Chapter 6
“So this time, the Romper Church sent us… holy water. Honestly, I was so grateful, but I wondered, “Is it really okay to accept something like this?” But since they gave it as an investment… I also thought, “Ah, I must repay them someday. I must make sure our Maselin Kingdom becomes prosperous so I can definitely repay them.””
“As expected of Mirne…! How can your heart be so pretty and beautiful?”
At the exact moment when a thin layer of ice was forming in the Round Table Conference Room,
Second Prince Bedin was in his room, conversing with the Maselin Kingdom’s First Princess Mirne through an Artifact.
The topic of conversation was investment.
Starting with everyday talk and then shifting the flow into full-scale national administration.
This was a result that Mirne had been guiding to some extent.
[I must never show that I want something material.]
The key was to naturally make the other person feel like they were filling my deficiencies.
To do that, rather than directly asking for something…
“But the holy water wasn’t just any holy water… It was something deeply imbued with the power of that Religious Order. You have no idea how amazing it felt.”
“Uh, huh? But that kind of holy water… Ah, well, it’s not holy water, of course, but the Bellos Empire has that kind of elixir too!”
Making the other party bring it up first was the core strategy.
Mentioning another male party in front of the man before her, naturally making him draw comparisons.
Making him say on his own that he could provide something similar.
This was the core of the conversation.
“Yes? Ah, I know you have them. It is the great Bellos Empire, after all. Made by the Great Prophet…”
“Wow, Mirne, you even know our Empire’s history?”
“Of course. I’ve always thought the Bellos Empire was incredibly cool.”
Furthermore, just because the other party bit the bait didn’t mean she should foolishly yank the fishing rod up right away.
Just like real fishing, she had to create a distance where she could easily pull him up to the surface with a push and pull.
“Hehe, come to think of it, you said you wanted to see and learn many things from our Empire, Mirne, which is why I sent you so many talented people!”
“Yes, that’s right. So right now, everyone is packing their bags… and we’re also making many preparations on our end to send them back safely to the Bellos Empire.”
“Preparing? You need to prepare?”
“Well, there are a lot of people. We have to be thorough about their travel, since they are precious talents.”
“Hmm, the Bellos Empire’s talents are returning… but the Maselin Kingdom is preparing for it? It must be a burden since there are so many of them. If that’s the case…”
As the conversation continued naturally like that.
Mirne, who was preparing to extract something new from the Empire while simultaneously steering the topic sideways, thought:
[Why isn’t the answer popping out right away?]
She was puzzled as she watched Bedin, who didn’t quickly follow up “If that”s the case - ' with 'we’ll prepare it on our end.'
And in fact, Bedin would normally immediately have said that the Empire would prepare it, but…
[What if my brother doesn’t give permission right away again?]
Once he recalled the angry face of his older brother, the Crown Prince, his lips wouldn’t easily part.
But when he thought about it, the overall authority regarding the Maselin Kingdom - meaning from investments to dispatching personnel - rested with him.
[Shouldn’t it be fine to just do this much? No, I’m part of the Imperial Family too, so what does it matter?]
Just as he was about to say lightly that the Bellos Empire would bear the cost.
“You cannot, you cannot enter.”
“It is the command of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Are you above His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?”
“That’s not it, but His Royal Highness the Second Prince ordered not to let anyone in…”
“Is the Second Prince above His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?”
Thud!
After a brief commotion, the door to the Second Prince’s room was violently thrown open.
Violently opening the door of an Imperial Family member as if threatening that person was a crime worthy of Summary Execution.
Moreover, Bedin hated having his moments talking with Mirne interrupted by anyone.
Wanting to show off his manliness while Mirne was listening to the situation, he deliberately raised his voice louder.
“Who is it! What on earth is the meaning of this…!”
However, upon seeing the person entering the room, his face stiffened hard.
If one traced the genealogy and called him affectionately, he was an uncle.
And strictly speaking in an Official capacity, he was a Grand Master.
He was a superhuman who had never once turned his back in any battle and had forgotten defeat.
Grand General Akam Bellos.
“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has commanded that you come to the Round Table Conference Room immediately.”
He was the sharpest and most massive sword by the Emperor’s side.
Convinced that he had no talent for running a country, even after the Emperor disappeared…
He voluntarily placed himself under the Crown Prince, swearing to be the sword that protected him.
As he delivered the message, he detected an unauthorized energy in the room simultaneously.
Tap.
With a light flick of his hand, he instantly severed the connection with the Maselin Kingdom.
“Even so, isn’t this too much?! I have a life too, and I have relationships, yet you just barge in like this…!”
He was scared at first, but he was also a member of the Imperial Family.
Bedin gathered his resolve and stood confidently before the Grand General.
Not only did he barge in while he was on a call with Mirne, but he also arbitrarily cut off the connection.
Now he couldn’t even show off a cool image of standing up to the Grand General.
[Still, I can at least tell her later that something like this happened.]
It did not matter if his older brother had called for him.
An explanation of why he was being called was necessary, and depending on that explanation, he could decide whether to go or not.
He felt that doing this so abruptly wasn’t right.
“Corruption has been discovered during the investment process in the Maselin Kingdom, and this summons is to hold you accountable.”
But the Grand General’s subsequent words made the Second Prince even more dumbfounded.
“No, even so… And corruption during the investment process? Are you saying he’s going to cut off the investments to the Maselin Kingdom? That makes absolutely no sense! Weren’t the terms of those investments already decided from the start? I will have a separate conversation with my brother later! There is absolutely no corruption in the investment process! It would be better for me to speak with him separately!”
Corruption? What kind of corruption could there be in an investment made to the Maselin Kingdom out of pure and loving intentions?
He had even meticulously looked over it himself. So, corruption? There was no way it existed.
“A refusal, then.”
It was seeing the Grand General savor the word 'refusal' so calmly compared to his own anger.
[Is he just going to go back?]
My brother still likes me, after all.
The Second Prince felt such relief and waited for the Grand General to leave quickly.
“When he said it didn’t matter if I knocked you out, did he say that foreseeing it would come to this?”
The Grand General continued speaking calmly while looking at the Second Prince.
“Yes? What does tha…”
With a dull thud, the Second Prince’s head snapped to the side before he could even finish his sentence, and his lights went out completely.
+++++
“…fair, it’s unfair! How can you change matters now that the Second Prince has already approved everything!”
“You refuse to say you were wrong until the very end. Are you afraid that the moment you say those words, the charges will become true? But they are already no longer just charges, so what use is it even if you don’t admit it?”
What is this sound?
“That’s not it! It was all part of the investment process!”
“During that investment process, the exterior of your mansion changed, and you acquired land in the Maselin Kingdom.”
“That was strictly for the Bellos Empire…!”
“Then why is the land acquired in the Maselin Kingdom registered under your name and not the Empire’s? You even sold the crops grown there back to the Bellos Empire at a high price.”
“…I didn’t sell them at a high price, I simply placed a high value on the labor!”
“Hahaha! Right! The value of labor! How amusing!”
Even with his blurry vision, the chaotic voices around him pierced his ears.
His last memory was definitely of refusing his brother’s summons, delivered by his uncle.
[What happened?]
Continuously gathering his senses, which showed no signs of returning easily.
The Second Prince listened closely to the sounds pouring in from his surroundings.
“The amusing things just never end. What did you say earlier? The bridge in the Maselin Kingdom built using the Bellos Empire’s resources - it is only right that the tolls collected there should fill the Empire’s treasury… Yet when it was discovered that they were going into your pockets, what did you say?”
“I-I said that since the tolls must be used entirely for transit purposes again… I-I was temporarily keeping them.”
“Right! Keeping them. But usually, what do we call it when you arbitrarily spend what you’re keeping?”
“…I called it financing according to fluid situations.”
The bridge in the Maselin Kingdom? Right, he definitely remembered.
Because Mirne had said it would be nice to have a very large bridge.
He remembered using the Empire’s resources and technology to build a very magnificent bridge for her.
If it had been up to him, he would have just given it to Mirne.
But the kind-hearted Mirne said she couldn’t accept something built by the Empire.
She said that she couldn’t casually peek at the Empire’s technology, let alone take the tolls.
She said she would leave all aspects like maintenance entirely to the Empire.
[I remember telling my brother to leave it unconditionally to me back then… and he even encouraged me to do well with the High Officials.]
Why was that story coming up now?
He was sure his brother had said it was all good back then, even praising him for thinking of building a bridge.
As the Second Prince’s mind raced, his vision finally began to recover.
The first thing he saw in his recovering vision was…
“To tell the truth, I have absolutely no intention of conversing with you. I merely wanted to see your attitude when faced with your crimes.”
“W-what on earth does that…?”
“However, that attitude of yours, shouting loudly even in the face of your crimes and still claiming you are innocent, is truly displeasing. Lower it.”
“Yes.”
Slash!
It was the sight of the area below the knees of the Nobles who had handled the Maselin Kingdom investments alongside him floating up into the air.
Even though their severed legs floated above the Round table and then crashed to the floor.
Not a single drop of blood splattered; instead, there was the smell of burning flesh.
Sol Bellos.
The blazing Aura reminiscent of the Sun cauterized their legs as it severed them.
“Kuaaaaaaagh!”
“Uuuuaaaaaaagh!”
“Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince! Your Royal Highness! How! How could you do this!”
“Kheuheuuuugh!”
“I was wrong! I was wrong! I was wrong!”
The five great Nobles who had handled the Maselin Kingdom investments with him.
They rolled on the floor, vomiting screams.
“Grand General, are you watching?”
“Yes, I am watching.”
“To think that only after cutting off one’s legs does one finally confess to one’s crimes… Haha, only beasts need to be punished to listen… How could Nobles of the Bellos Empire show such disgraceful behavior?”
“I believe that perhaps they might not actually be Nobles of the Bellos Empire. Would Nobles of the Bellos Empire ever show such disgraceful behavior?”
“So that was it… I am merely amazed by the Grand General’s insight. How brilliant, wouldn’t you agree?”
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.
The sound of applause erupted out of nowhere.
Hearing that applause, the Second Prince couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality.
He had definitely regained his senses and his vision had recovered.
[Is what I’m seeing right now… truly reality?]
The Nobles sitting at the Round table like they were dead, their heads bowed low.
Their close aides vomiting in agony as the area below their knees vanished in an instant.
And in such a situation, the Crown Prince marveling at the Grand General’s brilliance, and the Grand General expressing his gratitude.
Finally, even the Imperial Guard Knights giving sincere applause while looking at the Crown Prince and the Grand General.
“Ah, aaaaah…”
Only then did the Second Prince realize where he was sitting.
The opposite ends of the round table.
The only seat where he could face the Crown Prince.
His close aides were rolling around nearby with their legs cut off.
The rest of the High Officials were all sitting huddled on his brother’s side.
No one was sitting in the seats around him.
What did this mean?
[I don’t know, I don’t know.]
Forcing himself to look away from reality, the Second Prince slowly opened his mouth.
“B-brother… I-it seems a mistake occurred during the investment process… I can fix it all, yeah? I can fix it, so…”
There was no need for this, no need to be so extreme.
He could solve it all himself. Whenever he said this, his brother always told him he believed in him.
But now.
“Yes, Second Prince. That is why I am personally fixing it right now.”
A coldly chilled gaze was facing him.
Could this be? Could he change like this?
, as if he had made up his mind to change in an instant…?
While his thoughts were twisting into a complex knot.
In real time, the Nobles who had handled the Maselin Kingdom’s investments were being carried away by the Imperial Guard Knights.
How on earth was this all happening?
+++++
He was looking at the Second Prince, who still hadn’t come to his senses.
[But thanks to you, I couldn’t hide my shock either.]
I immediately brought up the shocking contents reported by the Grand General.
“Is it true that the Second Prince possesses an Artifact in his Private Quarters that allows him to personally contact the First Princess of the Maselin Kingdom?”
“Eh, eh? Uh, uh… Y-yes… That’s correct. I possess it and have been contacting her.”
When I was reading the novel, there definitely wasn’t any Artifact like that.
Hah, just how far has the Novel Progress gone?
But right now, there was something more important than figuring out the Novel Progress.
“And that through this contact, you are discussing not only private matters but public ones as well?”
Namely, what on earth was he talking about with the Princess?
If it was just a private conversation, it could be seen as his using it like 21st-century social media.
But if he was using it for public purposes too? If that is the case.
“Yes? Yes, b-but that is strictly being used under the authority of the Second Prince, so…”
“Hah.”
I wondered how he was selling out the country.
Turns out he was selling it out while coordinating with the other party in real time from his own room.
“…”
So many ways to destroy the Second Prince popped into my head that I debated what to do first.
But the very first thing I had to do was…
“Second Prince, summon every single Noble who conducted Maselin Kingdom-related affairs alongside you.”
It was to completely cut down all the leeches clinging to this idiot and taking advantage of him.