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Chapter 160: Starting Line
“Parents raise their children, and children surpass their parents. Humanity has developed little by little in this way.”
These were the words of Font Gudon, a former master of military strategy and philosopher. [TN: No Idea for who that is.]
Since my father handed down the imperial throne to me, there has been one thing I’ve kept close to my heart.
That is, the desire to one day surpass my father.
In order to ensure that my father remains a great ruler until the end, and that he does not become a “once-great ruler who tarnished his legacy” as he feared, I realized that I must respond to my father’s expectations.
It is not uncommon for second and third generations in any family to squander the accomplishments of the first generation.
I do not want to become that.
I want to vindicate my father’s choice of abdicating while he was still alive.
To achieve this, I have believed that I must become a ruler who surpasses my father.
Font Gudon’s words encompass this.
My father was a great ruler.
He was a ruler who could see not only the present but also the future.
To achieve that, I must surpass my father.
However, until now, I have not been able to do so.
I do not believe I have tainted my father’s decisions, but I have certainly not surpassed him.
The most notable example of this is my father’s overwhelming intelligence network.
That intelligence network is immense.
Until now, I have relied on various extraordinary powers to come this far, but that network is something I have yet to even begin to replicate.
That is the most significant gap between my father and me.
Yet, for the first time, it feels like I might be able to surpass it.
It feels like I might be able to outsmart it.
I stopped for a moment to think.
I considered my father’s intelligence network and tried to simulate his perspective.
“…There’s no doubt that the news of my return to the Imperial Capital has reached him.”
Until I entered the Imperial Capital, I had not used any techniques to conceal my presence while using swift horses to make my entrance.
I do not know how my father has been observing me, but there’s no doubt that he has grasped that I rushed back after hearing of his collapse.
My previous experiences confirm this.
After that, I used a technique to obscure my presence to meet with Audrey.
At this point, he must have lost sight of me—of course, this assumes my technique is effective on my father’s end, if it weren’t, we would be having an entirely different conversation.
He may have lost sight of me, but he must still have been tracking Audrey’s movements, so the moment I showed up with her, he would have noticed me again.
After all, Audrey is the Empress, and every little action she takes is effectively monitored.
It is often said that there is no “I” for an Emperor, only “public,” but the Empress is only slightly better off; she hardly has any personal freedom either.
Even without my father’s intelligence network, the longer time passed, the more it became known that I had returned to the Imperial Capital.
Thus, it’s definite that the news “Emperor Noah has returned to the Imperial Capital” has reached my father.
And now, he has likely lost track of me again.
Though he has lost track of me, I am still in the Imperial Capital.
That is the information about me from my father’s perspective.
I began to think about how I could outsmart him from here.
“…No.”
Wait a minute, I thought.
There was another fundamental premise to consider.
“…”
I pondered and organized my thoughts in my head.
Then, I decided I needed to confirm my hypothesis.
Without meeting Don, I turned back and left the mansion.
Exiting the mansion, I re-entered the bustling main street of the Imperial Capital, which was like a city that never sleeps.
I walked along the main street casually.
“Whoa… Watch out!”
“Sorry.”
By pretending to walk normally, I nearly collided with a passerby.
I could have avoided it, but I wanted concrete proof that I was indeed “recognizable,” hence I let myself nearly bump into someone, confirming that they were aware of my presence.
Continuing the walk, I gradually headed toward a less crowded area.
The crowds were diminishing, step by step.
Soon I reached a place on the outskirts of the entertainment district, where I sensed only a handful of presences—about ten at most.
There, I used the technique to obscure my presence.
“Um?”
“What is it?”
“Is there someone there?”
The people around me simultaneously turned their gazes away in the same direction.
I sensed something—so I looked in that direction.
As I pondered that, I sharpened my focus.
Then I probed.
—There it was.
Despite the consciousness diversion, there was still one presence that remained aware of me. I realized it—I found it.
When I first devised this technique, I had discussed its weaknesses with Henry.
It’s a technique meant solely for diverting attention.
Therefore, its effectiveness is diminished, or it may not work at all, in places like battlefields where focus is heightened.
If something rustled behind me in daily life, I would generally turn around, but on a battlefield, that’s not the kind of situation one can afford to react to.
It was the same thing.
My father’s information network is incredible.
The individuals supporting it are probably all highly skilled.
They are monitoring the Emperor by command of the sovereign, the former Emperor.
What kind of concentration would be exhibited by those highly skilled individuals who received such an order?
No matter how lowly or inaccurately you estimate it, it wouldn’t be something easily distracted by a minor presence.
The stronger you try to focus, the more they would vigilantly concentrate on watching me.
Thinking that way and trying it out, under the premise that “it exists”—I found it.
I discovered the presence watching me.
“……”
I realized I was getting excited.
For the first time, at this age.
Several decades after reincarnation.
I had finally touched the entrance to the true essence of my father’s information network.
☆
“Is it true?”
In Don’s mansion, in the study.
I was facing Don, engaged in a confidential conversation.
After hearing my explanation, Don was astonished.
“Yes, it is likely, but there’s no doubt.”
“Incredible… I never imagined I could grasp the former Emperor’s information network…”
Don said this, and his expression shifted from amazement to shock.
“You also recognize how incredible this is.”
“Of course.”
Don nodded firmly.
“I had no clue what that information network of the former Emperor was doing. Yet, it seems like every word spoken by the encountered people, and even potentially how many times someone picked their nose, is completely known.”
“I understand well. I’ve witnessed that situation multiple times since I was a child.”
“Is that really true?”
“Ninety-eight percent likely, there’s no doubt.”
“The Emperor is truly amazing… Oh, but if that’s the case, this exchange…”
Realizing something, Don looked around.
Despite being in the official residence of the Prime Minister, and in his own study, the incredible nature of my father’s information network had him thinking that they could be overheard even here.
“Then that shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Why is that?”
“Just close your eyes for a moment; about ten seconds will suffice.”
“Huh? Alright…”
Don obediently closed his eyes as instructed. I silenced my footsteps, consciously made no noise, and left the study. After waiting a little—
“I’m opening my eyes now, Your Majesty. —Huh?”
From inside the study, I heard Don’s surprised voice.
“Your Majesty? Where are you? Huh? Are you there?”
Clearly confused, Don, while I “cut,” returned to him.
“Your Majesty!? What was that just now?”
“I maintained only my presence.”
“Your Majesty’s…?”
“It’s a small application. Instead of erasing my presence, I’ve disguised it and left it behind.”
“…So you led them away!?”
“That’s right.”
“…………Huh.”
Don had a blank expression as if his surprise had exceeded its limits.
He probably had definitely shaken them off.
Since he had sensed the presence over there, it was clear that he had been pinned down in that spot by the presence I left behind.
So, it was certainly true that he had shaken them off.
“That’s amazing… Your Majesty…”
Don was still in awe and deeply moved by this fact.
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