Chapter 11:
A Gift from the Past
"TIME TO HUNT for treasure!"
I donned my space helmet, exited the Avid, and stood in front of the
fortress entrance with my arms crossed. Then I called the landing force to me,
hoping for them to accompany me on my treasure hunt.
"Lord Liam, if I may be permitted to speak?" a female officer piped up.
"You may."
"Appreciated, sir! We haven't finished clearing the base of enemies. I
believe hunting for treasure at this stage is too dangerous!"
"It's only fun because there are rooms you haven't checked yet! It'd be
boring if I had to wait until you guys had checked everything out for me."
Wasn't it my right as a noble to reap the rewards of war with my soldiers
in tow?
"All right, no further questions? Then let's go clear this pirate base of
treasure!"
I strode forward excitedly, and my soldiers chased after me, shouting,
"Lord Liam, please wait!" Their nervousness just made it more fun.
On foot, we made our way through the ill-kept fortress. It was messy after
the battle, but these guys didn't seem like they'd have been neat even in the best
of times. There was garbage everywhere.
"Sure doesn't seem like there's much treasure to be found here," I
muttered.
"If only it were so easy to find. Pirates do tend to hide their treasure, you
know," the female officer replied in a somewhat exasperated tone.
One of my soldiers, who had been using a detection device, reported,
"Lord Liam! We've found a safe!"
In some pirate's quarters was a small safe with a few rolls of banknotes
inside.
"This must be someone's personal stash."
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We didn't find anything else of interest, so I just collected it and moved
on. We'd already found a few of these little treats, but nothing close to what I
was really hankering for. We combed the base for a few more hours after that,
but I never found anything good.
"Dammit, what a dud!"
I'd gotten my hopes up, thinking this fortress would be chock-full of
treasure, yet we hadn't uncovered a single reward worthy of the endeavor.
That soldier with a detection device suddenly noticed something unusual
on his scan. "Hmm? There's a secret passage here."
With my sword, I sliced into the wall that concealed the passageway to
reveal a door behind it. This place had been pretty thoroughly hidden, so I felt
renewed hope.
"There's something back here for sure."
I headed down the passageway, and my soldiers hurried after me. Once I'd
traveled far enough, I began to make out something in the darkness.
"What's this? A theater?"
The chamber I emerged into looked like a theater attended by an audience
of robots, but the robots were all shut down. Or were they mannequins? Statues?
I brazenly stepped forward, but my soldiers proceeded with the utmost caution,
focused on keeping me safe.
"Please stay back, Lord Liam."
I found their mothering attitude irritating. We were finally in a place
where there might be some treasure, but they wouldn't stop getting in my way. I
couldn't just bite their heads off, though; they were only doing their job.
"You think you'd be able to deal with anything I can't handle? I need to
go in first."
"B-but it's too dangerous, sir!"
"So what?"
I ignored them and continued forward. It was an extravagant, spacious
theater, but its beauty was spoiled by what I saw on its wide stage. Numerous
statues stood upon it, like a group of figures some crazed artist had chiseled out
of one huge rock. There was definitely something strange about them. When I
drew closer to inspect the statues, I found that their faces wore twisted
expressions of anguish. Some of them had masks on, but with or without masks,
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the expressions of pain were consistent.
"This is sick," one of my soldiers muttered. "They're so realistic, it's hard
to look at them."
He was exactly right. Each statue was so incredibly detailed, they might
spring to life at any moment. The sight of them all frozen while writhing in
agony was terrifying.
I also felt a strange presence. My senses, honed from my training in the
Way of the Flash, told me that there were people in this room besides my
landing party. I sensed life from the statues that filled the seats and stage.
"I want these statues investigated right now. Call in some doctors...and
people who specialize in curses too."
My soldiers quickly made the arrangements without questioning my
orders. When the doctors arrived and performed a quick examination, they told
me exactly what I'd been expecting.
What we'd thought were statues were all, in fact, petrified human beings.
***
One of the soldiers watched as the petrified people were carried one by
one out of the theater. As part of the landing force, he wore a powered suit, but
he'd removed his helmet. His unit was charged with guarding the workers, but
he'd just gone on break, so he was chatting with a colleague.
"Lord Liam sure is a strange one. It'll probably cost a fortune to restore so
many petrified people."
He sat down in one of the theater's seats, and his colleague sat down next
to him.
"He hasn't changed at all. I was a little worried his noble training would
be a bad influence on him, but I guess I didn't need to worry."
Noble children often returned from their training with some changes in
character, and the host family's influence wasn't always good. The soldiers were
all relieved to find that Liam hadn't been thus affected, but they were still a little
exasperated with him.
"I wish he'd stop charging ahead of us on these treasure hunts, though. It's
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nerve-racking watching him stroll around in a pirate base. There could be traps
around every corner."
"You said it. There's no point in us guarding him if he's going to act so
brash."
For all their talk of how bothered they were by Liam's behavior, both
soldiers were smiling with sunny faces. They wished Liam wouldn't be so bold,
but they were happy to see that he was the same as ever.
***
Once my treasure hunt was over, I returned to the Vár, where I was
greeted by my crew. When I stepped out of the Avid, they all applauded as if
they'd planned it in advance. That put me in a pleasant mood.
The first to approach me was Tia. "Another brilliant performance, Lord
Liam. My heart soars to witness your valiant deeds."
"Oh, yeah? Lucky you."
"Yes, sir!"
Good job with the boot-licking, soldier.
Anyway, it was only natural that I'd performed brilliantly. Anyone would
in a monstrous mobile knight like the Avid. Sure, it was a little tough to pilot,
but that was all there was to it. Still, these guys wouldn't be satisfied unless they
hyped me up.
Obviously, they only heaped me with generous praise for doing something
so simple because of my status. Were I just some random pilot, they would never
compliment me so ardently. In fact, they'd probably tell me to work harder, or
they'd be green with envy. After all, I just ran rampant whenever I felt like it,
and when I didn't want to sortie, I just didn't. Even so, my people had nothing
but kind words for me. That was what authority got you!
***
Tia checked the scoreboard once more. She was far above the third-place
mobile knight, but she still hadn't totaled anywhere near Liam, who was sitting
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comfortably in first place. Their respective tallies surprised her.
"I can't believe a machine like his could produce these kinds of numbers."
From Tia's perspective, the Avid seemed like an incredibly difficult
machine to pilot. The controls themselves were difficult to operate, but the craft
was also so high-spec that any normal pilot would have thrown it around wildly,
unable to coordinate the humanoid machine.
Several mechanics chatted as they performed light maintenance on the
Avid.
"Lord Liam was totally born into the wrong family if he can tame a beast
like this, don't you think?"
"Yeah, he'd be a top ace in the Empire if he'd been born to a family of
knights."
"This joint's had about all it can take. Since Engineering Captain Nias is
on board, let's have her take a look at it."
Far from being bucked around by the machine, Liam had mastered its
power. He was incredible enough as a lord, but as a knight, he was the best of
the best. Tia was absolutely infatuated with him.
***
After the battle, a large transport ship belonging to the Henfrey Company
arrived at the fortress asteroid. They were there to resupply House Banfield's
fleet and to purchase whatever treasure Liam had found.
One of the Banfield ships had released an artificial gravity device near the
fortress to attract debris generated by the battle. The fragments whirled around
this device in a slow circle, and a number of workers in one-man pods went
through it to see if any of it was useful.
Thomas gazed out at the view from a waiting room aboard this House
Banfield ship and nodded, impressed. He's cleaning up his environment
thoroughly as always. Most nobles would simply leave a battlefield filled with
wreckage, but Lord Liam never cuts corners. I needn't have worried his time
away would corrupt him.
As he mentally praised Liam for doing what was only natural, a military
man sporting a colonel's insignia entered the room.
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"Thank you for your patience, Mr. Henfrey."
"Oh, I wasn't waiting long. Is Lord Liam on his way to his domain?"
"No, he's left to escort his friends to their homes first. I believe he should
be in Baron Exner's domain just about now."
Seated across from the colonel at a long table, Thomas launched into the
details of their meeting. He confirmed the delivery of their supplies and their
method of payment.
Once the discussion ended, the colonel asked Thomas a solemn question.
"By the way, I don't suppose you've heard any rumors as a businessman about
Viscount Razel having a connection to pirates, have you?"
Thomas frowned. "I have no proof, but the merchants do talk. The
viscount's rumored to have engaged in all sorts of suspicious activities. Why do
you ask?"
The colonel gave Thomas a penetrating look. The merchant squirmed a
little, sensing the colonel suspected him of involvement, but the colonel seemed
to realize he was unsettling him and quickly apologized.
"Sorry. The Henfrey Company's done some business with House Razel,
so we were just wondering if you intended to maintain your relationship with
them."
"We had to part ways with House Razel, unfortunately. We were giving
them rather good deals because of Lord Liam's relationship with them too."
Thomas had been more than displeased to learn of Liam's treatment at the
hands of House Razel. Liam had been quite the invaluable patron to Thomas,
after all.
Thomas asked, "By the way, have you received any communications from
House Razel concerning the battle with those pirates?"
The ambush had taken place at the farthest reaches of the viscount's
domain, so Thomas was curious as to whether Viscount Razel had anything to
say on the matter.
"Not much," the colonel replied, clearly disgusted. "He did send us his
highest compliments on our victory, but it seems he wants to feign innocence
and pretend he's got nothing to do with the pirate gang."
"You're not going to challenge him?"
"We wanted to do just that, but Lord Liam has ordered us not to."
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"He did?!" Thomas couldn't understand why Liam would want to
overlook such obvious lies.
With a wry smile, the colonel explained the boy's reasoning. "He'd rather
forget about House Razel entirely and focus on deepening his ties with House
Exner instead."
Thomas stroked his double chin and mused, "He assisted that house a
great deal in this recent pirate incident too."
I don't think there's all that much merit in a relationship with Baron
Exner's house, but maybe Lord Liam has some ulterior motive.
The colonel shrugged, just as confused. "We can't always comprehend the
way Lord Liam does things. Some of my more crass compatriots have laughed
and suggested that maybe he just wants to show off to a good friend of his."
Thomas couldn't help but laugh at this theory. "I'm sure that's not it."
The colonel offered a chuckle of his own. "I'm sure you're right. These
rumors really tend to get out of hand, don't they?"
***
After capturing the fortress, I arrived on House Exner's home planet.
Well, I say home planet, but the Exners were only in possession of this one
planet, and their mansion was the same one the magistrate who'd previously
overseen the planet had used.
Kurt escorted Eila and me to the mansion, but he seemed embarrassed
about it. "I know it's small, so please bear with me."
Eila smiled. "It's fine. Even if it's small, this is plenty."
"I'm glad you feel that way."
As I listened to their conversation, I suppressed my bewilderment.
What's he saying? This place is bigger than the temporary mansion I
lived in while I was having my new mansion built. I thought my temporary
place was big enough already, but this mansion is even bigger! Do people in
this world measure buildings compared to the Tokyo Dome?!
The building was plenty large, and could be comfortably lived in, but Kurt
still looked apologetic.
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"I'm sorry. I bet you were picturing something more like Viscount Razel's
mansion, but this is all I've got."
"Huh? Oh...yeah."
I wasn't sure how to respond. Sure, Viscount Razel's mansion had been
huge, but come on; if a count like me had been happy with a smaller house than
this, maybe Kurt was being a little too ostentatious as a mere baron?
I thought House Exner was supposed to be poor. These guys really are
evil lords. They were just using that "repurposing the magistrate's mansion"
excuse as a way to live in luxury!
That insanely oversized new mansion I'd built really was over the top.
Now I was sure of it. I'd been kind of freaked out when Amagi and Brian said
we could have made it even bigger. I was always having to adjust my
perceptions in this world, even now.
One of House Exner's servants said, "Lord Kurt, the baths are ready for
you."
"All right. Show Liam the way first, would you?"
"Very well. Please come this way, Lord Banfield."
I was suddenly swarmed by female servants, and I pulled back in surprise.
Huh? He has servants wash him? Don't you get cleaner if you just let a
machine do it? I've never been washed by anything but a maid robot. Before
that, I just did it myself, and that was totally fine.
I looked at Kurt. "W-we bathed in groups at House Razel, so why don't
you come too?"
For some reason, Kurt was flustered by my invitation. "You sure?"
"It's your house, isn't it?"
Thus, Kurt and I decided to take a bath together, but that left Eila all on
her lonesome. I turned to her and said, "Sorry, we can chat later."
Though we'd be leaving Eila by herself, she just smiled as usual and
waved at us. Is this girl really a noble? She's so friendly and nice.
"It's fine, it's fine. Go deepen your bonds of masculine friendship."
"Uh, thanks."
Something about the gaze Eila directed our way seemed heated to me.
That's weird. I thought she was just looking at Kurt, but she's looking my way
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too.
***
After Liam and Kurt left, Eila followed at a safe distance and arrived at a
quiet hallway near the baths, where she hid in the shadows behind a vending
machine.
She took out her tablet and tapped away at it.
"I'd better be careful; it's an old mansion, but they've still got security. If
I could just sneak one little drone in there... Aha! Ooh-hoo-hoo!"
Eila blushed when she saw the image being sent by the marble-sized
floating drone to her tablet. On her screen were the naked bodies of Kurt and
Liam, sitting in the bath. The drone was relaying audio too.
"You know, I think you've grown since we started our training, Kurt."
"Oh, really?"
They were chatting in the bath, and close together too. When she saw this,
Eila couldn't contain her excitement.
"Squeee! You two are so close... You're gonna overload my fantasies if
you keep this up!"
As she watched Liam and Kurt converse in the bath, Eila pressed a hand to
her beet-red cheek.
"Oh, this is so nice. I just knew it the moment I saw them... I've got a
sixth sense for these things. These two are the ultimate pairing!"
Eila covered her mouth with her hand. Maybe she'd gotten a little too
excited. She could still hear the boys' conversation through the drone.
"Hey, cut that out, Liam."
"Aw, what's the harm? We're both boys."
Their conversation was being distorted inside Eila's feverish head. She
clenched her fist triumphantly as she took in the two boys' happy faces.
"Aaah! I knew I was right to back Liam. I can fight for another hundred
years with this! How could it not be LiaKur?"
"LiaKur"—in other words, Liam and Kurt. Eila was the sort of girl who
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adored boy-boy romance pairings, especially the particular pairing of Liam and
Kurt. In her opinion, Liam had to be the dominant one—hence his name going
first—and suggesting otherwise was ludicrous.
"Those idiots at House Razel are insane, pushing the idea of KurLia.
LiaKur is where it's really at! Hmm, but maybe it'd be nice if Kurt got forceful
every once in a while... No, no, that wouldn't work. LiaKur is the only option!"
From a distance, a dog watched Eila, who might as well have had hearts
for eyes. The dog seemed to ponder this sight for a moment, then decided to
leave the girl alone. It pattered off, glancing back at her a few times as if it were
unsure whether it really should leave her be, and eventually disappeared.
Eila hadn't noticed the dog, continuing to craft all sorts of headcanons
while listening to the conversation between the two boys in the bath.
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"KurLia is totally out of the question! If you actually look at their
relationship, you can't imagine a pompous guy like Liam being the submissive
one. It's so simplistic! Yeah, Kurt was prickly in the beginning, but Liam gave
him a change of heart. Heh heh, that has such a nice ring to it. Man, those
KurLia people just don't get it; they have no understanding of pairing at all. I
wish they'd think a little harder about what those two are really like!"
The more excited she got, the faster Eila's dialogue with herself became.
"If they'd watched over them all this time, like I have, they'd awaken to
their ignorance. Kurt topping Liam? Yeah, that makes for a nice picture too,
but... Argh! N-no, Eila! Bad girl! You're on the right side of history with the
LiaKur faction!"
***
Three months. It took three months from when I left House Razel's
domain to when I returned to my home planet. After destroying the pirates
who'd been harassing Baron Exner's domain and capturing their fortress, I'd
stayed for a while at his mansion and availed myself of his hospitality. I then
delivered Eila to her domain, and before I knew it, all that time had passed.
Having returned to my mansion at last, I sat down on a couch to tolerate a
lecture from Brian. Actually, it was more like a series of high-strung complaints.
Had it come from anyone other than Brian, I'd have made that guy a smear on
my blade.
"We had so many parties and ceremonies prepared for you upon your
return from your training! Why have you canceled them all? You're going to
make me cry!"
I didn't mind being greeted with, "We're so glad to have you home from
House Razel! Congrats! Good job!" but if I let them take things too far, it would
go from praise to mockery. To put it in terms of my past life, I felt like a child
who'd stayed overnight at a friend's house for the first time and come back
safely.
"Parties and ceremonies that go on for a whole month are a bit much. You
just need to let my subjects know I'm home now."
While we talked, Brian cradled the bonsai I'd taken back from House
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Razel. He looked a little dejected at its return.
"What a shame they didn't take any interest in my bonsai. I don't mind
having it back, but it did win a contest..."
Actually, they'd been about to throw it away, but I decided not to tell him
that part.
"Well, none of them had an eye for value."
"Anyway, did you learn anything interesting from House Razel during
your training, Master Liam?" Brian asked timidly, and I decided to tell him the
bare truth.
"Nope, nothing."
"Nothing, sir?"
"Not one experience served as any sort of helpful future reference. I guess
it was a good example of what not to do, though. If Kurt and Eila hadn't been
there, the whole three years would have been a waste."
And I think Baron Exner will prove to be a nice evil lord friend. I
managed to meet some nice people, so I considered the overall stay all right in
the end.
For some reason, Brian was nodding, looking rather pleased. "I'm so glad
to see you haven't changed, Master Liam."
"Hmph."
I had no clue as to why Brian was grinning so happily at a villain like me.
***
It was all well and good that my training had ended and that I'd returned
to my mansion, but thanks to the more relaxed life I'd led in House Razel's
domain, my normal schedule felt a little intense.
Amagi, acting as my secretary, announced, "It is six minutes past the
scheduled end time. Your duties for the day are concluded."
I leaned back in my chair and let out a deep sigh. Finally, I'd reached the
end of another workday. It was really sinking in how much I'd let myself go. For
one thing, I was a lot less efficient at my paperwork.
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"I'll have to retrain myself before I head off to school."
"Considering the time between now and then, you will have to enter the
education capsule again soon. We only have about a year to work with."
"Training at House Razel is totally useless. I can't believe they're so
popular. Hmm."
Something dawned on me. If their approach was all it took to become a
popular location for training, then maybe I should start accepting noble kids for
training at House Banfield. All you had to do was take them in, house them, and
then leave them alone. If I prepared housing and hired some additional staff,
noble families would come flocking to me. As a nice little bonus, I'd make ties
with promising young evildoers. It put me in a good mood thinking of nobles
sending heaps of money and resources my way to babysit their children for a
while.
"All right! Amagi, House Banfield's going to start taking in noble kids for
training too! There's nothing Viscount Razel can do that I can't, right?"
"Unfortunately, that will not be possible."
"Why not?" I asked, taken aback.
In her usual monotone, Amagi explained, "From your comments, I
presume you intend to take in children of nobles ranked baron or higher, but due
to the poor reputation House Banfield has long suffered in noble society, it
seems unlikely to me that important nobles would entrust their children to us."
My lofty plans had already been foiled by the poor legacy my grandfather
and father had saddled me with. Those two were pests who'd done nothing but
get in my way. I wished they'd been more helpful to me, like the Guide.
"We'll take in families from the backwaters, then. Make the preparations."
"Very well, then. Incidentally, Master..."
"What is it?"
"We have received a communication from the Seventh Weapons Factory
regarding the delivery of a fortress-class ship. Did you order military assets
without consulting me again?"
The monstrosity I'd bought on a whim after an exciting glimpse at
Nias's...humble underwear? Well, I had completely forgotten about that.
Amagi was expressionless, but I could tell she was mad. "You purchased
some other vessels as well, correct? Our plans will have to be readjusted again."
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I hurriedly made an excuse for myself. "Um, well, I'll pass them on to
other houses that are in trouble so they can build up their military strength and
become our allies. Yeah, that's what I bought them for."
"Buying them as gifts is even worse. Houses that have become vassals of
House Banfield will keep requesting resources indefinitely if you just hand them
out. I cannot approve of that."
It would be pretty ballsy of anyone to try to exploit me. I liked the people
who sucked up to me, and I couldn't stand anyone looking down on me. If that
happened, I'd make sure those guys got what was coming to them someday, but
right now, I needed to appease Amagi.
"We'll rent them out, then. Over time, we'll recover our expenses plus
some interest. That's fine, right?" The subscription model! There shouldn't be
any problem with that, right?
"I will consider that acceptable. However, please notify me in advance
next time."
"Sure. You bet."
I was relieved that the danger had passed, and Amagi brought up the next
topic on our agenda.
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"Master, we have also received a report on the petrified people you found
in the pirate fortress. We have not been able to uncover any of their identities.
However, we do know that it was not a natural process. These people were
transformed by a curse...and a blessing."
My people had counted several hundred victims, but it seemed
petrification wasn't the only thing that had been done to them.
"A blessing? Even though their faces were frozen in despair?"
"The blessing was to maintain their sanity, but the petrification spell cast
upon them was such that they have maintained their sense of awareness. It must
be a living hell for these people."
Petrified but forced to remain aware and sane. That did sound like hell.
"I wonder what they did to warrant that."
"Our only option is to ask them. What would you like to do?"
Those people had experienced true torment. I'd been through hell in my
past life too, so I figured I might as well save them from theirs. If we discovered
that they were dangerous people likely to oppose me, I could just have them
killed.
"Save them all."
"As you wish, Master."
***
Brian had come to the mansion's communication room and was currently
connected to Serena on the Imperial Home Planet. They'd promised to talk about
how things had turned out.
"He said Viscount Razel was an example of what not to do?"
"Yes. Thankfully, Master Liam is the same as he was before leaving for
his training. No, actually, I believe he has grown for the better. I'm immensely
relieved to find that things worked out nicely."
On the monitor, Serena looked pensive on the monitor, as though she was
skeptical. "He really hasn't changed in a negative way? And House Banfield
has severed ties with Viscount Razel?"
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"Of course! I was enraged to hear about Master Liam's treatment at the
hands of the viscount. We will never be associating with that house again!"
Serena looked relieved to hear this. She gave a little sigh, then told Brian
about the situation on the Imperial Home Planet. "Well, that's good, then. Here,
they've decided to dispatch investigators to House Razel."
"Have they now?"
"The viscount's gone too far. They can't be trusted to offer future nobles
proper training. From here on out, House Razel will be on the decline."
Brian lamented his ineptitude. "I am embarrassed to say that I sent Master
Liam to such a house for training. It is too late for him to redo it now, and
Master Liam would never agree to that anyway."
"Redo his training, you say? Brian, I've got a proposition for you."
***
On the Imperial Home Planet, immediately after ending her call with
Brian, Serena used the comm system to contact someone else.
When the call was picked up, the monitor displayed the prime minister of
the Empire.
"Hello, Serena. I was waiting for your report."
"According to Brian Beaumont, Count Banfield remarked that Viscount
Razel offered a perfect example of what not to be like as a noble. He didn't take
to Viscount Razel's methods at all."
"If that's true, then we're very fortunate."
Serena went on to recount her conversation with Brian in greater detail.
She had been using Brian to extract information ever since they'd reconnected.
"From what I hear, Lord Liam appears to be the ideal Imperial noble."
"Careful now. You can't just believe everything you hear, can you?"
The prime minister had high hopes for Liam, so the boy's assignment to
House Razel had worried him. He didn't want the young count to start thinking
in ways that were disadvantageous for the Empire.
"I'd like to see Count Banfield whip the outskirts into shape for us.
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There are already too many fools out there who don't understand how things
work. We can't be losing our decent nobility to unscrupulous behavior."
"Didn't it only get this bad with Viscount Razel because you left him to
his own devices?" Serena spoke brazenly despite the difference in their status,
but the prime minister didn't condemn her for that. In fact, he was repentant.
"Harsh as ever, Serena. Anyway, we've got him under investigation
now, haven't we? It should serve as an example to others."
"Just a little bit late."
"There are so many idiots out there, it's hard to deal with them all.
Anyway, Count Banfield is another issue. He's amassed quite a bit of power
now. I've been wanting to send someone to observe him for some time.
Someone talented. Do you know any good candidates, Serena?"
"I'm partial to my own family, but my grandkids are all occupied. The
great-grandkids are pretty busy too. I don't think anyone younger than that
would be able to handle Count Banfield. Why don't I go myself?"
"Are you really up for that?"
"Just leave it to me. If Count Banfield is a loyal retainer to the Empire, I'll
provide all the assistance he needs. And if he proves a disloyal mutt, I'll make
sure he rots from the inside out."
"Then as you say, I'll leave this mission to you."
And so a trusted agent of the prime minister was dispatched to Liam's
side.
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