Chapter 4:
Suspicious Person
IN ORDER TO PERFORM our mining work, we shacked up on a space colony.
In other words, we'd been chased out of Viscount Razel's mansion.
The space colony was on a fully mined asteroid that had been repurposed
for habitation. It consisted of a dormitory complex built into a series of
hollowed-out mines. Only the bare necessities were provided; I didn't care to
stay here for long. Citizens from House Razel's domain who worked out here at
these asteroids called it home, at least for stretches.
The building we bunked in had a little more effort put into it, but was still
of low quality. It was located in a section of the colony where relatively wealthy
people would stay. Still, its facilities were lacking.
Sweating from my daily exercise, I opened the top half of my coveralls
and peeled them down to my waist. "Dammit, I screwed up again!" I wiped
myself with a towel and tossed it aside.
Kurt was sweating too and had also pulled down his coveralls. "You go at
it hard first thing in the morning, huh? We've still got mining practice after this,
you know."
"That's not practice; it's just busywork."
Six months had passed since we'd come to the asteroid, and all we did was
mine the whole time. We'd be here for at least a year. We were supposed to be
experiencing the life of a commoner, but it felt like we were just being exploited
for our labor. Anyway, I had no interest in learning how poor citizens lived.
First thing every morning, the two of us got up and worked out, then
headed for the showers. Today, we ran into Eila on our way there. She was a ray
of sunshine even this early in the morning, out of breath from running to meet
us.
"Morning, you two!" She stepped between us and yanked us in close.
"Get away from me," I snapped. "I'm all sweaty."
"Aww, I don't care. I'm about to go shower too. I'd rather take a bath, but
they only have those at night here."
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Eila always grumbled about the "harsh environment" we were in, but
when I considered my past life, I couldn't find it all that harsh.
She manipulated a tablet, and a tiny drone flew out of it. The spherical
drone was about the size of a marble, and it floated in the air without the use of
propellers.
"Let me take some videos, you guys. I'll edit them and send them to you
later."
A few more drones appeared and floated around us. Apparently, she
intended to make some 3D images and videos for posterity.
"Um, sure, but we're not exactly decent right now." Kurt was embarrassed
about being half nude, but Eila didn't seem bothered in the slightest. Was it just
because she was so easygoing?
"It's fiiine. We've gotta keep records of all the fun we're having!" Eila
struck a pose in front of the drones, then turned back to Kurt and me. "Come on,
you two, put your arms around each other's shoulders. I wanna get a shot of your
beautiful friendship."
Practically forced into it, Kurt and I reluctantly put our arms around each
other's shoulders (though Kurt seemed to be having fun for some reason) and let
her take some pictures and videos of us.
Eila gave us a thumbs-up, seeming satisfied. "Thanks, boys!"
Well, this training at House Razel is pointless, but I guess I'm glad I met
these two, at least. Kurt's an evil lord just like me, and Eila's definitely a
different type of woman from my wife in my past life. I'm thankful that she's
chummy and not interested in dating me.
While I was considering my new friends, I suddenly remembered my
other companions. "Oh, come to think of it, I've forgotten to contact Brian."
I realized that I'd been so busy with my training that I'd neglected to stay
in touch with my butler.
***
I headed to the communications room. Here, I'd use the specialized
equipment to contact my far-off domain. Their price tag was nothing to sneeze
at, so there were fewer devices available than people who wanted to use them.
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For that reason, there was always a line, and your time on them was limited.
When it was my turn and my call was answered, I saw both Amagi and
Brian on the large monitor in front of me. Even with her limited expressions,
Amagi appeared angry.
"I believe we requested regular contact, Master."
"Don't be mad. I've got a lot going on."
"I am not angry. As long as you are well, there is no problem."
After Amagi had confirmed my good health, she switched places with
Brian. He looked relieved to find me healthy after not calling for some time.
"Master Liam, how is life with House Razel?"
"I don't have much to do besides work. The actual training isn't very
rewarding either, so I do my own workout every morning."
"It's good that you have so much energy. What are those clothes you're
wearing? Work clothes? Is that your training uniform?"
He seemed to find the humble work coveralls I wore strange.
"This? It's what we usually wear here."
Brian seemed stunned. "Huh?"
"Anyway, give me your report. How's our immigration plan going? And
the army expansion?"
Amagi took over for Brian, who had frozen solid, and gave me a concise
report.
"Both plans are proceeding according to schedule. Master, what do you
mean when you say that is your uniform? I am also curious as to why you are
not contacting us from House Razel's mansion, but from one of their resource
asteroids."
Normally, these calls had always basically just been them asking, "How
are you?" and me replying, "Fine." They never asked questions about what I was
learning here, exactly. Or rather, we hadn't had time to indulge in long
conversations because of all the people waiting to use the communication
devices and the limited time of our calls.
"Yeah, we're up on an asteroid colony. It's actually kind of hilarious how
crappy it is here. There was really nothing to learn at Viscount Razel's house,
but at least there are some interesting people here, so I'm not too bored."
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"And what are you doing on this resource asteroid?"
"Mining work. We're gonna be here for a whole year too."
At that point in my conversation with Amagi, Brian butted back in.
"W-w-wait just a moment! What do you mean, 'mining work'?! They're
making you work, Master Liam? Not just as a practical lesson, but for an
entire year?"
"That's right. We're mining with humanoid machinery. We got hauled up
to this space colony to learn the 'beauty of labor' or whatever. Makes you sick,
doesn't it?"
I laughed, but Brian was pale and quivering. I figured he'd be angry. We'd
poured tons of funds into my noble training and sent plenty of gifts too.
Naturally, he wouldn't be able to accept how I was being treated in spite of all
that.
The door to the communications room opened and Kurt poked his head in.
"Your time's almost up, Liam."
"That was fast. Well, don't worry about me, Amagi. You too, Brian.
Anyway, I'm dominating the mining work. The foreman wants to recruit me,
even."
"No! Master Liam, this isn't right! Please, give us a few more details—"
"Sorry, I gotta go. Talk to you later, Amagi."
"I hope you will provide more details next time."
Brian started to add something, but I ignored him, said goodbye again to
Amagi, and disconnected.
***
"Oh, Master Liaaam! This is not right, not right at all! A count should not
be subjected to mining work on a resource asteroid! If it's not just a practical
lesson, and you're actually working for an entire year, you're being deceived!"
Brian continued to shout even after communications had been cut off.
"He cannot hear you anymore," Amagi told him.
Brian fell to his knees before the communicator. "They can't treat him like
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this after all the funds and gifts we sent them! We must protest! We'll contact
the viscount and make him improve Master Liam's treatment."
"Unfortunately, we are lacking additional information. However, I agree
that I never imagined Master receiving such a poor reception."
Amagi also wanted to know more about the situation. House Banfield's
reputation had long been at rock-bottom. A somewhat chilly welcome might
have been expected, but that was exactly why they'd sent so much money.
Hearing that Liam was being treated so harshly regardless confused her.
Brian was not only confused, but furious. "Right, we'll investigate the
matter and then protest! We must use any means necessary. If only I'd known
about Master Liam's situation sooner." Tears poured from his eyes. "Using our
precious Master Liam as nothing more than a laborer... How could they?!"
"I agree completely. First, we must gather information on House Razel. I
must confess I am also relieved, however."
"Which part of this relieved you?"
"I was pleased to find that Master had made some friends."
When this sank in, Brian gasped. "That's right! Master Liam has never
had children his own age around him, so he never had a chance to make friends.
I'd hoped this would be an opportunity for him, and it's happened! He's finally
made friends!"
Brian took out his handkerchief and wiped away his tears. He was
thankful that Liam had bonded with his peers. These would not be subjects or
subordinates, but nobles just like him.
But that achievement could wait; they had important matters to take care
of.
"Nevertheless, we cannot let House Razel get away with this."
Amagi nodded. "I will begin my investigation immediately."
Normally, if a noble paid such a ludicrous sum for their training, they
would receive a warm welcome and due attention no matter how disliked they
were. In light of this, House Razel's treatment of Liam was far too harsh. As
such, Amagi and Brian decided to launch their own investigations into this
matter.
***
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Up in space, we worked with several mining groups to tunnel into the
rock. We reinforced the passageways we'd drilled out, then continued on. The
humanoid machinery was very handy for this. I'd done this kind of work in my
past life, but it was much more efficient than using mere human strength.
Feeling the vibrations through my suit as the stone was shaved away, I
conversed through the comm with Kurt and Eila, who were in my group.
"This work's too simple. It's boring."
"I agree with Liam. We've got three whole months left of this. I just
wanna finish and go back to the surfaaace!"
But Kurt said, "It's only three months. We can pull through."
The Hot-Blooded Knight served as the site foreman, keeping an eye on us
kids—strictly for our safety, no doubt. Even under his watchful eye, though, I
didn't intend to hold back on my grumbling. Other groups were complaining
more often as well. Everyone was getting sick of this. Still, as long as we kept
working, nobody got into trouble.
"I just want to get back to the surface too. The kids who stayed back on
the planet are having parties every day, you know? Why can't I do that?"
While I spoke, I kept up my work, moving the limbs of the humanoid
machinery as if they were my own. Thanks to our skill with the machines, our
work was proceeding faster than that of the other groups.
Eila laughed at my grumbling. "But they're just tiresome parties to
'practice etiquette,' right? I don't want to do that."
Kurt agreed. "I feel the same way. I can never get used to parties; I'd
prefer not to attend."
Why haven't these two made better use of their status as nobles? Nobles
are supposed to make everything lavish and grand! Flaunting your wealth and
indulging in parties while your subjects suffer is fun. Why wouldn't you want
to enjoy that?
"So you just have fun while you study etiquette? Well, I want to go. And
the viscount is hosting the parties, so it's not like it depletes my coffers."
"Stingy as always, Liam," Eila quipped.
Kurt seemed just as exasperated with me. He must've been the type of evil
lord who preferred to hoard his wealth rather than flaunt it. "Having fun isn't
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exactly on my mind. Still, I guess I should get used to attending formal parties
if it's expected of me."
"Well, I wish I were at a bucket party right about now." I was so bored, I
started experimenting with more intricate ways to manipulate my machine.
Just then, Eila perked up. "Huh? Liam, have you been to a bucket
party?! How was it? I've never been to one."
She urged me to explain, but all I could tell her was that it made you
consider the endless possibilities of buckets, and it would change the
fundamental concept of buckets for you afterward.
"There's no way I'm gonna be able to explain it to you. I'd like to host
one myself someday, though."
It was impossible for me to host a bucket party right now, the problem
being that it wasn't the sort of thing you could just put together with cash.
Kurt reacted with awe. "You're amazing, Liam. A bucket party is too far
above the station of House Exner. I'm sure I'll never even see one."
As we chatted, our work shift came to an end. The Hot-Blooded Knight
sounded a siren, and all the humanoid machines ceased their labor.
"Finally finished!"
"We got a lot of work done again today."
"What are we doing after this?"
The students all sighed with relief that their work had ended. The Hot-
Blooded Knight ordered us back to our mothership.
"Come on, wrap it up, let's pull out of here! And Liam..."
"Yes?"
"Don't play around with your technique so much. I'll admit you've got
skill, but it's dangerous to showboat."
"Understood. Won't happen again."
"Huh... It's rare for you to be so cooperative. Well, I'm sure it's just lip
service, but I'll take it for now. I doubt I'd win a verbal sparring match against
you."
"You say that like I'm all talk."
"I wish it were true. You're a real handful, you know that?"
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"Terribly sorry."
Overhearing my playful exchange with the Hot-Blooded Knight, the kids
around us all laughed. I did have some issues with being here, but these people
weren't terrible to be around. It was thanks to them that I didn't actually have
too many complaints.
***
This is strange.
Perched atop the roof of the viscount's mansion, the Guide was checking
in on Liam. He gazed straight up into the sky, staring right at Liam even with the
vast chasm of space between them.
"Why are you having fun? You should be appalled at your treatment."
The money and goods that Liam had brought with him had all essentially
become the bounty of House Petack. His lavish school life had been stolen from
him, and he was being treated like a destitute outcast instead. And yet, he
appeared to be enjoying himself, and that frustrated the hell out of the Guide. If
Liam was having a good time, the Guide certainly wasn't. His chest ached, and
his extremities had started to feel numb lately.
"How were my efforts not enough? I must do something more to push him
down into the depths of despair. But what, dammit?"
No matter what the Guide did, he just couldn't seem to improve his
situation. He struggled to come up with his next move, but there wasn't a lot he
could accomplish with the little power he had left.
"Isn't there something I can do? Anything at all?"
He lowered his gaze, head in his hands, and in doing so caught sight of
Peter outside on the mansion grounds. Though it was the viscount's mansion, the
boy had been acting as if it were his own.
"I'll use him! No, that wouldn't work... He wouldn't be able to beat
Liam."
The Guide gave up on making Peter his instrument.
"What, then? What can I do to make Liam miserable?"
Recalling Liam's happy face, the Guide sobbed with frustration.
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***
On one of our laborious "training" days, I saw something blink at the edge
of my cockpit monitor. It flashed in my periphery, but when I looked directly at
the spot, I didn't find anything.
"I swear I saw a blip, but nothing's there..."
None of the machine's gauges indicated anything unusual, so I decided it
must have been a trick of the eyes. Kurt and Eila, who were mining in a little
cave alongside me, spoke to me over our comm link.
"Why'd you stop working, Liam?"
"Is there a problem? Want me to get someone?"
The two were worried about me, so I reassured them as I undid my cockpit
harness.
"It's nothing. Keep a lookout, okay? I'm going outside."
"All right."
Kurt shifted his machine to shield me as I exited mine, so that no
fragments of rock would hit me. Eila did the same.
"Be quick, okay? We can get in trouble for this."
"Don't worry, I'll talk my way out of it."
Safe in my space suit, I left my machine behind to investigate the blip.
When I dug around in that area with my gloved hands, I discovered something.
"Is this a pendant? Looks like gold too." The pendant was beautiful; I'd
found a real treasure. "This mining work isn't all bad." I especially liked that this
artifact was made of gold.
I was tucking the pendant into a little pouch in my belt when something
whizzed by in the corner of my eye.
"Was that a person? No..."
I felt slightly unsettled; I'd heard some ghost stories about old mines. I
was surprised to learn that the same kinds of spooky stories from my past life
existed here, but this place didn't really have a spooky air in my opinion.
If I remained outside any longer, I was sure to get yelled at by the Hot-
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Blooded Knight, so I decided to climb back into my cockpit.
"Well, whatever. At least I found a nice treasure today."
***
Nearly two years had passed since Liam first arrived at House Razel's
domain. In that time, Tia had graduated from her university on the Imperial
Home Planet and begun her training period as a government official.
Today, she was throwing a party. She'd invited her fellow knight
candidates for House Banfield, who were working just as hard to earn their own
qualifications. Men and women alike mingled and danced to the music. It was a
casual affair without any strict etiquette, so everyone was dressed comfortably.
At a glance, it was nothing more than a student get-together...until one
took a look at the host's décor. Projected all along the walls were pictures and
videos of Liam. Currently, they depicted his coming-of-age ceremony.
Why the fanatic displays? Surreal as they were, the partygoers were hardly
put off by the images. On the contrary, they were completely engrossed. Even
those who weren't watching the videos chatted next to a holographic model of
Liam.
"How's your training going?"
"I'm just stuck at a desk for now."
"The military academy is pretty much the same."
"Well, the real fun doesn't start till after this training period!"
Despite their discussions about training, the conversations didn't get too
serious, remaining casual in tone. They mostly swapped stories about busywork.
Tia gazed at Liam's three-dimensional figure. It struck a few different
poses, and she was entranced by each one of them.
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"Ah, I love it. It's so soothing watching Lord Liam's gallant figure."
One of Tia's friends caught her gushing over the figure and pinched her
cheek.
"Ow! What was that for?" Tia asked, though she hardly seemed upset.
"Stop gawking at that thing and tell me your plans. You're gonna go pick
up Lord Liam after your training, right?"
"Of course. When I'm done, I'm taking a year off and accompanying him
back to his domain. I'm so excited to finally see him in person again."
Her friend simmered with jealousy. "If I hadn't drawn the wrong lot, I
could have gone with you."
"My condolences. But don't worry—I'll take plenty of videos."
"You'd better. Ugh, I want to see videos of Lord Liam during his training
too. I'm sure a few of those will pop up later, so let's hope you'll be lucky
enough to get a hold of them."
When her friend went on to say she'd do anything to obtain pictures or
videos of Liam's time in training, Tia agreed wholeheartedly. "I'd like them too,
but there's not much we can do if another house owns them. Oh, I wish I could
see Lord Liam right now."
The backdrop was so abnormal that Tia, even with her hands clasped
together excitedly and her eyes sparkling with life, hardly looked like a normal
girl.
***
"Fanatics?"
After work, I ate with Kurt and Eila in the dining hall. We were talking
about Kurt's father, and the boy in question hung his head, embarrassed to be
discussing family matters.
"Y-yeah. This might sound conceited, but my father was a celebrated
mobile knight pilot. A lot of soldiers and other knights looked up to him."
Eila nodded in understanding. "Your father's name spread through the
whole Empire, so pretty much everyone's heard of him."
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"Huh? Really?" I was surprised—and a little envious—to hear that, but
Kurt hardly looked happy about it.
"His legacy earned him loads more fans, and there are scores of knights
who want to serve him."
Eila tilted her head to the side, a spoon in her mouth. "Isn't that good?"
"No, it's not! Ugh...I'm sorry."
At Kurt's outburst, the students around us looked up in surprise, but they
quickly lost interest and went back to eating. One small group, however, was
giving us strange looks. They weren't malicious, so I ignored them and urged
Kurt to continue.
"Is there a problem?" I asked him.
"More than one, I'd say. A bunch of knights and soldiers want to serve my
father because they look up to him, which normally would be fine, but some of
them are real zealots and fanatics. That alone is a huge headache."
I exchanged a glance with Eila. I wasn't getting this "fanatic" thing.
"Well, if they cause problems, why not just boot them out?"
"We can't since we're so in need of manpower right now. But recently,
hidden camera footage of my father has gotten out, and it's been a real issue."
Nobles tended to have personal guards to protect them from potential
assassinations. Normally, they were very proactive about security, so the fact
that someone had managed to slip past and film him in secret was a cause for
alarm.
Curious, Eila asked for more details. "How'd they do it?"
"We don't know, but there must be at least one conspirator close to my
father. The video keeps getting updated, and now some of my personal
belongings have gone missing."
It was no wonder Kurt was at his wits' end.
It's creepy, these obsessed fans collecting videos of some old dude and
putting them out there like he's some mega celebrity. Past me never would've
understood this. Actually, is he akin to an idol or something? That gives me an
idea...
"You can beef up security, but I can think of one other solution."
"Really?!" Kurt looked to me like I was a port in a storm. It felt kinda
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nice.
"Change your way of looking at things. The candid videos are getting out
because of a leak in security, but if you were to release them officially, you'd
actually benefit."
They just had to market the guy as an idol. I told Kurt this, and he
frowned.
"Would that really work?"
"All you need to do to stop piracy is make the official version more
widely available. If the videos have your father's seal of approval, his fans will
want to get their hands on those over the unofficial versions, no question."
Well, the secret footage would probably still have some kind of audience,
but I'll keep quiet about that.
"Got it. If you think that'll do it, I'll bring it up to my father. I really am
grateful for all the help you give me, Liam." To show his appreciation, Kurt
grasped my hand, so I made a show of my magnanimity.
"Don't worry about it—friends help each other out, right? But it sounds
like overly loyal knights and soldiers can be a problem sometimes. Guess I'll
look out for that myself."
"Probably a good idea."
We resumed eating...but the food here was terrible. Vegetables grown at
the mining colony were part of the meal, including a really bitter thing that
vaguely resembled a green pepper. I pushed it to the side of my plate, and Eila
laughed.
"C'mon, eat your vegetables."
"They're too bitter. Seriously, this is impossible. You want 'em, Kurt?"
Kurt rolled his eyes, but he still took the vegetables from my plate. "I'll
eat them. I'd feel bad letting them go to waste, but you really should eat them
yourself, Liam."
"There's a limit to how gross food can be. This thing's so bitter, it's
practically inedible!"
I wasn't just being a picky eater; the things were seriously disgusting. In
fact, they were so bad that I was starting to feel sorry for the populace who had
to eat them on a regular basis. Was this the best an intergalactic empire could do
for its workers? Were they trying to say gourmet food was an immoral
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indulgence? House Razel was just too awful.
When Kurt started eating my green pepper things, I heard strange laughter
coming from somewhere around us.
"What was that?" No matter how hard I searched, I couldn't find the
source.
***
A pair of hungry eyes watched Kurt and Liam grasp hands and share each
other's food.
A little more... Just a little more! Heh heh heh. Oh, I just couldn't help
giggling when I saw it.
One girl in the dining hall was intent on observing the two boys. The girls
seated behind her pretended not to be spying, instead keeping their attention on
the mysterious figure as she eavesdropped on Kurt and Liam's conversation.
More. I need more...
This girl was planning something, and Liam and Kurt were in her
crosshairs.
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