Chapter 67

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It was when she was being bothered by the unfortunate girl.

Suddenly, the guide appeared, clutching her chest as if in pain.

Had she rushed over in a hurry?

"Riam—did you notice? That I was gathering your enemies!"

"Huh?"

The number of Berkeley family's fleets was unusually high, and I thought part of the military was hindering me, but it turned out to be the guide's doing.

"Did you, by any chance, gather my enemies for me!?"

"That's what I said! But you didn't notice, and on top of that—ugh!"

I understood from her frustrated expression.

"Sorry, I didn't notice."

"Well, it's fine. But you should have noticed by now."

"What do you mean?"

"Figure it out! Who your real enemy is!"

My real enemy?

The guide was trying to tell me who my real enemy was.

In other words—there was someone manipulating the Berkeley family, right?

Could it be that this person was protecting me from such an existence?

"You, seriously!?"

"Finally got it, huh!"

"Yeah, I got it. Really—thank you."

"---Huh?"

It's only natural that the guide, who looked exhausted, would be angry.

She had been protecting me from my true enemy, and if I hadn't noticed, she would have been angry.

She must have gone through a lot of trouble.

Looking closely, her clothes were also tattered.

Moreover, she had gathered my enemies for me.

She must have understood my reluctance and arranged everything so that it could be resolved in one battle.

"I had my doubts. The number of the Berkeley family's fleets was too high, and part of the military was also against me."

Well, in the end, it was just a gathering of numbers.

Honestly, they were so weak that I was surprised.

The only unexpected thing was the secret weapon that appeared at the end, right?

"No, that's not it!"

Before the guide could say anything, I decided to express my gratitude for everything up until now.

"Because of the Avyd incident and other things, I've really been relying on you a lot. I'll also look into the matter of your true enemy. For now—thanks!"

It feels a bit embarrassing.

There are few people I can sincerely thank.

Then, the guide started trembling.

"Hey, stop it."

"Hey, don't be embarrassed. You're a cute one, aren't you?"

"Stop itttt!"

◇

What the guide saw was a row of golden flintlock guns behind Riam.

Several old guns were lined up, their barrels pointed at the guide.

Riam's gratitude, combined with the gratitude of many others, was being loaded into the guns as bullets and aimed at the guide.

Riam didn't seem to notice.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Ah!"

The guide couldn't directly attack Riam.

She would be defeated if she were in a weakened state.

Riam had become that powerful.

(What is this guy! How hard have I been trying to make you miserable!? And yet, every time you thank me—this guy, even if I make him fall miserably, he seems to be happy and grateful!)

No matter what she did, Riam would always be grateful, which scared the guide.

She even suspected that he was deliberately being grateful.

(Maybe he knows that I hate gratitude? No, that can't be—right?)

As Riam took a step closer, bullets started firing from the flintlock guns.

The bullets pierced through the guide, turning her into black smoke.

"No, no, no!"

The golden bullets, filled with gratitude, pierced through the guide's body.

Unable to bear the pain, the guide turned into black smoke and fled the scene.

"Hey, where are you going! We still need to properly thank you—gone."

As the guide disappeared, Nias and Yurisha started moving.

"Lord Riam, give me a budget!"

"I'll never leave you!"

Riam, who was being hugged by the unfortunate girls, thought about whether he could do something to thank the guide.

A dog in the corner of the room watched with a disappointed look.

◇

It has been four years since I was officially assigned.

My final rank, considering my future title, was decided as a general in the reserves.

I achieved an unprecedented promotion, but the effect of the bribes was significant.

A general in just four years.

In the presence of nobles, military ranks are only this much.

Incidentally, Tia had been promoted to a major general.

Marie was a lieutenant colonel.

Yurisha, as my adjutant, had been promoted to a colonel.

And—Nias, with my support, had been promoted to a technical lieutenant colonel.

For some reason, I am considered her patron, but I can't quite accept it. However, refusing would be troublesome, and since she is an unfortunate one, this is fine.

And the truly unfortunate one is Wallace.

"Wallace, you're a major in the reserves? What have you been doing?"

I could have guaranteed him a lieutenant colonel if he had followed me, but he only made it to a major, one rank lower.

He looked uncomfortable.

"Well, you see—"

"Why didn't you get promoted! I even gave you bribes!"

Actually, they were seasonal greetings and donations.

Moreover, I have been quite considerate of the military.

I used military funds to curry favor with the regular fleet, played real internal politics at my post, and even applied for additional supplies. I bought old ships to contribute to the military's equipment updates.

I even asked for Wallace's promotion!

"You must be embarrassed to have me as your patron!"

"No, but—there was no place for me to shine! I was always supervising construction sites on the ground!"

"Even so, a noble should get promoted!"

"I am a royal, you know?"

Really—his brother Cedric has been promoted to a major general.

Wallace crossed his arms behind his head.

"Besides, once you're in the reserves, military ranks are meaningless. You might get a little money every year, that's all."

I am the head of the family, so I don't get paid.

Besides, I don't need it.

"Also, I prefer not to stand out."

"You're just saying that, but you couldn't get promoted, right?"

Wallace averted his eyes from me, so he probably couldn't get promoted.

But I had been giving him tasks unrelated to his job.

This time, I'll let it slide.

"Well, it's fine. From next year, I'll be entering the Imperial University. Military ranks will become meaningless."

"Right! A~h, the dream campus life! I'll have parties every day and have fun!"

—Is this okay for a royal?

Moreover, I already have a fiancée—can I even participate in parties?

I started to think that I should take life more seriously.

Looking at Yurisha makes me think so.

"Lord Riam! In the capital, you have a famous hotel reserved, right? Give me a room too!"

Seeing the unfortunate girl with sparkling eyes, I shook my head.

"Do as you please."

"Yay! One step closer to my dream life!"

Yurisha's enthusiasm left Wallace speechless.

"I thought you were a serious military person, but you're just a regular girl. You look good, though."

She's still competent, though.

Having her around isn't a problem.

But—

"A~h, swimming in the hotel pool, shopping at noon, and enjoying a leisurely time at a café—"

—Seeing her indulge in fantasies, I still find her unfortunate.

Wallace called out to me.

"More importantly, shouldn't you talk to Rosetta about your adjutant?"

"—Ah.”

I need to tell my fiancée about my mistress.

—Why do I feel so heavy?

"More importantly, Riam, is it really okay?"

"What do you mean? The mistress? The concubine? I was planning to build a harem from the beginning, so it's fine."

"Ah, is that so? No, that's not what I meant. It's about the Berkeley family's territory."

"Oh, that."

Thanks to defeating the Berkeley family, I was able to seize all their assets.

That's good, but they controlled too many planets.

When I tried to manage them, Tenjo from the home planet said, "—There are too many planets that are too far from the home planet."

It's like I ended up with a bunch of enclaves.

It might seem like a simple matter of warp travel, but distance is important.

Moreover, many of the planets were in poor condition.

Those guys had been producing death planets in their quest for elixirs.

It was good to seize them, but if I were asked if I really wanted them, I would say, "Hmm."

So, I sold them to the empire.

I kept a few, but sold the rest.

Moreover, I recovered what I wanted to recover.

Planet development devices—since the Berkeley family had many, I plan to use them effectively in the future.

I'll use them to develop desolate planets on fortresses.

I have plenty of elixirs to sell.

When I sold rare metals to merchants, they sold like crazy, and elixirs flooded the market, so I bought most of them.

—And there are also the guide's words that bother me.

My true enemy.

There must be an existence that can't be compared to the Berkeley family.

If I have to fight it, I need to become even stronger than I am now.

Moreover, protecting enclaves is troublesome.

It would be better not to have them in the first place.

"It's a waste. You could have given them to me."

"If you want desolate planets, I can give them to you right away?"

"I don't want that. Please, at least give me a somewhat developed planet. If it's as developed as a planet you fixed up in your spare time, I won't complain."

—The planet where I played real internal politics at my post developed significantly, probably due to its location.

Many merchants wanted to open stores, so I left it to Thomas and others, and gradually more people started to come—yes, it developed.

Since it's a direct territory of the empire, it's close to the city.

The development speed is incomparable.

"Don't be unreasonable. I'll develop it a bit for you."

"That sounds promising."

—Even this guy is one of my subordinates.

I need to increase my allies in the future.

The guide, who disappeared without revealing my true enemy—there must be something on his mind.

For now, I'll focus on building my strength.

"By the way, what are you going to do from now on? Are you going back to the capital planet immediately?"

Asked by Wallace, I answered honestly.

"I'll go back to my territory first. I have work to do."