Chapter 72
Its voice is pompous, but I don't sense any hostility or harm.
Above all, the "+" in my status has increased.
Rather than being an enemy, it follows me, just like Leviathan and the rest.
And, then.
Like Leviathan and the others, I linked it to my armor ring and made it materialize.
The material of the ring quickly transformed into a bird with enormous wings (compared to its body).
{My name is Ziz. A demon bird that symbolizes the sky, the counterpart of Leviathan and Behemoth.}[TN: The Ziz(ジズ) is a giant griffin-like bird in Jewish mythology, said to be large enough to be able to block out the sun with its wingspan]
The ostentatious tone of voice echoed in my mind.
At the same time, I heard a name I knew well.
Leviathan, and Behemoth.
These are all the ones that follow me.
This Ziz is just like them, it said itself.
"So follow me, as Leviathan and the others do."
{... will…}
In the next moment, an image came into my mind.
The image of wielding power – Ziz's power.
"Interesting ..., I'll try it right away."
As I said this, Ziz released his embodiment and retracted it into a feather ornament.
I held it, and with all my strength, I focused on it.
Immediately after, wings sprouted from my back.
The wings were huge, about twice the size of my arms sticking out to the sides.
They were white like a swan's, but they appeared to be glowing, wings of light.
"Woah. ..."
Gran, who witnessed it, let out an exclamation of admiration.
I tried to flap my wings.
"Mu. ..."
It's like the first time I walked on two legs after being reincarnated, but I couldn't muster the strength to do it.
My body feels connected to it, but I can't move it well.
Still trying to move it, my whole body trembles and I put more effort into it.
Gradually, my wings began to move.
Flap, flap, flap, flap–.
The flapping of the wings became smoother and smoother.
"I-I ma flying!?"
My feet left the ground, and my body was lifted up little by little.
As a result of flapping my wings with almost all my strength, I was able to fly up to the height of my own height.
This made me so happy that I let my guard down, and as a result, my wings stopped flapping and I fell straight down.
Since I fell straight down, I didn't lose my balance and the landing went smoothly.
"Woah! I can't believe you can fly like an angel."
As Gran was praising me, more images from Ziz were pouring into my mind.
I was starting to get the gist of it.
Practice, and discipline.
With practice, I could make my wings move more like a part of my body, and with increasing level and ability, I could increase my flying ability to a practical level.
I felt confident that this was an ability that I could use.
The next morning, while I was doing political work in my study, Henry, the Fourth Prince, requested an audience.
As I let him into the room, he knelt down and bowed to me with a very serious expression on his face.
"What's the matter, Henry, you look grim."
"I'm afraid so as this report has come to light, I don't know what to do."
"Let me see."
I took the report from Henry and looked it over.
It is a report addressed to Henry, the Minister of War.
The report is from the governor of a small town in the outskirts of the country, where bandits have taken over one of the mountains and there are disturbing movements.
The report stated that they would do everything in their power to destroy them.
"Their number is 5,000, huh?"
"Yes. Lermo is a town in the countryside that I didn't even know the name of, and it's a big deal that 5,000 bandits are showing disturbing movements there. If we're not careful, the entire city could fall, and the situation could rapidly expand, leading to a rebellion."
"Fumu."
"I'd like to ask His Majesty's approval if we should send an army from the center to suppress it.
As I listened to Henry, I reread the report from the beginning.
And–
"Fuu. ..."
I couldn't help but let out a chuckle, which made one corner of my mouth lift up.
"Your Majesty? What's so funny?"
" Henry has dealt with rebels many times, but never with remote bandits, I believe."
"Yes, that's true, but ..."
What about it? Henry stares at me.
And while smiling back at him,
"In this kind of report on the bandits' subjugation, the number of enemies is reported larger – no, much larger."
"... Why is that?"
Henry frowned and asked back.
"There are two main reasons. The first is about money. The more enemy there is, the more we need to increase our forces to compete. And if there are actually fewer enemies, you can just accept the budget and not have to raise more troops."
" That' s what His Majesty pointed out that time with Rice, isn't it?"
I smiled softly.
Nostalgic.
At that time, Henry was the Minister of War, and I was just a helper.
Now, Henry is still the Minister of War, but I'm the Emperor.
It was interesting to see the difference in our positions.
"And one more thing. If you report a much larger number of enemy troops, you can create the illusion that your victory is greater than it is, and that your defeat was inevitable. In fact, Henry must have thought that things were out of control there and that the center had to do something about it."
"Indeed."
"To begin with."
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I smiled even more and handed him the report.
Henry receives it and I continue.
"It made Henry concerned enough to come to me for advice, but it's just a 'report,' not a word about reinforcements."
"... Indeed. The only thing it says is that we will annihilate them with all our might."
"If there were reinforcements, they would be in trouble, wouldn't they?"
"I see. That's right, Your Majesty, you've got a good eye."
As Henry bowed his head, Don entered the study.
"His Highness, the Fourth. Excuse me. I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."
"Never mind, the conversation is finished."
" Well then, sir."
"What is it?"
"Your Majesty received something like this."
Don said and held out a box.
Fuwawa's box.
It is a box that I gave to some trusted people scattered around the country to tip them off.
I took it and used Fuwawa's power to open the box.
There was a letter inside, and I took it out and read it.
"Fuu ….. fuhahahaha."
"Your Majesty?"
"What's the matter?"
Henry and Don wondered.
I smiled and handed the letter to Henry.
Henry read it – and he laughed, too.
"I told you so, didn't I?"
"Yes. ... The actual number of bandits is 500. That's a tenth."
The tip-off had come from Lermo.
It is true that the bandits have taken over the nearby mountains and are making disturbing movements, but the number of bandits is estimated to be about five hundred at most.
"We don't need to send any troops."
"You are very perceptive, sir.
Henry's impatient expression when he rushed in earlier was completely blown away, and his expression became easy.
"But it's not good to have bandits popping up here and there so often."
I looked at the report Henry had brought with him.
In the future, I'm going to expand the reach of the Empire.
If I'm going to deploy outward, I need to calm the country down.
I can't concentrate on deploying troops if there are bandits messing around here and there.
We have to do something about it. ...
"Like a monster's nest, we could manage it reasonably well and use it to train new soldiers."
Henry suggested.
"That's a good idea. But we can't keep doing that. Because sooner or later we'll have to go 'out' and fight.
"I see. ..."
"Let's see, we'll think about that later. Henry, keep it in the back of your mind for now."
"By your will."
Henry bowed his head once, then remembered.
"By the way, Jerry Eisen's group has been successful again."
"Hooh?"
Jerry Eisen.
He used to be a bandit, but since he seemed to be useful, I sent him into the army under the guise of serving a sentence.
After that, with his meritorious service, his sentence was lifted and he became a full-fledged soldier.
"Military service and honor – and women."
Henry laughed bitterly.
"If you give them that, they'll work themselves to death. Your Majesty has the good sense to recognize those people and put them in the right places."
"... That's it!"
I found the solution.