Chapter 30 – King of Emperors

-King of Emperors’ POV(Former Commander of the 1st Knight Order)-

I respond to the cheering crowd by waving lightly from the top of the carriage.

I’ve been doing this for quite some time that my arms have already reached their limits.

I am also doing what I can to keep my face from twitching and smile.

I know it’s necessary since I’m the king, the ruler of this country.

However, it’s been more than two hours.

「I’m tired. Who’s the guy who arranged this course?」

I couldn’t help but complain.

Hearing that, my friend’s shoulder shook a little.

The next moment, his vice commander glared at him and coughed.

I’m a little relieved to see my friend is still the same.

Days have passed by quite fast since I announced that I would succeed the throne.

There were a lot of things to do and I was extremely busy.

Even after this day, I’ll still be busy but the job I’ll be doing will change.

Until now, I was dealing with the nobles of the country.

I had thought a lot about how to get them to join us….but reality is harsh.

What I actually did was to decide which nobles to cut off and which ones to ingratiate with.

Even now, just thinking about it makes my head hurt.

The nobles of this country are all corrupt.

It was the former Duke Gihard who caused all of this.

By catching him, his crime came to light.

Gihard was arrested as an accomplice to the unauthorized removal of the magic stone.

All the houses of Gihard and his family were searched.

As the king’s favorite noble, he was found to be connected to various noble families.

We were hoping that this search would reveal evidence that would weaken the opposing nobles.

And there it was.

I was not surprised since it is something we already anticipated but the fact we found out unexpectedly threw us into a bit of confusion.

In order to consolidate his position, Gihard had been running an underground organization.

It’s an organization that undertakes killing tasks for nobles.

If you are born into a noble family, battle of succession is inevitable.

It’s normal for brothers to kill each other.

This is where Gihard had his eyes on. He secretly put people from his organization in contact with the people who would be advantageous for him and contracted assassination.

Of course, the organization is hidden behind many covers so it is not linked to Gihard.

However, he had left behind a request document to use as a blackmailing tool later on.

After the king’s death, the slaves revolted so he wasn’t able to take out the evidence thus, he left it behind which was probably his biggest mistake.

And it was both the best treasure and headache for us.

Initially, we had planned to convict all the nobles who made requests but it turned out that if we did that, all nobles would be gone.

I and the people around me can’t help but hold our heads.

If it was a town or a village close to the capital, it would be under the direct control of the king but if it was far away from the capital, it would require the presence of nobles to keep an eye on it.

So, what do we do now?

There’s no way we could find replacements for all nobles right away.

It was a problem that really made my head hurt.

After a lot of discussions, I condemned the nobles who were openly opposing me to become the king.

More than half of the nobles disappeared.

After I flashed the fact that I had evidence against them, the remaining nobles sold their favors to me and I allowed them to survive.

Even so, it’s still so bloody.

Well, I’m glad that we were able to wipe out the vermin called nobles who were devouring the profits of Emperors.

One concern I have had since taking the throne is resolved.

By the way, there were idiots who killed not only their siblings but also their parents and relatives.

And there are a lot of them.

They seem to have been used by Gihard but they were too stupid to see what will be coming for them.

Nevertheless, I’m glad that we were able to welcome new nobles because of that.

I remembered the faces of the new nobles I had conferred title on.

It also helped me to show everyone that this country has changed.

Because I conferred nobility to those beastkins who helped us.

Of course, we checked their abilities and chose the ones we could trust.

I think this was a good publicity stunt both internally and externally.

I believe that the people are now ready to accept the change with the addition of beastkin nobles.

And to the rest of the world, it would have definitely given them the impression that we’re different from the past.

Thinking about it this way, I guess I could only say Gihard did a good job.

That reminds me, there was someone who was waiting for me at the royal castle.

It was the newly appointed prime minister, Gaji.

At first, he didn’t accept the position of prime minister but after some persuasion from the people around him, he reluctantly accepted it.

This means I have gained a great ally.

Well, there are times when I want to cover my ears because he doesn’t hesitate to say painful things.

But that’s exactly what I need.

That will keep me away from going in the wrong direction.

The carriage carrying me returns to the royal castle.

As I relaxed my body, I let out a big sigh.

I had been wearing the same expression for a long time and my face is already feeling funny.

Rubbing my face with both hands, I entered the royal castle.

「Thank you for your hard work. We don’t have much time so let’s move on.」

Relentlessly, Gaji’s words of encouragement and heartlessness reached my ears.

I understand that we don’t have much time but I would like a break.

Nevertheless, if we leave the crowd gathered where the royal castle’s terrace can be viewed, they might run out of control.

I understand that this is necessary but…I’m tired.

And don’t you think you have packed my schedule a little too tight?

「I need a break.」

「Please, do that this night.」

Gaji….you demon.

He’s an excellent prime minister but he needs to be a little gentler.

「This will be the last for this day.」

Yeah, just a few more waves at the people from the terrace and it will be all over. I just need to put spirit into my heavy body.

Normally, there would be a party to celebrate the accession of the new king but this time, that won’t happen.

The reason for this was to reconfirm the current situation of this country.

Some of the nobles had suggested holding a party but I didn’t care.

Parties are held to show off and for vanity but honestly speaking, we don’t have the money to spend on such things.

Of course, if it is deemed necessary, I would even pay for it but I didn’t see any benefit in doing it.

I’m sure the nobles will make connections with each other at the celebration party but that has nothing to do with me.

Do your own thing elsewhere.

Besides, I’ve already taken control of the local nobles to some extent.

This is like the announcement of the new king for other countries.

Since it was still unclear how the kings of the forest would behave, the only thing we could do was to publicize it.

It may be necessary if they want to show themselves to other countries but I don’t think now was the time for that.

The first thing I need to do is to apologize to the kings of the forest but I have no idea how to do that.

This has become my biggest problem.

There are two other problems the kingdom is facing: money and food.

If it were only money, I would feel a little better but the food problem has been added to the list.

Right now, this country is running out of both money and food.

The money problem is still manageable but the food problem is serious.

For several decades, the harvest has been drastically decreasing.

The farmers had complained about this many times but the nobles and the former king continued to neglect them.

Now, it’s coming back in the worst way.

As a result of the survey of all the farmland in the country, there were already dozens of places where crops couldn’t be grown.

We asked the mages to cast recovery magic to the soil but there’s no change.

If things continue like this, farming in this country will continue to decline.

If that happens, economic problems will accelerate at once.

We have formed a survey team and have had them look into it but that hasn’t led to any good results….

「Fuuh」

I could see the hope in the faces of the people from the terrace.

The tragic atmosphere of the time when the rumors of a serious attack by the forest on the country have been replaced.

But reality is harsh.

Even so, I’ve been prepared for everything since I decided to take the throne.

I regained my energy and walked to the terrace.

I hope that this country will improve, even if only a little, and that the citizens of this country will continue to smile.