Chapter 13:
Family
A MONTH AFTER THE BATTLE, things had pretty much settled down.
Well, my staff was still busy taking care of various related affairs afterward,
but things had settled down for me. Anyway, it was appropriate that they
should be busy and I should be idle. I was the ruler, after all.
Anyway, I sat in my meeting room across from Echigoya—I mean
Thomas.
"Thomas, you're quite wicked yourself!"
"Huh?! No, I would say these are quite reasonable prices."
I'd entrusted Thomas Henfrey with buying up the precious metals,
curios, and other valuables we'd acquired from the pirates, but the price he
quoted me was so ridiculous that I had to laugh. It had so many digits,
I wasn't quite able to wrap my head around it. That was just how vast the
treasure accumulated by the Goaz Pirate Gang was.
"Just adhering to the script," I assured him.
"I-is that so?" he said, still not accustomed to my skit. "Are you really
all right with letting go of it all, though?"
I was selling off almost all the precious metals and treasures I'd
acquired. Why? Well, to pay off my debt, of course. I'd be able to make a
huge dent in it this way, though it wouldn't wipe out the whole thing. Just
how much money had this noble family burned through, anyway? It boggled
the mind that my debt exceeded the value of the treasures Goaz had amassed
for himself.
"What good would it do me to keep any more of this stuff? I've held on
to a few items, you know—like this sword."
I showed him the blade I'd taken a liking to, and Thomas looked quite
impressed.
"You've got your hands on something amazing."
"Oh? Have I?" I'd just been thinking of it as a sword with an excellent
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blade, but apparently it was worth more than that.
"I'm not an expert or anything, but even I can tell that it's something
special. Would you like to have it appraised by a specialist?"
"Hmm... Nah, not really. I plan on using it as my personal weapon
anyway."
"Huh?" Thomas looked up at me as if he wanted to ask, "You're going
to use a sword like this?" As I was in a good mood today, I just smiled at
him.
"Hey, I took a liking to it."
"I-is that so?" Thomas still seemed surprised, but the weapon was
highly functional, so I was intent on continuing to make use of it.
He went on, "Now, about the goods you've requested. I'll have them
sent here as soon as possible."
I had ordered medical equipment through Thomas. I figured this was a
good opportunity to get my hands on some of the stuff I'd be needing. I had
plenty of new patients who required unique treatment, after all.
"I'm counting on you to find those medical specialists too."
"Leave it to me, my lord."
It really is handy having a personal merchant. I mean, he can even find
personnel for me. The guy's probably milking me to make a fortune himself,
though. That pisses me off a little.
"When will you be heading for the Capital Planet, Lord Liam?"
"Next year. I'll go before my coming-of-age ceremony. I'm gonna be
busy for a while after that."
In this world, people reached adulthood at age fifty, and when a noble
became an adult, his life became a lot more complicated. I would have to start
taking classes in order to become a "proper noble," and I wasn't looking
forward to it. I wanted to start on that whole "evil lord" thing, but I wouldn't
even be able to go back to my own domain for a while after I received that
award on the Capital Planet.
"I will make sure to be present at your conferment ceremony. Oh, and
here are the yellow sweets you always request."
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"Echigoya, you're quite wicked yourself!"
"As I continue to remind you, it is the Henfrey Company, my lord."
I love how you never forget your bribe—my gratuity, that is.
***
The Seventh Weapons Factory was built on a moon in space. It was
common to mine these natural satellites for their resources and establish
facilities like this on the surface. These outposts primarily manufactured
weapons but did other types of work as well, such as studying and testing
weapons acquired from other interstellar empires.
Nias, who had been promoted to an engineering captain, felt deeply
moved as she stood before the rows upon rows of pirate ships sent by House
Banfield.
"It's incredible. I wasn't expecting much from pirate ships, but they're
all battleships. The modifications to the armor are in pretty poor taste,
though."
One of her subordinates, standing beside her to look out at all the
warships, couldn't understand it either. "Why do they make them so flashy?
Ah well. This is just an incredible haul. Not to mention all the loose material
we can work with too."
Nias sighed. "I was a little hasty in buying them, so I'm scared to see
next year's budget. I don't suppose we could arrange another big sales order,
could we?"
She was thinking about how to get Liam to purchase another fleet from
them.
"You gonna seduce him again?" Her subordinate laughed.
"Hey, stop. Why are you laughing?"
"Sorry. But yeah, we really could use a regular customer, couldn't
we?"
The Seventh Weapons Factory's budget was in a precarious state after
losing out in so many of the Imperial Army's preliminary trials. Still, they
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hadn't just bought up the vessels and materials from Liam on a whim.
"We're not gonna lose out next time. We can make back all our
investments if we use these assets to develop a next-generation ship."
"That's not gonna be easy."
"I know that!"
Nias turned on her heel and stormed off to work, grumpy with her
subordinate's pessimism.
***
The Empire's central planet and the seat of its government was known
as the Capital Planet. The year after my battle with Goaz, I headed there for a
ceremony where I would receive a medal.
I had heard that the Capital Planet was something else, and once I
arrived, I had to agree. I mean, to surround an entire planet...
Imagine a sphere of metal large enough to envelop an entire planet,
which was just what the Empire had done. Its Capital Planet was fully
encapsulated by liquid metal. This metal made it possible to regulate and
manipulate the planet's weather, and it doubled as a powerful defensive wall.
The first time I saw it, I thought, Was the guy who thought this up an idiot or
a genius?
From the spaceport, I descended to the planet via space elevator,
arriving in a concrete jungle. Well, it wasn't concrete per se, but gargantuan
gray buildings surrounded me in such a cluster that it was as though the
planet were made up of machines. There just wasn't enough green.
This was a world of towering skyscrapers, with a population in the tens
of billions. When I heard that, it was so awe-inspiring, I wasn't really able to
think anything other than Wow, the Empire's something else. Of course, if
you were to ask if I was jealous, I wouldn't be sure how to answer. It was so
overwhelming, I couldn't really find it in me to envy it.
On the day of the ceremony, while I waited in a room of the palace,
two couples came to see me. Each looked like nothing more than a married
couple in their twenties.
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I'd been checking over my attire in the waiting room, but now I was
forced to puzzle over the appearance of these four strangers. One of them had
greeted me very familiarly, after all.
"Long time no see, Liam."
"Huh? Who're you?"
The atmosphere in the waiting room grew exceedingly awkward, the
smile of the man who'd spoken becoming strained. "W-well, it's been a
while—I guess you don't recognize me. Have I gotten that much older?"
"I have no idea who you are." I thought for sure these people would
turn out to be some self-proclaimed "relatives" who'd come to extort me for
money now that I had achieved notoriety. I'd heard once in my previous life
that when you became famous, you tended to suddenly gain family members
you'd never known before. Of course, in my life it was the opposite; all my
relatives had abandoned me. If you're doing poorly, they leave; if you're
doing well, they gather. That was what I figured was going on here.
I did experience a vague sense of familiarity, but it was probably just
my imagination. By now, all four of them looked rather uncomfortable, so I
turned to Amagi for clarification.
"Who are they, Amagi?" I'd thought about leaving her behind to
oversee my domain, but this was a big moment for me, and I wanted her by
my side for it. Brian was watching over the mansion. He cried over every
little thing, so I'd been too embarrassed to bring him.
"Master, these two are your parents. The two behind them would be
your grandparents."
Parents? Oh yeah... I did have those, didn't I? Two poor fools whose
social status and territory were stolen by—no, wait. They foisted their debt
onto me. Now I'm mad.
My old man, Cliff, cleared his throat in an overly deliberate way. "It
appears you remember us now. I suppose if you haven't seen someone in
over forty years, you could forget their face. As your father, though, I'm a
little shocked."
Uhh, I don't remember you ever doing anything particularly fatherly
for me.
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Darcie, my old lady, tried to laugh it off. "You're such a kidder, Liam.
I see you're still taking good care of the doll I bought you. I don't know if
you should be bringing it to the palace, though."
"What?" This ticked me off, but the couple who claimed to be my
grandparents made it even worse.
"I must say, it's a bit disappointing to be meeting my grandson for the
first time, only to find that he's brought a doll to the palace. You're almost an
adult, boy. It's time to throw that thing away."
My grandmother said, "My husband's right—it's pathetic. And here
you're supposed to be the head of House Banfield."
The two of them looked like they couldn't have been older than thirty,
so this all seemed like some sort of joke. Still, it wasn't unusual in this world,
where anti-aging technology was very advanced and people could look young
at any given age.
Amagi bowed her head and made to leave. "I shall wait in another
room."
I stopped her. "There's no need—you'll be staying with me. Anyway,
what do you want?" I asked, feeling agitated.
The four of them took turns in replying. "We heard you'd be receiving
a tremendous reward, and we'd like you to share some of it with us. Our
debts have increased, and we're in a bit of trouble."
"It's expensive living in the capital, so if you have some extra funds, it
would be nice if you'd increase our allowance."
Increase their allowance because the capital's costly? Who is the kid
and who are the parents here? Our positions are reversed!
"I've already placed some orders with a merchant, so I trust you're
good for the money."
"It makes me so proud to have such an accomplished grandson."
It made me furious to think that these were the people who had ruined
my planet. This was my money, my domain. I'm not giving you anything!
"Amagi, see our visitors out."
When I tried to dismiss them, Cliff started to panic. I must have totally
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surprised him.
"Liam, how could you do this to your parents?!"
"I don't owe you anything."
The only parents I have are my mother and father from my previous
life. Who the hell cares about you guys? Sorry, but you're not gonna get any
warm, fuzzy feelings from me. Get used to it; I'm a villain.
I kicked my parents and grandparents out of the room, even though the
palace maids were watching. As an awkward air permeated the room, I
addressed Amagi. "Do I really have to pay back their debts?"
"If you do not, I imagine the creditors and merchants will come to you
to collect."
"What a nuisance." I looked around me, and it felt like all the people in
our vicinity were holding their breaths.
Amagi made a suggestion. "Perhaps you should adjust their allowance.
You could increase the amount on the condition that they keep their distance
from now on. I believe that is your best option. Raising a fuss will only harm
your reputation, Master."
Honestly, I wanted to just get rid of them, but that seemed like a whole
different kind of trouble.
"Prepare the paperwork. I'll spare them some pocket change at least."
"Certainly."
***
A ways away from the ceremony space, a lone figure walked with his
hand trailing against the wall, looking rather exhausted. It was the Guide.
"Damn you... Damn you, Liam..." he muttered in resentment.
He had used too much of his energy on Goaz, so now he was unable to
flee to another world. As Liam's thankfulness grew, the Guide underwent
daily torture. To make matters worse, Liam's defeat of Goaz had further
boosted the support of his subjects and only increased his power. This boy
had become the bane of the Guide's existence, now that he carried with him
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the gratitude of his citizens on top of his own.
"How did he defeat Goaz? He shouldn't have been able to wound him.
How the hell did he find that sword at that exact moment?"
Liam should have lost. The Guide had let his guard down and used up
too much of his power, and now Liam's appreciation was eating away at him,
sapping his strength.
"He won't get away with this. I won't let him." He ground his teeth,
heading for the room where Liam's parents and grandparents had gone
following their audience with him. No one walking through the halls of the
palace noticed the Guide. When he stepped into the room, he found the four
people inside arguing in front of a digital document.
"This is all your fault for not educating him properly!"
"Oh, that's rich coming from you! What did you do for me?!"
Liam had had Amagi draw up a contract that stated he would increase
the amount of money they were regularly sent, as long as they agreed to
never interact with him again. Unsatisfied, Liam's relatives debated how to
squeeze more money out of him now that he was so successful.
Clearly, they were complete scum, but exactly the sort of scum that the
Guide loved using and later ruining. Right now, however, he had no room to
consider bringing them additional misfortune. Standing nearby, the Guide
smiled bravely through his pain and spoke to them, though they didn't
consciously hear him.
"I'm afraid you four are going to have to do some work for me. It's
tradition for royals to engage in endless power struggles. Liam, your family is
going to take everything from you. They shall be your worst enemy."
The Guide was so weakened, he didn't even have the strength to check
in on Liam anymore. His options had become severely limited. Despite this,
he managed to work up a black smoke, which burst from his body and
enveloped the four.
Liam's grandfather's eyes suddenly widened, as if he'd just
remembered something. "I know—let's apply for an official change of family
headship. If we do that, we can take control of all of Liam's assets."
His grandmother clapped her hands together in agreement. "That's a
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great idea. I'll ask a friend of mine in the palace to fast-track the paperwork."
Cliff began conspiring with Darcie about what they could do to
contribute. "Let's create another heir, then. Liam just didn't work out."
Darcie's expression made it clear she didn't see any other way. "I
suppose you're right. If it means coming into a territory with great wealth,
then I can do that much. What will you do with Liam, though?"
With grim determination, Cliff decided to make use of a shady tactic.
"If we can obtain enough money, we'll be able to hire as many assassins as
we want. It would be suspicious right after the ceremony, though. We'll just
have Liam disappear sometime after the succession."
Having heard these plans, the Guide was satisfied. "Looks like this
time it's goodbye for real, Liam."
He vanished from the room, and a small light hovering in the corner
exited straight through the closed door.
***
Amagi had been aware that she would not be able to attend the
proceedings herself, so when Liam went to participate in the ceremony, she
headed to another room to await his return. The Empire was not a kind place
for dolls.
Liam had wanted her to be present during the entire ceremony, but
Amagi had strongly refused for fear of damaging his reputation. She planned
to watch the event from a screen in the waiting room. However, on her way
there, she came upon a strange sight.
"What is that?"
She had discovered a light floating in front of a door. This light then
slipped right through the closed door, leaving Amagi standing in front of it.
Curious, she scanned the situation inside the room, finding four signs of life
inside. She determined they belonged to Liam's parents and grandparents.
When she touched the door, she intercepted the conversation they were
having inside.
"What'll we say to justify the reason for wanting to switch headship?"
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"Whatever. We can say he's unfit to be an Imperial noble since he
keeps a doll by his side. There's that. Plus, we could bribe someone in the
palace to come up with some other reason for us."
"And the assassins?"
"I have someone I can contact about that..."
After eavesdropping, Amagi swiftly left the area. I'll have to part with
Master soon, she thought to herself.
If she stayed by his side, Liam would lose his standing, and Amagi
certainly didn't want that.
***
The ceremony was held outside. Blue skies and warm sunlight, not too
bright, had been set for the occasion. I couldn't believe that all of this was
artificial.
Amid this heavenly, orchestrated setting, I knelt in front of His
Imperial Majesty. He was so far away that I couldn't hear his actual voice,
instead listening to the enormous 3D image of him projected in the sky above
There was a long preamble, followed by some other talk, including
responses required from me, and then I received my medal.
All around me were nobles gathered to attend the ceremony. And what
a number of them! There really are a ton of these guys.
This austere ceremony continued for some time, I received some more
appreciative words in closing, and then it was finally over. At no point did I
have an opportunity to talk directly with the emperor.
That's just the way of things, I suppose.
***
After the ceremony ended, I decided to stay on the Capital Planet to
experience it for a while, and what awaited me there was...party invitations.
They came almost daily. Apparently, there was always some great festival or
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big celebration happening somewhere or other. Since I figured it fitted the
stereotype of an evil noble to be seen at such parties, I made sure to attend. It
wasn't like there was an entry fee, and it felt nice to be fawned over.
Therefore, my days in the capital were fairly busy, and Amagi seemed
preoccupied with a task of her own. Whenever I asked her what it was, she
would always just say, "It is fine. I took care of it."
Well, if she was taking care of things, I figured it was fine for me to
continue attending parties, so tonight I was preparing for yet another one.
"How's it look?" I'd put on some new clothes and modeled them for
Amagi. Once you'd worn a certain outfit to a party, you could never wear the
same one again. It was a complete waste, if you asked me.
"It suits you wonderfully, Master."
Despite Amagi's compliment, something felt off about her.
"Amagi, are you hiding something from me?"
"I would never. You will be late to your party, so you should depart
now."
She rushed me out the door, and I headed on my way.
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