Chapter 151: The Aftermath of Improvisation
AN: The serialization resumes, the length will be about 100,000 words.
Thank you for your support.
TLN: There was a hiatus of about 6 months on authors side
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Inside the tent, I was facing Henry.
Henry furrowed his brows tightly, gazing at the object placed between us with an incredulous expression.
On the desk laid the head of Eila Nouf that I had brought back.
The head was “temporarily” placed in a hastily made wooden box.
I did not have such weak nerves that I would scream at just that, but having a severed head on the desk is not exactly a pleasant experience.
“Is it real…?”
After a while, Henry hesitantly asked.
“Have someone who knows him well confirm it. I want to know as well.”
“Your Majesty too?”
“After all, I ambushed him while he was asleep and succeeded. I have no prior acquaintance with him. I have a conviction, but no certainty.”
“…I will confirm it.”
Saying this, Henry called one of his subordinates from outside the tent.
The subordinate entered, bowed to us, and then Henry whispered to him.
The subordinate looked shocked, but after being urged by Henry, he hurriedly rushed outside.
While I couldn’t hear the whispered conversation, it was likely something along the lines of, “Come and verify the head of the enemy general,” so any surprise he felt was probably mild.
For a while, Henry kept a face that looked like he had bitten into a bitter bug.
It seemed he had something to say but didn’t know how to express it.
I decided to wait until he could speak. Meanwhile, two young men entered the tent.
Both were young and dressed as regular soldiers.
“Uh, um, this is my first —”
“—I’m Rhine!”
The two spoke at the same time, completely overlapping each other.
There was no need to ask, as it was clear that the two young men were dramatically nervous, resulting in this awkward situation.
Henry, who had probably seen countless similar blunders during first meetings, didn’t reprimand them but merely chuckled softly.
However, he quickly remembered this was the “Imperial Presence” and cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure.
“Make yourself comfortable. More importantly, I have something I need you to do.”
“Y-yes!”
“Please, say anything!”
The two remained stiff, responding as if they had been struck rigid, which was understandable since it was their first time.
Neither Henry nor I cared about the formalities.
Without mentioning it, Henry continued speaking.
“There is a head here. Confirm its identity.”
“Y-yes.”
“The head…”
Henry pointed toward the head with a firm gesture.
The two soldiers approached the head cautiously.
Following Henry’s order, they opened the lid of the wooden box to confirm the identity of the head and peered in simultaneously.
“T-This is!”
“Lord Eila!?”
“…”
“…”
The two were visibly shocked, and Henry and I exchanged glances, sharing a light moment of eye contact.
Henry then rubbed his temples and sighed.
He proceeded to confirm their findings.
“Is there no mistake?”
“Y-yes.”
“There’s no mistake.”
“I see. Good work. You may withdraw. This matter is strictly confidential.”
“Yes, sir!”
Under Henry’s imposing demeanor, the two straightened their backs once more, as if still stiff as a rod, and exited the tent.
Once again alone inside the tent, Henry let out another deep sigh.
“It seems to be real…”
“Indeed.”
“What should I say… As expected of Your Majesty, should I say you are impressive as always?”
“I too am surprised that it actually succeeded. Of course, I used force, but the security was so lax that it felt like success was feasible even without that force.”
“So, Your Majesty had overestimated him.”
“Don’t say that; I’m already being reprimanded for it.”
I smiled wryly.
Having succeeded in an assassination and feeling stunned immediately after, I was now being told something similar by Bahamut.
I did not intend to overestimate anything one bit, but it seemed that both Henry and Bahamut perceived it that way.
“Then allow me to state this again.”
“Hmm?”
“I would like this kind of thing to be avoided from now on, no, I want you to stop it entirely.”
Henry momentarily paused mid-sentence and rephrased his words into a stronger statement.
“That is something that Your Majesty—the Emperor—should not put himself at risk for.”
“Ah, I will bear that in mind.”
Henry’s observation was a straightforward point, a common reprimand.
That’s why I accepted it without resistance.
“I spontaneously acted, and I do regret it.”
“While I should say a word about ‘spontaneously’…”
Henry sighed once again.
“First of all, the remarkable thing is that Your Majesty was able to do that spontaneously, wouldn’t you agree?”
Henry said this and then shifted the topic with “and.”
“It must have been that terrible, then.”
“Indeed. Knowing you, Henry, you’ve heard about the funerary rituals as well, haven’t you?”
“Yes.”
Henry nodded clearly, a slight smile on his face.
“The enemy removed both of his arms by himself, I was overjoyed as a leader of soldiers.”
“Given your position, that would be understandable.”
I said that and nodded slightly. Unlike my stance of “people are treasures,” in the position of an “enemy commander,” one would either rejoice or suspect a trap.
“Using one situation to infer another seems to fit this case. Well, it was quite bad.”
Hence, I concluded with, “It was a spontaneous action.”
Hearing that, Henry let out a slight sigh.
“Then I shall say no more.”
“That would be a relief. Now, I would like to ask you for a favor.”
“What is it?”
Henry tilted his head, looking puzzled.
“I said it was spontaneous, meaning I had no intention of doing so until that moment. However, it looked so easy that I couldn’t help myself.”
“I see…”
Henry gave a brief nod and continued to stare at me, wearing a face that seemed to ask for clarity on the main point.
“When you previously asked, ‘Could this power be used for assassination?’ I said that was impossible. But there was another reason I kept hidden at that time.”
“What is it?”
“…Oscar.”
“…?”
Henry tilted his head, looking confused as to why Oscar was being mentioned now.
“After leaving the Imperial capital, according to the reports from those I left behind, Oscar has been scrutinizing budgets everywhere, squeezing them as much as he can to create a budget for this campaign.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“That part itself is. However, why has Oscar suddenly become so cooperative this time?”
“That is…”
Henry muttered, suddenly realizing something, looking at the box with the collar.
“Ah, it’s because he insulted ‘the Emperor.'”
“Not Your Majesty… but ‘the Emperor’…”
“Exactly.”
I met Henry’s gaze and nodded in agreement.
“I suspect that Oscar wants to tear him to pieces. Either by his own hands or on his orders.”
“I see… so His Majesty killed him.”
“Yes. I was the one who took action. The Emperor punished one who insulted him. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if we were to say there is, it’s there.”
“That makes sense.”
“With that said,”
“…yes?”
Henry understood. He realized that this would be the content of my “request.”
“Typically, before a fortress falls, one issues commands allowing soldiers to plunder for certain days, right?”
“Yes, while there is a reward for the generals later, the soldiers fight for that purpose.”
“I’ll leave the details to you, as the reality is not that bright, but I want you to adjust so that we capture as many men from the Eila Nouf clan alive as possible.”
“…So you want Oscar to do that.”
“That’s right. The treatment of the prisoners around influential figures is originally within the realm of the Minister of Internal Affairs.”
The Empire is a “nation of warriors.”
It is always engaged in wars, and the treatment of prisoners has become quite systematized.
While general prisoners might vary in fate, relatives of the masterminds, and similarly “valuable” war trophies, are typically sent directly to the Imperial Capital.
The one who decides their treatment is the Minister of Internal Affairs.
Usually, the Minister consults with subordinates and then presents the case to the Emperor for approval, but unless there’s an urgent matter, no Emperor has ever objected to that decision.
Typically, a man connected by blood to the mastermind is sentenced to execution.
Women are sometimes spared, but men, when kept alive, may unwittingly become the banner for a new rebellion, so execution is the norm.
“Since there’s nothing other than death or execution from capture after a defeat.”
“So, you plan to maximize that to appease Oscar.”
“Exactly.”
“Your Majesty is truly impressive; you considered even that.”
“It’s just cleanup after improvisation; it’s nothing praiseworthy.”
“No, if that’s the case, leave it to me.”
“Can you handle it?”
“Any way you want.”
“Understood. I’ll leave it to you.”
“…As expected of Your Majesty.”
“Hmm? What’s the matter now?”
“Even in the midst of this campaign, despite being on-site, you refrain from giving detailed instructions and let me handle it.”
“I did mention the reality isn’t bright.”
“Still, there are those who want to give opinions. And that becomes quite problematic.”
“…Do you know about Milo II?”
“Yes… the one counted as the second of the three wise Emperors from the early Empire?”
“Yeah.”
I said that and nodded. I pulled that out from the history I’ve been particularly reading recently.
“Milo II was indeed a wise Emperor, but he had to do everything himself. Even as the Emperor, he would go through and intervene in decisions as trivial as those made by a village chief,” I said.
“I believe he got up before dawn and worked late into the night,” he added.
“That’s right. And as a result, he passed away after just seven years of reign. Of course, the accumulation of his efforts was handed over to the third Emperor, Leo, leading to the Empire’s first golden age, so there’s no doubt he was a wise Emperor. However… I do not desire to have such a short and intense reign.”
So I implicitly conveyed that it would be best to delegate what can be delegated. Henry nodded, saying, “I see.”
“Your Majesty, you truly learn from history, and that is impressive.”
He concluded with that.
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