Jashin ni Tensei Shitara Haika no Maou-gun ga Sassoku Metsubou Shisou Nandaga, Dousureba Indaro ka Chapter 4

4, The Demon Lord, the Overlord, and World Domination (A-side / B-side)

200, only 200.

The size of the Demon Army, as told to me by Drake, was disappointing to say the least.

Even though they were the Demon Army, just 200.

My class in high school had 40 students, this was only five times that.

With only that many you could remember everyone by face and name. Makes me wonder how Yoshinaga-san is doing.

He had a cool moniker of so I thought he'd have a lot more troops at his disposal.

I thought I'd come upon something like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms or the Ambition of Nobunaga, but a force of only 200 can't do anything.

Even the Battle of Thermopylae had 300 spartan soldiers.

What on earth can you do with just 200 soldiers?

"Pardon me...Evil God-sama, is there something troubling you?"

 ○

"Wha? Ah, I was just thinking that my believer's army was lacking in numbers."

Drake discreetly clenched his teeth.

It was the truth. Lacking in numbers. Most of the elite forces were lost in the battle with , all that were left were the dregs of a defeated army. If it wasn't for that, the strategic and tactical genius Drake would never have deigned to pray to an Evil God.

"Yes, Evil God-sama. We were just involved in a great battle. My army was defeated, and our numbers drastically decreased. Being here in the outlands is the direct result of that defeat."

"I understand. Incidentally, how large was the opposing army?"

"Approximately, 240,000."

"Two-hundred...forty thousand?"

"Against my united coalition of 190,000."

That's right, against 190,000. Drake's assembled army may have been 50,000 less than his opponent, but they held the home field advantage.

If luck had been on his side, they would not have lost that war.

"And now, you're down to 200?"

"That is correct."

"...That's harsh."

"Yes."

Just what exactly was 'harsh'?

An Evil God should just sit back and be worshiped. War was for Demons. If he would just bless them with luck there would be nothing to complain about. He's only a fledgling Evil God, so no one would really expect anything from him.

"I see."

"Evil God-sama has nothing to worry about. Despite how it may appear, I am well-versed in military strategy. I am perfectly capable of handling this. We may only be 200 strong now, but I shall eventually increase that number tenfold.”

 ○

"Tenfold?"

"Yes, if we have tenfold, or 2,000, we can maintain our current freedom."

2,000, eh? 2,000 then.

The enemy has 240,000 soldiers, so 2,000 seems a little low. Is there nothing that can be done about that?

Even when Liu Bei was at the end of his rope, he was still able to gather more forces.

But still, I don't even know what level of civilization this world has yet.

If they're able to mobilize a force of 200,000, then if we're talking China, it'd be like Cao Cao's army at the Red Cliffs during the Three Kingdoms era. If we're talking Japan, even both sides combined at the Battle of Sekigahara comes up a little short at only 165,000. I'm not too familiar with European history though. In any case, if they're able to mobilize that many people, then they must also have at least enough food production to feed all the soldiers and their families.

We really needed to get some intel on them.

And there was just one thing bothering me.

"Do you find something amiss?"

"Ah, if we have those 2,000 at our backs, then I was thinking..."

"Thinking what?"

"......That we might be able to take over the world."

 ○

"T-take over the world?"

"Indeed, the world.”

It's no wonder Drake was stunned.

It was an ambition he'd kept to himself.

They'd only just met, and already this Evil God had seen right through him?

If the troops were increased to 2,000, they could take over the neighboring Demon territories.

If they didn't use a surprise attack, they might be able to open up negotiations. In one fell swoop they could take the entire Southern region, then begin preparations to deal with the detestable .

"......Please forgive my oversight. It is true, I am aiming to take the world for my own."

"Then all is well. Ye Demon Lord has lofty aims, yes?"

"It is indeed true."

As Drake prostrated himself before the Evil God, he heard the diety say, "This has become quite interesting."

Chapter end