Tobiume, central district.
After receiving Gilgamesh's guidance, Renji Abarai immediately threw himself back into the reconstruction work.
Before Renji had even gone far, Rukia came looking for him. She had run into a problem, too.
And after Rukia received his guidance, someone else came to seek his help.
Rebuilding a district—especially one like Tobiume—was bound to bring up all kinds of problems.
Gilgamesh knew that, too.
Time passed.
At last, no one came looking for him for the moment, and Gilgamesh could finally breathe a little easier.
Sitting on a throne built of piled stone, Gilgamesh gently rubbed his forehead, feeling a little headache coming on.
What Gilgamesh lacked most now wasn't King's Way Points, but talent.
Inuzuri and Tobiume had a combined population of over a hundred thousand.
Although Gilgamesh could still manage things for now, he couldn't personally handle every single matter.
In the future, as his territory continued to expand and the population under his rule grew, even Gilgamesh—with Charisma at A+ rank—wouldn't be able to manage everything.
He needed talented people to help share the burden of governing: ministers serving under the king.
Gilgamesh understood perfectly well that a kingdom needed all three—king, ministers, and people—to establish itself and prosper.
But both Inuzuri and Tobiume were impoverished, inhospitable places. Finding suitable talent in such a region was incredibly difficult.
For now, Gilgamesh could only choose the best from among the worst, selecting a few people with some modest abilities to help share the burden of administration.
But that clearly wasn't a sustainable solution.
For a kingdom to prosper, it needed outstanding talent.
As for Renji and Rukia, they were talented, but they hadn't yet grown into their potential. It would take time before they could stand on their own.
Gilgamesh had considered seeking out Toshiro Hitsugaya, Momo Hinamori, and Izuru Kira, who were still in Rukongai.
But he didn't know which of Rukongai's four regions they were in, let alone which district.
That left Gilgamesh with no way to recruit them, even if he wanted to.
The talent shortage had to be solved.
If it wasn't, the kingdom's territory couldn't expand smoothly.
At some point, Yoruichi Shihouin had returned.
Watching Gilgamesh rub his brow, she couldn't help asking, "This is the first time I've seen you like this. I wonder what difficult problem could have our king so troubled?"
Gilgamesh let out a soft sigh.
It wasn't anything private, so he didn't hide it. He told Yoruichi directly.
Then Gilgamesh looked at Yoruichi and asked, "I wonder if Mr. Black Cat knows where I might find some outstanding talent."
Yoruichi understood how important talent was.
That was true not only of a kingdom. Each squad of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads had a lieutenant and eight Seated Officers below the captain to help handle its affairs.
That was why Yoruichi had been so moved and amazed by Gilgamesh's ability. He had managed Inuzuri all by himself, bringing order to the place and filling a district that had once been poor, backward, and chaotic with life and hope.
One could say Gilgamesh's ability to govern surpassed that of anyone she knew, even the Four Great Noble Clans and the captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.
But Yoruichi didn't answer his question right away. Instead, she asked, "I've always been curious. Why do you want to establish a kingdom?"
"With your abilities, you'd surely live a hundred, a thousand times more comfortably if you just looked after yourself."
Gilgamesh smiled faintly, a trace of reminiscence crossing his face. "When I first arrived in Soul Society, I met Rukia and Renji..."
Gilgamesh told Yoruichi about his experiences after arriving in Soul Society.
When he finished, he asked, "What did Renji and Rukia do wrong? What did those children who died so horribly do wrong? What did the souls who came to Soul Society do wrong? Why should they have to endure this kind of Hell?"
Yoruichi parted her lips at Gilgamesh's four questions, but didn't know how to answer.
Gilgamesh hadn't expected an answer. He answered them himself.
"They aren't the ones at fault. The fault lies with Soul Society, dazzling on the surface but rotten to its core, and with those high-and-mighty Shinigami and nobles."
As he spoke, Gilgamesh paused. Then an indescribable kingly majesty burst from his young body, making even Yoruichi's heart quail.
"I swore an oath before Rukia and Renji."
"I will put an end to the chaos in Rukongai."
"I will rewrite Soul Society's wrongs."
"I was a king in life, and I will be a king in death."
"I will create a land where everyone has enough to eat and wears a happy smile every day."
"What the Shinigami won't take care of, I will!"
Gilgamesh's domineering words pierced Yoruichi's heart like arrows.
Although Yoruichi had been born into the Shihoin Clan, one of the Four Great Noble Clans, she had long disliked and resented the nobles' ways.
Some nobles didn't even regard the common people of Rukongai as human.
And it wasn't only the nobles. The Shinigami were no better.
Under the pretext of maintaining Soul Society's stability, those Shinigami had slaughtered countless people in Rukongai, turning their souls back into Reishi to be used by Soul Society.
In the eyes of those Shinigami, that was the only value those slaughtered people had.
Gilgamesh saw through Yoruichi's thoughts.
He remembered that, in the original story, Sosuke Aizen had sacrificed tens of thousands of souls with the potential to become elite Shinigami to create a Hogyoku.
And it wasn't just Sosuke Aizen. During the Thousand-Year Blood War Arc, Mayuri Kurotsuchi had casually invoked the need to "correct the balance of souls in Soul Society" and slaughtered more than twenty-eight thousand people in Rukongai without permission.
Countless similar examples could be found throughout Soul Society's history.
They were all evidence of Soul Society's crimes.
Just as Gilgamesh had said, those who had been slaughtered without cause weren't at fault. The blame lay with Soul Society, dazzling on the surface but rotten to its core.
Yoruichi's heart and mind trembled violently, and an unprecedented, reckless thought took shape in her mind.
She would help Gilgamesh establish a kingdom.
No—she would help Gilgamesh become the king of Soul Society.
Wouldn't Soul Society become a paradise where everyone had enough to eat and wore a happy smile every day under Gilgamesh's rule?
Gilgamesh's lips curved slightly. He felt a rush of pleasure.
Yoruichi Shihouin's conquest progress had reached 100%.
The prompt from the King's Path System sounded in Gilgamesh's mind.
[Important story character Yoruichi Shihouin has become the host's subject. Received 10,000 King's Way Points.]
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