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Vol 01 Chapter 37: The Emperor’s Melancholy

Capital of the Persis Empire, Jamshid.

「Sigh…」

Emperor Xerxes III of the Persis Empire was troubled.

His current concern was the Kirisians. Both his grandfather and father had embarked on expeditions against Kirisia and both had been defeated.

The relationship between Kirisia and Persis was very poor.

It wasn’t that he particularly wanted Kirisia. In fact, if it were offered to him, he would politely decline it as unnecessary.

After all, Kirisia could hardly be described as a prosperous land. It’s dry with little rainfall, yielding poor wheat harvests.

Its olives and vineyard enterprises might sound impressive, but those were the only things that could be harvested decently.

Conquering such a place would be meaningless. So why did his forefathers embark on expeditions to Kirisia?

Because the Kirisians meddled with the Persis Empire.

There were areas within the Persis Empire where Kirisians resided. The Kirisians living there frequently revolted.

The Kirisians from the Kirisian Peninsula… primarily from Alto, supported them. No matter how many times they were subdued, they quickly received weapons and regained their strength.

Unless the root cause was eliminated, this rebellion wouldn’t be resolved.

He could technically allow their independence, but acknowledging that would spark rebellions throughout the empire. The empire was a melting pot of various ethnicities.

He really didn’t want to go to war. It costs money, and the domestic farmlands suffer. It’s all cons and no pros. But there was no alternative to not doing it.

To act was a bad move, but not to act was also a bad move.

「How can we conquer Kirisia… Those folks, despite usually being at odds, unite only when our country attacks them…」

Kirisia’s total military strength was about 50,000. On the other hand, the maximum force Persis could dispatch to Kirisia was 400,000.

The difference in troop numbers was overwhelming. Yet, they lost.

The reason was low morale. After all, Persis was a multi-ethnic state, and its soldiers were composed of a variety of races. Their patriotism towards the Persis Empire was tenuous.

Moreover, due to the language differences, orders were not promptly communicated.

On the other hand, the Kirisians, fighting to protect their homeland, had very high morale. Furthermore, being constantly engaged in warfare year-round, their proficiency level was extremely high.

That’s why the Persis Empire lost every time.

「The heavy infantry of Alto is highly trained. The mobility of the Germanic cavalry hired by Claris is not to be underestimated. The soldiers of Reim are invincible, and the tacticians of Terbai, along with the Homo… the Sacred Battalion, are troublesome.」

And then there was their naval power. Kirisian ship-handling skills were superior to those of Persis.

No matter how many ships Persis assembled, they ended up losing to Kirisia.

「Your Majesty, the construction of the six hundred warships you ordered has been completed.」

「Is that so… They are made of Lebanese cedar. I don’t want to believe our ships would easily lose, but…」

The proficiency of the sailors could greatly alter the result of a naval battle. It remained to be seen how much the gap between Kirisia and Persis could be bridged with the number and quality of ships.

「Your Majesty, regarding Kirisia, I have a proposal.」

「What is it? Speak.」

The prime minister smirked and began to outline his proposal.

「Keep to the shore, let the sailors face the storm, as they say. There are those who possess ship-handling skills equal to, or even surpassing that of the Kirisians, right? We should form an alliance with them.」

「Pofenia, huh… Not a bad idea. And what about the land forces?」

「Kirisian soldiers are formidable. But after all, they are merely human. Ultimately, they cannot match those who surpass humanity.」

Xerxes watched his prime minister intently. The prime minister continued.

「Let’s unleash those monsters of the desert upon them. If we lose against the Kirisians, the number of those damned Arams will decrease, which is good. And If we win, we’ll be able to stop the Kirisians which is even better.」

「Indeed… that’s an excellent plan. Let’s draft a royal letter immediately.」

◇

「♪～♪～♬」

West of the Persis Empire’s capital, Jamshid, there’s a desert. Just a bit south of the border between Kirisia and the Persis Empire, a vast desert stretched out.

There, a woman was humming to herself. Her skin was tan, and her golden hair shimmered like gold.

In her hand, she held a spear disproportionately large for her. The tip of the spear shone with the black gleam of Dragon Damascus steel.

Well, saying she was alone might have been a bit misleading. To be precise, it was one person and one creature.

A giant salamander was with her. Although, what the salamander was emitting could hardly be called humming, but rather screams…

The salamander, with its tail severed, a horn broken, and one of its six legs cut off, spat flames at the monster before it, even as it screamed in agony.

「♪～♬～♪～♩」

The woman, while humming, dodged the flames by leaping close to the salamander, stabbing her spear into its jaw.

「Ssraaahhh!!!」

With a scream, the salamander spurted fresh blood as it staggered backward. The woman leaped up and stabbed her spear into its back.

「Ssraaahhhhhh!!!」

The woman’s body was drenched in the salamander’s blood, which glowed as red as flames. She licked the blood off her lips and grinned wickedly.

「Oops!」

The salamander’s rolling on the ground caused the woman to be thrown off its back. The spear remained lodged in its back.

Seizing the opportunity, the salamander bared its fangs and lunged at the woman.

「Ah ha!」

The woman kicked straight at the nose of the charging salamander.

A cracking sound followed as fractures appeared in the salamander’s scales.

「These are boots with Dragon Damascus reinforcement~」

The salamander was sent flying like a ball.

Incapable of rising due to the intense pain, the salamander lay there. The woman pulled the spear from its back.

「Well then, goodbye~」

The woman plunged the spear into the salamander’s heart finishing it.

◇

「Chief!!」

「Hm? What is it?」

As the woman was disassembling the salamander, a man riding a camel approached her.

「Chief. A letter from the emperor.」

「Thank you. And you don’t have to call me Chief; Aisha will do, and do it with a bit more affection.」

Aisha winked at the man.

「Did you hunt this salamander by yourself?」

「Yeah. I heard it was strong, so I was looking forward to it. But it wasn’t much.」

「Given its size, it should be close in power to a magical beast… As usual, you are very strong.」

The man looked at Aisha with a mix of respect and fear.

The Arams were a tribe living in the desert area spreading southeast from the Kirisia Peninsula. They had developed extraordinary metallurgy skills, and at the extraordinary rate of one in a hundred, a great number of them possessed the [Blessing of the Hunter.] They traveled the desert on camels, engaged in herding, and trading, and if negotiations failed, they resorted to looting with weapons in hand.

They were blacksmiths, nomads, merchants, and thieves.

Those were the Arams, the Desert People.

Since they resided around the several oases in the desert, they had long remained ununified. While technically all clans were under the Persis Empire, in reality, they were semi-independent, competing over water sources and trade routes, and engaging in skirmishes. This situation had troubled the emperors of the Persis Empire for generations.

However, eight years ago, all the clans were united under one force. The one who achieved this feat was the Chief of the Zahab clan.

Aisha Zahab.

In addition to the [Blessing of the Hunter] that the desert people inherently possessed, she was blessed with two other blessings. One was the [Blessing of the War God,] the other was the [Blessing of the Crazed Warrior.]

All three were physical enhancement blessings.

After her father died, she subdued her brothers with her strength, seizing the position of Chief. Then, soon after Xerxes III’s accession to the throne, she ingratiated herself with him, forming a physical relationship.

With her overwhelming martial prowess and the influence of the Persis Empire as her backing, she quickly subdued all other clans under her control.

「Now then, what does Xexe want from me, I wonder~?」

Aisha tore open the seal and read the letter. Then she grinned slyly.

「What is the emperor asking for?」

「He says he’s going to dispatch troops to Kirisia, so we should join in too.」

Hearing this, the man frowned.

「Hm? What’s wrong?」

「The emperor intends to treat us as mere tools. Are you okay with that?」

「Ahaha. We’re in a relationship of mutual use; what are you talking about?」

The Arams were granted the authority to freely conduct business within the Persis Empire. In return, the Empire imposed a commercial tax on the desert people.

Trade was indispensable for the Arams, and the commercial tax was a crucial source of revenue supporting the Empire’s enormous military expenses.

At least the relationship between Aisha and Xerxes III could be considered very good. However, the Arams had a strong sense of independence, and many disliked the idea of having an Emperor of a different ethnicity, even in name only, above them.

「Besides, he said we could loot as we please. We can make a fortune, you know? I’ve always found the Kirisian annoying. They always act so superior and start businesses wherever they feel like it. Let’s kill some and reduce their numbers.」

Both the Arams and the Kirisians were people with a strong mercantile spirit. Originally, their area of influence was clearly divided between sea and land, but recently, merchants from Kirisia began extending their trade to the inland. As a result, the relationship between the Arams and the Kirisians had become very strained.

「And…」

Aisha grabbed the only remaining horn on the salamander.

「I’ve been too quiet lately. It’s time to go wild and show little Xexe… a thing or two, so he doesn’t take us lightly.」

The horn shattered into pieces.