The entire world was in an uproar.
“They say non-human slaves have begun spreading from the coalition’s underground cities. Recently, I heard they’ve started large-scale monitoring in those underground areas?”
“Do you really think that’s possible? They only ignored it in the first place because it was impossible to manage.”
“No, no. Back then, the Four Families were firmly entrenched there, but now most of them have fallen apart. Doesn’t that mean there’s a chance?”
“When you put it that way, it does seem possible…”
“Besides, this is just a rumor, but I’ve heard that one of the Four Families members from the underground cities has imperial blood.”
“What? Could that even be true?”
“That’s what they say!”
The conversation had initially centered around the non-human slave terror incidents.
Because of these events, many citizens had begun to avoid going out, which caused the economy to stall.
After that, it turned to other rumors.
“I heard one reason the terror attacks were suppressed this time was because of black mages?”
“Yeah, I heard about it too. Some sort of school, was it? I think it was called the School of Life? They say the black mages were producing doping pills.”
“If you listen to what the Empire’s First Princess has been saying, they’re planning to train black mages under proper management in preparation for future incidents like these.”
“Hmm… But is it really possible to raise black mages of all people? Besides, I can’t imagine the Magic Tower will just sit back and allow it…”
“Well, who knows? We’ll have to wait and see. But I’ve heard that their contribution to quelling the recent terror attacks wasn’t insignificant.”
The idea of deploying black mages to suppress the attacks was a hot topic.
Most commoners couldn’t hide their anxiety at the very mention of black mages, though some adventurers showed interest, particularly in the idea of using doping.
Meanwhile, a different conversation was circulating among the nobility.
“Have you heard of an organization called Nameless?”
“Ah, of course. Aren’t they said to be the ones behind the recent terror incidents? From what I’ve heard, Gordon, that cursed black mage, was affiliated with them.”
“What, Gordon was involved too?”
“That’s right. And I’ve heard some of the nobility were unknowingly used by them as well.”
“You must be talking about the nobles who were executed by the Empire.”
“Indeed. Tsk, in this day and age, buying slaves… how vulgar.”
“Haha, it certainly is.”
At last, Nameless had begun making its name known to the public.
Especially since noble executions were rare in the Empire, every country was watching this situation closely.
And whenever this topic came up, conversations naturally shifted to one more matter.
“A rebellion that succeeded in just a single day…”
“I wonder how this will all turn out.”
“I heard they’re going to hand it over to the international court of the coalition.”.
“Hah, the king of a country being handed over to an international court? Has the world really changed this much?”
“For the Haiel Kingdom, they had no other choice. I heard the Empire was even considering going to war.”
“In that case, it’s actually fortunate things were resolved this smoothly.”
News of a rebellion succeeding in just one day spread across the entire continent. And it sparked a flurry of reactions.
While some countries were thoroughly guarding their capitals in preparation for the rebellion, countless merchants were keeping an eye on how the economy of the Haiel Kingdom would flow, and others were busy trying to deal with the sudden incident.
“Hah…”
Oliver D. Mason, the man at the center of the rumors, sat on the throne while clutching his throbbing head.
The recent events had plunged the Haiel Kingdom into absolute chaos.
Rumors of the Imperial army on the move had stirred deep anxiety among the people, and that fear had dealt a severe blow to the economy.
While officials were working frantically to resolve the crisis, the remaining two princes attempted to sway public opinion. They insisted that such rebellion should never have occurred.
“There was no other choice…”
He had just returned from facing his brothers’ scorn and fury.
In an effort to somehow mend relations between them, he had reached out, but all he received were accusations that a rebel had no right to be king.
It was laughable.
Not long ago, people had been obsessed with figuring out how to depose the former king, Oliver XIV, and now those same people hurled all sorts of insults and called him unfilial and worse.
Yet, in some ways, he understood their feelings.
The quietest among them, Mason, had suddenly become king. And his two brothers were left in the pathetic position of dogs chasing after a chicken that had long flown out of reach.
Well, it couldn’t be helped.
After all, wasn’t this world always like this?
One moment’s carelessness could bring an irreversible future.
Mason had simply seized the opportunity given to him.
So, if his brothers now rejected the hand he offered, it was only because they hadn’t grasped their own chance.
The kingdom’s sources of instability had to be eliminated.
Though he intended to give them the final respect due as a family, Mason knew all too well that a throne taken by rebellion could easily be taken from him in return.
As a chill flickered in Mason’s eyes, one of his closest aides approached him.
“Your Majesty. The head of the Clayton Merchant Guild Havoc has arrived.”
“Ah, he accepted my invitation. Let him in.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Putting aside the matter of his brothers for now, his first priority was to revive the kingdom’s economy.
The Clayton family, was it…? I’ll need to establish some connection with them.
And so people went about their lives, unaware that all this had been set in motion by a single young man.
***
A month had passed.
The turbulent period had come to an end, and once again, people began to live as they had before.
However, Olicia had to endure her busiest time yet.
At least most of the major issues have been wrapped up one way or another.
At that moment, Olicia was emerging as the person closest to becoming the next emperor.
It was no surprise, as she had moved very quickly over the past two years.
During the opening of the Great Mezaiya Forest, she had even managed to enlist the help of Raviata, who provided her with critical information faster than anyone else in the imperial family.
When the orcs moved south in Arunvida, she was the first to send reinforcements, and when dealing with the remnants that followed, she was also the one who contributed the most.
The final victory was, of course, the suppression of this terror incident.
While the prior two incidents had bolstered her support, the non-human slave terror incident had been resolved entirely under her command.
In contrast, Crown Prince Samuel, who had been closest to the throne until now, lost significant political ground during this crisis.
Now, Olicia stood overwhelmingly ahead.
However, if one were to ask whether Olicia could truly feel at ease, the answer was no.
Despite its outward appearance, the empire was rotting from the inside.
This aspect began to show gradually after the current emperor stopped coming forward due to poor health, and this tendency became even stronger because of Samuel.
I expected a certain level of corruption, but this is extreme.
Olicia had not been entirely unaware, yet the transaction ledgers sent by Shane, Goldmine, and Elaine revealed that the situation was far worse than she had imagined.
These ledgers did not include only those of Count Salier.
There were numerous ledgers collected over the years that Elaine had spent in the underground city.
The information he had gathered, once intended as his way back to the empire, was by no means insignificant.
Moreover, there were also the ledgers Shane had obtained from Miss Sue and the dog butcher’s hideout.
This information was, if anything, even more extensive than what Elaine had gathered.
“Haah… what am I supposed to do with all of this?”
“…Humans are complicated. Why do they live so messily?”
At that moment, Evelyn who had been hiding within Olicia’s shadow emerged.
“Oh my, when did you come out?”
“I was bored. Even sleeping is boring now.”
“Is that so…?”
Olicia secretly envied Evelyn.
It was like watching a cat lounging lazily in a field of grass during the busiest of times.
“Why not just handle it all at once? Humans multiply quickly anyway. There are so many of them. I doubt anyone would notice if a few went missing.”
“Haah… I wish it were that simple.”
Though the ledgers in her possession might seem like an invincible kill list, to Olicia, they were more like a bundle of explosives that could go off at any moment.
The number of people tied to those transaction ledgers was by no means small.
It was like looking at a ball of thread that had become so tangled, it seemed impossible to unravel.
“I’d rather bury it all away… but I suppose that wouldn’t be wise.”
While she did want to create a cleaner empire, her greater concern was the empire’s future.
From what she had heard from Shane and Elaine, the territory Nameless held within the underground city was considerable.
That meant Nameless likely knew the contents of these ledgers as well.
They aren’t the type to back down easily. Surely…
If Olicia simply buried the existence of the ledgers, Nameless might one day bring them to light.
If that were to happen, Olicia’s own position would be at risk.
After all, the very reason for her sudden rise was the purging of corrupt nobles.
But what would happen if it became known that she had covered up so many wrongdoings?
At the very least, my brother wouldn’t stand idly by and watch.
For Samuel, who had halted all public activities under the guise of a period of reflection, this would be an irresistible target.
But exposing it also posed a dilemma. How far should she go?
It was, in every sense, a poisoned chalice.
As she pondered how to handle this, she received a piece of advice from Shane.
“If it’s about that matter, hasn’t someone with a natural talent for it recently appeared? It might be worthwhile to consult with him.”
“Hmm… you think so?”
With that, Olicia sought out her Uncle Elaine, who had been granted temporary residence in the imperial palace by the Emperor.
***
After forty long years, the two brothers were reunited.
Elaine looked openly at his brother, who had become Emperor, with a candid expression on his face.
“Ha, to think my once-vigorous brother has grown so old.”
Forty years ago, he had envied his brother the Emperor. But what about now?
Here he was, forced down into the filthy underground yet still remarkably healthy, while the Emperor who had spent his life enjoying the finest delicacies above lay bedridden. He was barely able to move.
He couldn’t help but wonder what he had fought so hard for all those years ago.
“…Yes. Even an Emperor cannot escape the ravages of time.”
“No, the problem was that your heart was too soft. Was losing the eldest son truly so painful?”
It was a sensitive subject, yet Elaine brought it up without hesitation.
“…It’s not that simple. That incident spiraled into something far too complicated.”
“The Emperor, in the end, couldn’t be free from the word ‘family’ it seems. In that sense, it’s truly fortunate I never became an Emperor myself, hah!”
“You look like you’ve weathered quite a few storms over the years. You’ve mellowed a lot.”
“Of course. With nothing to protect and nothing to take to the grave, how could anyone hold onto any weight?”
Elaine spoke with a faint wistful expression on his face. He savored the passage of time as he continued.
“Though I lost to you, brother, and was cast down to the underground like a beggar, isn’t it true that the lower one is, the more they can see above them? In that spirit, let me offer a piece of advice.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t try to hold onto too much. When you look up from underground, you see people above carrying so much that their pockets nearly burst.”
Elaine reached into his suit pocket and gave a little shake for effect.
It was a crude gesture for a man of imperial blood, but the Emperor watched silently without saying anything.
“Of course, as they walk, things start spilling to the ground. But they’re so overloaded, they don’t even notice what they’ve dropped. They’ve stuffed their pockets full of gold coins, only to lose something truly valuable, like the deed to their own house. So what happens? In a single day, their home is taken by another. Or, they give up all their gold just to get it back.”
“I think I get what you’re saying.”
Clap!
Elaine burst into a wide grin and clapped his hands.
“That’s right! That’s always been your problem, brother. You’ve wanted to have too much. If not for me, someone else would have snatched your position away. Hah!”
“You’re not wrong.”
“Oh my, so you’re admitting it. You really are getting old, aren’t you? Tsk tsk.”
With that, Elaine leaned back in his chair and glanced at the clock on the wall.
“But this time, I’m not in a position to decide for you, am I? This time, you’ll have to choose for yourself. You may have your pockets full, but will you leave behind a few coins to hold onto the deed to your house with both hands? Or will you let go of something even more precious and spend your final days in regret? Do you understand?”
“…Yes. I’ll think it over.”
“Well, I suppose that’s enough for now. It was fun catching up after so long.”
“So, what are you planning to do next?”
Though the question held several meanings, Elaine didn’t bother hiding his true intentions.
“I hear there’s still some land going unused up north. I’m thinking I’ll clear out the lackeys up there and take it for myself. There’s nothing left for me here, after all. I can already see scavengers circling me like wolves. I’ll take care of a few of them on my way out, if that’s alright with you.”
“Do as you please.”
“Kuhaha, looks like I’ll get to play the role of a dutiful uncle, then. Anyway, take care of yourself. If the Emperor kicks the bucket before me, wouldn’t that be a joke? After all, you’ve feasted on the finest delicacies life has to offer.”
“Now go.”
“Kukuku. Alright.”
With that, Elaine left, and the Emperor who was now alone stared up at the ceiling with eyes clouded in regret.
“To end life in regret….”
For a moment, he envied the sight of his younger brother’s retreating figure, looking as if he put everything aside, though he quickly pushed the thought from his mind.
Such thoughts were unbecoming for an Emperor.
Now it was time to make his decision.
He would have to choose which of his children to give up.
***
When he heard of Olicia’s troubles, Elaine made a slightly old expression.
“She’s just like her father.”
“Huh…?”
It was supposed to be a compliment. He likened her to the great Emperor after all. Yet why did it feel like she had just been cursed at?
When Olicia made a strange expression, Elaine asked.
“Whose idea was it to have you come to me?”
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