CH 207

Chapter 207 - Those who do not work shall not eat

The next day at the representatives’ meeting, it was decided to discuss the treatment of the prisoners and how to deal with Dorius.

I couldn’t get any direct information from the prisoners, but their reactions seemed to confirm that my guess was correct.

Kiara, her face flushed, reported a series of information.

“It was just as you predicted, brother.”

Kiara was in a slightly excited state.

I couldn’t help but chuckle…

I just removed the things that didn’t match the facts from the multiple possibilities.

I don’t want you to misunderstand that I knew about this from the beginning.

I’m not a psychic, after all.

Charles looked at me as if he wanted my judgment.

“What do you want to do, my Lord?”

To be honest, there’s not much I can do.

“I can’t accept the idea of accepting the beastman prisoners as citizens because of the dangers Kiara mentioned earlier. The problem is… the human captives.”

Charles must be feeling a little overwhelmed.

He folded his arms with a difficult look on his face.

“I wonder if they’re still loyal to Dorius even after being abandoned. It’s an admirable loyalty, but…”

No, it’s not.

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“No, it’s fear. They remember what they’ve done and are afraid of retribution. And they can’t afford to be equal to the beasts, as has been the custom for years. In the end, they must cling to their brightest hope.”

Charles looked as if he wanted to be more specific.

“Hope?”

“Yes, it is the most convenient future for the prisoners. In other words, it’s a future where Dorius destroys us and rescues the prisoners. Then the past will be undone.”

Charles was astonished.

“That’s a convenient future.”

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“It’s the easiest future for them to imagine.”

It’s like the Jews in Babylon, looking for salvation in the legend of the Messiah.

“So what do we do now? I can’t get any information. It’s hard to deal with them when they eat for free.”

Umberto Orengo sighed when he heard that they were getting a free meal.

“I’m okay with it for now, but… We’ll be in a lot of trouble in the future if too many tribes move here in a short period of time. That’s why if we suddenly have a situation where we have to accept a large number of immigrants… our food supply could collapse.”

Food for about 300 people is no mean feat.

We’ve made arrangements to make sure we have enough, but…

We can’t afford to run out of it.

“So, let’s let them graduate from eating free food.”

My words drew the attention of everyone.

It’s not that big of a deal…I’ll explain it to them.

“Oh, we’ll have the prisoners cultivate the farmland. Of course, we’ll keep an eye on them.”

Mil seemed to have a few questions.

She looked at me and opened her mouth.

“What if they don’t like it?”

Of course, it’s decided if that’s the case.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Those who do not work shall not eat”

Mil’s face tightened up a bit.

“So there’s no meals for them…”

I laughed briskly.

“That’s about three hundred people’s labor. Don’t you think we should be grateful? Oh, and if they use their farming tools as weapons against us they’ll face the consequences they deserve.”

Mil sighed a little, but she didn’t have a plan to solve the free food problem.

She didn’t want to force them to work, but she understood that it wouldn’t be good to add to the burden of others.

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She nodded honestly.

“Well, I guess we have no choice…”

Charles leaned forward.

“So… we’ll have them work in somewhat smaller groups?”

I had no objection, so I nodded.

I opened my mouth to tell my subordinates what to do.

“Please work out the details with Sir Rossi and Mr. Orengo, including the monitoring system for that area. Also… we don’t want any disease spreading among them. Please let them bathe in moderation. As a guideline, we will guarantee their bare minimum to live as a human being. Anything else is unacceptable, though.”

Charles nodded his head, as if it was a fair point.

“Well, my lord, that’s all right for the prisoners, but how do we deal with Dorius?”

“The distance between us and them is too great, and… we don’t have enough men. I’m sure they’ll want more time. However… we also need more time.”

“Will you give Dorius time to regain his bearings?”

I smiled a little nastily.

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“It will take them a long time to recover their strength. We should call for the other tribes to join us. If we do, we can reverse the power gap. If we can get the beastmen away from Dorius, we will have the upper hand.”

It takes time to train cavalry.

Even if they’ve been training them since they were children…

And the loss of over 200 horses must have been a huge blow.

Kiara leaned forward to see if it was her turn.

“Are you going to tell the beastmen of Dorius something?”

“Yes. First, we will inform the captives who want to become our citizens that they will not be accepted as long as Dorius is alive and well. If we refuse them without reason, they will feel uneasy.”

“What if they ask how they can be accepted?”

“The only condition is that the beastmen leave Dorius’ fold.”

Kiara didn’t seem to understand this word.

“You want them to leave his group? I think the prisoners are already on their way.”

“No, it’s not enough if it’s just them. What we need is the whole tribe. If we do that, they can be considered as a separate force from Dorius. If we accept them right now… what would happen if Dorius were to take the beastmen’s tribe in his city hostage and force them to do something?”

Kiara furrowed her brow.

“That’s true… that would be a bit troublesome. But… how would Dorius deliver such instructions?”

Everyone seemed to have the same question.

Have you forgotten they exist?

“By using familiar. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are people who still use that method to communicate with Dorius.”

Kiara’s face turned ashen.

And then she pouted.

“I was careless… I’m still a long way to the first grade of brother’s study…”

Wait, don’t put ranks in it.

Mil tilted his head and looked at me.

“But, a familiar is basically a contract with only one entity, right?  Can you make a contract with a large number of beastmen? Even if you could… small animals don’t require that much magic power… but beastmen require a lot of magic power.”

That’s a good question.

Yes, the difficulty of contracting a familiar depends on the size of the other party, that is, the amount of magic power it contains.

You have to screw in a connection of magic as a messenger.

As I was about to answer, Teacher seemed like he realized something.

“Oh… so that’s what you mean.”

So Teacher noticed it too.

As a familiar, they can see the current place they are in.

“Yes, that’s right.”

This silent exchange made Mil and Kiara puff up their cheeks a little.

Then Kiara leaned forward.

“Please explain in detail!”

No need to be so forceful.

I looked at the teacher and he nodded, as if he had no choice.

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“How can a small number of people control a large number of beastmen? It’s inefficient if you don’t know what the beastmen are doing. And the wizards over there are not alone. Each of them has its own beastmen to watch over. So… it wouldn’t be surprising if one of them was among the captives this time.”

I nodded as if to say that he was right.

“And to add to that… Sir Rossi also captured the cat tribesman that came to declare war on. I’m pretty sure there’s at least one.”

Everyone but me sighed.

I cleared my throat and then opened my mouth.

“We’re not going to tell the beastmen captives about the familiar yet. Instead, let them hear one thing in secret. And if the surveillance system is leaked, it may give Dorius a chance to swoop in with a few cavalry. The beastmen would be left with a free meal. The beastmen won’t explode in frustration if the people who have been oppressing them are put to work and they don’t have to do anything.”

Then I explained what I wanted them to hear in secret.

They seemed to be taken aback by my plan.

And then Ms. Despina, who rarely speaks, opened her mouth.

“I’ve lost confidence in my ability to tell my daughter that you’re not the Great Demon King…”

They all burst out laughing at that.

It seems that Ms. Despina was concerned about Arshinoe’s comment the other day about me being a Great Demon King… To begin with, I’m not a Great Demon King!