Chapter 2:
House Berkeley Makes Its Move
THE MILITARY ACADEMY contained a special communications room,
which nobles like me used to contact their territories in order to run things
back home. In fact, that was the only way the academy would approve of
communicating with the outside.
I couldn't make use of it every day, but I appreciated having the
opportunity to check in with Amagi from time to time. Unfortunately, she
had just made me aware of a report that instantly ruined my good mood.
"You're being swarmed by debt collectors?"
"Yes. They seem to believe our financial situation has worsened and
they are eager to collect quickly."
"Worsened? House Banfield's?"
I couldn't process what she was telling me. Our financial situation
was just fine. If anything, it was improving. If debt collectors were
flocking to my home planet, then something unusual must have happened
there.
"Is there some problem at home?"
"No, everything is fine. Our funds are not increasing as
precipitously as they were before, but settling the frontier planet is
complete now, so there should be no further financial issues."
"Then why are debt collectors coming?"
I just couldn't imagine why debt collectors would think our financial
situation was worsening.
Amagi tried to explain. "This is unconfirmed information, but... We
suspect it is the work of House Berkeley. There is a high probability that
several financial institutions we have dealings with have been heavily
infiltrated by the Berkeley Family."
"That damn Derrick's family."
Derrick was the guy who picked a fight with me back in primary
school. In a contest between mobile knights, he tried to kill me, but I beat
him at his own game. From my point of view, it had been nothing more
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than squashing a bug that had meant to sting me, but his family wouldn't
stay quiet about his self-inflicted demise.
"House Berkeley is quite large, so any conflict with them is bound
to be trouble. Head Maid Serena is awfully on edge about it."
"Trouble? Because of their peerage?"
"They are all barons, but as there are so many of them, they wield a
considerable amount of combined power."
"These barons think they can stand up to a count just because there's
a bunch of them? Small fry are small fry, no matter how many of them
there are... But I do see your point."
You never knew where nobles might be connected. I had killed one
guy, Derrick, but now all his relatives were coming out of the woodwork
to stand together against me. It was true that a collection of smaller powers
combined could spell big trouble, but in the long run, I didn't think I had
much to worry about from the likes of House Berkeley.
"Well, let's pay off all our debts. How about we gather those rare
metals we've got in storage and sell them to Thomas?"
If these lenders were desperate for their money back, then I'd just
have to pay them. After all, I had the assets to do so. Repaying debts was
only natural, so I'd do what I had to do. Even so, I couldn't let these
people get away with taking me lightly.
"I proposed just that, Master Liam, but Thomas isn't in a position to
purchase our entire stock. Thus, we are unable to procure sufficient funds.
We could pay in material, but the debt collectors will only purchase our
rare metals for less than half the market price, so I thought I should seek
your approval before making such a decision."
"These vultures wanna rip me off for my rare metals?"
There were many things I hated, but chief among them was debt
collectors. They had made my past life a living hell. I would never forget
how I'd suffered under debts that I wasn't even responsible for, and the
terrible methods used to collect them. Likewise, in this world my
grandparents had saddled me with a vast debt I had nothing to do with. I
had planned on returning it properly, in installments so I wouldn't take a
big hit all at once, but if they were going to be unreasonable about
collecting then I wouldn't make things easy for them.
"I don't want them getting such a good deal out of it. If we have to
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sell them for cheap anyway, then sell the metal to the Empire."
"Are you sure? The Empire will pay even less than the debt
collectors for the material."
"It's better than letting the damn debt collectors profit."
In actuality, I could make as many rare metals as I wanted, so I was
basically free from all financial worries at this point. After all, I possessed
the incredible alchemy box the Guide had given me that could convert
scrap into rare metals. In the end, this situation was simply a matter of
principle.
"Make them understand who they've picked a fight with. I want you
to put pressure on House Berkeley."
"Economic warfare, you mean?"
If House Berkeley wanted a war, a war was what they would get.
"It's not much of a war if I'm guaranteed to win, though."
There was nothing they could do to compete against me and my
alchemy box. I almost felt a little sorry for them.
"Very well, we will apply pressure without escalating matters too
far. Incidentally, how is your life at the military academy? You have not
been sick or injured, have you?"
Since we were done talking about House Berkeley, Amagi
expressed her worries for me.
"Training here is way too lax compared to what I did with Master
Yasushi. Well, it's not that bad, I suppose... There are no real problems.
Actually, if anything, it's only a problem that there's nothing for me to
learn here."
"What do you mean?"
I recalled my match with Dolph. If that was what the top student
here was capable of, there was probably no need for me to put in serious
effort.
"A senior here picked a fight with me, but I kicked his butt in a
simulator battle. Wish you could've seen it, Amagi."
Amagi didn't seem to share my pride at this news, her usually
inexpressive face even showing a slight frown as I bragged.
"What's wrong?" I asked nervously, and she scolded me.
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"You appear to be getting too full of yourself, Master."
"It's only right that an evil lord should be full of himself. What can I
say? I defeated an idiot who thought he could take the moral high ground
with me. It's a joke that he's the highest-ranked student here."
Amagi's eyes narrowed as she listened to me make light of the
military academy, and she hammered her point home.
"I would not read too much importance into a mere squabble
between students, Master. There are important lessons for you to learn at
this school."
Amagi was really being harsh today. She didn't blindly sing my
praises like Tia and Marie would have. It made me a little sad, to be
honest, so I became sullen.
"You're the only one who can get away with taking that attitude
with me, you know. If anyone else talked to me like that, I'd have their
head."
"I am merely giving what I judge to be valuable counsel. You may
remove my head whenever you wish to do so."
Remove Amagi's head? Never—she shouldn't even joke about that.
I raised my hands in surrender. "I'll take your counsel to heart, so
don't be mad."
"I am not angry."
"By the way... Err... How's Rosetta?"
Was the troublesome girl who'd hoped to attend military academy
with me minding her manners at home? I was curious to hear how things
were going with her, even if she was something of an afterthought
compared to Amagi.
"As you wished, Lady Rosetta is receiving strict lessons on etiquette
from Serena. We will send her to another house for training at some point,
but we cannot be hasty while we are in conflict with House Berkeley."
"Ugh. I'm sick of hearing that name," I said.
I felt like everywhere I went, I heard the name Berkeley. It must've
been as common a surname as something like Tanaka in the Empire.
"Well, I'm not really concerned about Rosetta, but it would harm
my reputation if the Berkeleys managed to do something to her. So yes, be
careful where you send her. Not for her sake, as I say—it's just because I
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have to protect my own name."
I made sure to emphasize my point and Amagi bowed her head to
me.
"Understood. Very well, Master—we will speak again later."
The call ended and I stood up from my seat and stretched.
"Well, if Amagi insists, I guess I'll take my studies a little more
seriously."
***
The next day in class, we were taught the basics of fleet warfare. It
was material I'd already covered during my time in an education capsule,
but it felt different hearing it in person from an instructor. The teacher
went on and on about modern warfare from his place behind the podium.
"In a fleet battle, the more ships there are in a formation, the longer
the period of maneuvering before actual contact is made will be. This is
because a simple straightforward charge can prove dangerous. The side
that's already in place, waiting for the enemy to arrive, will naturally have
that as an advantage. A straightforward charge should always be avoided."
The instructor used a holographic animation of a fleet battle to
illustrate his point clearly to his students. The ships lying in wait took out
the vanguard of the charging fleet, which sent the rearguard into a panic
and brought about their swift defeat.
"Of course, results will depend on the quality of your vessels and
the experience of your crew, but running headlong at an enemy of a similar
caliber is unwise. If you're going to be successful, you'll have to plan
carefully. Most straightforward charges should only occur when you're
pursuing ships that are fleeing. I pray there are no reckless fools intent on
being heroes here. The military doesn't need heroes... What it needs is
superior officers. So, I hope none of you become heroes."
The cadets all smiled at this. Some of them even whispered to each
other, things like, "Won't catch me doing that" or "Not me," and laughed.
But I didn't laugh. After all, the relentless charge was House
Banfield's forte, the strategy that had guaranteed us victory in every battle.
If such an approach was considered faulty, did that mean the pirates I'd
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been fighting up until now had all been surprisingly weak?
I spoke up. "Instructor, what sort of advantage would you say is
necessary for a charge to be effective, then?"
"Cadet Liam, eh? I hardly think I need to teach you this, but... Let's
see. I'd say you'd have to have at least four times your enemy's numbers
in order to overpower them."
Four times the ships? If that were the case, House Banfield wouldn't
even be able to take on ten thousand ships. I'd based my whole approach
on a direct offensive and trained all my soldiers accordingly. It would
appear House Banfield had made a serious mistake with its strategy.
"Four times... Four times, huh?"
While I was lost in thought, Wallace asked in a carefree tone,
"What's up?"
"Just thinking that I should start reinforcing my military."
"Why?"
I needed to direct my military to utilize a new strategy other than
charging in, and I needed to increase their numbers. How could I call
myself an evil lord if my military was lacking? My aim wasn't to be some
two-bit villain who couldn't stand up to the strongest enemies; I wanted to
be in a position to utterly trample my foes. No, I wouldn't be able to relax
until I was absolutely confident in my power.
"Military... Military preparations..."
I should contact a weapons factory right away. Amagi too.
However, even if I did decide to change how my military did things, my
new strategies wouldn't reach my actual military commanders for a few
years, at least. And it would take longer to retrain all my officers and
troops. There I was, charging ahead recklessly again, even when it came to
my ideas. Dammit! I screwed up. Evil lords must be flexible, though, so I
focused on the quickest expedient. I'll just have to be glad I figured this
out relatively early.
"For the time being, I'll aim to double my forces to sixty thousand
ships. Or maybe I should I go for ninety?"
When I muttered that to myself, Wallace was surprised. "Huh? You
want that many more ships?"
Well, obviously. You can't skimp on your military. After all, my
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military might was what made it possible for me to even be an evil lord.
With that kind of might, I could shut anybody up. It was the pinnacle of
violence, so I wasn't about to skimp on it.
That's right. I'd forgotten it already. It was just as Amagi had said: I
couldn't afford to get too full of myself here. I had learned something new
at the academy, after all, and that was that I didn't have the military power
to truly consider House Banfield safe. I mustn't allow that situation to lead
to disaster.
"All of a sudden, I'm feeling more motivated."
Wallace looked mystified by my intensity. "A-are you? Well, that's
good, I guess. I-I'll be rooting for you."
Rooting for me? You'll be doing more than that. You're my
underling, don't you forget it!
***
When Casimilo at House Berkeley received the report, the cigar
dropped from his mouth. Gaping with disbelief, he asked for clarification.
"Wh-what did you just say? Tell me one more time!"
The son who had called him couldn't hide his panic either. "House
Banfield just sold off a stockpile of rare metals. The Empire bought them,
and that bastard Liam used the funds to pay back his entire massive debt.
At the same time, our moneylender friends have taken a huge hit in
reputation because of their aggressive collection methods. You should be
prepared for a couple of them to go under, Dad."
Their attempt to drain House Banfield of its resources had only
ended in a loss of trust in the lending businesses they had their hands in.
Their own profits would feel the effect.
"Don't worry about that!" Casimilo barked. "Just keep up the
attack! Think of the damage to House Berkeley's name if we let the kid go
after all this!"
"G-got it."
With the call ended, Casimilo lowered his head into his hands.
"This can't be happening! Wasn't he supposed to be just some poor
noble?"
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He didn't think House Banfield had that much financial flexibility.
Why was he still in debt when he had access to resources like that
all along? I thought he was financially burdened, putting his money into
developing planets out in the boonies. This kid's going to be more trouble
than I thought.
At this point, it was simply a matter of who would give in first. If
House Berkeley threw in the towel now, people would look down on them
for being weak. Now that they had started this fight, they had to win it,
because the side that lost in a conflict between noble houses would
inevitably be ruined. Casimilo had started a fight that he couldn't afford to
retreat from.
"Well, we've got our elixirs. If we need to, we can sell those off to
make some big money fast. I don't care how many rare metals they've got
stocked up. It's House Banfield that'll fold first."
They had to destroy entire planets to produce elixirs, but there was a
great demand for these remarkable potions. Casimilo was sure that Liam
would have to admit defeat eventually.
"I guess we shouldn't have picked a financial fight with the boy.
Now we'll be taking a fair amount of damage ourselves..."
Their involvement in the moneylending businesses had been
exposed and hence those businesses had taken hits to their reputations. If
he'd known that this would happen, he would have come at the problem
from a different angle.
"We can't lose anything more to that boy."
Their fight was ramping up in intensity...for one side, at least.
***
In his dorm room at the military academy, a noble cadet from House
Berkeley confirmed the contents of an attaché case that had been brought
to him. Only people loyal to the Berkeleys were present, and they had a
lookout keeping watch in the hallway.
The object they were checking in the dim room was something
extremely dangerous.
"So, this is the starbane?" Zargon asked.
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Inside the case was a carefully secured capsule, filled with a purple
fluid that Zargon had been assured was toxic.
"Be careful with it, now," said the lackey who had delivered the
case. "This stuff's more like a curse than a highly concentrated poison."
"You can really curse somebody with this thing?"
"If you use this, you can kill that Liam guy without anybody finding
out it was poison," the lackey explained. "The curse in this thing is the real
deal. After all, it's the distilled grudge of an entire planet that was burned
to a shell."
Produced through the destruction of a planet, starbane was a liquid
composed from the tormented energies of all that world's extinguished
creatures. Anyone who consumed it would be cursed and would die in
agony. The only way to avoid death was to counteract the starbane with an
elixir, and if you didn't already have one on hand, you wouldn't be able to
act quickly enough to treat it. Once a certain amount of time had passed,
even an elixir would be ineffective, and the victim's fate would be sealed.
Zargon, who was also Casimilo's grandson, snickered maliciously.
"Grandfather, my dad, and my uncles are all cowards. I'll kill Liam with
this and become a top member of the Family."
The lackey sucked up to the confident Zargon. "Don't forget what I
did for you when you do."
"I won't. Where'd you get this, anyway?"
Smirking, the underling brought up an unexpected name. "You
heard of the Planetary Restoration Group?"
"Yeah. They're a charity organization, though, aren't they?"
"On the surface. See, they claim to be doing philanthropy, but
actually they harvest materials like this from destroyed planets. They don't
really restore much of anything."
The group engaged in the minimal restoration of environmentally
damaged planets where possible, but they didn't put any serious effort into
it. Instead, they made massive profits dealing in more nefarious ventures.
"Well, not like I really care. So, we just get Liam to consume this?
The curse won't spread from him, will it?"
"Not if you know how to administer it. We already bribed one of the
cooks in the cafeteria. Liam will die writhing in agony, with the curses of
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an entire planet weighing down on him."
"Heh heh heh. Then today's his last day in this world."
***
A woman walked down a hallway of the Imperial Military
Academy.
This was Tia—Christiana Leta Rosebreia—a female knight with
green eyes and blonde hair cut short per academy requirements. She held
the position of Liam's head knight.
Tia was at the military academy for the same reason Marie was—to
obtain the official qualifications necessary to serve as a knight of the
Empire. It was a bit strange for his two top knights to be attending military
academy at the same time, but there were a couple of reasons for that.
For one thing, with only Liam's authority granting them their status
as knights, to the rest of the Empire the two women would be viewed as
vassals, inferior to proper Imperial knights. If they gained the necessary
qualifications to be considered Imperial knights, however, it would also
grant additional prestige to Liam, being proof of the quality of the people
who served him.
Then, there was the most important reason: Tia and Marie didn't
trust one another.
As she walked down the hallway with other knight candidates for
House Banfield, Tia inquired about the current situation.
"How's our scouting going?"
"Not very well," one of the others reported. "Most of the cadets
have come here to join the Imperial Army."
While she was here, Tia maintained her leadership role over the
other knight candidates that had been sent with her. To prevent anything
from happening to Liam while he attended the academy, students from
House Banfield had been inserted into every grade level. Plus, while
managing the people who already worked for House Banfield, Tia was
also scouting for new talent to join their ranks.
"I pity the fools who don't even want to find out what a joy it is to
serve Lord Liam."
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As Tia spoke those words with the utmost devoutness, the knight
candidates around her all nodded in agreement. It showed just how much
the knights of House Banfield revered Liam.
House Banfield's top knight suddenly received an urgent
communication on her tablet.
"Lady Tia!"
"What is it?"
"The military police just took Lord Liam away!"
"Huh?" Tia was speechless for a moment at this unexpected report,
but she quickly collected herself and requested further information. "Wh-
what's that supposed to mean?"
"A cadet passed away in the cafeteria. It was Zargon of House
Berkeley. The military police took Lord Liam in for questioning as a
witness."
The light faded from Tia's eyes as she snarled, "And that fossil
Marie, who was supposed to be guarding him?"
"I did hear that she protested, but I don't have any more
information than that."
Tia clicked her tongue and spat a dirty word that didn't suit her
beautiful appearance.
"Shit!"
***
The suspicious death of a cadet had occurred at the military
academy.
Seated across from me in an interview room was a brigadier general
serving in the military police. Why was I seated in this room? Because
they looked into the deceased subject's relationships, and it seemed like
they had focused on me as a suspect.
"You have a connection to House Berkeley, do you not, Count?"
The fact that they'd sent a brigadier general to interview me, a mere
student, showed that they were at least affording me some respect, but this
respect wasn't enough to stop me from being pissed off that I was being
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treated like a criminal when I was innocent of the crime.
"Are you accusing me of this? Where's the evidence that I killed
him, hmm?"
"The deceased cadet was a member of House Berkeley."
It was true that there was bad blood between myself and the
Berkeleys, but I wasn't so worked up that I'd be killing off just anyone
associated with them. I was frustrated at the insinuation, so I took out my
annoyance on the brigadier general.
"So? There are Berkeleys spread all over the Empire. I don't even
know which one he was. It doesn't matter that his stupid family has a
problem with me. I had no idea of this guy's existence until now." I didn't
have a shred of interest in this dead guy.
As the interview continued, I heard shouting from outside the room.
"You bastards think you can lock up Lord Liam without any proof?
You want me to kill you, huh? Who's gonna take responsibility for
this???"
I recognized the shouting as it was coming from Marie. Several
members of the military police were apparently trying to hold her back.
"P-please calm down!"
"We have permission from the military academy."
"I told you, we're just trying to confirm his alibi!"
The guys outside were trying to placate Marie, but in here, the
brigadier general already appeared certain I was the culprit.
Even from inside the room, I could hear Marie's roars. "I'll kill
every last one of you!"
I was embarrassed, and as I sat staring back at the brigadier general,
I wished she'd just shut up. I said, "Outside they're talking like this is just
a formality, but you seem to think I'm guilty. Is that your personal
determination?"
This probably wasn't any way for a cadet to speak to a brigadier
general, but I was a count. In my mind, I had nothing to fear from the
military man in front of me, since in the Imperial Army it was only natural
for nobles to receive special treatment.
"N-no, it's just that the situation demands..."
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I was sure the stammering brigadier general did suspect me, and I
understood why he would, since I had a potential motive, but I hated false
accusations. They reminded me of my past life when I had unfairly been
painted the bad guy in my divorce.
Someone new joined the group outside the door, adding to the
chaos. It seemed my head knight had also arrived.
"You pathetic fossil!" Tia shouted at Marie. "You were with him,
and you still let Lord Liam get locked up in a place like this? You antiques
are useless!"
"Say that again, you ground meat wench! I'll rip that mouth of yours
to shreds!"
At first, I thought Tia was here to give me some assistance, but
apparently, she just showed up to have it out with Marie. The change in
noise from the other side of the door told me their fight turned physical.
The room shook, the door warped, and dust fell from the ceiling.
"S-somebody stop those two!" a man out there blurted out.
"Call backup!"
"Get some instructors from the school over here!"
The military police outside were panicking, and the brigadier
general heaved a sigh, one hand over his face.
Do those two seriously not even care about rescuing me? My
estimation of both of them was plummeting.
"I'll turn you to dust, fossil!"
"And I'll turn you back into ground meat!"
The fight was growing more and more heated. Seriously, what are
those two trying to do? Have they forgotten they're my two highest-
ranking knights? What a disgrace. I was getting more and more pissed by
the moment.
"If you've got no proof, you can't keep me here," I stated. "I'm not
gonna play along with this anymore." I stood up, and the brigadier general
rushed to stop me.
"Wait!"
"Shut up. Talk to me again when you've got some evidence."
With the inside of the interview room becoming just as noisy as the
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outside, a member of the military police stuck his head into the room.
"Sir! We've found some evidence!"
The brigadier general grinned at this news, no doubt thinking he had
me cornered.
"What? Good work! Count, you can't talk your way out of this any
longer!"
The officer shook his head, however. "N-no, sir. We found
evidence...in the deceased cadet's room. He was in possession of starbane,
sir!"
"Wh-what was that? Contact Imperial Army headquarters at once
and evacuate the school immediately!"
The brigadier general was absolutely freaking out now, having
completely forgotten his attempts to arrest me. Starbane, huh? I've heard
of that... I think it's some kind of curse, concentrated into a physical
substance. Like, you drink it and become cursed, or something. Are these
Berkeleys total idiots, drinking something like that?
"Ah, you don't mind if I leave now, do you?" I said.
I exited the room, greeted by aghast expressions on the faces of the
military police. Just as I was thinking how to go about complaining about
these fools later, I happened upon Tia and Marie grabbing each other's
hair and throwing punches at one another. It was a knock-down-drag-out
brawl that left even the burly military police officers stunned into inaction.
"You fossil!"
"Can it, ground meat!"
I watched the fight coldly. Marie seemed to be besting Tia ever so
slightly. They hadn't even noticed me. These two were seriously lost
causes.
"How long are you two going to keep at it?" I said harshly. "Let's
get out of here!"
When I spoke up and they saw me standing there, they finally
stopped fighting and hurried to straighten up their clothing. Little late for
that, I thought wearily, as I started back toward my dorm room.
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