CHAPTER 25: THE KINGDOM OF BALKA

When the evil dragon attacks from the east, the goddess of war Helvor will come from the western sea. 

The goddess of war rides the divine chariot and appears in the land of Balka. And she shall give us, the people of Balka, her staff. 

It is the divine staff to slay the dragon. 

O people of Balka. 

Praise the Goddess and advance with the Goddess, honor the Goddess and fight with the Goddess. 

Then, any great evil shall be dispelled. 

　……Excerpt from “Helvor, Goddess of War”, an ancient song of the Kingdom of Balka. 

The Kingdom of Balka is a muscle-brain nation located on the Balkan Peninsula in the western part of the Eastern Continent. 

Besides being bordered by the Great Moruro Empire to the east, the entire area is surrounded by the sea. 

The Beastkin Nation of Beastvania exists across the Balkan Sea to the south of the Balkan Peninsula, but there are no diplomatic relations between the beastkin and human nations, and they remain largely unrelated to each other. 

The government system is basically a typical monarchy if we look at the aristocratic class for example. 

However, if you look at the people who live there, it is a rather unusual spartan country, which consists of 10% of Balkan citizens and 90% of non-Balkan citizens, commonly known as ‘oppressed people’. 

There is a reason they have this kind of national structure. 

Needless to say, It was due to the influence of the barbarian nation of the Great Moruro Empire. 

This elephant size giant monitor lizard manipulating barbarians is just that strong. 

A half-baked magic attack won’t work against the monitor lizard’s steel-like scales. 

The only way to counter them is to attack them with a hero-level magician who can shoot through steel, or strike them with a battering ram using their strong muscles. 

A magician is a rare being in this world, which only a select few elite people can become. 

Only one in a hundred can become a magician, that’s just how rare they are. 

Even with how rare a magician is. There are only a handful of magicians that are powerful enough to burn a giant monitor lizard to death. 

A country may or may not have an individual on that level. 

No country can provide such extremely rare beings in sufficient numbers to compete with the onrushing hordes of lizards. 

If magic is not an option, then science and technology are the only options, but this world’s scientific capacity is still at a level where not even gunpowder exists. 

In an age without gunpowder, weapons were swords, spears, or at best ballistas. 

There is no way such a thing would be able to compete with the Moruro Giant Lizard, which has a defensive capability equivalent to that of a light armored vehicle. 

As a result, the only people who were able to resist the Moruro Empire were the Balkans, the muscular people known for devoting their entire lives to their muscles. 

Other than them, who successfully countered the onrushing monitor lizards with a physical campaign using battering rams and muscles, the other countries fell one after another to the barbarian Moruro. 

The Balka Kingdom is the only survivor among the human nations bordering the Moruro Empire. 

Refugees from countries destroyed by the Moruro Empire, as well as other small countries that existed on the Balkan Peninsula, were absorbed and accepted as lower-class citizens under the guise of protecting them from the barbarian Moruro. 

That is how this national system was created. 

10% Balkans and all others. 

The Balkans fight the barbarians of the east with their well-trained bodies, while the rest of the population works as a manufacturing class so that the Balkans can fight to their heart’s content. 

Thus, a symbiotic relationship was formed, albeit a tortuous one, and the current Kingdom of Balka was completed. 

Yamato Calendar 14 July, Year 304. 

The royal capital of the Balka Kingdom, Mushclle. 

This city is built around a small bay Lakos Bay. King, Nobles, Balka citizens, and oppressed people were gathering and preparing to welcome their visitors. 

This is because the Führer, the leader of the Yamato Empire, the superpower across the sea, is coming to this city. 

“Good, the manure has been cleaned up… Keep the city clean, we have state guests coming from across the ocean. It’s from the country of that big iron ship that anchors in the harbor.” 

“You’ve seen that ship, we’re dealing with a superpower! I don’t want such a country to think of our country as a dirty country.” 

Cleaning up the city, setting up decorations, and flexing our muscles as a final touch. 

With the exception of the Balka Kingdom, all of the human nations in the vicinity have died out, and there has been no recent development at all in this world. 

Despite being unfamiliar with the event of welcoming a state guest from another country for the first time in a long time, the entire nation was trying to make it a successful event. 

The beach near the royal city of Mushclle. 

There, two men were standing imposingly, as if they were showing off their well-trained muscles. 

“My king, it seems that the Yamato Empire is quite a powerful nation.” 

“Yes, that’s right, Muscle General. There is no difference between a huge iron ship and a great national power… It seems to lack muscle, though.” 

While saying this, Baal Balka, King of the Balka Kingdom, gazes at a ship anchored in the Mushclle harbor. 

Musashimaru is a mid-size passenger ship of about 3,000 tons of displacement that serves as the embassy of the Yamato Empire. 

While a 3,000-ton displacement is a size that would be classified as small or medium in the eyes of the Yamato Empire, it is large enough in this world where technology is still underdeveloped. 

Furthermore, that massive ship is made entirely of iron. 

Iron is still expensive in this world where iron manufacturing technology is still underdeveloped. The Yamato Empire is definitely an excellent nation because it has ships that use so much expensive iron. 

Baal Balka. 

24 years old bachelor. Hobby wrestling. 

Even though he is the king of a muscle-brain nation, he is still giving proper thought to what he should be thinking about. 

“However, I find it strange. How is it that the landing location is designated here at Muscle Beach and not at the harbor.” 

As he stood next to the king, General Muscle asked the king while stroking his proud beard. 

Incidentally, his rank is the Muscular General. He is the highest-ranking general in the country. 

Muscle Beach― is the name of the sandy beach where they are now. The sandy beach near Mushclle is one of Balka’s most famous tourist attractions. 

The season is summer now. 

Under normal circumstances, there would be enough musclemen gathered there to fill the beach by now, training their muscles and tanning their bodies. 

However, there are no shadows of such musclemen now. 

This is because the Fuhrer of the Yamato Empire will be landing here. 

Any normal country would have landed in the harbor. A harbor is a place that serves as a landing place for goods and people. 

And yet, what is the reason for anyone wanting to come ashore on an unmaintained beach? 

King Balka pondered for a while, but there was no way he could know what the country across the sea was thinking. 

…I guess they must have some ideas over there. “At last our preparations seem to be in order.” 

Stopping his thoughts, King Balka turned around and musclemen began to emerge from the city. 

The country’s leading aristocrats, ministers, priests of the goddess of war Helvor, and the King’s greatest pride and joy, the Three Hundred Men Muscle Corps. 

Everyone in this muscle-brain nation, all the men has beautiful muscles like ancient Greek sculptures. 

A perfect lineup for welcoming state guests. 

They line up on the beach and align themselves majestically. 

By the way, they are all half-naked. There is no need for boorish clothing on the work of art of muscles. 

And… 

“Here they come.” 

Coal smoke rises over the sea. Seeing this, King Balka muttered. 

The shadow of the ship is gradually getting bigger and bigger. It is not one or two ships. 

The Yamato Empire’s 1st Fleet, led by the dreadnought battleship Fuji, came in a splendid fleet formation centered on the Fugaku, the Führer’s personal ship. 

“My king, the Yamato Empire has come with a fleet.” 

“Yea, but what a massive ship…” 

“With that size, our harbor would not have enough draft. That’s probably why they chose the beach.” 

The Balkans are awestruck by the majestic figure of the flagship of the 1st Fleet, the D-class battleship Fuji. 

But their eyes would soon shift to something else. 

“Look there, General Muscle. They are preparing a small boat. There are about fifty boats?” 

“I suppose they will come ashore in those boats.” 

The Yamato fleet arrives off the coast of the Royal Capital Mushclle and stops. Then, the landing craft ‘large motorized boats’ were deployed from the transport ship. 

They began to land en masse, heading for Muscle Beach. 

“Oh, look at that little boat, General. It’s moving along without sails or oars. How strange is that.” 

“This must be Yamato’s magic.” 

Approximately 50 large boats were beached in front of the onlooking Balkans. 

Opening the front door… The Imperial Guard personnel and tanks were sent out. 

With the sound of 40-horsepower engines and the metallic rattle of crawler tracks, a battalion of about 50 Type 3 Light Tanks formed a flank formation and began marching forward. 

In addition, hundreds of Imperial Guard dressed in maid’s uniforms followed behind them. 

The Balkans are astonished by the unfamiliarity. 

Breathtaking Balkans. 

The tank corps stopped their march as they advanced in front of these Balkans. 

And… 

The cupola of the tank which stopped before King Balka opened, and a girl appeared. 

Long silver hair, a black military uniform, and a beautiful face with unrealistically beautiful features typical of a game avatar― Eryutheia, the Führer of the Yamato Empire. 

“Greetings, dear people of Balka. I am Eryutheia, Führer of the Yamato Empire. Please accept my best regards.” 

One word came to the Balkans’ minds when they saw her smiling at them from the top of the tank. 

―’Goddess of War, Helvor’. 

The Goddess of Balka comes to them on a divine chariot. 

Tanks― mysterious lumps of iron that make a rattling noise, mysterious vehicles that Balkan people couldn’t fathom. 

The Balkans, they decided that to be the Divine Chariot. 

And then, there is the beautiful girl who rides on the divine chariot, it’s no exaggeration to say that she is a goddess of war. 

Moreover, they came from beyond the sea, just as the ancient song goes. 

And now, Balka Kingdom is being attacked by the barbarians of the east, the dragon-like― Moruros Giant Monitor Lizards. 

Maybe this is… Maybe the goddess has come to our aid? 

The inhabitants of this medieval-like world, the Balkans, who are still not steeped in a scientific mindset are still believers in God. You can’t blame them for thinking like that. 

The Balkans all came to the same conclusion and then bowed their heads to Eryutheia. 

“Oh, Goddess of War. We have been waiting for you.” 

Then. 

In response to them, “You’re a macho militaristic nation, so you must like tanks right?” Eryutheia, who came ashore in a tank with the carefree thought, “What the hell with these people…” and bewildered. 

=====

Appropriate settings “Monster Control” edition

The way Elves manipulate monsters is by forcibly brainwashing and controlling them with Taming Magic. 

On the other hand, the Moruro Empire’s method of controlling the giant monitor lizard is through physical domestication. It doesn’t use magic, so theoretically anyone can imitate it… Domestication of the giant monitor lizard seems to be quite difficult. 

And depending on the mood of the lizard, the owner can be eaten…