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083 The
Princess's Struggle
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Translator : PolterGlast
I entered the castle
for the first time in several days. Of course, I hid my presence and went to
the Princess's office. I'm not a stalker, just to be clear.
"Your Highness,
we are now proceeding to raid the underground guild," Barbados, the Knight
Commander, reported to the Princess, standing tall. It seemed a mass arrest of
villains was about to take place.
"There are no
oversights in information management, are there?" she asked. Sorry.
Information management is already compromised with me being here. But rest
assured, I'm not corrupt enough to leak information to villains.
"We have gathered
only those confirmed as clean by all appraisers," Barbados assured her.
"I pray for
everyone's safe return," the Princess said.
"Understood!"
Barbados replied. So, there were some dirty ones too, huh? I heard that about
20% of the knights were implicated, and the Knight Order was short-staffed. As
a result, the castle's dungeons were reportedly full. Whatever, I heard they
don't get special bonuses in this world. And a full dungeon is hardly something
to be happy about, let alone laugh at.
I followed Barbados as
he exited the Princess's office. This time, he was quite determined, stating he
wouldn't hold back due to the attempted assassination of the King.
The mastermind behind
the King's assassination was the guild master of the underground guild. That
guild master, surprisingly, was actually Marquis Benas, the Queen's brother.
And he was also the Minister of Interior. I was truly astonished.
Marquis Benas was not
as blatant as the Minister of Finance, but he engaged in corruption. And even
more seriously, he was the guild master of an underground guild, which
absolutely had to remain secret. The previous Marquis had established the
underground guild, and the current Marquis had greatly expanded it—a truly vile
parent-child duo. He was fortunate enough for his sister to become Queen and to
secure a crucial national post as Minister of Interior.
I was appalled, wondering
if they hadn't thoroughly investigated the Benas Marquisate when choosing the
Queen. But if it were easy to find out, the Marquisate would have been crushed
much sooner. In any case, the Benas Marquisate gained significant power, both
openly and secretly. And he used his open position to further advance the
underground guild.
At that time, the King
had solidified his intention to summon Heroes. Marquis Benas initially thought
the King was being instigated by the Minister of Finance, but then he learned
that the King intended to use the Heroes' power to rectify corruption within
the country. Marquis Benas didn't care what happened to the Minister of
Finance, but as the leader of an underground guild, he thought it would be
problematic if someone messed with him, so he reportedly planned to assassinate
the King, making it look like a natural death.
The King had his
sister, the Queen, by his side, and the Chief Priest was his subordinate, the
vice guild master. Poisoning the King wasn't that difficult. Just in case, he
tried to win over the chief physician, but he was unexpectedly stubborn, so he
abducted his family to force his cooperation.
The poison, steadily
weakening the King, was supposed to lead to his death within a month. Dargan's
Disease was known as an incurable illness, but its rate of debilitation was
slow. That seemed to have been fortunate. Many illnesses could be cured by
priests or potions, but Dargan's Disease was an exception. That's why it was
necessary to slowly weaken the King, like Dargan's Disease, even if it took
time. If he died too suddenly, it might be suspected that it wasn't Dargan's
Disease, and poison would be suspected.
The Princess resolved
to eradicate the Benas Marquisate. Attempted regicide, even if unsuccessful,
was subject to such severe punishment.
The Knight Order split
into several units to conduct the mass arrests. The Knight Commander positioned
himself near the border between the noble and commoner districts outside the
castle, for easier command.
"The first unit
has entered," a messenger reported on the operation.
"Good work,"
Barbados replied.
"Today, we will
purge all the corruption from this country!" Barbados's breathing was
heavy. I also wanted to see all the corruption purged and the nation run soundly.
Since I was establishing a base in this country, I wanted it to improve.
This time, it was the
arrest of the Benas Marquisate and the underground guild. From there, many
nobles would likely be purged in a chain reaction.
Reports kept coming
in. The Benas Marquisate's head, the Marquis, along with his wives and
children, were all arrested. Aside from a single vice guild master-class member
who escaped, the underground guild was almost entirely apprehended—effectively
annihilated.
At the temple, the temple
knights continued to resist, but the Knight Order had anticipated this
resistance and sent many elites. The Princess ordered all priests in the temple
to undergo appraisal. Since the Chief Priest attempted to assassinate the King,
the Princess's order was natural, but the temple refused the order.
She apparently
hesitated considerably about sending troops to the temple. Even if one of the
King's assassins was the Chief Priest, the authority of the temple was not to
be underestimated. Sending troops to the temple might turn all temples and
their followers across the kingdom against them. It couldn't be ruled out that
it might even escalate into a civil war that could shake the nation.
Despite this, the
Princess decided to send troops. She hadn't made any prior arrangements with
the nobles. If she had, information would have leaked to the temple. She wanted
to avoid that. Well, let's see what happens.
Soon after, a report
came that the temple's suppression was complete.
***
After the crackdown, I
visited the Princess's office. She was covering it up with makeup, but her face
looked terrible. She had dark circles under her eyes. Her beauty was ruined.
She was probably busy with the King's attempted poisoning incident and the
simultaneous crackdown on bureaucratic corruption.
The Queen, who had
been under house arrest, died. The Princess seemed to have ordered her to drink
poison. It would reportedly be announced as a death by illness. She had a cute
face but made ruthless decisions. But even as a second consort, it must have
been painful to pronounce a death sentence on her mother. This might be why she
had those dark circles under her eyes.
The Queen was also the
Crown Prince's mother, but apparently, the Crown Prince wasn't killed. However,
the Crown Prince was stripped of his succession rights and imprisoned. He would
apparently live out his life in confinement, without it being made public.
In this world, a
parent's sin extends to their children. If it concerned an attempted regicide,
not only the parents but the entire family would be annihilated. The Queen had
done a foolish thing. If she had just cut off her trash brother, the Queen
might not have died, but she dragged the Crown Prince into it and
self-destructed.
The next King was
reportedly the second prince, who had just turned 5, but since he wouldn't
reach adulthood for another 10 years, it was uncertain what would happen.
The King was
detoxified by a proper priest. It seemed the treatment was effective enough for
him to be able to speak. However, his return to state affairs would still take
time, and until then, the Princess, as regent, would have to fight alone.
The Minister of
Finance and Count Erbasil, along with other financial officials, had already
been apprehended. The corruption among the financial nobles was quite severe;
if all were arrested and dismissed, work would grind to a halt. So, the
Princess decided that, aside from the officials with serious crimes, those with
minor offenses would be enslaved to prevent them from engaging in further
corruption, and then put to work. If they didn't perform well, they would be
sent to harsh environments, so they were reportedly working as if their lives
depended on it. The Princess didn't just take things lying down.
The Minister of Finance,
Count Erbasil, and other financial officials had their assets confiscated and
were reduced to slavery. Their noble titles were, of course, stripped away.
Assistant Minister
Rudil was promoted to Minister of Finance. The new Minister of Finance, Rudil, was
rumored to have had a fistfight with Count Erbasil, and my Detailed Appraisal
also confirmed him to be an earnest individual. He would surely assist the
Princess and manage the Ministry of Finance effectively. The Minister of
Interior would also be a serious individual, so it was just a matter of
patience until things settled down.
Next, regarding the
prevention of corruption, the Princess, taking this incident seriously, decided
to conduct surprise inspections of record cards. Officials, knights, and other
individuals serving the country would undergo at least one surprise inspection
annually, and at least four inspections over three years. Since they were
surprise inspections, there would be no prior notification, and the timing
would also be unscheduled. These surprise inspections would apply to both
nobles and commoners. Those who refused would reportedly be imprisoned without
question. Since the situation was so dire, no one objected to this. If anyone
had, they would have been purged first. The Princess was making quite decisive
moves based on this incident. Her resolve to purge villains from within the
castle at this opportunity was evident.
The chief physician's
family was found, but all were dead. They seemed to have been killed
immediately after being abducted, and their bodies were severely decomposed or
skeletal. Since no record cards were found, the obsessed appraiser reportedly
identified them as the chief physician's family only after appraising them.
Despite being coerced,
the chief physician and his family were guilty of attempted regicide, so they
faced the death penalty. Although the family would have died sooner or later,
it was tragic that they were brutally murdered and their bodies left unburied.
I prayed for the repose of their souls.
The Princess rubbed
her temples and stretched. Her actions were graceful, fitting her age. Born as
the King's eldest daughter, the reins of the nation were entrusted to her
slender arms. I felt sorry for her, but all I could do was send her a silent prayer
to do her best.
...Since queens are
also recognized in this country, she might become queen in the future.
***
The castle was still
unsettled, but we entered the 8th floor of the dungeon. We were following
Bath's guidance on a route with fewer battles, but we were still annihilating
many Merfolk hordes. Then, the boss room door appeared before us.
"We've fought
hundreds, even thousands of Merfolk so far. We have no injuries, but we're
probably a little tired. We'll rest before the boss battle," I stated.
Bath took out chairs and a table from his Item Box, and I placed snacks and
drinks on top.
"Toi-sama says
sweets are good when you're tired, so I prepared some honey-infused
sweets," Anneliese said, placing cookies and warm tea before me. The cookies
smelled deliciously sweet.
"Delicious. This
truly dispels fatigue," I murmured. The cookies were fragrant and sweet.
Their sweetness wasn't cloying, but refreshing.
"The tea is
delicious too," Gandarvan commented. It had a faint bitterness but a refreshing
aroma. Its color was reddish-brown, but it wasn't black tea.
"This is herbal
tea. Sayaka-san said it's fermented Heal Leaf," Anneliese explained.
Sayaka? ...Oh, Itsukushima-san. I don't usually call her by her given name, so
I wondered who it was.
"Itsukushima-san
made this? That's amazing," I said.
"She said she
can't fight, but she wants to contribute to Toi-sama by making support
items," Anneliese added.
"I see. That's
thoughtful of her," I replied.
"Is that
all?" Anneliese asked.
"Hm? What is it?
What are you trying to say?" Anneliese stared intently at me. Her emerald
eyes seemed to convey something, but I couldn't understand her intention.
"No, it's
nothing," she replied.
"I'm curious. If
you have something to say, tell me," I pressed.
"Toi-sama sure is
dense," Anneliese stated, then turned her face away with a huff.
What am I dense about?
I'm quite sensitive, you know?
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