Chapter 234 Kill and Take
Chapter 234 Kill and Take
Afternoon.
Jiha's office.
Jiha was sprawled on the sofa with a book open over his face.
His whole body ached and felt drained.
"Ugh, this is getting excessive."
His virility had become abnormally strong.
He'd chalked it up to being young and aroused, but this had gone past that level.
"Is this the effect of the vampiric Mana?"
Back when he drank women's blood and came, he was ejaculating in minutes.
Now, even without Bloodsucking, his stamina had lengthened and his semen volume was enormous.
On top of all that, he kept wanting more.
And with gorgeous women right in front of him practically begging for it, stopping was out of the question.
"......I really need to be careful."
Those hours had been blissful, but if he sank in too deep, things would go wrong.
Gaining power and authority to dominate this world came first.
As Jiha was steadying himself, a knock came.
"May I come in?"
Jiha gave his assent, and Uben entered, gave a respectful bow, and sat down opposite him.
Morning reports were the norm, but today's came unusually late in the afternoon.
"......."
"......."
When Uben didn't speak right away, Jiha waved a dismissive hand.
"Don't say it."
"My apologies, Commander. When Yura Hairedeu told me, I pretended not to know."
"......I said don't say it."
Even if he was spending sweet time with the women, if an urgent report came in, Jiha would have jumped up on the spot.
So Yura had secured Uben's cooperation beforehand, planned last night, and thoroughly melted Jiha.
"I was told you hadn't given permission. It was not done unknowingly. I'm sorry."
"No, it's my affair. Don't worry about it."
Managing the women was Jiha's job.
"Speaking of which, it's time I start restructuring the organization."
"The task of mixing the Commons and the escort guards into unit formations is complete. Ten units, roughly two hundred personnel each have been allocated. All that remains is for you, Commander, to appoint each unit commander."
"And even with that we're still under three thousand. If Blue Seal committed to total war, how many soldiers do they have?"
"I'm told the final battle of the Thousand-Year War mobilized an army of three hundred thousand. With the population having grown over the centuries since, it would be greater now. If they went to total war, I'd estimate roughly five to six hundred thousand."
Jiha grimaced.
"The vast majority would be Rare. We're short on numbers after all."
Even if Waris had a population of several hundred thousand, he couldn't conscript all of them.
No, Jiha had to avoid total war in the first place.
His enemies included not just Blue Seal but also Purple.
'This city is essentially a DMZ. It's like Panmunjom with hundreds of thousands of people gathered, and commerce boomed so it became one of the top five largest cities on the Korean Peninsula... but we're absolutely short on numbers.'
What worked in Jiha's favor was that five of Warsland's Uniques had come under his command.
With Uniques—who numbered only ten in the entire world, and who boasted infinite Mana—even if he raised his banner now, they wouldn't immediately plunge into open war.
"Conscription would shake public morale. How about a volunteer military system..."
"What is that?"
"You don't know what a volunteer military is? Paying soldiers a salary to gather them."
Jiha looked baffled, but Uben was dead serious.
"Such a system does not exist in Warsland, Commander."
"What?"
Uben explained calmly.
"As you're aware, Warsland runs on a ranking system. Power is consolidated by rank, and that determines whom one can recruit and deploy. For instance, Uniques like Enril Woniak or Leticia Yormun would hold fiefs under their names. They collect taxes from the Normal Grade residents of those fiefs and, in emergencies, can conscript them as soldiers."
"......."
"Uniques are too busy to govern directly, so they usually select and appoint Rare Grade individuals. Sometimes they appoint Super Rares."
According to Uben's explanation, the very concept of paying money to recruit soldiers didn't exist in Warsland.
"No... but they're not all idiots. Why haven't they done it? The economy functions, right? It's not some mystical idea either."
"Conscripted soldiers are provided a small stipend, looting rights upon victory, plus lodging and meals."
"So it's all conscription, then."
Jiha looked puzzled for a moment, then understood.
"Ah, they were Korea. What I'm talking about is America."
"I don't grasp your meaning..."
"It means they never felt the need for an all-volunteer military. Right, that's it."
When a Unique commands you to fight, who dares to say no and refuse?
In a survival-of-the-fittest world, insubordination? Instant execution.
Whether Normal Grade or Rare Grade, they had to follow.
Moreover, Warsland had only two factions: Blue Seal and Purple Liberation, and both operated on conscription.
"So there's no standing army. The commanders exist, but the soldiers below can be rounded up as needed at any time. Why is it so inefficient?"
Jiha answered his own question.
"Because both sides are federations. Even if Purple has stronger centralized control, they can't just snatch up elves or dwarves at will and turn them into a standing army for Purple. That would provoke backlash from each race. In wartime they can conscript, but doing it in peacetime carries political burden, risk of internal division or factional strife..."
Current Warsland was under-centralized—a kind of coalition of powerful local clans.
It supposedly ran on the ranking system, but that wasn't absolute power.
No—indeed, no one could dare defy a Legend or an Epic.
But even they felt no compulsion to bear the political burden of maintaining standing armies.
If war broke out, they'd let the Uniques in Waris buy time, then forcibly conscript and commit to total war.
"Plus, since the other side doesn't do it either, there's no need to do it..."
Blue and Purple viewed each other as their hypothetical enemy state—and also the only rival.
If Blue Seal didn't adopt a volunteer system, Purple saw no reason to either. That meant they weren't in an arms race.
Jiha nodded emphatically.
"Good. We'll exploit this gap. We'll recruit volunteers."
"Sir?"
"Those bastards conscript by force. I'll buy soldiers with money. Whether they're Normal Grade or Rare Grade, I don't care. I'll recruit people with money. Would a million rel a month do it?"
Uben, flustered, ran the numbers with his fingers.
"That seems too generous. Gathering just a hundred men would cost a hundred million, and ten thousand men would be ten billion."
"All this scraping for money and it won't even cover two months' wages."
The Commons following Jiha weren't in it for material desire—they were pursuing their freedom.
The ones who had been Narsha's escort guards worshipped power; they were the type to follow Jiha because he was strong. And if push came to shove, they might snag a better Dirga weapon—they were weapon-hungry.
But other troops had to be bought with money.
"Money is the simplest and easiest. Problem is the amount's insufficient..."
Jiha had scraped together money here and there, but his liquid funds were only around fifteen billion.
If he raised a private army of ten thousand, he couldn't sustain two months.
"I'll have to redirect the city budget instead of my own funds. I'll implement the volunteer system under the name of Public Security Forces, and I'll own that organization. Most will be Normal Grade, so we'll have to restructure the formations. Asira can handle training instructors."
Uben spoke carefully.
"Are you sure this is wise? You're already drawing attention, Commander... if you undertake such a measure on top of that, both sides will seriously scrutinize you. They may even try to eliminate you."
"It's only a matter of time now."
Jiha spoke firmly.
Covert maneuvering was safer, but it also limited his actions.
More importantly, as long as Alex—who knew how to run political schemes—was around, it was only a matter of time before his intel reached the Legends on both sides.
'No matter how much Iroha disperses disinformation, there'll be a limit. My remaining time is three months at the absolute most...'
Still, with Uniques at his side, they wouldn't try an overt show of force right away.
First, they'd likely try to persuade Jiha.
Both sides were wary that reckless intervention in Waris could spark a full-scale war.
'The opponent will aim for dialogue and negotiation, but I'll be preparing for war. I'll use this time difference to overcome the absolute gap in weight class.'
Jiha nodded.
"We'll release the budget. A hundred billion for starters. Spread the word among the people and put up notices everywhere. Tell them that joining the Security Forces means money, meals, and lodging. We'll need barracks too—we'll negotiate with a premium on top. I'll also need to meet with the Merchant Union..."
"Leave those minor details to me. Give me three days and I'll finish everything neatly and submit a report."
Uben stepped forward.
Jiha was getting busier by the day; he didn't have the time to fuss over every detail.
"Good. Do it."
"I've already handled everything you mentioned last night. There aren't any notable movements yet, except... something seems to have flared up among the elves."
"Those guys again? What now?"
Uben shook his head.
"I haven't managed to obtain the details either. They're too insular. However... Leticia Yormun knows."
"Tell me."
Uben said awkwardly,
"She says she will report directly to you, Commander."
"What."
Why add an extra layer to the process?
Jiha frowned and asked outright.
"Does she not acknowledge you?"
Leticia disliked and looked down on beastmen.
Uben was a wolf beastman, so Leticia would hardly see him favorably—and on top of that he was a Common.
It wouldn't be strange if the Uniques disregarded him. In fact, it'd be stranger if they showed him respect.
"I'll make it clear when we reorganize the structure. It just makes things a pain to talk around."
Jiha naturally planned to centralize power and bind everyone beneath him into one chain.
Regardless of existing rank or species, as long as they followed him, he intended to assign and use them based only on utility and ability.
Letting them fixate on backgrounds like Common, Unique, or escort guard would only cause division.
Uben shook his head.
"It's not like that, Commander."
"Then what."
"Leticia Yormun likely just wants to talk with you."
Uben scratched his head awkwardly.
"The Uniques have become subtly conscious of me now."
"What, do they think I'm into men? That I'm sleeping with you?"
Uben gave a wry smile.
"There are such races."
"Didn't need to know that."
If the women he'd taken were wary of Uben, the reason was obvious.
The truth was, Uben was the one Jiha conversed with and spent the most time with.
A direct staff officer who received reports and conveyed orders.
He lacked in combat ability, but his mind worked well, his loyalty was high, and his organizational management wasn't bad.
"Got it. Call her in."
He'd hear the story first.
Ten minutes after Uben left, Leticia arrived.
Somehow wearing a dissatisfied expression, she made her footsteps audible as she sat down opposite Jiha.
She looked sulky, had her arms crossed in a prim huff, and regarded Jiha—clearly she'd come with some firm resolve of her own.
"Spill it."
"......Aren't you going to ask if I've been well?"
"Have you been well? Will you talk now?"
"......."
Leticia turned away in a full sulk.
When Jiha just looked at her quietly, she stole a glance at him, then faced the wall again.
She had something to say but couldn't bring herself to get it out quickly.
"Is there something else you want to say?"
"......I just, you looked tired."
"Because I was with another woman yesterday?"
"......."
When Jiha said it outright, Leticia's face clouded over.
She knew by now that Jiha had taken other Uniques into his arms as well.
"Want to come here?"
Jiha patted the spot beside him, and Leticia hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.
"......No, forget it. I won't throw a tantrum. Quority caused a scene."
"That guy's still alive?"
Jiha was dumbfounded.
Quority Rosen. He'd lightly disciplined that clueless elf male once before.
He was supposed to be a third-rate nobody coasting on his family name.
"Persistent, seriously. What'd he do?"
"He apparently got into a quarrel with Barjet. So..."
Leticia thought for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and spoke quickly.
Her tone was all business, like she just wanted to get the awkward story over with.
"To varying degrees, elf males are arrogant. Especially toward women of other races—they tend to look down on them."
"As they would."
These were the same bastards who disrespected their own Unique Leticia. Would they show respect to other women?
The elves scoffed at the survival-of-the-fittest, women-over-men order—ignoring it entirely.
"So? Did Barjet kill him?"
"......No, they were evenly matched."
"......."
Jiha's expression hardened.
Quority Rosen was a fool. Heaven and earth both knew it.
Even within that collection of fools called the Elf Seven Council, his combat ability was the lowest. He couldn't hold a candle to Jiha, let alone Guason.
"Be specific. What'd you say?"
"Barjet didn't involve herself directly. You know Heinrich? They apparently came to blows... and Quority held his own."
"......."
An even match with Heinrich?
That was absolutely impossible.
Heinrich was at minimum Kamain's level.
So Kamain equals Heinrich equals Quority?
It didn't make sense.
"The power balance is going insane."
"Huh?"
"Never mind. Keep talking."
Leticia sighed as she continued.
"So... Quority apparently announced, right in front of everyone, that he'd kill Heinrich and in return Barjet must become his concubine."
"Whoa."
"......."
Leticia buried her face in her hands and fell silent.
She looked unable to endure the shame of her fellow elf's disgraceful conduct.
'Quority met with Alex. Guason reported that at the time it was just a conversation. Uben reported that Quority looked somewhat elated afterward...'
And now, overnight, he'd become Kamain's equal?
Impossible.
Alex had pulled something.
And Ouroboros was trying to overturn this world that was ruled by Mana.
"I'll have to handle it."
If there was a secret that could make an idiot powerful overnight, he needed to find out what it was.
Because he meant to monopolize such a good thing.