Chapter 19
The True Victor
T HE FIRST THING House Banfield's forces did upon returning to
Planet Augur was hold a funeral. In the battle with the Autocracy, we'd
lost thousands of ships and mobile knights, along with their crews and
pilots.
In my mourning clothes, I stood silently in front of the memorial
erected to commemorate them.
"What are you thinking?" Claus asked, standing beside me.
He was probably suspicious of the way I stood silently before the
monument. He must've wanted to say, "You normally play the evil lord,
but now you're grieving?" The dead were the only people I could believe
in, though.
These were people who'd fought and died for me. Their deaths were
the very proof of their loyalty. I'm sure some had despised me; they had
the right to disparage and hate me. Still, they'd obeyed my orders and
fought. It was only natural I should mourn their deaths.
"Oh...nothing." If I said I was praying for the dead, he wouldn't
believe me, and the dead themselves would just tell me it was too little too
late. I mourned only for my own satisfaction.
"Be sure to reward the families of the deceased handsomely," I told
him.
"Yes, sir."
I turned my back to the monument and walked off. Claus and my
Royal Guard followed.
That was when Wallace ran up to me in his own mourning attire.
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"Liam! It's bad!"
"What is?" I gave Wallace an exasperated look.
He ignored me and went right on panicking. "There's a big problem
on the Capital Planet! The department you were working for is being
prosecuted for corruption and shut down!"
Wallace pulled up an article about the incident on his tablet and
showed me. It indeed regarded my workplace from before my assignment
as magistrate.
"Ah, that. Yeah, my noble training will end soon."
"Wait. What's that supposed to mean? It's not good if your
workplace gets shut down, is it? Worst-case scenario, Imperial
investigators might charge in here and take you in for questioning too,
right?"
Wallace was making a big deal about this, but I wasn't worried, so I
kept on walking.
He scurried after me, annoyed by my blasé attitude. "They could
make you redo your training as punishment, you know. You should be
more concerned about this. You don't have a good relationship with House
Lengrand."
I told him the reason I wasn't surprised. "I was the whistleblower."
"Huh?"
"I didn't like how they chased me out, so I collected evidence of
corruption and turned it in. It was a lot of work getting it all done before
end of day."
Of course, once I'd decided to blow the whistle on them it got my
motivation going, because it was kind of fun. They say it's common
courtesy to clean up when you leave a place, right? I'd decided to clean up
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my whole workplace.
It was their own fault in the first place for chasing me out like that
and leaving evidence of their corruption behind. When I'd turned in the
evidence to the prime minister, I'd left it in his hands what to do with
Randy and the rest.
Wallace's face twitched. "You shut them down just because you
didn't like it there?"
"Well, there's that, but mostly I wanted to punish Randy. He's going
to be in some big trouble soon."
Randy would be in trouble because—like me—he was about to
finish his training. If the typical punishment for corruption was redoing
your training entirely, he was probably receiving that punishment right
now. After all, I'd made sure that evidence of his wrongdoing was
included in all that work he'd made me do for him.
All the nobles training in my department were probably about to go
through the same thing. Repeating primary school wasn't possible at their
age, but they'd have to go through the military academy and Imperial
university all over again.
Wallace was stunned. "You're a monster. At Randy's age, he's
going to be a total outcast in noble society."
"Don't worry. He's got to redo his training for corruption, so he's
already an outcast."
Nobles were generally put off to begin with if they heard that
someone hadn't finished their training by the age of two hundred, but on
top of that, Randy would be stigmatized for having to redo his training
because of corruption.
Looking at things a different way, though, you could see how soft
the Empire was on nobles if the only punishment for corrupt employees
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was having to redo their training. It paid to have authority.
***
Meanwhile, on the Capital Planet, the department where Randy had
been wrapping up his training was completely empty. Even the desks and
chairs had been removed from the office. All the young noble employees
who had been involved in corruption were gathered in this dreary space.
None of them were considered full nobles yet, since they hadn't completed
their training.
The investigator—a high-ranking noble and high-ranking bureaucrat
—revealed to them their punishment.
"Normally, corruption like this would revoke one's noble status.
However, none of you are officially full-fledged nobles yet. Therefore,
redo your training, and this incident will be overlooked."
Randy scowled with frustration before the investigator, an official
who worked directly for the prime minister. "You want me, heir to House
Lengrand, to redo my training?! If I have to do that, my standing will—"
The investigator scoffed at him. This angered Randy even more, but
the investigator's next statement wiped it from his mind.
"I have a message for you from Count Banfield. He says, 'Too bad.
You were so close to the finish line.' Count Banfield transferred out, and
unlike you all, he completed his training and has now become a full-
fledged noble. You should all follow his example, don't you think?"
Randy knew exactly why the investigator had given them Count
Banfield's message here, and his anger immediately shifted from the
investigator to Liam. He'd started clenching his fists at some point without
realizing it.
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So Liam had finished his own training, but they'd all fallen for his
trap and would have to repeat theirs. Randy could just picture Liam
laughing loudly at the sight of them; his face grew hot at the thought.
"Th-that guy is the one..."
When he saw Randy's fists shaking, the investigator sneered. "Yes,
Count Banfield blew the whistle on your little operation. The only
compensation he requested was that I let him know what your faces looked
like when you found out. Oh—everyone look this way, please."
Liam had just asked to see their expressions—or, in other words, to
have a record of this moment. Thus, the investigator snapped a picture of
them with his tablet and sent it straight to Liam.
The young nobles were infuriated that they'd have to redo their
training for such a petty reason.
"He won't get away with this," Randy vowed. "He'll learn how
terrifying it is to be House Lengrand's enemy!"
As Randy swore revenge, a new figure entered the room, surrounded
by knights who served as her guards. This was the person who'd acted on
Liam's behalf on the Capital Planet during his absence. It was Rosetta, and
among her guards were Tia and Marie in their knight uniforms.
At the arrival of these intimidating knights, the anger filling Randy
and the other nobles was replaced by surprise.
"Who is it you say 'won't get away with this,' Lord Randy?"
Rosetta asked.
Randy was flabbergasted. "Liam's fiancée..."
"Rosetta. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Rosetta's voice echoed strangely through the wide, emptied space.
When everyone's eyes gathered on her, she said, "I have a message for
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you from His Highness Prince Cleo."
She tapped her personal tablet, and a hologram of Cleo sitting in a
chair appeared.
Randy hurriedly corrected his posture. "Prince Cleo, I—"
Before he could make excuses, Cleo raised a hand and cut him off.
"Randy, I'm disappointed in you."
"Please wait, Your Highness! This is all Liam's—"
"I assume you wish to call this a trap Count Banfield laid for you?
If you couldn't see through such a trap, how could you think yourself fit to
lead my faction? Considering your age, it's going to be difficult for you to
even live as a noble from now on."
Along with Cleo's disappointment, Randy was hit with the full force
of reality. If he had to redo his training from the beginning, he'd be over
two hundred by the time he finished. That meant the loss of his position
within society, even with the leniency the Empire showed nobility. Randy
would be dismissed behind his back for the rest of his life as someone who
couldn't even finish his training. There was no way such a person could
inherit his household, so he was sure to be disinherited soon.
At this moment, Randy realized his life as a noble was over, and the
color drained from his face.
"Count Banfield will be returning to the Capital Planet now that his
training is over. Thanks for your work filling in for him." Cleo's image
disappeared.
Randy sank to his knees. "Why...? I'm the heir to House Lengrand!
How can Prince Cleo cut ties with us so easily?!"
Rosetta looked down sadly at Randy's pathetic form. "I won't tell
you it was wrong to try to side with the winning faction. You just should
have been less indecorous."
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His future position could have been guaranteed if he'd only bowed
his head politely and entered the faction to serve under Liam. What he did
instead was exploit his family connection to Cleo's mother. But if he'd
truly supported Cleo from the start... Of course, that was a pointless
hypothetical. His greatest problem was that he'd picked a fight with Liam.
"Things would've been different if you'd joined hands with House
Banfield instead of picking a fight," Rosetta told him.
Her words went in one ear and out the other. Randy looked up,
scowling at her. "...It's not over. Not over yet," he told her, glaring. "I'll
climb my way back up, and I'll take Liam down!" He still hadn't given up.
"I see," Rosetta said simply, and left the room.
When she did, Tia and Marie looked down at Randy coldly. The
message in their eyes was quite clear: try it, and you're dead.
***
Eulisia waited for Rosetta outside the office building. When Rosetta
emerged, she approached her.
"It seems they'll tear down the whole building now and put up a
new one. The corruption gave it a bad image."
Rosetta showed no reaction to this news. She'd normally have been
surprised at such an expenditure just for the sake of image, but she had
other things on her mind.
"More importantly, what's the plan there?" she asked, glancing
toward her own workplace, the one that only employed women.
Looking the same way, Eulisia smiled. "We moved out most of the
people from Calvin's faction and installed those of Cleo's faction instead.
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In a few years, Cleo's people alone will run the place."
The fact that almost all the building's current personnel were loyal
to Cleo was thanks to Eulisia's hard work.
As Rosetta and her guards started walking back to her workplace, a
former coworker who'd been let go ran up to her. "How dare you!"
The young woman's hair was a mess, and she reeked of alcohol.
Marie blocked her way before she could reach Rosetta, but the woman was
so upset that she picked a fight with Rosetta anyway.
"Don't think you'll get away with this! You'll be the next one
thrown out! You think the crown prince's faction will stay quiet about
this?!"
This woman had also been let go for corruption. Such nobles likely
didn't even consider that what they'd been doing was wrong, but now they
were being forced to pay the price for their selfishness. Rosetta saw it as
them getting their just deserts.
"I see," she said. "Well, I have no attachment to this workplace, and
my training is over, so I planned on resigning anyway."
For a beat, the woman was speechless when Rosetta said she'd
simply leave the workplace the woman was so preoccupied with, but then
she let out a shriek of frustration. The knights kept her away from Rosetta,
who continued back to her workplace without any further trouble.
Eulisia shrugged. "Someone was going to hold a grudge."
"And you were the one who brought this about," Rosetta said,
exasperated by Eulisia acting as if it had nothing to do with her.
Eulisia stuck her tongue out and grinned. "Well, I was told to get
serious."
Eulisia's flaws tended to stand out more than her talents, but she
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really was capable. Results like these proved that usually she slacked off.
"From now on, how about taking things seriously before someone
has to tell you?"
"Personally, I think it's best to take it easy when you can. You're
much too uptight, Lady Rosetta."
"And you're too laid-back!"
While the two were chatting, Tia received a report. She put a hand
to her ear, frowning at what she heard.
"Is something wrong?" Rosetta asked, noticing her demeanor
change.
Tia removed the hand from her ear, looking rather nervous. "I've
just received word that the Empire has been defeated in the war with the
Autocracy. Prince Calvin's main force has retreated, and the army suffered
marked losses."
If the Imperial Army had lost, that could only mean one thing for
Liam on Planet Augur, resting as it did at the border of the two territories.
"Huh?" The color drained from Rosetta's face.
Marie rushed over to support her. "Bring Lady Rosetta back to the
hotel!" she commanded the other knights immediately. They rushed to
carry out her order.
Rosetta clenched a fist, pressing it against her chest. Darling...
Please be safe.
***
Damaged ships arrived one after another at Planet Augur's
spaceport. They were gathering there in search of a nearby location for
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repairs and supplies, but the spaceport was over capacity and therefore in
chaos.
Beside me, Wallace gulped as we looked out at the damaged ships.
"How did the Autocracy win if they lost their supreme commander? It was
you who won, Liam!"
Even if I'd obtained victory on my own battlefield, the Empire had
been defeated on all other fronts. As a result, the Empire had lost a lot of
territory. Though the Autocracy's supreme commander had fallen, they'd
fulfilled their goal, so the conflict had effectively ended with their victory.
In other words, the Empire had lost. The nobles of Calvin's faction
had fought as fiercely as they could, but in the end, they hadn't been able
to withstand the Autocracy's ferocity and had retreated.
"So Calvin fled," I muttered, sensing that things were about to be
shaken up once more. "Even though that shouldn't have been an option for
him."
I'd been receiving regular updates on the war situation, and there
were definitely things that seemed suspicious. For instance, some of the
nobles in Calvin's faction hadn't tried to intercept the Autocracy when
they'd changed routes to attack Augur. That was quite an extreme way to
harass me. I didn't plan on forgiving them just because I'd won my battle,
but unfortunately all the nobles who had likely been involved were dead
now. Could I use all this to get the better of Calvin somehow?
As I considered the matter, Wallace clung to me. "Liam, let's run!
This isn't a support base in the rear anymore; it's the front line! My
brother retreated, you know. No one will complain if we do the same
thing!"
Calvin really was talented. Overall, the Imperial Army hadn't really
taken that many losses; Calvin had fallen back as soon as he realized they
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couldn't win which minimized casualties. Because of him, Planet Augur
was now deeper into the war zone. He'd even left a parting gift for me.
"We can't," I told Wallace. "We've got new orders from the Capital
Planet."
A small window in midair displayed a digital document. I moved it,
and it stopped in front of Wallace's face. When he saw what it said, he
cried, "N-no! Why is this happening to me?" His eyes rolled back in his
head, and he collapsed on the spot.
The document stated that now that I was a full-fledged noble, who
had finished with his training, I was being deployed to the front lines. My
orders were to serve as a deterrent to the Autocracy.
Wallace had sunk to the floor and stopped moving. Was he that
shocked that I'd been ordered to defend the border? Nothing said he had to
remain too...but I thought it'd be fun not to tell him that. I was a little
disappointed that I couldn't go back to the Capital Planet right away,
though.
"I'd planned on harassing Randy and his buddies when I got back,
but I can't do that now." If you just considered how things had ended up, it
seemed as if—by running away—Calvin had forced the job of dealing
with the Autocracy on me.
As I contemplated what to do now, a rather flustered Claus arrived.
"Lord Liam, the Autocracy has contacted us, saying they'll send an
emissary."
"From the Autocracy?"
"Yes. It seems they want to discuss a ceasefire."
They'd scraped out a big chunk of the Empire's territory, so they
wanted to end the war here, eh?
"They've also requested you as the Empire's negotiator, since you
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defeated Crown Prince Isel."
"They think they've won already, huh? They're pretty impatient."
Well, it didn't feel too bad that they'd requested me in that role.
After all, they'd been going on and on about Claus before. I figured I'd
finally made my name known to them.
"What would you like to do?" Claus asked, as calm as always.
I decided to participate in the negotiations, since I thought it might
be fun. "Start by contacting the Capital Planet."
Jeez, I thought. We'd emerged victorious from such an intense
battle, but in the grand scheme of things it had only been one tiny win
among many losses. I felt it keenly now that my own victory was
completely meaningless amid the Empire's defeats.
This was all the fault of Calvin and the Autocracy. I had to wonder
what would become of Calvin now. I couldn't imagine he was completely
done for, but I was certain he'd find himself in a tight spot soon.
"Ah, right. Claus, bring Wallace back to his room, would you?"
"R-right. Very well, sir."
Claus lifted Wallace from the floor and carried him off.
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