Chapter 13
Verda Marquisate.
It was an intersection and Strategic Stronghold connecting the Imperial Center and the Eastern Region.
It was a city that the Empire inevitably had to stop by when dispatching personnel to the Eastern Region.
Therefore, the Verda Marquisate should basically have abundant Supplies for its soldiers.
“The ones holding wooden spears have hollow cheeks.”
The soldiers before my eyes were in a state that was far from abundant.
Looking only at their wooden spears and wooden armor, they didn’t look like city soldiers.
They looked like farmers conscripted from some rural village.
There was a massive discrepancy between what was written in the documents and their actual appearance.
“The Imperial Family didn”t even do their jobs properly in the first place. So, just because they’re under them, is there any reason for things to run properly?'
The Imperial Family wasn’t doing its job and was busy giving everything away to the neighboring country.
Would the nobles under it work hard at their own jobs?
They probably thought they had no one to watch out for.
“The weapons that should have been supplied to the soldiers - did they siphon off the metal meant for them to line their own pockets?”
Honestly, it was such an obvious embezzlement route that there was no need to even investigate.
In the first place, the Imperial Palace, known as The Center of the Empire, wasn’t functioning properly.
If they forged documents down below and submitted them, who would know? No one even came to inspect.
The first time is hard, but what if they realize they won’t get caught after starting?
Then from that point on, they just stretch their legs out and leech off the Empire however they please.
“Looking at this, we can assume they’ve been doing it for at least two years.”
“That is correct.”
“You used proper honorifics this time.”
“I am working hard to adapt.”
“…”
Arveda, I really don’t know what her true identity is.
Because I don’t know much about the Empire’s Executioners' role either.
“But it seems I”ll soon have a chance to quickly confirm it.'
I should ask her later if I can just comfortably call her Blackie.
Muttering that inwardly, Arveda and I slowly walked into the Verda Marquisate’s Territory.
Usually, when an outsider tries to enter a Territory.
The guards would at least pretend to Check their identity.
“Hey there! You two! The weather is nice, so why are you covering your faces like that? Well, do whatever you want! Put your money in the collection box and go in!”
“…”
As if it had been quite a long time since they last checked identities.
I saw the face of a soldier who confidently demanded a toll, only slightly poking his head out from the Sentry post.
The city walls desperately needed repairs, and the people were wearing wooden armor.
And in the middle of it all, a single collection box showed signs of being somewhat maintained.
“Come to think of it, I heard the Knight training was canceled again this time.”
“Really? I thought we’d get to see the faces of the sir knights, what a shame.”
“What’s there to do even if you see them?”
“Huh? Why say it like that? You know the bet you made with me last time, about whether they gained more weight this time or not.”
“Ah, that! Wasn’t that already settled? We both went all-in on them gaining weight, so we decided to just call it off.”
“Right, right, that’s true.”
Clink.
“Uh, copper coins? Haha, you’ve got some size and look like you have a lot of baggage… Are you broke because of all that baggage? Whatever, as long as you paid.”
“Why are you suddenly checking the amount like that? You can’t do business here if you do that.”
“Right, right. Pass, pass.”
Listening to the guards' conversation, I passed through the city gates with Arveda.
The level of the Territory that entered my sight as soon as I passed through the gates was perfectly described by the word 'dismal'.
“Ha.”
It was unsettling to think that children who clearly looked malnourished were wandering around in the Territory connecting the Empire and the Eastern Region.
I thought they were at least doing the bare minimum, no matter how bad it was.
“And that story about the knights earlier, too.”
How could a Knight possibly gain weight?
And they weren’t just any knights.
They were knights of a Strategic Stronghold connecting the Imperial Center and the Eastern Region.
The knights who had to react first when something happened in the Imperial Center and the Eastern Region.
Not only had they gained weight, but they had become the subject of bets for the soldiers guarding the gates?
“…Arveda.”
Just how rotten was it that the smell of the bloodbath blowing from the Imperial Palace hadn’t reached here?
“Yes, Your Royal Highness.”
“I originally intended to look around at this and that while traveling incognito, but there’s no need for that anymore.”
“…”
I felt a terrible stench of maggots piercing the tip of my nose.
A horrific stench that couldn’t even be covered by the smell of the bloodbath in the Imperial Palace.
Despite consistently cleaning up the Imperial Palace all this time,
I just realized exactly why the corruption in the Empire Status Window hadn’t changed from 'Worst'.
“Inform the Marquis’s Mansion that I have arrived.”
“Do I only need to inform them?”
“Kill everyone except the innocent.”
“Please tell me how to distinguish them.”
At Arveda’s question, I expanded my vision, checking the faces of the starving commoners one by one.
According to the reports, the Verda Marquisate had stopped sending tributes at some point.
And the reason was “for the wealth, happiness, and welfare of the Territory”.
Naturally, the Crown Prince permitted this and believed those words, so he didn’t conduct any separate surveillance.
The result of that belief is right now.
“Those who are merely clinging to life without the strength to eat anything are the innocent ones.”
+++++
“I truly do not know what to do with myself in the face of my Lord’s tremendous insight!”
“Haha, you’re busy gilding my face without fail again today.”
“You are indeed painting me in gold as well.”
“More accurately, I’m wearing it. It’s a newly tailored gold mask. What do you think?”
“You are truly the sun that will shine upon the nation!”
“Mhm, you certainly have an accurate eye.”
The Marquis of Verda is in a very good mood these days.
Should he say that the guilt he used to have was completely blown away?
He used to have stupid worries about whether it was okay to spend the nation’s money so recklessly.
These days, it is at the level where you are a fool if you don’t do it, so such anxieties no longer exist.
The Empire is mighty; the Imperial power is strong, blah blah blah.
Honestly, it was all irrelevant talk.
At first, he felt it was very scary.
But what was this? When he actually opened the lid, it was just superficially glossy.
No matter how strong they were, it was meaningless if they didn’t wield it.
If he got permission when he said he would reduce the tributes, and got permission when he said he wouldn’t send them at all?
“It means I can just completely stop caring about The Center.”
As long as he didn’t harbor great greed, meaning the ridiculous greed of becoming the Emperor.
He would be able to live his whole life laughing and chatting like this under the Empire.
“Father! Can I dispose of the bastards who tried to run away?”
“Sword practice again? Haha, sure, as much as you want.”
What need was there to be the Master of the nation?
Even if it was a small place, wasn’t it enough if he could live like a Master?
He would melt down all the premium armor and weapons received from the Empire into ingots as soon as he got them.
Or he would just rub off the Empire’s crest and sell them here and there in their original state, making money just by sitting still.
Since the Empire provided the goods on its own in the first place, it was a completely profitable business.
If there was any effort involved, it was the process of converting the armor and weapons into money.
“If it”s going to be like this… should I just ask for it all in money?'
Although the Imperial standard equipment sold for a very high price.
Should he say that selling it was now slowly getting annoying?
If he received it in money from the start, there wouldn’t be this kind of annoyance.
“Even I think it”s a very good idea.'
Because if he received it in money, his wife would be able to indulge in even greater luxuries.
He heard that various precious ornaments came out of Maselin recently.
He planned to buy them all up, even if he had to pay a premium.
While the Marquis of Verda was having such happy imaginations.
Thud.
“Hello?”
Someone suddenly landed lightly on the windowsill and spoke to him.
“Wh-Who are you!”
“My identity? I cannot tell you that.”
A small physique and an appearance presumed to be a young girl were obvious at a glance, even though her entire body was covered in a robe.
Something was sticking up from her head, but since it couldn’t be horns, it was probably a hairstyle.
Only looking up to this point, she could be seen as just a crazy person.
“Wh-What kind of eyes…!”
The moment he met her eyes, an immense pressure crushed his entire body.
There were vertically slit pupils and irises that looked like they contained opals.
As he kept looking at them, he felt like he was going to lose his mind.
But right at that moment.
“Where do you think you’re going to die comfortably? No matter how clueless I am… His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wouldn’t want you to die comfortably. No, everyone here… he would want everyone except the innocent to die painfully.”
The girl’s words continued calmly, and because of those words, the Marquis of Verda suddenly snapped back to his senses.
And then.
CRACK - “Kuaaaaaaagh!”
Suddenly, the pain of his limbs being torn off struck his entire body.
It was the beginning of the full-scale cleaning of the Verda Marquisate.
+++++
“…”
The agony echoing through the Marquis’s Mansion entered my ears at the same time.
Servants exiting the mansion with dazed faces came into my sight.
The innocent ones.
Those who had nothing to eat today.
The beings the Marquis should have originally taken care of.
Ding!
[ You have completely uprooted the corrupt Marquis. ]
[ The Empire’s Probability of Destruction decreases by 0.5%. ]
[ Current Empire Destruction Probability: 72.5% ]
[ Status Summary: The Empire has a significantly high probability of destruction within 5 years. ]
The confirmation that the cleaning was perfectly executed appeared as a message.
The probability lowered by getting rid of one corrupt Marquis was a mere 0.5%.
Messages about destiny changing or worldlines shifting didn’t even appear.
I could roughly guess the reason.
“There are too many of these things, and there will be no end to them.”
How many of the Empire’s nobles would disappear on the way to the Eastern Region?
“The Chancellor is going to suffer a bit.”
Still, he was a Marquis for what it’s worth, so the sudden vacuum would have some impact.
I needed to take control as quickly as possible so that the impact wouldn’t bounce in a strange direction.
Kkieeeek!
Pirande, the carrier pigeon I brought just in case, flew over tactfully.
“You must be suffering a lot too.”
Kkiek.
With a cry that seemed to say it was fine, Pirande took flight with a letter attached to its foot.
In just 5 hours of my Eastern Region stroll, I cleanly swept away a Marquis. - in a mere 5 hours.
“Ha.”
Still, it wasn’t just depressing news.
Should I say I gained an unexpected harvest?
────!!!
I could see an instinctive repulsion, a pressure crushing the soul, and a mind-collapsing terror taking root in the Marquisate.
I wondered why her honorifics were so clumsy, but after realizing her true identity, I thought it couldn’t be helped.
“Even if she”s older than me… she must be exponentially older, so for what reason did she come to the Empire and even use honorifics with me?'
And after realizing that identity, I was dumbfounded once again.
“The Second Prince tried to send an Executioner like this - no, Executioners - to the Maselin Kingdom?”
But even after stopping that, with a whopping five Executioners of this level, the country is going to fall in 5 years?
“Just what is the Empire in Jupeobae?”
A country that was at a level where a dragon listened to the Crown Prince and went on a stroll with him.
How on earth could it fall in 5 years?
The more I knew, the dizzier I got, and at the same time, I was certain.
“The Empire’s Male Leads… appearing in Jupeobae must absolutely be set up to destroy the Empire.”
Right now, I am desperate to see the Grand Duke of the East.