One after another, the brigade leaders of the 7th Legion are gathering in the city of Ivalice.

　As of now, there are eight brigades in the 7th Legion, but they seem to be sitting back when they see the city I'm ruling.

　First the brigade commander of the Trolls, nicknamed the Shattered War Demon, marveled.

''This is that city of Ivalice?

　As I recall, this troll had been working with the Commander, Sephiro, to capture Ivalice.

　The image of the gate that the Commander destroyed with the magic of Meteorite Falling (Meteor Strike) must have stuck in his brain.

　He seems surprised to see that the gates have become even more magnificent than before they were destroyed.

''Ike, what kind of magic did you use to repair this gate?

Shifts. And a few tricks, I guess.

　I'm not going to be shy about sharing my knowledge with my people.
　The stronger the Seventh Legion becomes, the closer I get to my dream.

Oh, I see. I'll take that as a guide. Any other tips?
Yes. Now I guess we just need to pay the humans properly as well.
'I'm trying to do that. The Commander has reached out to me.

　As he said this, the shattered war demon put his hand to his chin.

'I was skeptical at first. I was skeptical at first, but then I thought, "What are we going to do with all the treasures we've gathered by handing them over to the humans? But you should try it out. It's much more efficient than forcing the humans to work. It's a strange thing.

　It was Bayo the werewolf who broke in after hearing the story.
　Apparently, he had just arrived.
　He came through the gates of Ivalice with his prized werewolf squad in tow.

'Yes, yes. It's strange, isn't it? Makes you feel like an idiot in the old days when all you had to work with was a whip, doesn't it?

Sometimes you just need candy.

　The war demon concludes.

'Exactly.'

　I assured him and led him to Ivalice's mansion.




　When the troll war demon saw the mansion, he let out an impression that it was small.
　Bayo let out a similar comment.

''It's a shoddy mansion.''
The former lord's house is intact.

　Hearing those words, both parties were surprised.
　Normally, if a demon race took control of a city, it was common sense to build a new mansion.

　Large demon clans like the trolls in front of me need to raise their ceilings to make it more inconvenient, while vain people like Bayo try to show off their power by building a new mansion.

　Well, I don't completely dismiss that method.
　It's a good opportunity to show that you're a powerful man, and as mentioned above, it also brings out some troubled demons.

　And both Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi have done something similar.
　I just took the money to build a luxurious mansion and put it into investing in the city.

　That difference may be the difference between the city they control and my city, but there's no need to pay attention to that much.

　I knew enough to know that if I interrupted them that much, I would be antagonized.

　Cephiro would be warned again.
'I've warned you many times that you're in a position to be jealous and envious.
　And--.


　When I took them to the meeting room, the other brigade leaders were already there waiting for me.
　Kushana of Manticore is there, and so is the leader of the brigade.

　She had already had a drink, and was holding a bottle of grape wine in one hand and drinking it by hand.
　As soon as she sees me, she calls out to me sullenly, "I'd like a bottle of wine from Peruna.

I thought I told you to prepare a bottle of wine from Peruna.

　A straightforward apology here?

'I'm sorry. I couldn't get it.

　Incidentally, the bottle is labeled with a brand from another region, but the contents are from Peruna.

　Okay, I'm convinced.
　This man has no taste for alcohol.
　Next time, he'll be happy with a cheap wine with a Peruna label on it.

　Once I was sure of that, I spoke to Cephiro.

'Looks like we're all here,'
Hmm.

　She nodded, then turned to everyone and announced, "Then we'll start a military discussion.

　Everyone said, "Ha! And reverently respectful, but Cephiro gave a disinterested absent look.

I give the deputy commander full authority.

　And I started drinking again.


　He's going to leave everything to me, as declared in the last military council.

　It's hard to decide whether it's a hassle or whether he trusts me, but regardless, I've decided to proceed with the military council instead of Cephiro.

'As the Commander has told me, I will be the one to facilitate this military council.

　He is not polite, but speaks in an intimidating manner.

　I'm still not very good at talking to older people in a high-handed manner due to a habit from my past life, but I can at least have some sense of humor.

　The brigade members here don't mind, and they listen to me.
　After confirming that, I decided to give them an overview of the plan.

'As I told you the other day, we're going to rescue Arsenum.

　I heard that the other day.
　'We only want to hear about one thing,' said Kushana of Manticore.

'All we want to hear is how this oligarchy can defeat the human hordes, that's all we want to hear.

　Kushana is the oldest brigade commander in the Seventh Legion.
　He knows the art of warfare, or the art of warfare, better than anyone else.

　When I became a brigade commander, this old man taught me a lot of things.

　He was a good friend of mine, and I understood his fears.
　I don't want him to be so optimistic.
　What I'm about to do is to completely ignore the basics of the Art of War," he said.　

'I know that everyone is worried. In the first place, you crush the few with the many men. That's the usual way of the Art of War.

　Werewolf Bayo counters.

'We werewolf brigade can hunt five knights with one.
But there aren't many of them, are there?
..........

　Bayo is silent. It's probably because he's been hit with a fact.

''Sure, your werewolf brigade is powerful, but you're up against a regular army of 10,000 people, mostly knights. It won't be so easy.

'Can't we just ask for reinforcements from other legions?

　The troll known as the Shattered Warrior Demon asked.

''As we discussed at the recent military council, that's not possible. All of the legions have their hands full holding their own battle lines, and right now the only one who can act freely is my legion.''

　However, that 7th Legion doesn't have that much leeway either.
　It's just that it has a little more leeway than the other corps.
　This time, we were able to mobilize about two thousand troops.
　This is because we have left a minimum amount of troops in the occupied territory.
　With 2,000 men, we would have to fight 10,000 people.

　Just like Beyo had said, if they were powerful demons, there was no way they would have an enemy five times as strong. As I've said before, not all of the Demon King's Army are demons.

　There are only a few fierce individuals in each brigade that can bear the name of the demon race.

　Most of them are made up of goblins, orcs, kobolds, and other lower level demons.

　Two thousand soldiers, I said, but the gap in strength may be more than the actual number of soldiers.

''...........''

　I almost gasp, but I stop myself.
　This is because this is not the attitude you would show to your subordinates before going into battle.


　The general's weakness is conveyed to the commander.
　A commander's weakness is conveyed to the commander.
　A commander's weakness is passed on to his troop leaders.


　That's what an army is.
　There is nothing wrong with being timid at this point.
　Trying his best to sound cool, calm and dignified, he declared.

'I know what you all mean. But in this case, I want you to follow my plan to the hilt.

For a young man with no track record?

　No one asks if I'm a good person.
　My achievements are echoed within the Demon King's army.
　Even that Bayo didn't complain.
　However, I guess he was still frustrated, but at the end he asked me this nasty question.

''If we lose, how will you take responsibility for it, Deputy Brigade Commander?

　I wasn't obliged to answer, but I would.

'Then I'll gracefully vacate my position as deputy commander and brigade commander.

　There is no pretense of that feeling.
　I'm ordering the other brigade commanders to take on a battle that they should never have to fight.

　If you don't have that kind of resolve, you wouldn't be qualified to send your companions to their deaths.
　Perhaps this resolve was conveyed to them, but the entire meeting was filled with silence.
　Bayo, perhaps defeated by his own roots, said with an unusually mysterious expression on his face, "I'm going to fight with all my might.

I'm going to do everything in my power to fight this thing, so don't be a bad commander.

　He's still competitive as ever, but I think he trusts me in his own way.
　I was a little grateful for that concern.