How to Live as a Tyrant’s Spoiled Brat Chapter 89

How to live as a tyrant’s spoiled brat Episode 89

(89)

Cornell took a deep breath.

The hand holding the cane was shaking slightly.

“It’s not that I haven’t thought about that.”

“Then why are you hesitating? Do you have a shortage of funds? Or are you not confident that you will be elected? If you get my signature, you won’t even need to go through a registration review.”

“Neither… … No. I have secured my share for myself and my subordinates, and the people here support me, so I am confident that I will be elected. But.”

“but.”

“I don’t know if I can do that.”

She walked over to the window that hadn’t been opened yet.

I stood next to him without saying a word.

And then someone pointed a finger.

“Do you know about that person?”

“His name is Jang. He wears a black wool coat and is missing two fingers. He joined my organization quite late, but he is honest and capable and quickly blends in. He learned design work in the past and is still working in that field. He has three younger brothers to support. Their names are… … .”

“Enough. That’s enough. Do you know about that guy?”

Cornell narrowed his eyes for a moment.

“Mrs. Eri. She came from outside after losing her family in the war. She was a devout believer in the Gwangmyeong Church, and was very wary of me when she found out that I served Amon, but now she treats me like a daughter. She is good at math, but she is very cruel, so I didn’t give her any administrative work.”

“That person?”

“Piest. He was an orphan who followed the mercenary group. He was a hot-blooded young thug who came under my command. He was good at taking care of people like him. He was the one who proposed to wipe away the filth with ashes.”

“That person?”

“Benton. Born here. A believer in Amon. I crack down on and catch bootleggers. I recently got a girlfriend.”

Cornell’s answer was without a hitch.

This time I pointed to a building.

It was a long, two-story building under construction.

“What workshop is that building connected to?”

“That place is a branch workshop of a workshop operated by the upper level that receives subcontracts from the Ivory Tower. They are going to process low-grade reagents that require a lot of labor and consumption. … … It was very difficult to obtain the contract. Among the executives of that workshop, there was one who was stabbed by a thug from the poor past, and he said that I was the one who took down the organization that the thug belonged to.”

“That building?”

“This is the second brick factory to be built. It is the only one in the materials guild that does not have a limit on the number of companies that can join, so we were able to build it on our own initiative. Since it is mostly used internally, there was little conflict with existing companies.”

“Then what about that building?”

It was a neat building, with the roof already neatly covered.

“This is a gift from His Majesty the King. It is a warehouse where supplies from the Gwangmyeong Church are stored.”

“The line is long. I think I’m getting something.”

“We created a table that only works within our slums, using the silver we received as the base asset. By bringing that in, we are providing rations, thereby protecting the silver and stabilizing prices.”

“I think there might have been some backlash?”

“From the beginning, we have made a mark on the mainstream through signature campaigns. And we do not use the power of the god Amon only when we are transporting materials.”

She laughed like a wolf.

I nodded.

“Yes, Cornell, you have all the qualities a Congressman should have.”

“yes?”

“You know the buildings here, you know the economic structure here, you know the crime here, you know the love here. That means you know the people. You love this street.”

Cornell gritted his teeth and trembled.

“I hate this street. It’s where my father spent his whole life trying to escape, but ended up dying as a gang leader. I’m going to tear it all down and leave nothing of its original form behind.”

“Love and hate are separated by a thin sheet of paper. This kind of destruction, I, a high-ranking official, would call it a great redevelopment. It’s not often that you get a chance to start over from scratch with a city plan. If you weren’t a member of the council, I would appoint you as an imperial administrator.”

Cornell bowed his head.

“I am not a good person. I killed hundreds of people to destroy this street with my own hands.”

I also bowed my head.

“That is also a skill that a member of parliament needs. When it is time to join hands, join hands, and when it is time to break away. How to compromise and how not to compromise.”

“A better person should become a member of the National Assembly.”

“What is a good person? A person who is not hated?”

“!”

“There’s no one who can do this without shedding a drop of blood. Yes. The gang bosses who originally ruled this street must really hate you. Being hated by those guys means you’re doing well.”

Cornell had no answer.

I could see the strength in the back of his hand holding the cane.

I glanced at Lord Tentia’s expression and asked in a lowered voice.

“Was all of this fun?”

“!”

Her clever and intelligent eyes shook with astonishment.

“Uh, how… did you… know…?”

“I told you. I am what a little kid like you would be like if he grew up two years later. I know what you felt. The sense of accomplishment you get when you make a plan and it goes smoothly. The satisfaction you get from meeting people, connecting with people, and growing together with them. The feeling of power that changes the world just like you thought.”

And then, I continued speaking, laughing.

“Sometimes, when I’m a little tired, I have doubts about whether I’m doing the right thing. I feel regretful that I may have shed too much blood on the path I started walking with good intentions.”

I don’t know that actually.

The only regret I have in life is that I lived as a scoundrel in my youth before my return, and more precisely, because of that time, I was unable to reach my true level and directly confront the rebel prince Justinian.

But there was no need to tell the whole truth.

“ah…….”

“That’s also a talent that a member of the National Assembly needs. I’ll sign the petition. There’s still a lot of time left until the candidate registration period, so don’t worry. And if you don’t run, those who still think this is the same slum from back then will come and hunt people down, saying they’re carrying out a cleanup operation.”

Cornell looked up.

“That’s… that’s not right. How could it have been changed like this?”

“Now there will be people who will crawl in here and pretend to do something to get votes.”

“It’s annoying. I want to bury it all.”

“You won’t let those guys steal your achievements, will you?”

Having said that, I turned around.

There was no need to say any more.

I escaped the slums along a deserted road.

“Let’s catch the carriage,” said Sir Tentia, breaking the long silence.

“Your Highness the Grand Duke of Valen. May I ask you something?”

“of course.”

“Didn’t Your Majesty want her to take care of the slums forever?”

I said with a faint smile.

“Yeah. That’s why I told you to become a congressman.”

“!”

“What does a congressman do? He treats well the people who voted for him and supported him. Do you think a congressman from a slum can get out of the slum? Now, Cornell is willing to stay there.”

Sir Tentia took a deep breath.

“Do you remember what Kyung said? You told that young friend Alsen that you were acting like a lord.”

“Yes, I did.”

“In a way, it’s not entirely wrong. In the sense that it makes you interested in the people who gave you power.”

A hollow smile appeared on her manly face.

“Your Majesty, you really… … I can’t understand what you’re thinking. You seem like a real scoundrel, but you also seem like a royal who loves his country. Which one is the real one?”

I smiled playfully and shrugged.

“I don’t know. It’s either both or neither. Maybe we’ll find out when we go back today and practice swordsmanship?”

“Then you must be a loser.”

“Hahahaha.”

Three days later.

In a district that had not had a representative elected since the slums were created, candidates began registering for the first time.

The first to register was a girl with one leg who was only 16 years old.

* * *

A room in a high-class bar in the red-light district.

Middle-aged and elderly congressional candidates were raising their voices.

“Does this make any sense?”

“A sixteen-year-old is running as a candidate for the seat, and the dignity of the Imperial Capital’s parliament has fallen to the ground.”

“She creates unions on her own and incites people, and she prints military stamps on her own and monopolizes supplies. She’s a total lunatic.”

“They say that she is a heretic who does not believe in the Gwangmyeong Shinto religion. She should be burned at the stake immediately.”

“Alsen, please say something.”

The young senator who had been robbed of his gold by Valencian emptied his glass of wine and smiled bitterly.

“Aren’t we all defeated in other places and pushed to the old slums? Even if we had ten mouths, what would we have to say?”

A middle-aged woman clicked her tongue.

“Our combined approval ratings are less than one-fifteenth of that woman’s, no matter how much money we throw at her.”

“How can you beat a woman who gives you jobs and rations right away? Stupid and mean people only like things that give without thinking about the future. When you think about the future, you need to make healthy investments.”

The upper class man wearing a fancy suit sighed.

The man with the scar under his eye emptied his glass and spoke.

“To be blunt, there is little we can do to raise our approval ratings. We have to bring her ratings down and split those votes.”

“How do you mean drop it?”

“Even if they seem to be able to eat and live well these days, they are all essentially poor people. The fear of erosion and the fear of human hunting under the pretext of it will inevitably remain. Let’s expose that woman for worshipping the old.”

All the assembled candidates clicked their tongues.

“Is there anyone here who doesn’t know that?”

“It’s already an open secret.”

The scarred man shook his head.

“Knowing something and seeing a werewolf in broad daylight are two completely different things. I happened to come across some blessed silver-plated weapons that are supposed to reveal the true nature of the encroachers… … but I need someone to use them.”

The blessed silver-plated weapon that is supposed to reveal the true nature of the eroders is somehow impossible to obtain.

But no one wanted to point that out.

“I have several younger brothers who are former mercenaries.”

“I also help kids from the old red-light district.”

I heard voices here and there saying that I could bring a few people.

Then Alsen opened his mouth.

“Don’t you all know that behind that Cornell is the Archduke Valencian?”

“!”

“We are just commoners after all. He is the kind of guy who would go so far as to kill a member of the royal family. We need a solid solution.”

“Why don’t we aim for a moment when as many people as possible are gathered? There’s something called public opinion, right?”

The man with the knife said.

Alsen continued, saying that was not enough.

“The church must be able to see it. Helping a woman who serves the old is like turning against the church. Even she cannot openly go against the church that is joined by His Majesty the Emperor.”

The middle-aged woman said.

“Let’s aim for the prayer meeting in front of the temporary church on Sunday. I’m sure she’ll speak there.”

Voices of approval were heard here and there.

“How dare you try to satisfy your own selfish desires during the sacred prayer time.”

“It shows everyone the true nature of a sinner.”

* * *

A temporary church made by connecting large tents and using a platform.

It was a Sunday of free healing and purification, and when word spread that their hero Cornell was giving a speech, crowds of people showed up.

Cornell, who stood before them with a fluttering heart, gritted his teeth and exhaled heavily.

He was shaking, holding the arrow embedded in his body.

[We changed our lives with our own hands. We can do it too.]

The speech I had just been reading became blurry.

“Bring Cornell!”

The organization’s executives surrounded her to protect their leader.

Among the people, swordsmen with silver weapons rushed out, and silver arrows flew from tall buildings.

The executives who were hit by it mutated into werewolves, screaming terribly mixed with weak mental waves.

“……no.”

Cornell muttered as he was carried down from the podium by his subordinates.

Her cunning and intelligent instincts screamed that if she went down now, it would be the end.

Jang, Aunt Eri, Piest, Benton, and the people who had been laughing and cheering at her all had stiff faces.

The priest of the church and the seminarians who had been faithfully helping her up until now shouted in indignation.

Someone said.

They say that fate begins with beginner’s luck and ends with the harshest of tests.

Cornell cried for the first time since his father’s death.

The downfall came at its most brilliant moment.