How to Use the Lord's Future Diary

Chapter 162

After the Horse Tribe arrived, a grand feast began.It was the promise I had made before the war.

Confident that we would win without question, Butler Harold had prepared the meat in advance, and a massive quantity of Fried Rabbit was served to the Beastmen.

“Is this... that Fried Rabbit?”

“This can't be. Then what in the world have we been eating all this time...?”

“Rabbit! It's rabbit!”

“Fried Rabbit! This is it!”

As a result, the territory's warehouses were emptied once again.

Well, that's fine.

Just look at how happy they are.

The Horse Tribe's reaction, in particular, was explosive since it was their first time trying Fried Rabbit.

The Horse Tribe had mostly lived on salted meat, so Fried Rabbit was an entirely different world to them.

I could practically see their future, wandering all over the place searching for cooking oil.

“Alright then, let's have a discussion.”

While everyone else was eating and celebrating, a small meeting was held at the temporary settlement near the Second Horn.

The key figures of Johnson Territory had gathered.

Yuria, Irene, Leisha, Rudick, Leon, and myself.

It was a meeting to discuss what came next.

“Heh, so that's how it turned out.”

Leon, in particular, deserved close attention.

The little brat was the brain of our territory.

This entire war had unfolded exactly according to his plans, so his contribution was enormous.

He looked unbelievably adorable, but he was an incredibly devious fellow.

“Anyway, it's good news.”

“Is it?”

“The fact that the Cow Tribe and the Horse Tribe entrusted us with their Divine Relics means they'll continue trusting and following you, my lord. Maybe even the other tribes' Divine Relics will all gather in our territory.”

“You don't really think it'll go that far?”

Leon considered the Horse Tribe and Cow Tribe entrusting us with their Divine Relics to be a very positive sign.

If the other tribes followed suit, it would become the justification for uniting all Beastmen under one banner.

The Beastman Alliance we had casually talked about before suddenly felt much closer to becoming reality.

“As long as the Horned Rabbit ranch remains intact, the Beastmen will continue following you, my lord.”

I couldn't deny that.

Food shortages had always been the Beastmen's greatest problem.

The Horned Rabbit ranch had solved a significant portion of that issue.

Once both the Johnson Territory ranch and the one in Rotsy were operating normally, feeding all the Beastmen would no longer be impossible.

‘Of course, we'll only know for sure once we actually begin proper trade.’

-It'll probably be fine. Not all Beastmen are like the lions. Even the Cow Tribe is about fifty-fifty. The way they're obsessed with meat right now is probably just a reaction to finally getting something they've never had before.

‘That's true. The Cow Tribe is omnivorous.’

Not every Beastman was obsessed with meat like the Lion Tribe.

So the meat supply itself would be more than sufficient.

Since meat was such a precious resource for Beastmen, Johnson Territory's position would only become stronger.

Beastmen had never been particularly fond of thinking in the first place.

After establishing this much influence, it wouldn't be strange if they started dumping troublesome matters onto me.

“I've got a feeling my workload is about to explode.”

“Do you dislike that?”

“Not really. We need reliable allies too.”

I didn't think it was a bad thing.

Why were we trying to work together with the Beastmen in the first place?

Their simplicity could be considered a flaw.

But because they were so straightforward, they didn't stab people in the back.

In times as chaotic as these, there were no more dependable allies than the Beastmen.

“Rather than that, I think we should worry more about trade.”

“Trade? What do you mean?”

“All the Beastmen's goods are going to end up flowing into Johnson Territory, aren't they?”

“Well... I suppose they will.”

“Which means you'll be the one responsible for distributing all of it.”

With the Beastmen gathering around Johnson Territory becoming an established fact, Yuria pointed out the issue of trade.

How exactly were we supposed to distribute everything?

‘She's right. We can't keep doing things the old way.’

Until now, merchant groups from Levelium had bought goods from the Beastmen before distributing them throughout the country.

Now that role had fallen to us.

After being exploited for outrageous profits all this time, there was no reason for the Beastmen to keep dealing with human merchants.

It was far simpler for them to hand everything over to us instead of negotiating with various human traders.

“But do we really need to think so hard about this? Can't we just send everything to Haken like before?”

From my perspective, it was an unexpected concern.

I'd never really thought about it.

Once goods arrived, we'd simply send them along the Rubina–Haken trade route.

That's how we'd always handled Mana Crystals, iron ingots, and Horned Rabbits.

Part of the grain we'd obtained this time would also head there.

However, Yuria seemed to think differently.

“You're saying Haken should monopolize everything? I don't think that's a very good idea.”

“Really?”

“Haken is an excellent trading partner, but it's nowhere near capable of absorbing all of the Beastmen's goods. Especially with the current political climate.”

“Hmm.”

Take Warhorses, for example.

The battle horses ridden by Knights were an exclusive product of the Horse Tribe.

There were territories in the south that raised horses as well.

But none of them produced warhorses matching the Horse Tribe's quality.

Since a Knight's life depended on their mount, everyone demanded the very best.

Every Knight preferred Horse Tribe warhorses.

“Imagine Haken monopolizing all the Warhorses. Do you think the other territories would just sit quietly?”

“Not with the current atmosphere.”

With tensions between the Three Great Lords reaching the breaking point, every territory wanted to secure as many Warhorses as possible.

But only the Horse Tribe could produce top-quality ones.

If all of them went to Haken, problems were inevitable.

“And Haken can't even provide everything we need in return.”

There was another issue as well.

Trading between the Three Great Lords hadn't been a problem before.

But now that trade routes were becoming unstable, Haken simply couldn't supply us with everything we required.

Haken excelled in technology.

It wasn't a territory with exceptional production capacity.

If we absorbed all of the Beastmen's goods, we'd also have to provide them with everything they wanted.

The problem was that trading exclusively with Haken could no longer satisfy all of our needs.

“I think we're already pushing the limits as it is. Johnson Territory sends them far more goods than we receive. If even more products start flowing through us, Haken won't be able to handle it.”

Even Irene agreed.

Haken was effectively running a trade deficit.

Recently, things had become somewhat balanced thanks to purchasing large quantities of Mana Communicators and Minota Horns.

But there was no telling how long that would last.

If we wanted access to everything we needed, trading with other territories had become essential.

“I don't really like that idea.”

Among the Three Great Lords, Haken was the only one truly friendly toward us.

Our relationship with the other two was distant.

We weren't openly hostile, but dealing with them was certainly uncomfortable.

Still, under these circumstances, there didn't seem to be another choice.

“It might actually work out better this way. If Haken monopolizes everything, it'll become far too powerful.”

“Like how Vines weaponized food?”

“Exactly~ The Three Great Lords need to stay reasonably balanced. At least from our perspective.”

“From our perspective...”

Yuria explained that letting Haken become too dominant wouldn't benefit us.

Honestly, I had trouble understanding why strengthening Haken would be a bad thing.

After all, they were our closest allies.

“But what if Haken conquers the other two Great Lords and becomes the undisputed ruler of the south? Would that really be good for us?”

“I don't see the problem. If it's the Lord of Haken...”

“The current Lord, sure. But won't they be going through a succession before long? Can you guarantee the next Lord will think the same way?”

“Hmm...”

“It might not matter if we're only talking about Johnson Territory. But you also have to think about the Beastman Alliance.”

“The Beastman Alliance... I suppose you're right.”

From Johnson Territory's perspective alone, it didn't matter much who ruled the south.

As long as we bowed our heads when necessary, who would bother paying attention to a remote territory like ours?

But Johnson Territory wasn't just another territory anymore.

It was the leader of the Beastman Alliance and the center of all trade with the Beastmen.

Its value had increased severalfold compared to before.

“They might decide to drive out the Beastmen and occupy everything north of the Levela Peninsula.”

“Once you ignore the monsters, it's actually pretty valuable land. Of course they'd want it. Besides, people in the south don't exactly think highly of Beastmen.”

“Come to think of it... even the Dog Tribe...”

We'd become so accustomed to accepting Beastmen that we hardly noticed anymore.

But humans still subtly discriminated against them.

The Rabbit Tribe settlers who moved to Hawrun and Saint had experienced it.

So had the Dog Tribe members who worked as mercenaries in Vines.

Honestly, hearing that even the Dog Tribe had been discriminated against surprised me.

They'd spent nearly twenty years alongside Vines.

At that point, you'd think they'd practically count as honorary humans.

-Isn't that just human nature? In your world, humans discriminated against other humans too.

‘Yeah... that's something humans really should be ashamed of.’

“Hmm... I don't think my eldest brother likes Beastmen very much either.”

“Really?”

“Yes. He's a little different from Father. Father only discriminates against women.”

“Well...”

That's because Irene herself was so unbelievably wild.

If I had a daughter like her, I'd probably be a little wary of female Knights too.

Of course, that only applied to Haken.

It was already a stable territory.

This place wasn't.

Here, female Knights naturally had to be treated favorably.

‘If even Irene thinks this way, then having the south remain divided really is better for the Beastman Alliance.’

That left only one conclusion.

“So we have to remain neutral.”

“I think that's for the best.”

“Neutral, huh. Though I'd say we're still leaning toward Haken.”

“This is a good opportunity to restore some balance. We don't really have to feel inferior anymore, do we? If anything, Haken should be the one worrying about keeping us happy.”

“Is that so?”

“Just look at the potatoes we sold Haken recently. It's not good to favor Haken too much.”

“That's right, Lord Iron. Let's think about ourselves first.”

Once Irene joined in, I couldn't really argue anymore.

Naturally, I had no intention of abandoning our long-time ally, Haken Territory.

But for the sake of the Beastman Alliance, we also needed relationships with the other territories.

And honestly, Haken couldn't really complain.

We'd already given them more than enough over the years.

“I understand what you're saying. I'll think it over.”

It was strangely surreal.

Who would've imagined I'd someday be worrying about how to distribute an abundance of resources?

What an unexpectedly luxurious problem to have.

Back when I owned absolutely nothing and had to struggle for every scrap, I could never have imagined this.

‘Still, she's right. If I'm the leader of the Beastman Alliance, I need to think about what's best for the Beastmen. Johnson Territory doesn't belong to Haken—it belongs to the Beastman Alliance.’

I needed to clearly decide what mattered most.

-Johnson! Johnson! Johnson!

-Thump! Thump! Thump!

-Johnson! Johnson! Johnson!

When we returned to the territory, things were just as chaotic there.

The situation on the battlefield had been relayed to Butler Harold almost in real time.

He, in turn, faithfully explained every update to the residents.

As a result, news of our victory had already spread throughout the territory.

The residents had all gathered to welcome us home, chanting "Johnson" in unison.

Receiving such enthusiastic cheers from the people always felt wonderful.

“There they are.”

Right on cue, the Dog Tribe and the Lion Tribe, who had been defending the Hawrun Region, returned to the territory.

They too were greeted with thunderous cheers from the residents.

Regardless of what things were like elsewhere, Beastmen and humans were treated equally in Johnson Territory.

Leading the Dog Tribe at the front, Elline responded to the residents' cheers with a rather complicated expression.

It looked as though she still wasn't accustomed to receiving such heartfelt applause.