The Female-Collecting Campaign — Winner Takes All (3)

The diplomacy of taking a small loss to reap a massive gain continued. Lead with the crossbowmen, and nine times out of ten the city gates swung wide — and along with those gates, the city-state leaders' legs tended to follow.

"Oh my?! I just became Hannam's third wife ♥"

Every now and then someone asked whether a man was really allowed that many wives. It was never a real problem.

"Hannamism endorses polygamy, so what can you do?"

"Ah, of course. In that case... if I were to become your fifth wife—"

"—then Hannamguk would save your city, yeah."

The saintess of the religious city-state La Venta nodded. She'd been losing sleep over neighboring Carthage constantly demanding tribute, and she was hoping Hannamguk would take care of it for her.

Wait a second. I have to stop by there anyway, don't I?

Carthage had cut trade with us too, after Egypt leaned on them. They're not the type to pull a Lü Bu unless they're sitting right next to their mortal enemy, Rome...

Shaking down the city-state next door, though?

Something felt off. If they were going for a domination victory, annexing La Venta outright would make more sense. I needed to figure out why Carthage — a civ with a warmonger score of absolute zero — was being this cagey.

"I have no interest in conquest whatsoever!"

Queen Dido of Carthage declared. We'd barely started negotiating and she was already raising her voice. A high-strung bitch, just like the rumors said.

Well. If you're the woman who founded Carthage, you'd better have at least this much spine.

Not that it stopped her from going weak in the knees the second she laid eyes on Hannamguk's army. Dido had marched her troops out to meet me at first, but the moment she saw our cavalry, she sat down at the negotiating table like a good girl.

For someone with zero leverage, crossing her legs at me was pretty damn insolent. I wanted to pry those thighs wide open. Would she still look so composed with her breeding hole on display in front of a man she barely knew?

But contrary to my expectations, Dido was the first to take a step back.

"Hannam. Carthage has no gold to offer you at present."

"How broke are we talking?"

"Guh...! So you really did come here to plunder Carthage?!"

"Wasn't even thinking about it, but that attitude of yours is making me want to teach you a lesson."

"...I was in the wrong. You are the ruler of a civilization, and I shall treat you accordingly from this moment on."

Dido bit down on her lip as she answered. How many times would I have to wreck this bitch's cunt before she learned some humility? I'd find out when the time came. But first, I had to deal with the La Venta situation.

"So what you're saying is, your civilization ran out of gold and that's why you started demanding tribute from La Venta?"

"Yes! That's right. With what's left in the treasury, I can't even pay my soldiers."

And that gives you the right to raid the neighbor's vault? I could practically feel how wronged La Venta's saintess must have been.

"Carthage has been wronged too! Cleopatra asked us not to trade with Jordan... so we had no choice but to go broke."

"Asked? Not threatened?"

"Yes! Asked. Egypt and Carthage are equal friends, not master and slave!"

I played along to spare the queen her pride. That was enough to make Dido uncomfortable, and she started spilling what she actually thought.

"As you well know, Carthage is a civilization that trades by sea."

Of course I knew. I'm a veteran. Sea trade on ships is a far more profitable business than hauling goods overland on camelback.

"Cleopatra said that if we kept trading with you, she would close the port at Luxor."

"Luxor? Never heard of it. And Egypt doesn't even have a port city."

"Before she bought it from you, it was... Busan, I think? Yes! It was originally a port city called Busan!"

That fucking Cleopatra. I didn't even have a real reason to be angry, but something about it pissed me off all the same. I'd already licked that city and called it mine. Who the hell did she think she was, renaming it on a whim?

"Egypt paid Hannamguk a fair price, so she has every right to change the name!"

"Yeah, I'll give you that. Anyway... I get the full picture now. If Egypt shuts down the Busan port, Carthage's sea lanes get blocked too—"

And the money they make from trade dries up. Dido had given up Jordan, her second-best trading partner, to protect Busan, her most profitable one. Still, something about it didn't sit right.

Does Egypt even have the tech to run a port?

You don't just spam science and call it a day. You actually have to take the naval tech tree. And Egypt had only researched just enough science to field chariot archers, pouring everything else into commerce and culture...

"Cleopatra's bluffing."

"What did you just say?!"

"That Egyptian bitch is putting on a show for you, Dido, because she wants to starve my Jordan dry."

Even the best infrastructure loses half its function if you don't maintain it. That was the whole reason I'd sold Busan in the first place. If they hadn't put so much as a single gold into the harbor or the lighthouse, the trade bonuses those buildings provided wouldn't be what they used to be. In that case, you'd be better off just trading overland with Jordan.

Cleopatra knew that, and she was still holding Busan hostage to keep her trade with Carthage going.

"You can ignore Cleopatra's threats."

"...Are you certain, Hannam?"

Dido's expression brightened a little after hearing my explanation. But she still had lingering attachments.

"Nngh. Cutting off trade with Egypt immediately would be... difficult. Even if what you say is true... won't Cleopatra eventually acquire the technology to run a port city?"

She probably would. But that wasn't a problem I needed to worry about right now. Because—

"I'm taking Busan back. The moment Busan is under Hannamguk again, I'll open maritime trade with Carthage immediately."

Unlike Egypt, Hannamguk actually has the science and technology to operate a port city. And unlike Cleopatra, I wouldn't use trade as a political weapon, so Dido would be better off dealing with Hannamguk than Egypt anyway. She was still hesitating, so I gave her a little nudge.

"You gonna spend your whole life getting played by Cleopatra's little schemes? Doesn't it piss you off? The proud Queen of Carthage, treated like Egypt's housecat?"

"Are you comparing me to that naked cat?!"

I was talking about a hairless Sphynx cat. I nodded without a shred of shame.

"It's pathetic, isn't it? The great trading empire of Carthage, so broke you're shaking down a tiny city like La Venta."

"Guh! I don't have the gold to keep my civilization running right now — what the hell do you expect me to do?!"

"That's why I'm telling you to ditch Egypt and take Hannamguk's hand."

Taking my hand was a generous way of putting it. Spreading her legs was closer to the truth. I was planning to make Carthage a vassal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠when the time came anyway.

A bastard fucking a bitch? That's fine by me.

Dido crossed her arms, her face prim and composed. It was almost impressive that those slender little arms could hold up a pair of tits that size.

"Very well. I still don't trust you, Hannam, but I don't like Egypt any more than you do."

"Excellent choice. A wise woman rides the wind when it blows."

That's when Dido cut me off.

"But what proof do you have that you can buy Busan back?"

A reasonable suspicion. She'd just dumped her longtime partner Egypt to go suck some other guy's dick... and what if Hannamguk failed to get Busan back?

"Sorry about that."

"You rotten bastard!!"

But that wasn't going to happen. Once Carthage and La Venta were both on my side, and I routed every last trade through Jordan without sending a single camel Egypt's way—

"Cleopatra won't last."

"...You're that certain?"

Of course I was. Egypt couldn't afford to get too poor either. Bureaucrats and soldiers still need to get paid, right? Unless she wanted her head rolling in a coup.

"I'll take Busan back, no matter what. So stop your whining and withdraw the tribute demand from La Venta."

"I was not whin— nngh... Fine."

My escort stamped his foot, and Dido shut that cock-holster of a mouth. She didn't have any other options anyway.

The Great Zimbabwe I'd built in Jordan wasn't just a wonder that increased the number of trade routes a civilization could hold. It'd been a while, so the details were fuzzy. Time to pull up the status window again.

It even gives you a Great Merchant. The catch is that whatever ability the Great Merchant I received would have was random—

"Cock-sama said he was looking for me, so here I am. Want me to spread my legs again today?"

Hasina, the Great Merchant of Jordan I'd customized to a G-cup — her ability was a little underwhelming. That said, everything else about her — those curves, that submissive attitude — made her a bitch I was more than happy with.

"No pregnancy today. Get on your knees and just suck my cock."

"Okay. I'll do whatever you say. Disobeying my lord would only make things worse for me."

This girl had never even been raped or date-raped like Hyojeong. She'd never been publicly humiliated. And she still talked like this. Way too mouthy for a pussy-slave.

I jammed my cock down her throat until she dry-heaved, then opened the status window.

In actual history, civilizations like Rome and China often used troublesome barbarian tribes as mercenaries. Throw them a little gold or silver, tell them to go fight the tribe next door, and let the barbarians beat each other to death. Classic strategy. Of course, there was also Genghis Khan, who took the "aid money" and eventually swallowed China whole...

But the developers of History weren't quite that committed to historical accuracy. In the game, as long as you paid the gold, you could put a barbarian camp to work for a set period of time. No backstabbing to worry about.

"Nngh! You came on my face again, this thick stuff... Anyway, you want me to go talk to those barbarians, right?"

"Yeah. The ones living around Cairo."

In the very early game, sure, but at this point barbarian camps weren't a real threat. Not to a civilization as big as Egypt, at least. But while I was thinking about how to get a discount on Busan, I came to the conclusion ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that even those bitches running ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠around in nothing but animal hides could be useful.

Let's leave the dirty work to them.

Five city-states of various sizes, plus the civilization of Carthage, had already cut trade with Egypt. Cleopatra had to be dying right about now. But that arrogant pussy needed to get even poorer. And for that to happen, the civilizations and city-states I hadn't co-opted yet needed to cut ties with Egypt too.

"Hasina, you just go talk. They'll handle the dirty work."

"Okay, Cock-sama. I'll wrap this up quick and see you tonight on my lord's bed!"

Even as she set off alone for the barbarian camp, Hasina was already bracing herself to grow the population. I'd never doubted her abilities.

And just like that, a completely unprompted wave of plunder broke out.

I made the plan, but it was the barbarian bitches who actually robbed the caravans and made off with the gold and goods. Hannamguk was an unpopular civilization in its own right, but compared to barbarians we were a joke. The civilizations and city-states that had no idea who was really pulling the strings just started cursing out the barbarians. Thanks to that, Hannamguk's reputation came through unscathed.

Without spending a single coin, I'd increased the number of caravans passing through Jordan. Trade is a zero-sum game. If someone profits, someone else takes the loss.

Gold kept piling up in Jordan. Cairo's treasury, meanwhile, emptied out. Cleopatra, now cash-strapped, would have to start putting things on the fire sale soon.