Dictator From Outer Space - Chapter 274:

The journey back to Bagran was not supposed to be long.

It was because Arma had agreed to open a warp gate for them as a trial once they left the territory of Elvrande.

Originally, it was only possible to send something as small as Leobold, but with the Aether Origin reaching the completion stage, it could send a spaceship as big as Hyperion.

If the Aether Origin was completed, it would be able to create a huge warp gate like the one they passed through in Nox.

However, transcending time and space was still impossible.

Anyway, during the few days they left Elvrande’s territory, Leobold and Margareta spent time doing various things.

They were almost trapped in a narrow space and had experienced many events, so they became very close.

However, there was no such thing as Camilla or Arma had worried about, such as sharing a bed, because they had a light argument over one topic.

It was Leobold’s plan to burn down Yggdrasil.

“H-how can you try to burn down Yggdrasil? He is a god.”

“He is not a god. He is just a big tree with some special powers. I am confident that I can replace him.”

She realized that he was sincere when she saw his unwavering eyes.

This man was trying to kill the god of the elves.

“Is it a righteous act to burn him down just because you can replace him?”

“I am not burning him down for no reason. Do you want to hear why?”

She nodded her head after hesitating for a while and sat down on the chair as he suggested.

Hyperion was several times bigger than other spaceships, but it was shaken by the turbulence just the same.

The lighting device made of luminous stones on the table cast shadows on their faces.

“You must have seen the elves in Medea a few days ago. They were calm when we arrived, but they suddenly became ferocious after Drizden said something.”

“But that’s because they were following Drizden’s orders…”

“Not all the elves on the street were Drizden’s subordinates. In other words, they hated us voluntarily.”

They did not attack, but the atmosphere was so hostile that the knights were ready for battle.

He could only think that Drizden had incited them when he wondered why they became like that.

He had no intention of sending Leobold back peacefully.

“When you are surrounded by an excited crowd, various things can happen. Sometimes someone can get hurt… Drizden seemed to want that kind of scene.”

“…That’s not the whole opinion of the elves.”

“It was not one or two people who did it in Medea, the capital of the elves. Even if it’s not all of them, it can be representative enough.”

Margareta looked at him with sad eyes and asked.

“What does that have to do with your plan to burn down Yggdrasil?”

“Being vulnerable to incitement is inevitable. It is easy to have a confirmation bias when you only hear one-sided claims in a situation where information is scarce. I would not be able to act so confidently if I did not have Arma. But…”

Leobold poured tea into the cup in front of her and continued.

“I saw their confidence in executing justice in their words and actions. They thought it was the right thing to do. I wondered what made them think that way. And I realized it when I came to Medea.”

“Yggdrasil… our god made them think that way?”

“Since they were born under Yggdrasil’s protection, grew up seeing Yggdrasil, and never left his branches, they could call him an absolute being. The elves ranked Yggdrasil above all other gods in the pantheon.”

Margareta nodded her head.

“Yes… he is a definite god, so we don’t even discuss his rank. The other gods in the elven pantheon also gave their decrees that Yggdrasil was different from them.”

“I want to break their faith by burning down Yggdrasil.”

“You want to achieve that by killing the god of the elves?”

“Yggdrasil is not a god. The only true god is Prophet Rasa.”

She looked into his eyes that were burning with pure madness.

What kind of being was Prophet Rasa that made this cold and calculating human king worship him absolutely?

Of course, Rasa was known as the creator god of Astera and had his name in many myths, but he was almost an invisible god…

He spoke again when she looked away.

“I want to make them realize instead of changing their actions. Yggdrasil is not a god and he is just a tree.”

“They might understand if you persuade them well.”

“People’s personalities are mostly fixed when they grow up and do not change until they die. Elves live for almost 300 years, right? Anyway, they are very stubborn after living for a long time.”

“If you burn down Yggdrasil, you will become the enemy of the elves, no, the whole of Astera.”

It was the same for humans, Ains, and beastmen who did not worship Yggdrasil as much as the elves.

“I was prepared to be the enemy of the entire continent when I came here. I have to endure that much if I want to change the world.”

Margareta realized the depth of his faith when she saw Leobold’s eyes that did not budge at all.

“What’s the difference between the elves who worship Yggdrasil and you who worship Prophet Rasa?”

“I do not think I am justice. And I think it would be a little better for me to rule this world than the elves.”

It was not a little, but much better, as Margareta could tell.

But the problem was that the method he used to achieve that was too extreme.

“Is there no way to avoid burning down Yggdrasil?”

“You also seem to have a strong dependence on Yggdrasil. That’s why Yggdrasil has to disappear. Well, not completely.”

“What do you mean?”

“A being that can replace Yggdrasil is being created. When it is completed, this world will be able to use Aetheran energy much easier and more comfortably.”

“Is it your plan to create an artificial god?”

“Aether Origin is not a god, but you can call it that if you want.”

Leobold’s philosophy was that the only true god was Prophet Rasa, and the rest were just tools.

Even Astera Pantheon and Yggdrasil could not escape that category.

It might seem like a hasty conjecture, but it was not so unreasonable when he saw Arma’s recent analysis results.

“Prophet Rasa created this world and deployed various algorithms to manage it. They are the ones with powers, the Astera Pantheon.”

“Yggdrasil is a storage of souls and a device that splits Aether into six types.”

“Aether Origin can replace both of them. It will make Aether much more efficient and convenient to use. When it is completed, there will be an Aether revolution.”

Leobold’s plan was to replace Astera Pantheon and Yggdrasil with Aether Origin.

Therefore, the big tree that gave the elves unnecessary arrogance had no reason to exist anymore.

Leobold spoke firmly to her, who still showed the will to persuade him.

“Yggdrasil is nothing but a big tree with some special functions. You must not forget that.”

After that day, their relationship became awkward.

She did not openly show anger, but he could feel that she avoided him from her expression and attitude.

But Leobold did not care about that.

She would come back to him someday.

When he absorbed Zaium and waged war with Elvrande, the Human Empire would take its first step.

He planned to become an emperor and have many vassals, and he also intended to entrust them with lands.

Margareta and Tirendell would be enough to run the elf autonomy region.

‘I don’t know if they will accept it, though.’

Tirendell was someone who would believe him even if he said he could turn beer into barley, but Margareta was surprisingly firm in her opinions.

She was a tough but flexible young elf, so he thought she was worth expecting.

“I have enough time to wait, so I’ll just watch.”

“Camilla said she was glad that you didn’t have the misfortune of sharing a bed with Master.”

He did not know if Camilla really said that.

A warp gate appeared on Hyperion’s course soon after.

The huge spaceship crossed the space and appeared over Bagran’s direct territory.

***

Elvrande was quiet for a while after the commotion in Medea.

However, this only meant that they did not make any announcements externally, while internally there was a lively and noisy discussion going on.

It was about turning Leobold and Bagran into enemies of the elves.

In fact, Leobold was already on top of the list of public enemies of Elvrande Empire.

But becoming an enemy of the elves was different from that.

Drizden, the president who barely survived the bombing, declared this:

“I swear by the sacrifice of our noble citizens and this wound. I will definitely annihilate the hateful enemy Leobold Vandus! It is our sacred right given by Yggdrasil!”

The elves were ecstatic at his declaration of using all means possible.

Actually, Leobold was not the one who caused this situation.

He just went there after being invited, but he suddenly received an airship attack and was in a very unfair position.

But that did not matter to the elves.

Drizden’s propaganda department spread flyers every day that blamed humans and Leobold for everything.

—This despicable man ignored our goodwill and broke off the talks, then dropped bombs from his airship. May he be cursed by God!

—The Hyperion that Vandus used was a spaceship that the elf fleet had sunk during the past war. Using it means that he does not care about us elves at all.

—Medea was attacked by Hyperion and the president was injured. I ask all citizens. How long do we have to endure this?

It was a provocation that conveniently omitted the fact that Elvrande was the one who deployed the airship first.

As always, this kind of provocation worked well.

In a situation where information itself was limited and Drizden had most of the power in his hands, there was no force that could tell them the truth.

The elves gathered in groups and marched on the streets, raising their fists.

“No more mercy for humans!”

“Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!”

“For elves! For president! For Yggdrasil!”

“Wake up, Elvrande!”

The only difference from before was that Drizden’s provocation was included in these slogans.

He used this situation as a means to strengthen his power and established a personal guard under the pretext of security.

This personal guard was a different organization from the Defense Agency, which formally received approval from Congress, and only listened to Drizden’s orders.

Their authority was also very wide and vast, so they could look into almost any organization with Drizden’s permission.

It was almost as if the whole Elvrande was reorganized by Drizden and his personal guard.

Some of the congressmen doubted this and demanded an explanation, but the result was a purge.

Ekidna Munshiker, the captain of the personal guard, mobilized her troops to eliminate one by one the few congressmen who opposed their master.

As a result, dozens of people died in less than a month, and the presidential office blamed it on Tirendell’s terror.

—Tirendell is still hiding somewhere. Therefore, we must not lower our guard.

—The presidential office and the personal guard are working hard, but they need more funds and full cooperation to catch Tirendell.

Drizden used this excuse to plant his loyalists in the government organizations one by one.

He used the nonexistent external enemy to enhance his own power.

It was a peculiar thing considering his old age.

Usually, when elves reached close to 300 years old, they would give up everything and settle near the bottom of Yggdrasil, doing small chores and waiting for death. It was a custom.

Since the World Tree itself was so huge, there were several villages around it made by such elders, and Drizden had also reserved a place there.

But he did not want to die.

‘Why live a finite life when I can be reborn as an immortal?’

It would have been impossible normally, but recently the laboratory had found a clue for extending life.

It required a process of reviving several divinities that were known to have been destroyed during the Great War, but he did not hesitate.

‘Anyway, I need divinities to kill him. A lot of them.’

Not only divinities, but he also needed to mobilize everything in Elvrande.

The Hyperion that he showed in this situation was completely different from the one in the Great War.

According to various testimonies, its maximum speed was over 100 km/h and part of its hull was made of living metal, making it extremely durable.

Above all, the dozens of Aether cannons that intercepted several agile airships were a matter of concern.

He did not know that Aether cannons could aim so fast.

Drizden realized that he needed a complete reorganization of the army after several meetings with his confidants.

“We need a bigger and more efficient army. It is not enough to just make Goliaths chase the Elven Knights and produce airships. We need cooperation from both autonomy regions.”

His plan was to divide the Elvrande army into personal guard, existing army, and volunteer army.

Most of the support went to the personal guard, and the existing defense force was reduced.

And the volunteer army was just a fancy name for a penal unit.

—Humans, including Ains and Beastmen, should be grateful to the elves who gave them land and support and live accordingly.

—If there are rights, there are also duties. Stand up to protect our land. If you have any honor.

The support was nothing but giving them wastelands that elves did not want to migrate to and providing enough food to avoid starvation, but the autonomy regions had no power to oppose it.

So the personal guard started to pick out those who had any Aether sensitivity.

In the process, it was common to part with family and friends, and some families were destroyed for hiding them.

Drizden wrapped up such actions as being for Astera’s peace.

He also did not stop there and sent secret agents to Zium and Holy Kingdom.

He thought he needed cooperation from humans as well to deal with Leobold and Bagran.

“Why should we be the only ones to bleed?”

Zaium had started to antagonize him because of Pangral’s air strike, and Holy Kingdom had the same goal as him.

They also needed divinities anyway.

But it was uncertain whether those divinities would side with Holy Kingdom.

So he gathered with the three countries for the first time in a long time and agreed on the threat of Bagran.

It was not a full-fledged alliance, and there were many obstacles to take actual actions, but it was fortunate that they took the first step anyway.

Drizden wanted Delphina, who had fled to Holy Kingdom, but she had already noticed it and ran away.

“What a rat… Can’t she just tell me what she saw?”

It was almost impossible to capture her by normal means because of her Nocturne power.

He searched Holy Kingdom for a long time, but instead of finding her whereabouts, he only found a few pieces of paintings.

Drizden frowned as soon as he received those paintings.

“What do you think these paintings are? Ekidna.”

“They look like something she drew randomly in confusion.”

The paintings depicted the battle scene between Legion Strike Fleet and Plague Queen, but it was impossible to guess that without prior knowledge.

“It looks like they are fighting monsters with Aether cannons… Anyway, it’s impossible to bring Delphina here, right?”

“Yes. She has no place in Holy Kingdom either, so she must have returned to her original place.”

“She won’t go to sea. There’s no way out there.”

What about Leobold?

He and Shadow Elves were almost enemies, but in this situation where he had enemies everywhere, there was not no chance of joining hands with him.

He had managed to settle down humans who were wandering around committing crimes as slaves after all.

“Keep an eye on Bagran. You never know when Delphina will pop up. And contact me when you find her.”

Drizden looked at the map.

Elvrande, Zqium, and Holy Kingdom together were almost equivalent to the whole world.

Leobold had turned the world into his enemy.

No matter how strong he was, it would be difficult for him to cope with this situation.

He would be pressured in all aspects, not only military, but also economic and cultural.

But Drizden did not know that he had experienced this situation many times.

Compared to the harsh and complex environment of Earth in the 21st century, Astera was like a peaceful temple.

And Leobold was ready to crush the heads of those who made noise in that temple.

***

Leobold, who returned to Bagran, received reports on Elvrande’s movements, national development plan, and integration work.

The elves’ actions were as Arma expected, and the national development plan was going well with a lot of funds invested.

At this very moment, there was a large-scale construction going on somewhere in Bagran.

But integration was not easy even with Arma’s power.

For complete integration, land was important in the end, but the owners did not want to give it up.

Even if Pangral’s air strike was the case, Galisto was the same as the old Bagran.

Most of the land was occupied by nobles, and the royal direct territory was only a part.

Leobold wanted Arma to manage all the land.

“We will have a lot of headaches with land issues when the Aether revolution begins. We need to solve the ownership problem now for that time.”

Land was important regardless of the era, and it would be more important later than now.

It was easier to manage if all the land belonged to Leobold, that is, the emperor.

But there were no easy obstacles for that.

“It would be too bloody to push them away…”

Galisto had more than twice the population of Bagran, and there were many nobles.

Moreover, Leobold’s territorial integration work had not been done at all.

There were hundreds of nobles who had settled down, so it was expected that a lot of blood would flow if he mobilized his troops to push them away.

Arma suggested the following method:

“It would be better to start with an accurate census and land survey. Then, we need to abolish the gold standard and introduce new taxes through currency reform.”

“Make them pay taxes with our currency only?”

“Yes. With paper money.”

Paper money was not even attempted in Astera due to credit issues.

At best, it was only used for bills when circulating large amounts of money in places like Denova.

In fact, paper money was not necessary because the economy was small and a small amount of gold and silver was enough.

But according to Arma’s analysis, the population would explode and the economy would expand greatly from the point when the Aether revolution began.

It was not bad to do some groundwork before that.

Leobold nodded as he looked at the roadmap she presented.

“We have enough cotton to produce high-quality paper money. The problem is the deadline…”

“We can exchange gold and silver at a 1:1 ratio without limit for a year while establishing a bank. After that, we need to add surcharges.”

“That will solve both the wealth assessment of nobles and land issues.”

It was nothing but a robbery without a knife, but it was efficient in that it did not spill much blood.

Leobold liked it.

There was a drawback of lack of credit, but it seemed possible somehow if he guaranteed payment with equal value and showed off Bagran’s huge gold and technology.

“Good. Execute it right away.”

This would probably make him hated by many nobles.

But Leobold was used to it.