Chapter 77
"Look, Anya. Even if we were to start now, there would only be a few to a dozen Consorts that His Majesty would choose through selection."
"Uhmm, that's true."
"But by superimposing the existing Knight selection on it, the women here will be in the process of growing towards the standards – the direction – set by His Majesty to be chosen by Him."
"... Woah."
"Knights are inevitably centered on men, and only a few women like to think about becoming knights. But there is no such thing as a woman who doesn't want to be a knight in shining armor. Every woman in the nation strives to be liked by His Majesty."
"Thinking that far ahead, ... is amazing!"
Anya looked at me with a look of complete respect.
"It's amazing that you were able to read my thoughts so quickly."
I said smiling at Audrey.
"That's all well and good, but is there no woman you like?"
"That's was out of the blue. In this context, you mean as a woman, right?"
Audrey nodded quietly in reply.
"Why are you asking me that?'
"Because His Majesty seemed to have forgotten something important."
"Something important?"
Have I forgotten something?
"Former Emperor had many Consorts. And thus, many different kinds of them."
"Fumu."
It was at the word "various" that I almost blew up a little.
My father has certainly had many different people as his Consorts.
Some of them were the wives of his vassals, and some of them were the of his father's Consorts – his mother-in-law.[TN: Sweet home Alabama(kind of) ??]
It's a famous story.
In the past, when the Emperor died, there was one girl who had been taken as a Consort for political reasons but was still untouched because she was only six years old.
In other words, she was a six-year-old widow.
When she grew up and reached the right age, father saw her beauty and forced her to become his wife.
There is no shortage of such sagas about the Emperor and his father.
"When he took a vassal's wife, or when he cajoled a girl who was his mother-in-law, was he blamed by anyone?"
"No?"
Why would an emperor be blamed for something like that?
The Emperor is not condemned for doing something even more impossible and inhumane.
"Yeah, His Majesty's reaction is exactly the same."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Your Majesty often speaks of the duties of a nobleman, but I think you're forgetting the rights of a nobleman."
"... Fumu."
"All the women of the Empire belongs to His Majesty — the Empire itself already belongs to His Majesty."
I see, so you want me to enjoy more status and power.
"I know what you mean. But why do you say that?"
"Pure Water is hard to live in."
"... Yeah."
I see what Audrey is getting at.
If I, the emperor, don't do it, the nobles below me will hesitate to do it.
That's not good.
It would have been fine if I was just a Prince.
But when you're the Emperor, with absolute power, no matter what, the nobles and subjects are going to give me the benefit of the doubt.
If they start to hold back out of concern for me, the economy will stagnate.
"Your Majesty is a man of great talent, a talent that comes along only once in ten thousand years. However, as the Emperor, I must say that you are still behind the Previous Emperor."
"... I see, that's certainly the perspective of the Empress."
It was a bit of a long story, but I finally understood what Audrey was trying to say.
"I understand. I'm going to keep that in mind when I make my move."
"... Your Majesty is a great man."
"Hmm?"
"Even if someone denies everything you've done, if you say it's right for the emperor, they'll accept it. I'm impressed, Your Majesty."
"I see."
It was a compliment that I often heard, but to hear it from Audrey, who had the perspective of the Empress, was a different kind of joy.
The next afternoon, I was holding a mock battle in the garden.
I was relaxing in the pavilion with Zoe, the head maid, and Kate, the newly brought back maid, while I had Jiz, another newcomer, fight the other five.
Linking them with my Armor Ring and having them materialize in a mock battle, I had them fight one after another, with the new Jiz in the center.
After a round, my level rose.
Name: Noah Ararat
Emperor of the Empire
Gender: Male
Level: 16 + 1 / ∞
HP C+C MP D+C Strength C+S Stamina D+C Intelligence D+B Spirit E+C Speed E+C Dexterity E+C Luck E+C Fire E+S Water C+SS Wind E+C Earth E+C Light E+B Darkness E+B
My MP went up one level.
It's been a while since I leveled up.
My level is up because of the addition of Jiz.
"Zoe ... no, Kate. Use Status magic."
"I-I understand."
It hadn't been that long since she had brought him home, and Kate was still nervous.
She had some magical talent, so I made her learn status check magic and gave her a job for the time being.
So I confirmed my official status at level 17.
Since they were still good, I let them fight some more.
After two rounds, I had a rough understanding of the ranks.
There was no change in the existing ranking.
Bahamut was at the top, followed by Leviathan.
The composition was that Leviathan would take on the awakened Bahamut with its competitive spirit bared.
Below them are Behemoth, Apophis, and Fuwawa, in that order.
These three are not particularly enmity-free and unconcerned with each other, but Fuwawa is so unconcerned that she is in contrast to Leviathan's competitive spirit, and I start to wonder if she is still hiding her true intentions.
Among the five bodies, Jiz came in below Leviathan and above Behemoth.
Bird's Head and muscular man's torso.
That was the embodiment of the Jiz linked to the Armor Ring.
As I was beginning to understand Jiz's ranking, my level went up again.
Name: Noah Ararat
Empire Emperor
Gender: Male
Level: 17 + 1 / ∞
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HP C+S MP D+C Strength C+S Stamina D+C Intelligence D+B Spirit E+C Speed E+C Dexterity E+C Luck D+C Fire E+S Water C+SS Wind E+C Earth E+C Light E+B Darkness E+B
This time, Luck went up by one.
Although the base stats are still modest, I can say that I'm getting strong enough.
My official status would be–
"H-Here."
Before I could call out, Kate cast her spell first.
And my status appeared in front of me so that others could see it.
My level had gone up one level, 17+1 equals 18.
"Ah...."
It was Zoe who was surprised by this.
I smiled proudly at her and said,
"This is what I'm talking about. You get the idea, right?"
"Yes."
"When I reached for my lukewarm tea, it was replaced by something hot before I realized it."
"Ohh..."
Zoe is surprised and stares at Kate.
Kate averted her gaze and turned her head.
"Your Majesty, you are able to see through the talents of such an ordinary girl."
"I've seen it, but it's up to you to raise her. I'll leave it to you."
"Yes! Leave it to me!"
She was so enthusiastic that she was more than happy that I trusted her.
With a smile and a nod, I returned to the mock battle.
From my experience, with the addition of Jiz, three more should go up smoothly.
Let's get to that point today.
Now that the ranking had been decided, my concentration on the mock battle was shifting to other things.
Suddenly, I noticed that Kate was staring at my hand.
"What's the matter, is there something in my hand?"
"Eh? Ah...."
"Please pardon Kate."
"It's okay, I forgive you for this. You had a look in your eye like you wanted to say something. What was it?"
"Uh, ...."
Kate fumed and looked at me and Zoe in turn.
When I, the emperor, left her in charge, I told her to listen to Zoe, and I could tell that she was still getting used to that and was confused.
"Answer His Majesty's question. His Majesty's word supersedes all others."
"Y-Yes!"
Kate nodded, fidgeting, then looked at my hand.
"Your Majesty, I was wondering if it's possible with humans."
"Humans?"
"Kala God sometimes took over human bodies."
" ... I hadn't thought of that. What do you think?"
When I asked, only one of the six answered.
It was an immediate reply as well.
{I could do that}
It was Bahamut.
Bahamut was the only one who had Awakened."
{I can take over that girl's body for less than a minute.}
"Try it."
{I understand.}
Bahamut responded by jumping out of the ring and jumping onto Kate.
In the next moment, Kate's body changed instantly, her girl's limbs elongated into something more mature, and her entire body, including her hair and clothes, were covered in flames.
A flame demon – or perhaps a demon god.
She looked like she deserved to be called that.
"Amazing ...."
Seeing that Kate transformed into a godly figure until just before.
Zoe was astounded with her eyes wide open.