He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 83

“An Emperor… That’s too far-fetched of a lie.”

Sarah, understandably, didn’t believe me, but she seemed half-doubtful.

Soon, she turned her gaze to Hendrick, her eyes seeming to ask him to confirm the truth.

“It’s true, Lady Sarah. This man is His Imperial Majesty.”

“No way!”

She was shocked as soon as the truth was confirmed.

Not just her, but everyone else present reacted the same way.

Watching their reactions, I could only shrug.

Regardless, the fact that the Emperor was personally present in such a place was indeed unbelievable.

“Well, me being the Emperor isn’t really important. What matters is that I’m here to help you.”

“But…”

Naturally, she seemed to be thinking, ‘What can you do, coming here alone?’

Rather than directly addressing those thoughts, I quietly passed the task to Hendrick.

“Lady Sarah and the others have heard some news from the Eastern Territory, haven’t you?”

“That story about the Emperor breathing fire, flying around, and burning all the enemies to death? You expect us to believe that?”

“Well… it’s kind of like that.”

However, Hendrick himself looked troubled.

He was telling the truth, but even he thought it sounded exaggerated unless you had seen it yourself.

Even in a world where magic exists, the idea of the Emperor single-handedly flying and roasting an entire army sounds far-fetched to most.

“Believe it or not, it doesn’t matter. More than that, I want to ask if you have any plans for the future.”

Surely they didn’t have no plan at all?

That couldn’t be the case. If they did, Hendrick and Empress Dowager Selena wouldn’t have said, ‘These guys are still useful.’

“Of course, we have a plan. The navy.”

“The navy? Against the Pirate Duke?”

The title of pirate wasn’t just randomly attached to him, and they were planning to use the navy? And did Duke Orlant even have a navy?

“Of course, we do. Unlike the Pirate Duke’s trash pirates, they are a proper navy.”

She spoke with a bit of pride, but her expression soon darkened.

The people gathered here were those trapped when Milania was occupied.

The idea of them rallying the navy outside to fight was nothing more than a pipe dream.

That’s why they were hoping I would bring an army.

“The navy…”

But the core of the plan itself didn’t seem too bad.

The Pirate Duke was planning to smuggle the treasures of the Southern Territory across the sea to a foreign country.

To stop that, it was better to have a navy than for me to run around alone.

To block his escape, even if just in case, having a navy would make things much easier than me moving alone.

“Let’s go with that plan.”

“But how, without an army?”

“That’s…”

‘It’s not a problem,’ I was about to say.

“Something terrible has happened! The pirates are coming!”

“What? How did they know we were here?”

“There was a traitor!”

As the faces of those hiding in the hideout turned pale, the outside became noisy as soon as the words were spoken.

“Damn it! There’s nowhere to run!”

“Wouldn’t it be better to negotiate?”

“Do you think the Pirate Duke will spare us? Unless we have wealth to offer…”

“Even if we did, wouldn’t he just take it and not spare us?”

Especially the nobles, except for Sarah, were noticeably agitated.

They were close to the Orlant family, but not in a direct master-servant relationship, simply caught in Milania.

It was impossible to expect unity from people gathered so haphazardly.

It was difficult to call them a proper resistance force.

If I hadn’t come, they would have been captured as they were.

But that also meant that if I intervened, I could more easily gain influence and control over them.

“Hendrick, clear out the outside first.”

“Yes.”

Having decided to use them, I decided to repel those gathered outside first and walked towards the door.

“Wait, what are you going to do?”

Then I heard Sarah shouting from behind, but I ignored her and went outside.

“Stop!”

Clang, clang.

As expected, there were many pirates lined up outside.

There were quite a few holding the magic-triggered pistols I had seen before.

“We know you’re all gathered inside, surrender quietly!”

“I don’t want to.”

“What-“

At that moment, I unleashed a flash of pure white light.

The intense light created by divine power momentarily blinded the pirates.

“Ugh, my eyes!”

Taang! Tang!

The pirates, who had lost their sight for a moment, reflexively fired their guns, but of course, shooting blindly wouldn’t hit anything.

Swish! Slash! Thwack!

“Ai, aim properly!”

I immediately flew like an arrow and weaved through them.

Since they were pirates, none of them wore armor, so simply scattering weak sword energy caused them to fall like leaves.

A few bullets grazed nearby, but it wasn’t easy to hit me moving so quickly.

“We’re over here too, you bastards!”

Kwaaang!

“Ugh!”

Hendrick caused an earthquake with his giant battle hammer.

While the pirates, who had suffered from his signature move many times, staggered, I used Shadow Blades to literally tear them apart.

I could use Imperial Soul or Flames of Purification, but there was no need to put that much effort into dealing with them.

“Run away!”

“It’s a monster!”

They had come with great fanfare, but as they were being unilaterally massacred, the pirates immediately fled.

“I, I can’t believe it…”

Having dealt with the pirates in an instant, Sarah, who was standing behind me, muttered in surprise.

I shook the blood off my sword and said with a relaxed smile.

“Now, let’s go find a ship.”

* * *

“Stop holding out and just tell me already, will you?”

“Ah, I’m telling you, I’ve said everything.”

Pirate Duke Fryance Blackbeard.

And Duke Orlant.

Not long ago, the two would have had a more refined conversation, but now they had abandoned such pretenses and exchanged blunt words.

“You expect me to believe that? That this petty cash is all your fortune?”

“Well, there was a recent rebellion, and spending has increased, so…”

“You son of a bitch, if you keep that up, I’ll really kill you.”

“Hey, I don’t even have anything to eat to die for, so why are you like this?”

The Pirate Duke, as his title suggested, was originally a man without any regard for appearances.

But Duke Orlant was a man who prided himself on being a noble.

Acting like this was something he himself disliked, but he was in no position to care about appearances now.

He had been careless, his forces had been dismantled, and he had become penniless.

“Instead, why don’t you add your wealth and let’s go across the sea? Do you like sucking up to the Emperor that much?”

But why was the Pirate Duke keeping him alive?

Well, although it had been publicly announced that he was dead, the reason for not actually killing him and instead imprisoning him was only one.

The vast hidden assets that Orlant had hidden away.

The Pirate Duke needed that.

“Whether I like it or not, there’s nothing left, I tell you.”

“You bastard!”

Thwack!

But Duke Orlant remained ignorant.

Of course, he knew that if he told, the Pirate Duke would kill him, so it was only natural.

Then he would have to really kill him, but the Pirate Duke couldn’t afford to jeopardize his escape plan without that money.

“Heh, heh, heh… This friend, his temper is still as bad as ever. Why? Things aren’t going as planned, are they?”

“You…”

“It’s probably like that. Do you think the beastmen will look kindly on you?”

The Pirate Duke is a pirate as his name suggests.

He roamed the southern seas and pirated all ships.

So, in addition to human ships, he didn’t spare the ships of other races either.

The beastmen had also been plundered by pirates associated with him several times.

Now he was trying to defect to them; how much money would he need to have his past sins forgiven?

Surely he would have to spread an enormous amount of money, but the money the Pirate Duke had collected was not enough.

“Well, look carefully. Maybe there’s some wealth I don’t know about left?”

“I’ll kill you!”

Thwack! Pow!

The Pirate Duke kicked him repeatedly at Duke Orlant’s provocation, but unlike what he said, he couldn’t kill him.

Duke Orlant, who was being beaten, knew that too, so he was holding out.

Since he couldn’t kill him or let him live, if he just walked this tightrope, someone might come to save him.

Of course, no one could be trusted, but who would come to save him in this world?

“Duke! Something terrible has happened!”

“What’s wrong!”

“They say a ship was stolen in Milania!”

“What?”

A subordinate pirate ran up to the Pirate Duke, who was busy assaulting Duke Orlant, and gave an urgent report.

Duke Orlant also heard it, but he didn’t seem to care since he was already captured.

“Sarah Orlant, who hadn’t been captured, seized a ship and escaped the city. Along with some nobles…”

“Those stupid fools!”

The Pirate Duke raged at his subordinate’s report.

Thanks to that, the assault on Duke Orlant was temporarily stopped, but Duke Orlant was awakened by what he had just heard.

Sarah escaped?

That’s a good thing. But how did she do it alone?

His granddaughter Sarah had the talent to lead the navy at a young age, but her personal strength was limited.

So, the fact that she had stolen a ship and escaped from the already occupied city was unexpected news.

“They say there was an incredibly strong enemy. A man with long silver hair…”

“Damn it, where did that bastard come from…”

But that question was also resolved.

Long silver hair; just hearing that, Duke Orlant could guess who was with her.

Then, helping them somehow was the Duke’s way to survive.

“Ugh, h, hey, Pirate Duke.”

“What? Did your memory come back a little after getting beat, Orlant?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

“What?”

“I remembered some of the things I had stashed away before.”

And what Duke Orlant could do now, and what he could aim for, was to reveal the location of the treasure.

Of course, he couldn’t tell Sarah and the Emperor directly.

But if he told the Pirate Duke, Sarah, who had considerable skill in naval command, was likely to grasp their movements.

And since there was an Emperor in charge of force, it would also be possible to take it from the pirates who had taken the treasure.

“Really? You’ve come to your senses a bit after getting hit. Tell me everything you know.”

“Ah, but I don’t remember everything, and it’s coming back to me little by little…”

Of course, he shouldn’t tell them everything at once.

He had to buy time appropriately, and if possible, guide them from a place that Sarah could easily spot.

It wasn’t easy, and he wasn’t sure if it would go according to plan.

But it was a gamble worth trying for Duke Orlant, who was already familiar with scheming.

Even if it wasn’t, it was the only way he could live.