Chapter 5: Let’s Go See My Lowly Knights～～～～！！！
“──You showed wonderful deductive ability with that lady earlier. So Reite-jou does possess keen insight after all.”
“Ngh.”
…This prince, I almost thought he was being sarcastic.
Listen here, even the smart and cute Reite-chan doesn’t understand everything instantly, you know.
For example, when I greedily bought up “wounded slaves from somewhere” like a proper vilainess at lightning speed, they turned out to be “remnants of the old regime”!
And among them was the supposedly dead “First Prince” mixed in too!!
I want to be angry about it, but an evil ruler can’t afford to be looked down upon, so,
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
I decided to affirm it for now.
…For some reason, I want to show off in front of Weiss-kun.
“Amazing. I should learn from you too.”
“Oh my. Has Weiss-kun finally realized the wonderfulness of evil? Fine, I’ll make you an evil executive.”
“I’m not aiming to be evil though.”
“Why not!?”
Then what exactly are you planning to learn from me!?
“I’m 100% evil, you know. I’m thoroughly evil to the very end. There’s nothing else worth seeing about me!”
“There is, like your kindness.”
“Ki-kindness!?”
Wha-, what!? Where exactly is such a thing supposed to be in me!?
“Don’t say things that make no sense. You’re such a nonsensical Weiss-kun!”
“Ah, I’m the nonsensical Weiss-kun who [when it was decided that Father would formally crown me next year, mistook my trembling younger brother’s applause as him being moved with emotion]. If I had understood that was [the awakening of murderous intent]…”
“Don’t make such massively-scaled self-deprecating remarks.”
Honestly. This natural airhead prince, you never know what he’ll suddenly say.
“Hmm, so you get angry when I list gentleness as one of your virtues?”
“Of course. I’m not gentle in the first place.”
“Then let me praise your appearance as your virtue. You are lovely and beautiful.”
Huh?
“I am royalty after all. I’ve seen many noble ladies at evening parties and such. But even among them, Reite-jou seems to shine particularly bright.”
“What!?”
W-well, I am confident about my looks!?
“Unfortunately, I’m not good with words. Someone like me probably can’t praise your beauty skillfully. But if I were to speak of it anyway, your loveliness is like [a flower that blooms at night]. You have a fantastical beauty that shines in the evening darkness under moonlight, like the girl called you──”
“No no no no no wait, be quiet! And you’re actually really good at complimenting women!?”
“You’re right. I’ve discovered an unexpected talent.”
“Lose that talent!”
What is with this prince…!
It’s not like being called pretty or whatever is new to me since I hear it from the servants almost daily, but this is the first time someone’s said it with a completely straight face without any flattery.
Unlike those fawning people, I can tell clearly that it’s not a lie, which makes it super embarrassing…!
“Don’t say stuff like that in the middle of a busy street anyway!”
“Would it be fine if we were alone?”
“It wouldn’t!”
I punch the idiot in the side.
He muttered “It hurts” with no expression. Look more pained!
“Hmm, I’m not used to talking with women. It seems I’ve made you angry again.”
“You’re not used to talking with humans in general, are you?”
“…That’s true too.”
Weiss-kun looks slightly dejected, thinking about how the knights always did all the talking one-sidedly…
His expression doesn’t change, but somehow I’m starting to understand the subtle shifts in this guy’s emotions.
“Speaking of which, Reite-jou. About the knights, you put them in this town’s brigade, didn’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“You’re their master now, but as their former lord, I’m concerned about how they’re doing. Would it be alright to go see them?”
Ah, that’s right. I was actually wondering how those people were doing too.
“I’ll allow it. Let’s go to the Guardian Brigade’s headquarters together.”
“I’m grateful.”
You don’t need to thank me. Personally, I don’t really care whether they’re fitting in or not.
What I’m concerned about is whether those former kingdom knights are spreading [re-revolution ideology] to the brigade members.
Reite-chan is satisfied just tormenting weak citizens. I really want to avoid large-scale wars and such.
I’m Reite-chan, the exclusive trainer of agonized citizens.
“(So they don’t cause me trouble) I hope they’re doing things peacefully.”
“Ah, peace is best.”
Please don’t put weird ideas into my brigade members’ heads, okay~?
Weiss-kun: “As I thought, Reite-jou and I see eye to eye.”
※They don’t.
“This is the headquarters and training ground of the [Hungaria Territory Guardian Brigade].”
So here we are. It’s a place with a particularly bloody smell even within the territory.
“My brigade gets paid a lot so they won’t betray me, but in exchange, their training is extremely harsh and combat-realistic. Look, there are teeth and nails mixed in the dirt at our feet.”
“What fierce earnestness. Splendid. By the way.”
Hmm?
“This training ground is quite spacious. Would it be alright if I ran around?”
“Are you a dog?”
I told him to do it later.
Now, setting aside the natural prince. What I’m concerned about is recruitment by the former kingdom knights. I wonder if they’re spreading weird ideologies to my brigade members, like [Join the re-revolution~].
“Let’s go see how everyone’s doing.”
“Right.”
So when we went to see the brigade members──
“Listen well, former knights! When you wake up in the morning, bow your heads toward where Reite-jou resides and say ‘Good morning!’ When eating, shout ‘Thanks for the blessings brought by Reite-sama!’ And the moment you see her in person, praise her with all your might saying ‘You look beautiful today as well!'”
[Oooh!!]
Wait, the brigade is the one giving weird education!?
“Hey hey hey hey, wait a minute you guys!”
“Gah!? Reite-sama has descended to grace such a place!? Is this a hallucination!?”
“It’s real!”
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Geez, honestly. Those Guardian Brigade guys are especially fawning even among the people who suck up to me. Just how much do they fear me?
“Ah, sorry for showing you something weird, Weiss-kun.”
“Reite-jou, you look beautiful today as well.”
“Don’t be trained like that!”
You’re too honest for your own good…
“Well, whatever. More importantly, former knight vice-captain, Sonia-kun. Come here.”
I call over the refreshing young man with bulging muscles.
He seems to get along well with Weiss-kun too, and among the knights who were captured as slaves, he has the highest rank.
“Yes! Reite-sama looks beautiful today as well!”
“You follow along too! Enough with that sucking up, just let me confirm the current situation.”
The kingdom knights I ended up buying and Prince Weiss.
Their existence is supposedly kept secret from the general public.
However, since they caused a commotion on the first day, their existence became known to the manor staff, so currently the only ones who know their true identities are those manor people and the Guardian Brigade members I decided to entrust them to.
The manor servants are all people I hired by taking advantage of their weaknesses, and I’ve given the brigade guys especially generous salaries and social security, so as long as our financial ties continue, I believe they won’t betray me.
“Now listen, Sonia-kun. You haven’t been recommending [re-revolution ideology] to the brigade members, have you? Like inviting them to ‘fight alongside us’?”
“Of course not. We’re aware it’s a dangerous path, so we wouldn’t force others around us to get involved.”
“I see.”
Good, that’s a relief then.
“However.”
“Hmm, however?”
“The brigade members, rather, they themselves──”
Just as Sonia-kun was about to explain something.
His voice was drowned out by a [GRAAAAAAHHHHH!!] roar echoing from next to the training ground.
“!? Reite-sama, what was that!?”
“From that roar, it’s a monster.”
“A monster!?”
Sonia-kun is surprised, wondering why there’s a monster in the territory. Weiss-kun behind us also asked “What’s going on?”
Ah, come to think of it, I hadn’t told them.
“I picked up a weird old man a while back and have him doing [magic studies] research. He’s investigating monster ecology to find effective ways to repel them and see if we can use them effectively in daily life.”
So in case anything happens, I’ve set up a research facility next to this Guardian Brigade headquarters and training ground.
When I finished explaining, Sonia-kun and the others nodded in understanding.
“However, [magic studies] research… That’s a forbidden discipline in the royal capital, isn’t it?”
“Oh really?”
…Ah, come to think of it, that old man who said he was a researcher from the capital mentioned something like that too.
“Many of the upper class believe that ‘touching monsters corrupts the soul.’ Just a few months ago, a professor who had made a name for himself in various research fields despite his youth was discovered to have also dabbled in [magic studies], and was exiled from the royal capital for that reason…”
“Hm. So if I, a margrave who defends the nation’s territory from monster invasions, went to the royal capital, I wouldn’t be treated very well either?”
“That is…”
Muscular Sonia-kun hesitates. So that’s an affirmative then.
“I’m sorry, Reite-sama. Thanks to the efforts of frontier nobles from various regions, there are hardly any monsters in the center of the country now. But precisely because of that, the noble people of the royal capital who have never even seen monsters are developing strange superstitions.”
Of course I’m different! Sonia-kun continues,
and Weiss-kun agrees with “I’m different too.”
“‘Touching monsters corrupts the soul’? So everyone who fights desperately against monsters to protect the people are all corrupt beings? Don’t be ridiculous.”
He clenches his fists tightly and says,
“I’m proud of them. The warriors who risk their lives to protect the people are truly the kingdom’s treasures.”
The territorial soldiers showed moved expressions at his words, going [Prince Weiss…!].
Weiss-kun may be unfriendly, but there’s no lies in his words because of it. Being men, that got through to them.
“Well then. Everyone, shall we take a look at the research facility next door?”
The monster cries and strange noises have been continuing since earlier. It would be troublesome if some weird problem occurred.
“If a monster escaped or something, it would be dangerous (※for me). To protect (※my) peace, Hungaria Territory Guardian Brigade, deploy~!”
[Woooooh!!]
The soldiers respond with full enthusiasm.
They probably dislike me, but thanks to paying them generous salaries, their morale seems high.
“Sonia-kun and the others are coming too.”
“Yes! About the initial topic though──”
The initial topic? Ah, about whether Sonia-kun and the others were inviting soldiers to [re-revolution].
I was listening properly. I’m glad it seems they’re not doing such things.
“If you understand your position, that’s fine. Without forcing invitations, just do it secretly with only those who agree with the plan so the royal capital doesn’t find out.”
“Y-yes!”
Sonia-kun nods happily. His muscles also expanded happily.
Honestly I’m thinking [Don’t do any re-revolution! What if I get dragged into it!], but if I said that directly, they’d probably attack me going [So you’re siding with the new regime!? I’ll kill you! Divine punishment!]. So I’ll pretend to agree on the surface.
And as long as they don’t force invitations, no one will appear who would go along with their recklessness. This makes it checkmate.
“Fufu, well, do your best.”
Yesterday the servants also said ridiculous things like [When we seize power, we’ll make Reite-sama royalty~] to flatter me, but ultimately they’re just non-combatants’ idle talk.
There won’t be anyone who would actually fight risking their lives.
So,
“Don’t worry, I’m on your side.”
[!!?]
Since the re-revolution is probably impossible anyway, I’ll comfort them with casual remarks!
“The Second Prince who seized power through revolution is also an unforgivable existence for this Reite-Hungaria. However, currently we lack military strength. For now, we should focus on increasing our forces.”
“Understood! All the warriors express their renewed gratitude to you!”
I received such ridiculous thanks with a pitying smile.
It’s truly unfortunate. Those [warriors challenging re-revolution] will never grow beyond the initial thirty people…! Making war would be impossible with that.
[Long live Reite-sama! As expected, Reite-sama and our hearts are as one──!]
“Yes yes, that’s right.”
Oh-hohoho! Me deceiving the knights, so utterly evil~!
Reite-chan: (Come to think of it, didn’t Sonia-kun start to say something?)
Muscular Sonia-kun: (As expected, Reite-sama also desires re-revolution! Our hearts are as one!)
※They’re completely apart.
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