He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 24

“The Emperor’s recent behavior is not to my liking.”

*Thwack, Pow!*

Karstein said while shooting arrows at the target in the archery range.

The vassals lined up behind him watched him with stiff postures and tense expressions.

“I hear minor lords are gathering under that Emperor.”

“Yes, Duke Karstein. The Magical Land industry the Emperor is running seems to be quite prosperous, and many are gathering because of it.”

The aide, who reported at the right moment, subtly gauged Duke Karstein’s mood.

Karstein, being of a violent nature, often lost his temper and tormented his vassals.

Depending on the situation, they could be injured or even killed, so all the vassals were bound to be tense.

“Insignificant fools. Are they so enticed by money that they crawl under such a greenhorn?”

*Thwack – Pow!*

“Well, those spineless and insignificant guys are unavoidable. The important thing is how we should respond.”

While saying that, Duke Karstein, who had grown tired of shooting at the target, gestured for something else to be brought.

Until just now, he had been shooting at ordinary targets, but this time, they brought live animals.

“So, everyone, speak your minds.”

*Thwack! Squeal!*

A wild boar screamed as it was hit by an arrow.

The vassals were afraid of his nature of using live animals as targets.

Of course, this was nothing new.

While he wasn’t always so violent, he occasionally tried to discipline his vassals in this way.

So, everyone had to be careful with their words.

But if they remained silent here, that would also be a problem.

Being branded as incompetent would be just as troublesome.

“N, no need to worry, Duke. The young Emperor is just using petty tricks, and they’re only minor lords, aren’t they?”

“That’s right. No matter how many of those guys gather, there’s nothing they can do. When the time comes, we can just trample them.”

The first opinions were optimistic and flattering.

Karstein, who was quick-tempered and had high self-esteem, didn’t particularly dislike those opinions.

He knew they were empty words, but he could confirm that they were loyal to him.

*Thwack!*

Slightly pleased, he shot and killed a rabbit.

“How about working with the Emperor in reverse?”

However, the opinion that followed slightly bothered the Duke.

The vassal who offered the audacious opinion was a different type from the flatterers.

They were reasonably intelligent and didn’t hesitate to give candid advice, but they were sometimes annoying.

The opinions of such people were mostly useful, but Karstein sometimes found them irritating.

However, good medicine is bitter, and Karstein was not foolish enough to ignore that truth, so he had valued them.

“Dare you suggest that I crawl at the Emperor’s feet?”

However, this time he was so displeased that Karstein acted out.

He immediately shot an arrow at the vassal who had offered the opinion.

The arrow narrowly missed the vassal’s face and lodged in the wall behind him.

There were servants in that direction, and they were startled by the sudden arrow, but the Duke didn’t care.

“If you don’t give a reasonable explanation, the next one won’t miss.”

“Y, your Highness… But the Emperor is increasing his funds with his current business. Not only funds but also his power is growing.”

The vassal’s voice, threatened, was filled with fear, but he showed a firm resolve and spoke to Karstein.

Karstein still replied to his words with a grim atmosphere.

“But that power is still weak. It doesn’t match the power of my forces.”

Of course, power meant military strength.

In fact, one couldn’t expect proper military strength from the minor lords the Emperor was gathering.

Rather, the Emperor’s military strength had to protect them.

“That’s right. But that will change over time. Above all… there’s Malenbergh.”

However, the vassal wasn’t saying that without knowing it.

Karstein saw through the truth of those words, so he lowered the arrow he had aimed at him.

“Malenbergh… So, you’re saying that if left alone, those guys might join hands with the Emperor?”

“That’s right. With their economic power rising through their business, they might offer an alliance to Malenbergh, even if not to us.”

Malenbergh was a duchy hastily created during the reign of the previous Emperor.

Several elector counts and high-ranking counts created a puppet force to keep the central territory with the capital in check.

Its military strength doesn’t match Karstein, who was a traditional great family in the central territory.

But their backing was the problem.

“If they and the Emperor join hands even temporarily, we’ll be in trouble.”

Of course, the Emperor and the elector counts would not sincerely join hands.

However, there was no reason not to do so for the purpose of easily removing Karstein from the central territory.

“So, you’re saying we should join hands with the Emperor. No, I can’t do that.”

Karstein shot another wild animal.

Another animal died with a shriek.

“I can’t ruin something bigger for the sake of immediate gain.”

By something bigger, he meant the civil war that would soon break out.

The current empire has collapsed. It was already more than ruined, but it was patched up like a tattered rag.

The previous Emperor made it so with balanced rule that didn’t antagonize anyone, but that was only a temporary fix.

The division of the empire was bound to happen.

“But side with the Emperor? That’s a funny story.”

The most insignificant force when the empire collapses would be the Emperor’s force.

When the lords, who no longer want to be tied to the empire, go their separate ways, would they rely on the imperial family, which is no different from a ruined wasteland?

Even when the empire’s heyday ended and its decline began, the lords wanted their rights to increase one by one.

“They could become kings themselves, but being under the Emperor is foolish. I have no intention of doing that either.”

Karstein wanted to remain a strongman in his own right.

If the empire was going to collapse anyway, he would try to be a king in the debris.

Perhaps other lords were thinking the same thing.

“But leaving it as it is is also troublesome. This is awkward.”

Leaving it alone is annoying, but attacking right away is burdensome.

Of course, joining hands is also out of the question. It was a situation where he could neither do this nor that.

“Then how about plundering?”

At that time, someone stepped forward and spoke.

When he looked to see who had spoken, it was a low-ranking vassal in the back seat, who couldn’t even be near the upper seat.

“Hendrik.”

He was not only a low-ranking vassal but also a commoner mercenary who had not even received a knighthood.

Karstein was displeased from the fact that he had spoken since he was the one who was in charge of very trivial and dirty work.

But Hendrik continued to speak, even knowing that fact.

“Anyway, what we need is a way to keep the Emperor in check and the money he’s making, right? Then let’s just plunder it simply.”

As someone who did rough work, it wasn’t a refined opinion.

Other vassals glared at him with frowning faces, and some clicked their tongues.

But surprisingly, it was tempting to Karstein.

“Are you saying you’ll take the lead in that?”

“Of course, Your Highness. I wouldn’t have come forward if I wasn’t.”

“But even in the current situation, plundering is not something to do openly.”

“If honor and reputation are a problem, then just do it as my sole action, not the Karstein family’s.”

It wasn’t a bad suggestion, surprisingly. Except that it was a bit rough and gambling.

Karstein thought there was nothing wrong with it if he could attribute it to his own discretion even if it failed.

“Good, I’ll adopt your opinion. If you succeed, I will use you more importantly in the future.”

Hendrik is a man who wants to become a knight and go on to become a higher nobleman.

So he would volunteer for such a dangerous job.

Duke Karstein had nothing to lose.

Soon, Karstein was smiling with greed and desire.

* * *

*Growl! Woof!*

A wolf with a silver mane, Silver, ran with a beautiful figure and tore at its prey.

It was already as big as ordinary wolves, even though it was not yet an adult.

“Come here.”

*-Grrr, Grrrr…*

When I approached Silver, who had killed a small deer, Silver showed an ambiguous attitude that was neither wary nor obedient.

“It was a little obedient, but it’s been like this recently.”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I’m doing my best, but it wasn’t easy to tame a wolf. Moreover, this child is a spiritual being…”

The zookeeper bowed his head with a sorry look.

I shook my head and patted his shoulder.

“No, you’re doing your best, so that’s enough. It’s okay if it doesn’t work out in the future, so do everything you can.”

“I’m honored, Your Majesty.”

Anyway, Silver’s breeding or the mass breeding of giant wolves in the Magical Land was a task that was attempted with half-expected failure.

I thought I might be able to find a clue while taming Silver, but it wasn’t easy.

Not only was the wildness, which is the biggest problem in taming wolves, a problem, but I found out that other things were also a problem.

“Is not only wildness but also demonic nature a problem?”

Those who live in the Magical Land have a demonic nature.

Demonic nature is nothing more than a property adapted to a unique energy called magic.

It is a property that is foreign to humans and is mainly possessed by demons or the demons of the Demon Realm.

“Most of them get caught in that part.”

It is a problem that is difficult for humans to solve.

When humans are exposed to magic, most of them die or get sick, or otherwise become corrupted or go crazy in various ways.

It seemed difficult to find a solution to this problem by thinking about it for a day or two.

“Your Majesty, is it time for your walk to end?”

After deciding to leave the problem of Silver to the zookeepers for the time being, I was about to return to the Imperial Palace when the Prime Minister approached.

“I was just about to return to the Imperial Palace, what’s going on?”

“I have something urgent to report. It’s about the Magical Land development project…”

That project that I went directly to the Magical Land to develop until recently.

Now, it was being converted from using the regular army to outsourcing to mercenaries and adventurers.

After the initial development and base establishment, which were the most dangerous, the regular troops with increased training were removed and turned into private capital.

“I thought it was going smoothly, what’s wrong?”

I thought it was creating quite a synergy with some modern business techniques, and the Prime Minister, who was beaming about the money coming in, looked troubled.

“That is… plunderers have started to appear.”

“Plunderers?”

“Yes, that is… there weren’t any before, but as mercenaries and adventurers were deployed, those who attacked business facilities or exploration parties in the Magical Land gradually appeared.”

In short, it meant that a gang of robbers had started to gather.

In a world at the medieval level, it would be strange if a gang of robbers didn’t gather for a lucrative job.

“But it’s too coincidental.”

But this felt somewhat artificial.

Are they really just robbers who happened to gather?

“It feels like an external force has intervened.”

The timing was too coincidental to say no, and the scale of the plunderers was suspicious for something that occurred naturally.

“I think we need to investigate.”

Of course, the method will be very rough but simple.

If you want your head to suffer less, you have to run more with your body.