Chapter 112: Exploitation

“How was it Black Scale’s doing that Asbestos’s Wizard betrayed them?”

One month earlier, at Orazen, Black Scale.

In the grand hall of the palace, the ministers were having a heated conversation before Kyle arrived.

“There’s word that Prince Vasen might have coaxed the Wizard when he overpowered him.”

“Is that true?”

“There’s no way to know.”

All news about Black Scale ended up reaching those at Orazen, but it was up to them to judge whether the news were truthful.

“How did Prince Vasen even end up there? Wasn’t he only going to explore the eastern mountains in the beginning?”

“Did you see the demonstration of the new weapon called cannon not long ago? Apparently the expedition team was tasked with transporting them to the Southern Archipelago as well because there weren't enough military ships.”

“Then does His Majesty know about all of this?”

“But wasn’t there a lot of opposition at the time? That was why a supervisor was included in the expedition team, right?”

The ministers had thought they were in charge of every matter in Black Scale; they became confused when an unprecedented event arose on the continent.

“Let’s stop talking about Prince Vasen now. The more important thing is that the five allied nations disapprove of us.”

“What do you mean ‘disapprove’? That’s too mild a word. They are bluntly requesting an apology and compensation. And Prince Vasen is pretty much at the center of all this. Of course we can’t stop talking about him.”

“I’m saying that’s an excuse. They have simply been seeking an excuse until now. Have you forgotten that they always tried to pick a fight with Black Scale?”

“Exactly, so I’m saying that if the reason is dealt with, they won’t be able to pick a fight, and…”

Just then, the doors to the grand hall opened.

“Here comes His Majesty, Kyle Lak Orazen!”

The left ministers hurriedly came in and lined up on both sides of the door, and Kyle walked along the path they had made.

Kyle then sat on his throne and said, “I’m busy, so let’s skip the extraneous procedures. I’m sure you have all heard the news.”

The Administration Minister, Ravwin, said, “Are you referring to the news of Asbestos blaming Black Scale for their Wizard setting fire to their ship and running away?”

“Yes.”

“The ministers had actually been here since early morning to have a meeting about that.”

“Is there any progress?”

Ravwin summarized the main points and said, “Firstly, there’s a need for us to check whether Asbestos is right, and if it is, we would then need to find out if the responsibility of the pirate conquest lies with Prince Vasen and General Ian Tata, and even if the accusation is true, if we should comply with Asbestos’s request considering our national interest.”

All the ministers were sensitive as they had been having a meeting about the matter since dawn, but they all nodded in response to Ravwin’s summary.

However, Kyle shook his head.

“It seems you haven’t discussed the important topic.”

“Pardon? By important topic you mean…”

“Shouldn’t we prepare for war?”

The ministers exchanged worried glances.

The requests that Asbestos had made were somewhat ridiculous. And it was also true that Black Scale and the other five nations weren’t on the best terms as they continued to pick fights with Black Scale for the past one hundred years. However, the nations had maintained peace for a long time, so there was the assumption that a war wouldn’t really break out.

But Kyle didn’t think so.

“We will fight the five allies. And as Lakrak, the first king, once said, ‘if we fight, we need to win.’”

The Finance Minister took a step forward.

“But Your Majesty, isn’t the matter not set in stone yet? You may bring that up as a possibility, but Black Scale should avoid war at all costs even if we would suffer some losses.”

It was a statement that completely opposed the king’s will, but the majority of the ministers seemed to agree.

Kyle found it regretful.

“I also wish that could be the case.”

“Then why…?”

Kyle turned around.

Summer was approaching. One of the three hinged doors in the grand hall was open. The sun was still low, but its light was brimming with heat.

“If that is what the gods wish for, how could those who walk on land stop it?”

***

The noble class of Black Scale had the duty of going to war as soldiers. Additionally, a high percentage of Black Scale’s population were Lizardmen, and both male and female Lizardmen could participate in war due to their characteristics as a species. As a result, there was a high ratio of Lizardmen soldiers in the army as well.

The same tended to be true in other countries. The nobility branch of the army with good equipment and training in combat techniques were usually the main species when a country was first established. These noble-born soldiers were considered a separate branch of the army, so they would do things such as guarding Orazen, the capital city, preventing pirates from invading, and protecting the borders. And in Black Scale, the noble-born soldiers amounted to a little over ten thousand.

‘But I can’t mobilize the entire army.’

Sung-Woon heard about what Lunda had said to Eldar, but he didn’t really care because in the end, the big picture wouldn’t change even if Lunda sided with the alliance. Nevertheless, he didn’t think Lunda was going to betray him.

‘Lunda is simple. She sticks to the stronger side.’

Sung-Woon found it good that he was able to easily calculate what Lunda would do. In fact, Eldar was actually the one he was confused about. He noticed that Eldar showed no signs of betraying him, but he didn’t know the why, which made him uncomfortable.

‘Eldar’s not going to betray me even when presented with this opportunity?’

But of course, Sung-Woon wasn’t someone who let his feelings dictate his gameplay.

‘The problem isn’t the standing army, but the draftees.’

It wasn't possible to face the entire five nation alliance with only ten thousand soldiers. And it also wasn’t possible for him to send the whole standing army to war.

‘A certain percentage needs to stay behind to protect the region, and a certain percentage needs to be sent out. The standing army are the elite soldiers, so if either division becomes exhausted, the quality of the entire military will decrease.’

Fortunately, Sung-Woon wasn’t too worried about this matter.

In The Lost World, there were factors that could be controlled, but many more that couldn’t. Especially in matters related to state affairs, it was difficult for players to interfere with the system themselves. However, indirect interference was necessary to identify the noblemen’s abilities and dispositions and manipulate them into joining the royal court or assuming the outside posts.

Because of these problems, it was common for the number, quality, or formation of the troops to not meet the player’s expectation. Things would go well if the players succeeded in shaping the royal palace as they intended, but if that wasn’t the case, there was a chance that they would have to fight with a lackluster army.

However, Sung-Woon wasn’t very worried.

‘As expected, being smart is the best.’

Kyle Lak Orazen came up with a reasonable military plan in one sitting. Firstly, he divided the standing army into two: the central army and the regional army. The regional army would be deployed for regional defense, and the central army was a reorganized unit that would quell unrest and maintain security in Orazen. According to Kyle, the central army would be acting as guards so that they could actively attack the external enemies.

But apart from the central army, Kyle decided to gather additional troops, which would also be divided into a central unit and a regional unit for the same reason the standing army was divided.

‘Even when a war breaks out, the central army is assigned to regions that aren’t critical to the war effort. On the other hand, the regional army would have to gather additional troops if they are to fight in a defense match. However, basic training and military duties will be left for later. Until they are needed, they will fulfill daily routines such as farming in order to accumulate as many resources as possible for wartime.’

And as a result, four thousand central army troops and eight thousand primary draftees were gathered. The gradual recruitment of troops was to minimize the immediate backlash from the citizens and open up the possibility of recruiting more troops in the future.

‘If we deploy all troops to fight in the war, we would be at an advantage at the beginning, but in the long run, it would be harmful. The population stagnating due to a mismatch in gender ratio is common when war goes on for a long time. And this war…’

Sung-Woon tried to make a concrete estimation, but ended up shaking his head.

‘...will last a very long time.’

Even in the history of Earth, it wasn’t common to see a war break out for the claim over a single continent. There were conquerors who won many times due to differences in the civilizations’ level of development, but the majority would still be risking their lives. And there were descendents that followed in their footsteps. Additionally, Sung-Woon didn’t think Kyle or himself were as good as those great conquerors.

‘Above all, we’re all on the same continent, so civilizations are at a similar stage.’

Aside from that, the quickly gathered eight thousand primary central draftees received military training as soon as possible. And in the meantime, the diplomatic situation deteriorated quickly.

As a few ministers of Black Scale were the amicable kind, they sent an envoy not to fulfill Asbestos’s request, but in the hopes that they could come to an agreement, but Asbestos sent the envoy back dead to warn Black Scale not to ridicule them.

It was a war that was going to break out even if they did nothing, and soon, the citizens learned of the looming conflict, and the shadow of war quickly spread across the two countries as well as the whole continent.

Kyle named the ten thousand troops the First Army, consisting of two thousand central soldiers and eight thousand primary central recruits.

The First Army headed to the northern region of Orazen.

***

At a land that no one knew about.

“Do we have to do it this way?”

“You know that the strategy we can see isn’t everything…don’t you?”

Wisdom slowly rotated his star-shaped head.

In front of him was a person with a large lion mask on. It was Jang-Wan.

Wisdom said, “Will you really be okay?”

“No.”

“...Then why?”

Jang-Wan replied, “I don’t like Nebula, so I don’t want to allow him to dominate this continent.”

Wisdom then said, “But still, it’s just a game. I don’t want to lose to Nebula either, but nothing can be done if I get defeated after trying my best.”

“Exactly as you said, Wisdom.”

Jang-Wan blinked with the eyes of the lion mask and then shook his head as if he was annoyed by something. Then, he took off and threw aside the large lion costume he had over his upper body. There stood a woman with black hair, who came up to Wisdom’s chest.

“This is just a game,” said Jang-Wan. “And I’m just carrying out the strategy that I think is best.”

“...Hm.”

“I knew you would never do so, but betrayal can happen anywhere. Therefore, you need insurance.”

“But if you go on with this, your power will weaken. So you can’t say it’s only a benefit for you.”

“It’s not.”

Wisdom knew Jang-Wan was right. There was a gap between Nebula and the other players that was hard to narrow.

“Apostle.”

Jang-Wan nodded. “Even if all preparations are done perfectly, having an apostle can make the difference between victory and defeat. To be honest, I’m not the most well-versed in this game, but at least that’s what the statistics say.”

“You’re right.”

“Then I assume the conversation is done. Don’t feel burdened. This isn’t something like Exploitation. It’s a strategy…for everyone’s sake.”

As Wisdom looked down, he saw many Kobold priests praying. And the leading priest at the very front raised their head. Their eyes sparkled with giddiness.

Jang-Wan had used Divide Control.

“Come on.”

Wisdom called the strongest being from his species. It was Redin, one of the hidden sons of Delmardin, the king of Asbestos.

.

Wisdom used Divine Control to take over Redin and pull out a dagger.

The massacre that would be later called ‘the Day of Blood’ began.

***

After everything was over, Wisdom looked at the system window in front of him.

[Your Divinity level has increased!]

[20→21]

[You can now pick an apostle.]

1. Korean has a tendency to not specify genders so unless it’s obvious with a name, it’s rather difficult to tell whether a character is male or female. Until now, Jang-Wan was written with the pronoun ‘he’ as we didn’t know whether the character was male or female, but we will now be switching to ‘she.’