In a village near the system, the 4th Legion was stationed and camped.
Under Reinhardt’s orders, they were indiscriminately requisitioning livestock from the village for slaughter.
“Bring more cattle!”
“This is the last cow left…”
“I don’t care, just bring it!”
“Yes…”
The slaughtered meat was immediately roasted over a fire, and the soldiers of the 4th Legion were enjoying a feast of meat along with the alcohol requisitioned from the village.
In the middle of it all sat Reinhardt, tearing at meat with his bare hands while holding onto the bones.
After spending most of his youth on the battlefield, any trace of royal dignity was nowhere to be found in Reinhardt.
“Hey, Commander…”
“Ah, village chief! Thank you for providing this place! Thanks to you, my soldiers are eating, drinking, and having a great time! Let’s toast to the village chief who generously supplied us with goods and food!”
“Cheers!!!”
The soldiers raised their cups in unison, shouting loudly.
The voice of the village chief was completely drowned out by the noise.
The already timid village chief became even more deflated, his throat going dry and unable to produce any sound.
“Now, speak of what you want!”
“Um, um… I’ve heard that a banquet welcoming the commander is being held at the imperial palace this evening…”
“That’s correct!”
“I am truly sorry to say… but considering the meal at the banquet, wouldn’t it be better if you didn’t eat so lavishly…?”
“Excuse me, are you giving me advice now?”
“N-no! I just have a bit of concern…”
“You were worried about me. So that’s it.”
“…!”
Cold sweat poured down the village chief’s back.
After furrowing his brow for a moment, Reinhardt smiled as if he found it amusing.
“Have you ever seen such a loyal subject? Are you planning to abandon the Empress and side with me already? I’m so touched by your admirable loyalty that I don’t know how to respond. Sephiroth.”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Guide the village chief to the main base. And prepare a contract. It should be about 1.5 times… no, 2 times the usual amount. I won’t accept any objections.”
“Y-yes!?”
“Understood, Commander.”
“Wait! Commander! Two times is too much…!”
Dragged away by the soldiers who held his arms, the village chief’s desperate voice faded into the distance.
Meanwhile, the soldiers continued to pour alcohol and gobble down meat as if nothing had happened.
These soldiers had endured five years of a barren desert life, living more ascetically than monks. They had made a promise that once the war was over, they would be allowed to eat and drink to their heart’s content, and they had no choice but to keep it.
They judged that, even if there was plenty of meat in the imperial palace, it would be impossible to feed all the legionaries, so they decided to stop here and throw a feast.
‘A strong army is a well-fed army.’
Unlike my sister, who feels fulfilled only by squeezing out talents by any means, I tend to relax my subordinates.
A competent subordinate tends to perform better under appropriate autonomy than under detailed orders.
Thanks to Reinhardt’s policy, the 4th Legion was able to navigate the battlefield freely.
“Commander, here is the investigation report you requested.”
“Hmm.”
At that moment, a bundle of documents was pushed toward Reinhardt.
He flipped through the papers rapidly.
What had happened in the Empire while I was away?
It was mainly a report about how Aslan Vermont, that reckless fellow, managed to get so close to his sister.
Before long, a look of shock spread across Reinhardt’s face.
“What? Aslan Vermont has only just begun to move in the last three months…?”
During the five-year gap, I wondered how many events had unfolded.
It turned out that the preceding four years and nine months had been quite uneventful, and all the commotion seemed to have concentrated in the last three months.
Construction of a direct expressway by Count Vermont.
The appearance of a necromancer and dark knight under Count Vermont’s command.
The launch and success of Vermont Security.
There were even indications that he had recently begun serious research into black magic…
Each of these events was hard to believe, but to think it was all orchestrated by just Aslan Vermont. Is this even possible?
The one who was once called the disgrace of Vermont and a cast-off child was now undergoing such rapid changes.
This was a level of transformation that suggested he had become a completely different person.
‘Wait a minute. He has become a different person…?’
Resting his chin on his hand, Reinhardt pondered and came up with a plausible hypothesis.
It was a well-known fact that the people of the Vermont family had learned how to summon evil gods and made contracts with them since ancient times.
Evil gods usually only dwell within vessels capable of containing them.
However, there are times when they get greedy and end up breaking their vessels.
This often happened when someone studying black magic was driven mad by an evil god, suffering damage to their mind.
If we take it a step further, it could lead to complete breakdown.
If an evil god were to take over a body whose mind had completely collapsed and disappeared…
‘Is the current Aslan Vermont being controlled by an evil god…?’
The lazy, violent, foolish, and dull-witted Aslan Vermont is dead.
And his body has been completely taken over by an evil god, who is now manipulating it as it wishes.
Reinhardt shuddered, feeling a chill run down his spine, thinking how absurd it all was.
‘Right. Surely, there can’t be a despicable person who would take in innocent, pure, orphaned commoners, train them to their liking, and raise them as potential brides.’
If this hypothesis were true, the current world was no longer safe.
While a doppelganger would be grotesquely obvious as an evil god, an evil god disguised as a human was a nightmare.
‘Did my sister finally go blind? Or was she turning a blind eye on purpose?’
Only then did he seem to understand why the Empress kept Aslan Vermont close.
His sister must feel the chilling aura of Aslan Vermont better than anyone else.
Yet, for the sake of immediate benefits, she must have decided to ignore it.
Of course. My sister wouldn’t be so easily deceived.
I worried that the empire I was meant to conquer was already outdated with the likes of Aslan Vermont running amok. It seemed that worry could be cast aside.
An Evil God was standing behind the Empire!
Not only my sister but also an evil god had to be defeated to take hold of the Empire!
As the difficulty level kept rising, Reinhardt felt his heart racing.
“Wrap it up! The event is about to start!”
“Yes!!!”
Reinhardt wiped his mouth and stood up abruptly. It was time to set out.
.
.
.
“I believe I’ve mentioned this to everyone before, but I’ll say it again. We are not going to enjoy the banquet. As the secret escort for Her Majesty, we must ensure His safety in case the escort is neutralized. I’m sure you all understand the gravity of this role?”
“Yes!”
“Of course… um.”
Inside the carriage heading toward the palace, as I began the final briefing, Charlotte and Julia answered confidently, while Yuri, wearing a mask, nodded in response.
‘In the worst case, we might have to confront the entire 4th Legion.’
If Reinhardt truly intended to stage a coup, the 4th Legion, which was entering the system with a welcoming attitude, would turn into rebels.
If the situation escalated while the 4th Legion was inside the palace, it would be helpless.
I now understood why the palace had been devastated and burned in the original story.
Even if an elite guard was protecting the palace, they wouldn’t be able to withstand the sheer numbers of the legion.
This was expected to be the most severe crisis I had ever faced.
Perhaps because of that, the children, who were usually noisy, were now quiet. Were they scared?
“Mister! So why did you tie Yuri’s hair earlier?”
“Huh!? Charlotte! We agreed not to ask that directly!”
“But no matter how much I think about it, I have no idea! I can’t hold back my curiosity any longer!”
“…”
… Just as I thought it would be over, they quickly became noisy again.
It seemed the children weren’t frightened at all.
This was much better than going pale and trembling in fear.
It seemed they had already experienced enough trials to not be easily rattled.
“Why did I tie her hair? It was just a mess from running around in the wind, so I tied it up. If a guard’s hair is disheveled while attending a palace event, it would just be a laughingstock.”
“That’s not it. You could have had a maid do it. I was surprised you did it yourself. You’ve never tied up Knight Sister’s hair just because it was messy.”
“…Huh?”
Charlotte pouted slightly as she spoke.
At that, I was at a loss for words, realizing my mistake.
Thinking about it, if all I had to do was tie her hair, having a maid do it would have been the rational choice.
After all, she was just an employee of my company.
For the count to tie it himself would be like saying, ‘I’m very interested in this girl’—advertising it openly.
I messed up!
Of all the times, I got caught by Charlotte and Julia.
I regretted not finding a more discreet place to do it.
