I Reincarnated But Will Try To Live Without Using My Cheat Ability - CH 320

Charles brings urgent news.

The rats I’m hoping for are hiding out in a compound near the harbor.

Thirty-eight of them, all high-ranking demons.

They tried to escape and resisted, so they were all killed.

It would have taken too much time and effort to escort them back to the capital alive.

In a sense, it was just right.

The rest were probably ordinary soldiers.

Then there was no need to hold them accountable.

Let’s have Mr. Oliver identify the bodies.

By now, this negotiation should be over.

Charles and his men are returning with the bodies on a cart.

I greet Charles.

“Thanks for your help.”

Charles smiles at me.

“No, sir, we turned back as you ordered, but shouldn’t we be looking for other escapees?”

“The lower-ranking soldiers would have been fed on monsters. The commanding officer class doesn’t eat them. So, if they’re going to hide, it would be inconvenient to have even lower-ranking soldiers with them, whose rationality is diminished.”

Charles looked disappointed.

“Even if they are disposable, it’s still impressive. I wonder what they wanted to do there…”

I shrugged and smiled at Charles.

“I guess he wanted to dream.”

I called out for Oliver, and he came immediately, as if he had been expecting me.

He took one look at the corpse, but only shook his head lightly.

“Lord Alfred, could you please explain this to me?”

“We were checking out an area to establish a defense system. We found them hiding in a secluded house, and after they tried to escape, they even resisted. That’s what happened.”

Oliver stared at me…then nodded quietly.

“They’re certainly the people that led the war…”

I guess I should confirm one more thing.

“I am sure that Mr. Oliver did not know they were in hiding, but… Are the former chief and his cronies among them?”

Of course he knew.

But I had no proof, and I had no intention of pursuing the matter.

I can only imagine why they managed to back out and make things go away.

Oliver looked around at the bodies and pointed to one.

“He is the former chief. Everyone around him are his cronies.”

There was no emotion in his voice.

He only felt a sense of exhaustion.

No wonder.

“I see.”

Oliver turned his gaze back to me.

“The only ones left are the common soldiers, except for the cronies. Would you be willing to let us take care of them?”

I smiled and shook my head.

“The person in charge has taken responsibility. I do not intend to hold the common soldiers responsible. The leaders of the world will not care how many soldiers become scapegoats. But if they knew that those who made the decisions would be pursued, I think they would straighten their collars.”

After that, we began negotiating the final decision on the treaty.

From this point on, things went a ton of way.

The obstacles destroyed themselves.

We don’t suddenly recognize them as citizens.

The demon tribe will be treated as quasi-citizens.

When the time is right, we will inform them that they will be promoted to citizens.

Since they are quasi-citizens, no representatives will be elected.

The chief will stay at the homes of an influential person in the capital to study.

The children of influential people were asked to do the same.

They are a kind of hostage.

But they are treated generously and educated.

When the chief came of age, I promised to make them the governor of this territory if they were suitable.

Of course, the children of influential people would also be returned here to assist the governor.

The assimilation of the demon tribe would be completed in the next generation.

This decision was not reversed by Oliver.

He only asked me to guarantee the safety of the chief and the others.

Of course, I guaranteed it in my name.

The land would be governed by a governor.

Oliver asked to assist the Governor as an advisor.

This, too, was approved.

I have also offered to accept any who wishes to study in the capital.

We will divide the demons into two groups: those who will remain in this territory and those who will not.

We have no intention of consolidating them in one place.

They will be dispersed and settled in a moderate manner.

Finally, we must consider the fulfillment of the pact.

As for the treatment of the people, we have kept our word.

The other is the monster extermination

So I had the main ones gathered in the town.

I enter the town accompanied by the Elite Guards.

The influential people who had gathered in the square all looked listless and anxious.

I looked around at them and opened my mouth.

“You have been killing monsters in accordance with your pact with the dragon for some time now. That pact became invalid when your spirit was corrupted. And now I have taken over.”

I pulled the seal of the pact from my pocket and held it out in front of everyone.

As I did so, the seal suddenly emitted a dazzling light.

Hey, hey, hey, I didn’t hear about this! Is this a service for the Queen of the Third Sky?

It’s a perfect stage set-up, but…

The light caused the demons to grovel.

In my brain, The BGM, “Eyyy, bow down, bow down! Don’t you see this crest?”, started flowing through my head.

Is it just me, or did I look like an idiot?

The serious atmosphere was shattered from my inner mind.

After shining for a while, the light disappeared.

I quickly put the seal in my pocket.

“If you want to continue to fulfill the pact, I’ll allow you to exterminate monsters. I will also allow their families to remain here.”

I simply didn’t want to move the entire demon tribe because it would create a gap in the monster extermination process.

I dare to say this in a condescending manner.

At my words, the demons looked up.

I wonder what it is, but they look a little more lively.

“Those who wish to fulfill the terms of the agreement, please ask Mr. Oliver. Mr. Oliver will also inform you of the other conditions of surrender.”

With that, we leave the town.

As we were preparing to leave the camp, Charles came over to us.

“My lord, are you sure? It seems that the conditions are quite lenient.”

I laughed at his words.

“It sure is. But I have given the highest priority to avoiding any future hard feelings.”

“Won’t the other forces look down on us?”

“No, they won’t. My retaliation was aimed at the leadership. No matter how much the people fear us, it will be meaningless if the leadership is fooled.”

Charles looked astonished.

“I agree with you. In any case, we can now begin to build a governance system with a firm footing.”

I smiled at Charles.

I’m a little tired, so my smile is tinged with exhaustion.

“Yes, finally.”

“Why did you not question Mr. Oliver’s false declaration to us?”

So you couldn’t agree with that.

I have a strong personal judgment, but…

I could almost understand the actual situation from the boy chief’s story.

He is just a decoration and has no real authority.

But he knows the adults he comes in contact with.

“Even if they are released from house arrest, the control of the demon tribe is loose at best. The information is not clear. The least bloodshed in such a situation is peace under a new regime with a new chieftain. They probably promised to let him go when they saw an opening and removed him from power without giving him up.”

“So he lied…”

“Yes, even though he was a runaway soldier, he was still the chief. He wouldn’t have the strength to capture him by force and turn him over to me. The moderate demon tribe is petrified after the pact was broken. That’s why… that’s all he can do. And the ringleaders accepted the proposal because they had no other choice. If there was no chance of winning, they would be more inclined to take the chance of survival. But if he betrayed them and turned them in, they should have been skeptical.”

If they were mindlessly forced to clean up the mess, I would not be inclined to hold them accountable.

He would have been unwilling.

That’s punishment enough for him.

It may be naive, but for me personally, I think it’s good enough.

Charles laughed at my words.

“So the rats were flushed out easily.”

“I simply gave the doubters an incentive to assume.”

Charles started laughing at my pompous line.

“Kindness? That was some terrible act of kindness.”

“No, no, no, the trick is to be kind. You have to put yourself in the other person’s shoes and find out what they want in order to succeed.”

Charles looked at astonished at my teacherly line.

“If you say that to me, I won’t be able to believe in people’s kindness. I hope you’re not putting this into the children’s heads. It would be a nightmare if there were more children like my lord.”

That’s a terrible prejudice…