Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Unexpected Meeting (3)
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The next day, Yuno rode in a carriage with his family after receiving Meyer’s summons, heading to the government office he would soon take over.
Two guards under Gerard’s command were stationed there, but Cordelia swiftly subdued them, allowing Yuno’s group to enter without resistance.
"Your Highness Yuno, welcome. All preparations are complete."
Meyer was already waiting at the entrance, holding the official seal symbolizing the count’s authority and the appointment document for acting lord.
"Cordelia! Guard Meyer with the escort knights! Eliza, take Mom and sisters Marie up to the second floor."
"Yes, understood, Your Highness."
"Okay, be careful~"
Once Eliza and the family headed upstairs, Meyer asked Yuno and the escort knights to hide for the moment.
"If they catch sight of Your Highness, they might destroy the evidence we’ve brought all this way, no? And who knows—they might not have brought it here but hidden it somewhere else."
"Hmm~ Understood. I’m leaving this in your hands, so I’ll trust you to see it through."
Not long after Yuno hid, a commotion erupted outside, and a burly man appeared.
"Hey~ Meyer~ Here’s a copy of that secret ledger where Baron Boras embezzled public funds! It’s not the original, but it’s more than enough to take that bastard’s head!"
Meyer gave the ledger a quick look.
"Indeed... this should be sufficient. But is there no way to obtain the original?"
Without the original, Boras could claim the evidence was fabricated, so Meyer desperately wanted the real thing. But Gerard shook his head, deepening Meyer’s disappointment slightly.
"Couldn’t find the original anywhere. With his neck on the line, he’s probably guarding it tightly. This copy was barely obtained from one of his subordinates who stashed it away for his own self-preservation."
"Then couldn’t Boras just claim it’s fabricated?"
"Heh heh heh, why worry about that? Just lop off his head the moment he walks in. Dead men tell no tales, right? Haha!"
Judging there was no more information to extract from him, Meyer raised his hand high.
"Come out!"
"Hm? Who’re you talking to? Hup!"
Cordelia’s blade was at Gerard’s throat, and the guards he’d brought were all subdued by the other escorts.
"Wh... why are you doing this? I don’t know who you are, but the one who deserves the axe is Boras, not me."
"No! Whether it’s him or you, the outcome’s the same—your head rolls."
Gerard’s trembling gaze fell on Yuno, dressed in the prince’s uniform.
Though it was his first time seeing the prince, and he didn’t know what the attire signified, Gerard recognized it as something far too refined for commoners like them to even dream of wearing.
"Pr... Prince Highness?"
"Ho~ Sharp eyes. Yes, I’ve heard you and this Boras have turned the territory into a complete mess. Word is you’ve been making up your own empire laws as you please?"
"Hahaha... Your Highness... In a backwater village like this... there are customs, you see... Guhk!"
Before he could finish his excuse, Gerard doubled over as Cordelia drove her knee into his gut, silencing him.
Gerard tried to resist briefly, but for all his size, as the captain of a viscount’s guard, he was at best a low-grade knight.
Against Cordelia—the knight commander of the Redelmo County knights, honed on the Valkan-Theseito front lines and nearing senior knight level—he couldn’t budge an inch. He had no choice but to await Yuno’s judgment.
"What do you think, Meyer? Does this prove Administrator Boras’s guilt?"
"It’s a bit lacking. Since it’s just a copy, not the original..."
"Hm... Guess we’ll have to wait and see what Boras brings."
Soon after, Boras fell into Yuno’s hands just like Gerard, and documents proving Gerard’s corruption were found on him.
"Your Highness, these documents on the guard captain’s corruption are authentic. Execution is warranted."
"Y... Your Highness!! I’m innocent!! Those were all fabricated by Guard Captain Gerard!! If you release me, I’ll bring documents proving I managed the territory’s assets properly!"
As expected, Boras claimed the evidence was fake and professed his innocence.
"Pr... Prince Highness! Spare me!! I’ll do anything if you just save my life!!"
In contrast, Gerard—who thought execution inevitable—threw himself to the floor and begged.
"Fine. Then here’s the deal. Bring a witness to prove Administrator Boras’s corruption. Do that, and I’ll spare your life."
"R... really?"
"Yes. I stake my honor on it. Cordelia! Watch him closely—make sure he doesn’t try anything funny. If he attempts to flee or resist, execute him on the spot."
"Understood, Your Highness."
Cordelia bound Gerard with rope and dragged him outside. Soon after, some guards, clerks from under the administrator, and a few residents entered. Boras’s face twisted at the sight.
"Administrator Boras ordered us to assault residents who didn’t pay the special tax. He also seized fields from those unable to pay and claimed them as his own."
"He had us falsify tax records to underreport amounts, then pocketed the funds sent by the Defense Ministry to support the rangers on Monster Mountain Range, covering it up with doctored papers."
"That bastard took our house and fields! Even in seasons with scarce game, he forced us to hand over hunts, driving some hunters deep into the mountains where they vanished."
"You traitors!! I treated you well, and this is how you stab me in the back!!"
Despite his shouts, the litany of Boras’s crimes continued. It grew so infuriating that even Yuno, listening, told them to stop. Yuno then dragged Boras and Gerard to Kiese Castle’s square, rang the bell to gather the residents, with Meyer and Cordelia in tow.
"People of Nikana Territory, hear me! I am Yuno Alexander Windrage von Valkan, third prince of the Valkan Empire and Count of the unified Nikana-Tesida Territories!"
The gathered residents murmured in awe at the sight of royalty they’d never seen before, then immediately knelt in respect.
"Raise your heads! I arrived in Nikana yesterday and uncovered numerous corrupt practices in the territory! Most stem from Administrator Boras and Guard Captain Gerard here!"
The residents stood and hurled curses at the two, some even reaching for stones.
"Enough!! Should anything like this happen again, as lord of Tesida-Nikana, I will deal with it the same way! Lucas Boras, administrator—you are sentenced to death. As for Guard Captain Stara Gerard, half his assets are confiscated, he is demoted to regular soldier, and transferred to the Monster Mountain Range ranger unit."
"This is unjust, Your Highness!!"
"Th... thank you, Your Highness!!"
Before the eyes of Nikana Castle’s residents, Yuno personally executed Administrator Boras. True to his word, he spared Gerard’s life.
Compared to Boras’s grave offenses, Gerard’s crimes—aside from extorting at the gates—were relatively minor loophole abuses. Considering his build and decent martial skills, Yuno assigned him to the most dangerous unit: the rangers.
Yuno restored the falsified ledger to its original state and reported it to the Imperial Treasury, completing his first task as lord.
"Uwaaaah~ Whew~ You all did great. Let’s head home today."
The Nikana viscountcy guards and clerks were all suspended pending investigation for their involvement in the corruption. Yuno, Baron Kimberly, Meyer, Isabella, and Marie had all pitched in to cover, pulling all-nighters at the office for days.
"Your Highness, isn’t this too much? I came as Princess Marie’s tutor, not to handle paperwork."
"Hahaha, come on~ Aren’t you my teacher too, Baron Kimberly? If even my teacher won’t help when I’m in a bind, who will? When we return to the capital, I’ll make sure this is taken into account as a reward."
"Ahem... Well, if that’s the case... Understood. I’ll trust and wait, Your Highness."
Baron Kimberly, grinning ear to ear at being called teacher by the noble third prince, bowed and shuffled off to his quarters with dark circles reaching his cheeks.
"Hahaha, Prince Highness? Now that it’s settled, about that reward I promised...?"
"Ah~ Right, I nearly forgot the reward I promised you."
'Heh heh heh, he’s a prince after all—how big will it be? I got 20 gold for my merits as legion deputy commander... Maybe 10 this time?'
A middle-class family of four in the empire lived on half a gold a month, so his war reward had been substantial. He expected something similar now.
"Indeed! Vladimir Meyer! For your reward, I appoint you commander of the Tesida-Nikana County garrison."
"Thank you, Your Highness! Such a grand reward... Eh?"
Meyer knelt before Yuno, face full of emotion, then stared blankly.
"Hm? Something wrong? Garrison commander’s a big position, isn’t it? You’ll command all the mountain defense troops and the rangers too. And when I’m away, you’ll even lead the new knight order I’ll establish! With the skills I saw in Streve, you can handle it."
Meyer’s face, not expecting any such thing, twisted in frustration.
'What nonsense is this! Just give me money! How long since I retired, and now garrison commander...?'
"Y... Your Highness! I have no lingering attachment to the military anymore..."
"20 gold!"
"Pardon?"
"20 gold as annual salary. How’s that? Not good enough?"
Meyer’s grotesquely warped face from the unwanted reward snapped back to normal with Yuno’s swift financial balm.
"I’ll do my utmost to live up to Third Prince Highness’s expectations!!"
And so Meyer became Yuno’s retainer—never imagining he’d regret that decision for the rest of his life.