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The Emperor, Georg Rose Archive, tossed the report from the scouts onto a side table and covered his face with his right palm.

“The destruction of the Kingdom Army occupying former David\'s territory......”

The former David\'s territory was occupied by the Amrzs Kingdom Army. The fact was quickly reported by the scouts. It was occupied without any legalization or declaring war. If they didn\'t take action immediately, they wouldn\'t be able to make an example to other countries. It should have been so, but their Archivian Empire had suffered tremendous damage from the Undead attack. In addition, the fall of Lord Cyrus, who had been the most powerful man in the Empire, had caused a breakdown in the power of the noble families. On the other hand, the power of the Macburn Frontier Counts and some of the other powerful local clans was regaining strength.

Long story short, the Empire was currently in the midst of a power struggle, and there was no time for war with other countries.

For this reason, he sent that monster Grey to the former David\'s territory as the Lord.

Georg no longer considered Grey to be 13 years old, the same age as Ronald. He carried the temperament of a hegemon more than that ghost of the former emperor, and a great magician who surpassed the wise man Seig. He even held enough charisma to make even Prime Minister El admire him, not to mention the locals powerful clan and the business ability to lead the Commerce guild. Or rather, was he even a 13-year-old? Eight or nine out of ten, that Grey was similar to the fallen hero, Yukihiro. A “Wanderer.”

“Wanderer” is an inhibitor from another world who lost his way in this Arteria from another world. The majority of them possessed insane power, and usually, as soon as they discovered their existence, each country usually competed to acquire it. And after the heroes who destroyed the Demon King in the past, the wanderers with heroic powers were generally called “heroes”.

Grey\'s origin was solid perhaps due to him being a reincarnated person just as the founder of the Archivian Empire, the First Emperor Philip Rose Archive, was said to be.

If Grey possessed the same or more power as Yukihiro, he would be able to control this Empire\'s predicament with the least amount of blood spilled compared to what he was thinking.

“That monster, don\'t you even have the slightest expectation from him?”

The destruction of Amrzs Kingdom Army. If Grey and his friends\' power were good enough, that itself was possible.

But the one-sided slaughter of individuals in a dispute between humans, other than bandits and other criminals, created an overwhelming sense of injustice. There would be hate from the killed side. Even if you won truly from the support of that superpower, it was impossible to trust that superpower completely. The fact that Lord Cyrus had invested a huge amount of money to persuade Yukihiro, who had destroyed a local family as the sword of the noble family, was another manifestation of this insecurity. There was no doubt that this would be a considerable negative factor for his future rule.

And Grey was not the kind of man who would do such a foolish thing, or so he believed. And in a way, that was proven.

However, never in his wildest dreams had he ever thought that the Radolians, who had been torn to shreds both physically and mentally by the Empire and the Kingdom, would destroy the Kingdom\'s expeditionary force with their own hands.

“The Kingdom\'s army, numbering close to 10,000, was destroyed. On the other hand, the damage on Radol\'s side was extremely minor, as expected that isn\'t possible.”

On the confused but decisive muttering of the blond-haired young secretary, people present in the Lemuria Palace’s grand conference hall showed mutual consent, no one raised a voice for objection.

It was a perfectly natural decision. Radol had been exploited to the point of starvation by David\'s incompetence, and then overrun by the Kingdom. The skill level of the starving soldiers was negligible. Common sense said that you couldn\'t beat the Kingdom Army led by the two renowned and strong Generals Ete and Bull.

“That\'s what I want to think but that\'s the fact.”

The scout we’d sent was one of the most capable intelligence officers in the research department. The normally cool-headed agent\'s writings exuded a sense of intense astonishment and it was mostly impossible that there could be anything wrong in this report.

In other words, it was the fact that Grey had led the people of Radol and destroyed General Bull\'s army.

“Material that will renew the world\'s wars?”

Prime Minister El let out a sigh as he stared at the documents. It would have been helped if Grey had just destroyed the Kingdom\'s army with his transcendence magic.

Perhaps this was—

“It\'s starting.”

A gentleman with pale crimson hair muttered in a low voice.There was no confusion in his face but only unendurable joy.

He was Horus Krüger, Warlord. He was a duke, and was essentially a staunch aristocrat. Because of his position as military governor and duke, he had declared his neutrality and was not the kind of person who would casually attend such an unofficial meeting hosted by Emperor Georg.

What had clearly changed him was that one incident with the Undead. To be more precise, after seeing the battle of Grey and learning about him from information provided by the Minister of Internal Affairs, he had completely transformed into the devoted believer of that monster.

“I wonder what\'s starting, Horus?”

The Minister of Internal Affairs asked the question straightforwardly while handling his prized Kaiser mustache.

“What do you mean by what? Are you really asking such a childish question?”

Dying his face with wild joy, the Minister of Military Affairs Horus glanced at Gururi.

“Great war....”

Prime minister El squeezed out these words with a face that looked like he had just bitten a bitter bug.

“That\'s right, Prime Minister-dono! Our Empire has begun to walk the magnificent summit even more than what the founding emperor has led us to. There is no stopping anymore.The gears of time had already begun to move when he, who surpassed even the First Emperor, was born in the land of this Empire!”

An odd gaze concentrated on the Warlord who was giving the speech fervently, looking at the sky.

“That was a rude remark just now, Duke. I hope you take it back”

At the sound of Prime Minister El\'s stern voice, the Warlord straightened his posture and said,

“That was my impoliteness.Your Majesty, everyone, please forgive me”

He bowed gracefully.

“No, it\'s fine. It was I who asked for a frank opinion on this meeting. So, Duke, how do you think the Kingdom will act?”

“They recently suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Radol, who is considered the weakest of the imperial territories. Due to the Kingdom\'s recent policy of territorial expansion into neighboring countries, their dissatisfaction is on the verge of exploding. It is necessary to show the strength of the Kingdom\'s army both inside and outside. In the not-too-distant future, they will be invading our territory with a huge army. And I don\'t think the Sacred Kingdom of Esther is going to stand by and let that happen.”

“Which side do you think the Holy Church will take, Duke?”

A strong man in white armor with a bearded face, tapping his foot on the floor in frustration, asked him the question he wanted to know the most.

He was Roland, the knight commander of the Royal Hearts, a close knight order directly under the Emperor. He was Georg\'s childhood friend and one of the few people in the Empire he could trust.

“I think they will choose the Kingdom’s side”

The main conference hall buzzed like a leaf in a reed.

“Why is that? It was the Kingdom\'s fault for the territory invasion this time. Even from legality, it should be our Empire—”

The blonde-haired young secretary changed his expression and offered his rebuttal but----

“It\'s not about the legality, you know. It was the Empire\'s victory completely. That fact is the problem.”

He agreed with the opinion of the Warlord.

Radol won by using a large amount of material to overwhelm the Kingdom\'s army. Next, The point of this sharp spear will turn toward the Sacred Kingdom of Esther.

If you weren\'t too optimistic, it was appropriate to think so.

“This is not a joke! An all-out war with the Kingdom of Amrzs. And to make matters worse, the Sacred Kingdom of Esther will be joining the war as an enemy. On the other hand, our Empire is now in a state of division. It\'s impossible to maintain a front in this state!”

The conflict between the aristocratic faction, who were advocating the first principle of bloodline, and the faction of locally powerful clans who insisted on changing to the ability of supremacy was extremely fierce.

Because of the downfall of Lord Cyrus and Hero Yukihiro, the power of the Aristocratic faction had reduced considerably. Even so, the power of the aristocrats who monopolized the wealth of the Empire was considerable. If they were to start a rebellion, it would be clearer than daylight that it would be a major battle that would divide the country in two. It was not the situation where they could fight the two Kingdoms.

“This is a time of crisis for both countries. This isn\'t the time for civil war! We ought to gather all the lords and decide on a future strategy!!”

The young clerk changed his expression and offered a plausible opinion. If it had been Georg before, he would have unconditionally ridden on that thinking.

“It\'s unnecessary.”

“Why is this!!?”

The young secretary\'s words became more forceful at the Minister of Military Affairs’ assertion.

“In the present, the Kingdom\'s armed forces are in the midst of sweeping the song-zero, east equestrian tribe under the command of the brave Sicca, who is their greatest strength. They don\'t have enough leeway to beat a force that has defeated an army equal to ten thousand, let alone a skirmish. We have around one year or so to spare.”

“But that\'s just postponing the problem! In a year\'s time, they will come to my country with their dirty feet in high spirits! This is not the time for petty squabbles”

“Normally that\'s right but the dispute inside the country isn\'t trivial either”

“It\'s essential to unite the inside of the Empire. Doesn’t Duke think so?”

The wise man Seig asked the Warlord while rubbing his beard.

“Yes. It\'s already time to move. We now don\'t have enough room to leave the Empire to incompetent hands. There is only one way for an Empire to survive and that is for it to become one giant beast in his name.”

“As if it would work out easily. Duke is more knowledgeable about how powerful the Aristocratic faction is than me, right?”

“Get them to the road of their self-destruction.”

“Duke can\'t be.........”

A deep shadow fell over Seig\'s face.

“As you can imagine, if the Aristocratic faction gets to know about this matter, they will ask for the punishment of Lord Grey and the submission of materials that have been opened. If that happens—”

If you looked at the evil smile on the face of the Warlord, one didn\'t need to ask what kind of intention he had.

“Are you trying to have Grey and the Aristocratic faction confront each other directly?”

“That\'s the fastest way to unify. Am I wrong?”

That might be so. But agreeing to that meant a great amount of blood would spill. Even if they were from the noble lineage, they were the same compatriots and imperialists.

“Duke, weren\'t Duke also members of the Aristocratic faction not long ago?”

Seig asked with a deep sense of dismay.

“Yes but we have met. He isn\'t a fake but a true hero who will lead this Empire!”

“Duke.”

It wasn\'t only Seig. Everyone was looking at the Warlord who spoke with an expression full of ecstasy with a slight glance.

“In addition, soon there will be no need to think about the petty squabbles between the noble family and the local lords.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Now that story has settled down, I will take my leave here.”

The Warlord bowed a second time and exited from the grand conference hall.

That\'s a good plan.

With this, before long, the Empire would be free from civil war. It was a conflict unlike any other in the history of the Empire.

“Prime Minister, Seig, and the Minister of Internal Affairs stay behind. The rest are dismissed for the time being.”

Everyone bowed and left the room, each with their own thoughts.

“From now on, I have a meeting with the commerce guild. Minister of Internal Affairs, do you have any good suggestions?”

Against the fight of the Undead, the Archivian Empire had touched the reverse scale of commerce guild. The imperial guild forced withdrawal due to the arrest and punishment of Lord Cyrus, but the indefinite suspension of transactions with the imperial government was still ongoing.

Here, the northern part of the Empire was almost destroyed by the Undead attack on the immortal, which was the biggest disaster since the founding of the Archivian Empire, and it required a lot of human resources and financial resources to recover. The declining imperial government had no power to cover it, and had no choice but to rely on the guild\'s financial resources.

“How about we follow their instinct?”

“Instinct? There aren\'t even any resources in the current Empire that they took a liking to.”

“We have. We do have an extraordinary thing.”

The Minister of Internal Affairs asserted and began to explain.

◇◆◇◆◇◆

“I don\'t like it.”

The blonde-haired handsome young man, Reiner Owenheim, gazed out the window and said so bluntly. On the not-so-surprising word, Georg Rose Archive took a deep sigh.

“At this rate, this Archivian will be destroyed.”

“Let it be destroyed then.”

“Are you seriously saying that?”

“Of course. Or rather, I still haven\'t forgiven you guys for what you did to him. For what reason must I lend my power to the Empire? Even doing something so illogical?”

“If there is profit, I permit you to do anything. That\'s what you guys do, right?”

For the first time, Reiner, who had never even listened to him, looked directly at Georg.

You know what money is to me, don\'t you?

“Yes.”

“You know what money means to me, don\'t you? The Empire wants to borrow it from me, and it\'s very profitable for me to lend it to them.”

Reiner is a merchant by heart. If there was profit, he would without fail listen. That was the conclusion the Minister of Internal Affairs had come to.

“If the Guild decides to lend money to our country, we will recognize the former David\'s territory and Baron Navarro\'s territory as special zones and exempt them from territorial taxes in the Commercial Guild.”

“Baron of Navarro?”

“Don\'t play dumb. You know the story of the Kingdom\'s defeat, don\'t you?”

As a member of this guild, Grey would never choose to harm the people of the Commercial Guild. Reiner was sure the guild had already received information from the Kingdom\'s merchants.

“...........”

Reiner was silent with his hand on his chin. In his mind, he was probably in the midst of accurately analyzing and weighing the benefits and dangers of accepting the proposal against the benefits to be gained in the future.

Incidentally, territorial tax was a tax levied on the transportation of goods collected at customs stations in each territory, separated from customs duties. The state set the minimum tax rate, and the lords collected and controlled the tax. In large cities and other places where commerce could thrive without being noticed, it was customary for the lords to over-collect for their own benefit.

The Commerce Guild repeatedly called for its abolition because this practice hindered the normal distribution of goods.

Of course, Reiner knew that the Guild\'s argument was quite legitimate. The minimum tax rate is 10%, and it was not a significant source of income for the Empire. In addition, the fact that it was a source of funds for the aristocrats of the various factions made it difficult to ignore. Georg and the others had been discussing the elimination of the tax in secret.

But now, this useless system was really efficient and benefited the imperial government.

The arthropod-like gaze of Reiner made him swallow his saliva unconsciously. Just as the Minister of Internal Affairs had said, it seemed he was on board.

“Well...”

“All right. I\'ll take it back to the Guild and discuss it with them.”

Reiner stood up and the unpleasant expression he had until now vanished, and in exchange pleasant emotions emerged on his face.

If the Commercial Guild had come to the negotiating table, then it seemed the Minister of Internal Affairs’ plan had succeeded for the time being.

This was not a prediction, but a conviction, because there was no way that Reiner, no, the Greedy Guild could reject this too-sweet proposal.

Because that place was the territory of the monster Grey. There was no doubt that he would do something absurd. For the Commercial Guild, Baron Navarro\'s territory should be a golden chicken that produced profits.

With this we finally arrived at the starting point.

The war with the Sacred Kingdom of Esther and then Amrzs Kingdom.

An omen of unprecedented civil war since the founding of the Empire. Even if the Warlord had said so, it couldn\'t be evaded.

In addition to that, Zeke just a few days ago approached Georg about Grey\'s decision to become a professor at the Knight of Magic Academy.

The lowest rank noble, moreover a 13-year-old child, taking a position as professor in the most prestigious academy since old times, the Aristocratic faction started by the ex-emperor would never allow it. Without a doubt, it would get some kind of reaction. This imperial capital would be in chaos.

Has the die been cast? Maybe so.

As the Warlord had said, before we realized it, our country had been forced into a carriage with only two choices: prosperity or destruction.

If we aren\'t permitted to stop then we must accomplish it.

Georg clenched his right fist painfully and left the empty guest room.