About ten days had passed since the Second Western Conquest began.
　They had already destroyed the three regional powerhouse governments of the three families and added the two powerhouse families to their umbrella in the form of a book.

　It was a natural result.
　Because the local clan administration could prepare only about three thousand troops at best.
　On the other hand, this one has eight thousand troops.

　Ron, Gram, and Roseward are all growing up as generals.
　I hope that they will continue to win.

　But still.....

　'Apparently, the one with the most military acumen of the three of us is Rosward.
　''Yes, well, in his case, he's leading the Kingsguard...''

　Bartolo replies.

　It's not so much a matter of talent as a matter of habituation.
　Well, eventually Ron and Gram will catch up.

　'Ron seems to be better at handling the post-war process than Rosward. And Gram seems to be better at governing policy afterwards.'

　I contemplate as I read the reports sent to me by the three of them.
　Ron is in charge of drug enforcement and counterintelligence, so he's probably good at handling the post-war process. He's good at hunting remnants and domestic bandits.
　Gram is probably in charge of forest clearing and his subsequent content on management policy is better than the other two.

　Ron, Rosward, and Gram are all very similar to me.

　They don't have the military talent of Bartolo or Alexios.
　I'm not a good negotiator like Ial.
　I'm not good at political dealings like Raimondo.
　Nor does he have the business acumen of Ains.

　But he has no weaknesses.
　At best, he's a jack-of-all-trades; at worst, he's a dexterous poor man.

　I believe that such people are necessary for the company.
　This is because people tend to favor their own fields of expertise.

　Domestic officers tend to neglect diplomatic negotiations and warfare.
　Diplomats are more likely to neglect domestic politics and armed warfare.
　Military officers are prone to neglect domestic politics and diplomatic negotiations.

　A vehicle cannot be stable unless it has at least three wheels.
　The same is true for people and countries.

　Even if you don't excel in every field, it's easier to balance the whole thing if you have knowledgeable people.

　I think the three of you still have a lot of room to grow, so I hope you will continue to gain experience.

　''So what is the reason why you called me here?''
　You've heard about the Adelian Liberation War?

　Bartolo nodded widely.
　I've already told only the chief minister about this.

　Julia and Tetra are pregnant, so I haven't told them.
　It would be more than a little stressful for them to have their own country at a slight disadvantage.

　'I want to leave this matter to you. Can you do it?
　"By the king's command,

　Bartolo didn't hesitate to answer that.
　The Northern Adelnian Peninsula is at a much different latitude than the Southern Adelnian Peninsula, so the climate is also very different.

　Above all, they would be separated from their families, and if they died in the war, they did not know if their bodies would be returned to them properly.
　They were Gauls, whose culture and religion were completely different from those of Adelnians.

　'Can I ask you one question?
　What?
　'How do I fight this?　Can we just cut loose and fight to prevent damage?

　That's the problem.
　If we actively participate in the war, the damage will be greater.

　But if we are too passive and we lose, we will be heavily pursued and the damage will be massive.
　Even if we are not defeated, our country's reputation will be greatly damaged.
　We want to avoid that if possible.

　I hope you can manage to adjust it somehow.

　I know it's a lot of work, but we'll try our best.
　Thank you, Bartolo. Also, this war to liberate the Adelian people may be foiled at the last minute. Just keep that in mind.

　One concern is that our nation's most powerful general would leave the country.
　Our ability to defend ourselves would be greatly diminished.
　And since there is no one to replace Bartolo........well, maybe one.

　He is finished.

　After an hour or so of small talk, Bartolo went back to his mansion.







　'I'm sorry, Julia. I haven't been able to make time lately.''

　I shook Yulia's hand and apologized.
　I had only been able to make a small amount of time with Yulia and Tetra in the past few days.

　It's because I've been messing around with the matter of the alliance against Gallia and the Second Western Conquest.

　''Nah, it's okay.......Almus will be busy too.......''

　Julia leaned back against my chest.
　It was heavy, probably because she had a baby in her stomach. The weight of life.

　...Hey, can I ask you something?
　What's going on?

　Julia looked up at me with moist eyes.
　She closed her mouth as if a little confused, but as if she had made up her mind, she asked me in a thin voice.

　''Well what if it's a girl again next time?''

　The words poured out of Yulia's mouth like a dam, probably because she had put them into words once.

　'I know, my child is the heir, right?　Otherwise, the country would be in turmoil. If it's Tetra's child, neither the Lossies nor the Dibel clan will agree. Three clans can agree on a child of mine. So it has to be my child. I know, I know, I know. I have to give birth to a boy but what if it's a girl?　What should I do?　I don't want to pull you down because of me but I don't know. I don't know....

　Julia buries her face in my chest and cries out to me.
　I hug Julia tightly.

　I had tried to put as little pressure on Julia as possible.
　I strongly reminded the castle slaves, servants, bureaucrats, spellcasters, and great families.

　But.........
　Was there silent pressure?
　Or has Yulia blamed Yulia herself?

　In my heart, of course, a boy is preferable.
　But Yulia is still young.
　Women can have children without any problems until they are in their thirties, and although the risk is higher, they can have children in their forties or even fifties in some cases.

　Me and Yulia are only twenty-one years old.
　It's not an age to be in a hurry.

　But for Yulia it will be different....
　Pregnancy makes women more prone to emotional instability.
　Anyway, we need to calm her down now.

　It's going to be all right. I'm not going to let this hold you back. We're both young. If you're a girl, you'll get another one.
　What if the next one is a girl?
　...there's another one after that, right?
　What if it was a girl too?
　....

　Ah, that's it.
　That's a woman's unanswerable question.

　"Julia, you need to calm down. Take a deep breath.
　'How am I supposed to stay calm?　You have no idea how much I love you and worry that I'm not a burden to you!　Alms is way too optimistic!

　Then Julia's sermon?　lasted for about two hours.





　'Hey, Alms.........'
　I'm sorry, Julia is emotionally unstable and...

　I visited Tetra about an hour late.

　Julia and Tetra are both good friends, but they're still human and female.
　I think she naturally has the desire to monopolize the man she loves.

　With that in mind, I always make time for an hour alone with them, but.......
　This time, Yulia had exceeded the time by about an hour.

　As a result, she ended up making Tetra wait for an hour.

　''Hmm........''

　Ah, I made a choice.
　I couldn't see it from the side, but I realized that when I saw Tetra's expression and tone of voice, which had clearly entered the grumpy range.
　Let's think about it, the reason I was able to send her on a date was because she was meeting with another woman.

　...I've been making a lot of choices lately.
　The longer we've been married, the more we let our guard down...

　'Speaking of which, what should we name her?　You haven't chosen a name for your child, have you?

　I broached the subject a little too forcefully.
　Tetra didn't intend to drag it out that much either, so she easily got on board.

　'First of all, would you rather have a boy or a girl ... or a girl?'

　If this is Julia, it's a landmine question, but it's not a problem since the other party is Tetra.
　In this regard, Tetra is much easier to deal with.

　'Hmm, boys have anx. Maybe girls are next?　Well, we've got a long way to go, and it doesn't matter either way.

　Unlike modern Japan, we don't have to worry about child rearing.
　In Japan, you have to think about school fees, childcare costs, balance with your job, and other troublesome things while you're planning to have a baby.
　But now I'm the king.

　If I have more than a hundred or two hundred, let alone ten or twenty, I can raise enough.
　If you have a nanny, it's not that difficult to raise a child.

　The more you give birth to a baby, the more justice you get in this world.
　In my case, alcohol disinfection greatly reduces the risk of maternity school fever, so it's not like I had thirteen children and five grew up to adulthood, but if I had thirteen children, there's a good chance I'd have thirteen children and raise them.

　........I'm starting to worry about the population of Romalia in a hundred years.
　Will there be a food shortage?

　Alms...
　What?
　I'm a little nervous.

　.........
　A cold sweat runs down my back.

　"Anks, are you sure you're not going to get killed?

　Why!
　That's a big leap in theory!

　'Look, if Julia's kid was a girl I mean I believe she wouldn't be doing that, but Raimondo or Bartolo. Or....or...or Ial....

　No, no, you're thinking too much. Yeah, they're all very bad characters, but they're good people at heart. They would never do such a thing. I mean, I wouldn't let them.
　Are you sure?
　I'm sure you are. I'm with you.

　I hug Tetra and kiss her on the cheek, and she blushes.
　Then she turns her head and lets out a thin voice.

　'Sorry, I was thinking too much. I'm going a little crazy.

　But soon Tetra looked up at me with eyes that wavered with anxiety.

　'There's one more thing I'm worried about,'
　What?

　After that, I had to listen to Tetra's overthinking anxiety for three hours.