Brian, the butler of the Banfield family, sighed inwardly as he looked at the mansion once again today.
The mansion, rebuilt by the great-grandfather of the Banfield Earl, was, to put it mildly, unique and eccentric.
To put it bluntly, it was in poor taste.
When guests came, they would frown or avoid the topic of the mansion.
There were many guests who would give a wry smile.
The corridors were also twisted and maze-like.
It was not uncommon for new servants to get lost.
As Brian walked down the corridor, he found some servants chatting in hiding.
They were a young man and woman.
The young man was a gardener who was playing around instead of tending to the garden.
He was talking to a woman in a mini-skirted maid's uniform.
"Is it okay?"
"But we'll get in trouble if we're caught."
"It's fine. There's a guest room that's not being used."
The man put his arm around the maid's shoulder and led her away.
They didn't even greet Brian as he approached.
When hiring servants, appearance was prioritized, and necessary skills or character were ignored.
Brian sighed.
"What a state."
It used to be different.
When Brian first started serving the Banfield family, the mansion was more solid, and the servants were serious.
However, the estate was in ruins due to the great-grandfather, Liam's grandfather.
He had squeezed the tenants dry and squandered the earl's finances on luxury.
When the debt grew, he pushed everything onto Cliff and fled to the capital planet.
Brian, who mourned the loss of the once-glorious Banfield family, straightened his clothes and stood up straight when he entered the study.
He touched the electronic device on the wall.
"Master Liam, it's Brian."
Liam's voice came from the electronic device.
"---Come in."
It was an irritated voice that didn't match his young age.
The door opened, and Brian entered the room where Liam was working, with Tenshi standing beside him.
The desk was for adults, but the chair was for children.
Liam's face, which didn't look like a child's, showed no sign of hiding his dissatisfaction.
Tenshi stood by Liam's side like a secretary, supporting him.
"Master Liam, is there something you need?"
Liam got off his chair and clasped his hands behind his back.
He looked quite authoritative for a child.
"---Brian, I've never left this mansion before."
"Yes, until a few days ago, you were receiving rehabilitation and education. There are also exercise facilities within the mansion."
There was no need to go outside.
That's why Liam hadn't noticed.
---How tasteless the mansion he lived in was.
"Isn't this mansion too much?"
Brian wanted to agree, but as a butler, he couldn't criticize the great-grandfather's taste.
"I think it's very original."
"I don't need such flattery!"
Liam became furious and stomped his small feet.
Then he glanced at Tenshi, and projections of the mansions and villas built or rebuilt by the great-grandfather and the previous Cliff appeared around Brian.
There were many buildings, and to put it mildly, they were all terrible.
"Are you stupid? You must be! Why are you so obsessed with bizarre shapes? It's hard to live in!"
All of them were terrible mansions.
Some were given to relatives.
However, the relatives who knew the Banfield family's financial situation had already fled to the capital planet, so no one was living in them.
One of the reasons Liam could inherit the title and estate without any problems at the age of five was that no relatives opposed it.
---No one wanted such an estate.
Moreover, the knights and hereditary vassals had either gone to serve other families or abandoned the Banfield family to follow the great-grandfather.
Now, the estate was managed by the tenants.
The military was also maintained by the tenants.
Liam had no vassals or reliable relatives.
(How troublesome. To push everything onto a child and flee to the capital is unthinkable in the era of Lord Alistair.)
In front of Brian, Liam declared.
"Demolish everything. I don't need this mansion. Prepare a mansion suitable for me."
Brian panicked.
"W-What about the people managing the other mansions and villas?"
Liam looked displeased.
"I don't care. Fire them."
Thinking that was a problem, Tenshi stepped in.
"Master, please wait before building a new mansion."
"Why?"
"I agree with the demolition. It will reduce maintenance costs. However, it will take time to prepare a mansion suitable for you. How about preparing a mansion with the minimum necessary functions in the meantime?"
To build a grand mansion, prepare a mansion with the minimum necessary functions first.
Hearing that, Brian felt relieved.
(It's better than creating new debt. No, will it lead to more debt for the demolition costs?)
Liam thought for a moment, nodded, and adopted Tenshi's proposal.
"That's right. My mansion should be built carefully over time. By the way, can we prepare the budget?"
Tenshi immediately talked about future plans.
"In that case, I think we should reorganize the private army—the earl's military."
"Reorganize the military?"
Noble lords can have their own military.
Liam, who had just started working, seemed not to be familiar with the situation in the territory yet.
When Tenshi showed him the data, Liam was impressed.
"Thirty thousand spaceships? That's a huge number."
Tenshi nodded while saying,
"Yes, but the operational rate is less than twenty percent."
Out of thirty thousand, only six thousand were operational.
Moreover, they were old and outdated, like thirty thousand paper tigers.
"Therefore, after securing the minimum necessary three thousand ships, we should downsize the military. The maintenance costs will be drastically reduced."
"Can we manage the territory with that? After all, we're supposed to rule a galaxy."
Thinking about it, wouldn't thirty thousand ships be insufficient to rule a galaxy?
Brian answered the question, looking very reluctant.
"Master Liam, our family indeed has the right to rule a galaxy. However, we only manage this planet and one resource planet. We can't manage anything else."
"By downsizing the military."
Even if the territory was vast, the places actually managed were very few.
"Then, let's start the reorganization immediately. This will help secure the budget, right?"
"Putting up a false front for no reason."
Hearing that, Brian panicked.
"Please wait! Master Liam, it's customary for an earl's family to maintain at least ten thousand ships. A significant reduction in the military will make us look weak to the neighboring lords. It's very dangerous!"
Tenshi said to the troubled Liam.
"The neighboring lords also have fleets for show. They are outdated, so buying weapons from the empire will be sufficient to deal with them."
The combat power will be reduced to one-tenth.
Hearing that, the neighboring lords would think, "That family is in trouble. They're declining."
They might even think they could attack and win.
Moreover, there were dangerous people in space.
Space pirates.
"Master Liam, the fleet has meaning just by having a large number. Please reconsider!"
However, Liam refused.
"I don't need paper tigers. What we need is a capable military. Tenshi, proceed with the reorganization. We'll expand it eventually, right?"
Tenshi, nodding, spoke about future plans.
"We will re-educate and retrain to form an elite force. Then, we will expand the scale according to the financial situation of the territory."
Liam was satisfied with that.
"Implement it immediately."
---Brian thought.
(This decisiveness, even as a child, reminds me of the earl I admired.)
Liam's great-grandfather, Alistair, was a fine noble.
Brian saw the excellent figure of Alistair in Liam.
The only regret was that he was still attached to a doll.
◇
---What is this, it's terrible.
After coming out of the capsule and receiving rehabilitation and education for a while, I was stunned by the state of the territory when I started working.
"This is---even if I tried to squeeze, there wouldn't be any scraps left!"
The world, which was supposed to have developed through science and magic, looked worse than Japan in my previous life.
There's an interstellar nation.
A world where spaceships shoot beams at each other in wars, yet it seems like only my territory is left behind by the times.
Even if I wanted to oppress, I couldn't oppress any further.
To begin with, the territory of the Banfield family was like one that had been thoroughly exploited by a corrupt lord.
"Why don't you develop the territory?"
In response to my complaint, Tenshi answered calmly.
"Because it develops on its own. For noble lords, it's easier to let it develop on its own. The more it develops, the more difficult it is to manage."
"Use artificial intelligence!"
"We are using it, but we are striving with a minimum rule."
Extract taxes and give just enough for the territory to barely develop.
People will increase even if left alone, and when knowledge or necessary personnel are needed, just throw them into the capsule for education.
The territory's people are being oppressed by not giving them unnecessary knowledge.
---There was no room for me to intervene.
I stumbled as a corrupt lord right from the start!
"Is this just a terrible territory that my parents pushed onto me?"
Was that guide deceiving me?
Such thoughts crossed my mind, but Tenshi spoke to me kindly.
"Master, it's true that the Banfield family's territory is in a terrible state. However, it can also be seen as having nowhere to go but up. If taxes are used correctly, significant results will be achieved in ten or twenty years."
In a world where people live long lives.
The age of adulthood in this world is fifty.
Even at fifty, they look like thirteen or fourteen in my previous life, which is terrifying.
Considering that, twenty years felt short.
"---Twenty years?"
"Yes. In twenty years, the territory will regain its vitality."
If Tenshi says so, it must be true.
Even if I were to exploit, it wouldn't be fun without some leeway for the people.
Moreover, my body is still young.
There's plenty of time, so I decided to invest in the territory for now.
There would be no problem in recovering later.
"Use all the budget except what's necessary for territory development. I'll recover it properly later. Tenshi, I want power."
"Power? Military equipment---"
"No. Personal power. My own power."
"Personal? Do you want to train your body?"
"Yes. I want to become strong, whether it's martial arts or anything else."
In my previous life, I was afraid of simple violence.
I was scared of the intimidating men who came to collect debts.
I thought violence was meaningless, but in such a situation, I realized that strength was necessary.
To step on others---I want to be strong.
I want the strength to not be afraid of others.
I want violence.
That's why I wanted to become strong.
"I don't think you need it, Master. The minimum is sufficient, I believe."
"No. Gather the best instructors."
All for not being taken away.
All to take everything---I wanted power.
◇
In a black space, the guide was sitting on a travel bag, grinning while watching a video.
The video showed the wife of Liam's previous life, a woman who had withered over a few years.
"She's withered quite a bit. Her hair is a mess."
She was working multiple part-time jobs to barely survive with her daughter.
The guide watched the former wife with amusement.
Around him, videos of other people who had become unhappy were floating.
"Oops, I shouldn't be watching this. The real entertainment is him. What's the situation now---hmm?"
He tilted his head.
The reincarnated him---Liam, now seven years old, was talking to a doll.
The guide chuckled.
"It's hilarious that he can't believe in real women and keeps a sophisticated doll by his side. Moreover, he doesn't realize that it's jeopardizing his social status. What a delightful situation."
Even in a miserable environment, not realizing it made the situation even more entertaining.
In the video, Liam was saying he wanted power.
A person who was afraid of violence in their previous life now desired power in the next life---the guide was overjoyed.
"I want power so I won't be taken away. How very human. But, that's good!"
The guide reached out and touched the video.
Black smoke emerged from his body and seeped into the video.
"I'll provide you with a wonderful talent. After-sales service is my motto!"
Thus, he found a man to be Liam's teacher and forcibly connected their fates.
This way, no matter what, that man would become Liam's martial arts teacher.
"Enjoy it, Liam. I'll come to fetch you when you eventually face destruction."
The guide, whose face was only visible as a crescent mouth, was watching Liam with that mouth.
◇
At the Banfield family's port, a man arrived.
He was wearing a kimono and hakama, looking like a samurai---no, a ronin.
He had a sword at his waist.
"---Quite a remote countryside."
The man's name was Yasushi.
He looked sloppy and had come to teach martial arts to Liam.
Originally, Tenshi had commissioned another man to be Liam's martial arts instructor.
However, due to the Banfield family's bad reputation, that man had wanted to decline the request.
So, the request came to Yasushi.
He was offered the same reward if he accepted the request.
Yasushi, who had debts, reluctantly accepted.
The man recommended Yasushi, and thus, he became Liam's teacher.
However---this man was not particularly strong.
He had learned various martial arts but never stuck with any of them for long.
He lied about mastering martial arts and performed tricks to earn a living.
"The client is a kid, so it should be easy to deceive. Still, it's pitiful that a kid would learn martial arts from me."
He could teach the basics since he had learned them.
However, techniques or advanced skills were out of the question.
If the kid was spoiled, he would get bored quickly, and Yasushi thought he could satisfy him by praising him appropriately and teaching him in a good mood.
"Still, a sword. I came dressed for the part---but it's unusual."
Swords existed in this world but were not as popular as Western swords.
Yasushi also hadn't held a sword in a long time.
"Well, let's see if I can deceive him and extract some money."
This man---to put it bluntly, was a charlatan.
A man who performed tricks to earn money was chosen to be Liam's teacher due to the guide's malice.