Chapter 93: Compassion

Im thinking about various things in the local government office where I work at.

The workplace has become a very comfortable place now that some affairs have been dealt with.

The annoying bosses and the corrupt locals connected to them have been wiped out, so there hasnt been any problem as of late.

Even if there is one, I can eliminate it using force.

Thanks to that, the working environment has gotten much better, and no one dares to bother me.

Ive already finished my work for the day, so Im just waiting until its time to go home.

Theres around 15 minutes remaining, and Im utilizing that time period to contemplate about various issues.

First, we must be victorious in this interstellar war.

Second, I must restore peace in my territory.

Third, I must annihilate those that ridiculed the School of One-Flash.

The first two objectives must be accomplished with haste.

On the other hand, the third objective can be postponed as its not as urgent.

Theres no denying that One-Flash is the best sword technique known to mankind.

However, the war is imminent.

Due to the sheer scale of wars between intergalactic nations, they require a lot of time to prepare.

Even so, both sides are bound to clash in the next few years.

Well then, how should I distribute the forces?

Im inside the office of my incompetent bosss boss.

Although Im just an intern, I get to sit in this position because Ive managed to clean this workplace of the previous bosses.

What kind of internship is this?

I ponder about this topic for a moment, but since I dont really care about the work, I stop thinking about it almost immediately.

Theres something much more important than that that must be addressed.

The problem lies with the Capital Planet.

Unless I station some hands on the Capital Planet, I would be distracted when I fight.

As Im thinking hard, Kukuri appears from the shadow.

Lord Liam, may I have a moment of your time?

What is it?

Recently, acts of terrorism have been occurring in the Capital.

Thats nothing new.

Theres something suspicious about them. Although the terrorists claims are all over the place, theyre unusually skilled. Whats more, the Imperial guards havent been actively trying to capture them.

Having heard that much, its abundantly clear whats going on.

Theyre claiming to be terrorist organizations when theyre in fact assassins.

Since its Kukuri whos reporting, it would be safe to assume that the target is us.

In the event that they actually kill us, they can reason that we were unfortunately dragged into the mess.

What a roundabout way to do thingsits worth referring to.

Can your group handle this by yourselves?

With a bit of recklessness, yes.

In that case, leave the situation alone. Theres something else I want you guys to do anyway. Identify the traitors. Oh, but dont touch them as I have use for them.

Acknowledged. When it comes to traitors, I believe that the Count of the United Kingdoms is the most suspicious. However, itll take some time to dispatch my men there. As for the Integrated Government, I have already sent someone there.

It seems like he sent personnel to the Integrated Government when the demonstration started taking place.

Kukuri, what a hard worker you are.

The Count? Im sure that he betrayed. Theres no need for anyone to confirm.

Do you wish for him to be disposed?

Perhaps when theres free time. Dont worry about him for now.

Count Norden, was it? The Count who has a connection with me through Thomas. Hes supposedly a villainous lord of the United Kingdoms.

Isnt there also a Norden residing inside my territory? A Baron, yes?

Well, it doesnt matter.

As fellow evil lords, I thought we could get along, but taking my situation into account, Im pretty sure he that he betrayed me.

If I was in his shoes, I would have definitely betrayed him as well.

Be wary of the information that he delivers. Also, dont forget to feed him fake information when you contact him.

Wont Count Norden be on the battlefield?

Ill get rid of him if the opportunity arisesfor now, the issue going on in the Capital takes precedence.

They have gone to such lengths to oh-so-politely prepare terrorist groups in an attempt to eliminate us.

I wont be at ease no matter who I leave behind in the Capital.

Wait a minute?

Do I even have to be on the battlefield?

As a simulation, I arrange the staffsunder the assumption that I will be remaining on the Capital Planet.

This might work. Kukuri, gather the executives when they return.

Acknowledged.

Within Liams knight order, there was an ordinary knight named Klaus.

As an ordinary knight with some experience under his belt, Klaus, who had a nervous temperament, was a rare specimen in the order owing to the fact that most of Liams knights had rather extreme personalities.

However, Klaus was currently trembling and suffering from a stomach ache.

(NO WAAAAAY!!)

Everyone inside the luxury hotels conference room was baffled by the arrangement of personnel.

Liam sat imposingly on a chair with an air of seriousness.

Klaus, you will essentially act as the commanding general of His Highness Cleos expeditionary force.

But Lord Liam, I have no experience in commanding a large fleet consisting of millions of battleships.

No problem.

Pardon? All I can see are problems!

What do you mean No problem?

Klaus foresaw all sorts of problems arising from this.

Not only was he responsible for commanding the ordinary fleet of the Empire, he was tasked with commanding the personal fleets of the aristocrats as well.

In addition, Liam had entrusted him with a large fleet of 60,000 ships.

Tia and Marie were glaring at him with envious eyes.

These two were notorious troublemakers that constantly competed over the first place in the knight order.

What a good position youve been given, Klaus-dono.

If you feel like the burden is too much, just say the word. Ill swap with you.

He decided to ignore their stares.

Instead, it was Liam who questioned them in a low voice.

Are you two dissatisfied with my arrangement?

Marie and Tia hurriedly kneeled and apologized.

N-never!

I dare not disagree with Lord Liam! B-but is Klaus-dono fit to play this role? Hasnt he claimed that he has never before commanded a fleet of this magnitude?

Among Liams subordinates, only two people had the experience of fighting in a war where millions of warships were involved, namely Tia and Marie.

When she was still active as a Princess Knight, Tia had participated in large-scale battles by allying herself with other countries to produce fleets of great magnitude.

Marie, on the other hand, was one of the legendary Three Knights during the early days of the Empire.

As such, she had partaken in various interstellar wars and had even commanded one wing of the army.

They were both more experienced compared to Klaus.

Lord Liam, Im afraid that this is too great a responsibility for someone like me to

Im positive that you can do this. Ill have Tia follow your orders, so you can use her as you please. Also, Chengshi

Liam called for Chengshi, who had no interest in this topic.

She was the dangerous knight who wished to kill Liam.

Yes?

Youre the strongest among my subordinates. Youll be placed under Klaus, and your task is to protect His Highness Cleo.

You trust me that much?

If you perform well, Ill play with you again.

When Chengshi heard this, her cheeks turned rosy and her body shivered.

Klaus, however, thought differently.

(Wait, Lord Liam! You want me to take care of two troublemakers!?)

Marie timidly raised her hand.

Being the only person whose name wasnt called, she was making a lonely expression.

Lord Liam, where will this Marie be stationed?

Youll be leading 3000 ships and exterminating pirates. Youre essentially in charge of defending the territory. Although 3000 isnt a lot, show me that you can do it.

Y-yes, my lord!

Entrusting her with the territorys safety was proof of Liams trust.

After all, Liam would be living on the Capital Planet for a while.

Klaus was also worried about this.

Lord Liam, how many ships will you be leaving behind with you on the Capital Planet?

Three thousand should suffice.

T-thats far too little! The Calvinist aristocrats will definitely try to seize this opportunity!

Itll be fine. Just make sure you support His Highness Cleo properly. Ill be leisurely touring the Capital.

Despite saying that he would be leisurely touring the Capital, it was quite clear that the Capital would be turned into a battlefield as well. It was too risky to have Liam remain on the planet.

Even as bait, it was too dangerous.

E-even then

Say no more!Anyway, what happened to Eulisia? Im planning on giving her some work.

Klaus tilted his head when Liam suddenly brought up the topic of Eulisia, who was absent.

Um, Lady Rosetta mentioned that Lady Eulisia would be returning to the army. I think it was something about Lady Eulisia slacking off

What is she doing at this busy hour? Call her back immediately! Ill have her work in the boisterous territory.

Did he forget about Lady Eulisia until now?

Klaus was beginning to doubt his master.

(Seems like she still has a thorny road ahead of her before she can become a concubineHaa)

After adjourning the meeting, I quickly head to the dressing room.

Patrice, who is a member of the Newlands Company and one of my personal merchants, has been summoned there, and she is dealing with Rosetta right now.

It suits you really well, Lady Rosetta.

W-whats up with all these dresses? This is already the thirtieth one.

Theyre for parties.

Parties? With this many dresses, I wont need to worry about what to wear for a decade.

Excuse me, but you wont be wearing any of these dresses twice. Hence, these will only last a month or so.

Ehhh!? Oh, are these dresses cheap? Theyre pretty much disposable, arent they?

Yes, theyre relatively cheap. It costs around this much.

Thats expensive! But then again, since its for 30 dresses, I guess its reasonable?

Thats the price of one dress, maam.

Eh?

Shocked, Rosetta stops in her tracks.

Similarly, Ciel freezes up next to Rosetta.

Ciel will be participating in the parties with us, so shes also picking up some dresses.

Being the serious person that she is, she probably hates attending parties where she has to wear expensive clothes.

I, on the contrary, love parties.

Spending money like water.

Now thats what Id call an act befitting an evil lord!

As for why were doing thisits because well be partying consecutively for days in the Capital.

Ill be thoroughly enjoying my stay here on the Capital Planet.

If someone comes looking for trouble, Ill face them off.

Rather than searching everywhere, its more efficient to wait until someone comes knocking.

The parties will be held under several peoples names, but Ill be managing everything in the dark.

Wallace, who appears to be free, would be hosting the parties. As for me, Ill just be participating and playing around every day.

Patrice walks up to me.

Lord Liam, a message arrived from the higher-ups of the Integrated Government. Theyre claiming that they werent the ones that instigated the demonstration. In fact, they seem rather surprised by it. Apparently, they didnt expect people to begin a demonstration so soon.

Due to the warm welcome, some immigrants must have had the wrong idea, making them prime targets for an enemy agent to instigate.

Im not really bothered by it, and Im pretty sure that the Integrated Government is innocent.

The Integrated Government probably sent in a spy or two, but every country does that.

Im not particularly suspicious of them.

How will you punish the offenders? The Empires typical approach is to raze the planet to the ground. The Integrated Government seems worried about this.

For the sake of the original inhabitants, I wont be doing anything of that nature. Nevertheless, they wont go unpunished.

They will have to suffer the consequences for beginning a riot inside my territory.

How likely are we to beat the United Kingdoms in this war? Even if we do beat them, wont the Cleo Faction suffer a steep decline in power? Does Lord Liam have enough subordinates to command?

Arent you lacking capable personnel?

I smile at Patrice who displays concern.

Investments are important, arent they?

Does Lord Liam have a plan?

Its time for a harvest. Thats all there is to it.

Ive allowed many young people from my territory to study abroad, so its time for them to pay me back.

Military officers, government officialsall sorts of people have received my support in the past.

Ive almost forgotten about them, but lets not mention that.

I have enough people working under me. As for the warIll be taking advantage of the traitors.

I look forward to whats to come as I watch Rosetta and Ciel constantly changing into new dresses that have been prepared for them ahead of time.

Patrice, weve already won this battle.

I sure do hope so. After all, even if you win against the United Kingdoms, you would have to face the Calvin Faction afterwards.

She seems to have misunderstood.

I was talking about my battle with Calvin.

Believing that he would definitely win, Calvin has made a careless move.

I never thought Calvin would make a move this early on.

Im truly grateful for this fortunate turn of events.

The Imperial Armys Seventh Weapons Factory was experiencing an unprecedented boom.

Ahahaha, I cant stop laughing!

As the Cleo Faction was dragged into the interstellar war, weapons were being ordered from the Third, the Sixth, and the Ninth Weapons Factories.

The Seventh Weapons Factory had been cast aside.

Fortunately, a large order had arrived from Liam.

Next to Nias who was laughing uncontrollably, her junior was staring at the factory which was in full operation.

The corners of her lips were also turned up.

I heard that Baron Exner would be renewing all his familys weaponries too. Iya~, Count Bafield is indeed generous.

Among the aristocrats in the Cleo Faction, there were still some lords that remained uneasy about their fleets.

As such, he had generously promised to provide them with various equipments such as state-of-the-art battleships and mobile knights.

Since Cleo would be participating in the interstellar war, the Empire was providing him with maximum support, or at least that was what the Empire was trying to portray.

The factories were therefore permitted to build and sell weapons without having to worry about offending someone.

The more they built, the more they were able to sell.

Everything in their inventory had been purchased as well.

That was mainly why Nias couldnt stop laughing.

Wartime demand is really amazing.

Its not like the war has officially started though.That said,

The Seventh Weapons Factory was pumping out new models that had been further improved based on the Banfields constructive criticisms.

I dont like the design.

I dont like the interior.

Performance-wise, nothing really changed. However, they had added extra functions that were unbecoming of the Seventh Weapons Factory.

Truth be told, they didnt want to build weapons like these, but none of the Seventh Weapons Factorys original models were being purchased.

They were simply unpopular.

The factory wasnt receiving any orders aside from the ones that requested for the Banfield-modified models.

Weve only sold a few of our original models. My pride is in shambles.

Its fine. I didnt design those anyway.

The Cleo Faction was pushing itself to prepare for the upcoming war, so weapons were selling like hotcakes.

By lending money to some of the aristocrats, Liam successfully expanded his influence within the faction and boosted the overall strength of it.

He was able to make such flashy moves by using the war as an excuse.

Nias touched her cheeks with her hands and leered at the battleship in front of her, mesmerized.

Ra. Ther. Than. That.The newest battleship which I designed is of much greater importance! Just look at its mind-blowing functionalities!

Having incorporated vast quantities of rare metals, the 3000 meters long Flagship-class battleship was built for Liam, and it was worthy of being called the ultimate battleship.

Even the engine which powers the battleship contains rare metals within it! The output is at another level. Yes, the output! The barrels of the canons were made with Arondight, while the heat converter

With these changes, itll no doubt be the strongest!

Until now, she didnt have the necessary resources to build one.

As a result, the giant battleship of her dreams had always remained as a product of her imagination.

However, thanks to Liam, she was given the chance to work on it, and Nias was able to complete it after a long time.

Gufufufufufufu

Believing that Nias wont be returning back to reality for a while, her junior returned to her work.

Well, its good that were making a lot of money. Even so, the aristocrats of the Cleo Faction are upgrading their weapons to the newest generation with impeccable timing.

As new weapons were about to be introduced, the weapons that were mainstream at the moment were on their way to becoming obsolete.

Thus, the Cleo Faction became the first to switch over to a new generation of weapons.

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