“Occupied territory, occupied territory, occupied territory….”
No matter how many times he looked.
No matter where he turned, it was all occupied territory.
“Indeed, seeing it laid out like this, humanity’s situation is quite dire, Young Master.”
“It is enough to make one’s head ache.”
After being caught by Valleria that he had reincarnated.
With the goal of reaching the valley where he had died,
he had been surveying a world map.
Of course, a detailed world map was precious material.
A map that was virtually no different from war supplies,
difficult to access because the kingdom managed it under special oversight.
However, a family with prestige befitting a Count’s household could more or less grasp the global situation,
so he, who could do neither this nor that, simply made one himself to ensure it was easy to understand at a glance.
There had been no great need to make it overly detailed in the first place,
so he roughly invited scholars and bards to gather fragmented information about the world into one place.
If it were not for Valleria, his doing this would have been dismissed as merely an impetuous young master pouring time and effort into a bizarre hobby.
“Please teach my son about the world. I shall pay you generously, everyone.”
Since the Count himself stepped forward and ordered it so,
the people within the territory who knew even a little something gathered without exception.
Her full-scale support truly made anything possible.
What he felt anew now was,
the power of blue blood truly was mighty.
In any case, since even this task was now in its final stages, what he could clearly see was,
just as he had sympathized with the hovering scholar’s words earlier, humanity’s situation was truly miserable.
The three hundred years after he had died.
During that long span, humanity seemed to have been on a continuous decline.
To the extent that there was no hope of recovery whatsoever.
‘Compared to three hundred years ago, about half of it is gone. If left like this, destruction is a foregone conclusion.’
The world he remembered had definitely not been like this.
The area with the most severe damage was, as expected, the northeast region,
and the major stronghold families he had known there had long since been completely annihilated.
The cities under their control that he had more or less memorized had already been uprooted from the map and vanished.
Truly, any ruler would obviously sigh every single day looking at this state of affairs.
That an area had fallen into demon army-occupied territory essentially meant the complete destruction and massacre of its settlements.
Recapturing such a place and rescuing the humans who had fallen into the demon race’s hands was truly unrealistic.
Therefore, in the end, the focus had to be on resettlement and reconstruction rather than liberation.
Even if they somehow recaptured it, restoring the area would clearly take just as much time.
‘Besides, with no able-bodied men worth using, they would have to make do with women. Women are coldly less efficient in physical labor, so it is obvious why they are being so desperately pushed back.’
But.
Those were concerns that applied only to the lofty figures who determined the nation’s grand course.
What he needed to pay attention to now was something else entirely.
“Here.”
He glared holes into the red mark stamped on the map,
hoping that perhaps this time a different answer might emerge, and asked the scholar once again.
He had already asked repeatedly, over and over.
“Would advancing toward this valley be impossible through normal routes?”
“Young Master, I have already answered that many times. That region is said to be a place where humanity once flourished, but now that it is surrounded by demon-occupied territory, it has become the very heart of enemy territory.”
“…Damn it. As expected.”
The valley he had resolved he must reach,
the valley where he had died.
It was something he had learned after making the map to some extent.
That place was now surrounded by enemy forces to the point that any attempt to set foot there was impossible.
Seeing that, his mood instantly soured.
Even the him of the past would clearly have approached this place with caution,
and without any evil spirits to boot; if he went alone in his current body, which was weaker than before, he would obviously end up a dead fool sinking into a swamp, just as anyone would try to stop him from doing.
Then.
Then….
The conclusion naturally gathered in one corner.
This simply needed to be done cleanly….
……….
‘Cleanly, even if it kills me, I need to find some useful guys who will stick with me to the end.’
Well.
Since he had already made up his mind to go.
There was no turning back, was there?
If anyone asked him if he really had to meet the evil spirits again to such an extent, the answer was obviously set in stone.
Because.
The current him needed more power to inflict hundreds of times greater pain and humiliation on that Seradion bitch who had stabbed him in the heart and ended the world,
than what he had felt.
Was that all?
This changed, dying, damned world,
had all been altered by Seradion.
Then, was it not possible?
If he caught and killed that wretch who had made a wish and was inexplicably still alive until now.
The world’s sex ratio might return to normal,
and humanity might regain the strength to drive out the demon race.
If so, no matter what happened.
Rather than clinging to this disgusting, insane, skin-crawling incestuous clan and training or exerting himself,
it was a million times better to run out immediately and meet her.
However.
There was one enormous problem in doing so.
“Come to think of it, I do not have any friends who would risk their lives for me. No, do I simply not have friends?”
Unfortunately.
He had no friends.
That was true in this life as well.
And it had been the same in his previous life.
He had always been one to call others hopeless and criticize them.
But in truth, perhaps the one who was hopeless had been him.
So, feeling that the more he thought, the more hopeless it became, he moved to the tearoom to clear his head for a moment.
In the tearoom, large quantities of coffee—a luxury treat he had occasionally enjoyed in his previous life—were laid out, so he could drink a beverage suited to his taste.
Of course.
At that time, he had not even considered.
That someone who would help him was much closer than he had thought.
“Oh, it is Ia.”
“Ah…. Brother…!”
In the tearoom, he happened to run into Ia.
She, who seemed to have just woken up, was humming as she dumped plenty of sugar into her coffee.
When he casually spoke to her, she jumped in surprise like a startled herbivore and looked at him.
But the moment she realized it was him.
A smiling snowflake bloomed upon her snowy white face.
To such a degree,
naturally, not even a hint of hostility could be found in those eyes.
He, who could not easily trust people, honestly liked this type of harmless creature very much,
so during the past three months since reincarnating,
he had approached her first and received a great deal of help from her.
She was clearly younger than him, yet she knew many things he did not,
and pleasingly, she was quite knowledgeable and sharp enough to match, so she was easy to talk to.
Thus, he could naturally broach conversation in a comfortable atmosphere.
“I thought I sensed a small presence stirring in the tearoom, so it was you indeed. You are busy moving about since morning.”
“Ah, this.”
She casually lifted the coffee in her hand and showed it to him as if boasting.
“This is my daily routine. If I do not do this in the morning, I feel antsy.”
“Haha…. Is that so? You seem to put in quite a lot of sugar. Is that your preference?”
Then, Ia suddenly changed like an angry hedgehog and stood her ground on her taste.
“S-so what is wrong with liking sweet things?”
Somehow, even though she was occasionally afraid of him,
she seemed to say that this, at least, was where she would not back down.
Well, as was common for girls her age, the underlying psychology of not wanting to appear childish could be seen,
but he had no particular desire to encroach upon that.
He merely shook his head gently and spoke.
“How? It is nothing. I was simply going to tell you to have the servants handle such matters. I merely held my tongue because you seemed to enjoy making coffee.”
“Brother…?”
“I am telling you to drink it deliciously. You have no need to worry about anything.”
Then, Ia glanced once at the coffee she was preparing.
And alternated her gaze to his eyes,
then snorted slightly, as if getting excited, and said.
“If, if Brother came to drink coffee as well, may Ia make one for you?”
“For me? Certainly. I would like that.”
“……It will surely be delicious. Ia is not good at much. But I can make coffee well.”
She skillfully prepared a splendid cup of coffee and handed it to him.
Slurp—.
After taking a sip, her words were certainly true;
it was a taste like the philosophy at the end of countless attempts, inversely proportional to the short life Ia had lived.
Though there was a great deal of sugar, the un-displeasing sweetness and the deeply lingering coffee aroma were truly excellent.
At this, he smiled slightly.
And spoke with a bit of sincerity.
“It is an excellent taste.”
“…………!!!”
Then, Ia displayed a flush uncharacteristic of her upon her face.
And scurried over to him, saying.
“Really, is it delicious….”
“Yes.”
It was an expression one could only make when a tiny hobby, never shared with anyone in one’s life, was accepted.
“…Brother is really wonderful.”
Ia said so shyly,
and approached him, whispering.
“Um, Brother.”
“Ia?”
“As payment for drinking it so deliciously, Ia shall tell you something good. Could you spare some time for Ia today?”
Well, he did not know what it would be about.
Since he had nothing to do right away, he supposed he would follow her today.
…Since it was Ia.
It likely would not be something strange like when the other family members called for him.