I Didn't Want to Become the Emperor of This World

Chapter 60

I hoped that the would say that the bandits were subjugated without any problems. I hoped that the future me's choice was the right one.

But on the other hand, the fact that the future me had ignored Jereuth's advice bothered me.

Because Jereuth was the kingdom's greatest knight, no, beyond that, he was a great knight who had made a name for himself in the war against the demons where the fate of humanity was at stake.

And as expected, the showed that uneasy premonitions and worries are never wrong.

Uneasy premonitions and worries are never wrong. It's truly ironic.

…….

And the kingdom's army succeeded in subjugating the bandits. Now there are no bandits in this kingdom.

It took a full nine months to wipe out the bandits. But still, they succeeded in wiping them out.

But…… the damage was too great. As Jereuth had feared, several problems arose.

Due to the lack of knights to command the soldiers, the soldiers could not perform their roles properly. The soldiers, who had no combat experience, were weaker than the bandits. Above all, fighting in the unfamiliar mountains, forests, and islands, they were harassed by the bandits' guerrilla tactics.

Less than half of the 20,000-strong army, built by pouring the kingdom's national power for the past four years, remained. Many soldiers had either died or deserted the army.

The army was not completely annihilated, but…… it was shattered to almost that level.

In nine months, the result of my four years of effort had vanished.

The particularly heavy losses in this bandit subjugation were due to the pirates that appeared on the western and southern coasts of the kingdom.

Those pirates were incomparably stronger than the other bandits, and among those two groups of pirates, the ones on the southern coast were overwhelmingly so.

They were the ‘Ingrid Island Pirates’.

The knights suffered defeat after defeat against the Ingrid Island Pirates. The skill of the man leading that pirate crew, a man named 'Ronak', was tremendous.

In the end, Jereuth had to lead the army himself to subjugate the Ingrid Island Pirates.

However, he said that even he was not used to naval warfare, so it was not easy.

We suffered too much damage in this bandit subjugation. Truly, far too much damage.

Should I have prepared more thoroughly before subjugating the bandits, as Jereuth said?

But if I had, wouldn't the bandits have joined forces and caused even greater damage?

The subjugation was already over, and the dead soldiers could not be brought back, but everything remained a dilemma for me.

―…….

A pyrrhic victory.

A victory no different from a defeat, the entire kingdom seemed to have fallen into silence.

From far away, it felt as if I could hear the sorrowful cries of those who had lost their fathers, sons, husbands, or brothers.

I did not have the confidence to hear those cries, so I hid in the royal castle. I am a coward.

To lose half of the troops I had painstakingly gathered for four years to deal with less than 5,000 bandits.

‘……This is the worst result. No, did I barely avoid the worst? At least we didn't lose.’

Hoo—.

I sighed, looked up at the ceiling, and thought.

‘The number of knights was insufficient, and the newly raised soldiers lacked combat experience. In such a situation, having to fight in an unfamiliar environment…… was it only natural for the soldiers to die helplessly?’

To solve this problem, first of all, there needed to be many ‘knights’. The problem is that the existence of a ‘knight’ is not something that can be appointed to just anyone.

A knight is not an entity that can be easily obtained by spending a lot of money, like in a game. They are one of the most elite human resources of this era, which can only be created through long training and education.

They cannot be raised in a few weeks or months like ordinary soldiers.

Throb—!

“Ugh…….”

Perhaps because I had thought too much, I felt a tightening sensation in my head. I also felt my eye pressure rise, making my eyeballs feel hot and about to burst.

‘……Why does my head hurt so much? This seems a bit dangerous. My arms feel a bit numb too.’

My body's condition is not normal. Still, I decided to continue my thoughts to the end.

‘Even with overwhelming military power, the bandits cannot be easily subjugated. Something other than simply crushing the bandits with military power is needed, some other method.’

Eliminating the bandits with something other than military power. What could that be?

“Hmm…….”

After thinking for a moment, I turned my gaze back to the .

‘First, let's read the diary again. There must be a hint I missed.’

The always presented a solution whenever a problem arose.

So this time too, there must be a hint to the problem somewhere. I'm counting on that hope.

Chwarak—.

I tried to read the from the beginning again. But the headache is so severe that it's hard to open my eyes. The headache is getting worse.

‘……This is driving me crazy. Why does my head suddenly hurt so much?’

My body has been feeling unwell for a while now. It's to the point where it's difficult to read the diary.

“Uuup……?”

I also feel nauseous.

Still, I endured it and tried to read. I didn't have the mental leeway to be sick right now.

‘There must be something written. For sure…….’

My eyelids wouldn't open properly. I forced my heavy eyelids open and read the .

‘……Is this it?’

There was something that caught my eye.

It was the part where the future me was conversing with Jereuth.

…….

“Of course, among the bandits, there are some who became bandits out of necessity, unable to endure the tyranny of the nobles, so it might be a bit of an overstatement to say that all bandits are evil.”

“Those who became bandits out of necessity due to the tyranny of the nobles?”

When I asked back, Jereuth nodded and replied.

“Yes. There aren't many, but there are a few such bandits. Those bandits are said to not touch the common people and only attack the nobles and wicked merchants who exploit the people.”

…….

‘The ‘good bandits’ who became bandits to survive the tyranny of the powerful…….’

Whatever the reason, the 'good bandits' were still criminals. Since they were a group that plundered others.

But I knew about the tyranny of the nobles and wicked merchants. I didn't want to unconditionally blame those who became bandits to survive such tyranny.

Because they had to fend for themselves when the state did not protect them.

‘Moreover, if they didn't touch the common people and only attacked the nobles and wicked merchants who exploited the people……. you could call them righteous bandits like Hong Gildong or Robin Hood.’

From the perspective of a ruler, Hong Gildong or Robin Hood are just terrible criminals.

But in my opinion, it was appropriate self-defense.

‘But looking at the , it seems the future me sent the army to eradicate even those good bandits. And then suffered great losses because there were too many bandits to deal with.’

If that's the case?

‘What if, instead of attacking those good bandits, I brought them to my side? Wouldn't I be able to increase my forces without any losses?’

It was a thought that came to me by chance, but it seemed like a surprisingly good idea.

‘If I recruit the ‘good bandits’ to my side, the number of bandits I have to attack four years from now will decrease by that much.’

Not only that. Recruiting bandits into the army means gaining skilled soldiers for free. Moreover, since they were originally bandits, they would be used to terrains like mountains, forests, and islands, so they would have no problem fighting.

‘This seems like a strategy that kills two birds with one stone, gets the best of both worlds, a win-win…… something like that.’

I reached a conclusion.

‘Yes. Let's persuade and recruit those who became bandits out of necessity, to survive the tyranny of the powerful. Then, while the number of bandits I have to face decreases, I will have the effect of recruiting very skilled soldiers for free.’

It will definitely be a great help. For sure.

—Just as I was thinking that to myself.

Ssasasak—!

Chwararak—!

“!”

The content of the was erased. And the diary itself flipped back to the beginning.

New content began to be written in place of the erased content. Not the ‘future four years from now’, but a future much closer to the present.

‘This content is…….’

The new content written in the diary seemed to be telling me that the judgment I just made was correct.

***

Southern part of the Plank Kingdom.

Beyond the coastline of the southern mainland, there is a cluster of about 30 large and small islands in the sea. Most of those islands are uninhabited, but people live on a few of the larger islands.

The majority of the people living on the islands of the southern sea are those who fled from the mainland, unable to endure the tyranny of the nobles and the exorbitant taxes.

They mainly make a living by fishing. However, some powerful individuals strengthened themselves to protect their families and the island from the nobles and wicked merchants of the mainland.

People called them ‘pirates’ because they were the bandits of the sea.

***

Ingrid Island.

The largest island in the southern sea of the Plank Kingdom, the pirates of the southern sea gather here whenever they have an important meeting.

It is also the base of the Ingrid Island Pirates.

An ‘important meeting’ of the pirates was in progress at a pub in the port of Ingrid Island.

Drrrk—!

A man stood up from his seat and stood in the center of the pub. Most of the pirates gathered in the pub were huge men, close to 190 cm tall, but the man who had just stood up looked a head taller than even those huge men.

A pirate with a very impressive, honorably hideous scar running from the corner of his mouth to his ear.

“I'll skip the useless pleasantries.”

The man speaking in a deep and cool voice was a pirate named ‘Ronak’.

Among pirates, there is no concept of a ‘leader’ except for the captain of each ship.

Everyone is equal.

However, the pirates of the southern sea tacitly acknowledged Ronak as their leader.

Because he always made wise decisions in normal times, and was braver and stronger than anyone when it was time to fight.

Especially the ‘madness that surpasses courage’ that Ronak showed in extreme situations was an example to all pirates.

That's right. Ronak was a true man and leader acknowledged by the pirates of the southern sea.

Ronak looked around and continued to speak.

“News from the mainland. A young Crown Prince named ‘Leonardo’ has purged the nobles and seized power in the royal capital, they say.”

―……!

―……?!

―……?

At Ronak's words, the pirates looked at each other with questioning eyes. But no pirate made a fuss. There was an ironclad rule among the pirates that only the facilitator standing in the center could speak during a meeting.

Nevertheless, if one really had something to say, they could stand up and say it while holding a beer mug.

Ronak waited for a moment for the atmosphere to calm down before continuing.

“Doman, come out and explain in detail.”

“Ah, yes!”

When Ronak called, a pirate named ‘Doman’ came out to the center with a beer mug and supplemented his words.

“It's as Captain Ronak said! I recently went to the mainland to trade daily necessities with merchants, and I heard it clearly then. The Crown Prince has purged the nobles, and not only that, he has publicly executed the thugs and trash merchants of the royal capital.”

―……!

“I even heard that the justification for the purge and public execution was ‘for the people’. That is all!”

Ssk-.

As Doman finished speaking and sat down, the pirate right in front of him raised his beer mug. He was asking for Ronak's permission to speak.

“Speak.”

When Ronak nodded, the pirate who had raised his beer mug high asked Doman.

“Doman. From whom did you hear the rumor that the Crown Prince eliminated the nobles and thugs for the people?”

“I heard it from a merchant of the Abraham Merchant Guild! He's a merchant I've been trading with for over 5 years, so he can be trusted.”

“A merchant from the Abraham Merchant Guild…… then it's not a complete fabrication. The recent sharp decrease in the number of noble ships sailing the seas might be related to the Crown Prince's purge. They all died in the Crown Prince's purge, so they wouldn't have any use for ships anymore.”

The pirate who had finished speaking put down his beer mug again.

Ronak moistened his throat with beer and spoke to the pirates in a grave voice.

“As you all know, my family was violated and murdered by a noble—‘Viscount Monis’. That bastard violated and killed my wife and daughter in front of my eyes, then fed them to the orcs he was raising. All because I didn't offer my wife and daughter to him with my own hands.”

―…….

―…….

―…….

“In the midst of that, I cowardly fled alone to this island. That was 20 years ago. After fleeing like that, I have never once forgotten my revenge. So I did my best to attack the nobles' ships and took wealth from the trash merchants who were in league with them. But now, they say a young Crown Prince named ‘Leonardo’ has carried out that revenge. ……My family's revenge.”

Ronak smiled bitterly as he reminisced about the past with hazy eyes.

“That was a long story, but what I'm trying to say is that the world has changed. The nobles we hated and feared and had to flee from have fallen, and it seems a king who might be alright is about to be born.”

“……”

“I want to confirm if that is true. I want to see what kind of kingdom that ‘Crown Prince Leonardo’ is creating. So I am thinking of returning to the mainland…… I want to ask my brothers. Are there any brothers who want to go to our homeland with me and see for themselves?”

To return to their homeland.

That meant going to the mainland.

There was no way the pirates didn't understand that meaning—

All the pirates looked at Ronak with surprised expressions.