“Hey, Titus… How is His Highness Hadrianus doing?”
The delicate man in front of Hercule was his second eldest brother—the second son of Hadrianus III, Titus.
Hercule had two brothers, and he was the youngest among the three. His eldest brother was Hadrianus, and his other brother was Titus.
Although Hercule and his eldest brother Hadrianus had exchanged less than a hundred words in total, he was rather close with Titus. That didn’t change even after his enthronement.
Since they were born of different mothers and raised separately, they didn’t really share a feeling of brotherhood. But because they were both interested in literature and arts, they would occasionally dined together while exchanging conversations.
“Still shutting himself indoors. He can’t accept the fact that he wasn’t worthy of the imperial crown, it seems.”
“I’ll hand it over anytime.”
“Stop it. If you give him the crown, this country will go to hell for sure.”
“You want it, Titus?”
“Haha, you jest.”
Titus waved his hands exaggeratedly as he refused Hercule’s offer. Titus himself was aware that he was not suitable to be the Emperor. Just like Hercule, he never desired the imperial crown in the first place.
Titus’s hobbies were drawing, engraving, playing music and poetry. In truth, his artistic skills ranked among the best in the Empire’s cultural history, so it would be a waste for him to become the Emperor. Or so his father Hadrianus III told him.
An comparable figure in Earth’s history would be Emperor Huizong. If Titus was crowned, it would be a matter of time until the Lemurian Empire meet Huizong’s bad end.
“I just don’t know anything about His Highness Hadrianus. He must hate me, right? I don’t think I did anything to him though…”
“Well, older brother probably can’t accept Your Majesty’s existence itself.”
“Did I do something?”
“…It’s fine if Your Majesty isn’t aware, it’s not your fault at all.”
Then Titus began to talk about the reason his older brother Hadrianus hated Hercule.
As you can guess from the name Hadrianus, the eldest son Hadrianus was named after his father Hadrianus III. Perhaps if he had been crowned, he would be called Hadrianus IV.
Originally, he was supposed to become the Emperor. Hadrianus III had given his name to his newborn successor, and his expectations and wishes along with it. Not just giving his son the same name as himself, he loved the young Hadrianus dearly as well.
But perhaps because of his pampered upbringing, Hadrianus grew up to be a selfish and stubborn child. He had great strength, but he often used violence against younger aristocrats children which made Hadrianus III very troubled. Still, he lowered his head to the nobles, trying his best to turn Hadrianus into a worthy successor somehow.
He thought that it was only because he pampered his son too much; the problems would eventually go away with time. Yet go away they did not.
Fourteen years ago, Hadrianus finally crossed a line as the crown prince—he raped a noble girl. This brought about a huge uproar that shook the Empire’s political scene greatly.
This was the point when Hadrianus III finally decided to give up on Hadrianus. However, his second son that was Titus was not all that brilliant either.
Just as he thought about what to do, Hercule was born.
Just like that, he poured all his affection onto Hercule. Suddenly losing all the expectations and love Hadrianus III had for him, Hadrianus felt intense hatred for Hercule.
Wonderful, wonderful…
“What’s so wonderful about that? And isn’t it Father’s fault too for being bad at raising children?”
“Father did have great success in raising Your Majesty. He probably reflected from his first and second sons’ failed upbringing.”
Titus laughed amusedly. The two brothers had never felt much kinship towards their father Hadrianus III.
Since Hadrianus III didn’t have any expectation for Titus in the first place, they practically never talked. And reflecting from his first son Hadrianus’s case, he avoided pampering Hercule too much so they never had any parent-and-child conversation either.
“So when are you going to put him to death? Your Majesty.”
“That’s dangerous talk. As long as he stays obedient, I have no intention of killing him.”
Hercule shrugged his shoulders. It was obvious that Hadrianus hated Hercule and coveted the crown. But that was only a thought. He couldn’t actually take action, nor did he have any plan to.
Killing Hadrianus at this point would only worsen Hercule’s reputation.
“No way that man’s going to stay obedient… It will get troublesome if he joins hands with the nobles.”
“Hasn’t the nobles’ discontent died down already?”
Defeating the barbarians, regaining the lost territories and bringing the Eternal City of Lemuria back into the fold. A powerful army was necessary to do all that, and to maintain that army, it was necessary to levy high taxation. Upon hearing Hercule’s explanation, many nobles had expressed their consent.
The Lemurian Empire used to be a great power. At present, it had lost half of its territories and its former lands had been overrun by barbarian tribes.
The only thing that was keeping Lemurian people going was the belief that their country was the sacred Kingdom of God, and when the Last Judgement came, the citizens of the Empire would be the last to remain on Earth. They took pride on that fact.
Recovering lost territories. Those words strongly swayed the nobles’ hearts.
That said, the swayed nobles were mostly the elven clans with long lifespans who had been around since the founding of the nation and the formation of the Lemurian Empire, thus they felt a strong sense of nostalgia. The newer nobles didn’t have much interest in recovering lost territories, so they still held dissatisfaction towards Hercule.
“But, Your Majesty. The non-elven nobles still hold discontent. If they were to join hands with Hadrianus…”
“You really aren’t good at politics. Tell me, Titus. What can those guys actually do? Rebellion is out of the question. I can easily detect the mobilization of goods and personnel through the guilds. It’s simple to tell when they assemble weapons, food and mercenaries. Assassination? That’s even more absurd. There’s no assassin who can get past Carolina’s protection.”
“I will protect Your Majesty,” Hercule recalled Carolina’s passionate remark.
Not only Carolina, there was always a staff of expert guards around Hercule. To penetrate this defense, get past Carolina, and break through Hercule himself was an impossible feat. As long as it was under ten assassins, Hercule’s contracted great spirit could deal with them without fail.
“Try if they can. Even if they actually attempts to assassinate me, I won’t die so easily.”
Hercule lightly waved his hand. He had no intention of getting killed.
“That aside, is that thing done yet?”
“Of course, here it is.”
Titus grinned impishly while opening a wooden box. He took out a red and white cloth and spread it out to show Hercule.
“Special maid dress for Miss Carolina!!”
What Titus took out was the maid dress Hercule asked him to make for Carolina. The maid dress with a red and white motif had a cute but also somewhat erotic design. It would definitely suit Carolina who was fourteen years old—that dangerous age between an adult and a child.
It perfectly matched Hercule’s taste.
“I designed it according to the measurements you gave me… Is that alright?”
“No worries. My eyes can’t possibly get it wrong.”
Hercule had measured Carolina’s B/M/W and height with his perfect vision. And it wasn’t like he was not always brazenly staring at Carolina’s elegant limbs.
…This damn pervert.
“So when is Your Majesty going to make Miss Carolina wear it? Your promise was if the military reforms were successful, right? From what I hear, she won’t do it until she sees some results, though…”
“Ah, no need to worry about that.”
Hercule gave a smile.
“I’m going to war tomorrow.”
He declared as if he was going on a picnic.
Pelosonian Mercenary State.
This country was founded in the interior of the Lemurian Empire.
About eight years ago when Hercule was seven years old, because the reigning Emperor Hadrianus III was unwilling to pay the agreed wages, the mercenaries he employed rose in revolt. To suppress this rebellion, Hadrianus III personally led an army to battle…
He was defeated by the mercenaries’ captain, Darius. Ultimately, Hadrianus III accepted peace terms and ceded the Pelosonian Peninsula.
Since then, the Pelosonian Peninsula had been controlled by a de facto nation formed by mercenaries.
Because the Pelosonian Peninsula was located near the route running from the Empire’s southern territories to Nova Lemuria, it was serious threat to the Lemurian Empire’s control of the seas. Fortunately, the Mercenary State did not have a navy so it couldn’t obstruct the trade flow.
But that didn’t change the fact that it was a thorn in the Empire’s side and a threat to the national defense.
Furthermore, three years ago when Hercule was twelve years old (several months before his enthronement), Hadrianus III went to war again to drive those mercenaries out of the Empire, but once again lost humiliating. The mental fatigue from that time was an indirect cause of his death.
Hercule also participated in this campaign and ended up barely escaping alive.
Hercule decided to attack the Pelosonian Mercenary State to test his new standing army. It was both a war to recover lost territories and one to restore his father’s honor in revenge of three years ago.
“So let’s do it! Garphis!!”
“So sudden as always.”
Hercule proposed the campaign to the Pelosonian Peninsula to Garphis a week before his conversation with Titus.
“Your Majesty, there’s no need to rush this. We should observe the situation a bit more and wait until Your Majesty accumulates some experience…”
“What if I tell you the Pelosonian mercenaries are trying to start a war?”
Hercule intercepted Garphis’s words. He replied to Garphis who was wearing a dubious expression.
“It’s information from the wheat guilds and iron guilds. Wheat and iron are being moved in an unnatural manner. Merchants from various places also report that mercenaries are being mobilized abnormally. All those reports trace back to the Pelosonian Mercenary State. Those guys probably will finish their preparations in two weeks.”
Garphis widened his eyes.
“Y-Your Majesty… That’s…”
“Right? Aren’t you glad I created the guilds.”
Hercule created trade guilds not only to collect taxation. It was also to gather information from merchants.
They say he who controls information, controls the world.
“They’re probably scheming to give the young ruler a good beating and make some cash. They don’t know anything about handling finances, after all. Pelosonian peasants seem to be disgruntled from heavy taxation… Let’s kick those boorish mercenaries’ asses and teach them not to make light of us.”
“But mobilizing troops right away is… No, we can mobilize the standing army. If we use the sea route, we could even attack before the enemy!”
“Exactly.”
Hercule grinned broadly. Yet Garphis still looked uncertain.
“What’s wrong? Is there something you’re still concerned about?”
“…It’s just, this will be Your Majesty’s first time in command. It may be better to make use of our terrain advantage and set up a defensive line…”
“The Pelosonian Peninsula was still our territory until eight years ago. Don’t worry, the geography there hadn’t changed since then according to information from merchants. Pelosonian people are also seeking our help to overthrow the mercenaries’ tyrannical rule. We have support from the local residents. And rather than defending passively, I prefer taking the initiative to attack.”
Attacking and defending. Defending is generally more advantageous, but not always.
Being on the offensive means you can freely choose the location to strike.
It’s the commander job to determine which option is better. And Hercule prefered the latter.
“But I didn’t expect a brave general like Sir Garphis here to be so wishy-washy. Though being pessimistic is understandable after witnessing Father’s consecutive defeats… Rest assured. I’m different from my father. I’ll properly listen to your opinions and won’t overextend myself. I’ll definitely discuss battle plans with my generals. Is that satisfactory?”
“…Will you promise that?”
“Yeah. Of course. If I don’t listen to your advice and make a blunder, Carolina will hate me.”
Hercule winked. Garphis breathed out a sign as he stood up…
“I see… Rather than defend, I prefer to attack as well. I will surely present to Your Majesty a victory.”
“I’m counting on you, ‘Raging Flame’ Garphis.”
Thus, the Pelosonian War started. One year had passed since the military reforms. At this time, Emperor Hercule was fifteen years old.