Imperial capital: Sadera.

The great imperial victory on the Golden Hill spread throughout the continent reaching the ears of the capital Sadera, the senators were more than happy that 6 legions had been able to stop 100,000 Gali barbarians, although of course they ignored the 10 thousand Gali allies who participated in the battle.

The senate was debating the Gali question in the presence of the emperor.

"It is our opportunity to be able to finish with those damned barbarians!" Senator Cicero La Moltose said, in these times he was awarmonger.

"What happened during that battle was something very fortunate, however I advise you to think carefully about our next decision." Marquis Casel, leader of the senate, said.

"Why keep waiting?! They are in retreat; we should have pursued them when we won the battle." This is Count Dussie. "I propose to send 20 new legions, in addition to sending three squadrons of wyvern riders and 200 battle mages."

"Didn't you read the report?! A strong wind from the east brought all the cold from the Mountain Range of Ice and Snow, basically the north is in a deep winter, sending more than 100 thousand men would be logistical suicide!" Said one of the pro-peace senators. "Also, already we are not fighting against disorganized tribes, now the Parisian king was crowned as king of all Gali, and besides that the Parisian forces in Helvetii suffered almost no damage, our best option is to take advantage of the great victory of prince Zorzal and negotiate a peace."

"I agree with him." Marquis Casel said. "The last war we had against the northern barbarians lasted more than 10 years, more years of continuous revolts... that will keep us very busy, which our enemies could take advantage of to try something." He expressed his concerns.

"The only ones that could pose a threat to us are the different leagues that form the Hellenic Polis, whose combined force was able to stop our advance. However, the last war between the different leagues led by the polis of Anat and the Morean league led by Lacedaemon has not ended, in fact they only agreed to a ceasefire for fear that we would intervene, so technically they are still at war and will return to arms when they see that we are looking elsewhere." Cicero argued in support of Dussie's proposal.

"However, the possibility is still there, we can't just pretend that the Hellenics don't exist. the pro-peace senator replied.

The senators were divided on what to do, whether to embark on a campaign that looked like it would take many years and might give the empire's enemies something to work with, or sue for peace.

The tone of the debate was gradually rising in tone, to the point of being close to becoming a fight, however a senator proposed something that would satisfy everyone.

"If sending so many legions is a problem, why don't we just send ten legions or less? so the rest can continue to guard the Hellenic border."

"That's stupid, they would be at a great disadvantage." they all replied.

"But we could see that Prince Zorzal is a capable strategist, being able to defeat the enemy having such a clear disadvantage," he said like the bootlicker he was.

It is clear that most senators did not understand about the advantage of being in an easily defendable position like a hill, that in that defensive position you also had food, that most of the casualties were due to the fire and that basically the king Krurr killed himself with all his men when he saw that all his allies were leaving due to winter. They only saw the number of 30 thousand imperials against 100 thousand barbarians. With all this, he made them believe that Zorzal was a genius of war, and although the fire was his idea, it's not like he could go and set fire to every forest indiscriminately. The three things he actually did correctly were having common sense for not to leave a hill, having a small force active at night to prevent night attacks, and burning down a forest, however had winter not come early he would have inevitably lost by committing the serious mistake of not defending their only source of water properly. In short, Zorzal was not a genius and the prince know, but the politicians did not take this into account.

At the proposal, the senators began to nod, giving praises and compliments to the prince, saying that he was a genius and such. Hearing this the emperor, a frown of disgust formed on his face for a few seconds, however, this was a golden opportunity.

Hearing that most of the senators were already in agreement with sending support, the emperor finally spoke.

"I agree with the conclusion given by the senate, a total of 8 new legions will be sent to my son so that he can resume the campaign next spring." He said solemnly, at the end followed by the strong applause of the senators.

/

"Is this true, Your Majesty?!" Marcus read with horror the list of reinforcements that would be sent to the north, the problem was not what was there, but what was missing. "No wyverns or mages to support the young prince?! Without air and magical support, it would be very difficult to win in the north unless 12 more legions are sent!"

"It's simple, my friend, it seems that my son wants to follow in the footsteps of his older brother Katie." He answered sitting on his throne, and then continued. "Thanks to his recent military exploits he has been becoming very popular among senators thanks to the fact that he was able to see the Gali trap in the Inland Sea, that he attacked the Helvetians by surprise and enslaved so many people without much trouble, and his recent flawless victory at Golden Hill. So, my intention is that, in the middle of his campaign he is forced to ask for help, so that the victory would no longer be completely his, lowering not only those idiots in the Senate, but also Zorzal so that he sees that depends on my power."

"I understand but... I can't see him as a threat to the crown, your majesty, he would simply be known as a good general."

"You're wrong my friend, you may not know it, but Zorzal had already started making his moves in the past." He calmly replied. "He managed to establish a relationship with different slave and mining companies before starting this campaign, in fact they are already starting to invest in him, giving him soldiers who serve as garrisons for the subject cities in exchange for them being the first to get those slaves."

Hearing that, Marcus could understand the reason for his emperor's concern, the prince was relating to those most important members of the imperial economy, and now he was achieving great military feats, basically he was already starting his political career on foot strong and going for the big fishes.

"That's why I have to cut his aspirations now, otherwise... I'll have to do the same thing to his older brother."

/

Golden Hill: Imperial Camp.

A month had already passed since that battle, now the town had turned into a wooden fort due to fear of a surprise attack.

Not only that, but I also asked those who controlled coastal areas to build boats planning to launch a naval invasion of the Gali tribe further north.

Morale in camp was high, not only because of the victory, but also because thanks to my new orderly serving method, and by my new method I mean I copy paste it from Genghis Khan, basically everyone had become rich.

I was in mycabin, sitting by a fireplace reading the mail.

"His Highness Prince Zorzal.

Thanks to you I have managed to obtain enough slaves to try the experiment of worker rotation in one of my mines... the results are amazing! With three groups taking turns every 8 hours, I tripled the production of an entire week in just three days! Not only because this method allows you to have the mine active day and night (hiring a couple of wizards to help with the lighting, of course), but because the slaves are more productive by being fresh and not falling from exhaustion, his idea was simply revolutionary. I will be praying to the gods for the success of your campaign so that all my mines can adopt the same system.

Viscount Lanius"

Reading this letter, and others like it, started to give me a slight headache.

I remember when I saw a slave I had to control my anger, however now not only did it barely cause me something after seeing it so many times, but it was also helping this system.

"Don't get used to it, don't get used to it, don't get used to it." I told myself.

"This is just temporary to gain influence, you're going to get rid of this when it's useless, so don't get used to it."

In that, Cornelius enters my cabin with a papyrus in his hand. "A letter from the capital."

"I think they are the reinforcements we are going to receive." Receiving the letter, beginning to read.

As I read, a wrinkle appeared on my face, and when I finished reading, I threw the scroll into the fire, being thoroughly angry.

"Those idiots! What do they mean by no wyverns or wizards?! And the technicians and architects?!"

"S-Sir?" He said somewhat worried.

"They will only send us 8 legions, which would be about 40 thousand soldiers..." Annoyed, starting to get ready to leave for the capital.

"But sir, added to our current forces it would be an equivalent to 70 thousand, plus the possible future Gali allies we could reach up to 100 thousand with some luck... We are not in a very bad situation." He said without understanding the anger of the Prince.

"It is not the number of soldiers that is the problem." I answered. "Didn't you know that because of a magician we couldn't recover the creek? It would have been a catastrophe if winter had not come earlier! And all because of a single enemy mage.

He knew that there were probably more enemy mages in that place, but they couldn't use them because marching them up the hill would be suicide, but now all the Parisian lands had great forests, perfect for ambushes.

"Besides, we don't have technicians and engineers to make effective siege weapons or bridges, after all we are using a formed army to deal with small tribes." Finishing getting ready, I left the cabin. "I will take 500 horsemen as a guard; I will personally request the senate for something very important and I will also bring more support."

"Will we also pack the gifts for your brothers and friends?"

"Yes."

/

Imperial Palace: Garden.

"...I don't know why I keep coming here..." A little Diabo said timidly, sitting on the knees of Luserina, the elf, surrounded by the other girls.

"Because master Zorzal asked you to take care of us~" Moon replied, rubbing her head on Diabo's shoulder while purring, something that turned the little boy completely red.

"V-Very close... W-why did he have to give me this task while he went to fight?"

"Oh, that reminds me..." The one who spoke was Luserina. "Saskia... are you okay?... I mean, since the master went to conquer your homeland..." She asked concerned about the Gali girl.

"It doesn't matter, my homeland was conquered before so... It's not something that should bother me."

"I don't know what I would do if the master is sent to take my hometown..." Said Fent-kaus.

"You don't have a hometown, you're a nomad!" Zilf replied.

"I know, that's why I wouldn't know what to do." She said between a few light giggles to ease the tension a bit.

"If you ask me." Thalassa spoke. "For me I would be happy if they reduced my polis to ashes"

"Yes yes, we know that the life of women in the Hellenic Polis is horrible. Can you stop saying it every time you have the opportunity?" Nuriel complained, hitting her head with her wing.

"I'm sorry, I just want to unload a little."

"What happened there?" asked the little prince, curious. The other girls had made faces to keep him quiet, but it was too late.

Thalassa began to talk nonstop about her whole life in Anat, how she couldn't do anything without the permission of a legal guardian even though she was of legal age, spending time locked up at home weaving day and night, how her father freed a slave to make him heir to his house since she could not inherit anything, that the same freed slave raped her and that she was later sold to the empire as a slave by her father because as she was no longer a virgin he had no opportunity to compromise her with some other wealthy family.

Of course, it was something very serious that would arouse the compassion and pity of others... But she brought out that story whenever she could and basically they were all fed up, plus every time she told her story she took the opportunity to release an enormous amount of insults, saying how she would have killed them all in every possible way if she had the chance, making it impossible for anyone to feel pity.

In fact, Thalassa was not looking to generate pity, what she was looking for was simply to release all the bile she had inside her, so knowing this they had covered the little boy's ears so that he could not hear anything at all.

"What? What did he say?" Diabo said confused, only being able to see the different gestures she made to somehow illustrate her revenge.

"I'm surprised that having gone through all that it seems that you have no problem with being Zorzal's slave." Said the elf who covered the little boy's ears. " I mean, you complain about being treated like a slave in your homeland but you don't seem to mind being a literal sex slave.

"Well, I have a good life here, besides the fact that the master is very kind." she replied.

"So... is it okay for you to be a slave just because they treat you well?" Luserina questioned.

"I can eat what I want, I can sleep as much as I want, drink as much as I want, read what I want, do what I want. All that just for sleeping with only one person when he calls me. It's not a matter of preference, it's just the best deal." she answered.

"I can't believe you girls think that way. Do you really prefer to be nothing more than slaves?" The elf kept taking her hands off Diabo's ears, he was confused as to why the girls seemed to be arguing.

"Luserina, it's fine that you miss your elf village, but the world is not an elf village. There are times when the life of a free person is harder than that of a slave. My family had to sell themselves into slavery so as not to starve." The nomad girl spoke.

"I would rather starve than sell myself." The elf replied in disgust.

"That tells me you were never about to starve to death."

Before this discussion of freedom vs comfortable life could continue, a servant girl came running up.

"Master Zorzal has just arrived in the capital!"

/

Almost after three weeks of travel, we were able to enter Sadera. The change in weather was very noticeable, since it was still autumn here, with some days still hot, while in the north there is a lot of snow.

We entered the city, a large number of happy citizens came to receive me, cheering and throwing flowers as I passed, the euphoria for my victory was still going on, it was something so surprising that for a moment fame had gone to my head, for a few moments I thought I was invincible to the point of being able to do anything no matter what... I immediately slapped myself, a hard one, to get out of that almost trance state.

"don't get used to it, don't get used to it, don't get used to it."

Every day, without exception, I was bombarded with imperial propaganda and always surrounded by people who licked my balls for whatever I did was starting to get to me, I had to stop it from getting to me or I'm going to be screwed.

/

Already in the presence of my father, I knelt before him as a sign of respect.

"Get up, my son." Said the emperor, with a gesture that accompanied his words.

Standing up, I began to speak.

"Father, I came here for the matter of the campaign against the Gali."

"That's what I assumed, however for that we must wait for the next meeting of the senate."

"Tsk, As if you cared what the senate says, you just want to put spokes in the wheel..." "I understand, father, there are some things that should be discussed with the senators." I said following the game, I didn't know what his intention would be. "Until then, I will stay in the palace."

/

"Listen well, my knights!" Piña tried to have a military tone towards her friends, for them it was an intimidating voice but for the adults who listened to her they had to make an effort not to laugh. - My brother will arrive at any moment... We must show you the result of our training!

Piña raised her wooden sword, and in sync her friends did the same right after a "yes!".

"My lady, can I ask a question?" The one who spoke was Bozes Co Palesti, and before an affirmative movement of the head of Piña, she spoke. "Well... Why is that pervert here with us?!" She said pointing to Diabo, who was surprised to be called that.

The girls already saw him along with Zorzal's slaves and how they became attached to him, so Diabo's reputation with the girls went from non-existent to completely negative in an instant.

"He asked me if he could join the training." The princess replied.

"It's more than obvious that that pervert wants to be close to us just like with those other girls!"

"N-No! My brother asked me to take care of them! T-that's why I'm here!" He said nervously.

"It's true, don't worry, my brother Diabo may be a pervert but he's quite easy to beat." The red-haired girl said remembering how easy it was to make him the slave in her games.

Saying that, Bozes was silent for a few moments, processing something.

"Wait, are you a prince?!" The drill girl asked in surprise.

"Yes!" He exclaimed almost crying because once again no one had recognized him.

"shhh, here comes Zorzal!" Hamilton fell to both of them and they all lined up when they saw me arrive.

Although ignoring all the discipline that my sister wanted to implant in her squad, she ran towards me to hug me.

"Brother! I missed you!" She said happily, I returned the hug.

"And I you..."

Soon after, my brother also came to hug me, to which I also returned his hug.

Once calm, I began to tell them about my time at the front, how I avoided an ambush that would have destroyed all my forces, how I took cities with few casualties, and about the battle of Golden Hill, of course. I censored a lot of inappropriate things and exaggerated some other things to make myself look cooler in the eyes of my brothers.

The future knights of the order of the rose were also impressed, luckily that of being called a pervert is already behind.