Chapter 11
In comics, there are Characters like that.
Characters who are incredibly competent, cool, and outstanding, but always busy playing around.
Usually, these Characters are symbols of cheerfulness, leaving annoying paperwork to subordinates who are just as competent as they are, and.
They perform various eccentricities that bring laughter to the viewers.
[Overflowing with a sense of justice, refreshing… slightly foolish but full of humanity, Characters like that.]
The core of these Characters is that, ultimately, the results of all their actions are for a greater cause or yield positive outcomes.
[Maybe it’s because he decided to give everything to a woman, but it’s just disgusting.]
The sight of Kailen, seen through the shared vision of Silphiner, was far from that.
[Anyway, this is incredibly useful.]
The Wind Spirit, Silphiner.
Perhaps because she was a Spirit in an Ally position who helped the Protagonist from the beginning.
Her movement speed was ridiculously fast, and she even allowed for shared vision.
Her utility performance was absurd.
On top of that, her cost-effectiveness was amazing.
Even though I had been watching Kailen for quite a long time, there was no burden on my body at all.
Of course, this might also be possible because the original owner of this body, the Crown Prince, possessed ridiculous power.
[He’s so strong that it’s incomprehensible how he acted like a pushover with this kind of power.]
Just how nice and foolish must a person be to just sit and watch the Empire fall to ruin while having this kind of power?
I couldn’t understand it at all, but since it wasn’t something I could solve right now, I decided to move on.
“By now, everyone should be about done getting ready.”
Judging that I had slept in enough, I raised my body from the bed.
Since I said it would be good to receive the report as soon as I woke up, the time I woke up would be the deadline.
To extend the deadline as much as possible, I deliberately rolled around in bed, and.
I opened the door at the point when I thought it was finally time.
“Haha, I wonder if everyone is doing this all for nothing because of my greed.”
“Not at all. How could we call it His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s greed? We also found great joy while working.”
“I am glad to hear you say that.”
As soon as I opened it, what I saw were the Officials standing in a row against the wall opposite the door.
All the Officials who had participated in yesterday’s State Council were holding documents in their hands, studying my mood.
It was a very proud sight to behold.
“I will receive them in order. Haha, come to think of it, the Chancellor is standing first in line despite his high position. Impressive.”
“Naturally, as I hold a high position, shouldn’t I fulfill the responsibilities and duties appropriate for it? It is not something worthy of praise.”
“It is only right that you receive praise.”
Saying that, I gave a look to the Maid standing next to me, and.
The Maid tactfully spread both hands, preparing to receive the documents.
Stack, stack.
At the point when the documents were piling up on the Maid’s hands.
[Come to think of it, I do need to reply to the letter sent directly to me.]
First, after I finish reading this Eastern Report.
I should give an appropriate reply.
“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, I have received them all.”
While I was briefly lost in thought, at the words that the document collection was finished.
“Ah, right. The High Officials have worked hard as well, so everyone rest easy today… I guarantee there will be no State Council.”
“Your grace is immeasurable.”
I dismissed the Officials, and I ordered the Maid to move the documents to the office.
[Grand Duke of the East, I really hope you at least kept the line while giving everything away.]
I hoped he played within the bounds of common sense.
If not, and he played around stupidly like the Second Prince.
[Tsk.]
Then I can’t help it either.
Just before I took a step to Check the documents like that.
“Ah.”
As if remembering something, I spoke to the Imperial Guard Knight following behind me.
“Come to think of it, are there any people dispatched from the Northern Region and the Eastern Region inside the Imperial Palace?”
I checked for a variable I might be missing, and.
“I will Check immediately.”
“Check, and if there are, I would like to see them. Ah, for reference, bring them kindly.”
“I shall follow your command.”
As soon as the Imperial Guard Knight heard my words, he took out a Sun Bell from his arms and rang it.
Cleaning is originally like this.
No matter how much you do it, there’s no end, and you wonder when it will be over.
But it’s something that must be done.
That was cleaning.
+++++
“Kailen Marin! How can you neglect your duties as a Grand Duke and focus all your energy on playing around!”
“Father, I’m not playing around, I’m exploring the vast sea.”
“From what I know, I heard you’re lending out speedboats to the Maselin Kingdom on an almost semi-permanent basis?”
“It’s an investment! An investment in the Maselin Kingdom! It’s so we can be the first to bring in anything precious that comes from there!”
“And the story about you trying to buy it at the highest price?”
“You have to pay the appropriate price for precious things so there won’t be any trouble later.”
Jabairen Marin, he let out a deep sigh while looking at his son.
When he succeeded the Grand Duke title, he certainly thought his son would shine a brighter light on the future of the Eastern Region than himself.
But upon opening the lid, he was just a child who liked to play.
[It’s not like I can take it back now, either.]
Still, the fortunate thing was that competent Officials were still firmly supporting the pillars, and.
his son’s ability to discover rare Artifacts was incredibly outstanding.
How he managed to find treasures in the sea so well and store them neatly in the safe.
It was no exaggeration to say that the Eastern Region was continuing to grow wealthy and powerful through that one ability alone.
“Come to think of it, are you continuing to pay attention to the goods to be sent to the Empire?”
“I haven’t been able to properly provide support to the Maselin Kingdom because I’ve been paying attention to that all this time. It’s been so long since I made a promise to Crown Princess Mirne…”
“Why on earth are you paying attention to the Maselin Kingdom?”
“Because I see tremendous potential! And imagine if I were to be tied to the Crown Princess of a Kingdom with such potential? How great would that be?”
“Hoho.”
Whether it was something said out of a childish heart or seriously thinking about the future of the Eastern Region.
Jabairen found it difficult to properly grasp the true intent of those words.
[Lately… I’m so curious about how the Empire is running lately.]
According to the rumors he heard, a bloodstorm was blowing in The Center.
He was so curious if his son was this thoughtless despite knowing that.
Thus.
“Do you know what is happening in the Imperial Center?”
Jabairen tested his son, and.
“I heard they are recalling all the support and investments for the Maselin Kingdom. I wondered if the aftermath would reach the Eastern Region too, so I did send a carrier pigeon.”
“You sent a carrier pigeon? To whom?”
“To Brother Crown Prince, of course. Who else?”
Smack.
As soon as he heard his son’s answer, he smacked his forehead.
No matter if he was a Grand Duke, he sent a direct message to the Crown Prince, who could safely be considered to be in the Emperor’s position right now?
[If he says he sent it, he must have sent it to the Private Quarters, right? Hah.]
Normally, he wouldn’t even care, but.
The current movements of the Empire were unusual, so how could he act so rashly?
[Still, the current Grand Duke is my son, so it’s also strange to interfere too excessively.]
In his heart, Jabairen wanted to meddle in this and that, but.
He just gave up, thinking the act itself might lead to bad results, and.
The Grand Duke of the East, Kailen, completely unaware of his father’s feelings, moved his steps to the office without much thought.
As soon as he went, looking at the moderately piled documents.
“Now then, shall I process the work quickly?”
With his father’s words in mind, he resolved to work for the first time in a while, and.
A subordinate who heard that resolve quickly stuck to his side and began reciting today’s schedule.
“First, we must thoroughly Check the goods to be sent to the Empire. I believe this is the third time I’m telling you, but marine products are a given, and we must also not forget the Artifacts obtained through this Sea Ruin Exploration, the Voyage Logbook and maps, and the taxes.”
“Hmm, if I tell Brother Crown Prince, I think he’ll let it slide to some extent… He actually let it slide a few times, didn’t he?”
“If he keeps letting it slide over and over, it will set a bad example for the Local Nobles. Why would the Nobles try to follow rules that even the Grand Duke doesn’t follow?”
“That’s true, but… Hmm, I want to give more proper support to the Maselin Kingdom, you see.”
Listening to those words slowly, Kailen already felt bored.
“Come to think of it, the talents sent from the Imperial Center, aside from them, the talents sent from our Eastern Region are still there, right?”
“Yes, of course. If you are talking about the Port Construction Personnel, that is correct.”
“Mhm, since Mirne said it would be good if the port was wider.”
Kailen subtly raised the corners of his mouth when the story about the Maselin Kingdom came up.
[No matter how much support I give, it doesn’t even show that I supported them.]
A country that lacks no matter how much you keep giving and giving.
That place was exactly Maselin.
A small and fragile country, and my delicate love in that country.
He still couldn’t forget their first meeting.
The day he happened to have a reason to go directly to the Maselin Kingdom and went by ship.
“Mmm… Just thinking about it is nice.”
Around the time he was reluctantly giving approvals for the documents while having such happy imaginations.
CRASH!
Suddenly, the window of the office where Kailen was staying shattered, and.
Kieeeek!
A red bird that looked fierce just by a glance perched on the windowsill.
“W-What is this…?!”
The subordinate was startled, and.
“…This is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s carrier pigeon, Pirande.”
Kailen slowly approached with a stiff face, looking at the bird that broke the window.
The Crown Prince doesn’t use his carrier pigeon.
Because it’s too violent, ferocious, and unkind to any living creature other than its Master.
[But it’s incredibly smart, no, I know it’s not a bird suitable to be used as a carrier pigeon in the first place…]
In fact, showing how smart it was even now, it smoothly pulled out the letter tied to its leg with its beak, and.
Ptoo.
It threw it on the floor as if spitting.
Kieeeek!
Then, as if to show off, it shrieked once again to flaunt its majesty, and.
Flap.
It flew back toward the Empire with a face that said its business was all done.
“Hah.”
Just what kind of content was it that he even used Pirande to deliver the letter?
The moment Kailen unfolded the letter with such a question.
“…”
He was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t say anything.
[Let’s meet soon]
Without any words on where or how they were meeting.
Just those words blindly saying let’s meet soon.
“Eh? Let’s meet soon? Why did Brother Crown Prince send a message with something like this? But by meeting, does it mean I have to go, or is he coming here?”
Kailen failed to fathom the true meaning of this phrase.
+++++
The office, which had now become comfortable.
“He was appointed as a Grand Duke, but it’s not like he was given a piece of the country and told to play King.”
Looking at the Eastern Analysis Report submitted by the Officials, a hollow laugh escaped me.
No matter if he was a Grand Duke, he shouldn’t be able to play around above Imperial Law.
Regarding taxes, and the tributes that rightfully had to be sent to the Imperial Center.
He had played a lot of tricks.
He was even sending the profits gained from playing those tricks to Maselin’s side.
[But come to think of it, Maselin shouldn’t need support with just this much, so why do they keep receiving support?]
Just listening to the amount of support reported so far.
It was only right that the Maselin Kingdom should be much more powerful than its currently known level.
Despite that, the idiots of the Empire kept saying that the Maselin Kingdom was weak.
The possibility that the Maselin Kingdom might be deceiving the Empire popped into my head.
[It’d be quicker to see it as them cosplaying as weak, since they won’t get support if they show signs of getting stronger.]
Every time they kept giving, if they said, 'It’s fine now, you can stop giving, we are strong now too,' they wouldn’t give it.
If they gave one thing, they’d say something else was hard, and that was hard, continuing to extract what they could extract in this manner.
If they tried their best not to show any drastic changes from receiving support, it was a completely possible story.
[It’s not that she’s full from everyone around her giving her too much, but rather she just has no intention of being full until she’s satisfied, right?]
Mirne, what a truly funny woman.
Is it that she has that level of worldly wisdom because she’s a 21st Century Modern Person?
[Well, that’s all a finished story now, too.]
The Empire has absolutely no intention of giving Maselin anything anymore.
[I wonder if the letter arrived safely.]
Pirande, to think there was such a competent carrier pigeon.
But I doubted if it was even a carrier pigeon in the first place.
While I was having various thoughts and confirming how stupidly and haphazardly the Eastern Region was being run.
“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, as you commanded, I have kindly brought the Officials dispatched to the Northern Region and the Eastern Region.”
A knock was heard, and I gave a look to the Maid to open the door.
And as soon as the door opened, what I saw were the Officials kneeling and terrified.
“You brought them very kindly indeed.”
“That is correct.”
“Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Your Highness, uh, uh, that, urgh, urgh, heugh…”
The captured Officials were so terrified that they couldn’t even breathe properly.
I couldn’t understand it. They were brought in with everything below their knees perfectly intact. Just why were they so scared?
[Are the Eastern Nobles weak in courage?]
That thought was only for a moment.
I immediately brought up the main point.
“Looking at the report, the report you dispatched ones gave and the figures reported by our Empire’s High Officials are different. In your report, the support for the Maselin Kingdom is downplayed, and there is also a discrepancy in the number of Sea Ruins revealed through exploration. The number of Artifacts is different too… Who ordered this?”
“I-I have committed a crime worthy of death!”
“Ah, it is indeed a crime worthy of death, so don’t worry. I will make sure of that part, so don’t think about it, and tell the truth.”
Despite being the same Empire.
To think the Eastern Region had stuck their Parasites into the Empire and played tricks.
It hadn’t been a problem because it hadn’t been made an issue until now.
[These were things the Crown Prince just laughed off because he was a pushover.]
There were many matters that could be blown up as much as one wanted if they really wanted to blow things up.
Even the contents about the Eastern Region becoming poorer recently.
I needed to hear it properly from beginning to end, and.
“T-That is… how it happened is…!”
The terrified Eastern Parasites opened their mouths, and.
“…”
At the point when the story was slowly running toward its end.
“…Call the Executioners.”
I let out a deep breath and made a conclusion.
It seemed I needed to go for a stroll in the Eastern Region myself.