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Still, the nameless girl is a bonus. A bonus.

Things around Jeber are flowing interestingly.

There are several wizards who expanded their territory while dealing with dangerous elements around them under the pretext of punishing the wicked.

The people of the conquered lands welcomed them with both hands raised. It seems that the chaos within the territories was lessened as a result.

Originally, conquering a nation doesn’t end with just beheading the king and declaring the land as yours.

The people living there must accept it.

Of course, there were times when the higher-ups didn’t care about anything, but that was usually when the landowners were malicious, regardless of which side they were on.

Since it was hell no matter who came, they just gave up and lived.

And what if someone came to pull them out from that hell?

What if that person was like a god?

They would worship him. Whether they believed it in their hearts or not.

Thus, the wizards who waged conquest wars in the name of justice smoothly absorbed the conquered lands.

And this isn’t the case for just one wizard. Or just one clan.

There was a clan that took the lead first and showed a blueprint for how wizards and people would live in the future.

I watched as the Rempinion Family secured the throne and what they did beneath it.

Everyone who could only watch what they were doing did as they learned.

Look.

Didn’t we learn beforehand how to make it look like we govern well?

Not the most important parts, just the surface.

But that was enough for the moment.

Various clans invaded other clans, and the victors and losers were divided.

So, what comes next?

There’s still a wizard clan fighting in the name of justice.

They know of a higher position, and they know that no one currently sits there. Will they stop like this?

No.

They conspire against the other side, advertise it, and move to gain justification for believing they are right.

Ordinary people became necessary in the wars among wizards.

And there were useful middle management positions for that.

Artificial humans who obeyed only themselves via magic, were intelligent, and some even had their own children.

Of course, not all artificial humans are like that. Some live just as toys for pleasure, and others work and live like regular employees. It varies.

But what matters is that my harvesting machine got involved.

Thanks to that, I could secretly steal glances.

I saw a lot.

And I interpreted the changing Fourth World in my own way.

The clan that expanded the most fell victim to a communal attack and collapsed. The wizard who cried out for the most justice had their fortunes exposed and the castle gates opened in an instant.

If nothing was done, it might have gone unnoticed, but if a citizen betrays from inside the city, even a wizard cannot endure it.

If only the citizens betrayed, the wizards could suppress them in an instant with magic.

If it were an invasion by another clan’s wizard, they could manage to resist somewhat.

But if both happen simultaneously, even a wizard would struggle to stop it.

Wizards lack the concept that citizens can do something.

Thus, they were far more vulnerable.

And there are inventions like internal combustion engines, developed by people who cannot properly handle magic. The fact that those had even a little effect on wizards was significant.

Thus, citizens began to participate in the war.

Until now, it was someone else’s affair, but now it became their own.

And thus, the wizards, who had thought they could live undisturbed till now, became killable opponents.

Of course, the idea of ordinary citizens defeating wizards without help from other wizards is nearly impossible.

But what’s impossible and what can be done are different. Moreover, the traces of the Rempinion Family still remain.

Those who have distanced themselves from the wizard clan. And those who learned magic on the side. Gathering such people and thoroughly analyzing their opponents’ weaknesses leads to victory.

It’s a genius strategy that didn’t exist before and means a strategy that is now out in the world.

Fights grew messier, and weapons were handed over to citizens, not just wizards.

In impatient areas, fights have already begun.

This was no longer just about winning duels; it was a war to completely annihilate clans and become the land’s lords.

Currently, clans like Haideka, with only a single wizard, are incredibly rare. Most inherit magic through bloodlines.

There are both main and branch families.

In this place, the strongest wizard of the clan becomes the main family, not just the firstborn.

Individual power is unimportant; the clan is what matters. Only the clan can protect the family.

In other words, to acquire the land by disposing of wizards means everyone of that clan must be crushed to death.

And countless wizard clans acted in such a manner.

The once numerous and fragmented territories rapidly unified, and likewise, the density of the influence held by wizard clans diminished.

To fill that density, citizens. No, now that it’s not just a single city but many cities, we should call them subjects.

They were dragged into the battlefield.

And what was the result?

It’s incredibly warm.

Wizards do not attack their subjects because they are nothing. Or perhaps they are merely slaves that work for them after being conquered.

But what if they fight back?

What if, during the fighting, they consistently act against the wizards?

Wizards now kill people who aren’t even wizards.

And that sparked a new explosion.

When people suddenly die next to them, they get scared, but if that’s an enemy they have chances against, they flip the switch. And the hatred doesn’t only point at a single wizard.

It also turns towards the city under that wizard.

As hatred rides on the wave of cruelty, the war grew increasingly heated.

Even in an aristocratic republic, where nobles gather and control discussions, a war could be prevented.

But this is just a facade of an aristocratic republic.

They only kept the form of a nation because it’s more productive that way, and they have no actual concept of nobles politically interacting with each other.

Instead, it’s closer to a club. Jeber was reluctantly made the club president.

While there are wizards who find themselves in despair, turning to Jeber for help, what can a mere club president really do?

He can’t control them with grades or scores; there’s no compulsion in that position.

That’s happened more than a few times.

And now, someone who was even hunting down other wizard clans nearby is launching an invasion aimed at Jeber’s territory.

They even used the disappearance of individuals in Jeber’s territories as bait for the invasion.

However, Jeber already had the means to turn that accusation around, and he used it aptly.

My counterpart and language module.

Or we could say my main body—Neprabda.

She immediately criticized the opponent in front of the people. Neprabda, famous already from the rejuvenation event, easily spread her words.

The character Neprabda played wasn’t that great a person. They were a quirky religionist with odd beliefs.

Still, it seems no one could discard someone who granted immense benefit like rejuvenation.

Especially for those in old age, wielding power over money and people.

The people of Jeber’s territory followed Neprabda’s words.

So, without suffering much injury from the opponent’s media play, they cleared out the groundwork for the opposing wizard.

And in the battle that ensued between wizards, without even using psychic abilities, Jeber defeated the opposing wizard with his own magic.

Jeber emerged victorious because he was superior and fought fiercely. Otherwise, if the opponent had been stronger, it would have ended quickly due to psychic abilities.

However, since his magic level was higher than the opponent’s, he fought using his own magic.

Jeber was indeed hurt a lot but he won.

And only then did he barely realize that the world was changing.

After defeating the wizard, he immediately called for his subordinates to gather all the incidents and accidents from the city and brought them back.

And he sold the almost non-existent title of wizard leader and the name of an artificial human seller to buy information from wizards.

The information he gathered contained actions conducted by a human presumed to be a subject of the opponent wizard aiming to undermine Jeber.

And the same type of events were happening among other wizards too.

But that was the extent of Jeber’s understanding.

After being a colossal nation and then splitting into countless smaller nations, this was a time when the stronger nations were absorbing the surrounding nations.

In a political position of very little authority, he had to negotiate, negotiate, and threaten with other wizards. He needed to make moves.

But Jeber wasn’t a politician, he was a researcher.

He just did what he had done before.

He built a massive wall that could encase the growing population spilling outside the castle walls and created more artificial humans, combining them to make powerful and sharp artificial humans.

This was all for preparing for war.

And the first attack didn’t come the way Jeber imagined.

A plague spread among the citizens.

But Jeber didn’t care. Presumably, he didn’t even recognize it as a problem.

Of course, he received reports that a sickness was spreading, but he didn’t take steps to solve it.

He simply worked with artificial humans in his laboratory or took care of Aliura Rempinion, who was growing large with nourishment, while disposing of decaying furniture.

He heard news that the water source had been contaminated, turning a murky red, and that insects and saltwater had begun to surge.

The water source. The term “the origin of water” seemed to move Jeber. So he quickly collected river water and analyzed it. No matter how indifferent he was, he probably thought water was important.

He immediately tested it. He concluded that it was merely eutrophication due to a rise in microorganisms causing this. The rise of insects and saltwater was said to have occurred following a rise in food supply.

And he pinpointed the cause.

The population in his territory was increasing, leading to an expansion in farming, which polluted the water source.

He explained to his subordinate that fixing that was all that was needed and neglected it like he always had.

There’s a sickness that knowledgeable people easily fall into.

That’s when they too easily believe in what they’ve interpreted and judged.

They can’t conceive other possibilities.

Just like Jeber, a researcher burdened with a self-centered ego.

Why do I assert this as an attack, you ask?

Because there were tales from nearby cities about suspiciously cheap fertilizers popping up and news that the word of their effectiveness spread too quickly, revealed through the winners of the rejuvenation event that spread in the territory.

Gradually, the citizens of Jeber’s territory began suffering from diseases. Furthermore, Jeber’s subordinates made a poor judgment.

Since farming increased, leading to a polluted water source, they decided to reduce the farmland. They didn’t think about the reasons for increased farmland and just recklessly cut it down.

With insects and saltwater already multiplying and diseases spreading, hunger struck.

People are dying.

And the deaths of the subjects under Jeber’s reign bring me warmth. The price for Jeber and his subordinates’ errors.

It feels cozy.

Hehe.