NOTICE: Many of the novels have been removed because they might cause violations, which we were not aware of earlier.
(333)
War begins on paper and ends on paper, and it takes years to prepare for it.
The moment the emperor draws his sword and says, “I command an expedition!”, it is not the case that a hundred thousand strong army marches out in a straight line.
For example, right now I'm in a situation where I need to bring in the Red Admiral, who is actually a mermaid princess, in order to use the navy in war.
Strictly speaking, it is a preparation of preparations, but it is not easy.
“What kind of crazy person gave permission to build a 15-story stone building over there?”
“Uh, is there a problem?”
“You’re too close to the walls! Do you want smugglers and spies to have a clear view of the Imperial City? Tell them to change the design before I go and tear it down!”
The entire capital is bustling with activity due to the construction of a new city.
Bourgeois trying to make a killing, court nobles trying to exploit the bourgeoisie, refugees flocking to the capital after hearing about the expansion of the city, various artisan guilds fighting over vested interests…
It is my job to suppress the priests of the Encroaching Sect who are desperately trying to enter the capital, the spies routinely sent by the imperial nobles and the royal nobles of each country, and other dissatisfied forces.
That means we have to somehow resolve this before we can head south.
It's like preparation for preparation for preparation.
Even just thinking about it made me feel depressed, but I didn't have time to cry.
So today too, I have no choice but to wear a crisp, ironed uniform, have my hair neatly combed, and go around the capital and do some talking.
“Red Mask. I will allow the opening of new stores in the new city area. Capture and imprison all the third-rate mercenaries and adventurers who are committing gangsterism there. If you see any thieves, call me immediately.”
“Cornell. I’ll recommend you as a standing member of the City Planning Commission. You’ve already done redevelopment, so you’ve caught the guys who are messing with land prices, right? I’ll give you the power of inspection, so catch them all. Even if you take some bribes, they won’t say anything, so just take what you need. You can do it, right?”
“Jin. A few workshops around there are going to move to the new city. I’ll give you the land cheaply, so let’s just build a few large campuses. Students can’t go to professors’ dorms and take classes forever, right? The student council should crack down on the suspicious drug dealers hanging around there.”
Let the hunting dogs that were raised for this purpose be released freely.
“You’re not bad for a mercenary. Do you have any intention of becoming a soldier serving His Majesty the Emperor? I’ll put you and your entire mercenary corps into my formation.”
“I, really? It’s something I’ve always wanted!”
“Welcome. You are now a Centurion of the Empire. Take this letter of recommendation and go to Grand Duchess Helena of the Brass Knights. She will provide you with accommodations, and you can negotiate the salary yourself.”
Bring in a new hunting dog.
“If you’re going to disguise yourself, do it properly, you moldy things! If a merchant with no record of delivering to the Imperial Magic Workshop even three times suddenly came in with a load of magic reagents, wouldn’t you be suspicious?”
“Kwaaaaak!”
He burned to death the ignorant priest.
“Your Majesty the Grand Duke! During the construction of the new city’s underground waterway, a foreign object that had been sleeping underground has awakened. The current death toll is 122, and the number of victims is 325.”
“Who would call me at 3 in the morning… What the heck is that nonsense!?”
“It looks like a foreign object that was failed to be killed during the fall of the capital.”
“I’ll go right now.”
We faced an attack like a natural disaster.
* * *
“Archduke Valencian. Are you alright?”
As I entered a meeting of which I had no idea what kind of meeting it was, a bureaucratic nobleman spoke to me.
I nodded weakly and looked into the hand mirror.
In the mirror, a man with hollow cheeks and deep eyes was smiling as if he had lost his mind.
I don't even know what day it is today.
What time did you go to bed last night?
I think I went to bed just as I was watching the sun rise.
“……The fatigue relief potion is very effective. If you feel tired, try taking one.”
“Haha. Thank you. But these days, it’s so popular that low-level people like me don’t even have a chance to buy it.”
“That won’t work. Okay. While we’re at it, it might be a good idea to get regular supplies from the palace welfare department. If you make the documents, I’ll pay for them, so make them.”
“Haha. Are you telling me to create more documents here?”
“That’s true. Haha.”
While we were just talking nonsense, Helena came in.
“Valencianus.”
“It’s been a while, sis.”
It seems like this is a pretty important meeting since two Archduke's are gathered here.
It's probably a meeting that reports directly to Jaylilith.
I just wonder who will be given the important task of reporting the contents of this meeting.
A meeting of this scale would take hours just to organize the content.
As I was chuckling with that thought, the ministers gathered around and Helena began her presentation.
“The training of elite soldiers is progressing well. Specifically, we have secured 330 sword-user level soldiers, and the other soldiers are also capable of unconsciously controlling mana. The exchange rate with conscripts is about 19 to 1. The ultimate goal is to raise it to 25 to 1.”
She continued her presentation by writing various diagrams on a large piece of paper.
“It seems that by next spring, all soldiers will be able to go on an expedition. In particular, the recent surge in mercenaries has been quite effective in attracting them. ……The Commissioner General of Police has also made a reasonable point that they are rough guys and could have a long-term negative impact on the security of the capital. We are controlling this through the military chaplains. They have lived rough lives and are very religious.”
The next one to come out was Hadritan.
There were not two archduke's, but three.
Meeting management will become more complicated.
“The financial situation is also very good. The construction of a new city seemed to have worsened the financial instability, but it was able to be filled with tolls on the recently opened canal. Thanks to the active investment of the bourgeoisie, even the construction of the outer wall seems to be without problems. I hope you will take note of the claim that construction regulations should be relaxed a little.”
Starting with these two, high-ranking administrative nobles opened their mouths.
“The installation of the sacred streetlights is more than 60% complete. We will positively consider the deregulation as His Majesty Hardritan has mentioned.”
“The work of delivering the circuit diagrams of the sacred streetlights and the Yangsan sacred relics to the great lords of each region has been completed.”
“This is the Chief of Police. The search for the capital’s encroachers is progressing steadily. The number of encroachers belonging to large religious groups and those occurring naturally is increasing. The reason for the increase in the number of naturally occurring encroachers is believed to be anxiety due to the capital’s fall. In this regard, the Chief of Police……”
“This is a report from the Imperial Guard Intelligence Department. The source of the recent anti-imperial sentiment in the Doroisen capital area is the Corrosion Cult…….”
The situation on the continent, beyond the entire empire, began to be discussed here.
As I was momentarily distracted by the scale of the situation, the chief of staff came and placed a bundle of documents in front of me.
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thud!
It wasn't a 'bang!' but a heavy 'thud!' sound.
“Your Majesty Valencian. I now ask you to report to His Majesty.”
“Huh, huh? What did you say?”
“Now, you may report to His Majesty.”
The eyes of the administrative nobles all looked at me.
"ah."
It was only then that I remembered that I was the one reporting on this meeting.
world.
* * *
Late summer sunlight poured in through the glass windows behind the office.
The sound of cicadas crying was heard, and the Emperor's white hair caught the gaze of the God of Light and glowed the same color as her eyes.
“This is so peaceful.”
Jaylilith muttered listlessly after hearing my report.
I freaked out and checked to see if I had read the numbers wrong.
“Yes? I just reported that a large-scale demonic disaster occurred in the southern region, causing a total of 50,000 casualties, and that twelve knights were killed during the closing process.”
“Doesn’t that happen all the time? There are hundreds of millions of imperial subjects. Every day, hundreds of thousands of people die of old age. If the Demon Realm were to overflow, it would be easy to end it if only 50,000 people died.”
After thinking about it for a moment, I realized that Jaylilith was right.
If the devil had exploded and the country had not fallen, but had ended with 50,000 deaths, it would have been a good outcome, to the point where the response process should have been published and shared as a model case.
It seemed like he was feeling sleepy and his emotions were fluctuating.
“Call out the names of those knights. I should write a eulogy in their name and send it to them.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I will put it up.”
And the news that twelve knights were dead was more important than the news that Shin Min-su was dead.
Sadly, that's what happened.
“Then, Your Majesty, I will now go to see the enemy admiral.”
The preparation of the preparation of the preparation is complete.
Now it was time to prepare for the preparations.
Jaylilith said it as if it was a given.
“Let’s go together.”
I shook my head as if it was obvious.
“No, that won’t work.”
She asked with her eyes narrowed.
“Then do you intend to receive the oath of loyalty from the Red Admiral?”
“…….”
This question was somewhat ambiguous.
We learned that the enemy admiral's true identity was the mermaid princess.
It was bound to get very complicated, having to deal with the Red Admiral as both an Imperial Admiral and a Red Admiral as a foreign monarch at the same time.
And I was confident that I could unravel the complexity in one fell swoop.
Before the return, the Red Admiral was not a very prominent force.
With 'White Shark' Cariosa, 'High' Signine, 'Northern Duke' Severic, 'Golden' Grace, 'Iron Lord' Marcus, and 'Marshal of the Dark Palace' Cesar all rebelling, what could one southern admiral matter?
Just as our ancestors did, it would have been enough to solve it rationally.
For example, holding the spawning ground hostage and talking to it?
However, it was obvious that Jaylilith would wield not just a sword but the wheel of destruction against anyone who dared not submit to her will.
As I was unable to answer, she raised her chin in triumph.
In the midst of all this, her triumphant smile was as beautiful as an angel of the god of war.
Seeing that and being able to live was definitely a better benefit than the fatigue relief potion.
“What’s strange about Jim meeting Jim’s governor and admiral?”
“I’m sorry, but aren’t you planning on going and killing me right away?”
“What kind of monster is Jim… No, he’s a monster. But Jim still wants to see the southern seas.”
This was the true logic of invincibility.
She says she wants to see me, what can I say?
world.
* * *
Saya Yan lived in the room next to Rudi in the villa.
Normally, it would have been absurd for an assassin like her to be staying in the palace.
But now, through her black magic contract, she is unable to harm any members of the royal family or Rudy, and is able to sleep within the walls of the palace.
'You're late.'
Her day started at dawn like Rudy's.
The black-haired assassin jumped out of bed and headed to the servants' bathroom.
Chook, chook!
Because it was very important for an assassin to erase even the slightest body odor, Saya Yan washed her hair every morning with water infused with a special medicinal herb.
Even when drying her hair, she did not use the flower-scented towels of the servants, but rather used special towels that were dried only in the sun.
Her short hair has now grown long enough to be tied up.
She changed her clothes and tied her hair up.
He wore black trousers, a crisp cotton shirt, and a black vest.
The inside of the pants' pockets were modified to accommodate items needed for work, and the inside of the vest was made like a harness so that a dagger could be hidden.
After buttoning up two buttons, an exotic and androgynous-looking servant stood in the mirror.
In the capital's social circles, it became fashionable every few years to dress maids and attendants in the clothes of the opposite sex.
Since that culture was still popular, she could naturally follow Rudy in her neutral attire.
“Are you ready? Buy it.”
Rudy, who had already finished preparing, called her.
“Yes, Your Majesty Rudy.”
Although she never told anyone specifically, Saya Yan was afraid of Rudy.
“Then let’s go.”
She felt something beyond that soft voice, beyond those kind green eyes, beyond those graceful movements.
It was a delightful madness, peculiar to a man who, if it were his master's order, treated the work of preparing tea and the work of killing people with equal weight.
"yes."
For the nobility, even eating was a job.
The place Rudy had been invited to in the morning was a brunch party of the nobles of Mo Badge, where members of the House of Representatives who supported the recent imperial policies had gathered.
“We need to accept investments from the bourgeoisie, but we can’t just let them run wild trying to make money, right?”
“What do you think about tying up the land as a long-term lease?”
“Send an envoy to the Jahan Alliance and suggest that they adjust the loan interest rate. Then, if you leak that information, they will buy it on their own.”
It was a difficult story, but not so difficult that I couldn't understand it at all.
But since it was a story she couldn't use, Saya Yan spent more time becoming friendly with the maids and attendants brought by other nobles.
"hello."
“Oh. You are fluent in Imperial Language.”
“I studied hard.”
The exotically beautiful woman was popular with both men and women, and she was given several handkerchiefs.
'Why are you giving me this?'
Sayaya Yan didn't know yet that it was an after-holiday application.
In the afternoon there was a tea party for the wealthy aristocrats.
“Please expand the construction area for the new downtown workshop. As people gather, jobs are definitely needed.”
“Would a sunless lot west of the ivory tower be okay?”
“Of course. It’s not like I’m going to work there… Just kidding. Haha.”
To put it nicely, it's called oiling, to put it badly, it's called swindling.
The world of the nobles was not much different in the East or here.
puck!
“Heeeeeeping!”
As we were passing through a deserted warehouse street, rocks flew and the carriage stopped.
Rudy said with a giggle.
“It’s an attack. It could be highway robbers, it could be angry bourgeois who can’t make money, it could be a grand conspiracy by the encroaching powers. It doesn’t matter.”
Even this was no different.
“Kill them all.”
'Kill them all.'
Saya Yan nodded, thinking of her master, Tarti, who was no longer by her side.