“If we intervene, we will lose large numbers of combat machines, ammunition, energy, and above all, time. We would need to guard the entire boundary of the <Demon Forest>, and its total length exceeds 2,000 km. To defend all of it would require the投入 of an absurd amount of resources.”
“Ugh... Y-Yes, that’s true... Even if we defended it every 1 km, that would still be 2,000 locations. That definitely isn’t realistic right now...”
If they intervened as <Paraiso>, they could not limit themselves to defending only a specific region.
They would have to defend everything.
But that was impossible, even for them.
“And even if we deployed that many automated machines, there would be no return at all. There is no prospect of recovering resources, and more importantly, we would end up with potentially hostile forces at our back.”
“...The upper ranks of each country, you mean.”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am.”
If they defended people by force no questions asked, and then on top of that seized payment, it would be no different from armed robbery.
No—because it would also strip away the trust of the local population and plant distrust toward the governing structure, in that sense it was worse than robbery.
It could trigger the risk of civil war all at once.
On the other hand, there was no time to negotiate with every country involved.
By the time they had neatly worked out favorable terms, the connected zones along the <Demon Forest> would already have been destroyed.
And the conclusion they had already reached was that, rather than doing something that troublesome, it would be easier to simply conquer the entire country.
If they conquered the country, they could take all the resources within it as they pleased.
The benefits of that might be far greater.
“Mmmmmm... Human states really are a pain...”
“Hey, let me tell you, relations between states are even more of a pain. You girls never have to think about losing. When we do it, the second we let our guard down, we get eaten alive.”
Amajio Salmon said it with a drained look on his face.
It was a complaint filled with the weight of lived experience, coming from the man who had remade a kingdom.
“When I think about living without trouble, it really does feel like a society managed by AI would probably end up with a larger population and longer lifespans.”
“You talking about your original world?”
“...Yes. Back then, I never thought about it that way at all, though.”
The world before Eve became Eve.
The world before she was transferred to this one.
A prison-utopia for humanity, managed by AI.
In that world, humanity had lived in comfort while being served by AI. There were no troublesome social obligations. People simply did the work assigned to them by AI for the sole purpose of maintaining their vitality.
“Well, I don’t plan to recreate that for now. Ringo probably wouldn’t like it either.”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. I have no hobby of managing humans.”
“...”
Eve stroked Ringo’s head, as though she had something she wanted to argue, and reset the topic.
“So then. Realistically speaking, what kind of impact would letting the <Demon Forest> overflow go unchecked have on us?”
Originally, this had simply been about sharing the problem that threat organisms had pushed into the northern Piata Empire.
If it was Ringo, she had surely already considered the optimal response.
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. If this is left unchecked, the national power of the countries bordering the <Demon Forest>, including the Piata Empire, will gradually decline. These are states that obtained various materials derived from threat organisms out of the <Demon Forest>, so they will likely be left in a state where part of their income source has been lost.”
“The easiest impact to understand from a decline in national power is worsening public order. And then you’ve got refugees.”
As the number of hunters who had been culling threat organisms decreased, the territories of threat organisms would change.
It would not be the kind of violent surge that qualified as a stampede, but their activity range would gradually expand.
And the people who had the strength to stop that had all been drafted off into war.
“If we are to respond to this matter without directly involving ourselves, then there is no choice but to send the conscripted hunters back.”
“If it’s left alone, this whole region’s going to slide right back into a warring-states era of feuding powers. Things had finally started to come together into a handful of larger countries, too. What a pain in the ass.”
From the perspective of dealings between states, they would obviously want to avoid a situation where the counterpart was the leader of some armed group of unknown origin, and that leadership changed every few months.
In a situation like that, you could not properly settle trade or agreements.
“So if we’re thinking in terms of regional stability, then the idea is that some kind of measure is needed. Is that about right?”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. However, for us, <The Tree>, the situation in these regions has no particular effect. If I had to name one, it would be that metal ore production in certain areas could potentially stagnate.”
“For the current <The Tree>, that’s within the margin of error. For my kingdom, though, the output around there mattered quite a bit.”
The Kingdom of Lepuitari had been in a state where domestic production could not keep up with internal consumption, so importing metal resources from foreign countries had been extremely important.
But if trade with <Paraiso> could continue, that was no longer necessary.
“As for resources... we’ve got the United Kingdom of Aphrasia too, and undersea resources are coming along nicely. We’re also going to get the Prava Divine Kingdom whole, so yeah, I guess there’s no need to care...”
“If you ask me, providing supplies under the name of humanitarian aid would be enough.”
Food-related goods were being increased in production in the United Kingdom of Aphrasia and the Prava Divine Kingdom, and they were starting to pile up.
Even if they were released free of charge or at very low cost, it would not hurt their bottom line.
At most, it would cost them a bit in transport expenses.
“And the Prava Divine Kingdom invasion force has completely stalled too, right? Because troops are being pulled back to defend the Holy Capital.”
At present, the Prava Divine Kingdom, unable to withstand the pressure from the south, was summoning more and more forces into the Holy Capital.
The Holy Capital, where the cathedral stood, was the heart they absolutely had to defend.
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. In that sense, there is a possibility that the hunters could be released and return to the north.”
“I don’t think the people at the top are going to grasp the situation ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) accurately. They’ll prioritize retaking territory. Even if that means the frontier villages in the north all get wiped out.”
“So it really is true that the upper ranks don’t know what’s happening on the ground.”
Eve nodded as though convinced, drawing on the knowledge she had acquired from war chronicles Ringo had selected for her—stories full of foolish higher-ups.
“...”
Whether Amajio Salmon happened to think of a boomerang, that hunting tool, was known only to him, but wisely, he said nothing.
Though in Eve’s case, it was actually the reverse problem.
She did not know just how extraordinarily competent the people on the ground could be.
“Mmm... yes... Maybe just trading food and supplies really is about the right level. As long as we’re paid, there’s no problem with dispatching force either.”
It was an extremely passive policy.
Still, compared to doing nothing and simply leaving things alone, it was a far more humane answer.
“Sounds fine to me. If it goes through my kingdom, there’ll be less backlash too. And we can earn some goodwill.”
“Oh, right. Yeah, that’s better than some country nobody knows called <Paraiso> suddenly showing up.”
The name <Paraiso> would spread from here on, but for their initial approach, it would still go more smoothly if they kept putting the Kingdom of Lepuitari out front.
It would also give them a reason to continue various forms of support to the Kingdom of Lepuitari.
“Mmm, then let’s add transport machines and food starting next time. We should probably start tightening up the weapons and ammunition, right?”
“Yeah. The pressure on the front lines is easing. Any more than this would be oversupply. The bare minimum should be enough. Otherwise, you start getting more idiots with the wrong ideas.”
If you failed to judge the right moment to pull back, the goddess of the battlefield could easily turn into a devil.
That aspect of command had been handed over to the Strategic AI on site, so Eve was not too worried about it.
