Chapter 12:
A Pure and Just Evil Lord
ONE DAY, Brian introduced me to someone. She was tall, thin, and
elderly, which was rare for this world. She must have been so old that the anti-
aging technology had no effect anymore.
"My name is Serena. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
The old woman had at one time been the head maid at the Imperial palace.
"Head maid" might not sound all that impressive, but palace staff were already
elite in their own right, so I didn't take it lightly. Plus, if she'd been in a
leadership position on top of that, it meant that she was an especially capable
individual. I was impressed that a person like that would want to work for me,
but I did have my questions.
"I can't help but find it kind of odd. You could be spending the rest of
your days in comfort on the Capital Planet, so what are you doing looking for
work out here in the sticks?"
When I asked this, Brian wiped a few beads of sweat from his brow. He
gave Serena a nervous look, but the woman in question just calmly explained
herself.
"I tried retirement, but it's hard for me not having any work to do. There
would be no place for me if I returned to the palace now, so I figured I should
lend my skills to someone else who might benefit from them. I am very grateful
to you for taking me on, Count Banfield."
I'd tried to provoke her a little, but she maintained her professional
attitude. Was she just a workaholic? Well, if you'd been working for hundreds of
years, maybe it would be hard to switch to a life of idleness.
"Before becoming the palace's head maid, Serena was an instructor,"
Brian told me. "She provided strict instruction to young nobles. I believe she is
precisely the sort of person you're looking to hire."
Since I wanted to take in young nobles for training, it did seem like a wise
move to hire her. If she was certain she wanted to work for me, then I didn't see
any reason to decline.
"We've decided to train young nobles here too, so I'll be expecting a lot
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from you."
"Thank you very much, Lord Liam." Serena curtsied gracefully. Despite
having retired, she didn't seem out of practice at all.
Well, looks like I've acquired a real asset here, thanks to Brian!
***
"We're increasing taxes," I told Amagi.
"Sir?"
I'd finally decided my long preparations were complete and that it was
time for me to act like an evil lord in earnest.
"I want to take a page from Baron Exner's book. That man's really
something. He's an amateur ruler, but he's really got a villainous spirit, bleeding
his subjects dry. His son, Kurt, is a little green, but he's definitely got the
makings of an evil lord too."
I'd determined that I would start with the basics and increase taxes as an
evil lord should. It'd be hard for my people, but what did I care? It wouldn't be
hard for me!
"Yep, this is it! Time for a major increase!"
I was certain Amagi would disagree with my proposal, but just this once, I
had no intention of budging. No matter how Amagi or Brian might protest, I was
going through with this.
After considering my words for a moment, however, Amagi simply
agreed. "I would say it is about that time. It should not be a problem."
"Huh? It won't?"
"No. You are exactly right, Master."
"I am, aren't I? I can just hear the people now, crying out in misery! It's
time to give these fools who worship me as a wise ruler a little taste of reality!
But...they won't misunderstand me this time, will they?"
I had no idea why, but many of my subjects considered me a wise and just
ruler. They'd probably go on misunderstanding me no matter what I did.
"I suppose idiots like that will continue to praise my name long after I've
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betrayed their trust."
While I contemplated these matters, grinning to myself, Amagi cut in with
a pragmatic question. "Master, how exactly would you like to go about this
increase?"
"I'll leave the particulars to you, but just make sure to get as much out of
them as you can!"
"So you do not have a particular use for this money in mind?"
"Of course not. I'm only doing it because I feel like it!"
What a villain. Even the corrupt politicians of my previous life weren't as
bad as me.
The next day, we announced that we'd be raising taxes starting next year.
As expected, my whole domain went into an uproar.
Starting from now, I'll really get to show my stuff! Tremble in fear, my
little subjects!
***
In House Banfield's domain, there was a certain single-family house with
a well-groomed yard. The head of the household was an overweight, middle-
aged man with a thin mustache. Upon leaving his house for his commute to
work, this man saw one of his family members rushing down the sidewalk
toward him.
"Hey, wait a minute! I've got something to tell you!"
"What's the matter? I'm in a rush to get to work."
The man was slightly annoyed at the prospect of being late, but his
relative paid no mind to that and excitedly told him the news.
"Just look at this!" The relative manipulated his tablet and showed the first
man an announcement from the government. It stated that taxes would be raised
beginning next year.
"Next year?" said the man with the mustache, surprised by the news.
The announcement came with Liam's name attached, so it was definitely
authentic. He trembled as he went over the contents of the article. No
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disappointment came to his face, however. On the contrary, he was deeply
moved.
"Is this true?"
"There's no doubt about it—it's official. There's a huge tax hike coming!"
The two were thrilled about the news.
"To think I can quit my rotten job! Are they already recruiting?"
"The Third Corps is the closest, but they're mostly recruiting researchers
and teachers. It's the Fourth Corps I want to get into. You coming?"
"Of course I am! If this goes well, we'll be totally independent over there,
and we won't have to worry about working for others."
What were these two so excited about? What was it they discussed so
happily? Liam himself had likely forgotten about this project during his noble
training, but House Banfield had begun settling a pioneer planet. Development
on their home world had reached a comfortable level, so they were beginning to
reach out to colonize other worlds.
Yet settling pioneer planets was a complex endeavor. There had to be a
thorough investigation of a prospective planet's environment to determine
whether it was habitable and what people would need to live there. The early
stages of settlement involved a lot of hard work, which was why many people
didn't care to migrate to new planets. They knew things wouldn't be ready for
them right away, and they wouldn't be able to live comfortably.
In some territories, nobles forced their subjects to relocate, then basically
left them to fend for themselves. In this tax hike announcement, however, House
Banfield explained that the revenue would be used to fund the settlement of their
pioneer planet. In other words, it was an investment. To his subjects, Liam the
wise ruler had returned from his training with fresh and exciting ideas, ready to
embark on a great project.
"I figured Lord Liam would do something interesting when he got back
from his training, but I didn't expect it'd be this. The new planet is going to do
even better than this one."
"You can always trust Lord Liam to do just what he says he will. So let's
make names for ourselves on this new planet, you and I!"
"Yeah!"
Liam's many achievements had filled his subjects with hope and
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anticipation, and this was no exception.
"How much is the tax increase going to be, anyway?"
"Well, it's high, but it still won't be as bad as it used to be. Probably about
this much?" The man's relative made some swift calculations on his tablet.
"Y'know, it used to be really bad. Taxes have almost felt too low until now."
The new tax rate wouldn't be unbearable to these people, who were
familiar with how horrible life had been in House Banfield's domain under the
corrupt rule of its past two leaders. Naturally, there would be some grumbling,
but to the people who'd been considering relocating to the new frontier planet,
this was wonderful news.
"Once you're done with work, let's go sign up for the relocation group."
"Yeah...and after that, we can hit the bar!"
Ecstatic, the two men agreed to meet for a celebratory drink that evening.
***
After we announced the increase in taxes, I watched the news, eager to see
the reaction to it. When I tuned in, an expert was passionately defending my
announcement.
"The purpose of this tax increase is to fund the settling of a frontier
planet. I'm sure there will be complaints, but if you look at it as an investment,
it's not a bad move at all."
A commentator argued with the expert. "But shouldn't taxes be used for
more proper purposes?"
"Developing a frontier planet is a proper purpose. If you look at the long
term, you'll see the benefits."
"But won't this just be a burden on everyone but the settlers?"
No citizen should be happy about a steep tax increase. If this were the
democracy of my past life, the whole government would probably be voted out.
Good thing it wasn't!
As heated discussion of my policies went on, the commentator had gripes
about my plan to rent out battleships too.
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"I just don't see the point in buying military ships only to rent them out
to other domains."
This commentator was always complaining about one thing or another.
Then, another commentator or the moderator would jump in to counter the
argument. The routine all felt scripted to me, with the commentator an especially
annoying actor.
The expert argued, "Oh, can it already! I've been explaining the costs to
you this whole time! It's cheaper to rent out ships than send our whole army to
assist other domains!"
"But why should we get involved in their problems at all?"
"Were you even listening to me? Territory means nothing to pirates! If
they establish a base in another domain, it will become House Banfield's
problem too!"
Maybe this "expert" was just an actor too. It amused me to no end that the
viewership could be fooled by TV theater like this.
While I watched the program on my large monitor, Amagi approached and
began preparing tea for me. "You seem to be enjoying yourself, Master."
"I am. It's hilarious to me that people believe this program and think I'm a
wise ruler."
This kind of entertainment was all it took for dimwitted people to believe
that what I was doing wasn't for my best interests, but for the future of my
subjects.
For some reason, Amagi seemed exasperated with me as she prepared my
tea. "However, it is true that you ensure your own domain's protection by
renting out your ships, and it is also true that you are using the increased taxes to
develop a frontier planet."
"Is it?"
My only aim was to increase taxes and harass my subjects; I hadn't really
planned on using the money for anything specific. If I really wanted to fund
some special project, I could've just used the alchemy box.
I took a teacup from Amagi and sipped it with my pinky raised. "Tea
really tastes best when you drink it while watching your subjects struggle."
The look Amagi gave me seemed somehow gentle, as if she were looking
at something cute. "As long as you are enjoying yourself, Master."
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The program had moved on to discussing new trends.
The host said, "In this segment, we'll be discussing the new hairstyles
that are popular with our young people."
"The things young people come up with never fail to surprise me. I
would never have thought a hairstyle like this could become popular," one
commentator remarked.
I was curious what the hairstyle in question looked like, since the
commentators on the show were laughing about it already.
"This is the popular 'tornado style,'" the host announced, and a female
model entered the studio.
When I saw the model, I spat out my tea. The hairstyle involved taking
long hair and coiling it up atop the head. If you wanted to put it nicely, it looked
like a swirl of soft-serve ice cream. If you wanted to be blunt, well...
Amagi began mopping up the droplets of tea.
I clung to her. "A-Amagiii!"
"Yes, Master?"
"Is this hairstyle actually popular? Are there really a bunch of swirly-
headed people walking around in my domain right now? It's not true, is it? Tell
me it's not true!"
I pointed at the monitor, and Amagi averted her gaze. "It is considered too
silly to be worn inside the mansion, so you have not been exposed to it."
"This, really?! Of all the hairstyles people could be into, this is what's
popular?!"
Dammit! My good mood's ruined! Is this how my subjects are getting
back at me for the tax hike?
"I don't want people thinking my domain is full of clowns—it's
embarrassing."
"I understand your feelings on the matter."
With a stronger will than when I had declared the tax hike, I commanded,
"Ban it immediately. This cannot be allowed!"
"I imagine telling people it is not allowed will only make them want to do
it more, but I will pass your command along to the appropriate parties."
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The silly tornado hairstyle was quickly banned after that, but I had been
too naïve. I hadn't expected that the subjects who'd accepted my tax increase
with barely a peep would rebel over a single hairstyle. Nevertheless, there was a
protest the day after the ban.
***
Having become head maid of House Banfield, Serena the spy contacted
the prime minister to give her first report.
"I see. So he's raised taxes to start settling a frontier planet in earnest."
"I don't see anything suspicious about the settlement plans, and the tax
increase doesn't seem to be prompted by any wasteful spending. If anything, he
lives as modestly as ever."
"Well, being too frugal is a different problem. Nobles spending lavishly
helps redistribute wealth, after all."
"He must not have much excess. He does seem to be managing the
domain's money very efficiently."
"I'd heard he was buying new battleships, so I thought he had plenty of
money to spare, but now you tell me he only did that so he could rent them
out."
"You almost sound like you want there to be some ugly secret here."
"Of course not. I'm celebrating the ascent of a proper noble. It's nice to
think that, even with rotten families like House Petack in our midst, there's
still hope for the Empire."
House Petack had caused a major incident by joining with the pirates who
had attacked House Banfield. Liam hadn't made an issue of it, so the offending
house hadn't been dissolved, but the head of the family had been executed per
Imperial decree. As there were no nobles who wanted to take over the absolute
wreck of a domain, leadership had just passed to Peter as was originally planned.
Since Peter's nether regions had exploded, and he wouldn't be able to restore
them unless he obtained an enchanted elixir, he would likely be the last head of
House Petack. Meanwhile, the vast debt incurred by House Petack was now the
responsibility of Peter's betrothed, and therefore of House Razel.
"Also, House Banfield plans on taking in noble children for training in the
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future, so one of my primary duties here will be assisting with this."
"Hmm. That might be the perfect thing for House Banfield. Do you
think they're ready for it?"
"They plan to have everything in place in ten years or so."
"Well, we won't have anything to worry about with you there. Lend
House Banfield your full commitment."
"I plan to. Actually, as a precursor to the noble training, we'll be taking in
some children of House Banfield's vassal subdomains starting next year."
"That's good, but I'd like for you to be able to take in children of barons
or lower as well. Education for noble children needs major reform."
The call ended with that.
***
One year later, House Banfield took in children of other families for the
first time to provide them a program of training. These noble families were
lower than barons, headed by knights and baronets. They came from domains on
the outskirts of the Empire, close to House Banfield, relatively speaking, but still
a good distance away in space. The Empire simply didn't want to spend the
money on these outliers' training, so their families struggled to find proper noble
training until House Banfield was approved to provide it.
The children of this first group, gathered in an expansive room of the new
training facility, were almost all older than me. When I entered with Brian and
Amagi, Serena was there to greet me.
"Master Liam, allow me to introduce you to House Banfield's very first
group of students. Everyone, say hello to Lord Banfield."
Most of the group greeted me respectfully, but one of the young men was
too busy chewing gum. Smirking, he sent a vulgar look Amagi's way. "The
heck? A doll?"
When I furrowed my brow at this, Serena went up to the young man and
slapped him across the face. The satisfying sound echoed through the room.
"Hold your tongue!" Serena warned him.
But he didn't stop there. He went so far as to look down on me too. "Don't
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go acting all important when you're just a brat who's even younger than me."
Well, one met people like this sometimes, real fools who didn't know their
place because of their sheltered upbringing...not that his ignorance excused him.
I pushed past Serena, walked over to the man myself, and decked him. He went
flying and smacked into the wall, then slumped down in a coughing fit.
"Y-you little shit!"
I'd held back, yet the guy was wobbling from just one punch. I lost
interest in him in an instant.
"We don't need rebellious idiots here. Brian, throw this one out."
"Erm, one moment, Master Liam. It's only the first day."
"So? He shouldn't have pissed me off. Anyway, it's his family's fault.
They've clearly failed to teach him basic respect. There's no merit in pursuing a
relationship with the likes of them."
Although I was always easy on myself, I tended to be hard on others. The
room fell silent, and the stunned young man looked like he had no idea what was
happening.
"Amagi, make the arrangements to send him back."
No doubt understanding I wouldn't change my feelings on the matter,
Amagi said, "I will arrange it immediately."
I glared at the rest of the students who stood before me. "I make the rules
here. If any morons want to play king of the hill, I'll cut ties with their whole
family in a second. Keep that in mind while you're here."
This time, no one stood up to me. Just how it should be.
***
Several days later, the head of that minor noble's family came to
apologize to me. He sucked up to me, telling me his family would disown him,
so could our two houses please continue on the way things had been?
In all my generosity I said yes. I loved it when people buttered me up!
"It's great having power," I boasted to Brian after my visitor had left. "In
the Empire, I'm just some noble, but I'm king here at home. It's a wonderful
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feeling."
Brian looked somewhat irritated, but he still complimented me. "The head
maid was quite impressed with you, sir. She said you were very decisive.
Personally, I would have preferred if you had settled the matter a bit more
peacefully. It would be counterproductive to alienate our vassals, wouldn't it?"
"First impressions are important."
I'd occasionally had trouble with young punks like that in my previous
life. No more. I'd kill anyone who looked down on me! That guy should have
thanked me for letting him live.
"It seems the other students are acting rather meek after that incident."
"Well, good."
"Incidentally," Brian probed, watching my face closely, "did any of the
young ladies at the introduction catch your eye?"
"Ladies? Yeah, sure. What about 'em?"
Brian seemed disappointed with my response. "They are not only here as
students, but also as your potential concubines."
"Huh? Are they really?"
"Well, they are your vassals' daughters, but as long as you don't have a
fiancée, you're free to keep a few ladies by your side. It wouldn't do for you to
be completely indiscriminate, of course, but showing no interest at all is rather
discouraging."
Nobody had told me about choosing concubines! But if those young
women hadn't interested me at the time, it surely meant that they weren't my
type.
"Is that how it works? Well, I didn't spot any peerless beauties among
them, so what can I say?"
"I shall let Serena know that none of them suited your tastes." As he left, I
heard Brian mutter, "Better luck next time."
***
One particular viscount had suffered a very recent demotion. Most of the
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resource asteroids he controlled were seized by the Empire, and his reputation
had been seriously damaged. There was no more Viscount Razel; he was Baron
Razel now. It had also been determined in an official report that he was "unfit
for training young nobles."
"How did this happen?" Alone in his room, Baron Razel held his head in
his hands.
The Empire suspected him of intentionally ignoring the pirate attack
against House Banfield. Fortunately for the baron, Liam had been able to wipe
out the enemy fleet, leaving no witnesses. After that, the baron himself had
gotten rid of the few remaining pirates in his domain.
Still, the Empire's investigation had been more thorough than he'd
expected, and in the end, his status had been diminished. The only reason House
Razel hadn't been destroyed completely was that it was difficult to govern
domains whose leadership suddenly ceased to exist. Mercy hadn't played a part
in the Empire's decision.
Then there was the issue with House Petack. House Petack's vast debts
were shifting into House Razel's lap because the baron's daughter Katerina was
engaged to Peter. Baron Razel wished he could leave this nightmare behind and
run away, but if he did that, the Empire would come after him to crush him for
sure. No matter what he did now, he could see no bright future for himself...but
the bad news didn't end there.
"I can't believe all the merchants ran off too!"
Every merchant he had ties to had left after hearing about his dire
circumstances. His other personal contacts had also grown cold as a result of his
demotion. Many of them had never been happy about his dealings with pirates,
so they'd taken this turn of events as a sign to finally cut ties with him. Even his
most competent vassals and knights were jumping ship to find new places of
employment. The only ones who remained were those with no opportunity to
flee, and one of these was the Hot-Blooded Knight, Liam's former instructor.
"What did I do? Where did I go wrong?"
While Baron Razel despaired, he was being watched—by the Guide.
"I'm disappointed in you." The Guide vented his frustrations at Baron
Razel, though the noble didn't notice his presence. "Though I am feeling a little
bit more energized, thanks to your despair. I'll use your suffering to fuel my
revenge against Liam."
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These words were just as much for Peter as they were for the baron. With
so many people in Liam's orbit turning miserable, the Guide had been able to
regain some measure of his strength. Still, he hadn't quite reached a point where
he could ensure Liam's unhappiness.
The Guide said to himself, "If I have no other options, maybe I should
reveal the truth to the boy and drive him to despair that way. Why hasn't he
gotten suspicious of me by now?"
He could sense Liam's feelings of gratitude even from here. If he weren't
feeding off the anguish from Baron Razel, the Guide would've been deeply
wounded by the boy's emotions. Worst-case scenario, he might have completely
run out of strength and disappeared for good.
"Dammit! I wish these people were even more wretched and hopeless...
then I could have regained more of my power!" Though he couldn't scrounge up
his lost power, he did summon a solemn vow. "Next chance I get, I'll send Liam
down into the depths of hell!"
Once the Guide had disappeared from the room, Baron Razel lifted his
head. It was as if a demon possessing his body had at last relinquished control,
and the weight of his misery had been taken away. Unbeknownst to the baron, it
had been quite literally sucked out of him.
"I suppose what goes around comes around. There's no choice but to start
over from here. I'll contact Katerina first."
Baron Razel rose from his chair, itching to begin anew.
***
Just as the baron seemed free from his demonic possession, so too did
Peter Sera Petack. Although his Peter Jr. had recently exploded, he felt oddly
lighter. Currently, he lay in bed with Katerina tending to him at his side.
Peter smiled sheepishly at her. "I was a real idiot."
"You finally noticed?" Katerina was exasperated, but she still smiled. She
had been nursing Peter efficiently and devotedly since his mishap.
Looking concerned, he went on, "Katerina, you should go home. We can
still break off the engagement. I'll testify that there was no physical relationship
between us. I can't continue to burden you like this."
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While every other person had abandoned Peter, Katerina alone had stuck
by him.
"Going home now won't change anything. I told my father before that I
wanted to go home, but I don't intend to now. Even if I abandoned you, my
family would still be ruined, so we'll just have to shape up House Petack, won't
we?"
"I'm sorry, Katerina. I'm so sorry..." Peter began to cry.
Katerina sighed. "It's okay."
She really did intend to rebuild House Petack. Thinking that maybe she
was the only one who could accomplish it, she actually felt motivated.
"If House Petack manages to pick itself back up, someone else might
come forward to take over as its head. If that happens, let's just give it to them,
and then you and I can retire. We'll find a way to heal Peter Jr. too."
"Yeah, let's do it. I'll work hard, I promise."
Much like Liam, Peter had grown up without his parents' love. He hadn't
known a thing about the world, yet his parents had gone off to live in the
Imperial Capital until his father's recent execution. In Katerina, he'd finally
found a person he could rely on. Despite his mountain of problems, he was over
the moon about that.
***
"Ugh, my crappy subjects!"
My citizens had been getting increasingly rebellious—fiercely so, as the
morons insisted on their right to express themselves as they wished. But rights
and freedom were only for me! How dare they think they were entitled to them?
"Why the hell are they so passionate about a hairstyle that looks like
excrement?!" I slammed my fists down on the desk in my office.
I'd sent the army in to handle the protests that had been popping up here
and there. Thankfully, it was just people walking around with signs that said
"Allow the Tornado!" and other slogans, but the military—which I thought
would be able to quickly quell the protests—had been hesitant to take control.
Why, you ask? Well, because they "couldn't kill law-abiding civilians," of
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course. How moronic could they be?! So my stupid, unmotivated military was
just sitting around watching the protests rage on under their noses. Some of them
even said, "What's the big deal about a hairstyle?" The audacity! All that
mattered at this point was that I had declared it outlawed! I couldn't believe
these radicals had been fighting for a hairstyle that looked like coiled feces for
all this time now!
"The domain is as peaceful as ever."
I was stunned by Amagi's words. How was it peaceful? Protests were
occurring every day!
"Peaceful how? My people are rebelling against me!"
I'd hinted to that TV program where I'd first learned of the hairstyle that I
was greatly displeased with it, hoping they'd try to sway the public against it, but
they had actually doubled down on freedom of expression. The nerve! You'd
think they would have wanted to suck up to the guy in power here.
And when I'd tried to force an official law into existence, my government
officials had told me, "But I don't think we can really do that..." Apparently,
it'd be kind of annoying to actually mandate which hairstyles were okay and
which weren't. I knew that, but still!
Why were these protestors so insistent? Was it actually revenge for the tax
thing? That was totally it, wasn't it?! They were just trying to get back at me by
throwing a fit over something so insane!
Amagi said, "More importantly, the development of the frontier planet is
ahead of schedule. Everyone must think you were very passionate about the
project due to the tax increase. The people are putting their all into it."
"No, the hairstyle issue is more important than that! I just... I just don't
like it. I don't want the rest of the Empire thinking my domain is full of people
with hair that literally looks like crap!"
No matter what it took, I'd put a stop to that hairstyle before I had to go
off to the next phase of my schooling.
***
Serena was keeping the prime minister in the loop about the daily protests.
"And that about sums it up. Apart from the protests, House Banfield's
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domain is completely peaceful."
"I understand the count's feelings about those protestors." Having
learned of Liam's frustration, the prime minister sympathized with him.
"Anyway, he'll be heading off to boarding school soon."
"I'm sure the count will be fine, but I do hear our boarding schools are
full of problem children lately."
There were many problems with the school Liam would be attending after
he'd turned sixty. No matter where you looked in the Empire at present, there
were problems. One of the reasons the prime minister had such high hopes for
Liam was that he was downright sick of the status quo.
"By the way, I noticed that the count purchased a fortress-class vessel
from the Seventh Weapons Factory. That seems a little extreme for military
expansion. Did he have a reason for it?"
"He's using it to defend the frontier planet," Serena explained. "It's going
to take another couple of years to establish a real base there, so he's likely just
using it until then."
"How extravagant of him."
***
"My people cannot be allowed to rebel against me!"
I was still enraged by the daily protests occurring in my domain, but the
day I would have to head off to boarding school was fast approaching. This was
an important time for me, yet my subjects were throwing all sorts of distractions
my way.
A fashion magazine I picked up had an article about a further evolution of
that hateful hairstyle.
Brian gazed at the open pages with me. "Master Liam, if you try to
regulate something, it just makes the people crave it all the more."
"I will crush this hairstyle out of existence!"
I couldn't believe they'd gotten me this heated. If, as I suspected, the
protestors were actually incensed about the taxation, then I could understand
where they were coming from. Regardless of what was causing the unrest, they
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really had to be taught who was in charge!
Brian shook his head. "Maybe it would be best to give up on this, sir."
"I'm not the one who's going to give up—they are! They're going to
regret disobeying someone in power!"
"It seems to me the people are quite enjoying all this excitement."
"That makes it even worse!"
It was fine for me to play with my subjects, but it wasn't fine for them to
play with me. This was a matter of my dignity as an evil lord.
"We'll push the military to take action. I'll summon all my knights and
equip them with razors, then have them forcefully give every one of these
shitheads a buzzcut—hm?"
I paused mid-sentence, noticing that something was strange about Brian.
He appeared frozen, as if time had come to a stop.
This sensation was familiar to me. That's right, I remember now...
There was the Guide, looking just as he had in the past—no, he seemed a
bit more haggard this time. He'd been sitting in silence on his travel bag with his
legs crossed. His hat was pulled low, so I couldn't see his eyes, but his crescent-
moon smile was in plain view.
"Long time no see, Liam!"
"It's you! This is great... There's something I'd like to ask y—"
The Guide held up a hand, cutting me off. He seemed to have something
important to tell me, and he looked happy to be here. "I've been wanting to
come see you for the longest time, but I couldn't until now."
"I've been hoping to see you too. I've been wanting to thank—"
The Guide placed his index finger against his lips in a gesture for silence.
"Me first, Liam. I have so many things I want to tell you." The Guide
stood up and began to circle the room, speaking unemotionally. "Didn't you
think it was strange?"
"Think what was strange?"
"Everything that's happened to you so far. Take the matter with House
Razel, for instance. You didn't think it was odd that you were treated so coldly?"
"Not really."
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"Well, you should have!" the Guide bellowed, then caught himself. "Ah,
excuse me. Originally, you were the one who was supposed to be showered with
luxuries and freedoms, not Peter. This was a chance for you to wed House
Razel's daughter and bond with an influential house. You were supposed to be in
Peter's place."
"You're kidding!" My eyes flew wide in surprise, and the Guide spread
his arms and laughed as if he were enjoying my reaction.
"So why do you think Peter took everything you were supposed to have?
Well...there is a mastermind behind all of this."
"A mastermind?"
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"It's me."
The Guide bowed like a showman at the end of his performance, then
raised his head and laughed at me.
"I set it all up."
"Y-you did all this?"
"I was the one who stole everything you were supposed to receive! That's
right, Liam, you were deceived!"
This guy...
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