Harbingers of Change

Chapter 3

The recent expansion of the Hegemony had pushed the administrative department to its limits and then some, stretching its effectiveness and its people. The piles of paperwork on Albedo's desk grew bigger by the hour, and that was despite having Shion doing her best to help, who had become slightly competent at sorting papers based on gauged importance, and Nazarick automating processes wherever it could within Nazarick, which had cut Albedo's work in half. Growing from a nation of five million to half a billion within a year wasn't something even she could prepare for, and the other government branches didn't fare any better, struggling under the sheer weight of numbers.

Demiurge has fully dedicated himself to getting the intelligence and counterintelligence efforts to an acceptable level, having left all military matters in the capable hands of Cocytus and Benimaru who were competent enough to run it without immediate oversight. The brilliant archdemon had no choice but to put full trust in his peers if they hoped to have any cohesive governance over the massive Hegemony within the next two years, even he had to admit that he could only work so much within the provided twenty-four hours of a day. And two years was the timeframe that was most optimistic for a full overhaul into a more centralized system of governance, it would likely take even longer.

For now, local governors were still overseeing the day-to-day operational activities without any oversight from the high lords or high executors. Recruitment and education had both been ramped up by tens of percent, but that would take time to fill in the patches until proper governance could be redesigned.

Albedo was writing a detailed governance structural plan for the Gozu province, a fairly large territory in the Hegemony, as it was one of the most pressing ones requiring her attention as the cow-like people hadn't bothered to establish any form of administration beyond "Strong order the weak around." Not to mention the severe lack of economy in the region which now was getting flooded by immigrants from Jistav, causing shortages and near-uncontrolled growth of farming, foraging, and mining companies which both the UTC and the financial department struggled to keep in check due to similar upticks being witnessed all across the Hegemony.

Additionally, Kagali was doing her best to control the Free Guild. Preventing any sort of cheap resource outflow to Western nations was the goal so they could control the markets and slowly impoverish the human nations. Once weakened they would become less of a threat due to internal dissonance and rebellions, practically nullifying any attempts at humans creating advanced weaponry and thus taking a huge burden off of Momonga's and Benimaru's backs.

'Four hundred elder liches created and awaiting orders. Should I take the liberty to assign them positions?' Nazarick invaded her mind for the tenth time today and it wasn't even noon yet. She just had breakfast an hour ago!

'Do so and send a report,' She replied. Considering the efficiency that the Manas had, Albedo found no reason to not entrust the sentient skill with such menial tasks, massively relieving her of several burdens. The list of positions to be filled by liches already existed, thus all that remained was to assign new summons to the most critical positions first and to ship them out. These would be going to the UTC, given their recent push to crack down on the illegal harvesting of resources to the east.

'Understood. The next batch should be ready in four hours.' Nazarick replied, departing from her mind.

If the skill wasn't so busy naming and adding hundreds of thousands of citizens to the Nazarick as a whole, the daily production of useful servants would have been faster, but at the moment not much could be done. They were all trying their best.

Just as she concentrated on work again, Shion perked up from her seat and announced, "I finished compiling orc reports. There also is a request to replan the main streets of the capital to accommodate the growth of the city."

"Is there a plan attached?" Albedo inquired, hoping that she didn't need to worry about that detail as well before presenting it for Momonga to review. If not, she'd have to either come up with her own plans - which would take up even more time - or, more likely, scrap it entirely even if it was a well-meant suggestion. Some people still tended to send in vague proposals without much concrete detail, a habit she very much fought against. It was one thing to waste her time, but to bother Momonga with general ideas without as much deeper thought behind them was a blasphemy she wouldn't stand for.

"There is… wait." Shion stood up and started to unfold a thick stack of papers onto a four-by-three-meter detailed map.

"This won't do. Nazarick!" Albedo scrunched her nose as she called upon the skill.

"Making a digital map. Sending Geld a warning to request my assistance for projects of such scale. Sending details directly into your mind's eye for review," The skill responded instantly, appearing as a holographic image next to her. Albedo got all the details in an easy-to-navigate 3d projection directly into her mind with all the needed information superimposed over the map, plus a lot of suggestions on where things could be modified for various reasons.

"What should I do with this?" Shion continued as she folded up the overly large map now that it was rendered unnecessary.

"Throw it in the fireplace," Albedo ordered absentmindedly as all her attention was on the proposal, putting aside the paperwork she was doing. The ever-growing city would require intense rebuilding, but it was better to do it now before the whole thing had grown into a labyrinthian mess of nightmarish proportions. The Gozu could wait another day.

Considering the upcoming challenges, she had suggested restricting inner movement for at least a year to build up logistical numbers, but Momonga and the rest of the high lords had turned it down, citing a cost to keep the Hegemony separated on top of a delayed unification it would cause. There was no telling when Ker would strike next, anywhere, anytime, and there was the constant danger of Guy and Rudra teaming up to take down Tempest, a threat they absolutely needed a unified Hegemony to fund a military of staggering proportions to fend off. Thus the best option was to push the nation forward as fast as possible and prepare for the worst, even if they had to bear the terrible upfront costs.

After finding no faults in the proposition, Albedo sent it forward and resumed her work on Gozu territories. Shion meanwhile dropped the compiled orc activities on top of the pile of reports Albedo should review and grabbed the next stack of work from the large pile of documents sitting in the corner of the office, more appearing every few minutes from dedicated maids just for transporting proposals.

"You know, we need more help. This is getting out of hand. I miss my sparring matches," Shion grumbled.

"Get used to it!" Albedo snapped back, understanding her peers' sentiment. With work just piling up, they had less of a chance to spend time with Momonga, and this did no favors to her mood. Worst of all, Shalltear had an entire team of highly trained vampires assisting her so she got to play as Momonga's private secretary more than she and Shion could, and she flaunted that every moment she could.

Shion slowly turned around her eyes, getting bloodshot as she gritted her teeth. "We are at our fucking limit!"

'Just great. Her losing control is not what I need right now!' Albedo observed the results of Shion being deprived of the chance to fight every other day on full display. While Albedo could defeat Shion in a one-on-one battle by utilizing both her incredible defense and pure destruction abilities, the resulting conflict would level the whole royal castle at a minimum even if they were trapped in a shield, which would also only increase their workload of repairs and the subsequent more paperwork.

"Calm down! You will lose control!" Albedo ordered, leaving no room for arguing.

Shion snarled in response and kicked the pile of documents she had just grabbed, sending the torrent of papers in all directions.

"To the battle floor, now! And don't come back until you have gotten it out of your system!" Albedo resolutely pointed at the door while staring down the agitated oni woman.

"Fine!" Shion growled back and teleported away, leaving behind her mess.

'Like things couldn't have gotten any worse.' She twisted her hands into knuckles so tightly the white fabric of her gloves got torn. Not only did she have no assistant for at least a few hours, but Shion's actions had caused even more work. The maid who had silently observed the whole interaction while standing by the door cautiously approached her and, without uttering a sound, leaned down to gather the documents lying scattered around, quickly piling them up and placing them on the pile once more.

Albedo stood frozen in place, contemplating her options. She could switch to twenty-two-hour work days for the foreseeable future, but it would lead to her losing her head consort's position, not to mention kill all chances to have private time with Momonga, and as dutiful as she was this option sounded like a sacrifice she simply wasn't willing to make.

She could also involve Nazarick to nearly fully automate the governing process, but once the skill gained those permissions, she would never get the reins back. The Manas was good, but it wasn't her.

'What should I do?' Just scooping up some random servants would require time for training, time she did not have even with Sebas running employee training at full speed.

{ Lady Buku, I need your advice. } She contacted the one guild member she respected the most right after Momonga, as the slime had given her a lot of advice in her times of need.

{ Albedo? Yeah, sure, what's on your mind? } Buku sounded surprised to be contacted at this time of day, and for a private matter nonetheless, but was still receptive and friendly.

Albedo quickly relayed the situation and patiently waited for a response. She included the threat of Shion causing delays and other important factors that could worsen the situation along with a few proposals.

{ You surely need more assistants. Don't even think of depriving yourself of private time with Momonga, that will only lessen your ability to do your work. Despite our endless energy reserves, mental burnout is still a thing. } Buku scolded her on some of her ideas, shooting them down.

{ I understand that, but I cannot wish up competent assistants on the spot, even elder liches need to be trained. }

{ You know… Momonga should have summons that could learn the basics in an hour or so… Yup that will do, you owe me one. } Buku responded giddily.

'She told Momonga.' Albedo nervously gulped. The one thing she was constantly praised for was her competence and ability to handle her duties, and now her beloved knew that wasn't the case.

{ You could have told me earlier that you are struggling. } She heard the Supreme Ruler's concerned voice in her mind a mere moment later as Buku ended their connection.

{ Lord Momonga I… I'm sorry I failed you. } She bit her lip and closed her eyes, awaiting the worst. Her position had already been slipping to Shalltear, it was just a matter of -

{ You didn't fail me. But I would appreciate it if you don't overwork yourself and Shion for that matter. I had to send Rubedo to help gather the energies on the battle floor. I will summon a few overlords for you as helpers until a more permanent solution can be found. } Momonga didn't sound angry at her, if anything he seemed concerned.

{ But overlords should be utilized - } She tried to protest but Momonga was having none of it.

{ You are getting help and that is final! In fact, you will end the workday at five and we will spend time together, just the two of us, and tomorrow will be Shion's turn. }

There was no arguing with such an order. Her wings shook happily at the thought as a smile crept on her face. However, there was one thing she needed to confirm.

{ My love, I hope you don't plan to split yourself and work in secret like you do with experimentation. }

There was silence for a while but then Momonga cautiously replied to her, { I only duplicated myself when you and others were sleeping. I promise my full attention will be on you. }

{ In that case, I will be ready at five o'five! } Albedo beamed.

There was still a mountain of work, and about five hours nonstop of it since Shion was being burnt out by Rubedo, but now there was finally something to look forward to and she had full intentions to enjoy her date with her beloved.

As she quickly resumed her work, four skeletal figures clad in dark robes entered her office bearing a slight resemblance to Momonga, though none had the flames burning in their eyes.

"We are ready to assist you, lady Albedo," One of them announced as all of them bowed deeply. The creatures were close to a baseline awakened demon lord when it came to raw power and had the intellect to match, making them incredibly useful individuals wherever they were. Considered the highest tier of undead, they were designed to be leaders, scholars, and administrators, commanding hordes of liches. Though Albedo would be first to declare that only Momonga had reached the absolute peak and the rest of his race still fell short of his unrivaled magnificence.

"Start by organizing that pile by the topic and then compile them into shorter reports." She ordered them to deal with Shion's outburst. Considering that the intelligence of Overlords was at least on her level, if not surpassing it in some areas, training her new assistants would be easy, as they could learn while working and possibly even optimize some of the already established procedures. They were generally used elsewhere to oversee other things like military training, not at desks filing paperwork, but she would work with what her husband had so gratefully given her.

Her peer could do other work when she returns, if she even returned today that was. If Rubedo needed to be involved, that could only mean that Shion had been pushed to her limits and it was a small miracle she didn't explode sooner.

Editing by aidan_lo.

Proofreading by fvvck, Sluethen, Stac, clagan, Malguis, IAMTHEPLOKOKIOPO, mfkz_rocker, Working_Stiff CakeEight, aidan_lo, and Alassandro.

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