第３３０堀：お仕事お仕事 (Part1)
### Chapter 330: Work, Work
**Side: Steve**
"How about it, Lord Steve? I promise you treatment beyond compare."
"No, no. I’m just a goblin, so there’d be friction with others. I’ll have to decline."
"Your broad-mindedness is truly magnificent! We shall handle any such friction ourselves! Please, won't you serve our kingdom?"
A bearded old man was leaning in, pressing me hard.
He’s a minister of the Zilba Empire, mind you.
Being pressured by such a disheveled-looking fellow doesn't make me happy in the slightest.
"My apologies, but I cannot consider it at this time."
"…I see. However, I shall not give up. Excuse me then."
With that, the bearded minister exited the office that had been assigned to me.
…*Sigh*, these Zilba recruitment attempts have been happening a lot lately.
It’s a nuisance; it’s getting in the way of my work for Weed.
Relieved that he finally left, I pulled out some Weed documents, only for the door to open again.
Damn it, again?
Right, let me just cast a perception-obfuscation spell on these papers…
"I passed the Zilba minister on my way in. Another recruitment attempt?"
"Huh? Oh, it’s you, Zargis. You should’ve said so."
What a waste of mana.
The consumption is twenty times that of Weed’s, and while it wouldn't be a problem for my total mana pool even if I used it all day, I get sluggish if I burn through too much, so I try to avoid wasting it.
Seeing my lethargic state, Zargis realized the answer without me having to say a word.
"It seems I didn't need to ask. I never imagined they would be so persistent with a goblin."
"Tell me about it. You’re done with the recruitment attempts, right, Zargis?"
"Yes. Once I presented them with my research costs, I haven't heard a peep from them since."
"Just how much did you ask for?"
"Naturally, enough funds and materials to continuously conduct the research I do at Weed."
"Yeah, that’s impossible."
"Indeed."
"…You’re a demon."
"Calling me a demon is rude. They claimed they would welcome me with better treatment than Yuki, so this is only natural. Besides, they initially tried to recruit me with a general’s position? They’re making a mockery of us."
"That’s probably because you doubled the size of the magic corps under the guise of 'experiments,' right?"
"Looking back, that was a bit excessive. Because of that, I was marked and it became a hassle. Though, isn't the reason for your recruitment basically the same as mine?"
"……"
Right. Just as Zargis said, I’d gone a bit too wild in Zilba, which is why I’m currently in the middle of a recruitment storm.
At first, they just saw me as a goblin with nothing but brute strength who could overwhelm magic sword users. But one day, the King of Zilba asked if I’d like to participate in a military exercise. Thinking it was a good chance to gauge Zilba’s military strength, I got the go-ahead from the Boss and joined in.
That was my mistake.
I was on one side of the exercise, and my allies were mostly fresh recruits or the soldiers who had been at the royal castle when we first stormed it.
The opposing side was filled with people who hadn't been there at the time—the types who had been picking fights with me and whom I’d beaten to a pulp in duels.
I realized that the old tanuki king had intentionally dragged me into this exercise to vent their frustrations and silence them.
It seems Air-san, the magic sword user, was also having a hard time after her defeat by me, so she was on my side as well.
In other words, the Zilba King’s authority was slipping, and he wanted to show off my strength to prove his judgment hadn't been wrong, hoping to regain his influence.
We didn't want to ruin our current connections, so I reluctantly took command. I acted as the decoy on the front lines and left the guerrilla tactics to Air-san.
As a result—well, since they underestimated me, they ignored Air-san and tried to crush me first.
I don't think it was a bad strategy. If the opponent hadn't been me.
Personally, I intended to just stall for time and let Air-san take the glory.
But since they came at me with real blades instead of training swords, I annihilated the opposing side by myself to protect the new recruits.
"…That was force majeure."
"Yes. Force majeure, indeed. But since you did that, this is the natural consequence."
And so, my treatment improved rapidly.
For some reason, they set up an office for me inside the Zilba royal castle and asked for my cooperation in improving their military.
…Why on earth do I have to oversee Weed’s monster army *and* take care of someone else’s military?
"Well, it’s a blessing in disguise. Has the news reached you yet?"
As Zargis said, it’s a good thing my standing in Zilba rose because of this.
"It has. The story about what Deryu-ane found when she stormed August, right?"
"Correct. The last major power between Zilba and August: the Kingdom of Ex."
"I’d like to think a big player has finally appeared, but it’s painful that it’s not confirmed."
"Indeed. The opponent is too large. If we move clumsily, we might be accused of being the culprits."
"Thanks to that, the raid on Zilba was called off. State power is scary."
With that, the deployment of Milly-ane and Deryu-ane was cancelled.
We’re left to do this steadily… *sigh*.
"Which is why we’ve decided to gather information cautiously. If we mess up, it could lead to another large-scale international war."
"It’s a pain, even after we took down Hifi’s place. But if the Kingdom of Ex is really working behind the scenes, isn't a large-scale war inevitable? Doesn't it mean they’re raring to go?"
"It is not inevitable. Even if the Kingdom of Ex moves openly, they won't just suddenly appear in the enemy’s capital."
"Yeah, that’s why they were scattering magic swords to cause chaos."
Though, if it were our Boss, he’d probably just seize the enemy capital out of nowhere.
Well, he’s the exception, so let’s leave that aside.
"Exactly. Thinking about that, they would first have to take down the neighboring countries, Zilba and August."
"Usually, yeah."
"However, chaos in August is now impossible. Even if they can't definitively pin it on the Kingdom of Ex, they will certainly increase border security after this incident. Since the Kingdom of Ex can't contact their operatives, they won't be touching August."
"Ah, so that’s it. In this situation, that means they’re coming to Zilba, right?"
"Yes. In other words, if Ex is going to start a large-scale war, it will happen here in Zilba. Fortunately, since we are the ones holding the reins in Zilba…"
"So we just watch how the opponent moves, and if it gets dangerous, we help out…?"
"That is the idea. We were instructed to leave the ruffians with magic swords—the ones you know about—alone so that the opponent can move easily. That way, we can confirm it’s Ex’s doing and launch a multi-front operation from various countries with a clear conscience."
"…You guys are as ruthless as ever."
"It is only natural. It’s fine to crush the opponent’s moves one by one, but then we’d have to investigate every time they change their methods. Instead…"
"Make it look like things are going well, and then annihilate them while they’re off guard. The risk is… well, it’s about the same, but it’s easier for us since we don't have to keep re-investigating."
"Precisely. Well, this assumes our information-gathering capabilities exceed the enemy’s and that our presence remains unknown. If we fail at that, we’ll be the ones in for a world of hurt."