“How about it? This is the one you brought in. Do you like what you see?”
“Huh…?”
As soon as Aria unveiled the document, she let out an exclamation.
Personnel orders, personnel orders, and more personnel orders…
They kept establishing new brigades and sending generals as commanders to these practically useless units, which was essentially a demotion.
Still, it would be right to see this as Roman’s own consideration.
If they could gather their wits and prove their abilities there, it meant they were given a chance to return.
Of course, even considering that, it was still a madman’s handling of personnel.
“All appointments require the Emperor’s approval, don’t they? Then, did he realize Roman’s intent…?”
“No. Not at all. I simply accept whatever he requests.”
“…….”
Oh no.
To think every document was approved without a second thought.
I closed my eyes tightly in disbelief.
If Roman caused an incident, wouldn’t I, the one who brought him in, get caught up and end up in a wreck?
Still, I thought there must have been some intention behind Roman’s actions, so I kept skimming through the documents.
‘Nope, there’s nothing…’
No matter how I looked at it, it was a scattershot demotion.
With no proper successors in place, the division’s adjutants were acting as proxy commanders.
If this continued, even if the kingdom’s army pushed down tomorrow, we’d be swept away!
I couldn’t bring myself to look Aria in the eye directly.
“Your Majesty. I’ll take responsibility and ensure Roman becomes the army commander—”
“Uhhhhhhaha!”
“Your Majesty?”
“Your reactions are quite amusing! I didn’t realize you showed such a variety of expressions! By the way, I seem to have forgotten to show you a document. Here it is.”
“……?”
Aria, laughing with her belly, handed over a document from behind.
I took it with trembling hands and examined it closely.
A plan for restructuring…?
“Roman seems to think the current division scale is too small, and the legions are too large. He proposed merging the two existing divisions into a new one and converting the operations previously conducted at the legion level to a division level.”
“Did Your Majesty approve that?”
“I deemed it reasonable. What do you think?”
“Honestly, it’s excellent.”
The Imperial Army moves primarily in legions.
Even when conquering a small country, a legion of thousands must move.
The entire system is structured that way.
However, this also harbors significant drawbacks.
First of all, the headquarters becomes vastly oversized.
The Imperial Army’s divisions aren’t small by any means, and the size of the legion headquarters overseeing three divisions is enormous.
Of course, this isn’t a problem in a modern world with advanced communication and transport.
But in this fantasy world with narrow roads and poor communication, it creates obstacles in command transmission.
Such a problem could be attributed to some fool trying to force reality onto a fantasy world.
Furthermore, the fact that the number of legions is too small is also a considerable issue.
The current Imperial Army consists of four legions.
The 1st Legion guards the system and its surroundings, the 2nd and 3rd Legions guard the north along with the Duke, and the 4th Legion is stationed in the south and east to keep an eye on the subhumans and elves.
Theoretically, the areas of responsibility are divided, so there shouldn’t be any issue.
But this approach revealed problems in the Freya-Trude War.
The first legion sent into war against the kingdom was just one.
However, as the war dragged on, two legions were sent, and later, three legions were mobilized, abandoning even the defense of the capital.
The kingdom managed to hold out for over a year after that.
So, if the vast southern and eastern borders were guarded by just one legion while the capital was left empty, what would happen if the Great Forest and Desert Alliance struck from behind?
Fortunately, that didn’t happen, but that moment is considered one of the most vulnerable in the Empire’s history.
It wouldn’t be surprising if there were quite a few people aware of these issues.
I, too, had a vague understanding, and the so-called geniuses of this world must have been racking their brains to solve this day and night.
But since all subordinate structures and systems were tailored for legion-level combat, making changes one by one wasn’t a simple task.
So they all seemed to let it slide while knowing full well, but Roman took the initiative by submitting an extensive restructuring plan.
If they were to significantly reduce the number of divisions, then it made sense that a lot of generals would face demotion.
“I only thought he was a great general, but I didn’t expect his administrative skills to be this good.”
“I didn’t think so either…”
“Don’t be modest. It’s bad luck for you. You brought in Roman knowing all this, didn’t you?”
“……”
I knew he was outstanding, but I didn’t expect this much.
The thick plan showed signs of careful consideration in every detail.
To prevent a vast chaos, some inefficient parts remained intact while others were boldly replaced.
As someone who enlisted in the navy as a private and later became an army officer, Roman’s reforms reflected his awareness of the needs of the lower ranks.
“With this restructuring, a total of six divisions will be created. One division will handle the system’s defenses, three divisions will be responsible for the northern region, and two divisions will be stationed for defense in the southern and eastern regions.”
It was a neat arrangement.
With this, even if the three powers of the kingdom, the Great Forest, and the Desert attacked simultaneously, we could hold our ground with no problem.
Of course, a great war like that probably wouldn’t happen, but even considering responses to the asylum, smaller units are much more advantageous.
Whether this was purely coincidental or intentional, who knows.
Maybe I’ll ask Roman directly later.
For now, since he’d be busy with the reforms, I decided not to disturb him.
“From what I see on paper, it looks really promising. Of course, no one knows what will happen when it’s entirely realized. If the reform fails, the responsibility will fall on you.”
“Yes. I will take full responsibility for resolving it then.”
“I was joking. Why are you taking it so seriously?”
“……”
Aria glared at me with an expression that said, “What an absurd thing.”
Isn’t it my responsibility?
Feeling a bit bewildered, I looked up.
Then Aria chuckled and extended her hand.
With her palm upturned, it wasn’t as if she wanted to shake hands or for me to kiss the back of her hand…
I was drawn in, and I took her hand.
It ended up looking like I was reading palm lines.
“This is all on you. There’s no way it won’t work out.”
Is she mocking me now?
Am I being too reckless?
“I think you’re overestimating me.”
“I’ll keep overrunning you with trust. You just need to repay that trust.”
“But—”
“Don’t retort. You will not fail. If doubts arise about yourself, trust my words. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
I’ve already failed multiple times.
…I barely managed to suppress that urge to speak.
To be fair, while I had a few minor slip-ups, it’s true I hadn’t made any significant blunders.
Touching Aria’s hand gave me a bit of reassurance.
“Well, what are you fidgeting about! If you’ve done what you needed to do, then scram!”
“Yes. I will do that, Your Majesty.”
“But if you feel nervous again, or if there’s something you can’t tell anyone, you can come find me. I’ll always say the same thing.”
“……”
I was a bit surprised by Aria’s consideration.
If she’d said that a little earlier, it might have been quite effective.
But now, no matter what worries arose, I could just embrace Emilia and let it out, so I honestly wondered if I’d ever need to go see Aria.
“I’ll consider it positively.”
“You rascal…”
If I felt like sharing about the embodiment, maybe I could tell Aria, who’s mentally strong and tight-lipped, but it was just a thought.
Of course, I was only considering it. Just considering it.
Unless I’m really having a tough time, I probably wouldn’t go to see her.
*
“Hello, Count Proxy.”
“……”
Lichtenburg Mansion.
After greeting her with the courtesy of kissing the back of her hand, I received a somewhat sulky expression in return.
Isn’t she being too blatantly dismissive?
“Julia is in her room. I hope you’ll refrain from randomly taking her out on a boat like last time.”
“I’m not here to see Julia today. Of course, I’ll see her while I’m here, but that’s not my purpose.”
“Then what on earth…?”
“Payment for the alliance is still pending. If I remember correctly, we agreed that I could request something later, right?”
“That is my recollection.”
“I request to utilize that cave as payment.”
“……!”
The fragment of the dimensional rift.
That’s the true nature of the crystal sphere located in that cave.
When the Majin crossed over, the dimensional rift closed and left behind big and small fragments across the continent, and the crystal sphere is one of those.
Each fragment causes strange phenomena, and the crystal sphere in that cave shows the user’s past.
Although it’s called a crystal sphere, it’s actually bound to a specific time-space, making it impossible to move.
For this reason, the Lichtenburg Mansion was originally built here to claim the fragment.
…That was the setting for the cave that shows the past, a script I’d scribbled down but completely forgotten throughout the main story.
“Will that really be sufficient?”
“More than enough.”
Seems I’m getting closer to the ending.
In other words, I’ve come quite a long way.
From now on, the knowledge of the original work will become largely useless.
As such, I need even more information for decision-making.
Information about Schlus’ past will be no exception.
If merely placing my hand on the crystal sphere can yield a vast amount of vivid past records, why would I avoid it?
I can’t just run away in fear from the past of the person whose body I’ve taken over.
It was time to confront my past, Schlus’s past, head-on.
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