“Hurrah!”

  I enjoyed the sight of my officers dancing with their swords. Today, we were celebrating once again to commemorate our victory. Soldiers were drinking, dividing up the spoils, and clearly indulging in the festivities.

  My realm consists of three peoples: the Gratels, the Minuet, and the Filaten. All of them had gathered within this military camp, celebrating our victory in their own respective ways.

  The Gratels are a barbarian people who only recently settled within our kingdom. They are renowned for their military strength.

  The Minuet are my own people—the native inhabitants of this land. Most of us are farmers, sailors, and skilled archers.

  The Filaten are a people exiled from a neighboring kingdom. My ancestor accepted them into our lands because they were artisans. They are also diligent taxpayers and capable merchants.

  As I was lost in thought and enjoying the food Nate was feeding me, Laode approached me in haste.

  “My Prince, Lord Bao, commander of the 3rd Regiment of Ustita, wishes to meet you and formally surrender.”

  “Bring them here at once,” I replied.

  Laode nodded and asked for permission to withdraw. Not long after, our celebration came to a halt as Lord Bao arrived with his escorts. Everyone fell silent, staring at him sharply.

  “My lord, just kill this man. I still remember how he and his troops raided my hometown!” Bari protested.

  His anger looked ready to explode.

  “Are you the leader of this army?” the extremely obese, middle-aged man asked arrogantly.

  “What do you think?” I replied, noticing his eyes drifting toward Nate’s cleavage beside me. I took off my cloak and draped it over Nate’s chest to cover her.

  “Where are your eyes looking?! I’m right here,” I snapped, raising my voice.

  “Ah…” The old man knelt before me. “I have come to surrender and wish to join your kingdom.”

  Hearing those words, I let out a small laugh. In the game, this character Bao was like Lu Bu—if the MC accepted him, he would eventually betray the MC, and Nate would be kidnapped by him. If the MC failed to rescue Nate in time, it would lead to a bad ending.

  “Everyone! Arrest Bao and his guards!” I ordered my officers. I always dealt with characters like this immediately, because I had no intention of ever seeing Nate in the hands of a man like him when he inevitably rebelled.

  Bari immediately leapt forward and tackled Bao.

  “At last! My lord! Allow me to punish him myself!”

  “Go ahead,” I replied, letting Bari take Bao away.

  I picked up the fallen banner of the 3rd Regiment of Ustita from the ground.

  “Jasper, Yadzi, let’s head to their camp and disarm them.”

  The two infantry officers began organizing their troops and accompanied me as we walked toward the half-burned enemy camp. The condition inside was terrible—there was no joy to be found, only gloom.

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  When I arrived, the enemy soldiers looked exhausted and resigned.

  “Your commander, Bao, has been captured, and we have accepted his surrender. You have two choices: fight us and die, or leave this camp, abandon your horses and valuables, and never become soldiers again.”

  “If I ever see you on the battlefield again, I will blind you or cripple you,” I added threateningly.

  “I suppose we will choose to return home,” an enemy officer stepped forward. “I am the leader of this force now, since you have captured Lord Bao.”

  He offered his hand.

  “I never imagined we would be defeated by someone as young as you.”

  I accepted his handshake.

  “Please also deliver a message to your emperor. Come to my capital so we may negotiate peace within this year. Otherwise, I will continue attacking your territories until he agrees to negotiate. Also tell him that Prince Sileas in a good hand.”

  “I will convey your message,” the enemy officer replied. “Please allow us to withdraw and leave our valuables behind as you requested.”

  I left the management of the spoils to Yadzi and Jasper. What mattered was that I had already instructed them to bring everything back to our camp and send it onward to the capital to increase our national treasury. Verzhina himself would decide how to spend it.

  For now, I would place my full trust in Verzhina to handle the economy. In three years, he would die, and I would appoint a new right-hand aide. Stat-wise, Verzhina was an excellent economist but poor at leading the military.

  I should look for a figure named Belial. If I remembered correctly, he appeared either before or after the civil war. What made him interesting was that although his economic and military intelligence stats were balanced, he possessed a unique skill that increased tax revenue without raising public unrest.

  When I returned to my camp, I saw Bari and his men impaling Bao and his guards outside our encampment. They were performing a ritual—one Nate had once told me about—where they offered their enemies as sacrifices to the goddess of war.

  I found Nate waiting for me in front of my tent. She ran toward me and embraced me.

  “Welcome back!”

  “I’m home,” I whispered, returning her embrace.

  “A letter from my father,” Nate said, handing me a sealed letter.

  I took it from her hands and read it. He was asking me to return to the capital for the ceremony of my ascension to the throne.

  “Nate, please reply that I will return as soon as all the spoils have been processed.”

  “Alright!” Nate smiled happily and entered my tent.

  I lay down in front of my tent and opened the kingdom management UI.

  Basic Resources

  Material

  (11,452) +7k per month.

  Food

  (15,000) +8.5k per month.

  Treasury

  (5,000) -20.5k per month.

  National Debt

  (400,000) owed to the Alestrian Empire.

  Territory List:

  Skalu (Capital)

  Pop. 8k

  Income:

  Food +4k/month, Tax +2k/month, Materials +1k/month.

  Junek (Industrial Focus)

  Pop. 7k

  Income:

  Food +1.5k/month, Tax +5k/month, Materials +6k/month.

  Rural Area Income (15)

  Total Pop. 4k

  Food +3k/month, Tax +500/month, Materials +1k/month.

  Dear God, seeing how our finances would plunge that deeply into the red next month made my head spin. Materials here included wood, stone, and other resources usable for industry and construction.

  As for taxes, Junek could be said to be carrying the tax burden. But with debt that large, it would not be paid off for another twenty-five years. In rural areas, including villages, taxes were not paid in money but in food, as they supplied our provisions.

  This policy had been implemented by my father because they would never be able to pay taxes on time if crops failed or harvests could not be sold. My father once said he could not bear to force rural citizens to grow cash crops for trade and instead preferred that they grow food crops to ensure their survival.

  “I’m done. I’ve already ordered Lord Laode to send your message. So after this, we’ll be returning to the capital?” Nate asked as she sat beside me. She gently lifted my head and had me rest on her thighs.

  “Yes. I think I’ll order the troops here to first build a wooden fort. This hill is very strategic for monitoring our border with the Rajian Empire. I also intend to continue my campaign against Rajian until I liberate the Gratels Plain from them.”

  “Liberating my homeland… thank you.” Nate stroked my cheek and gently massaged it. “When we succeed, let’s visit my father’s grave, alright?”