The Military Chef of a Ruined World - Chapter 86.1

Voices.

I suppose she did mention something like that before.

“Last time, I couldn’t hear it properly. Explain it. What is this ‘voice’ exactly?”

“Even I don’t quite know the details, but…”

“Use honorifics.”

“…I’m not too sure about the details either. It’s been an intent that has been binding me since I descended into this world…”

Binding, huh.

There was an intent that could bind such a formidable monster?!

“It was a specific order, to be precise.”

“An order?”

[Invade and occupy the human military facilities. It must not be taken by anyone else]

The moment I heard her words, something flashed through my mind.

“That’s…”

The human military facilities.

In other words,

“Military bases?”

For some reason, more powerful monsters appeared at the military bases than ordinary folks.

Those powerful monsters weren’t all just battle crazed.

There was no way they would just randomly show up at military bases.

I couldn’t help but sense the involvement of some entity.

‘A clear malice that wishes to be hostile to humanity…’

The speculation I had until now.

“The ‘military facilities’ the voice was referring to seems to be talking about that bunker.”

That bunker.

As a government bunker, it was clearly a military-related facility.

“What happens if you ignore it?”

“It’s impossible to ignore. The moment I try to leave, that order comes crashing into my mind like a wave. When I regain my senses, I find myself guarding the bunker again.”

She confirmed that my speculation was correct.

The heavily weakened Steel Lizards, who kept on attacking our base.

The White Queen spider that didn’t flee our attacks despite being severely injured.

The eyeball monster with powerful mind control abilities that stayed only within the tank battalion.

And this Vampire Queen in front of me.

They weren’t staying at the military bases because they were stupid.

There was some intent forcing them to do so.

“One of the reasons I wanted to grow stronger was to eventually push away that intent.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought that if I kept growing stronger, I would someday be able to overcome this annoying intent. But that’s no longer relevant now.”

There was an odd refreshing look on her face as she said that.

“You mean the moment you became my vassal, that voice disappeared?”

“Yes. Thanks to that thought, I never had a peaceful day. It’s been so long since I’ve felt this clear-minded.”

Even though she had devoted her existence to me.

She smiled brightly, as if she was pleased about it.

“Maybe becoming someone’s vassal isn’t such a bad thing after all. Hehe…”

Even though she was the one I was most reluctant to make my vassal.

Just the fact that the intent controlling her mind was gone made her happy about becoming my vassal.

“If you were an ugly monster, I might have felt differently. But a master like you is quite to my liking.”

“….”

Well, if she’s fine with it, so be it.

“I am now your subordinate.”

She bowed her head in front of me again, her movement refreshing unlike the previous shameful one.

“Hmm.”

“Please give me any orders, my master.”

Whatever the case may be.

I’ve essentially achieved my goal with this.

“Then, I shall issue my first order.”

I took out a map from my pocket and handed it to her.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a map of the surrounding area. There are humans settled in the locations marked on it, and a fairly high ratio of awakened individuals among them.”

“…Humans, huh. By handing this to me, I take it you want me to…”

“Turn them into your vassals.”

Hearing my order, she seemed puzzled.

Tilting her head, she said, “I thought you disliked the act of turning humans into blood kin.”

“That’s right, I do dislike it.”

“But the order you just gave…”

“To be precise, I dislike turning innocent humans into vampires.”

Soo-ah, who was well-versed in surface information through her Spirit Vision, had already identified the presence of threatening individuals in this area.

This was one of them.

“Those at that location are plunderers.”

“Plunderers.”

“And among them, the ones with particularly bad deeds.”

Not only do they attack and loot others, but they also enslave people.

They even target those as objects of their desires, desires that couldn’t be expressed during the prosperous times of civilization.

In other words,

“They’re trash that’s not much different from you.”

“…I have now sworn loyalty to you, my master. I see trash similar to myself. I understand.”

Anyway, in order for us to build up our power in this area, we need to quickly deal with these people as much as possible.

The longer it takes to subjugate them, the more harm will come to the other ordinary survivors.

“But it would be a waste to just kill them. In this era where every individual is precious, I can’t afford to do that.”

So far, I’ve been subjugating them one by one through my cooking.

But that method takes a lot of time and is inefficient.

It might work for a few exceptional individuals, but for the scattered plunderers, it’s too much of a time-consuming a method.

While I’m wasting time like that, the harm to the other ordinary survivors would only increase.

So, while it’s not a method I’m not particularly fond of,

“I suppose you could easily recycle those pieces of trash.”

“That’s right.”

I failed to find any allies.

But since I’ve already subjugated Ariella, who can rapidly increase the number of my subordinates,

I can recycle those trashy plunderers.

I’ll be able to have a force equivalent to a decent guild under my command.

‘If there’s a problem, it’s just my own feelings.’

I’m ordering a monster to hunt humans.

I might as well have killed them with my own hands.

I didn’t want to witness the sight of a monster killing humans.

‘But I can’t keep living however I want forever.’

Her power, if utilized, can become an enormous asset.

In this kind of world,

It won’t be long before there are dirty tasks that I can’t assign to my unit members.

The vampires who live in the darkness.

They would be perfect for taking on such tasks.

“Increase your subordinates as quickly as possible.”

So, while forcing down my nausea, I commanded her.

“Understood. However…”

“However?”

“With my current power, I won’t be able to create many subordinates. I’ve lost too much of my own blood to you.”

I did replenish it somewhat with this latest cooking.

But my ability has risen a lot, so her abilities have diminished significantly.

“In this state, I’d say a hundred or so is the limit.”

“Well, that’s an appropriate amount.”

Even if there were no limits, I was only planning to maintain around that number anyway.

Vampires who drink blood.

To sustain them, blood is necessary.

The military force that can be maintained by monster blood is at most around a hundred.

“After that, use the plunderers you process as subordinate growth material. Let me know whenever you discover the locations of additional plunderers.”

“Understood.”

“You must clean up all the scoundrels in the vicinity.”

Eliminating the plunderers is something that needs to be done eventually anyway.

While she stabilizes the security and builds up her forces through the cleanup and recycling our unit will also recruit survivors through the bunker and ammunition depot.