Chapter 73

"That... what do you mean?"

Henry looked puzzled, tilting his head and staring at me.

"The thieves' guild—people in such underground businesses have a strong territorial sense. We will use that to our advantage."

"…You mean to incite them to fight each other?"

"Yes."

I nodded vigorously.

"Fight fire with fire. From what I observed about Jerry, such people often desire honor more than knights. It makes sense; they have to give up their honor to engage in underground businesses, but it’s a resignation they can live with. If we dangle the bait of appropriate honor, it will work."

"What do you specifically plan to do?"

"Find suitable candidates and confer them the title of Honorary Knight."

The title of Honorary Knight is a system I came up with a few years ago.

It is given only to those who have made donations to the national treasury, a purely honorary title with no real power.

Since they are "knights," I only confer it on "decent people" at present.

It is completely unrelated to those involved in theft and other underground activities.

However, it’s not impossible.

It’s not a traditional system, and since I, as a prince, came up with it, I can manipulate it as I please once I become emperor.

"If we do that, those who don’t receive the title will envy those who do. Then—"

"Natural discord will arise. Fight fire with fire—truly impressive."

Henry said, impressed.

"Yes. The words of those who don’t receive it are easy to imagine. They’ll probably say something like, 'Those who have become dogs of the empire—'"

"I’m sure that’s exactly what will happen."

Henry agreed.

Envy is a feeling that most people have and cannot escape.

If we can exploit it properly...

"Henry"

"Yes?"

"Find some candidates. Those with military power—thieves' guilds are good. Preferably those who don’t assault women."

"Why that type?"

"There are two types of thieves."

I said "two types" but only raised one finger.

"Those who do it out of necessity and those who don’t. Those who do it out of necessity rarely commit unnecessary crimes. The treatment of women is one measure of this."

"I see."

"Find such types. It will be easier to justify conferring them the title of Honorary Knight, and the possibility of their reform, like Jerry, is higher."

"As you wish—truly a brilliant idea, Your Majesty."

☆

Half a month later, Shirley and I were traveling on a public road in the outskirts.

We were not in our usual carriage but in a cart.

The cart was piled high with goods that looked like a merchant's, and Shirley and I were sitting side by side on the driver's seat.

"Even now... wouldn’t it be better to stop? Your Majesty."

We had been traveling for nearly a day since leaving the capital, but Shirley still hadn’t given up trying to persuade me.

"It’s dangerous, no matter what, for Your Majesty to be a decoy."

"Doing nothing because it’s dangerous is not an option."

"I understand, but... I don’t think this matter warrants Your Majesty’s personal involvement..."

"That’s why I’m going."

Shirley tilted her head.

"Because of that...?"

"Listen, when something happens, it’s the stakeholders who handle it. I am already the emperor; if I go out in such situations, I won’t see the truth."

"That... is true..."

Hesitantly, Shirley nodded quietly.

"You can’t govern a country without knowing the truth. That’s why I need to go out, even when nothing is happening, to see with my own eyes and feel with my own body."

"But it’s dangerous."

"Dangerous?"

I chuckled.

"Is there such a thing as danger?"

"Eh?"

"It’s about you, right? You must have guards, right?"

"..."

It seemed I hit the nail on the head. Shirley leaned back slightly, eyes wide with surprise.

After a while, she regained her composure.

"Yes. I have 2,000 soldiers waiting a few kilometers behind, including cavalry. They can reach us within a few minutes if needed."

"Let’s see."

I stood up straight.

Using Jiz’s power, I sprouted wings on my back and flew up vertically.

Thanks to nearly a month of daily training with Jiz, I can now fly up to about ten meters vertically.

From that height, I looked back.

I couldn’t see them from the ground, but from this height, I could.

As Shirley said, about 2,000 soldiers were following us slowly from behind.

After confirming this, I slowly landed back on the cart.

"That’s overprotective. Well, if it makes you feel better, go ahead."

Shirley and Cheryl are my knights; it’s their duty to worry about my safety and take precautions.

"..."

After landing, Shirley stared at me blankly for some reason.

"What’s wrong?"

"..."

"Hey, is something the matter?"

"…You look cool."

"Huh?"

"Ah! N-nothing! I’m sorry!"

Shirley, coming to her senses, blushed deeply and turned away.

After a while, when her complexion returned, she turned back to me.

"But, Your Majesty, that was amazing. What was that?"

"That’s my new power. It’s just flying."

"Just flying? That’s incredible. You looked like an angel, or a god. Your Majesty is truly amazing..."

"That’s nice, but let’s fix that."

"Fix?"

"The way you call me. We’re going undercover this time; calling me 'Your Majesty' won’t work."

"U-understood! I’ll call you 'Master' from now on!"

The serious Shirley straightened her back on the driver's seat and responded as if saluting.

After fixing the way she addressed me, we continued on the cart.

We took a route that would likely attract the attention of the thieves' guild that Henry had investigated, and continued on.

That day passed without incident, and we reached an inn along the way.

We stopped the cart, and Shirley and I entered the inn.

"Welcome, two guests, I presume?"

"Yes. One room is fine, the best one you have."

Shirley, acting as my servant, negotiated with the innkeeper.

"Yes, thank you. We’ll prepare hot water for you right away. Please follow me."

The innkeeper led us to a room.

It was a separate house at the back of the inn, with decent furnishings, similar to a village chief’s house.

Having such a room in a suburban inn was quite impressive.

"How is it? Does it meet your standards?"

The innkeeper asked, and Shirley looked at me.

"It’s fine. We’ll stay here for the night."

As I said this, I took out a leather bag from my pocket and threw it to the innkeeper.

"There are 200 Reen. No change needed."

"Thank you, thank you!"

The innkeeper was overjoyed, saying he would bring water and towels for washing, and left the room.

Once we were alone, Shirley asked.

"Master... wasn’t that too much?"

"That’s bait."

"Bait?"

"To spread the rumor of a generous merchant. If we just wander around, we won’t know when we’ll be targeted. We need to spread some bait to speed up the process."

"I see! Truly impressive!"

Shirley said, impressed.

That night, I gave another 400 Reen to the innkeeper, citing good service.

The innkeeper’s eyes narrowed to slits, and he beamed with a full smile, which goes without saying.

I had Shirley confirm that the rumor had spread to the other guests staying at the inn.

It worked.

The next day, less than an hour after leaving the inn,

We were surrounded by a group of thieves.