He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 81

Became the Crazy Emperor – Episode 81

Became the Crazy Emperor 81

“The rebellion has failed.”

Astaros, a port city in the Southern Territory.

Duke Orlant and ‘Pirate Duke’ Pryans Black, the two leading lords of the South, held a secret meeting.

As soon as the meeting began, the Pirate Duke spoke of the rebellion’s failure.

“Other lords would be shocked to hear you say that.”

“Even if they don’t say it, everyone must be thinking the same thing by now, Duke Orlant.”

Despite the Pirate Duke’s rough tone, Orlant nodded.

“Of course. The West, which rose up with such vigor, has been taken over by someone named Shadow and the Wizard Lord. All because they foolishly trusted the Greenskins.”

“And the East has been pacified by the Emperor.”

The separatist rebels clearly saw a great opportunity when they rose up.

But their rebellion was being suppressed with astonishing speed.

“So, this rebellion has already failed.”

“We still have the North and ourselves left.”

The Pirate Duke shook his head at Orlant’s reply, which mentioned the remaining possibilities.

“A barbarian lord leading barbarians won’t even be able to defeat the Grand Duke of the North.”

“Then what about the West? Do you think the Emperor will acknowledge the Wizard Lord?”

“I think he will.”

“Oh? Why do you think so?”

Duke Orlant was inwardly surprised by the Pirate Duke’s insight.

It was because the Emperor clearly had such thoughts. In the first place, the one called Shadow was a fake created by the Emperor.

“If it were me, I would do that. The West isn’t well-developed, and even if they’ve been defeated once, the Greenskins will swarm again.”

In short, it was land that didn’t offer much practical benefit, even though it was part of the Empire.

And the West was a place that was not easy for the current Empire to govern.

“Rather than holding onto such a place, he’ll try to keep it as an autonomous territory. The Emperor isn’t a fool.”

“Then shouldn’t we also demand autonomous territory?”

“The wealthiest Southern Territory? Stop with the nonsense, Orlant.”

At his last words, Duke Orlant thought that the rebel lords were slowly beginning to wake up from their dreams.

And what those who had returned to reality from their sweet dreams would think was obvious.

“I’m going to defect, Duke Orlant.”

“Defect?”

“Yes, I’m going to scrape together all my assets and defect with the other lords to the Suin nation across the sea.”

To mention defection at a suddenly proposed secret meeting.

That meant only one thing.

“What do you think? I think it would be wise for you to come along? If you don’t want to be killed by the Emperor.”

“That’s true, but…”

That wasn’t true. He had already made a secret pact with the Emperor long ago.

Besides Orlant, many other southern lords were already in agreement with him.

Those who had not been won over were either close to the Pirate Duke or too dangerous to bring in.

“…I don’t think the Suin, especially the Lizardmen, will look kindly on us?”

“Of course, I’m not trying to defect without any countermeasures. I’ll have to give a considerable amount of the assets I take as bribes…”

Duke Orlant was not happy with this defection proposal.

Of course, it was also because he had no intention of defecting, but it was also because the other lords who were secretly working together might waver.

They had also been promised a position after the Emperor’s victory.

But from their point of view, that was not a guaranteed promise.

They might think that the Emperor could break his promise and purge them.

Of course, Duke Orlant thought that the probability of that actually happening was low.

If the story of this defection were to spread to those people, they might be tempted.

Orlant, who wanted to raise his value to the Emperor afterward, wanted to prevent that.

“…Above all, I plan to defect with the navy.”

“All of the navy you have?”

“Yes, that’s why I’m telling you now. Your navy is quite large, though not as much as ours?”

What the Pirate Duke wanted from Duke Orlant was to join him and defect with as large a navy as possible.

That way, he could defect to the Suin on favorable terms.

“I see no reason to refuse.”

“I knew you’d say that. Then I’ll assume you’ve accepted for now and step back. Let’s talk more about the details later.”

Having heard Duke Orlant’s answer, the Pirate Duke hurriedly left the meeting.

Since it was a secretly gathered meeting, it wouldn’t be good to stay in one place for too long.

Thanks to that, Duke Orlant was able to get out quickly without having to make excuses.

“I have to inform the Emperor of this as soon as possible.”

Duke Orlant had to stop the defection plan.

First of all, he had to gather the other lords and start a scheme, but informing the Emperor was the top priority.

“You must deliver this secret letter to the Emperor.”

“Leave it to us, Your Grace.”

He sent trustworthy knights and guards as messengers to the Emperor.

Having received the secret letter, they disguised themselves as common travelers so as not to be suspected and hurriedly tried to leave the Southern Territory.

But just as they were leaving the city.

Shushushuk!

Paah! Hiiiigh!

“A, an ambush!”

“Who are these guys!”

The moment they were about to pass through a path made up of forest trails, they were attacked by those who had been lying in ambush.

As crossbows fired bolts from all directions, the guards were instantly hit.

They couldn’t do anything because they weren’t wearing proper armor for disguise.

“So, it seems that Duke Orlant has really sided with the Emperor.”

“He’s been deceiving us all along.”

When only one knight with the secret letter remained, the pirates who had ordered the ambush revealed themselves.

“You’re… the Pirate Duke’s right-hand man… Have you been tailing us?”

“Well, I’ve been watching you for quite some time. It’s the same for you guys, isn’t it? You didn’t even dream that we’d noticed.”

With those words, the pirates snickered and laughed at them.

“Then surrender quietly. If you resist, I’ll kill you.”

To prove the Duke’s betrayal, it would be enough to just take the secret letter, but if there were also witnesses, it would be more effective in persuading the lords.

If those who had already sided with the Duke knew that things had gone wrong, they would switch to the Pirate Duke’s side.

The Pirate Duke was aiming for that when he carried out this plan.

“So that’s what it was. The Pirate Duke has a pretty good head on his shoulders?”

“……! Who is it?”

Just as they were about to grab Duke Orlant’s knight, an unfamiliar voice was heard from behind the pirates.

“You don’t need to know that.”

Shushuk! Shushushuk!

Chwaak!

Soon, arrows and bolts flew in from somewhere.

The pirates who had been lying in ambush were now being ambushed in reverse.

“There’s no point in talking to guys who are about to die, right?”

“Yo, you!”

Even in the midst of the ambush, the pirate knights who were not yet dead rushed at the unidentified man.

But the man slammed the huge battle hammer he was carrying on his back straight into the ground.

Kuuuung!

A small earthquake occurred around him for a moment.

The pirate knights who were running were knocked down as they were.

“Finish them off.”

“Yes!”

And the unidentified man had his subordinates deal with the fallen knights.

Soon, subordinates who appeared wearing masks confirmed the kills of those who had fallen.

“W, who are you?”

The man approached Duke Orlant’s messenger.

He held out his hand to help him up and revealed who he was.

“I am Hendrick. A knight of His Majesty the Emperor.”

He had infiltrated the South in advance and saved him while watching this happen.

“I’ll take you to His Majesty. Consider yourself lucky today?”

* * *

“The timing was good. If the maids who were infiltrated hadn’t found out in time, Father would have been in trouble.”

“That’s right, Mother. The Duke could have been attacked before Hendrick could do anything.”

It was not surprising that the Pirate Duke had realized that Orlant was a traitor.

Orlant was certainly a talented man, but anyone with a long tail is bound to get caught [meaning, anyone who is involved in shady dealings will eventually be found out].

In that respect, it was fortunate that he had not been caught at all until now.

“Are you alright, Mother? Perhaps your entire family is in danger.”

“I am already a member of the Imperial Family, Your Majesty. If I had to choose between my family and the Imperial Family, I would choose the Imperial Family.”

Even though they had recently reconciled, Empress Dowager Selena was still estranged from the Orlant family and the Duke.

So it wasn’t strange for her to react like that, but she probably wasn’t completely without worry.

“But don’t worry. I’ve decided to pacify the South next.”

“You don’t have to do that if it’s to save the Duke.”

“It’s not just for that.”

Rescuing the Duke or the Orlant family was only beneficial to me.

Suppressing the rebellion was now almost a foregone conclusion.

What was important now was the post-war plan.

I cut the steak with a knife and continued.

“Duke Orlant is a useful person even after the war. He will no longer be a leading lord, but the governor of the Southern Territory.”

Following Stella, I plan to abolish the leading lord system after suppressing all the rebellions.

No longer will the Emperor be officially elected by vote. Only my bloodline will inherit the throne.

And the feudal lords will no longer be vassals maintained in a contractual relationship with the Emperor but will become my direct subjects.

That was the difference between a governor and a leading lord.

“But even if they become subjects instead of lords, the essence is the same. This power is like this steak, in that they all covet the meat.”

Only the background and method of the power struggle will be slightly different.

“We must not allow anyone to monopolize that power.”

I may be at the center of power, but there will always be a second-in-command.

But if that second-in-command completely monopolizes the power among the subjects.

They are bound to become a powerful subject who emerges in history.

Then the best course of action is to divide the power among them like cutting a steak.

“The Duke is a chess piece for that purpose.”

“That’s right.”

To do that, we must make the subjects check each other.

So that no one can monopolize power.

So, while bringing in Duke Orlant, I also plan to give power to Stella and the Grand Duke of the North after the war.

If I coordinate the three of them to keep each other in check, there will be no chance of a powerful subject being created.

In that respect, Duke Orlant, who is skilled in scheming, was a good person to keep the other forces in check.

“It would be troublesome if Duke Orlant had already been attacked.”

“Father is not an easy person, so he will probably be safe.”

“Still, we need to arrive without being late. I’ll leave tomorrow.”

“Are you not going to mobilize the army?”

“We need to stop the defection, but if we bring an army, they will rush the defection.”

The first problem was to secretly prevent the defection.

Of course, we may have to mobilize the army later, but for now, we can only use a small number of intelligence agents.

If we really need troops, we’ll have to hire mercenaries locally.

“Please take good care of the Imperial Palace while I’m away again, Mother.”

“Leave it to me, Your Majesty.”

I was planning to leave the empty Imperial Palace to the Empress Dowager again.

At that time, a maid urgently came to the Empress Dowager.

The maid was clearly a female intelligence agent trained by the Empress Dowager.

“Your Majesty.”

Then the Empress Dowager continued with a firm expression.

“My father, Duke Orlant, has been assassinated.”

It was not good news.