Unification of the South

by Hyougetsu

  “You’re being unreasonable. The cities are still reeling from the demon army’s attack a few months ago. Those on the northwestern edge haven’t even finished reconstruction!”

  “And Krauhen to the northeast will be unwilling to cooperate. Not only has the city grown more resentful towards us, but we’ve lost its viceroy’s heirloom. He will not be pleased to hear that.”

  “Then we have no other choice. We must ask Veira and Shardier to organize a strike force.”

  “Do you truly believe those two cities are still allied with us? Shardier at least has likely capitulated to the demon army.”

  “Considering their past, I have no doubt Beluza and Lotz have rebelled against us as well.”

  “We cannot trust any of the southern cities.”

  “Then perhaps we should conjure up another patriotic hero. Not only will that raise morale, it will attract recruits and donations from all over.”

  “Did you already forget how badly the Ranhart Project backfired on us?”

  “Our citizens aren’t fools. The same strategy won’t work for another few years at least.”

  “The demon who defeated Ranhart was the same werewolf, was it not? Why must he always get in our way?”

  “Regardless, recruiting more soldiers will be difficult.”

  “Perhaps we should tell the south about the Northern Peaks incident after all?”

  “And then demand their cooperation? Don’t be ridiculous. We can’t afford to show any weakness to the south right now.”

  “Just so. It’s possible informing them will galvanize them to invade, and we’ll be pincered between then north and the south.”

  “Any possibility of reconciliation vanished when we rose to the position of Senators. Regrettable though it is, it’s too late to undo our actions.”

  “Then should we send a messenger across the Northern Peaks?”

  “Wha-!? That would be tantamount to suicide!”

  “Have you forgotten why our ancestors fled to this land!?”

  “However, at this rate, all of the southern cities will fall into the demon army’s hands!”

  “Still...”

  “Now, now, let’s not jump to conclusions. For now, let us observe what actions the demon army takes next.”

  “What for?”

  “Think about it rationally. There is simply no way a band of uncivilized demons will be able to cooperate with humans.”

  “You have a point. Not only are southerners stubborn, but they also reject authority. On the other hand, demons are prideful and violent. Their alliance cannot possibly hold.”

  “Precisely. Given time the southerners will realize the error of their ways, and come crawling to us for help.”

  “Of course, how did I not realize?”

  “Once the demon army and the south’s alliance collapses, we can send our armies in. Not only will we be able to push back the demon army, we’ll be seen as liberators.”

  “In which case, the south will be more willing to submit to our authority.”

  “That being said, simply waiting for our enemies to self-destruct is foolhardy.”

  “Then we should focus our efforts on eliminating that werewolf known as Veight as soon as possible. The spectre of his power has terrified our troops and rendered them useless.”

  “This incident has made it clear he cannot be allowed to roam free.”

  “But our plan to frame him for the viceroy’s assassination already ended in failure.”

  “Then we should assassinate him directly... No, the assassins we sent out were already defeated...”

  “What should we do?”

  “Is there anything we can do?”

  “Wait, if this man known as Veight is so intent on spreading his fame, he must be hungry for power.”

  “And considering the fact that he tours the front lines with his men, he clearly hasn’t been granted much authority within the demon army.”

  “You mean to say he’s been ostracized by his own lord?”

  “I believe so. After all, the Meraldian Federation occasionally does the same with its own talented generals.”

  “With how outstanding his achievements are, his superiors must be worried he’s aiming for their position.”

  “Those that shine too brightly blind everyone around them. And those who stare at that light cast long, dark shadows.”

  “The greater one’s ambitions, the easier they are to destroy.”

  “Especially when they aren’t rewarded in proportion to their achievements.”

  “I see now. We simply have to bait this werewolf to overextend himself, then let him fail of his own accord.”

  “Quite. The bigger they are, the harder they fall, as the saying goes. If Veight falls, the demon army will suffer a serious blow.”

  “In that case, let us concoct a plan to lure Veight to his doom.”

  ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

  In the following days, reinforcements continued to arrive.

  “Firnir the Swift Gale, first of the requested reinforcements, has arrived!”

  “Actually, beautiful, you’re the second to arrive.”

  “Wh-Who’s this weird human!?”

  Firnir shouted as she looked over at Forne. She’d come with a large contingent of her kentauros warriors.

  “Arrr! Beluza’s raiding crew’s here to wreak havoc on your foes, boss!”

  “The demon army’s imperial guard, the Azure Knights, reporting for duty! We will secure the perimeter at once!”

  “Ah, Sir Veight! I brought the giants and canine combat engineers with me!”

  “We brought stones with us, Lord Veight!”

  A hodgepodge of soldiers had come from Ryunheit. While the immediate threat was gone, since they were here, I decided to have them help construct Zaria’s wall.

  “Naturally, the labyrinth city would be incomplete without me, Parker the Labyrinthine. After all my title...”

  I’m just gonna ignore this guy.

  “Though, surprisingly, I wasn’t born in this city. Of course, when I was alive, Zaria looked nothing like this.”

  I’m not listening, lalalala.

  “Umm... Veight? I’ll summon seven hundred undead soldiers for you, so will you please stop ignoring me?”

  “I’ll think about it if you can call up a few more.”

  Once the city’s immediate defenses were seen to, we held Melgio’s funeral. Shatina’s memorial speech was so emotional that it scared some of the members in attendance, but that showed just how angry she was at his death. Still, she needs to do something about that emotional streak of hers or she’ll get taken advantage of... Forne promised to take care of mentoring Shatina, so after the funeral I left a few reserve troops in Zaria and returned to Ryunheit with Airia.

  A few days later, Airia summoned all of the southern cities’ viceroys to Ryunheit. The first to arrive was Thuvan’s viceroy, Firnir.

  “I can’t do this anymore. Human society’s too complicated for me... I should have never said I’d be viceroy...”

  “If you’re going to call yourself a leader, you have to take responsibility.”

  For all her grumbling, I knew Firnir was happy in Thuvan, since she was able to test out new equipment all the time.

  “Look at this, Vaito! Thuvan’s engineers smelted a new set of armor for me! It’s way easier to move around in than my old one!”

  “I see... it looks good on you.”

  Not that it mattered how it looked, since she’d be removing it when she fought anyway.

  Next to arrive after Firnir was Melaine, who was standing in for Bernheinen’s viceroy.

  “Wait, Melaine, why didn’t Bernheinen’s viceroy come?”

  “In his words: ‘I finally got to become a vampire and you want me to continue working as a viceroy!? I refuse!’ He’s just maintaining the royal library now.”

  Bernheinen’s viceroy traditionally also served as the custodian of the royal library. Now that this generation’s vicero
y had become a vampire, not only was he immortal, he could subsist off of just blood. Thanks to that, he could focus completely on his research and ignore the outside world. Though, I’m surprised Melaine allowed him to offload all of his viceroy duties onto her.

  “You’re the viceroy’s clan master, aren’t you, Melaine?”

  “I am, but that doesn’t mean he’s forced to obey my commands. I have about as much control over him as a mother does over an unruly child.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t relate to that analogy.”

  After Firnir and Melaine, all of the human viceroys started trickling in.

  “Thank you for your assistance the other day, Sir Veight.”

  Shatina bowed politely to me as she walked through Ryunheit’s gates. Though she looked a little haggard, her eyes still glimmered with determination.

  “I hope you will continue assisting me in the future.”

  “Of course...”

  I could tell from the glint in her eyes that she planned on using me as a tactical weapon against her father’s murderers.

  “Ahoy, Veight. I see you managed to win over that girly-boy to your side too!”

  The pirate city Beluza’s captain, Garsh, arrived after Shatina. Forne walked up behind him and folded his arms menacingly.

  “And just who are you calling a girly-boy? Despite how tough you act, I know you’re a sensitive soul deep down, so I’d prefer if you didn’t insult me like that.”

  “I ain’t listening to a thing you say until you drop that creepy high-pitched voice!”

  Petore walked over and broke the two of them up.

  “Cut it out, ya morons! Yer ancestors would weep if they saw ya now, ya brats! Viceroys these days are too fond of acting, I tell ya. That’s not what it means to put on the mask of a leader, ya know!”

  Shardier’s viceroy, Aram, waded into the fray and tried to calm everyone down.

  “Both Sir Garsh and Sir Forne have been serving as viceroys for over a decade. They aren’t ‘brats.’”

  Petore rounded on Aram.

  “Yer the one I’m most worried about, kid. Ya tried to act like a schemer like yer grandfather and got yer arse handed to ya for it. If you’re gonna put on an act, at least pick an act you can do!”

  “He has a point, Sir Aram. If you adopt a more feminine voice the way I have, you’ll be able to say what you wish without fear of reproach.”

  “Moron. The last thing ya want is people underestimating you. If you wanna be heard, you’ve gotta act tough.”

  Sighing, I guided the group of bickering viceroys to Airia’s manor.

  “If you wanna coach him on how to act, do it when you’re in Shardier. Now get inside.”

  Our first order of business was to officially crown Shatina Zaria’s viceroy. Normally it would be the Senate that would perform the ceremony, but since Zaria had broken away from the Senate, that was no longer necessary. Instead, Airia, viceroy of the demon capital, did the honors.

  Shatina stood nervously as Airia read out some of some old, ceremonial tome. Then, on behalf of all the southern cities viceroys, Petore then officially recognized Shatina as Zaria’s viceroy. All that was left was for someone to place Zaria’s diadem onto Shatina’s head. As I was watching the proceedings with disinterest, Forne turned to me and asked, “What are you waiting for? It’s your turn.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The Demon Lord is the most important member of our alliance, so as her representative, it falls on you to perform the coronation.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “The ceremony officially cements you as her guardian as well.”

  “Wait, I didn’t hear about this.”

  Shatina looked up at me, her cheeks red.

  “S-Sir Veight!”

  “Y-Yes!?”

  Surprised, I looked down to see tears welling up in Shatina’s eyes.

  “P-Please guide me!”

  Why do I have to do this!? Seeing my reaction, Shatina desperately added, “It’s only thanks to you that I’m still alive! You protected me and Zaria, both! I don’t have the strength to protect Zaria on my own yet! So please, teach me how to be a viceroy capable of leading others!”

  She bowed low, her head practically scraping the ground. Well, when you put it like that, I can hardly refuse... Sighing, I took the diadem from Airia.

  “You certainly do need a mentor to guide you, Lady Shatina. And seeing as my responsibilities are the lightest among the viceroys, I suppose I can fill that role.”

  “Th-Thank you so much, Sir Veight! No, Master Veight!”

  “Could you please not call me that!?”

  “But you’ll be imparting your wisdom onto me! Great Master Veight!”

  I was planning on doing everything I could for Shatina, but I really didn’t want to be called “Master.” As I was trying to get her to drop the title, Forne butt in.

  “If you don’t accept your new title, she’s only going to come up with even crazier ones.”

  Shatina gave me a serious look and said, “A mentor is like a paternal figure. I-If you wish, I’m even willing to call you father. How does that sound... F-Father?”

  Now things were just getting awkward.

  “I’d feel as if I were doing your late father Sir Melgio a disservice if I let you call me father. I’m not ready to bear such a huge responsibility, so Master is fine.”

  “Wonderful! Thank you so much, Master!”

  Forne grinned as he watched Shatina jump for joy.

  “My, how splendid. Now that he’s your master, you can be sure Sir Veight will never abandon Zaria.”

  “Yep! Thank you so much, Sir Forne! I promise I’ll fulfill that request for you!”

  “Umm, now’s really not the time to be bringing that up, dear.”

  You son of a— You got me good, crossdresser. It seemed I’d been used by Forne as a bargaining chip to strengthen relations between Zaria and Veira. This guy’s a crafty one. However, now wasn’t the time to complain. Shatina bowed before me and said, “Master, I look forward to your continued guidance!”

  “Alright, alright, settle down so I can put this diadem on you.”

  I turned around and saw Firnir staring at me.

  “Hmm. Master, huh?”

  I don’t like the sound of that one bit. I better stop her before she gets any funny ideas.

  “We’re both fellow disciples, so I can’t be your master.”

  “You’re right! Good point, Vaito!”

  Why’re you so happy about that!? Shatina turned to Firnir and said, “That may be true, but I am Master Veight’s first disciple, Lady Firnir.”

  “Gwah!? Damn, that does sound nice...”

  “You are more than welcome to become his second, of course.”

  “Oh, that’s not a bad idea.”

  Please stop making yourself into my disciple. Shatina and Firnir’s strange rivalry was ruining the solemnity of the ceremony. The other viceroys were all grinning now too. This felt more like a gathering of friends than a dignified ritual. I guess it’s up to me to discipline our problem children.

  “You two children stop bickering and get along now.”

  Firnir and Shatina turned to me and said simultaneously, “We’re not children!”

  Riiiiiight.

  The ceremony concluded, and Zaria now had a new viceroy. With this, all eight southern cities had viceroys. Though two of them were demons. Finally, with all of the preliminary formalities were out of the way, Airia could make her proclamation.

  “I hereby declare that our eight cities, along with the demon army, are now part of a new nation, the Meraldian Commonwealth!”

  The eight viceroys all signed the document Airia presented. Once they were done, I signed as the demon army’s representative. With this, the southern half of the Meraldian continent had officially become its own nation. A nation where demons would be able to live in peace.

  Airia then explained what kind of government this new nation would have.
In order to fight the unified Senate, we needed to be just as unified.

  “Henceforth, the viceroys of each city will also be councilors on the Meraldian Commonwealth’s governing council, and together we will decide this nation’s laws and policies. All motions will need Her Majesty the Demon Lord’s approval before they will be implemented, and similarly, the demon army’s policies will be reviewed by us before approval.”

  What was most important was communication. Master’s policy was to make decisions only after consulting with her human counterparts. Incidentally, the one who’d come up with this model of government was the old Demon Lord. To be honest, Master wasn’t a very good politician, so this was probably for the best. However, there was just one thing about this new council that didn’t sit well with me.

  “Lady Airia, why must I be on this council as well?”

  “The council needs someone to represent the demons’ interests.”

  Melaine and Firnir were representing the people of Bernheinen and Thuvan respectively. In other words, they couldn’t speak for demons as a whole. Their position demanded they put the interests of their citizens first, and I was planning on making sure they did. Though, of course, that meant the demons needed their own representative. Since Master was ostensibly the demon with the most authority in this new nation, it fell to her aide—me—to represent her and her interests in the commonwealth’s newly formed council.

  That much I understood. However...

  “Could you please stop giving me so many responsibilities? I want to remain a simple vice-commander.”

  Airia grinned in response.

  “Within the demon army, you will of course be nothing more than the Demon Lord’s vice-commander. But outside of the army, we would like you to be one of our councilors.”

  “If you insist...”

  Looks like there’s no getting out of this one.

  “All members of the council, regardless of whether they own land or not, shall be granted the title of Baron. Baron Veight, I hope you will work together with us to bring prosperity to Meraldia’s southern cities.”

  “Fine...”

  How did it come to this? I just wanted to live a quiet life with my friends. How come the harder I work, the more work I get?