Chapter 457. Save my sister
「While waiting for Kureha to return from her mission, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's life became increasingly comfortable.」
「Every day, he would lead the Ice Wolf demi-humans to sweep through nearby bandit camps, plundering their strongholds until they were bone-dry. Under his pre-arranged strategic schemes, the demi-humans triumphed time and again. Every victory was an overwhelming success, capturing the opposition while suffering almost zero casualties.」
「As for the bandits, regardless of whether they begged for mercy, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka decided their fate based entirely on his "mood."」
「If Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was in a good mood, he would take them in as subordinates, granting them status equal to the demi-humans. If Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was in a bad mood, he would designate them as slaves.」
「There were even some who suffered the most wretched fates; Ayanokouji Kiyotaka would merely cast a casual glance at them before ordering them to be hacked to death... and no one dared disobey, carrying out the execution instantly.」
「Under these conditions of constant victory, his vast number of subordinates began to develop a kind of faith—a belief that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was invincible.」
「What soldiers in an army crave most is never a general who is kind to them, but a general who can lead them to victory.」
「Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was exactly that kind of general. He was a god of war who won every battle—invincible under heaven!」
「...Quietly, it began to grow. Whether they joined his forces voluntarily or by force, everyone became increasingly fanatical toward Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.」
「A few individuals among them had even reached the point where, if Ayanokouji Kiyotaka told them to take a knife and commit suicide, they would do so without hesitation. As for the rest, although their faith was far from being that mindless,」
「If Ayanokouji Kiyotaka pointed at a tree and said, "If we chop down this tree, we win," no one would doubt him.」
「Because Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was just that strong, just that terrifying—as if he were a deity!」
「...In reality, many of his strategies were not particularly profound; it was simply that the lower-class people of this other world lacked so much worldly knowledge that they couldn't understand anything.」
「In their eyes, they simply won for no apparent reason by following Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's many "bizarre" instructions, and then they emerged victorious without a scratch.」
「And Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had no intention of explaining—because a perfect Hegemon should absolutely never take the initiative to explain anything to his subordinates!」
「Leading this group of "insects" to total victory, he used these wins to evoke their maximum adoration. On the other hand, the act of "deciding the bandits' fate by mood" was, of course, not actually decided by mood.」
「It was based on his precise calculations: if there wasn't enough food to feed that many people, he ordered the bandits killed; if the proportion of disloyal people among his subordinates was too high, he ordered the bandits reduced to slaves.」
「However, he never explained these reasons, allowing his subordinates to guess that he decided by whim... and this, too, was a link in the path toward "Strongman Politics."」
「A moody, willful Hegemon can ensure his subordinates remain in a state of constant fear and respect; over a long period, this fear becomes etched into their genes.」
「Until the day comes where, even if a person stronger than Ayanokouji Kiyotaka appears—someone who can liberate them, someone sufficient to defeat Ayanokouji Kiyotaka—they still wouldn't dare to rebel and would remain obedient.」
「When that moment arrives, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's path of Strongman Politics will be complete.」
「Balancing faith and awe, once everyone in the world has been "trained" by him to that extent, it will be time to use the Philosopher's Stone to cross worlds with the whole globe, return to Earth, and play the game against Hikigaya Hachiman.」
「As for now, that time is still far off, so Ayanokouji Kiyotaka must not make a single mistake.」
「Never mind a mistake—even if a victory isn't clean, decisive, and beautiful enough, he would consider it a failure, as it would damage his unquestionable prestige.」
「By day, he led his subordinates to plunder other bandits; by night, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka did not rest.」
「After finishing the "necessary" work of cuckolding his love rivals, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka would get up to work, utilizing his hundreds of complex and diverse skills to concoct all sorts of potions.」
「The varieties of these potions were immense, not limited to detoxification; some were related to curses, barriers, and more.」
「To maintain his momentum through total victory, he had to make every preparation in advance. Although the combat power and intelligence of this world were far inferior to Emilia's world—disappointingly so—if he intended to face them with the requirement of a "perfect win," they were still not to be underestimated.」
「"Lord Hachiman, I have brought your sister back!"」
「The tasks of sweeping bandits to expand his power and crafting potions for emergencies stopped on the day Kureha returned, one week later.」
「"Keyaru, my Keyaru!"」
「The moment Keyaru's sister saw her brother, she jumped off Kureha's back, ran sobbing to Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, and hugged him fearfully.」
「"I don't even know what happened. The Kingdom's army suddenly burst into the village. They said you rebelled and wanted to take everyone in the village away, uuuu... What on earth is going on? How did it come to this, Keyaru?"」
「It was strange; the sister had always been the pillar of support in the past, but seeing the current Keyaru, she knew she should step down. The current pillar was her brother.」
「Her brother's current majesty was just that conspicuous!」
「"Don't worry, I have my own plans. The army wants to use those people to blackmail me, so they won't die. I already have a draft of what needs to be done. More importantly, it's been a long time, Sister."」
「Ayanokouji Kiyotaka put on an act; this was one of the behaviors of a Hegemon. When people saw how well and how gently he treated his sister, they would feel they had discovered a "secret" of the Great King, making them even more devoted.」
「The women, needless to say, naturally all wanted to become close people whom he would treat like that. Wanting to become his "family" made them even more loyal.」
「"Keyaru, you..." Being led around, the sister looked at the expanded base. She already understood that the news of her brother rebelling was true.」
「But after a moment of hesitation, she offered no advice or protest. She simply held her brother's hand and said helplessly, "No matter what you want to do, I will support you, Keyaru."」
「"Really?"」
「The sister nodded decisively. "Yes, of course it's true. Sister wouldn't lie to you."」
「Ayanokouji Kiyotaka smiled slightly. "Then, I've actually taken a new name for myself. It's Hikigaya Hachiman. Sister, could you call me that?"」
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