He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 37

Swoosh, Clang!

The silver holy sword struck the iron.

Normally, one would ‘cut’ with a sword, but against iron, even attempting to cut would result in more of a strike.

Originally, cutting iron with a sword is difficult, regardless of the steel’s quality.

Clang, clang, clang!

However, the sword, heavily imbued with Aura, slightly cut into the iron.

However, the Aura I imbued in the sword was a bit different from the usual.

Strictly speaking, it was closer to ‘shaving’ than ‘cutting.’

Clang! Thud.

The iron, which I used instead of straw bales or scarecrows, was soon completely shaved off and fell to the floor.

“I should use the vibration property like this.”

Since realizing how to transform the properties of Aura last time, I’ve been steadily doing this kind of training.

It’s more like an experiment than training, though.

Thanks to that, I was able to come up with various application ideas for Aura. I don’t know when or how I’ll use them, though.

“With the war right around the corner, I can’t even wander outside; it’s frustrating.”

I sat down on the floor of the training ground and muttered to myself.

Of course, I could go outside as much as I wanted if I put my mind to it.

But until recently, there were several assassination attempts, so I couldn’t help but be mindful of the Prime Minister and the Captain of the Guard.

It would be possible if I really set up a double in the Imperial Palace to take the assassination risk instead of me.

It’s not like people who look like me are common, and if I put someone who doesn’t even resemble me as a double, no one would be fooled.

“Sigh, forget it. I should do that instead.”

I felt frustrated because I couldn’t go outside the Imperial Palace, but fortunately, I recently had a way to relieve that frustration a little.

Training by swinging a sword like just now is one of them, though.

Swish, swish, swish-

I closed my eyes as if meditating and focused my mind, creating a web of Aura.

It was the ‘Watcher’s Web’ that I’ve been using well so far, but now I use it for other purposes besides simple detection.

The web that stretched throughout the Imperial Palace detected everyone within it.

Originally, it only detected location and movement, but now it did much more.

I could visually sense even the subtle differences in their appearance and the magic they possessed.

At first, I was a bit clumsy, but now I was completely used to it, to the point where I could even know what they were doing specifically.

I could see a court official dozing off for a while, court maids chatting, a guard secretly flirting with a court maid, or even the Prime Minister looking happy because I was quietly in the palace.

“Actually, I didn’t figure it out for peeping purposes… but I can’t help but find it interesting.”

Originally, I figured it out to understand the properties of Aura or magic.

The properties of magic that people possess are different, so if I grasp them one by one, it would help in researching the properties of Aura.

But as I did it, it degenerated into a pastime.

It could also degenerate into a slightly bad deed… well, it’s fundamentally for information gathering purposes, so what can I do?

What’s wrong with the Emperor monitoring the people in the Imperial Palace?

“Huh? What is this?”

While rationalizing a bit of guilt and continuing to sense the entire Imperial Palace, I found something strange.

“There’s someone who looks exactly the same?”

While sensing all the people in the Imperial Palace, I found someone who looked exactly the same as another among them.

The two people who looked exactly alike were in different places.

“Are they twins?”

If they’re twins, they can look the same.

But something felt off about that.

If they were identical twins, the properties of their magic should also be the same.

Even identical twins can have different acquired traits, but the properties of magic are innate.

But these two were different.

Not only were they different, but one of them had a property of magic that was very different from what I had found out so far.

“I should have Jurgen investigate a bit.”

It was too strange to just pass it off as something that could happen.

I had Jurgen secretly investigate that person.

* * *

Mirror was one of the few Doppelgangers who cooperated with the Demon King’s army.

Most of the races living in the Demon Realm are loyal to the Demon King, but the Doppelgangers, a branch of the Demon race, were originally free-spirited.

That was close to a characteristic of the race, because they had to steal the appearance of someone else to live.

Borrowing someone’s appearance, living as they pleased in one place, and leaving when they got tired of it or their identity was revealed was the way most Doppelgangers lived.

It was a kind of survival method, but thanks to that, they wanted to live freely rather than being bound by social rules.

However, even among those Doppelgangers, there were outliers.

“Easy. I thought it might be a little difficult because it’s the Imperial Palace, but I was scared for nothing.”

Mirror, who infiltrated the Imperial Palace without any hindrance, muttered with a sense of superiority.

It’s been over a week since he infiltrated, but no one suspected him.

Even if the appearance is the same, if the acting was clumsy, he would have been caught, but Mirror was one of the most skilled Doppelgangers.

Not only does he change his appearance, but he can also perfectly imitate the person’s actions and tendencies.

Mirror was proud of his ability and worked for the Demon King’s army, where he could be recognized for that ability.

“The Demon King’s top brass has come up with a really amazing plan.”

The cultists who were one of the connections of the demons in the Empire.

They had proposed the assassination of the Emperor to Karstein, who had been connected to the cult until recently.

To be exact, it wasn’t ‘assassination’ but ‘switching’.

In fact, from the Demon King’s army’s point of view, killing the Emperor was not very meaningful.

If they just killed him, Karstein would be happy, and the Empire might become more chaotic.

But that alone would not directly benefit the demons blocked by the Northern Duke of the Northern Territory.

But what if they switched the Emperor?

Even if the Imperial Family, whose teeth had fallen out more than in its heyday, was taken over by the demons, it would be an unparalleled boon.

Of course, this was only possible with a Doppelganger with excellent skills.

“The problem is from now on… how do I end up alone with the Emperor?”

However, for this plan to succeed, a more difficult condition was needed.

It’s not just about killing him, but since he has to act like that person, no one should even know that he ‘died’.

Well, that’s not difficult. All you have to do is secretly kill him and hide the body.

But the target is the Emperor, and this is the Imperial Palace.

Even if it’s easy to kill him, transform into the Emperor, and hide the body, the opportunity to be alone with the Emperor without witnesses was rare.

“If I transform into someone too high up, like the Prime Minister or the Captain of the Guard, even I would be caught.”

Those two people, and if you add one more, the Head Butler or the Empress Dowager, are also people who can have a private audience with the Emperor.

But transforming into them was a self-defeating move.

Since it’s an assassination mission, no one can be killed except the Emperor for the sake of secrecy, and there’s only enough poison for one person to use for poisoning.

No one else can be killed except the Emperor, but the whereabouts of all four of the above are revealed in the Imperial Palace.

No matter how well you act, you’ll be caught if you’re witnessed as the same person at the same time.

Then he had to transform into someone who wasn’t very noticeable even in the Imperial Palace.

In the end, the opportunities he could aim for were very limited.

But Mirror was skilled enough to find an answer even in this situation.

“Remi, the Head Maid is calling for you?”

“Why?”

“I don’t know; she suddenly asked me to bring you. I don’t know the details, so go quickly.”

“What’s going on? I’m a little busy right now…”

“Your shift will be replaced by me, so don’t worry and go.”

As a maid named Remi left somewhere, Mirror raised the corners of his mouth.

And his appearance soon changed into that of the maid named Remi.

“Easy, easy as I thought.”

Mirror, who had infiltrated the Imperial Palace for a little over a week, easily realized that maids also had the opportunity to approach the Emperor.

Although very briefly, there were cases where they had a private audience for a while to serve him in various ways.

It was thanks to the Emperor’s habit of often training alone in the indoor training room.

Mirror dug into that gap.

“Remi, you’re already here?”

“Yes, it’s almost time to bring dinner to His Majesty. I’m in charge today, right?”

“Yes, don’t do anything that could be held against you, and be careful.”

Mirror, who received the tray containing the meal, smiled with satisfaction.

Of course, he quickly erased his smile and pushed the tray so as not to be suspected.

There were two guards in front of the indoor training room of the Imperial Palace, but they only guarded the door, and during the meal, the Emperor was left alone with the serving maid.

Unless something special happened, it would go according to plan.

“Excuse me, Your Majesty. I have brought dinner.”

“It’s already that time.”

‘This guy is the Emperor….’ Mirror looked at the young Emperor with long silver hair and received an extraordinary impression from him.

Perhaps that’s why, he felt uneasy even though he wasn’t caught, but Mirror didn’t show it.

“The chef must have put a lot of thought into it today, too.”

Fortunately, the Emperor didn’t notice anything at all.

Mirror was able to secretly put poison in the food under the pretext of serving him.

The Emperor would soon pick up the utensils, and if he ate a little of the poisoned food, he would die silently.

It was a poison specially made by the demons to die quietly without even feeling pain.

“By the way, you, your name was Remi, right?”

But the Emperor suddenly asked that question.

This was not in the plan. The Emperor even knows the name of a lowly maid? Of course, he wouldn’t have been caught. I couldn’t feel any signs of that.

“Yes, Your Majesty. But how do you know my name, who is just a maid…”

“What’s so difficult about knowing the names of people I see often? You’ve been bringing dinner for the past few days, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I’m grateful that you’ve been working hard because of me, so come and have a glass of wine.”

‘Just eat the food and die quickly!’

Mirror thought so inwardly, but he couldn’t refuse because he would be suspected.

Fortunately, the wine was not poisoned.

“Don’t refuse; sit there.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Mirror received the wine and drank it as the Emperor ordered.

‘Is he trying to seduce me?’

Mirror grumbled inwardly, thinking it was pathetic that the Emperor was trying to hit on a maid.

“You drink well. It’ll be boring if you only drink alcohol; would you like to eat some food too?”

But trying to match his tune made things go wrong.

The food already had poison in it, so he couldn’t eat it.

“I, it’s a bit much for someone as lowly as me to share food with Your Majesty…”

“I’m fine with it. Aren’t you hungry?”

“I’ve already eaten.”

Of course, he had to refuse.

But it was a very suspicious act for a lowly maid to refuse the Emperor’s order.

It was something that could get him arrested right away, and if that happened, it would be a disaster.

“Is that so? Then I can’t help it.”

But the Emperor, who seemed to have a slightly strange personality, surprisingly didn’t get angry.

Thanks to that, Mirror breathed a sigh of relief for a moment.

“But is there perhaps another reason? For example, did you put poison in the food?”

However, when he heard the following words, he felt like his heart stopped.