39 – Princess Maker (1)
There’s a saying that goes, “Iron rice bowl.”
It refers to jobs with incredibly high job security, the kind where you’re hardly ever let go.
It mainly applies to professions like civil servants, educators, professors at private universities, or CEOs.
Jobs where you don’t have to worry about getting laid off, as long as the company doesn’t go under or the country doesn’t split in two.
Now, here’s a question.
What is the most unbreakable iron rice bowl job in this world?
“Being a carrot-addicted hero.”
“One and only.
The only current profession in this world.
A heavenly mandate granted by the gods, higher than the emperor.
No matter how infuriating it may be, it is impossible to cut it off.
This was my corner of belief, and thanks to it, I could act as I pleased.
“…That’s enough.”
After babbling for a while like that, the emperor finally broke the silence and spoke.
There was a trace of fatigue in his voice.
“As you say, I’ll put on this charade to this extent. Certainly, there’s no need to bother with a bothersome ceremony. Everyone here knows who the recipient will be anyway. Well done, and from now on, enjoy the banquet.”
With those words, he left the banquet hall in a huff. His departure, devoid of any particular expression, conveyed a sense of discomfort.
But what can you do?
There’s nothing you can do just because you’re in a bad mood.
You can curse inwardly and leave with a bad feeling, but what else can you do?
“Yeah, I’m a hero.”
In terms of power, I may lag behind, but in terms of the thickness of my wallet, I hold the upper hand. In fact, I have no reason to kneel.
And besides, the current emperor isn’t all that powerful.
He wasn’t a guy with a big enough bowl to endure losses and regain his dignity, and his abilities were lacking.
A tiger with its fangs falling out, slowly retreating.
A setting sun that gradually retires, yielding power.
This was my impression of Maurice von Feldor, whom I saw in the game. So, this level of arrogance is acceptable.
Of course, not only did he not say anything directly, but the people around him also weren’t silent.
“They say this hero of the great event has many problems…”
“It’s true, I can’t believe he’s such a failure…”
Whisper, whisper.
I could hear the gossip coming from nearby.
I tried to keep my voice down, but the hero’s body was sensitive enough to hear even such small voices.
Naturally, I wasn’t hurt by hearing such gossip.
Instead, the words of my party members were somewhat painful…
“Ah, I thought something was fishy. He was hiding such a true nature. How rude.”
“Crude and disgraceful.”
“Hmm, you never know. That might be smoke too.”
“Sir Hero…”
Each of them glared at me and spoke word by word.
Annoyance, disgust, suspicion, and various other emotions were directed at me.
It seems that since we’ve been together for almost half a year, and I’ve never shown such behavior, suspicion is inevitable.
The only peculiar thing was the look in the Saint’s eyes. She was gazing at me with a somewhat pitiful expression.
I still couldn’t quite understand the Saint’s reaction, but well, it falls within my expected range.
So, I paid no attention to their gazes and diligently poured more wine.
Gulp, gulp.
Before I knew it, one bottle of wine was empty.
My throat was burning, indicating it was quite strong. I could feel the alcohol settling in my stomach.
Oddly enough, my body didn’t seem to be affected by the alcohol, even though I’m not particularly resistant to it.
[Poison is neutralized!]
In a way, alcohol could be considered a type of poison. As soon as it entered my body, my ‘poison resistance’ neutralized it, so I couldn’t get drunk.
Therefore, my appearance seemed perfectly fine, but I had no intention of leaving it at that.
Quietly, I cast a skill within me.
‘Acceleration of Blood Flow.’
There are many effects associated with the Acceleration of Blood Flow, such as enhancing physical abilities, increasing magical efficiency, and improving reflexes, but the simplest effect is just to circulate the blood faster.
I momentarily directed the blood circulating within me towards my face.
My face quickly turned as red as someone who had been drinking heavily.
There we go. Mentally, I was as sharp as ever, but outwardly, I now appeared like someone who was completely intoxicated.
What’s the meaning of this?
I can now act like an even bigger jerk.
After all, throughout history, alcohol has been a highly effective method of turning people into beasts.
And people tend to allow beasts to get away with almost anything. Our country’s laws have proven that.
“Bring more booze!”
So I acted like a bastard for a while.
In the elegant atmosphere of the banquet hall, I grabbed food vulgarly and downed shots with another bottle.
“Mmm, f*ck, this is delicious. After months of eating sh*tty dried food and drinking lukewarm water, this kind of dinner feels like I’m actually living!”
“Heh…”
“Um, um…”
I also teased people harshly at times.
Every time, I felt the people around me showing less favor towards me, but I didn’t care.
“Anyway.”
For a moment, a coldness passed through my eyes.
“They’re not worth impressing.”
As I mentioned before, this game is a dark fantasy RPG.
And as is typical in dark fantasies, not only monsters are the bad things.
This country is corrupt from its very core.
“They’re despicable.”
A noble who holds nightly orgies in his mansion said.
“It’s certain they have absolutely horrible personalities.”
A noble who killed several slaves with a whip said.
“I wonder if such people can truly save the pitiful commoners. Tsk, tsk…”
A noble who starved hundreds of vassals to death by excessive tax extortion said.
That’s the reality of this country.
Everyone pretends to be noble and clean on the surface, but in reality, most of the nobles are corrupt and depraved.
Those nobles who should govern the country only think of exploiting others with their power.
The world is in crisis as the Demon King resurrects, but everyone is too busy fulfilling their own desires.
That’s why there are many poor people and criminals in the country.
So even the people here, eventually, needed to be overthrown.
“hahahaha, I actually like being honest!”
As I thought that, one person approached me.
Viscount Bellefère.
Known as a respected noble, but a piece of garbage who abuses slaves at his mansion.
“Nice to meet you. You certainly have no sense of being a true hero.”
He spoke to me while extending his hand. Even though the curse must have been in effect, he could approach me with such a smile.
Indeed, he seemed like a guy who would raise dozens of snakes in his belly.
I didn’t take his hand, but instead took a sip of alcohol and said.
“You have an impressive beer belly.”
Belfer was bloated.
Whether it was because I pointed out his complex or not, his brow twitched momentarily.
But just for a moment. Soon, he smiled genially and spoke.
“We’ve met like this, so how about having a drink together?”
“Oh?”
I nodded.
“Sure.”
What story could he possibly want to tell?
One thing I could be sure of was that he had chosen the wrong person to talk to.
And thus, we began our confrontation.
After a few rounds, he got to the point.
Of course, it was about a business deal.
“By the way, in order to become a hero, you need quite a bit of money, right? I’m quite successful in business, so I have a fair amount of money. If you ever need it, just let me know.”
He would support me financially.
“If you’re doing something grand, I can definitely help with that. I only ask for one thing. Just occasionally come visit my mansion and, like this, occasionally meet and do a confrontation together. I enjoy meeting people.”
How about forming a friendship with me?
“And while you’re at it, introduce me to your people as well. After all, that’s how the world works, isn’t it? People need connections.”
And help me show off that friendship.
‘Is he offering money in exchange for influence?’
I’m close with a hero. We’ve eaten together, gone to saunas together, and everything. It’s about showing off that and increasing political influence.
Even though he’s a scoundrel, a hero in itself has its uses.
My response to this was as follows.
“What are you saying?”
“Huh?”
“Why are you talking so much? So you’re offering money?”
I don’t know.
“If you’re giving me money, then I should be grateful! So, when and how much do you plan to give?”
“Don’t worry. I can give you as much as you want. Just please try to match your words with mine every time we meet…”
“What? Why should I do that? It’s annoying.”
“So, are you saying let’s do the deal now!”
Bang.
Impatiently, he finally raised his voice. I spoke while sipping my drink.
“You always say boring things at gatherings. Fine. I don’t need your money, so just leave.”
In reality, I didn’t really need the financial support since I was going to make a lot of money myself. It was better not to accept his aid than to increase his influence.
“Ugh…”
After that, many people came to me.
People who wanted to promote their potions in exchange for support from their territories.
People who wanted to purchase a large amount of monster debts and sign a direct equipment contract with me.
And even people who brought proper contracts.
Of course, I rejected all of them.
“Don’t talk about mutual benefits or aid.”
“A contract? Why should I bother with such a hassle?”
“Is there more of this food? It’s salty and delicious.”
Every time, those guys complained to me.
“Such an ignorant…”
“He doesn’t know basic manners because he was born that way.”
“Why was someone like him chosen as a hero?”
Perhaps they thought I wouldn’t hear them because I was drunk.
The gossiping voices were louder than before. However, I actually took it as a sign of encouragement.
“Yes, ignore me more.”
Underestimate me even more, let your guard down even more.
That way, it’ll be easier for me to tear your throats out.
After completing my slight decrease in favorability, I let out a small sigh.
“Phew.”
It’s done. It feels like my image as a loser is somewhat ingrained now.
However, the problem still remained.
“I can’t even dream of having any political influence with this.”
My connections were thoroughly isolated.
While I had cut off everything and gained freedom, the person who would politically dominate my speech had disappeared.
Black-masked Ruth could at least establish relationships, superficially.
His problem was that he received a lot of suspicion, but had no issues with sociability.
From Noble mtl dot com
However, for the simple-minded rogue route, that was difficult.
Even though he would receive less suspicion, he couldn’t do anything politically.
And politics were extremely important in this game.
For the sake of the happiness of humanity, and for the seal of the demon king to be lessened.
To cut out the rotten parts, fix what needs to be fixed, and convince the people around me.
To do all these various things, power was essential.
So, the rogue route had a fatal restriction in this regard…
“…”
Fortunately, I hadn’t made a mistake and thought of this.
Is it difficult to gain power?
Then, you can just use others and wield it on their behalf.
Or you can create allies.
Of course, this too had its own demanding conditions.
Someone who agrees with me, doesn’t fall into corruption like other nobles.
At the same time, someone desperate enough to cooperate with me, who is cursed. I needed someone like that.
Luckily, there was one such character.
“…”
For a moment, my eyes turned towards the corner of the banquet hall.
It was a noisy banquet hall filled with speeches from various nobles, but that particular spot felt especially lonely and desolate.
Moreover, the woman sitting at that table had slumped shoulders and kept shifting her gaze.
She gave off a feeling of subduedness and unease.
At first glance, she might appear to be from a small noble family, but… once you realize the characteristic features of her lineage, everyone would be surprised.
The flowing luxurious silver hair, eyes that resemble amethyst. A tired and weary beauty that I had seen countless times in the game.
The third princess of the empire.
Daila von Philodor.
She was the card I wanted to use.
princess nice