Chapter 88

"Over there, you!"

Ignoring the two people who were in a daze, I called out to a group of soldiers kneeling at a distance.

"H-Hai!"

A man who seemed to be the captain of the soldiers skillfully moved his feet while kneeling and stepped forward to respond to my call. The soldiers, who had been shown my identity as the emperor, now regarded me with a mixture of awe and respect.

"Throw these two in jail for now. And a few of you, come with me."

"H-Hai. Where to, sir?"

"To Governor Dusel Orcott's mansion."

☆

I arrived at Governor Dusel Orcott's mansion, leading a group of soldiers.

Despite it being night, the mansion was still imposing and clearly visible.

Such a grand mansion, of course, had a gatekeeper.

"Stop! Who are you!"

As expected, the gatekeeper questioned us.

I did not respond.

Since I had already revealed my identity as the emperor, the soldiers I brought with me took the appropriate action.

They forcibly restrained and neutralized the gatekeeper without hesitation.

"Please."

"Hmm."

The main gate opened, and I entered the mansion.

The commotion outside quickly spread inside.

In the lobby, immediately after entering the mansion, there were a large number of servants and the man I had seen a few days ago by the river.

That man, who had been scattering gold, was Governor Dusel Orcott himself.

"Who are you? Do you know where you are causing a disturbance?"

"Rude! This is in the presence of His Majesty!"

"His Majesty, you say?"

Orcott looked at me with the eyes of someone who sees something suspicious.

He probably didn't know who I was, which was understandable.

Orcott was not a governor I had appointed, and we had never met.

Even if he was a governor, it was not strange for him to have no acquaintance with a prince who had been away for a long time.

So I said,

"Is this convincing enough?"

As I said this, I released the pressure to reveal my identity.

Orcott, as well as the servants around him, all changed their expressions and knelt on the spot.

"I did not know it was His Majesty's personal visit, I apologize—"

"Such matters are trivial. More importantly—Orcott, do you understand your crimes?"

"!"

Orcott knelt, his head bowed, and shuddered.

However, this shock was only momentary, and he quickly regained his composure.

"What do you mean?"

"You deny it. It's too late to pretend now."

"I don't understand what you mean, Your Majesty. I admit I did not welcome you, but there was no official document stating that you had left the capital, and since you were incognito, it is not a crime—"

"You still deny it. How much is the governor's annual salary? Do you receive enough to scatter gold like that?"

"What do you mean?"

Orcott feigned ignorance even more.

Initially, he was shocked, but he seemed to have made up his mind and was now quite calm.

Now, which piece of evidence should I confront him with—

"Ah, ah!"

A young voice suddenly interrupted.

Turning around, I saw a young man among the servants looking at me.

Judging by his attire, he was a low-ranking servant, probably a slave.

He had a look that said he wanted to say something,

"Speak, this is in the presence of His Majesty."

Orcott, as the master, gave the usual reprimand.

The difference in status is like that.

It is unthinkable for a servant or slave to interrupt when the emperor and governor are talking.

Such rudeness would be unpardonable.

However,

"It's fine. Do you have something you want to say to me? Speak up."

If I, the emperor, give permission, it is not a problem.

"..."

As proof, Orcott frowned tightly but said nothing.

The young man, seeing this, held his breath.

After holding his breath in surprise, he looked at me intently.

"Is it really His Majesty, the emperor?"

"Hmm? I just proved it, didn't I?"

"No, I mean, I can't believe the emperor is here."

"I see?"

"Is it really... the real one..."

I had a somewhat meaningless conversation with the young slave.

Orcott, seeing this, became displeased but could not interrupt.

I, the emperor, had given permission for him to speak.

This was equivalent to granting the young slave the right to a direct appeal, albeit informally.

A direct appeal recognized by the emperor.

Interrupting it would be an act of disrespect.

So Orcott said nothing.

On the other hand, whether he understood or not,

the young slave finally realized that I was the emperor and that I had appeared here.

"There is something I want His Majesty to see."

"What is it?"

"This!"

The man opened his clothing.

I thought he was doing something strange, but I saw something sewn into the lining of his clothes.

He tore the stitching and took out an envelope, which he presented to me with both hands.

"What is this?"

"It's proof—proof of Mr. Orcott's bribery."

"!"

Orcott was speechless.

Immediately after, he lunged at the man to grab the envelope he had presented, but,

"Ugh!"

A light warning from Leviathan made him collapse and unable to move.

After stopping Orcott, I asked the man again.

"Why do you have the evidence?"

"I, my parents and sister were killed because of Orcott."

"You infiltrated to seek revenge?"

"Yes! I got the evidence, but I couldn't find anyone to trust. And—"

"And?"

"If I revealed it carelessly, it would be covered up, so I kept it hidden and waited for the right moment."

"..."

I was impressed.

"What is your name?"

"Huh? I'm Phil Mome."

"Phil, huh."

I looked at Phil with a clearly admiring gaze.

It's not uncommon for someone to become a slave to seek revenge for their family.

Infiltrating and obtaining evidence is not that difficult.

The hardest part is holding onto the trump card you've obtained and using it effectively when the time is right.

The meaningless conversation earlier, where he thoroughly confirmed that I was the emperor, now made sense.

He pressed his trump card after reaffirming that I was the emperor, the supreme ruler of the empire.

Phil Mome.

This man—

"Show me that."

"Here you go."

I took the evidence and flipped through it.

"Phil Mome."

"Y-Yes!"

"Good job. From now on, you will take over as governor."

"……………………"

The moment I said it, everyone in the room froze.

Of course, they would.

But.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to?"

"N-No. Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Phil hastily bowed.

Perhaps because he was too flustered or lacked knowledge,

Phil's response was completely lacking in etiquette.

That's not all.

---

Name: Noah Ararat

Emperor of the Empire

Gender: Male

Level: 17 + 1 / ∞

HP: C + B Fire: E + S + S

MP: D + C Water: C + SS

Strength: C + S Wind: E + C

Stamina: D + C Earth: E + C

Intelligence: D + B Light: E + B

Spirit: E + C Dark: E + B

Speed: E + C

Dexterity: E + C

Luck: D + C

---

The "+" in the HP ability visible in the corner of my vision increased.

I thought Phil was still a raw talent, unpolished.

☆

The next afternoon, at the "former" Orcott's mansion.

Orcott was dismissed, and I decided to use this mansion as my temporary palace.

In the study, I was facing Zoi, whom I had called back.

"Amazing, Your Majesty."

Zoi, who had learned about last night's events, was extremely excited.

"Recognizing talent and immediately promoting them. Truly, Your Majesty is impressive."

"That instinct? It's a natural talent, something rare. I want to nurture it well."

"Of course, Your Majesty will do it!"

"More importantly, how is the confiscation of their assets going?"

"Oh, right."

Zoi hastily looked at the documents in her hands.

We decided to confiscate the assets of Orcott and the others involved in the salt tax scandal, and I had Zoi oversee it.

"There was a bit of trouble with Ashley—well, the cheeky man's house."

"What happened?"

"Actually, human bones were excavated from the garden, and there might be suspicion of murder."

"..."

I laughed.

"Ha... Your Majesty?"

"It's a common story."

"Huh?"

"When confiscating assets, soldiers go to monitor and tally the assets, right?"

"Yes."

"Most of the time, they secretly pocket some of the assets and take them home. It's a bit of a minor corruption. And it's often obstructed."

"Obstructed?"

"Yes, by the wife or concubine of the target. They often cry and scream, even in such situations, saying things like, 'This is unfair, why us?'"

"Oh..."

"Sometimes, this obstruction leads to retaliation. In this case, the soldiers planted human bones to frame them for murder."

"I see, Your Majesty is truly impressive."

"Hmm?"

"Isn't 'impressive' a bit quick?" I wondered and looked at Zoi.

"We already know it's a frame-up. The bones that were found were a mix of male and female ribs and pelvis, and the excavation site showed signs of recent digging when water was poured on it."

"I see."

So it was already clear at the scene.

"Your Majesty is truly amazing. To know this before the report."

I laughed again.

I used to be the Minister of Justice.

I had carried out many asset confiscations, so I knew the methods well.

That's all it was.

"Now... roughly, how much is it?"

"Um... Oh!"

Zoi looked at the documents and gasped.

"What's wrong?"

"It's... at least 20 million Reen, I think."

"Quite a lot saved up."

I felt a certain admiration.

"20 million..."

The current treasury has less than 5 million.

This would add 20 million to it.

Moreover, the normalization of the salt tax could also be expected.

With this much money, a lot could be done, I thought.