Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

"Uh, uh...?"

The pioneer stared blankly at the pouch that had rolled away.

He understood the meaning, but his brain seemed to refuse to accept it.

"If you're suspicious, go ahead and open it."

"...."

The pioneer swallowed dryly and cautiously approached the pouch.

He peeked inside and immediately recoiled in horror.

"Ugh!"

Thud.

His legs gave way, and he collapsed on the spot.

Justin looked at the stunned man and spoke.

"For the record, all your other comrades ended up like this too."

"...!"

"And of course, all the others who gathered thinking they could form an alliance as well. I don't know how many familiar faces you'll recognize now."

The pioneer's eyes trembled as he looked at the pouches hanging from Justin and his group's waists.

It seemed that he had finally grasped the full situation.

Justin smiled coldly at him and held up two fingers.

"Now you get it? I'll give you two options."

"O-options?"

Continue reading at empire

"First, you surrender and come under my command. But of course, not as an equal—only as a subordinate."

As Justin folded down one finger, the pioneer gulped nervously.

Even though he was afraid, he clearly didn't like the idea.

Well, if he had been a leader in a territory where pioneers were a minority, he must have been treated with respect.

It wasn't surprising that he didn't want to bow down to someone else now.

"W-what about the second option? What's the second?"

The pioneer asked, a glimmer of hope flickering in his eyes.

Justin grinned coldly and folded the other finger down.

"The second? You all die here by our hands. Did you really think we wouldn't kill you?"

"...."

"To be honest, you're a disorganized group, so it wouldn't matter much if you disappeared. But I'm offering this because killing you all might waste some useful talent."

If the pioneer understood Justin well, he could easily pick out another leader from among the commoners.

The pioneers at this level could easily be carried through the hunting grounds by Justin's group without much effort.

Despite that, Justin was offering them a choice because, in the end, they could still add strength to his forces.

Even if he had a million won in his pocket, if he saw five thousand won on the ground, of course, he'd pick it up.

'Especially now that these guys are in no position to rebel, even if I treat them harshly.'

The pioneer stood frozen, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.

Justin nodded and pointed at him.

"Since you're not answering, it must be the second option. Alright, then, die—"

"No! The first one! The first option, please! Spare me!"

At last, the pioneer hastily threw down his weapon and dropped to the ground, groveling.

Justin chuckled and poked him with his staff.

"Good. Now go inside and relay the same message to the other pioneers."

Tell them that the so-called alliance that came with a ridiculous proposal has been wiped out, and their leader is dead.

They can either follow Justin as subordinates or die just like their leader.

The pioneer nodded frantically, sweating profusely, and hurriedly ran inside to deliver the message.

A short while later, the gates of the city swung open wide.

Everywhere they went, they were met with immediate surrender.

There wasn't even any resistance, nor were there any offers to negotiate—it was almost anticlimactic.

Even territories where they couldn't retrieve bodies, reduced to mere ashes, reacted the same way.

As soon as Justin's group approached, most territories opened their gates, begging for mercy.

"This is like some 'open sesame' magic or something," Derek grumbled, clicking his tongue in disappointment.

He had expected at least one of them to resist.

Even Ethan and the other comrades seemed a bit surprised by the situation.

"It's strange for them to surrender so easily. If they misunderstood the value of pioneers, they should at least try to negotiate for better terms," Ethan commented.

"The shock from the last wave must still be affecting them. Back then, pioneers or not, everyone died without exception."

Even before the wave, pioneers must have died.

But at that time, they probably thought it was someone else's misfortune, telling themselves they'd just be more careful in the future.

However, in a war like the monster wave, such excuses didn't work.

Everyone's heads could fly off at any moment.

"They probably realized then that they could die at any time. Just a few days ago, they were staring death in the face. Maybe they developed a trauma from that."

"That's possible, but wouldn't that be bad for us?"

Rachel approached Justin with a worried look.

Justin tilted his head as if not understanding the concern.

"Bad for us? Why? Thanks to this, they're opening the gates wide for us."

"For now, yes. But the reason we're offering them surrender terms one by one is so we can use them in future battles, right? But if the pioneers become too scared to fight...."

"They might refuse to fight later on because of fear?"

"Exactly."

"I actually like that part."

"Huh?"

Justin smiled at Rachel, who blinked in confusion.

Even though they feared life-or-death battles with equal opponents, they still had enough strength to easily suppress commoners.

"Besides, they could be sent to raid empty enemy camps during a full-scale war. Even a weak force is better than just having commoners there."

The important thing was that, as long as there was strength, there would always be a use for it. Especially in a world overrun by monsters.

"Anyway, they won't get to laze around. Whether they surrendered or not, they were given noble titles and houses, so they have to work as much as they've been given."

"Yeah, it's not like big brother would let anyone eat for free."

"Exactly."

"Of course."

Everyone nodded at Rachel's words.

...It was true, but somehow it felt like they were saying Justin was merciless. Even so, Justin thought of himself as a fairly considerate person.

The number of territories that had united against Justin amounted to twenty. Considering that there had been thirty forces competing for control of the castle, all but ten had challenged him. One of those ten, Emily, had already surrendered, so only nine remained.

However, Justin couldn't immediately go after the remaining nine territories. The process of consolidating the twenty he had already conquered had been quite turbulent.

"Conquering them was great, but bringing all the commoners here is a hassle."

Unfortunately, unlike when they took over castles, there wasn't a service to transport the commoners. To bring them from a conquered territory, they had to be escorted all the way back to the castle. It wasn't difficult, but it did take a lot of time.

And bringing the commoners back wasn't even the end of the problem.

"My lord, it's my lifelong wish! Please kill that bastard for me!"

"I'll do anything! I'll crawl if I have to, bark if I must, just please...!"

The commoners, realizing that leadership had changed, immediately began expressing their fury at their former rulers. They had recently lost family members or friends to the effort of stopping the monster wave. The sheer number of deaths made their hatred reach extreme levels.

"This won't work. Keep the ones who surrendered separate from the commoners of their own territories."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"The commoners aren't the only issue. The surrendered pioneers are causing problems as well."

"What's wrong with them? They seemed pretty submissive when they surrendered."

"Many of them think that since we have a class system here, they can treat the commoners however they want, just like before. Some have even tried to kill commoners who have grudges against them..."

"Execute them on the spot! Do we need reports for that? Didn't we post the law in the square long ago? Have they not read it!?"

Justin had never promised them full noble status. He had said they'd get honorary titles first, and only those who proved themselves would be promoted to full nobility, but they seemed to have ignored that.

"We've been lacking a good example among the pioneers anyway, so this is a good chance. Let's crack down on all of them. If they're still causing trouble at this point, they're beyond saving."

"Understood. Also, aside from the pioneers, we've received other petitions as well."

"What now?"

"They're asking not to be mixed with commoners from other territories. They want to live with their original neighbors."

"Tell them that's nonsense."

The commoners probably thought this was a simple request, but for Justin, it was a sensitive issue. They wanted to stick together and avoid mixing with people from other territories? That was bound to create a closed-off attitude, like isolated rural communities back on Earth. In the worst case, entire districts could turn into separate factions or internal power groups.

"With the commoners already clashing with the defectors, do they really think I'm going to let more problems fester? Ignore their request and mix them together."

"Understood. And... there's more."

"More?"

"We're dealing with quite a number here—twenty territories, after all."

Even though the monster wave had reduced the commoner population by 30-50%, each territory still had at least a hundred people. That meant at least a thousand new people to manage, closer to fifteen hundred if estimated roughly, and the increase in numbers was causing significant friction.

"If it weren't for the wave reducing their numbers, the workload during the integration process would've been five times worse."

"...That's true, but don't say that in front of the commoners. They're already on edge after the massacre."

"Of course, my lord. I only mention it because we're alone here."

Zachary smiled wryly as he continued bringing tasks to Justin. Despite the headache, Justin did his best to prevent any major conflicts.

However, some problems were inevitable during the integration process. Even if delayed now, they would have to be dealt with eventually.

'Damn it, I'll have to postpone conquering the remaining nine territories for now.'

Though Justin didn't know their exact strength, conquering them wouldn't be hard. But with the number of commoners and pioneers increasing, so would the conflicts. It was best not to act until full integration was achieved.

'Still, the pioneers I brought in to use as low-level fighters are causing more trouble than I expected.'

The pioneers had certainly submitted to Justin. Despite being dragged into subordinate positions, they had not voiced any complaints, let alone considered rebellion. The issue was their attitude toward the commoners. Many of them, being used to a certain way of doing things, didn't understand the atmosphere of the territory and tried to act as they had before. They probably thought Justin, being a pioneer himself, would overlook them treating the commoners roughly.

'While I've entrusted the punishments to Zachary, he's not the type to use his authority unless there's clear evidence.'

Zachary was someone who followed rules to the letter, only acting when there was unmistakable proof. That wasn't a bad thing, but in the current situation, it was somewhat concerning. Right now, prevention through fear was more important than fairness after the fact. And there was someone better suited for that role than Zachary.

"...Someone go fetch Derek. I've got a job for him."