Chapter 117
The Intelligence Agency was one of the government agencies that consumed the most money in the South.
That was because the scope of its activities was extremely broad.
First was surveillance of the North, which could be considered our current primary enemy. The North's affairs were intertwined with the monster waves, making them quite important to our Empire as well.
Next, the Intelligence Agency concentrated its information-gathering efforts domestically. It was pouring enormous resources into locating the Empire's nobles and uncovering corruption among Imperial bureaucrats.
Finally, there was the area where we projected our intelligence capabilities: overseas.
Although the Treaty of Bressen recognized each side's respective sphere of influence, I did not expect us to maintain good relations with the International League forever.
The total population of our Empire was 150 million.
There are few modern nations with populations exceeding 150 million, so the figure might not feel particularly impressive... but one had to remember that this world was still around the beginning of Earth's twentieth century.
That was more than the population of the United States in 1910. The United States possessed the world's highest GDP with that many people, while our Empire had an even larger population.
If we left things as they were, it was obvious that our Empire would smoothly claim the position of the world's strongest power.
The International League might have greater weight in sheer scale, but it was ultimately an alliance of multiple nations. It was our Empire, competing with the League's weight as a single nation, that was truly impressive.
Would the International League welcome the emergence of such an overwhelmingly dominant power?
Absolutely not. No one liked having a new master appear above them.
That was why I considered the International League one of our potential enemies as well. After the Treaty of Bressen gave both sides time to shore up their respective fronts—that is, the Empire's domestic politics and the International League's colonial stability—we would eventually clash.
Of course, because of the physical limitations of our personnel, there was a limit to the number of agents we could deploy throughout the nations belonging to the International League.
And to overcome that limitation, we were pouring in a considerable amount of money. Since we lacked personnel, we had to fill the gap through purchases and bribes.
When we laundered money and sent it overseas, half of the principal vanished. Gathering intelligence on foreign nations was truly like pouring water into a bottomless jar.
Besides, they had intelligence agencies of their own. We needed that much money to keep an eye on domestic affairs while dealing with foreign intelligence agencies at the same time.
That was why, whenever I looked at the money flowing into the Intelligence Agency each month, even I—who understood the importance of intelligence—often felt a sharp pain in my gut.
But...
"So, the nobles are seeking asylum overseas? How are the foreign nations reacting?"
"They are currently considering it positively. They appear to think they need some kind of leash to keep around the Empire."
"Yes, I suppose that's how they see it."
At times like this, all that money really did feel well spent.
Being able to receive overseas intelligence whenever we wanted was a tremendous help in making decisions.
"Is there any chance that the nations belonging to the International League will intervene directly to rescue them?"
"The Intelligence Agency considers that possibility extremely unlikely. They appear to be quite conscious of the Bressen Pact as well."
"So they haven't finished getting their colonies in order yet."
Indeed, the colonial ventures of the various nations were not going particularly well at present. Even within the International League, there were disputes over colonial interests.
While they were busy carving up who would claim which colonies, they did not want us interfering. They seemed to have adopted an attitude of welcoming us if we came, but not caring if we did not.
"So in the end, they've decided not to intervene actively."
That made things convenient for us as well.
We could move our warships without worrying about intervention from the great powers.
"Deploy the battleship Albion and the fleet under her command to the eastern waters. Make sure we can intercept them on the high seas the moment we see them trying to flee."
The nobles had mages of their own as well. As befitted the nobles' closest retainers, they must have several mages of the seventh circle or higher.
Arresting them in the middle of a city risked causing far too many casualties.
"And concentrate the Intelligence Agency assets that have been tracking the nobles here. If those bastards realize what's happening and flee, they'll become a real headache."
"I'll pass that along."
Lucilla said that and went outside.
With that, the fish trap meant to catch the Crown Prince and the nobles in one stroke was complete.
***
The past two weeks had truly been hellish days for the Crown Prince, who had spent his entire life being treated like royalty.
"It's a noble! One of those noble bastards!"
"They said they'd give us enough money to live for the rest of our lives if we capture a noble and report him! Get him!"
The people shouting those words were the very same people who had always knelt before him whenever he went out on provincial patrol.
Theodore had often gone on patrol because he liked seeing those people gaze up at him with faces full of awe and respect.
But now, he could not even find a trace of that look on the people's faces.
"Where do you think you're running!"
With farming-tool blades flying frighteningly toward him, Theodore fled as fast as his legs could carry him. There was nothing noble about his appearance anymore.
The faces of the commoners watching him held nothing but hatred and greed.
He wanted to reveal that he was the Empire's Crown Prince, but if he did, it was obvious that pursuit would follow.
Besides, he could not even trust that those commoner scum would understand him if he told them he was the Empire's Crown Prince.
What tormented him next was the people's reaction. No matter how much he did not want to hear it, he could not help hearing their voices as he headed east.
"I hear a wanted order has been issued for the former Crown Prince?"
"Ugh, he was always playing around with women. Serves him right."
"I hope they catch that bastard soon and put him on the guillotine..."
Everywhere was filled with sharp criticism, as though the adoration they had once shown him had all been a lie.
"Like father, like son. They're both the same kind of bastard. They played and ate their fill their whole lives, neglected the affairs of state, and did nothing but ruin the country..."
"Ugh, how did someone like that ever become Crown Prince...?"
"The last time that bastard's procession passed in front of our village, I had one hell of a time holding back all the curses I wanted to shout. The way he pretended to be benevolent and pretended to care about the people's livelihoods—what a hypocrite."
"Just let me catch that bastard again. Then I'll beat him half to death and drag him there myself."
The Crown Prince had already been weak and timid by nature.
Fearing the stigma of being an incompetent leader who had started a civil war, he had insisted on preserving peace in their time and shifted the blame for everything onto his subordinates.
Moreover, there had been no one in the Imperial Palace willing to hurl direct verbal abuse at the Crown Prince, so there had never even been a chance for his fragile mentality to improve.
In those circumstances, being forced to pass through while listening to all sorts of insults and denunciations was no different from torture for him.
When he realized that all the expressions on the people's faces had been false. When he had to silently endure their insults simply to stay alive.
He gritted his teeth and kept walking.
"Everyone's gone mad."
He could not admit his own mistakes. So he decided to blame everything on the people somehow.
"Well, what could those ignorant commoners possibly know about politics? There was no way those illiterate country bumpkins could understand how the world worked when they had not even received a proper education."
He blamed everything on the people's ignorance and stupidity.
Otherwise, he felt he would be unable to endure watching them curse him while praising Kyle Leopold.
Eating rock-hard bread dipped in soup as thin as water was also an ordeal. It was food commoners ate without difficulty, but the Crown Prince, who had been accustomed to quality food all his life, could not accept it.
The first time he ate the food commoners lived on, he vomited profusely.
"I have to eat this stuff?"
...That was what he thought as he did so.
Even so, a normal person should have learned something from the experience.
Theodore was experiencing firsthand how the Empire's subjects had lived until now. He was in the midst of directly experiencing how harsh and exhausting their lives were.
But rather than understand the people's suffering, Theodore only nurtured a desire for revenge in his heart.
"Ungrateful bastards who do not even know the Imperial family's benevolence."
A thousand years ago, his ancestor had personally founded the Empire after bringing the Age of Myth to an end. Every subject of the Empire lived atop the blood shed by the Imperial family.
And yet they treated him like this.
These ungrateful bastards... he would never forget them.
Clinging to his pointless stubbornness, Theodore arrived at the eastern port city of Karmosa.
Karmosa's scenery was far brighter than that of the Central cities he had seen so far. Modernized by Kyle for nearly five years, the city was growing rapidly and filling people's hearts with vitality.
But Theodore deliberately turned his gaze away from the sight.
It was only after reaching the vicinity of the eastern port that he finally made contact with the surviving nobles.
Following the secret signals passed down through the Imperial family, he found the place where a group of surviving nobles had gathered.
"Your Highness, you're alive!"
"I won't die until I get revenge on these ungrateful bastards."
"Thank goodness. We bribed a captain and acquired an entire 2,000-ton transport ship!"
Only then could Theodore once again be treated as befitted a Crown Prince. To these nobles, he was still the Empire's lawful heir.
Being treated that way made Theodore forget everything he had seen on the way there.
The only thing left in his mind was the people's ingratitude.
Being treated once again as he had been during his days as Crown Prince made him feel as though he could do anything.
And finally.
"We must depart on a day when the sea fog is as thick as it is today!"
The nobles made a desperate attempt to escape.