Chapter 205: Internal Cleanup - 2
Chapter 205: Internal Cleanup - 2
A note of confusion crept into Guason's voice.
"What do you mean by that? Dominion?"
"I'm going to do what that Council of yours does."
The concepts of kings and nobles didn't really exist in Warsland.
Well, not entirely.
They appeared in the romance novels women read in secret, and there were stories of nations and kings dating back to the Thousand-Year War, or even further.
But after the armistice, the law of survival of the fittest had ruled Warsland for these hundreds of years.
The strong were the nobles and the kings.
Of all the species, the elves were the ones who had managed to distance themselves somewhat from that logic.
Not without a mountain of drawbacks, of course... but the fact that Quority Rosen was running wild had nothing to do with his personal strength.
"...Are you saying you intend to make an enemy of the Council?"
"You really want me to spell everything out for you, huh."
Jiha, who had been savoring a rare pleasant sensation, opened his eyes and snapped, irritated.
"Council or whatever, if they spout nonsense I'll kill them all and take over as your leaders. Do I have to put it like that for you to understand?"
"...."
Leticia's fingers, which had been stroking his hair, tensed for a fraction of a second before returning to normal.
Guason, however, couldn't close his gaping mouth.
He hadn't spent much time around Jiha.
"What in the world is that supposed to...."
"Isn't that exactly what you came here to say? Asking me to treat the elves kindly."
"That's not what I meant. I came strictly to establish a friendly relationship...."
Jiha sighed and fixed his stare on Guason.
It was time to start baring his fangs at this world.
"I'm going to devour this world whole."
World conquest.
Unifying all under heaven.
A man's ambition, the dream countless men had chased after.
And now Jiha would charge toward it as well.
"From where the sun rises to where the moon sets, from the mountain ranges beneath the starlight to the deepest seas untouched by human hands. Every last inch of this world's land, from children to the elderly, I will rule them all."
"...."
Confronted with a vision beyond anything he had imagined, Guason's eyes flew wide and he froze.
Leticia was so genuinely shocked this time that her hand stopped moving as well.
Jiha spoke calmly.
"What? You don't believe me? Does it sound like a joke just because I'm saying it while resting my head on a woman's lap?"
"That...."
Guason's tongue refused to work in the face of such an overwhelming statement.
He prided himself on having a sharp eye and a decent mind.
The Lochek family might be minor, but he was a man with ambition, ready to prove his ability given the chance.
Still, that ambition peaked at something like making a name for himself within elven society.
He never imagined meeting a man who spoke of unifying the entire world!
"Then... are you saying you'll destroy everything, whether Blue Seal or Purple Liberation?"
"I'll treat whoever surrenders first more favorably."
Jiha tsked.
"And it's not destruction, it's dominion. I'm not trying to become some lunatic who just smashes everything. I'm going to remake this world according to my will."
"Then naturally...."
"The Legends will try to stop me. And at the very end...."
Warsland's strongest lifeform, the Epic, would stand in his way.
Jiha left the rest unsaid and placed his hand over Leticia's, which still rested on his head.
"But I'll do it anyway. I care for those who follow me, and I destroy those who defy me. The elves will have to choose soon enough. So don't dream of some vague, amicable alliance with me. I have no intention of leaving anything standing that's equal to me."
"...."
"You came here to trade on my ties with Leticia and pay a courtesy call, asking me to look after the elves a little better, right? I'm kindly telling you now that your assumption is wrong."
Guason flinched as Jiha drove straight to the heart of the matter.
"Now you know what I intend to do, and you know you have to make a choice. Pick one: become my subordinate and enjoy wealth and glory, or become my enemy and die."
"H-how am I supposed to decide something like that?"
Guason's face was stricken as he instinctively glanced at Leticia.
Even though she had become Jiha's woman, shouldn't she, as the elves' Unique, offer some kind of opinion in this situation?
But Leticia kept her mouth shut.
She was shocked too, but she remained silent, knowing she shouldn't interfere while Jiha was speaking.
"You have to. Or should I choose for you? If I decide that elves are useless and should all be put to death, are you all going to commit mass suicide?"
"N-no. I...."
"You're a decent enough fellow."
Jiha's voice was even.
The carrot after the stick, praise following a threat.
"At least you use your head, for an elf. You've got a head on your shoulders and you try to assess a situation. You think about your own kind. Not bad."
"...My family is Lochek. Originally, I didn't even have the right to sit in on the Seven Council."
"Right, you should be grateful I killed a lot of elves so you could get promoted."
Jiha said it so matter-of-factly that Guason stiffened and couldn't answer.
Jiha pressed the point in a suggestive tone.
"You probably already knew I was frightening."
"...."
"Yet you still came to see me."
Guason had sensed it instinctively—Jiha was a dangerous man.
His martial prowess was unremarkable, but he had a decent mind. Above all, he was proactive.
"That's why I'm giving you a chance."
"A chance...."
"Yeah. A chance to decide the future of the elves."
Guason's face went blank at Jiha's words.
He asked without thinking.
"If... if I choose to place myself under you, Jiha, what should I do from that point on?"
"You'd have to persuade your own people."
Jiha said it lightly.
"...How exactly?"
"Proving your ability starts there. Give it a try, and if it gets tough, report the situation to me and ask for help."
"...."
Guason swallowed hard.
The man who had barely clung to the lowest seat on the Seven Council and suffered constant scorn was now being handed a chance to climb higher.
"May I have a moment to think it over?"
"I'll give you some time to consider, but the sooner you decide, the better I'll think of you. And no matter what, report to me in detail about the meeting between Quority and Alex—when, and what's being discussed."
"...Understood."
Guason nodded and rose from his seat.
He looked at Leticia for a moment, then gave a slight nod and left.
"Then once I have information, I'll send someone with word."
"Good."
As the sound of Guason's footsteps faded, Jiha closed his eyes and smiled.
The footsteps were confident.
His ambition was burning.
'Not a bad man.'
His combat ability wasn't anything to expect, but he was proactive and aggressive. Above all, being a male elf would prove useful.
Jiha planned to use Guason as a front to dominate the elves.
"...Was it okay to tell him all that?"
Leticia spoke with concern.
She'd just heard Jiha's ultimate goal and been staggered by it herself; she worried what would happen if he told Guason so abruptly and rumors spread.
"Don't worry. He won't be able to spread rumors."
"Even so...."
Leticia fretted about what might go wrong for Jiha.
"As long as you're with me, the elves can't afford to act carelessly."
There was only one Unique per species, and they were powerful, but they also served as the public face of their race.
A Unique had the right to a private audience with a Legend and could speak on behalf of their species' interests in such a setting.
What if a Unique neglected their own kind? Their species' standing within a faction would weaken overnight.
And yet, the elves had mistreated Leticia, and she had endured it.
That was over now.
Guason—and the elves—would have realized they had no choice left.
Now that Leticia was Jiha's woman, if the elves wanted to maintain their standing within Purple, they couldn't afford to treat her poorly.
"There's no need to worry."
Jiha rested his head on Leticia's thigh and spoke with his eyes closed.
"Because you don't have to leave the elves."
"...."
"They'll all end up grateful to you...."
Upheaval was coming, and when a new era arrived, people always scurried about looking for a lifeline.
The elves would be no different: they'd either beg for protection under Jiha, or die.
Then all it would take was to spread the word that Jiha had treated the elves a little better because of Leticia.
Stupid elves like Quority might curse Leticia now, but later they'd all be tripping over each other to thank her.
'Got to pull off a few more of these....'
The elves were only the start.
Dark elves, succubi, demons.... Jiha intended to use the Uniques he had tamed to bring their species under his rule.
There would be noise and discord, but in the end, no one could ignore the decision of a Unique.
Doing so would invite the weakening of their own species.
'Pairan is a bit of a sticking point, though.... I need to learn more about what's happened to the Uniques....'
Jiha let the tension drain from his body as he thought.
The pillow was far too comfortable.
As Jiha's breathing quieted, Leticia looked down and checked on him carefully.
He was completely asleep.
Her thigh must have been extremely comfortable. Watching him sleep with a relaxed expression was genuinely strange.
The terrifying predator that devoured everything in his path had let his guard down entirely and fallen asleep right there.
At first, Leticia had been angry at Jiha, and after getting to know him a little, she'd been afraid.
As time passed, he kept drifting into her thoughts, until at last she realized she loved him.
But even being fond of him, even loving him, she could hardly ever treat him casually.
Was this what it felt like to be with a beast you love?
Leticia knew from firsthand experience that Jiha prized dominance and never let his guard down when others were watching.
No, all his women would know it.
Jiha didn't even lose himself easily in carnal pleasures.
"...."
At first, she had wondered if she lacked charm or simply didn't please him, but once he started, he wouldn't stop.
And when they had shared their bodies, the emotions he conveyed were absolutely genuine.
Even when lying with a woman, he rarely let his heart relax.
No—lately he had been relaxing more, but she somehow sensed he was still holding himself in check, as if afraid of becoming careless.
People's hearts weren't easy to read, but having thought constantly about Jiha, she felt she could understand.
"World conquest...."
Leticia had grown up in elven society, a closed world, and had worked for the rights and interests of the elves.
She'd never thought beyond that.
Enril and the other Uniques were likely the same.
"...."
And here was a mere Common, declaring he'd do it without a shred of hesitation.
And it absolutely wasn't just empty talk.
Because when this man said he'd do something, he did it.
Jiha now effectively ruled Waris and had placed four Uniques beneath him under the name of the Investigative Committee.
If that organization changed its name and declared itself an independent faction, it would begin at once.
Leticia finally understood what Jiha had been working toward.
And the moment she heard it, she realized she wanted to help him.
Stronger than all the tiresome lessons drummed into her—that she was a high elf, that she was Yormun's successor, that as the elves' Unique she had to fight for her people—
Right now, she wanted to be with the human man sleeping soundly on her lap.
She had already resolved to endure any cost for that.
Even if she were exiled, even if she could never return to the elven forest and never see her beloved family again.
"Idiot...."
And yet Jiha, knowing nothing of her resolve, was even trying to bring the other elves under him for her sake.
He was trying to make sure she didn't fall into the role of a woman cast out by the elves.
Even without him saying it, she could tell.
That even in the midst of changing the world, he had thought of her.
"...Thank you."
He was a man who denied his heart to anyone and pushed forward without pause, but looking down at him now, sound asleep with his head pillowed on her thigh and all his walls down—
A feeling spread through her that she would do anything for this man.
That she had to work hard to be closer to him than anyone else.
Because it made her so happy to see he trusted her and showed her his vulnerable side like this.
A wish circled in her mind to see more of it, much more, from now on.
"Sleep well...."
Leticia whispered softly, sending a wish along with it.
That the man she loved would have happy dreams.