Episode 21. The Emperor’s Deal (3)
“Prause!!”
As soon as we entered the office, Calus yelled.
‘I can hear you even if I don’t raise my voice.’
“…… What else? If you don’t get angry, do you have a disease that causes athlete’s foot?”
What kind of filtering is this?
“Are you kidding me, what?! And what is athlete’s foot?”
“Stop saying unnecessary things and tell me why you called me.”
“You did it first…… !”
It was a lot of fun to tease him watching him sway. There is no one in the world who can make fun of a Duke like this. Except for me who got filtered.
“After… …. Okay, look at this.”
He handed me the delivery scroll.
It seemed that they had been contacted via a new delivery scroll. I unfolded the rolled up scroll.
「Prause, I didn’t expect you to humiliate me so much in an S-class duel and send me a letter written in honorific language.
But that’s all. To be honest, I think it’s really shameless. I thought this letter was about repenting for your sins and reflecting, but in the end, I was very disappointed that you were trying to make a proposal to use me.
Therefore, I do not know what offer you are about to make, but I will not accept your offer, even if I regret it.
However, I will highly praise you for monopolizing resources from the Aium Kingdom, and will strengthen the survival rights of other races. Just know that
Please continue to devote yourself to the empire like that.”
I see.
Well, I expected it to turn out like this.
In the S-class duel between Urca and Soro, he fed the emperor big taffy and ripped off 10,000 gold coins, so how could he not be angry?
Well, I don’t have the slightest intention of stepping down, though.
“You bastard, what the hell did you propose to His Majesty the Emperor—”
“Give me one more.”
“What?”
“Because His Majesty the Emperor seems to be out of his mind, so I think I should say something properly.”
In Prause.
“Hey you madman, is His Majesty the Emperor your friend?!”
“Give it loud and fast. Before taking it by force.”
“You bastard, really… ….”
Calus grumbles and tosses the delivery scroll at me. I threw him a bag containing twenty gold coins. Only then does his expression loosen up a little.
I hope you keep that expression well.
* * *
“Hey… ! Hey!! Are you crazy?! What did you write to His Majesty the Emperor?!”
As if the second delivery scroll I had written and sent worked very well, Duke Calus was trembling while holding the scroll.
“Thinking about it, I think this one suits me better. Instead of going round, I decided to go straight ahead.”
“This, you f*cking bastard!”
Throws a scroll at me with a reddish face. Tina readily accepts it and hands it to me.
“Don’t throw things at the teacher. Not even a kid bad manners.”
“What, what?!”
Calus’s fists shook convulsively as Tina clicked her tongue. Hearing what she said to the kid who didn’t even have blood on her head, she must have been angry.
“Stop it.”
“Yeah~”
Tina looks at Calus and snorts her nose uncomfortably.
I read the contents of the scroll by the time the two of them quarreled.
「I understand roughly what you mean, but do you, a commoner, dare to mention the imperial family? No matter how strong you are, are you insane for trying to mess with the imperial family?
So you’re pressing my name. Come to the imperial palace immediately. Let’s see if you can say that by looking at my face.”
The contents sent by the emperor are not bad. It was clearly visible that he suppressed his anger and wrote it, but he meant to listen to the story.
From noble mtl dot com
“Teacher, what did you write down that got this kind of reaction?”
“Just a moderately stimulating word?”
This is what I wrote on the scroll.
「The moment you die, the empire will be thrown into chaos and the imperial family will be greatly shaken. When that happens, how many of your children will be able to survive?
But I know a way for all four children to survive. Are you willing to hear my thoughts?”
The emperor had no choice but to understand what I meant.
He killed all his brothers and sisters in a succession war that took place in the process of ascending to the throne.
I couldn’t help but be aware that I was someone who had personally experienced the confusion that came from that place.
In addition, if you look at the emperor’s personality, you would think that he was a person without blood or tears, but he was more protective of his children than he thought.
It’s usually because he’s indifferent, but he had affection for his child in his own way, enough to give a part of his rights if he had the ability.
No matter how much you do, you don’t want to see your children go through the same experience as you did.
“We are going to the Imperial Palace. Get ready.”
“Hey! Prause! What the hell did you write to His Majesty the Emperor!”
“…… Calus, do you believe that the crown prince can become emperor?”
“What?”
“I would like to hope for today as well.”
If the emperor accepts my proposal, the succession war can be eliminated. But if they don’t accept it, I’ll just tell the story the way I want. It was a harmless proposition for me.
* * *
As soon as we arrive at the Imperial Palace, the Imperial Knights welcome us.
“His Majesty is waiting for you. Let’s go right away.”
When I move, my companions follow.
It was then. Two knights stretched out their arms behind my back. The party is blocked.
“Except Prause, the rest of you will have to wait in the drawing room. Also, Mr. Prause, please leave the weapons with us for a while.”
“Why?”
“You do not have the right to refuse. If you refuse, it is an order for Prause to leave the palace.”
“If you do not tell us why, we will have no choice but to refuse the order.”
The knights flinch as Iris begins to radiate spirit. They say the strong recognize the strong.
For me, even now, it’s a part that I can’t feel.
“Stop it, Iris. There is nothing good about fighting the imperial family.”
The Hwang family had to hold his head stiffly until the war between horses and horses was over.
“I will go alone. Everyone wait in the drawing room.”
“…… All right.”
“Then wait a minute before that.”
As Maria shoots through her knights, she grabs my body and hugs me.
“Huh?”
“Oh! Maria!”
“Maria, don’t cheat!”
Maria, who was muttering something in my arms, raises her head.
“Master, I put on the safety device. If you do anything to Master, you will know right away, so please be careful.”
“…… I see thanks.”
Looking at it, the warriors recognize me as strong, but they seem to be more concerned about my safety.
Is this because of how many times I almost died?
“Please be careful. If Master is injured or killed by the emperor, he will kill all humans in the empire.”
“Yes…… ?”
I was startled by the bloody sound.
“…… Do you think I will get beaten?”
“It can’t be. Just…… That’s just it. Bye.”
With those words, Maria finally fell. She smiles innocently and waves her hand, but the smile takes on a slightly different meaning when she realizes that she continues to sharpen her knife on a human.
As expected, is it different from games?
In the game, there was no problem because the episode continued without managing the anger of the warriors.
However, in reality, the stronger you grow your warriors, the more you have to pay attention to your actions.
They were bombs that could completely change my plans if touched wrongly.
“Yes.”
I turned around.
As expected, I need to induce independence so that I can live on my own when everything is over. I’ll be around 12 by then, so I don’t think a grown-up wife would live with you.
Please don’t. Really.
If you make a confession with a sudden rash, you will fall behind. Of course, me.
* * *
The emperor’s office.
From the huge work table to the sofa where you can rest, it was no different from any other noble office.
However, the office here seemed to be a library, and I could see the vast bookshelves and the books neatly placed. It seemed that all the books from the empire were here.
“Yes, you are here.”
The knights put me inside the office and close the door. The unique clanking sound of the armor was cut off after a while. It seemed to be waiting in front of the door.
“Let’s hear why someone sent me such a letter. Haven’t you already forgotten what you did to me?”
I caught my breath.
“…… I’m here to make a deal, not to grapple with the dismal past.”
With a breezy gait, I stand in front of his work table in an instant. Looking straight down at the emperor. For a while, I made eye contact with the emperor quietly.
As I exchanged glances, I was able to find out one thing.
At least for now, no matter what I said, he wouldn’t kill me.
As long as the demons are alive, I will still be useful to the emperor.
“You mention our imperial family in a transaction… …. What a feat. If you hadn’t done a good job for the Empire, you would have been beheaded long ago. A deal or something.”
“…… So? What do you want to say?”
“I called because I was curious about what kind of face he was talking about like that. I was wondering if you could say the same thing to my face.”
“Then can I continue?”
“Ha… …. I didn’t know that a warrior could be such an idiot. You dare to act boldly even in front of the emperor of the empire.”
“I don’t care about status. Don’t you think that the reason I can assert my identity is because I’m protecting that right?”
Vessels lined up on the forehead visible through the graying white hair. Staring at me with eyes wide open I ignored his gaze and opened his mouth.
“After you die, the heir you worked hard for may not ascend to the throne. Are you okay though?”
“…… It looks like you took the publican and played tricks on the dukes on your own. Anyway, the only power you can have is the power of Duke Aus. Other dukes will not side with you.”
“I know.”
“Do you think you can win the power struggle knowing that?”
“Yes.”
“Heh, heh heh. I can’t. I owed a lot to the Duke of Aus in the past, so I let him do whatever he wanted until now. I must tell the prince. After I die, I want you to take away all authority from the Duke of Aus.”
It was, in effect, deprivation of the nobility.
There really is something about the emperor and the crown prince that puts the other down. I almost died from cancer in the game, but it’s worse in real life. Very.
“…… Is it. So let’s change the story. What will you do if I kill the crown prince?”
“What?”
This was a question I should not have dared to ask.
This is the opposite.
I was not an emperor who would sit still after hearing that he would kill the heir he had spent decades raising.
“You dare! Dare!! Which mouth would dare to say that they would kill the crown prince!!”
Intentionally raised the corner of his mouth while looking down at the emperor who couldn’t hide his excitement. To look as mean as possible.
“Yes… …. Now I’m in the mood to make some trades. Yes?”