Jamsheed, capital of the Persis Empire.

　''Huh........''

　The Emperor of Persis, Xerxes III, was troubled.

　His immediate concern was the Cilicians.
　His grandfather and father had been on an expedition to Cilicia and both had been defeated.

　Cilicia and Persis are very unhappy with each other.

　It's not that he didn't want Cilicia.
　In other words, he doesn't want it so much that even if he were to give it to me, I would politely decline it.

　To begin with, Cilicia is not a very rich land.
　Because of the dryness and lack of rainfall, there is not much wheat to be harvested here.

　It sounds good when you say that olives and grapes are grown here, but the other side of the coin is that they are the only industries in the area.

　There is no point in conquering such a place.
　Then, why did the emperors of the past make an expedition to Cilicia?

　It was because Cilicia was messing with the Persians.

　There is a region in the Persian Empire where the Cilician people live.
　The Cilician people living in this area often revolted against the Persians.

　They are supported by the Cilician people of the Cilician Peninsula mainly by Artoo.
　No matter how many times they are subdued, they soon gain strength with the aid of weapons.

　We can't solve this rebellion without removing them from the main source.

　In truth, we could give them independence, but allowing them to do so would cause rebellions to break out all over the Empire. There are many different ethnic groups regrouping in the empire.

　We don't really want to go to war.
　It costs money and destroys the country's farmland.
　There is no harm in that. But there is nothing better than not to do it.

　It's hell to do and hell not to do.

　"I don't see how we can capture Cilicia because they're usually at war with each other, but only when our country comes to attack them do they band together...

　The total strength of Cilicia is about 50,000.
　On the other hand, the maximum army Persis can send to Cilicia is 400,000.

　The difference in troop strength is overwhelming.
　But they are defeated.

　The reason was low morale.
　To begin with, Persis is a multi-ethnic nation, and their soldiers are made up of many different races.
　Their patriotism towards the Persis Empire is a delicate one.

　Moreover, since their language is different, their orders cannot reach them quickly.

　On the other hand, on the Cilicia side, their morale is extremely high because they are fighting to protect their homeland.
　Moreover, since they spend all their time in war all year round, their skill level is extremely high.

　That's why they lose every time.

　''The Artoo's heavily armed infantry have very high skill levels. The mobility of the Germanic cavalry hired by Clarice cannot be underestimated. Reim's soldiers are invincible strength, and the tacticians of Tel Bai and the Homo the Holy Squad are a nuisance.

　And sea power.
　Cilicia's skill in navigating a ship is higher than Persis'.

　No matter how many ships Persis has, he will always be outmatched by Cilicia.

　''Your Majesty, we have completed construction of our target of six hundred warships.
　'Well it's a warship made of Lebanese cedar. I don't think they'll be so easily defeated, but...

　In naval battles, there is a big difference in skill level.
　How much of the gap between us and Cilicia will be made up by the number and quality of ships?

　''Your Majesty. Regarding Cilicia, I have a suggestion for you.''
　What?　Let me tell you.

　The Prime Minister grins and says a suggestion.

　'Bread to the baker, they say. 'You know, there are men who are as skilled in the art of sailing as, if not more so, the Cilician, aren't there?　You must make an alliance with them.
　Pofenia that's not bad. And what about land?
　Cilician soldiers are a strong soldier. But they are only human. They are no match for anyone who is more than a man.

　Xerxes stares at the Prime Minister.
　The Prime Minister opens his mouth.

　'Let's hit the desert monsters. If we lose, it's good that their numbers are down. If we win, so be it.
　Well that's a good idea. Now let's get on with the parenthetical.





　I'll make love to you.

　The desert west of Jamsheed, the capital of the Persis Empire.
　The great desert that stretches just a bit south of the border between Cilicia and the Persis Empire.

　There is a woman humming a song.
　Brown skin and golden blonde hair that shone like gold.

　In her hand she held a disproportionately huge spear.
　At the tip of the spear, a shining black dragon Damascus steel shines.

　No, alone might have been a bit of a misnomer.
　To be precise, one person and one animal.

　One and one, to be precise, with a giant salamander.
　However, the salamander is not humming, but screaming....


　Salamander, whose tail has been severed, his horns broken, and one of his six legs severed, wipes the flame on the woman (monster) in front of him while screaming.

　''Â~I'll make love to you~~~♩

　The woman hummed and dodged the flames by diving into the salamander's bosom and thrusting her spear into his jaw.

　''■■■■■!

　The salamander backed away, blowing up fresh blood with a scream.
　The woman jumped up and stabbed her spear into her back.

　''■■■■■■!
　The woman's body turns red with blood that is red as fire.
　The woman licks the blood off her lips with her tongue and grins.

　'Oops!'
　The woman is swept off the salamander's back as the salamander rolls around on the ground.　
　The spear remains lodged in her back.

　The salamander doesn't want to miss this opportunity and attacks the woman, baring its fangs at the woman.

　'Aha.'
　The woman kicked at the nose of the salamander who had rushed into the room.

　With a cracking sound, a crack appeared on the salamander's scales.

　''This is a shoe made by Dragon Damascus~''
　Salamander was blown up like a ball.

　Salamander is in too much pain to get up.
　He pulls the spear out of its back.

　''Then goodbye~''
　I stabbed him in the heart.



　''Master Chief!
　Hmm?　What is it?

　As the woman is dismantling the salamander, a man on a camel comes running in.

　'My chief. I have a letter from the Emperor.'
　Thank you. And you can be more friendly, Ayesha, not the Chieftain, but more friendly.

　Ayesha winked at the man.

　'By the way, this salamander. Are you alone?'
　'Yeah. I heard you were strong, so I had high hopes for you. It wasn't a big deal.
　You look like a lowly hexenbiest for your size, but you're still as strong as ever.

　The man looked at Ayesha with a mixture of respect and awe.


　The desert people are an ethnic group that lives in the desert region that stretches from the Cilicia Peninsula to the southeast.
　As high as one in a hundred people possess the blessing of the "hunter's blessing" and are highly skilled in wrought iron.
　They travel back and forth across the desert on camels and do business while grazing, and if negotiations break down, they loot the desert with weapons.

　They are also blacksmiths, nomads, merchants and thieves.

　Those are the desert people.

　They resided around a number of oases in the desert and were not unified for long.
　Although all the clans were enslaved to the Persis Empire, they were in fact half-independent nations, fighting for each other's watering holes and trade routes, and repeatedly skirmishing with each other.
　It is said that even the successive emperors of the Persian Empire were troubled by this.

　However, eight years ago, all the clans were unified by force.
　The person who accomplished this feat was the clan chief of the Zahab clan.

　Ayesha Zahab was the clan leader of the Zahab clan.

　She possessed two blessings in addition to the "Blessing of the Hunter" that the desert people originally possessed.
　One is the Blessing of the God of War.
　The other is the "Blessing of Fighting Frenzy".

　All three are physical ability-enhancing blessings.

　When her father died, she used her arm strength to subdue her brother and brother to gain the position of clan chief.
　Then she took up with Xerxes III, who had just acceded to the throne, and had a physical relationship with him.

　With his overwhelming military might and the influence of the Persis Empire, he quickly took over all the clans in the blink of an eye.

　''Well now, what do you want to ask me to do?
　Ayesha broke the seal and read the parenthetical letter.

　Then she grinned.
　'What does the Emperor require of you?'
　They're sending troops to Cilicia and they want you to join them.

　The man frowns at that.

　'Hmm?　What's going on?
　The emperor is going to use us as his tools. Are you sure?
　Ha-ha. What's the point of having a mutually beneficial relationship?

　The desert people are given the authority to do business freely within the Persis Empire.
　In return, the Empire imposes a commercial tax on the desert people.

　Trade is essential to the desert people, and commercial taxes are an important source of revenue to support the Empire's enormous military expenditures.

　At the very least, it could be said that Ayesha and Xerxes III were on very good terms with each other.
　However, because the desert people are very independent, there are many who do not like the idea of having a foreign emperor on top of them, even if it is only a formality.

　And they are allowed to loot as they please. "And they say you can loot it all you want.　I've always thought Cilician people were annoying. They talk down to us. They start doing business on their own. Let's just kill them here and reduce their numbers.

　Both the desert people and the Cilician people are a commercial people.
　Originally, they were separated by land and sea, but in recent years the merchants of Clarice have begun to reach out to the inland trade.
　That's why the desert people and the Cilician people currently have a very acrimonious relationship.

　''Besides....''

　Ayesha grabbed the salamander's one remaining horn.
　'You've been quiet lately. I've got to go on a rampage here, and show Kuchetti the good (.................). I don't want you to get licked.

　The corners shattered.