On the afternoon after escaping the Dragon God believers in Dragontan by deactivating his body double's disguise, Takuto was attending a routine council meeting at the palace.
Having a body double—a character who could be considered an extension of oneself—proved advantageous in situations like this. The "Failed Creation" possessed considerable combat ability and an impressive array of skills in its own right.
Being able to use that character proactively had significantly broadened the scope of Takuto's strategy.
"Alright, the Dragontan inspection went more or less as expected. So let's use this time to settle on a policy for Selduchi."
Gathering before him were Mynoghra's leadership.
Recruitment of useful personnel was progressing—Yonayona, Inquisitor Kree's appointment, and others of similar value. Even so, the number of people who could attend such meetings remained limited.
In other words, they were the oldest members who had served the nation with unwavering loyalty since Mynoghra's founding.
Elder Mortar, Gear, Emuru, and the Elful sisters.
Dark Elves handling clerical work and document distribution were also present, but the roster remained unchanged.
Still, Takuto felt that the current system would need to evolve eventually.
Administrative capacity was failing to keep pace with the nation's scale. While honoring the loyalty of the Dark Elves was important, they were approaching their limits.
This was evident from the sheer vastness of the territory around Selduchi, their newly acquired domain.
"The newly acquired Selduchi and its surrounding territories—a fertile, temperate region with few natural disasters. With a substantial population, it will undoubtedly contribute to the growth of our national power. However, Mynoghra has only just stabilized its control over a portion of the Great Cursed Realm and the Dragontan region. Administering the third city of Selduchi will unquestionably demand administrative capabilities beyond our current limits. Rather than implementing sweeping changes all at once, I believe it would be safer to gradually transform the existing governance structure into a Mynoghra-style system over time while maintaining what's already in place. What do you all think?"
The Selduchi region encompassed a vast territory stretching from the junction between the legitimate and dark continents to roughly half of the now-defunct Renea Holy Kingdom.
Selduchi was often emphasized because it was the most prominent settlement, but numerous towns, villages, and other communities requiring governance dotted the surrounding area.
Under normal circumstances, deeming this unmanageable would be the obvious conclusion. Indeed, acquiring all of that population in the first place was the real anomaly.
If not for Vittorio's proselytization and the quasi-cheat of the Ira faith, they would not have been sitting here having this calm conversation—instead, they'd be drowning in an uprising festival.
This understanding appeared to be shared by everyone present without issue.
"Indeed, Selduchi's scale is incomparable to Dragontan. Reaching out blindly would yield no favorable outcome. I regret my own inadequacy, but His Majesty speaks the truth."
"The real problem is that the scale of national expansion has been too rapid from the start. And both Dragontan and Selduchi were obtained through conversion or occupation from other nations. There's really nothing to be done about that."
Every piece of land Mynoghra had gained so far had been incorporated into the nation in some form or another.
Under normal circumstances, development would proceed gradually from small settlements to cities through colonization, but that was not the case here.
The growth of the nation called Mynoghra was riddled with exceptions and warped. Old Mortar had called it his own inadequacy, but by now this was surely a problem beyond any individual's power to address.
"Furthermore, Selduchi is close to the front lines. Or rather, it was an enemy nation until now. We never intended otherwise, but we must also consider the danger of them attempting to seize it back."
Atou overlapped Takuto's words by pointing out the problems surrounding the Selduchi region.
That the Chief Warrior, Gia, nodded emphatically at her words suggested he too had harbored concerns about this issue.
The newly acquired territory of Selduchi shared borders with the El-Na Spirit Covenant Union and the Holy Kingdom of Quolia.
A colossal mountain range pierced through the center of the True Continent, dividing El-Na and Quolia, but in the extreme cold of the north and the Dark Continent borderlands to the south, the mountains broke apart, making passage between them possible.
Since the northern route suffered the inconvenience of heavy snowfall, transit between El-Na and Quolia predominantly followed the route through Selduchi.
In other words, the territory Mynoghra had newly acquired held profound geographic significance.
It would be natural for both El-Na and Quolia to want to secure it.
At the very least, neither would have any desire to leave it in the hands of the evil nation called Mynoghra.
"The fortunate thing is that the Ira religion has spread, making the local population's favorability toward our country extremely high. There is no easier situation for governance than this."
"What was it again? Give them bread and circuses, right? Anyway, since our integration seems to be going well without any conciliatory policies, let's keep investment to a minimum and regroup for now. Well, as long as we put up a tree of human flesh and a church of Ira, that should buy us time."
Vittorio's move in the Renea Holy Light Kingdom had been underhanded beyond measure.
He had leveraged his ability to forcibly convert the city's population to the Ira religion.
Under normal circumstances, this would not be possible. In "Eternal Nations," religious units from enemy nations would take countermeasures, and during peacetime even the Aros religion would step in to respond.
This was a move that could only be pulled off during a period of chaos that the TRPG factions — Erakino, the two holy women, and the Game Master — had essentially thrown into total disarray.
An opportunity to acquire territory and cities of this scale would likely never come again.
Even if it meant bearing an unplanned and unforeseen burden, the returns would be great if they could overcome this hurdle.
And if he could not even surmount something like this, what kind of Takuto Ira would he be? Takuto steeled his resolve.
"However, Your Majesty, what is to be done about the person in charge of Selduchi? The existing governing apparatus can be put to use, but at minimum, I humbly think it would be necessary to install some manner of overseer as a bare minimum check."
"That's exactly the thing..."
He had decided. His resolve was set, but the reality had not quite caught up with his spirit yet.
It was the matter of personnel. He had shelved it for the time being, but leaving it entirely unattended was out of the question.
At the very minimum—truly the bare minimum—it was necessary to install a person in charge, as Elder Mortar advised. But to advance reconciliation and assimilation policies among the populace, someone of considerable caliber would be required.
For Mynoghra, perpetually starved of personnel, it was a harsh demand.
(The size of the territory and the population. Given the danger of the front lines, ideally a hero would be best. But Atou is out of the question, and Vittorio is absurd. Isla would have been the perfect fit, but there is no point in regretting it now...)
Anterize would be difficult as well. Beyond the fact that she had served with such devotion thus far that he did not wish to impose any further burden on her, the primary reason was her origins.
Anterize was easy to forget, but she was originally the heir to one of the most powerful clans within El-Naar.
She had found the old customs and obligations distasteful and fled from her family, ultimately settling in Dragontan as a result.
In other words, doing so would provoke the El-Naar Spirit Covenant Union far too much.
What the current state of that nation was remained unclear in detail, but even so, casually sending Anterize back there would be a grave miscalculation.
(Anyone else... Yonayona would be difficult too.)
Her issue was a lack of practical administrative ability. Above all, she was needed as the acting pontiff of the Ira faith, restraining the flock of followers whose brakes had all been stripped away.
Binding her to a single city would be inadvisable.
(Ah, right—that new recruit who used to be an inquisitor... Kree Imreis, was it? How would she fare?)
On a whim he considered it, but as expected, he held his head in his hands. No good.
In Kree's case, there was no shortage of competence. She seemed diligent on the surface, and given that she said much of her prior work had been paperwork, she would likely pick up the unfamiliar duties of governance quickly enough.
But she was a former inquisitor and a traitor to Quolia. There was no question it would provoke them.
Moreover, she had also considered having her take charge of leading Ira's knight—a holy knight who had fallen to heresy—but that idea too had to be rejected.
(This is bad. There's really no one. Anyone else at this point would pale in comparison, or simply lack the necessary standing...)
If only they had either the reputation or the actual substance...
Perhaps, looking to the future, she could temporarily assign seemingly capable individuals on short-term postings?
This would mean Takuto would have to scrutinize each policy decision in detail, but it seemed like the only method left.
To cultivate talent, it is vital to let the inexperienced gain experience...
But just then.
"Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty—"
"We will take up the posting in Selduchi!"
"We will!"
The Elful sisters, who until a moment ago had been quietly observing the meeting's progress, made an utterly unexpected proposal.
Takuto's eyes widened in surprise at the matter that hadn't even been considered.
"You two?"
The question slipped out before he could stop it, and was met with firm nods.
Though bewildered by their response, Takuto swiftly weighed the merits and demerits of appointing the pair as the person in charge.
(Ugh, if possible, I wanted them to stay here a little longer and learn various things... but they're almost too suited for this.)
In truth, having the twins assume the role of regional lords overseeing the Selduchi area was perfectly logical.
They held the name value of being next-generation executive candidates with high standing even within Mynoghra. They possessed the strength to wield hero's power, albeit in a special form.
Furthermore, having two people at the top offered greater flexibility in many aspects compared to a single leader.
In most cases, a dual leadership situation leads to factional dynamics and yields the worst possible outcomes, but given their relationship, such concerns were unnecessary.
Though some unease remains regarding practical matters, she possessed sufficient intellect to grasp Takuto's reasoning, and if supplemented with support personnel, it would work out. In other words, their assignment as lords of Selduchi and its territories was a blessing for both Mynoghra and Takuto. Having instantly made these calculations, Takuto posed the question to the two young girls, who were raising their voices energetically, while hiding his own inner loneliness.
"Are you sure about this? With a witch's power, coming here won't take long, but you won't be able to come back frequently, you know? It'll be alright even without being with everyone else?"
If anything, it was Takuto who was less than alright about it, but the two seemed not to have considered that, offering only their steadfast replies. He glanced around. Old Mortar and the Dark Elves seemed a bit surprised but were essentially in favor. It seemed their thinking was that, even if they were children, since they possessed ability, they should work commensurate with it. Atou was also nodding in agreement. Whether the twins, who formed part of his guard, had considered that their departure would allow them to stay closer to Takuto as his personal protectors, or if they had other reasons, was unclear, but they were certainly not allies on this matter. There were no holes in the logic or the strategy... except for the conflict stemming from Takuto's own loneliness. It couldn't be helped. Well, it wasn't as if they could never see each other again. As he was about to resign himself and give his assent, the twin girls spoke up, seemingly in unison.
"We want to prove we can be even more useful to the King!"
"I feel like an environment where we can't easily rely on the King or everyone else will help us grow stronger."
"Yeah! We'll get stronger!"
(Wanting to grow stronger... huh.)
The girls' wishes were noble and pure. Yet their innocent words hinted at more complex feelings within them.
"Besides, I won't be satisfied just letting them get away with it."
"There won't be a second time!"
Suddenly, the thought crossed Takuto's mind of what kind of battles these brightly laughing girls had fought in Renea's domain, and what kind of defeat they had suffered.
The defeated lose everything. Even their dignity...
Moved by their determination never to lose, Takuto swore to himself that he would not forget that same desperation.
"The Regret Witches, the Elful Sisters" have been appointed as lords of Selduchi.
A certain amount of time is required to recall units for control.
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