Kill the Emperor

Translator: AkazaTL

Pr/Ed: Sol IX

***

Chapter 75 : Too Many Thieves (2)

“The item I instructed, bring it here immediately now.”

“Understood. Your Excellency!”

The knight who received my order immediately went down towards the first floor.

A moment later, he returned with two colleagues, each carrying a large sack on their shoulder.

Thud!

The two knights who put down the sacks took their places behind Huddle and Darren respectively, and the knight who first received my order waited for the command with his longsword drawn.

“Cut the sacks.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Rip!

At the knight’s sword stroke, the leather sacks were cut as lightly as sheets of paper.

Trickle—

And the moment they saw the blue powder leaking out from the cut gap,

“……!”

Huddle and Darren’s complexions turned pale in an instant.

“Where is the source of this item?”

“The item loaded on the right is from the Tombstone Merchant Guild’s carriage, and the left is from the Mikal Merchant Guild’s carriage.”

I beckoned with my finger.

The knight sheathed his sword, took out a small leather pouch, scooped out a small amount of powder from the sack, and brought it to me.

“Surely you won’t say you don’t know what this is?”

Having finished the inspection process by smelling the powder and scattering it slightly, I threw a question towards Huddle and Darren.

“Y-Your Excellency. That is not it, but…….”

“If you don’t know, I will tell you. The name of this powder is Nihelm. Sir Edith, what is the use of Nihelm?”

“Yes. Nihelm is used as a main raw material for manufacturing psychoactive substances, commonly known as drugs.”

At my question, the knight answered with a thunderous voice.

It was understandable, as Nihelm was an item renowned throughout the continent for its excellent performance and vicious addictiveness.

“He says it’s Nihelm. Surely you didn’t fail to know that this is an item whose import is prohibited by Zodiac’s national law.”

“Your Excellency! First, p-please listen to our words—”

“You have received confessions regarding the import route of the item, haven't you?”

“Yes, Your Excellency. We have received statements from those who loaded the sacks into the secret compartments of the carriages these people rode in, and the laborers who drove the carriages.”

Darren tried to make an excuse with a face turned blue, but I had no intention of listening to that excuse.

“Torture every single member of the merchant guilds who came here if you have to, but definitely find out who ordered the Nihelm. Submit the list of anyone even slightly involved as soon as it is identified. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I will obey your command. Your Excellency!”

Edith headed to the execution ground immediately upon receiving the order, and the other two knights were still positioned behind Huddle and Darren.

That fact made the two tremble in fear.

“I will ask just one thing.”

“Your Excellency, it’s not that, actually this is used as medicine…….”

“Does this country look funny in your eyes?”

It was a week ago that I obtained information regarding the smuggling of Nihelm.

I confirmed records regarding a large amount of Nihelm in the secret ledgers left by the purged nobles.

According to those records, the main suppliers who supplied Nihelm were Huddle and Darren.

Having grasped this fact, I was waiting for these two to enter the country, and raiding the carriages loaded with Nihelm during a moment of carelessness, I secured the evidence.

“Right. It must have looked funny. Since you could suck the lifeblood of this country through collusion and fill your bellies by making the people sick with such items, yet remain untouched.”

“Your Excellency, please listen to our words…… Actually, among those who requested that item from us, there are members of the Royal Family…… Hic!”

Darren hurriedly strung out excuses but shut his mouth.

In fact, Darren intended to avoid the disaster befalling him a little by saying that members of the Royal Family were also involved if one dug into the background of this item.

‘Surely he won’t be able to dig into the background and make the matter bigger when members of the Royal Family are also involved. Since punishing royals would be a political burden for him too.’

—Thinking like that.

But the moment he saw my eyes, Darren could realize to his bones how rash his thought was.

‘Ah. Is that so? You say royal bastards are involved in this dog-like behavior? Good. Then I will crush those bastards thoroughly too.’

Since rumors were all he knew about me, Darren did not yet know accurately.

That I, Hein Reichart, was a person who could blow away the heads of dozens of royals without hesitation if it was for my will.

“Execute fifty floggings for these two, and thirty floggings each for the members of the merchant guilds who knew about the smuggling fact. Once the execution is finished, imprison all personnel of both merchant guilds in the underground prison.”

Instantly, Huddle’s expression turned white.

Saying fifty floggings was easy, but if an ordinary person whose body wasn't trained was hit, they could end up unable to walk for life.

“Once the list of nobles and royals involved in this incident is confirmed, I will publicly execute the sinners, so you must report immediately as soon as the list compilation is finished.”

The moment they heard the words ‘public execution’ that followed, their faces turned beyond white to lead-colored.

“And order the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send an official letter of protest to Tombstone and Mikal Merchant Guilds demanding an explanation of the circumstances related to this matter and an apology. Until a reply arrives, all business activities of both merchant guilds existing within the country shall be prohibited.”

“Your Excellency, please, please save only our small lives. If you save our lives, we will try with a death-defying effort so that Zodiac can obtain favorable conditions in deals with our merchant guilds!”

My indifferent gaze turned to Huddle for a moment.

Just as Huddle was harboring a very slight hope at that movement…….

“The dignity of the Royal Family dwells in every object and every person in this royal castle. Yet you dared to damage the Royal Family’s dignity with filthy hand movements, so I must hold you strictly accountable for that sin as well. Before executing the flogging, I will hold you accountable for that sin by severing that bastard’s right hand first.”

“Your Excellency! Please forgive us!”

A crushing hope burst out from my mouth.

With these words as the last, I withdrew my gaze from the two.

The knights guarding their backs bound the two just like that and dragged them to the execution ground.

Thud!

“Your Excellency, please spare us!”

“Your Excellency, forgive us!”

Desperate voices rang out persistently past the long, long hallway to the stairs, but the firmly closed office door never opened again.

***

“Do you have things to say to me?”

“……T-That is, w-well…….”

“If you have nothing to say, please leave.”

“Your Excellency, about that. That is, so to speak…….”

The ministers of the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, lined up long in my office, were hesitating while looking at each other’s faces.

Seeing the ministers who came in a crowd but couldn't even bring up the topic, I let out a short sigh and spoke first.

“Is the reason you sought me perhaps related to the Tombstone and Mikal Merchant Guilds?”

“That is correct. Your Excellency. Let us state in advance that we absolutely do not have any objection to the strict punishment execution procedure the Grand Duke performed. However…….”

“However?”

“Yes?”

“Did you not say you have no objection? Then I am asking why you sought me.”

“Y-Your Excellency. T-That is…….”

Unlike saying they had no objection, it seemed they had something they wanted to say, and I struck first.

“Those who disrupt national discipline and disturb the lives of the people shall be punished with capital punishment. I merely followed the regulations stated in the national law of this country. Is there any problem?”

“Your Excellency. Of course, it is not that we do not know Your Excellency’s noble will and loyalty. However, we have visited Your Excellency like this because we judge that if the command Your Excellency gave is executed as is, considerable strain will be placed on the national finance.”

Eventually, the Minister of Finance opened his mouth first.

“Your Excellency. Although Huddle and Darren are criminals who violated national law, they are capable figures who have guarded the side of each merchant guild’s master for decades. If capital punishment is inflicted on them, the two merchant guilds will never try to deal with us again, and if that happens, there will be a huge setback in magic stone supply.”

“Your Excellency, although presumptuous, the currently stockpiled amount of magic stones is only enough to last three months at best. If magic stones are not supplied within that time, magic towers across the nation will lose their function, and huge difficulties will follow in governance.”

Following the Minister of Finance, officials of the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Foreign Affairs opened their mouths one after another.

“Finances take a severe hit, and a huge setback occurs in operation…….”

Leaning back in my chair with my eyes narrowed, I quietly repeated the words the officials had said.

“Well, let’s say that is so. Since the people here are those who have mastered the way of filling treasure warehouses, from the perspective of financial management studies, doing so would be correct.”

“…….”

My voice was calm, but the sharp spirit lurking inside that calm voice made the officials swallow dry saliva involuntarily.

“But at least within the limits I know, financial management studies must not become the supreme guideline for managing a nation.”

“Y-Your Excellency. Our words are not that, but…….”

“Of course, the country’s warehouses might become loose for a while. But I intend to fill that loosened space with something else.”

“By something else Your Excellency speaks of……?”

“National prestige.”

“……!”

“At least, as long as I oversee state affairs in the position of Grand Duke, there will be no incident where this country’s prestige is shaken by such arrogant merchant bastards.”

I was not particularly bluffing or unfolding idealistic theories to the officials.

However, to achieve my goal, Zodiac had to possess at least a minimum level of dignity.

‘With a sick nation, a country where the people cannot have pride, we cannot endure even a single day against Gillian’s Empire.’

Of course, I didn't expect Zodiac to become a powerful nation capable of contending for supremacy against Akrishima.

But to accomplish the plan I had in mind, it had to possess at least basic stamina to play the role of an ‘axis’.

The best way to cultivate that stamina was precisely to raise national prestige.

“Do you have anything more to say?”

“N-No. Your Excellency!”

The officials who confirmed my resolute will could say nothing.

All of them, with heads bowed low and faces like they were about to die, left the office.

However, just one person.

‘National prestige…….’

The Grand Duke’s single remark echoed in the chest of a young man with distinctively intelligent eyes and orange hair close to red.

***

“Your Excellency. Did you call?”

“Since I called, you must have come here. Actually, there is one thing I want to ask of you.”

Late at night, Ismael, who received my summons, secretly visited my office.

I handed him an envelope containing a handwritten letter and a sheet of paper with an address written on it together.

“Go to the place written there immediately now.”

“Understood, Your Excellency.”

Ismael nodded without a shred of hesitation.

“……You, shouldn’t you at least ask why I am sending you there or where the place written on that paper is?”

“Ah! I apologize, Your Excellency. I couldn't pay attention. Even now…….”

“Forget it.”

Seeing Ismael who seemed not to know how to doubt my command at all, I waved my hand with a bittersweet expression.

“There are various reasons why I am sending you there, but for now, it is to preserve the national finances that might stagger.”

“…….”

Ismael said nothing, but judging from his expression, he seemed to have realized that the order I was giving was related to what happened in the afternoon.

“Although national prestige must be established, we can’t make a hole in the finances under the pretext of establishing prestige. Since I started the trouble, I should handle the aftermath too. If this country’s finances become peeled off smoothly like Pierce’s head, wouldn't it be trouble for both of us?”

“…….”

“……It was a joke, was it not funny?”

“No, Your Excellency. It was funny.”

“Forget it. Since things turned out this way, we should consider receiving magic stones from Tombstone and Mikal as fallen through. Then we must obtain them from somewhere else.”

Pointing at the note with the address, I spoke in a secretive voice.

“Go there and deliver my letter. That place will become the mine where we will dig up new magic stones.”