The Emperor Has Changed (1)
"Your Majesty, the Cech Kingdom has requested support once again."
Prime Minister Roenbert delivered the familiar words. A familiar report, a familiar request, and a familiar outcome. His Majesty the Emperor always gave the same reply.
'Send it.' 'I permit it.' 'It is only natural for the emperor of a great empire.'
So today, too, he expected the same answer to come.
"Prime Minister."
Until the Emperor's mouth opened, that was what he had thought.
"Bring me the full records of the aid sent to the Cech Kingdom."
"...Pardon?"
"Not just this year. Everything since my accession."
Roenbert's eyes trembled ever so slightly. Since the Emperor's accession, this was a command unlike any he had ever heard.
"Your Majesty, that would mean..."
"And," the Emperor cut him off. "Not only Cech. Venel, Krasen, and... every other nation that has received aid. Investigate their records as well."
"...Your Majesty."
"I will see for myself just how much this empire has been throwing away."
Throwing away. The word had come from the Emperor's own mouth. The grace he himself had bestowed—he called it throwing away.
"Y-Your Majesty. What is the meaning of this sudden..."
"It is not sudden."
The Emperor's eyes met Roenbert's directly.
"This is Normalization."
"Normalization... you say?"
"I intend to set this empire right."
Roenbert stared at the Emperor in stunned silence, at a loss for words. Never once since becoming prime minister had he been this flustered. The Emperor was not originally this kind of person. No—this was not the gaze he had possessed.
"Why do you look at me like that, Prime Minister?"
The Emperor smiled faintly.
"Do I seem different?"
"......It is overwhelming, Your Majesty."
"You may speak honestly."
With his head still bowed, Roenbert opened his mouth.
"...Yes. You do seem different."
"Good."
The Emperor grinned at the answer and asked nothing more.
"Submit the records by tomorrow morning. And send an imperial edict to every territory."
"What shall the edict contain?"
"...I will write it myself."
With that, the Emperor rose from his seat. Roenbert kept his head lowered and replied.
"...As you command."
"Good."
The Emperor's eyes as he left the room were piercingly cold.
**
Ah... This sucks.
I grumbled as I walked down the street. My destination was the convenience store. The web novel I had read earlier that evening had left me in a foul mood.
"How can an emperor be such a pushover? Is that just how romance fantasy works?"
The romance fantasy web novel I had somehow ended up reading, The Empire is Incompetent, So I Will Solve It, was full of clichés. It was the story of the female protagonist saving a declining empire while also winning multiple romances—a typical reverse harem tale. The writing was good enough that I had kept reading, but...
"I've reached my limit. I'm done with this."
The death of a likable character? Fine, the plot demanded it. The protagonist gaining power without much effort? Sure, for the sake of catharsis. But the Emperor's endless pushover behavior across hundreds of chapters was something I could no longer stomach.
"There's a limit to how much is acceptable..."
I opened the novel's comment section. I considered leaving a comment venting about the frustration caused by the Emperor's incompetence, but...
"...No, better not."
A strange unease made me slip my phone back into my pocket.
**
I stepped out of the convenience store. Walking the night streets with a can of beer in hand wasn't so bad. After venting, my mood had improved a little.
"Well, at least the writing was decent. The time I spent reading wasn't wasted."
Muttering to myself, I stepped onto the crosswalk.
Light appeared.
"...Huh?"
A blindingly bright, white light. By the time I realized it was a truck's headlights, it was already too late.
Ah. Fuck. This is a bit...
CRASH—!
**
Three years had passed since I was hit by that truck. I had been possessing this body and living quite well. What nonsense was that? You know, the whole reincarnation truck thing. Get hit and you're sent to another world.
In my case it was a possession truck, but... anyway, after being hit, I ended up possessing an extra in The Empire is Incompetent, So I Will Solve It. My name was Cian Kaindel, heir to the Kaindel County family.
After possessing this body, I had done quite a lot—but then—
Knock knock—
"Come in."
"Young master, I have a report. There is a problem near Ramal Village in the north."
The moment I heard the butler's report, my brow furrowed.
"Those guys again?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"Ha."
Three years into my possession. The office worker who had been tossed around on Earth had been reborn as the heir to a prestigious count family in another world.
'At first, I just wanted to enjoy it.'
Good looks, a noble house, plenty of money! I had planned to live a life of pure indulgence, but things never go that smoothly in life.
"There's trouble in the territory."
That single line had described Cian's end in the original novel.
'The eldest son of the Kaindel County family suddenly disappeared.'
And that was supposed to be my life?
"Not happening."
The fate of disappearing in the original story? I would ignore that. A possessor had their own path to walk. Anyway, there were parasites in the territory—people who had settled near the village. Their level of armament was too high to be ordinary bandits.
"Summon the knight commander. We'll deal with this properly today."
"Understood."
**
BOOM—
"Ah, these bastards. You thought you'd never get caught, didn't you?"
At my appearance, the thugs' eyes widened.
"W-Who are you?!"
The one at the front grabbed his weapon and stood up. The others all reached for their weapons at once.
"Who do you think? The owner of this land."
I casually pointed to my chest, where the family crest gleamed.
"....!"
In that instant, the thugs' eyes wavered.
"T-The territorial army...?"
"I am the heir to the Kaindel County family."
"...What—?"
"Who did you think this territory belonged to when you decided to leech off it?"
The thug at the front loosened his grip on his sword hilt. Then he suddenly forced an awkward smile and spoke.
"W-We are... just travelers passing through. Truly."
"Pfft, what bullshit. Why would travelers be carrying weapons?"
"T-That's... there are many wild beasts..."
"You gathered thirty people just to hunt wild beasts?"
"...."
"...We were merely resting for a moment..."
Honestly, at this point, with me already knowing their location and charging in, did they really think such excuses would work?
"....."
When I took another step forward and placed my hand on a sword hilt, the faces of the ones who had been making excuses hardened again.
"You don't think this will work, do you?"
"...."
"You're right."
At that moment—
"This bastard! Get him!"
The lead thug finally drew his sword and shouted. The others all pulled out their weapons at once, ready to charge.
"Wait."
Then a man stepped out from the group of thugs.
"How did someone of your stature come all the way here?"
The man who appeared to be the boss smiled slyly as he spoke. There were a little over thirty of them, well-armed—nearly at the level of regular soldiers. The butler had been right. Someone was backing them.
"Seeing that the count's heir came in person, we must have been quite frightening, no?"
"....."
"Actually, we had something to ask of you. Since you've come yourself, negotiations should go quickly."
Negotiations. This bastard thought he was in a position to negotiate. Amusing. Did he think he was some kind of salesman?
"Let me ask just one thing."
"Oh, the young master is asking personally? An honor. Ask anything."
"Who's backing you?"
The boss's expression hardened instantly.
"...What are you talking about?"
"Your armament level is too high. This isn't just some bandit group."
"....."
"Tell me who's backing you and I won't kill you."
"This bastard...!"
Shing—
The boss drew his sword. The other bandits all drew their weapons at once. Thirty against one. And that one was just the heir. Objectively, it was a hopeless situation. But—
**
"Kuhak...."
Several bandits lay collapsed before me, and the boss's pupils shook at the sight.
'He must be a little confused.'
These guys probably hadn't heard the rumors that the Kaindel heir was strong.
"...What the hell."
"What do you mean, what? I just took care of a few bugs."
Dripping blood from my sword, I took another step toward the group.
"Young master, give the signal."
The knight commander, who had arrived a beat late, spoke quietly from behind me.
"Wait."
"Yes."
"They seem to have a backer. We need to find out who."
"...Understood."
The thugs' expressions hardened again at the knight commander's appearance. They grew even stiffer when they saw the soldiers following behind him in a line.
"...What is this?"
"Don't you know? Our count family's territorial army."
"...."
"Speak. Who's your backer?"
The boss tightened his grip on his sword. But the answer was already clear. With this level of military disparity, it was either surrender or die resisting. Especially right after his subordinates had been crushed by my hand.
"...I can't say."
"Hey, take him away."
"Understood. As you command."
The territorial soldiers dragged the bandits away. They were also cleaning up the bandit corpses scattered around.
"Whew—"
Three years. The preparations I had made steadily over the three years since possessing this body were finally starting to bear fruit. The fate of a minor character who disappeared in the original novel? That no longer existed.
**
Inside the carriage returning home, the butler handed me a letter. The imperial seal was stamped on the envelope.
"From the imperial palace?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"What could it be...?"
Had the imperial family ever sent a letter to our county before? I tore open the letter and began reading.
As part of the empire's Normalization...
Effective immediately, a full reinvestigation shall be conducted into each territory's tax usage, private soldier operations, private military actions, and unofficial subjugation records.
I read the contents and my eyes widened in shock.
"...What?"
Normalization? A word I had never seen in the original novel. In the original, the Emperor had been nothing but a pushover. He had never done anything like Normalization. But suddenly...?
"...Has the Emperor gone mad?"
My hand stopped after reading that far.