The Viper Prepares for Invasion
That was the nickname she earned after making a name for herself as a merchant.
She would stop at nothing to accumulate wealth. If a competitor appeared, she would spread malicious rumors to ensure they could never look her in the eye. Even if her actions harmed others, she would carry them out without hesitation if they resulted in a profit for her. She never cared if someone suffered because of her choices.
After all, it was their own fault for challenging her. Why should she bother mourning a fool who blindly threw themselves at her?
Perphone always maintained a cold, ruthless demeanor. She climbed higher and higher, guided by a strict philosophy of survival of the fittest. As she ascended, she was branded with the nickname "The Viper." It was a title born from the fact that anyone who crossed her met a miserable end.
Perphone considered this nickname a great honor.
She could use it to bolster her reputation. Why would she dislike it when people served her willingly out of pure fear? Even if she were to earn a more fearsome title, Perphone was ready to accept it with pleasure.
By crushing countless competitors and reaching a position no one could touch, Perphone finally became the master of the island.
An island that served as a hub of trade and a vital gateway to the kingdom's capital. An island where the guild headquarters—the nest of adventurers—resided. And an island that only those who held all the wealth and honor in the world could claim as their own.
The name of this island was Ice Island.
Perphone became the lord ruling over Ice Island. The young girl who once harbored the ambition of holding this island in her grasp had finally achieved her dream.
And at the very moment she achieved it, she found herself on the verge of losing everything.
"Asking for a raise? Are you out of your mind?"
Perphone frowned as she looked at the petition on her desk.
Her long green hair, which once shone like an emerald, had become brittle from neglect, and dark, crescent-shaped bruises hung beneath her brown eyes. Since she couldn't return home and lived in her office every day, a mountain of trash had piled up in the corner of the room.
"I already gave you a raise before, and you want another one?"
"The mercenary captain says that while they have to risk their lives, the pay is woefully insufficient. He claims that if we don't comply, he'll defect to the Empire."
Teminer, her aide, reported this while cleaning up after Perphone. Even in her uniform, the woman with short brown hair couldn't hide her curvaceous figure, but she, too, had dark circles under her eyes from a lack of sleep. Having worked through the night, the vitality had drained from her green pupils.
"To the Empire? Ha! What a moronic idea. Does he really think that psychopath would take him in?"
Perphone couldn't even laugh at the mercenary captain's absurd threat.
"Does he not know how men are treated there? And he still has the gall to say such things?"
The archipelago to the southwest, bordering Ice Island, was ruled by the Beastman Union. Though small, the beastmen who lived across numerous islands had formed a union to protect themselves. Perphone had earned a tidy profit by acting as a middleman between the kingdom and the Beastman Union.
That Beastman Union had been destroyed. And by a bunch of pirate rabble, no less.
No, "pirate rabble" didn't do them justice. They were pirates who had formed a grand fleet of ironclad ships that even the kingdom couldn't easily acquire. Having crushed the Union, the pirates established an empire.
The name of the Empire was Desire. It was a nation founded by the pirate leader Grid, and it was the enemy nation Perphone had to fight.
Perphone knew all too well how men were treated in that enemy nation.
"They're just dying to get themselves killed. Does he think that Grid will say, 'Oh, welcome! Live happily here'?"
Men were treated as dolls.
They were modified, with all memories and emotions stripped away. The modified men were reduced to soldiers who would throw away their lives for their master.
Without even knowing who they were, and without leaving behind any descendants, they were worked to death for Grid until their final breath.
The men living in the Empire were all treated that way. They lived lives worse than insects, treated even lower than the women who were regarded as mere livestock.
Having heard this through an informant she had barely managed to plant in the Empire, Perphone found the mercenary captain's threat laughable.
'I could just pay him more, but their greed really has no end.'
If Grid dominated this world, a miserable fate was guaranteed.
She had to stop that to ensure her own path to success, yet did they not even have the brains to think that far? They needed to look at the future, not be blinded by the scraps right in front of them. She had reached the position of lord because she always knew how to look ahead—did they not have a single thought in their heads?
Perphone was annoyed by how many dim-witted people there were.
"So, what will you do?"
"Kill him."
Perphone mimicked slitting her throat with her thumb.
"That man, didn't he once attempt to rape a woman? I turned a blind eye because I didn't know when the Empire would invade, but this is the limit. Get rid of him quickly. He won't be of any help anyway."
"Is that really wise?"
Teminer looked concerned.
"Everyone is on edge, saying the Empire's invasion is imminent. Can we really afford to carry out an execution in such a situation?"
"I cannot tolerate anyone who disrupts military discipline."
They were in a state of war.
To prepare for the Empire's invasion, Perphone had issued a large-scale conscription order.
Using her accumulated wealth, she had hired countless adventurers as well as a large number of mercenaries. Considering the naval warfare, she had prepared dozens of sailing ships and three ironclads.
Thanks to that, ten of her vaults were completely empty, but Perphone didn't think it was a waste.
If she had decided to fight, she considered it natural to pay such a price.
Besides, she still had plenty of full vaults left, so it wasn't a loss. Once the war was over, she would fill the empty coffers back up.
She had prepared this much, but there was no guarantee of victory.
The opponent was armed with ironclads.
It was one of the reasons the Beastman Union had collapsed so easily, and the reason why over a third of the Nechia Kingdom's territory had been swallowed up was the existence of this fleet made of iron ships.
The military force matching that fleet would also be larger than imagined. Perhaps even beyond the scale Perphone had anticipated.
That was why they had to unite and fight. Only by uniting could they hope to stand against such a powerful enemy.
If there was someone undermining that vital unity, they had to be removed. No matter how important their position was.
"Tell the guards to kill him. They have the evidence on their side, so they can handle it immediately."
"Understood."
Teminer nodded slightly and left the office. Left alone, Perphone leaned back in her chair.
"Haa…."
A sigh escaped her lips.
She didn't have to live like a beggar anymore. She had thought she could finally live in luxury, so why did a guy like that have to pop up? Perphone truly hated Grid for ruining her retirement.
"Damn pirate bastard…."
Perphone had heard plenty of rumors about Grid.
A mad murderer who burned down his own hometown and slaughtered its residents.
A piece of trash who would snap the necks of his own aides if things didn't go his way.
His personality was a disaster, but because he had obtained the terrifying power of ironclads, no one dared to stop him.
The fields he passed through were filled with ash and dust.
The villages he passed through were piled high with mountains of corpses.
The rivers he passed through overflowed with blood.
A bastard whose true intentions were impossible to fathom—did he want world conquest, or did he desire the destruction of this world? After that incident, that son of a bitch was firmly branded as a public enemy who should never be forgiven.
'No one ever imagined he would do something so insane.'
The Officer Cadet Kidnapping Case.
Grid had hijacked a ship carrying officer cadets who were to be the future of the Nechia Kingdom. The kingdom immediately dispatched a negotiation team to release the cadets.
They had to grant as much of what he wanted as possible. Since most of the cadets were children of prestigious families, they had to get them back at any cost. The kingdom was so desperate to persuade Grid that they were prepared to give up part of their territory if necessary.
To this, Grid had replied:
-What I want are these guys. I don't need negotiations, so just die.
…He overturned the negotiations with that absurd statement. Having brainwashed all the cadets and turned them into his puppets, Grid used them to kill every member of the negotiation team. As a bonus, he neatly chopped up the negotiation team like meat displayed in a butcher shop and sent them to the capital.
The entire Nechia Kingdom was enraged.
They demanded that Grid be subjugated immediately. Public opinion boiled over, calling for him to be torn limb from limb as divine retribution. The King felt the same.
Thus, a fleet was formed to subjugate Grid. The families of the kidnapped officer cadets also participated in the subjugation with their own ships.
The fleet that set out to subjugate Grid, crying for revenge, never returned—every single ship was buried at the bottom of the sea.
-If you defy me, this is what will happen, so don't touch me.
Grid sent a tower built from the heads of the soldiers who had set out to subjugate him as a "gift," and the King who saw it was gripped by terror.
After that, the guy who had been quiet suddenly attacked the Beastman Union, and in the end, he destroyed the Union and established a country.
'To think that rotten bastard would suddenly establish a country.'
And to establish it right in her own backyard. She had roughly expected it when the Beastman Union fell, but Perphone hadn't expected it to happen this quickly.
She also hadn't expected him to force an invasion less than a month after his coronation.
'I should request reinforcements from Arwen.'
Arwen was one of Perphone's major clients.
Arwen had ordered an enormous amount of materials to create Black Light, and Perphone had suffered greatly to meet the quantity. After all, those materials didn't just appear like flies buzzing around every day.
If Arwen hadn't offered payment commensurate with the hardship, Perphone wouldn't have done it.
This time, too, Arwen had ordered a large quantity of materials. She was planning to send the payment for it, but Perphone decided to demand troops instead of money.
'She'll definitely agree. It's a fight against the enemy who killed her family; there's no way she wouldn't send them.'
Although she was busy forming an alliance to oppose Grid, she wouldn't be able to just watch Grid run wild. Perphone thought she would surely accept the deal.
"I will never hand it over."
Perphone answered, reaching her arm toward the ceiling with a clenched fist.
"As if I'd hand over this island I earned through such hardship."
Living as a beggar who wasn't even treated like a human, Perphone had made a vow.
That she would definitely stand at the top. That she would earn money desperately, earn and earn again, and rise to a position where no one could touch her.
She had achieved that, and she couldn't let it be taken away by a pirate who was just playing emperor.
"Just try coming. I'll kill you."
[It seems that is your answer.]
"Yes, that is my answer…."
In an instant, Perphone froze.
"Who is talking to me?"
Teminer had left, so there shouldn't be anyone here. Swallowing hard, Perphone slowly looked around.
The moment her eyes turned toward the window,
"Eek?"
A monster was standing there. A grotesque monster made entirely of black armor was glaring at Perphone.
A human voice was coming from the monster's mouth.
[You saved me the trouble of sending a letter to surrender.]
"Wh-who are you?"
[My name is Grid.]
"What?"
[I am the Emperor who rules the Desire Empire.]
Grid, no, Kanglim, answered.
[And the invader who will shatter your dreams.]
With those words, Kanglim swung his fist toward Perphone.
The office was blown away entirely, along with the upper part of the building.