Chapter 3:
Evil Lord Buddies
THE WAY OF THE FLASH had a weakness. No, that wasn't really accurate. It
was strong—too strong, in fact. Perhaps it was a byproduct of the style's
philosophy, but there were no half measures. It was completely specialized in
killing your opponent.
It wasn't as though I were completely incapable of holding back. Under
the right circumstances, I could, but if my opponent was even a little bit strong, I
couldn't do anything short of killing them. If you couldn't best your opponent
with simple, basic strikes, all you had to fall back on was your special move—
the fatal Flash. I'd only fought pirates up until now, so I'd never even thought
about restraining myself. Even shock swords could kill if wielded by masters.
And with the Way of the Flash, even toys might be lethal weapons in my hands.
What a "flaw." I'm falling deeper in love with my technique.
"I'll have to hold back while I'm here, though."
I aspired to be an evil lord, not a stupid one. I couldn't exactly act the
merciless tyrant in someone else's domain. If I went around lopping heads off in
the viscount's territory, he'd obviously have me arrested. Here, there wasn't
much meaning in possessing personal strength, but it frustrated me not to be on
top. Right now, Exner was my only threat. If he weren't here, I'd be the
strongest kid in my class.
If only I could beat Exner, I thought. But then, a curious thing happened.
"Hey, Liam, we're cleaning inside the mansion today—you should hurry
and get ready."
Exner, who'd always looked down on me before, was acting strangely
familiar with me now, and he'd begun addressing me by my first name. I
yearned to demand he show me some respect and call me "my lord," but I was
just another student here on this planet. I didn't want to start any trouble, so I
was forced to reply as normal.
"I know. Don't rush me."
"It'd be better to be early. The instructors all seem to be on edge lately."
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"Did something happen?"
"I guess they need to clean up some stupid party someone had."
"And we're the cleaners? Can't they get servants to do that?"
"Well, you know, this is supposed to be part of our training. Don't quite
get it, though."
He was smiling more than he used to, and his prickly demeanor had lost a
lot of barbs. It was a lot easier to get along with my roommate than fight with
him, but I wasn't sure how to deal with his sudden friendliness either. After all, I
considered him an enemy I would have to take down eventually, someone I had
to remind of my superiority.
I guess this is fine for now...
There was one more problem, though. Another oddity had been born from
this, and it bothered me more than Exner's new attitude.
The female students and mansion servants had started looking at me and
Exner differently. It wasn't hostility I caught in their eyes. Was it curiosity, or
something more? Their constant gazes and furtive glances bothered me, and I
felt like they burned with intensity whenever Exner and I were together.
***
While Liam and Kurt were cleaning the mansion, the class of Razel's
darlings had gathered in an indoor facility with their instructors, going through
practice matches with shock swords.
It was a large dojo that could accommodate many people, but unlike when
Liam's class had practiced outside, here matches were held one at a time, the
mood hence more laid back.
Katerina, Viscount Razel's daughter, sat on a bench in her athletic outfit.
Peter sat next to her, shock sword in hand. He refused to participate in the
sparring matches, simply observing them instead.
"You should join a match too, Peter. You have full mastery and you're
really strong, right?"
House Razel had decided that Katerina should marry Peter, so she'd been
told to accompany him as much as possible. For his part, Peter must have been
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fond of the pretty girl since he tended to brag about spending time with her.
Katerina was curious about him. He's supposed to be the heir of a rapidly
rising house, but I wonder if that's true. I'm kind of suspicious of his claim
that he's a master swordsman.
Peter gave an excuse, sounding annoyed. "I'm just too strong, Katerina. I
mean, in my domain, I've never lost a bout. If I got serious here, it'd be like an
adult having a serious match against a child."
Katerina grew even more suspicious after hearing his excuse. "Come on,
fight and show me, then."
"Men who are truly strong only fight when the situation calls for it."
Katerina was now fed up with Peter's vague excuses to avoid the matches.
She looked out a window and saw some male students walking by, carrying
cleaning equipment.
Peter looked down his nose at them, making no effort to mask his disdain.
"What a sorry sight. Poor nobles who have to work so hard shouldn't even come
here for training."
Katerina thought those boys must still be more skilled than Peter, who
refused to fight in a single match...not that she herself was fond of the lesser
nobles who stuck out like an eyesore at their estate.
"That's true. I know they work so hard to come here so they can at least
say they studied at House Razel, but I wish they'd choose a place that suited
their meager status."
"Right?"
Since children came here in abundance to study every year, Katerina
didn't see much point in focusing on those from houses they didn't care to
associate with. The boys she spied outside the dojo weren't even on her radar.
***
Once we completed our cleaning duties inside the mansion, we headed
outside. Other kids in coveralls hauled around equipment, grumbling as they
walked.
Nearby was a dojo where the kids getting special treatment were doing
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their own sparring matches. These were the children the honest, upright
Viscount Razel favored, so they were likely from families who were just as
righteous and moral as him. It made me sick.
I'd piled a ton of money and resources into their treasury, and Brian had
even handed over his prize-winning bonsai, yet this was how they were treating
me? Viscount Razel was probably such a stickler for morality that he despised
receiving bribes.
Man, I messed up. I shouldn't have come to a house like this. While I
was musing, Eila ran up to me.
"Hi, Liam. How's it going with Kurt?"
"How's what going?"
"Well, hasn't he gotten a little friendlier? That must have been because of
you, right? It looks like you're the only one he's opened up to."
If he did feel any connection to me, I figured it was because we were both
skilled with the sword.
"Oh, Exner..."
"Why the last name? You're closer than that now, aren't you?"
"What? It's not like we're friends."
To me, he was nothing more than an enemy I had yet to defeat. Frowning,
Eila brought her face right up to mine. I arched my back to pull away from her,
but she continued pressing in.
"That's not good, you know—you're roommates! You should chat and get
to know each other."
"I can't imagine that stick-in-the-mud has anything interesting to say."
Despite my words, Eila started shoving me after Exner, who'd walked on
ahead of me. "Just talk to him!"
She's being too pushy! It doesn't seem like she has any special feelings
for me, so I don't get it. Is she just a busybody?
***
That night, while Exner sat at his desk diligently studying and I lay in my
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bed, I recalled my conversation with Eila. I decided I would try to talk to him;
idle small talk would probably be best. I could touch on simple topics like, "Why
did you come to House Razel?" and "What's your family like?" Now that I
thought about it, I'd barely ever talked with anyone my own age in this world.
After all, there hadn't been anyone my own age around me.
After talking to him, I realized something.
"Wow, a 60 percent tax? You guys must be demons. Not even I would do
that." I clutched my stomach as I laughed.
I'd thought Exner was as straitlaced as they came, but it turned out, he was
from a family of evil lords just like me. This guy was the heir to my ideal family.
"It's not a laughing matter."
"Sorry...don't get mad. I am impressed, though."
House Exner ruled over one planet and one planet alone, and they didn't
even have enough power to properly develop it.
"House Exner is self-made. We have territory now, but we don't know
what to do with it. None of us really know how to govern, and we don't have
any vassals either."
They'd obtained their domain by making a name for themselves as
knights. Though Exner's father had been made a baron, neither he nor his family
had any experience in ruling, and consequently the family had mismanaged their
finances. It should have been easy enough to govern their people adequately, so
the fact that they hadn't must mean they were real scoundrels.
Exner sighed with dismay. "I don't know how much tax to charge or how
to treat my people. I came here specifically to learn those things, but I could get
this level of training anywhere. Next year, we'll need to do mining work for
them on one of their resource asteroids. Maybe that will help me understand the
feelings of my subjects, but it's frustrating not being able to learn how to
conduct myself as a ruler."
He'd come here to learn how Viscount Razel ruled his people, but he was
only gaining a useless taste of normal citizen life. It wasn't the right fit for him.
Now I knew why Viscount Razel didn't want a relationship with Baron Exner—
he just hated evil lords. But me? I was taking a liking to Exner.
"You came to study at the wrong place." I smirked, and Exner—Kurt—
looked grim.
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"I'm aware of that, but I have to learn as much as I can for my parents."
I sat up in my bed, deciding to give the serious guy some advice. "Don't
get angry now, Kurt. I can teach you some things."
"Huh?"
"You wanted to know about taxes and how to treat your people, right?"
Citizenry differed greatly between the Empire's planets, and sometimes
even on the same planet. For that reason, it was hard to come up with broadly
applicable policies. House Exner didn't have any vassals, so policies focused on
specific regions would be impossible to oversee. But if their policies were too
uniform, it would provoke the people.
If they chose to revolt, the Empire would have to get involved, and it'd be
a whole mess. Were I the one in charge, I'd send my personal army to suppress
the rebellion. I was kind to my subjects when they obeyed me, but I would never
allow any such disobedience. If a ruler wasn't strong, his people would just take
advantage of him. No world ran on sticks alone, though—you needed carrots
too.
"Seems like you're bleeding them pretty dry right now, and that's a bad
move. You've gotta let up a bit. At 60 percent taxation, they don't have a chance
of improving their lives."
"M-my father understands that too, but..." Kurt looked away.
Since Baron Exner understood this but was still doing it, he must be a real
scumbag. It sounded like the baron was a second-rate evil lord, but as a fellow
villain, I did kind of want to get to know him. After all, bad guys ganged up,
didn't they? I figured I should pursue relationships like that.
"Listen, this is important. You get more profit wringing money out of rich
people than you do poor people, right?"
"What are you trying to say, Liam?"
"You've got to make them wealthy before you squeeze taxes out of them.
That'll improve your revenue."
"It's not that easy."
You're second-rate because you're too focused on reaping the rewards
right away! No, you guys are third-rate. I wanted House Exner to work a little
harder as evil lords.
"Stop making excuses! Just do it! You can bleed them dry after that. At
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that point, the money will roll in without you lifting a finger. You just have to be
patient until then. Once your people are wealthy, then you can tax the heck out
of them. Oh, and make sure you keep up a proper military—don't skimp on
that."
Some nobles didn't let their domains advance too much out of fear of a
rebellion. In fact, many rulers only educated the people they needed and let the
rest live in a society right out of the Middle Ages. My own parents had been like
that. It was also more complex and hence more difficult to govern a society if
you let it develop, and many rulers didn't want to bother with that. Still, I firmly
believed that my approach of making my subjects prosperous before exploiting
them was best.
Apparently impressed by my enthusiasm, Kurt stopped making excuses.
"You've been lord of your domain for a while now, isn't that right, Liam? Seems
you've got it all figured out."
"Bleeding my people is my specialty."
As a fellow evil lord, and as his senior, I've got to show Kurt the way. If
he needs it, I'll give him my support as well. In return, he'd better help me out
if I'm ever in trouble.
***
Liam's words rattled Kurt to the core. Yes, he'd known full well what
needed to be done, but he'd been putting it off for one reason or another. Liam's
strong assertion to act had made an impact on him.
True...if our people are just barely getting by now, improving their lives
is of utmost importance. We should prioritize that at any expense.
Kurt's father, Baron Exner, had inherited a pretty shoddy domain that was
previously governed by a magistrate. And yet, despite the poor state of his
territory, the baron was still expected to make his contribution to the Empire. He
had no financial credit and no relationships with nobles who could help him, so
he had put a large burden on his people, and even his own family lived frugally.
I just gave up, thinking there was nothing that could be done to turn our
situation around. I've been lying to myself.
Kurt knew they needed to decrease taxes, but it wasn't that simple. He
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regretted the strained existence forced upon his people, but he'd continued under
the notion that the problem was insurmountable. He was ashamed of his inaction
now.
He was supposed to be here learning how to govern his domain, and he'd
been hoping to establish a relationship with Viscount Razel himself. Yet he
wasn't getting the training he'd been hoping for, and he hadn't been able to form
any relationships whatsoever...except with this boy who shared his room.
Kurt pushed onward, feeling faintly hopeful. "Military expansion costs
money too. Just the cost of maintenance alone is a problem. We can't afford to
spend any more, so what do we do?"
Why am I coming to a boy my own age for advice?
He felt ridiculous asking about it so seriously, but Liam was replying in
earnest. There was nothing mocking in his expression, and he didn't seem to be
speaking as a boy of Kurt's age, but as a lord.
"Don't expand; reduce your numbers. What's important is the quality of
your equipment and your troops' training. Instead of a hundred outdated vessels,
get your hands on a few new models."
"Sure, I'd like that, but we don't have the funds to do anything. The
people can't handle more of a burden."
For some reason, Liam seemed happy to hear that. "You're really
exploiting the crap out of 'em, huh?"
Kurt felt ashamed that House Exner had no choice but to do so. "We can't
do anything else."
"So borrow money. Just make sure you pay it back. I've had real trouble
with that myself, let me tell you, but it was my parents' debt." Liam knit his
brow as Kurt lamented his ability to do just that.
"Again, House Exner has no credit. Maybe we can get a small loan
somewhere, but no one is willing to lend us a significant amount of money, and
military purchases always cost a vast sum. It's impossible."
He kept circling back to the same issue. House Exner had no credit and no
nobles were willing to support them, so they had no way of borrowing money.
Kurt couldn't see a solution to the problem, but then Liam said something
strange.
"I'll have a chat with my Echigoya."
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"Echigoya? Who's that?"
"House Banfield's personal merchant. If you want, you guys can use me
as a reference."
Kurt's eyes went wide when he heard this. Liam was essentially promising
to serve as guarantor on their loan.
"Is that okay? If House Exner can't pay it back, you'll be in trouble."
"I'm not so destitute that it'd be an issue. Hey, I like your guts for
exploiting your people. As fellow villains, we should get along."
"Villains?" Kurt echoed, looking puzzled.
That's an odd way to put it. Of all the leaders I know, I'd say Liam's on
the diligent side.
Liam's eyes narrowed, his face grave. "Most lords are villains, though
Viscount Razel seems to be an exception. As far as I'm concerned, guys who do
nothing but spout platitudes make me sick. So which one are you?"
Kurt was overwhelmed by Liam's intensity. So he still calls himself a
villain, even though he governs benevolently? He must mean his resolve as a
leader.
Determining that Liam was what a lord should be, Kurt made up his mind.
"I want to be like you, Liam."
Liam grinned, showing off his pearly whites. "Let's be friends, Kurt!
We'll join forces as villains and make it through this life together. Okay...now
that we're done talking about money, we'll move on to politics. First, tell me all
about your territory. Together, we can think of ways to bleed your people dry."
"Got it."
He's so foul-mouthed, though. He looks out so much for his people, yet
he talks about bleeding them dry and being a villain...
Kurt thought Liam's way of putting things was strange, but he decided to
accept these quirks. From Kurt's perspective, Liam was the very picture of a
wise and compassionate leader. Moreover, he was willing to lend a hand to a
struggling self-made noble house like the Exners.
"Do you mind if I contact my father first? This is a little too much for me
to handle on my own."
"Okay, I'll contact the Henfrey Company too, then."
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Kurt and Liam had grown closer through this discussion, though they were
not exactly on the same page.
***
Thomas, the head of the Henfrey Company, looked troubled after taking
Liam's call.
"Hmm, what to do about this...?" he muttered.
"What is it?" one of his nearby employees asked.
"We've received a request to lend money to Baron Exner," Thomas
explained.
"A struggling noble? You're not going to accept, are you?"
Normally, Thomas would never have accepted such a request, but this
time he intended to make an exception.
"House Banfield is going to be the guarantor on the loan, so I must accept,
you see."
His employee cocked his head. "If House Banfield is backing them, we
shouldn't have any problems with repayment, right?"
Thomas wished he could turn the baron down, but he couldn't...not when
the Henfrey Company was House Banfield's personal merchant. He was making
quite the profit in Liam's domain, so how could he deny the boy? The problem,
however, was not House Banfield or House Exner.
"I don't mind loaning money to the Exners, honestly. If Lord Liam wants
me to do it, then I'll do it, of course. But word tends to spread about things like
this. There'll be lords swarming us for loans that they have no intention of
paying back. They'll say, 'You'll lend money to those upstarts, but not to us?'
and so on."
His subordinate grimaced. "There are people like that, aren't there?" He
could just picture nobles using that exact script to bully loans from them. The
poor nobles would come running if they lent out money to one of them.
Despite the fact that the Henfrey Company had Liam's backing, many
nobles still looked down on them. Having the support of House Banfield was
reassuring, but it clearly had its downsides as well.
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"Well, the bottom line is that we can't turn down a favor if Lord Liam is
the one asking. We'll contact Baron Exner right away."
***
Thus, I introduced my wily cohort, Thomas Henfrey, to Kurt's family.
Expanding my network of evil friends had me on cloud nine, and I couldn't help
but grin.
"Friends are a wonderful thing. They can help you out when you're in
trouble."
Sent outside on yard-cleaning duty, I worked beside Eila. Since the other
students had been assigned different jobs, it was just the two of us.
Eila was smiling too. "I'm glad you and Kurt are getting along now," she
said. She really was a busybody, but I'd managed to make an evil lord friend
because of her, so I let it slide.
"I have to thank you. It seems I was mistaken about Kurt."
I'd thought he was a diligent, virtuous young man, but the truth was that
he was only a diligent evil lord (or at least, one in the making) who hoped to
bleed his subjects dry when he could.
Eila waved away my thanks, looking rather embarrassed. "That's okay.
I'm just happy you two are getting along now."
"Mind telling me about your situation?"
I was sure her family was up to some nasty stuff too, and I hoped it might
lead to another beneficial relationship.
"I already told you about me."
"Give me more details."
For a moment, Eila looked a little uncomfortable, but then she started to
explain her situation while she worked.
"I don't know that much about my family since I haven't really been
involved in their business. I'm pretty much just expecting to get married to a boy
of a similar station. That's it."
Eila was the daughter of a baron, so her social standing was the same as
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Kurt's.
"Well, maybe you could marry Kurt. He doesn't have a fiancée, you
know."
"I'd feel bad for Kurt. Plus, I don't really have a say in it; my family's
supposed to arrange that stuff."
"You don't?"
"That's how it normally goes."
House Razel also tended to arrange their daughter's marriages. Ladies
born into noble houses were often forced to accept this, but it still seemed
awfully strange that, in a high-tech world of space warships and human-shaped
weapons, you couldn't choose your partner.
"Sorry for asking stupid questions."
"You're just worried about me, right? It's okay, it doesn't bother me." Eila
smiled brightly to reassure me.
While we were talking, we heard voices coming from behind a nearby
building.
"What's going on?"
I peered around the corner and spotted Katerina. She was hiding behind
the building, locked in an embrace with a man. I heard her speak again in a
hushed tone.
"We can't do this... What if someone finds us?"
"It'll be fine. I'll shut them up."
I was angry at them for flaunting their promiscuity in a place like this, but
my surprise was even stronger. Eila hid beside me and watched them. The look
on her face said that she'd seen something she shouldn't have. We pulled back
from the building's corner.
"That's not Peter she's with, and I heard they'll be engaged soon. Isn't this
a little risky?"
Eila was sugarcoating things, in my opinion. The way I saw it, Katerina
was clearly cheating. My heart went cold as ice as I remembered the way my
wife had cheated on me in my past life.
"I didn't expect this from Viscount Razel's daughter," I said bitterly. I was
starting to feel bad for Peter.
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Eila was a little taken aback by my frigidity. "I guess it is pretty
questionable. And not well executed either, considering we saw them." She
giggled behind her hand, clearly not taking this too seriously.
"Are all girls like this?" I asked her. "I know it's a political marriage, and
there's probably no love in it, but don't you think this is going too far?"
Eila shook her head. "No, this isn't normal behavior. Sneaking around like
that is extremely risky. If you wanted to take a lover, like a mistress, you'd talk
about it with your spouse first and make sure it's okay, and maybe not until after
you had an heir."
Many couples in the Empire acted like business partners, simply working
together to produce an heir. My parents had been like that. They were married,
but they each had their own separate families as well. Such a thing wasn't rare in
this world.
"So there are no marriages for love, then," I asserted, but Eila denied it.
"That's not true. There are nobles who marry for love or without
considering the political benefits of the partnership. Love is powerful, after all. It
can overcome all obstacles!"
"Y-you think so?" I was a little surprised by her passionate declaration. I
took another peek at Katerina, my heart going out to Peter.
I'd heard that the Petacks were very skilled, benevolent leaders, so I pitied
the boy for having to marry someone like Katerina. It wasn't as if I'd ever
spoken to Peter, though, and I didn't want to make trouble for the viscount I was
staying with, so I decided to keep quiet about it.
Plus, I didn't like guys like Peter anyway. I didn't like him personally, and
I didn't like his benevolently ruling family. He and his kind were the mortal
enemies of an evil lord like me.
Katerina and her partner indulged in a passionate kiss. Seeing this, Eila
blushed and tugged at my clothes. "Come on, we should do our work somewhere
else, Liam."
"Guess so. But, jeez, Peter doesn't even know anything about this. What a
clown."
***
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Finished with my landscaping work, I headed to the dining hall for dinner
and ran into Kurt.
He waved his hand when he saw me. "Over here, Liam!"
"Yeah, yeah. Don't make a scene."
He really stood out, waving his hand and smiling like that. He was just too
handsome. All the girls—and some of the boys—who'd come to train at House
Razel were watching him. Some of the girls were even blushing.
I picked up my food at the serving counter and carried my tray to the table
where Kurt was seated. Our trays had the exact same contents—the food looked
like Western dishes from my past life, but it was all fake. The meat was just
synthesized protein and other essential nutrients, but it didn't taste bad. In fact, it
tasted exactly like it looked. Still, the food was hardly fit for nobles, emblematic
of the poor treatment we were receiving. It served its purpose in nourishing us,
though, so there was no harm except to my pride.
I started eating, and Kurt launched into conversation.
"We've been here for a year now. Next year, we'll go out to an asteroid
and do some mining."
"All they did this year was work us like servants."
We'd been treated better than House Razel's actual servants, of course,
but we'd paid good money to come here, so I was hardly content. We were
getting the bare minimum of an education and combat training, but there was so
much missing that it felt like a complete waste.
Kurt seemed interested in the mining work, though. "At least that involves
pilot training."
His father, Baron Exner, had made a name for himself as a mobile knight
pilot, so Kurt was naturally fascinated with mobile knights.
"Can you even call it training if we're just operating mining machinery?"
"It'll be better than being here." Kurt didn't seem willing to complain
openly about House Razel's treatment, but he was eager to do work in space
instead. "Plus, you'll be there, so I can ask you for advice if I need it. I'm really
grateful."
Nowadays, Kurt was always asking me about governing matters, and
passionately so. He took my lessons seriously and absorbed the knowledge
quickly, so I got to feel like a proud elder evil lord.
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"Ask me anything. I'll do all I can to assist you."
"Thank you so much. I think it was a miracle that I met you, Liam!"
Thank me more! I gloated internally until I heard something strange from
behind me.
"KurLia? It's KurLia, right?"
"Are you stupid? It's 100 percent LiaKur."
"What? Why are you like this? Are you an idiot?"
What were these strange, incantation-like words "KurLia" and "LiaKur" I
overheard behind me? Kurt cocked his head as well, clearly not understanding
either.
While we were puzzling over this, Eila walked over to us. "How are you
two doing?" she asked, overflowing with energy. Kurt greeted her in kind.
Eila was cheerful around everyone, so she was friends with all of us. I
realized that, at some point, I'd stopped hearing those odd incantations.
Kurt said, "You seem even cheerier than usual, Eila. Did something nice
happen?"
"Mm, well, a couple of things. But more importantly, we've got mining
work in space coming up, right? Do you want to be in the same group?"
Apparently, she was here to see if we could cluster up.
"It's fine with me. What about you, Liam?" Kurt turned to me.
"I don't care." Eila smiled brighter at my reply. I had no idea what she
was so happy about, but she seemed like she was in a great mood.
"It's decided, then. I hope we'll be good buddies even in outer space!"
Eila skipped away to pick up her food at the counter.
***
As Liam and Kurt ate in the dining hall, someone watched them with a
surreptitious gaze, unnoticed.
"Heh heh heh."
As she continued to spy on the two boys, some other girls approached her.
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"What should we do now?" one of the girls whispered to the voyeur.
"Nothing yet," she replied.
"Well, when will things move forward, then?" The other girls looked
disappointed, but the watcher didn't take her eyes off the two boys.
"I'll proceed with the plan once we're up in space."
The passionate fire in her eyes was anything but normal.
***
We headed into space as scheduled and boarded a ship like a big
rectangular box. Wearing hand-me-down space suits, we stood in the hangar
before humanoid machinery used for mining. These machines varied in size, and
the one I would be piloting was about eight meters tall. It was a simple design
consisting of a round torso with four limbs attached.
"This suit stinks of sweat." My bulky suit was cheaply made and had only
the bare minimum of functions, unlike the space suit I usually wore.
Kurt smiled wryly. "This is a good opportunity to learn how miners feel."
"You always look on the bright side, don't you?"
"I think we should take whatever opportunities we can to see how our
subjects live."
Wow, I'm so grateful for this chance, I might just weep! Not. This is
totally pointless.
"Yeah, well, it doesn't mean anything if you don't act on it."
Knowing how my subjects felt wasn't going to change my plans of being
an evil lord; I absolutely still planned to follow through on that. But if a guy like
me was so miserable in this outfit, it must have been even harder on a lady. Our
suits were scratched up and fading, and the mining machinery was no different.
The humanoid machines were all beaten up, and each scuff was like a tally from
a former pilot. We were managing, but Eila already seemed fed up.
"I don't want to wear a space suit that smells like someone else! Couldn't
they at least let us use our own?" she complained. I felt the same way.
The Hot-Blooded Knight floated upside-down in the weightless space in
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front of us. Meanwhile, the humanoid machinery stood on the walls and ceiling.
In this environment, where we didn't know up from down, the Hot-Blooded
Knight gave one of his typical, overly passionate speeches.
"Don't complain! This is an opportunity for you to understand how your
subjects really feel! At the same time, you must study these matters from a
noble's perspective!"
We listened in silence now as the Hot-Blooded Knight zealously went out.
"Your profit is made off the backs of the workers who endure these
substandard conditions. It's easy enough to spend money on superior facilities,
but you must not forget that knowledge and hard work can solve problems just
as readily! You'll need to find a solution in situations where your funds don't
mean anything! You must value the contributions of the individual. In their
shoes, see if you can improve your situation yourself. That's what makes this
training important."
Kurt appeared to take his words quite seriously. "True, it'll be a
worthwhile experience if we can improve the situation here without spending
money."
Eila didn't seem interested, or maybe she'd just given up already. "Well, I
can't think of anything that might improve mining operations. If I couldn't make
a profit anyway, I'd just as soon back off. What do you think, Liam?"
Eila and Kurt both looked at me, so I decided to tell them what was what,
even if it annoyed me to do so. The Hot-Blooded Knight was mostly right—one
should always try to solve problems with knowledge and effort instead of simply
throwing money at it. That much was painfully obvious. But there was more to it
than that, and his gung-ho, pro-teamwork attitude made me sick.
"Are you two stupid? You think the shortcomings here are the laborers'
fault for not using their brains or not working hard enough? They're not. It's
House Razel's fault for creating a situation the laborers would want to improve.
Relying solely on the people at the bottom is just a negligent attitude on the part
of their superiors. If they wanted to fix things, they could ask the workers for
feedback and make improvements based on that. But they don't, and that means
they have no intention of fixing anything here."
It was the responsibility of the people at the top to make sure a profit was
being made. In my case, I had the alchemy box to rely on, so it was pointless
comparing House Razel's systems of government and administration with my
own. For me, this exercise was a complete waste of time.
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"Umm, Liam..." Eila said, a strained smile on her face. "Our teacher's
giving you a nasty look."
Kurt looked equally uncomfortable. "Maybe you shouldn't be so blunt."
The Hot-Blooded Knight had been glaring at me for a while now, so I
stared right back. Don't give me a look like that unless you're prepared for the
consequences. I'll kill you!
"I don't intend on changing my philosophy. If the people on top demand
change from the people on the bottom, then they're in the wrong. The people
who should really be applying their bodies and brains are Viscount Razel and his
vassals."
I'd gotten so heated because I remembered my past life from before I'd
been fired. All sorts of extra work had been forced upon me, including finding
ways to improve efficiency. My boss had constantly told me to use my head and
work harder, but any suggestion of mine that might cost money would be shut
down immediately, even if I explained that it would increase profits in the long
run. If anything I suggested was implemented and worked out, my superior
would take credit for it, and I'd get nothing. Yet, for some reason, I continued to
believe that if I worked diligently, I'd finally be recognized for it. How foolish
of me. Needless to say, that never came to pass.
If you worked diligently like an idiot, you'd just be exploited in return. In
my eyes, you should only do the work you were paid for and no more. If your
superiors required more than that, they should invest money in the solution, and
if that weren't possible, then they shouldn't expect workers not to cut corners
where they could. I wanted to go back in time and tell my past self that if I
wasn't seeing recognition for my extra efforts, I should just stop making them.
Still, having realized I was taking out my past-life frustrations on House
Razel, I decided I'd be better off keeping my head down for the rest of my
training. I thought the Hot-Blooded Knight would give me a stern reprimand, but
he just moved on to the operation of the mining machines.
"Everyone, board!"
I clambered into the cockpit of one of the human-shaped machines and
found it incredibly tight. There was almost no room to stretch my body, and
when I gripped the control sticks, the craft kind of wobbled. Perhaps it was the
fault of shoddy maintenance. The view outside the machine was projected on the
inside of my helmet. I saw the Hot-Blooded Knight board a humanoid machine
of his own, and the hangar door of the box-shaped ship opened up.
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"When you're all ready, you'll exit the ship in order. Once we're all
outside, follow my instructions!"
***
A string of humanoid machines leapt out of the box-shaped spaceship.
Like the rest, my unit landed on the surface of the resource asteroid.
"This is just a toy compared to the Avid."
Most of my fellow students in their unreliable units had fumbled the
landing and fallen to the ground. For those noble children who had piloted
mobile knights before, these units with only the bare minimum of functionality
were no doubt especially frustrating to control.
The only ones who hadn't fallen were Kurt and Eila. Like me, Kurt had
landed with ease, and Eila had made it to the ground on her feet, though slowly
and hesitantly. It seemed to me that Kurt had a good feel for the controls, but he
mostly owed his landing to intense concentration. As for the rest, they were just
pathetic.
The Hot-Blooded Knight landed next to me and said over our comm link,
"Well, seems you're skilled enough to back your smack talk. If you're ever in
need of work, come to me. I'll hire you as a laborer."
I couldn't laugh at his joke, but I didn't want to antagonize him and have
to deal with the consequences later, so I decided to play nice this time.
"If you want to hire me, it'll cost you."
"Hey, if you can keep proving that you're not all talk. All right,
everybody line up!"
The students in their humanoid machinery all lined up, though it was a
struggle for some. And so our trial mining work in space began.
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