Chapter 50
About a week had passed after Gorhan and Mirne exchanged contact information.
Aside from their first contact where they exchanged light greetings, Mirne had not contacted Gorhan.
“If she contacts you in the future, use our Artifact to contact me immediately.”
“Y-yes, sir.”
“If you side with Mirne while I’m not around, haha, just thinking about it is amusing.”
“…”
Whether she realized she was caught or was in the middle of capturing another Male Lead.
I wasn’t sure, but I couldn’t just wait around blindly.
“See you later, Gorhan.”
“…I will wait for that day.”
I immediately moved to The Center to handle the piled-up work.
The very first thing I did upon arriving at The Center was to receive a report from the Information Unit.
“No special movements have been detected on the Maselin Kingdom’s side yet.”
“Is that so?”
The Information Unit, which was finally running properly, dug into the Maselin Kingdom according to my orders most intensely.
Despite doing its utmost, it hadn’t been able to fish out anything noteworthy.
[You can’t be full on the first bite.]
The important thing was that we could now plant a Parasite on this side too.
Thinking that, I tried to be satisfied with the fact that such reports were coming in at all, but I wasn’t.
“Yes, Your Highness. And while this is a matter we are still tracking as it hasn’t been properly confirmed yet, there is talk of them abandoning the Academy Construction.”
“The Academy?”
At those following words, I tapped the armrest of the Throne.
“That is correct. Right now it’s just a rumor floating around, but it is confirmed that they are conscious of the Imperial Academy.”
“They’re conscious of our Academy, so they’re planning to abandon their own Academy Construction, is that it?”
“Yes, but it is not accurate yet. I apologize for disturbing your ears.”
“No, I told you to bring me every story, so it does not matter.”
Abandoning the Academy?
Could that symbolic building be The Center of the worldview?
In a fantasy worldview, an Academy could usually be seen as The Center of the story.
That was because all the core Characters from the novel would appear there, and various storylines, starting with fortuitous encounters, would unfold.
It should be a major building where the worldview could expand.
To give that up, and to plan on abandoning it just because an Academy is being built in the Empire, is not a good idea.
[One of the developments in Academy novels is not attending the Academy eventually.]
They are not bothering to build it in their own country, and they are attending the Imperial Academy instead.
Are they trying to use it as one of the stations to progress the story?
“How funny.”
My feeling of absurdity popped out of my mouth.
“I-I apologize!”
At my words, the Information Unit members who were prostrating slammed their heads onto the floor with a thud.
“No, I wasn’t speaking to you. Do you have anything else to report?”
“I do not.”
“Those who have worked hard must receive a fitting reward. Chancellor, isn’t that right?”
“Yes, Your Highness. I will make sure they are taken care of.”
I hurriedly dismissed the Information Unit and continued my thoughts while continuously tapping the armrest.
[Is she just trying to suck the sweet juice out of the Academy while planning to ruin the Empire?]
Is she thinking of comfortably sucking out everything she can since the Empire is going to fall anyway?
Honestly, there were parts of Mirne’s actions that were simply hard to understand.
[Usually, if it’s a transmigration-type Protagonist, shouldn’t they aim for a situation where everyone eats well and lives well?]
You can’t save everyone.
Even so, it was rare for someone to ruin others just so they could live well themselves.
Of course, it’s a different story when one is scamming villains.
But the Empire’s image was far from being seen in that light.
[Listening to the stories, Mirne definitely knows everything up to the future parts of the novel.]
This situation spans from the Executioners' Covenant to the fact that Black Mages are expected to be active within the Empire right now.
If she hadn’t intended to let the Empire fall, she would have given these hints in advance.
She was not just taking things and keeping her mouth completely shut.
I figured she would have given clues to the Empire one by one through the Second Prince while pretending not to know much.
[It’s not like she’s putting an adult man to sleep with a high-speed tranquilizer dart gun and asking for deductions with a voice modulator.]
Mirne did not do that.
She continuously received support from various places, including the Empire.
Through this, she focused on continuously making the Maselin Kingdom wealthy and powerful.
Like someone who absolutely had to do so.
[Is it because when the Demon King descends, everything except Maselin will be destroyed anyway? I’m not sure.]
It was a hypothesis at a stage where nothing could be known yet.
Amidst the countless possibilities coming to mind.
There was only one thing I could say for certain right now.
[Mirne doesn’t care much about other places, and she especially has no intention of saving the Empire from ruin.]
She hadn’t made any plans whatsoever to join hands with the Empire and navigate the impending future.
The reason was naturally unknown. If I tried to ask, there was a high chance the story would change significantly, so I didn’t want to attempt it.
[Still, I’ve assigned someone to watch Gorhan for now, so it should be fine.]
The Information Unit, the Eye of the Empire.
It was the organization operating with the greatest support in the Empire at this point in time.
Infiltration through stealth, which could be considered the best in the Empire, was employed.
Through this, they were thoroughly monitoring the key figures within the Empire.
“I’ll be able to catch my breath for a while, at least.”
“You have been moving busily, so you are more than entitled to do so, Your Highness.”
“Are you worrying about me?”
“Of course.”
Currently, Arveda and Teo are moving busily to find the Black Mages.
Rowena is working to solidify her position as the Saintess of the Empire even more strongly.
If I had my way, I would have wanted to keep working too.
Perhaps because I hadn’t rested properly recently, I wanted to lie in bed for at least a day.
[I also need to have a conversation with the Executioner, presumed to be a Dwarf.]
Let’s just rest comfortably for one day.
That is what I thought.
[Phew.]
I first rose from the Throne and headed straight to my bedroom.
+++++
“Empire Status Window.”
The very first thing I did upon arriving was to Check the status window.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Various messages popped up in a row, but this wasn’t what I wanted to Check right now.
[The Tech Tree is what’s important.]
If the Academy Construction was slowing down, I just needed to invest tech points in that direction to increase the speed.
[There’s a lot here, but for now, it’s the construction side.]
How would raising the Tech Tree apply to the Empire?
I had already confirmed this through the Magic Stone Train.
Should I say it was a natural realization?
The results reflected that the technicians researched and naturally came up with good results.
[A construction method that increases construction speed while also increasing stability… I’m a layman in this area so I don’t know much, but the system will handle it well.]
I knew absolutely nothing about construction, but the charm of a perk was that it worked even if you didn’t know how.
Without hesitation, I invested 3 points consecutively into the construction side.
“Seeing that areas like education are already invested in, it seems the Tech Tree can also be unlocked through developments within the Empire without necessarily needing to invest points.”
It was centered around one specific keyword.
The Convenient Empire Status Window stretched out around that keyword like a mind map.
I decided later to look into what was there one by one.
I scrolled all the way down to see what was at the very bottom.
The various Tech Trees had meeting points in between.
Because it was obvious that if they kept going like this, they would eventually become one.
Swish, swish.
How far down did I scroll like that?
I was able to figure out what the final goal of this Tech Tree was.
“Hah.”
It was written so openly that I couldn’t possibly miss it.
<Great Empire>
“So the goal is ultimately to make the Empire great again.”
Looking at the current situation, I felt we had recovered quite a bit.
But the fact that the Tech Tree was still lingering in the early stages meant the image of the Great Empire was something unimaginable for now.
“Does that mean we’ll be bombarding things with fighter jets powered by Magic stones or something?”
Actually, something like that did exist on the Tech Tree.
It was written with a vague name, making it hard to grasp exactly what it was. But Seeing that it was written as <Sky Dominator>, it was undoubtedly something along those lines.
“Phew.”
I closed the status window and flopped down onto the bed.
Right then.
“Eek!”
“Hmm?”
Feeling a sense of incongruity, I sat my upper body back up.
If I lie down on the blanket, it should definitely feel soft and fluffy.
What was this hard feeling?
Don’t tell me.
“Arveda?”
With a feeling of “just in case,” I slightly lifted the blanket.
And there.
“Your Highness… Your Servant, while searching for the Black Mages… was just taking a rest!”
There was Arveda, hugging the doll I had gifted her as a reward for neatly casting the Luminix Barrier.
I had given her permission to be here in the first place, but I never thought she would be inside my blanket in such comfortable attire.
“Did you find them?”
“I haven’t found them yet. I am looking around following the map Your Highness made for me, but I haven’t seen any strange movements yet.”
“Is that so.”
There was no way Arveda would do her job half-heartedly, so Teo was probably in a similar situation.
If anything had happened in the first place, there was no way Teo would be this quiet.
“Your Servant… If Your Highness is uncomfortable, I will leave immediately…”
Arveda spat out those words in a tone that anyone could tell was gloomy.
I stroked her hair and replied that it was fine.
“You’ve worked hard, so I should at least do this much. It’s fine, so you can stay comfortably.”
“Fufu, then Your Servant will roll around comfortably in Your Highness’s bed and even sleep.”
“…Sure.”
If the Empire falls, would I not even be able to have these small conversations?
[I’d hate that.]
Great Empire.
I will definitely reach it.
+++++
The next morning.
“Phew.”
Having taken a long sleep for the first time in a while, I woke up feeling very refreshed.
Feeling refreshed, I moved straight toward the Palace where the Executioners stayed.
[I have a lot to do with the Dwarf Executioner.]
There were the Academy Construction, and the sword imbued with an Ice Spirit that I took from the Former Grand Duke of the North.
Finally, there was the sword the Crown Prince used to use before leaving it in the underground, and there were various other things I wanted to hear about.
As I was moving toward the Executioner’s Palace where the Dwarf stayed.
- I want to have the strongest sword, a sword that will never break, no matter how fiercely anyone swings it.
- Are you planning to swing it? But it should be impossible for Your Highness right now… Is it perhaps for Your Majesty to use?
- No, I plan to swing it. It’s impossible right now, but I must prepare for the day when I will be able to swing it.
The Crown Prince’s Memory slowly crept up to the surface again.
[What?]
And that memory was a shock in itself.
[Did the Crown Prince… know from the beginning that he could regress? And what on earth is “the day when I will be able to swing it”?]
Why did this memory suddenly come to mind now?
More than that, there was one thing I needed to focus on right now.
[The Dwarf Executioner… said “Your Majesty.”]
The Executioner I was going to meet right now knew about the Emperor.