He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 93

Became the Greatest Crazy Emperor in History – Chapter 93

In my plan to resolve the Empire’s civil war, the West wasn’t, strictly speaking, something *I* was pacifying.

The idea was to grant autonomy to the Western Rangers, making the patrol the de facto ruler after they repelled the Orcish horde.

If I had to add one more thing…

“…So, you were the Black Knight King of the West?”

“Black Knight King? Is that what they call Shadow?”

“They already call him that in the North. No one knew it was the Emperor himself, though.”

Black Knight King, huh…? I don’t know whether to laugh or not at being called that.

But since he’s called a king, I was still contemplating whether to really make ‘Shadow’ a king.

In name, it’s the Empire, and the Emperor can have kings of vassal states or duchies, so it’s not impossible.

However, that’s a story from the distant past, during the Empire’s heyday when its territory was much larger than it is now.

Even now, the territory isn’t small, but with only Prince-Electors remaining and no kings, reviving that tradition might face objections.

Moreover, the commander of the Knights is Van Horn, not Shadow.

“Still, considering the stability of governance, it might be better to just make it a kingdom.”

“You mean the Western Territory? Why bother doing that?”

“Well, giving the Western Territory more autonomy is more effective. The North is similar, though.”

I was heading to the Western Territory with Igrid and his Barbarian bodyguards.

While heading there, I naturally revealed my plan.

“You’re giving them autonomy so they can support themselves?”

“Yes. Within the boundaries of the Empire.”

“…That’s not an easy choice for an Emperor. They might become independent someday.”

“Probably. Maybe not in my generation, but it’ll probably happen.”

Even knowing that, I was going to do it.

Otherwise, I couldn’t properly respond to or solve the numerous problems scattered there.

“Even if they become independent as a kingdom, it doesn’t matter as long as they maintain the Empire’s identity. Well, that’s something my descendants will have to deal with.”

“…A unique decision. But it might be right for now.”

Igrid, even as a barbarian, seemed to have learned some imperial studies and readily agreed with my thoughts.

“But now that I think about it, is it okay for the Emperor to be wandering around so carelessly?”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“…You’re heading to the West without even bringing bodyguards.”

Igrid was pointing out something obvious with a somewhat uneasy expression.

Well, it’s not like I haven’t wandered outside the Imperial Palace before, but this is Igrid’s first time seeing something like this.

“You guys are my bodyguards now.”

“You trust us that much? What if we try to harm you?”

“Are you going to do that?”

“…”

I confidently retorted, but Igrid remained silent at the question.

I don’t know if he was just speechless at my attitude or if he was denying it with silence, but it didn’t matter anyway.

“Well, sure, you guys might kill me and try to aim for something bigger. But, isn’t that only possible when you can kill me?”

“…You believe in your own strength to the point of arrogance.”

“Is that bad?”

“No, it’s a warrior’s thing to do.”

Igrid, who was also a barbarian warrior, seemed to genuinely sympathize, unlike the reactions of people around me so far.

“But it’s not very Emperor-like. Leaving the Imperial Palace empty leaves the risk of rebellion.”

“A rebellion happening just because the king isn’t on the throne only means there’s no trust between the king and his subjects.”

“I didn’t know you’d trust your subjects’ loyalty.”

“Loyalty? No, it’s not that. It’s just the belief that if they mess around while I’m gone, their heads will definitely be smashed by me.”

“…”

It was half a joke and half nonsense, but Igrid had a subtle expression that was half doubtful and half convinced.

In the meantime, we passed through a small village where simple farmhouses were clustered together.

It felt like something was lacking to even call it a village; it was almost like a frontier settlement.

There were many such places in the West, where there were still many undeveloped areas, and places where villages had been established in the past were repeatedly declining.

“We should stay here tonight.”

“It’s still early?”

“Unlike other Imperial territories, the distance to the next village is far. Besides, Jurgen will send someone ahead of us.”

Igrid didn’t know who Jurgen was, but he just nodded, assuming it was someone I knew.

We headed to a humble inn nearby.

“B, big trouble! Raiders are coming!”

“Everyone, run away!”

While tying the horses to the inn’s stable, we heard the urgent voices of the villagers.

Feeling that something had happened, I and Igrid’s group went outside, and a group of people on horseback was rushing into the village.

“Oh, what’s going on here?”

The mounted raiders were starting to loot without hesitation, but strangely, their attire didn’t look like typical bandits.

They were dirty, as if they hadn’t washed, but looking at their armor, clothing, and the cloaks they were wearing… they looked like nobles or formal knights.

“Kyaaaa! Save me!”

“Dirty traitors, die!”

The raider of unknown identity was about to strike a woman with his sword.

Whoosh! Thwack!

“Kuh… Heok?”

“I don’t know who you guys are, but you’re definitely bad guys.”

The raider, pierced by the Shadow Blades, became a honeycomb and fell off his horse, spitting blood.

“T, thank you…”

“Stay away with the others.”

After saying that to the woman who almost died, I turned my gaze to Igrid.

“Don’t just watch, why don’t you help out a bit?”

“I was going to do that anyway. Do we need someone to question?”

“No. I think we can just ask the villagers.”

“Then I’ll kill them all.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Igrid and the Northern Barbarians scattered appropriately.

“Khehehe! Today’s gonna be a real- Kwaaack!”

Whiririk, Pow!

Without exchanging a single word, they seemed to have decided on their respective roles and threw their axes without hesitation.

The axes, which were so large that ordinary people would have trouble just swinging them, hit the bandits with perfect accuracy.

In an instant, half a dozen bandits fell from their horses, and the raiders, who had been focused on looting, began to panic.

“Kalibaargh!”

Tear!

“W, what are these giants!”

“Why are the Northern guys here!”

The Northern Barbarians didn’t just throw their axes; they rushed in and slammed their axes down with the momentum to tear apart the horses and the bandits.

In fact, the raiders had no choice but to be shocked because the height difference between them and the barbarians wasn’t that great even when they were on horseback.

Some tried to escape, but they were caught before they could pick up speed.

“You can’t escape, you cowards.”

Clang!

“M, my horse is frozen!”

But when Igrid roughly struck the ground with his Rune Sword, intense cold spread out and froze the legs of their horses.

Because of that, they couldn’t escape and were stuck, and in that gap, I rushed among them.

Swish!

The flashing light grazed them, and they were instantly cut down.

Frozen and unable to move, they were unable to block or avoid my attack and were simply torn apart.

“They weren’t worth much. But there were some guys who looked like knights.”

“That’s right. Their level was insignificant, though.”

Igrid was looking at the dead raiders with eyes full of contempt.

It probably wasn’t because they were raiders that he despised them; even if they were half Imperial nobles, a barbarian wouldn’t do that.

“The knights of the South are weak.”

It was probably closer to despising the weak than anything else.

“Are the knights of the North different?”

“They are. They’re people who always face death.”

“I see.”

I subtly turned my gaze away from Igrid, who was subtly revealing his pride, and looked at the villagers who were cautiously approaching.

“Thank you for saving us, knight.”

“Well, it wasn’t a big deal. More importantly, are you the village chief?”

“Yes, th, how can we repay the favor you’ve done for us…?”

The old man, who appeared to be the village chief, asked cautiously, unlike the other villagers who were purely looking at me with reverence.

He was wary of what I, who looked like a noble, would demand in return for saving their lives.

It wasn’t so much an ungrateful attitude as it was a sign that they had often been subjected to the tyranny of nobles.

“No, I don’t need any compensation. I’d like to eat for a few days, but I’ll pay a fair price.”

“B, but we can’t do that for our benefactor…”

“If you really want to repay the favor, I’d like you to tell me some news about this place. For example, where did these scoundrels come from?”

The village chief nodded, looking somewhat relieved by my conciliatory attitude.

“They are subordinates of the rebel nobles.”

“Really? Weren’t those guys cleaned up yet…? But why are they doing banditry?”

Of course, nobles often enjoy looting like a sport during wars, but they looked too shabby for that.

“Actually, most of the rebel nobles have been suppressed. However, many deserted or defected and turned into these raiders…”

“I see. But isn’t anyone stopping them? What about… the Black Knight King?”

Shadow was being played by Mirror, but Jurgen was next to him, and Van Horn, the leader of the Rangers, was there, so it was strange that they hadn’t taken any action.

“The Rangers of the Knights are patrolling, but the rebellion isn’t completely over yet, and the situation in the West is so bad that it’s not enough…”

“Not enough…? Are they short on troops?”

“Yes, there are too many places with bad security, and the Greenskins are also rising again…”

Well, since the conditions in the West were already poor, it would take time for order to be established.

No, it might be difficult even with Jurgen’s capabilities, so I might have to come up with a plan while I’m here.

If so, the plan to have the Western army help the North wouldn’t be easy…

“I should take care of the problems here while I’m here.”

I promised Jurgen the position of a powerful figure in the Western Territory, but even if it was a dual identity, I was the ruler, so I needed to share my plans for governance.

I had already thought about these parts to some extent.

While staying in the village, I spent a few days thinking more about it, and soon I was able to get in touch with Jurgen.

And from Jurgen, whom I met after a long time, I heard unexpected words.

“Helping the North is good. There will be a way somehow. But we need to think about other places as well, not just there.”

“Other places?”

“Beyond the West. The land of the Greenskins.”

Jurgen’s next words were something that the people of the Empire could never ignore.

“There are humans there.”

It was news about the long-lost kinsmen.