken armour, weapons and corpses of the dead. It should barely be noticeable that a war took place.”
I didn’t revive the dead from outside the West. Why? I saw absolutely no need to. If we were low on man power, I’d just summon shadows to take their place. Shadow Fiends alone could do the job of an army and I had two of them at my side.
“Ah… wait, why weren’t any of the shadow fiends involved in the final war?”, I just noticed that oddity.
Reiman froze, looking perturbed. This question caught him off-guard and clearly, he hadn’t even wondered about it. He must have had so many things on his mind that it flew over him. With that, I’d confirmed that it was no intentional play on his part, which meant there was only one culprit.
Maou. The kitten must have ordered the shadows to not interfere or something. That was the only logical explanation here. For what reasons, I couldn’t figure out, but maybe it was time to discipline him.
“Never mind then. I think I know why.”
I leaned back into my seat and stretched, popping my joints and yawning in sweet relief. Reiman stood up and turned around to leave, but I stopped him.
“Oh, we aren’t done.”
Confused, he returned to his seat and looked at me anxiously.
“I was planning on hosting a ceremony to honour the soldiers who accomplished the most during this event in about a week’s time, after the conference with the leaders from all sides of Larm.”
“Oh?”, Reiman was intrigued. I hadn’t told him about my plan yet, so it was no shocker that this was his reaction.
“However, I have no idea what sort of gift everyone would like.”, Yeah, that was the problem with these sorts of the things. The first time, everyone was satisfied with just a name. This time, giving them a new name felt redundant, but I couldn’t think of what they wanted. For that reason, I came to test this out on Reiman.
“Would you like me to find out what they want?”, Eager to aid me, Reiman asked. However, that wasn’t why I told him.
“No. I just want to know what you want.”, I stated plainly.
“Eh?”, Too stunned by my statement, Reiman let out a sound he didn’t usually make. His dumbfounded expression was comical to say the least.
“Your efforts in this endeavour can’t be denied by anyone. It should come as no surprise that such effort needs to be rewarded. So, tell me what you want. I’ll give it to you.”
Ok, cross sounding like a kind, competent, superior off my bucket list, cause I just fucking nailed it!
“I… I wish for nothing, My Lady.”, He bowed down to me. I was reading his mind the entire time, and nothing came to mind. He really wanted nothing from me. I was testing [Authority of Avarice] here to draw out his desires, but there was nothing. Reiman wanted absolutely nothing.
“Eh?”, Now I was making a stupid sound.
“If anything, please give me more chances to prove my worth.”, He said with ambitious eyes that resembled a puppy.
‘Ah… what the hell? This guy’s gung-ho aura is killing me. Isn’t he tired of work or something?’
Reiman was the complete opposite of me. Whereas I was looking for ways to avoid work, this man wanted all of it. Who the hell wanted more work? That’d just shut them down eventually.
‘Oh well, if that’s what he wants.’
Who was I to stop him? I didn’t want work, he wanted work. This was the perfect relationship right here. That meant I didn’t have to feel bad about unloading some work ideas onto him.
“In that case, can you organise the orcs and kobolds to start making living areas for the ogres and the likes? Also make sure that the ogres learn and are actively involved in the process, rather than just watch.”
“Hm? If you do that, you will end up converting this area into a city.”, Reiman pointed out my plan.
“Well, that’s what I want…”, Wasn’t it obvious?
From the look in Reiman’s eyes, it apparently wasn’t obvious. Maybe I overrated his insight.
“C-Could I be involved in the process?”, he stammered out with shaky hands.
I wanted to scratch my head at the odd question. I was starting to consider the possibility that Reiman’s brain was fried.
“Uh, you’re practically in charge of it now. Don’t forget to show me the city plan first.”, I didn’t want to have a hand in this, but I still wanted to at least know what the city would look like before they started building.
“Diane and the dryads probably won’t be happy about this, so we have to build around the trees. We’ll just make it into a forest city. Like how elves would. You can ask the dark elves’ opinions on the matter.”
I remembered the duo that joined our ranks. Since they lived in the West, they should have some idea on how to build a village without gaining the ire of the spirits.
Excited, Reiman got off the chair and was headed out, but this time, he stopped himself, then faced me.
“Oh, do you have a name for this city?”
I was then caught off-guard.
‘A name, huh?’
I hadn’t sat down to ever think of a name for a city before. Well, it was eventually going to happen if I actually built a city, but until then, I guess I had no name for it.
“This little isolated forest full of monster… we’ll call it Onigashima. Hehe. How’s that sound?”, I joked, but instantly regretted the moment Reiman’s eyes glittered like stars. I wanted to point out that I was just joking, but he spoke first.
“In that case, on the matter of the cyclopes… may I speak?”
“What is it?”, Curious, I asked.
“I think it’s a waste to send them back. They consume a lot of resources, but they are clearly experts at building good, sustainable architectures. Maybe we could make some use of them?”
“Hmm, is there a way to keep them fed?”
“Well, it should be possible.”
‘Eh? It is? Well, if that’s the case…’
“Sure.”
“Huh?”
“If you think you can handle it, do it. You’ve proven beyond a doubt that you are capable.”
I just didn’t want to have to work out the complicated parts of anything. If Reiman knew a solution, I was one hundred percent down for it.
“Also, I was planning on passing on the guild project to Grimm and Kawaii since both of them are stationed in the human city. Upon reconsideration, I think you should collaborate with them instead. I’ll expect frequent check-ups, so do try to steal as many human adventurers as possible.”
He nodded to that, then left.
I hadn’t explained my plan for the soldiers in the North, but Reiman was quick. Once he communicated to Grimm and Kawaii, he could probably come up with a plan similar to mine and act.
Well, that was all I had to do for the day. Reiman exited the room, leaving me to the silence of the office. I leaned into the leather chair and relaxed, expecting nothing in particular as I just stared in boredom into the ceiling, just when I sensed something appear in my room.
Not something, but people. Two humans to be specific.
The tall one, Neburis had her blade against my next, whereas the shorter one, Rulis just looked at me with her blood red eyes. My eyes darted back and forth between the two, taking in their abilities, skills and assumed level.
Both wore dirty cloaks that hid the armour they wore.
“Been a while, Akira.”, the short girl, Rulis said to me.
<A/N: I didn’t think I could write a full chapter on a conversation just between Tori and Reiman. Both are just so opposite in nature that they normally wouldn’t have anything to talk about, but Tori being the superior and having a myriad of ideas she’s too lazy to bring to fruition and Reiman being an ambitious subordinate that wants to work all the time ended up being the perfect dynamic in my opinion.
Anyhow, I don’t know how many of you saw both Neburis and Rulis suddenly appearing to have a conversation with Tori coming, but it did! I feel like I can just kick into overdrive now and speed up the events of the story, but I probably won’t do that… Welp, I’m going to study now. Kind of a bummer, but school is very important… even though I have zero interest in it. Not that I have interest in many things.
Thanks for reading the chapter, have a good day>
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om