Chapter 4
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 4 - Heading to the South
On the day I departed for the South as the prince's fully authorized deputy, a chilly vigor along with the heavy sound of armor lingered in front of the Imperial Palace's main gate.
As I arrived there, someone stomped their feet with discipline and approached me.
"From now on, I shall escort you!"
"You are..."
A beautiful young female knight with flowing green hair tied in a ponytail, wearing silver-white armor that came down to her collarbones.
She was none other than Liesel Ansley, the captain of the 13th Unit of the Zeruel Knight Order, directly under the Imperial Family.
In the original work [I Became a Barbarian in a Romance Fantasy], she was an unfortunate character who exuded a strong heroine presence while crossing swords with the protagonist, the barbarian king, only to disappear without a rumor after the middle part, perhaps because the author forgot her setting.
She straightened her back and saluted me by thumping her chest with her fist.
"My name is Liesel Ansley! It is an honor to be able to escort His Highness the Prince's loyal subject, Sir Edric!"
"Th... thank you. Captain Liesel."
"What do you mean Captain! Please feel free to call me Liesel!"
"Understood. Liesel."
When I answered awkwardly, Liesel suddenly stepped closer to me with her eyes sparkling.
The distance was so close that the refreshing scent of grass emanating from her tickled the tip of my nose.
"That day, your loyal advice at the training grounds! I was truly moved! That appearance of risking your life to offer loyal advice for His Highness the Prince... All of our knight order members saw your sincerity!"
"Pardon? Everyone saw it?"
When I looked around in a panic, the knights of the 13th Unit lined up behind her were all looking at me with burning gazes.
Looking closely, they were familiar faces. They were the very knights who had been beaten and fallen by the prince that day when I put on a tearful shit-show... no, offered loyal advice to the prince.
"We will protect Lord Edric's safety with our lives! We look forward to working with you!"
"Yes, I look forward to working with you. Liesel."
Liesel clenched her fists and shouted energetically.
Her gaze filled with pure trust rather made me feel more burdened.
And so, I departed for the South together with the Zeruel Knight Order.
"Haa..."
Looking at the scenery passing by outside the carriage window, I let out a deep sigh.
In my hand, the treasured sword 'Erpis', symbolizing the authority of the First Prince, was held heavily.
Saying he trusted me, the prince had placed not only the 'Zeruel Knight Order', a knight order directly under the Imperial Family, but also the 'Shadow Warriors', an organization that wielded blades in the dark and investigated corruption, into my hands.
An ordinary person would be intoxicated by the taste of power and shrug their shoulders proudly, but...
From my position of knowing the original work, this was just a state like a 'pig being dragged to the slaughterhouse'.
'Ah, seriously... I just wanted to get cursed at moderately, go into exile, and live while fishing.'
How did I end up awakening the prince and putting my body in this carriage heading to the hellish South...
I resented my situation.
'By the way, how am I really going to resolve this?'
Looking at the data investigated through the Shadow Warriors, the current Southern nobles had already crossed the line heavily.
Basically, the empire's official tax rate is 40%, which is on the very high side compared to modern times.
But there is a reason for all this.
Because tax collection was naturally not easy in the Middle Ages, the authority to collect taxes was granted to the nobles.
They would collect the taxes and send a portion of it to the central government.
Although it was 40%, the tax sent to the central government was about 20%.
In other words, it meant they would overlook sending 20% and pocketing the other 20%.
But the problem was that the Southern nobles were collecting a whopping 70% in taxes.
They were sending 20% to the center and pocketing a staggering 50% of the taxes themselves.
These damned bastards... Just thinking about 70% of my salary flying away in my past life made the back of my neck hurt.
But there was a reason I couldn't treat these guys carelessly.
It was precisely because of my father, 'Albert Noel'.
'Just how much of a cut did this man take...'
In the original work, Count Palatine Albert Noel was a mastermind among masterminds.
As a Count Palatine, he showed a benevolent appearance and loyalty to the Imperial Family, but that was an act, and behind the scenes, he plotted conspiracies to swallow the empire and caused various incidents and accidents.
With tremendous acting skills, he maneuvered secretly without getting caught until the very end, until his truth was finally exposed by the Saintess's divine power, and he was killed by the protagonist, the barbarian king.
I hadn't seen the contents after that, so I couldn't be certain, but I was expecting that this guy was definitely involved in the Empress's death as well.
Such a man was receiving a lot of bribes from the Southern nobles, and in the original work, it was because of this that Edric Noel took the nobles' side and provoked the prince to induce the suppression.
I had the prince's command, and in my heart, I wanted to stand on the side of the commoners right away, but if I messed up, I could also get swept up and go from Edric to Ed/ric at the guillotine.
When it truly became a situation where I couldn't do this or that, my head hurt so much.
Why did I try to become a loyal subject back then and end up walking such a difficult path!
If I could truly turn back time, I wanted to stop myself from trying to get exiled.
Stay! Don't do it! STAY!!
- At that time, the news that the prince's fully authorized deputy, Edric Noel, was heading to the South spread like wildfire across the South.
However, the temperature difference in accepting that news was stark.
The nobles naturally raised their glasses in celebration.
The most prosperous territory in the South, 'Livia'.
The Southern nobles were gathered at the residence of Count William, the great Southern noble who ruled that place.
The Count's residence, shining dazzlingly under the sunlight, was emitting such a splendid light that the poor could not even bear to look at it.
The air was filled with the sweet scent of high-grade wine and the expensive spices of the nobles, and the elegant melody of a string quartet flowing in the hallway made their luxury shine even more.
The Southern nobles gathered in such a glamorous banquet hall clinked their wine glasses and cheered.
"Did you hear? They say that 'Red Snake' brat from the Noel family is coming!"
"If it's the son of Albert Noel, we can trust him!"
"Given how much money we've sent to Albert all this time. He will definitely take our side and sweep away those grassroots bastards completely."
"That's right! Hahaha!"
To them, Edric was a 'savior' who would quell the peasant rebellion and protect their vested interests, as well as an 'accomplice' tied by bribes.
On the other hand, the leadership of the commoners gathered in a shabby house on the outskirts of Livia was sunk in heavy silence.
"They say the prince has sent his aide."
"They say it is the rumored Red Snake."
"To think the Imperial Knight Order is coming along as well, we're finished now..."
Despair lingered in their voices.
The peasant rebel army's only hope was the princess.
The princess, who was at least rumored to stand on the side of the people within the Imperial Family, stepping forward herself to take their side—that was the only way they could win.
But they say the Red Snake, the prince's aide who is the sycophant of sycophants, is coming.
And leading a knight order, at that.
The commoners were simply terrified.
When such despair-filled whispers were full, a woman quietly stood up from her seat.
A woman who exuded an unapproachable, holy atmosphere despite wearing rags.
She was none other than Saintess Azelia.
The stigmata carved on the back of her hand emitted a faint light.
"Do not lose hope. Stories that His Highness the Prince has changed recently are being heard. Sending his most cherished close aide might perhaps be the god's guidance that he will listen to our voices."
"Ooooh..."
"That's right! I heard the rumors recently that His Highness the Prince has changed."
"Yeah, let's try trusting His Highness the Prince for once!!"
At Azelia's resolute voice, the commoners looked at each other with trembling eyes.
Watching them, Azelia hid her trembling hands and offered a prayer to the god.
'Oh God, please protect them...'
She clasped her two hands together and offered a prayer.
She prayed and prayed again that the prince's proxy was not the rumored Red Snake.
In front of the main gate of Livia Castle, the gateway to the South and the symbol of prosperity.
Amidst hundreds of knights lined up, Count Wilhelm, who was called the living legend of the Southern nobles, was waiting for the carriage.
Fifty years ago, raising his family as a green youth and ascending to the position of the South's supreme leader, he was a person who exercised absolute influence over the Southern nobles.
That was why his nickname was commonly known as the 'King of the South'.
He prided himself on being a 'connoisseur who pierces through human souls'.
Those he glanced over once and evaluated as "having no promising future" inevitably fell into ruin, and those he evaluated as "full of greed" inevitably became his loyal dogs.
Soon, the heavy carriage engraved with the Imperial Family's crest came to a stop.
The door opened, and a man stepped down.
Holding Erpis, the treasured sword symbolizing the prince, he took a heavy step and got off the carriage.
His flaming red hair fluttered in the wind.
Wilhelm instinctively furrowed his brow and met the man's eyes.
'Those eyes...!'
Wilhelm shuddered the moment he saw Edric.
His narrowed eyes were those of a snake aiming for prey, and beyond them lingered a dreadful obsession that seemed like he would abandon even his parents and siblings for the sake of survival.
It was a 'gaze obsessed with survival' that would definitely survive even in any filthy muck and grasp a brilliant future, truly like his own, no, even more than his own.
Wilhelm was relieved.
From his past experience, a person with such a gaze prioritized their own life above all else, so they would do anything to live. And precisely because of that, they were trustworthy.
"Sir Edric Noel, you must have suffered a lot coming this long way."
"Not at all. Thanks to His Highness the Prince's grace, I came very comfortably."
Wilhelm approached while maintaining a level of courtesy that wasn't subservient.
And he whispered low enough so that only Edric could hear.
"I have heard in advance from Count Palatine Albert. That you are prepared to exert great effort for the 'stability' of the South."
Since they had already fed enough bribes, it was a blatant signal asking him to roughly slaughter the peasant rebel army bastards and take their side.
At his words, Edric nonchalantly nodded his head.
"Of course, I too have heard a lot from my father. Count Wilhelm."
At Edric's words, Wilhelm smiled in satisfaction. As expected of the rumored 'Red Snake'.
He was certain that these sickening mob bastards would now soon be hanged.
'Why is this old man speaking so greasily? Hey man, my father received it, I didn't receive it!'
I wanted to land a punch on the face of Wilhelm, who pretended to be close right after I arrived.
In the data I investigated, it was written that this guy was the main culprit behind the 70% tax.
However, if I landed a punch without any countermeasures right now, dealing with the aftermath would become complicated, so I held back for now.
"Tonight, I have prepared the greatest banquet at my residence. Please relieve your fatigue from the journey there."
Does this person want to see someone die?
An official dispatched from the center for an incident like this peasant rebellion had to strictly stay in a designated place for a fair outcome.
If I were to accept such a banquet, the observers planted by the princess would definitely report the news with excitement.
I immediately spoke words of refusal.
"I am grateful for the thought, but I will decline. I am the Chancellor who received the full authority of His Highness the Prince. Official duties take precedence over private acquaintances. I will stay at the government-run inn stipulated in the Imperial Law."
"Such... I understand."
At Edric's words, Wilhelm felt displeased for a moment.
This brat is refusing my invitation?
A moment after thinking that, Wilhelm almost slapped his knee.
'It's a scheme to pretend to be thoroughly public-minded so there are no repercussions later.'
Watching the protagonist's back heading towards the inn, Wilhelm was relieved and informed the other nobles of this fact.
That day, another luxurious party was held at the Count's residence.
The nobles who participated there did not yet know what kind of future would befall them.