Ch.1187Before Departure

The combined forces of the stone-men, nagas, and humans numbered in the tens of thousands.

Though it was called an alliance, our side consisted of just six people—a number so small it wouldn’t even register on a chart of force proportions.

‘Battle isn’t just about numbers.’

When it comes to military strength, quality matters more than quantity.

The countless strategists from my world who emphasized that war is ultimately a battle of resources would grab the backs of their necks in disbelief, but in this world, that was the truth.

In this world, the upper limit of power was truly boundless. With the right qualities and abilities, it was possible for one person to slaughter enemies by the tens of thousands.

‘Come to think of it, aren’t I alone equivalent to an army of nearly a hundred thousand?’

Even just by myself, I was confident I could wipe out a hundred thousand ordinary soldiers if they came at me.

Rather than ordinary soldiers, ten powerful individuals each capable of slaughtering ten thousand people would be more frightening. Common soldiers wouldn’t even reach me before being swept away by the thousands with a single strike.

[You’re not wrong. I would count for seventy thousand, and you would be about thirty thousand.]

Hersella, who knew my strength better than anyone, agreed with my assessment… Wait a minute. That ratio seems off.

‘I’m three and you’re seven? What happened to your conscience?’

[Well, perhaps some thief stole it along with my body?]

‘Ah, so that’s why I’m twice as conscientious as you.’

[Twice? That little bit of conscience is barely enough for you to pass as human. One can easily imagine what your true nature must be like.]

‘Look who’s talking.’

Hersella was making her usual shameless remarks. I headed toward the mansion where our companions were resting while engaging in this playful argument with her.

She had quite the sharp tongue.

The way she managed to counter everything I said throughout our journey made me wonder if she’d been training her sarcasm skills instead of her actual abilities all this time.

—-

As might be expected, I became the leader of the alliance.

In terms of contribution, the naga side would be overwhelmingly dominant since they were providing the base and all material support, but apparently the leadership position should naturally go to the strongest.

It was Turankai’s suggestion, and after brief deliberation, the naga side agreed.

They probably weren’t thrilled about it, but what could they do? The only options were me, the stone-men king, or a child with incomplete memories of past lives.

The Naga Raja’s authority might work with his own kind, but it meant nothing to us or the stone-men.

If someone had suggested making that child the leader, Turankai would have immediately protested, thinking these snakes had gone mad.

Even from my perspective, the child seemed somewhat unreliable, so how much worse would it be for the stone-men?

On the other hand, making Turankai the leader would essentially be the same as surrendering without a fight from the naga’s perspective.

So in the end, there was no choice but me.

Choosing me would at least allow them to resolve the Leviathan issue they had been discussing before the attack in a more amicable way.

For roughly these reasons, I unexpectedly became the leader of this massive alliance.

“You said you were just going to have a conversation, but you’ve become their leader? What on earth does that mean?”

When my companions heard this from me, they were understandably bewildered.

Well, I expected as much. Someone who said they were going to meet the local leader briefly had returned declaring themselves that leader.

I would have been surprised too if it had happened to someone else.

“With that explosion earlier… Miss, I hate to ask, but was this ‘conversation’ the kind that involved drawing swords and spilling blood?”

“No, what do you take me for… I’m not some kind of brute who would do something like that.”

“But Miss, you do act like a brute sometimes.”

“……”

I thought it was a bit much to suggest I had threatened the Naga Raja and stolen the throne.

Well, Leonore didn’t really mean it seriously—she was just so dumbfounded and confused that she blurted out something as a joke.

This was actually the normal reaction. Among our group, only Leonore had anything close to normal human sensibilities.

…Why do I say that about the others?

A muscle-obsessed woman with bizarre taste in men, a crazy sorceress who tries to electrocute her sister at every opportunity, and a barbarian warrior with nothing but loyalty and combat in his head.

None of them are normal, clearly.

Lena is somewhat closer to normal… though not entirely.

Her sisterly affection—toward me, that is—runs so deep that she believes everything I do is right, making her an unconditionally positive supporter of Haschal.

“To convert all of them so quickly… You’re amazing, sister!”

Even now, rather than being confused or suspicious about my sudden explanation that the nagas and stone-men had become my subordinates, she was praising me instead.

So among us, only Leonore possessed truly ordinary human sensibilities. That’s why she was the most shocked.

“Monkeys and snakes…”

In contrast, Ophelia, our representative of the abnormal, had the opposite reaction.

“Well, I didn’t expect there to be ‘humans’ to help us in a place like this… but this is certainly curious, or perhaps refreshing.”

Far from being shocked, she giggled as if things had taken an interesting turn, leaning against the mansion’s railing and puffing on her characteristic long mana herb.

“Anyway, it’s interesting. Both this ‘allied force’ and the identity of the Naga Raja.”

“…All I said was that I couldn’t tell you about the Naga Raja.”

I muttered with a slightly sour tone.

I had explained most of what had just happened, but I deliberately withheld the fact that the current Naga Raja was a child with almost no memories of past lives.

Why? Because I had promised on my name not to reveal it to anyone. Such an important promise couldn’t have exceptions, even for companions.

“That alone tells me enough. Asking for secrecy means this Naga Raja character has some major flaw, right?”

Nevertheless, Ophelia claimed she could figure it out just from my tone, and smirked as she held up three fingers and folded them one by one before my eyes.

“Either they don’t exist at all, they’re dead, or they’re so incompetent they can’t be shown in public. It’s one of those three.”

“Uh… hmm…”

She figured it out from just that one comment? Maybe I should have said nothing at all. She’s frighteningly perceptive.

“Since you met them directly, it’s clearly not the first two, so incompetence must be the issue… If they were greedy or violent, you would have shown signs of displeasure.”

“……”

“Even if they were simply lacking in ability, you would have shown some slight contempt… but there was none of that either. It’s as if you understand why they lack ability. In that case, there’s only one answer.”

A recently reincarnated child—and one whose memories weren’t properly inherited, making them no different from a normal child of that age.

That was Ophelia’s deduction, and it was so perfectly accurate that I had nothing to deny or refute.

I’m sorry, priestesses. I really tried not to say anything, but what could I do when my companions are so perceptive? Anyway, it doesn’t seem like my fault, right?

“…So from now on, they’ll serve as our forces?”

Nigel, who was in the middle of merciless strength training with Jahan on his back, turned his head to look at me and asked.

“Not ‘our’ forces, but ‘my’ forces. They won’t take orders from any of you.”

I corrected the inaccurate part.

Though I had become the commander-in-chief of the three-race alliance, this was merely a compromise reached after considering the mutual checks between the two forces and my martial prowess.

Since it wasn’t a decision made out of genuine trust and admiration for me, I couldn’t expect the kind of high loyalty or respect found in a knight-lord relationship.

If that was the case for me, how much more so for my companions?

The individual combat abilities of my companions, including Ophelia, were at best below Turankai or Hiyalvayer.

While that was still a considerable level, it was far from enough to command unquestioning obedience from Turankai or Hiyalvayer.

So if they tried to give orders, they would likely be ignored like the barking of dogs.

It meant these forces could only be controlled through my direct commands.

Well, since we’d gained tens of thousands of troops for free, such a drawback was a minor issue that could be overlooked.

—-

After the hastily concluded alliance proposal, Elashaz and I continued to meet occasionally to establish various agreements in advance.

More precisely, it was mainly Elashaz who made requests and appeals to me, and I listened to them and approved those that seemed reasonable.

For example, agreements like establishing friendly relations and trade with human nations on the surface.

I wondered why she was telling me this, but she seemed to think I was some kind of representative of surface humans. Thinking about it, that wasn’t entirely wrong.

Honestly, if I told Leopold I wanted to be emperor, he would genuinely thank me with tears in his eyes and leap from his throne to place the crown on my head.

And it wasn’t just the Empire—other countries were the same.

Since I was the only human demigod on the surface, the Holy State regarded me as second only to their god, and Hestella was my country to begin with.

In Dane, I was the benefactor who had placed the current king on the throne, and though Aishan was an enemy nation, I had signed a truce and sent them far to the east.

As for Panam, well, it could hardly be considered a normal country anymore.

Even nations of other races were similar.

Baryachrus had given up resistance and made a peace treaty with us, and I had destroyed and absorbed Alvheim.

The Dragon Kingdom had the dragon king’s only sibling practically attached to our side, and Himmel had no choice but to follow me because of the Fafnir issue.

Looking back at the life I’d lived, it was indeed reasonable to be considered the representative of the surface.