14xx/8/18

199 days since arrival…

Two weeks have passed ever since I wrote in this journal last time. Holy shit, this thing is thick. I bet this thing can stop a point-blank shot from a 9mm. I don't want to test that theory out though, this is the only proof of my existence if I somehow got eaten alive by a fucking MG. I wonder if I could make a copy if shit hit the fan. They don't have printing machine for some reason.

So yeah, what the cinnamon toast fuck am I doing in the last two weeks? Nothing much, except playing 4d-politic-chess-backgammon with the situation around me. I hated politic, but I cannot escape it considering my work has to end up working with leaders and such.

Trust me, people hated my idea. They have enough of paperwork, the reason they joined with Luka in the first place is because they wanted to have some action, not to go and sit in a table and do the same boring shit they've been doing for the last century. But they also conceded that the situation is much direr than any small kingdom can deal with. Luka at this point is a lesser duke considering his follower count and his wealth, so he needed as many helps as he can to help manage his forces. Princess Sara is no longer a princess but still has limitless support from her people, Pope Peter told me that his kingdom is running dry on national soldiers, and Medallion queen is simply too small to actually pose a fighting force in the big picture.

So, like it or not, these people have to band together and rebuild their forces for the future conflict. As a representative of the SDM-Mithra Alliance, I decided that it would be the greatest opportunity to grab King Espen and help him be part of the alliance as well. Considering the fact that he once was the guardian of some really legendary weapons (he didn't divulge the location of each weapon, but he has them in mind in case shit hit the fan). Thankfully, it is much easier than I expected. Undead as he is, he is still an ancient king, a noble like they are. Pope Peter recognized him as an ancient vassal of the Kingdom of Ilia, so he approved of this alliance. King Espen has no qualm being under his rule, remembering his oath to the great-grandfather of Pope Peter.

Now that the Alliance is now made, it is clear to everyone that some serious rework must be done. The thugs that Princess Sara hired is actually part of a bandit faction near the river and has been preying on the shipping line at the river connecting to the sea. The city still has supplies, but the river is one of the safest and fastest form of supply lines over the land-based supply line. What kind of idiot enjoys carrying a fuckton of gold and steel crossing over a massive, hot, dry-ass desert teeming with MGs? San Ilia is running out of professional troops considering their massive war with Grangold. If they broke the line up there, the capital would've probably been in deep shit. And the Ilia Continent has next to no quality national troops on their own, relying mostly on adventurer's (fancy way of saying mercenaries). Mercenaries are good in short term, but having a national troop would be much better in the long run.

Don't get me started on Mithra.

So basically, we are boned on the military perspective. But it ain't the last day of Berlin 1944 kind of boned. It's just a matter of dealing with shit that's all. The Monster Girls are another issue though. Hito is right; they really didn't enjoy being bossed around. In more way than one, they are simply wild animals with tribalistic mindset. It was Luka and Hito's words that finally convinced them to pledge their loyalty.

Luka is surprisingly more mature than I thought. When I asked him why he recruited basically wild animals, he told me that they have no allegiance at all, hence making it easy for him to control them in battle. Considering the menagerie of fighters that followed him throughout the battle, he got a point. His one problem though, is that he knows nothing about managing people. He is a good combat leader if what Hito said is true, but he is no diplomat or general.

This is where the alliance came in.

Truth to be told, I felt like I'm about to disturb a hornet's nest. After all, politic is an ugly thing, uglier its visage is during this time of the century. It is a good fortune that Luka somehow manages to convince everyone to join in his little crusade. Crazy kid has charisma to match.

We have a set of goals that we wished to achieve. One, reinvigorate the national army and reduce reliance on mercenaries. Second, to build up an industry sector to strengthen the kingdom in economy, defence and quality of life. Third, to acquire the loyalty of the surrounding MGs population to not attack the locals when shit hit the fan. The last one is a pain in the ass to deal with. MGs prey on humans for their seed, and human prey on them for goods and sport. To them, fighting Monster Girls are the rite of passage for any budding warrior. This level of expected hostility would be detrimental for the entire operation.

As King Espen is my primary ally, I decided to invest into his kingdom. Agriculturally, Mithra's little basin is a mess. No water, only dry lands for miles away with only a simple run-down village as the main overall population of the kingdom. However, it is a perfect area for heavy industry as well as mining. Even if we retake Pornof and repurposed it to its former glory, we are still lacking of many other essentials materials.

For this reason, I hired several ground-based MGs to dig inside the ground for samples. Needed to know if they have any valuable ores at all. If not, I can build a factory on top of it. If yes, I'll make a mine. I received the result around three days ago, and by god I'm happy for it. You see, underground, Mithra has a large deposit of iron and coal, with some copper to boot. This is exactly the material that I needed to start an industrial revolution.

Oil would be amazing, but magic will have to do.

So, while I was waiting for the explorers to probe the land underneath Mithra, I decided to help out Princess Sara with her bandit problem. Those bastards are hidden inside the mountain range overlooking the main river leading toward Sabasa city. It wasn't that deep inside, but it has a really good view over the river and the sea. They already have trebuchets and ballista aimed at the river (cannons are too heavy to be carried up there) and more construction are in progress.

Shame that those are made from wood.

Pretty easy though once you take out the outpost and the watchtowers guarding the edge. So, me and a group of assassins led by this chick named Salaan cleared out the outpost in record time, right at the east ridge of the mountain. Then, when morning break, we bombed the exit and flooded the fucking compound with poison gas. Chlorine is one hell of a poison, burns them from inside out. We even used the harpies that we paid to fly us into the mountainside to create a strong enough wind to keep the gas inside, forcing those bandits to run out like rats. When in doubt, gas their ass.

It worked like a dream; those poor fools stumbled out of their tents choking on their own blood, the poison slowly dissolving their lungs as they gasped for air only to inhale more of those noxious cloud. You can't even lie down and hope for the oxygen on the ground. Shits heavy as fuck, that's why we have to use some wind jutsu shit to blow those gas out to the sea. Poor fools, it was almost pitiful seeing them like that.

The survivors, the one whom are on the outskirt have fled down toward the river, right at the hand of Princess Sara. It was too effective, only around 10 people escaped. Back during my first week in this world, I do remember using smoke to try and smoke some bandits out. As my order is to simply eliminate them, I do so with upmost efficiency.

Unfortunately for me, Princess Sara is so disturbed by what see saw that she outright banned the usage of poison gas on future conflict. I never thought that I would end up adding a line from Geneva Convention to this world's book of law. Oh well, at least the problem is settled and I got paid a lot today. The loot inside the fort was phenomenal, seems like they've been here for a long time too.

Princess Sara wanted to pursue them even further out to the sea, but I advised her to focus on getting back onto the throne. While I support democracy, her kingdom isn't ready for such a sudden change. What they needed is a slow, transitional process from an absolute monarchy, and try to gradually change it into a democracy at one point. Medallion Queen asked why though, considering that it'll take too much effort. I told her that while monarchy is a good idea for now, she's still human, and human can die. If she dies, who the hell would lead the country? Its not like she has any fucking heir in her belly or some shit.

Then Hito asked Luka if he wanted to sire a royalty. Jesus, he's as tactless as my own Hito is.

Anyway, there's no really good way to go about it to be honest. I always hated politicians. They always try to deflect the blame onto one another, never taking responsibility for their action. I may not agree with the idea of absolute monarchy, but the alternative is to let the people, whom are mostly led by emotion rather than actual critical thought, choose a leader from the very same population to lead them, whom probably has never has any actual experience or knowledge to lead anything out of a fucking paper bag.

Democracy is good in the long run if you're a human. But what we needed now is a strong, firm leader, not a bush-whacking representative.

I don't know much about Princess Sara to be honest, but she's the official crown of Sabasa, and I don't think other monarchs would take kindly to some unknown whippersnapper sitting on her throne. It was bad enough that I am one of the de-facto advisors of the alliance, thus painting a large bullseye on my ass, the fact that I have no men of my own makes it even worse. Latina and Sophie are the only one that I can reliably call as my own.

Oh well, I've been through worst. Just have to play my cards right.