I slowly went through what happened and how I began to suspect issues with the diplomats that we had been sending to the Demon lands to the Elders. They looked serious as I found that our intelligence network had been ransacked and embezzled.
The Elders told me that they looked through old reports and that it all looked normal and that when the war was over, they would have to increase gold allocation until they could get the spy network back up and running. I followed up by informing them that I had begun with my old gold made by selling high-quality potions made with the chance of death, making them look both surprised at my Alchemy prowess and frown that many of those potions went to another nation.
They accepted all of that, even my sale of a very watered-down form of a strategic material when I told them the extra ingredients I added to send others astray on the proper formula. I could tell some of them were very annoyed and hadn't wanted to do it either, but I needed the gold at the time. It was prioritizing the short term over the long term, but they understood the situation that I was in.
I continued to brief them on the state of our relationships with some of the races in the Demon lands. Again the Elders were alarmed by how close we were to losing all ties with the Succubi and the Incubi. The Vampires were now on the fence with us but still liked us but were waiting and seeing while I got closer with the neutral factions.
It was complex, and I told them that there wasn't more than surface-level information because of the absolute shit show that the spy ring was. The Elders understood and asked how I got the Medusa representative to change sides, and I frowned at that. It was the tensest part of the entire debrief as I told them about the Tiger-kin Mistress inside the Demon lands with the ability to influence high level.
"What?!" Two Elders stood outraged, "Who is this Mistress?" They demanded, and I shrugged.
"I am not sure," I told them, "Christina found her by accident, and I had to strike a deal with her for some inconsequential things in the end. But the results were amazing, and the Medusa that she controlled derailed the opposition to our economic policies that would have hurt relations with the Demon lands long term with our people," I continued, "In fact, this now leaves us in a strong term to negotiate now without the leverage of the Free Trade Agreement as a whole. This shouldn't be taken advantage of right away, nor should we push too hard to create resentment with the Races of the Demon lands. But we can also delay that part to build up a larger ship presence since the Demon lands would also like us to succeed in the war against the Empire." This time I was smiling brightly as I told them what I thought it all meant. "This will increase our overall development after the war forward as well as increasing how much gold and silver we make during the war in order to field our tribes with good equipment properly."
"Still, I am wary of the Mistress you mention." Elder Trion said suddenly, and I had to hold myself from looking at him with hate. I knew Trion was one of the Elders that would want me to become a Bull to create more children endlessly.
"I have already done my best in that respect," I told him, "Unfortunately, during my Interaction with this Mistress, she informed me she would like the mole we placed removed already, knowing the staff member. If we can, it will take time to convert another of her staff." I shrugged and leaned forward a bit, "I cannot do more than that, and neither could anyone else. She was at least a B ranker, and I couldn't fight her either in my current situation as she wasn't weak. It will take time to watch her again, hopefully from a distance." Elders nodded at that, and I smiled. "On other news on that front. Queen Mira and the Succubi have become aware of her and will be watching in the meantime."
"That is at least some good news, although it still isn't a first-hand account," Elder Trion replied, "Better than nothing, at least."
"Chelsea, moving on from that," Elder Tyrone began, "Queen Mira said that you sold her a military strategy in the coming war for her Succubi. Please, Tell us all about your plans and what we need to do in order to facilitate your efforts."
"My plans are simple in words, more complicated in practice. I would like to pair Illusionists of the Succubi with Elites. Each group will have a leader of sorts that the group all follow orders of while away from the army." I began, "Each of these groups will need to be around six to twelve C or B rank members with at least one B ranker as the core of the team but not necessarily the Leader of the team. The reason for that is that Succubi, I believe, sometimes will be the highest rank among a squad or group perse. This allows us to remain in charge while keeping these groups strong enough to kill all C rankers on the way to their objective while strong enough to retreat if they encounter strong enough resistance." I started to see nods, although some Elders like Trion looked annoyed. "Within a group or squad, I would like at least one general wizard along with two front liners of various professions, an Illusionist, and someone strong enough to carry supplies at a minimum. Although the last one is unneeded if they are in a larger squad since everyone can carry what they need to move around."
"So, that is your minimum requirement for these groups?" Leder Tyrone asked.
"That is the minimum, but I would recommend a minimum of ten people to a squad, with twelve being a full squad," I replied.
"Why that number?" Elder Tyrone asked.
"The reason is simple," I smiled as I replied, "Flexibility. Suppose we mix other races, warriors, wizards, and other Tribes' professions. In that case, we will be able to organize our army in a way that allows for the best communication while being able to give our Illusionists good coverage." I smiled, "Not only that, but no matter what group the Empire finds and attacks, they will go against something that, at a minimum, they need a B ranker in order to attack. If a group of C-rank soldiers encounters a group, then we will kill them without effort. If they learn that attacking small groups with their C-ranked soldiers is a losing proposition, that means they cannot scout with weaker forces. Either that or they will have to spread out their B rankers to the edges where we can retreat or overpower them with multiple groups we have set up in advance." I smiled viciously, "We need to throw them off guard at the start and make a large entrance that will push back the Empire's military while they learn what to do with our new potions and tactics."
Many of the Elders were nodding now, "That is an interesting approach," Elder Tyrone said after a minute of thinking, "What this also does is subordinate many other tribes under our flag," He said, his voice thoughtful.
"I think you are thinking too short-term, Elder Tyrone," I replied.
Many looked at me, startled as I chastised him, and Trion looked pissed. "What do you mean?" Elder Tyrone replied.
"I mean, you are looking at it too short term. I think if other kin can prove they are good leaders for the group, they should be put in charge of them. Even if they are not Bunny-kin. It could be Cat-kin, Tiger-kin, or Dog-kin; I really do not care what species they are." I told them all with a grin, "Think about it!" I exclaimed, "Not only does that make the other kin of our nation subordinate themselves to us. It will also allow them to believe and should be able to control more of our forces and other tribes, bringing our tribes closer together! They will want to keep this system and so will put their resources into it themselves as well, making this cheaper and making other tribes subordinate themselves to us completely with the thoughts that it is all in their own interest!"
Many elders were looking at me, surprised now my Mother was not looking too surprised. Minutes passed, and I could see the elders thinking seriously as they did so. As I did, I watched them in silence, standing here confidently, trying not to make it look awkward under their stares. I was introducing something my previous world understood as being closer to an Army structure. If I could have, I would have introduced this years ago with a large amount of time to build up a proper army instead of the tribal system.
"That is a very compelling idea," Elder Tyrone said, "You are essentially saying that with this, other tribes may willing come and enter our structure in order and subordinate themselves because they know they may have the ability to order our people around as well?"
"Yes, and no," I replied, "I am thinking more of a structure akin to the Empire. An army in the end with all Tribes coming together ultimately with its own volunteer soldiers from all Tribes. As the first Tribe, we can shape and mold it in our image with ultimate control of it at first."
The Elders didn't look as enthusiastic about that as before, and I chuckled, "Think about it!" I said, stopping myself from rolling my eyes. "We have feared and not gone to war for years with the Empire because of their standing army. Why not make our own under our image? If the Dragon-kin does not want to follow us and help us with the creation of it, then they would be left out of it. We will become the controller of the Beast-kin nation as its strongest Tribe with the weight of all other tribes behind us!" I announced, saw the Elders looking at me, and saw my Mother sigh a little.
"So, does this all start from your Elite groups with the Succubi?" Elder Trion asked.
"No," I replied, "This war is too soon to start this," I told him honestly, hiding my hate, "This is so that we can push back the Empire and win the start of the war. After that," I shrugged, "We will have to see."
My Mother nodded more there, and I saw my Father looking serious. "Chelsea, Please leave for a moment while we discuss among ourselves and wait for us to summon you back." My Father said seriously while the Elders turned to him, "We need to discuss various things, including how much we are willing to put into your Elite squads as you have put it." He finished.
I walked out feeling nervous as I realized I may have gone too far with how much I told them. I saw how they wanted to gather the tribes under us and thought it would blind them to the equality it would bring with it. Still, they may not see that far, and having a biased structure with the Bunny-kin as heads would be better than nothing for a military.
Closing the door behind me, I fell into my turbulent emotions and allowed myself to sigh loudly. I let myself lean against the wall and waited while my emotions stirred as I decided not to think about what was going on in the room. Instead, my thoughts wandered to Susie's face as she saw me. When Mira was happily showing me what she had learned. My thoughts centered around them and seeing their mothers with them smiling brightly as I held them and talked.
I wanted to be back in that room downstairs, playing with my little girls. Not up here waiting on the thoughts of Elders who may or may not have everyone's best interest in mind. I sighed again, waiting and wishing I had spent more time learning the structures of militaries in my past life.