Chapter 88: Exceptional Promotion of a Servant
"You guys over there."
Ignoring the two stunned men, I called out to a group of soldiers kneeling at a distance.
"Y-Yes!"
A man who appeared to be the Captain of the soldiers responded to my call, moving his feet dexterously as he knelt and stepped forward.
The soldiers gave me the awe-struck respect they would give to a superior being as I revealed my identity as the Emperor.
"Put these two in prison for now. And some of you, come with me."
"Yes. W-Where to, sire?
"The residence of Governor Olcott."
☆
With soldiers in tow, we arrived at the residence of Dussel Governor, Olcott.
Even though it was nighttime, the house was so majestic that it was clearly visible.
With such a mansion, it was only natural that there would be a gatekeeper to guard it.
"Stop! Who are you?"
And, they asked me who I was, as a matter of course.
I did not respond.
The soldier who had brought me here, who I had revealed my identity as the Emperor, acted as a matter of course.
They seized the gatekeeper without saying anything and completely neutralized him.
"Please."
"Umu."
The main gate was opened and I entered the compound.
The commotion in the front quickly spread inside.
I saw a large number of servants and the man I had seen on the river a few days before in the lobby immediately after entering the mansion.
That man was the one who had scattered the gold.
It was Dusell's Governor, Olcott himself.
"Who are you? Do you know where you are?"
"You insolent! You're in the presence of His Majesty!"
"His Majesty?"
Olcott looked at me with a suspicious look.
It's no wonder because he doesn't know me.
Olcott is not the Governor I appointed, and never met in person.
Even if he is the Governor, it would not be surprising if he has never met me when I was Prince even though he has been in the region for a long time.
So I–
"Is this satisfactory?"
Saying this, I released the pressure to reveal my identity.
And Olcott with all the servants around him.
All of their expressions changed and they all knelt.
"I beg your pardon, I didn't know it was His Majesty's direct advent…"
"I don't care about that. More than that–Olcott, you know your own sin, don't you?"
"–!"
Olcott kneeled down, trembling as he kept his head lowered.
But such agitation was only for a moment, and Olcott quickly regained his composure, which had almost been shaken by the agitation.
"What you might be referring to?"
"Not admitting, huh. It's too late for that now, though."
"I don't know what His Majesty is referring to. I admit that I did not greet you, but there is no official record of your departure from the capital, and as long as you were on a personal visit, there is no crime–"
"You still refuse to admit it, huh. How much is a Governor's salary? Is it enough to scatter gold around?"
"Well, what are you referring to?"
Olcott shrugged his shoulders.
He was agitated at first, but he seemed to have calmed down.
Now, which evidence should I start with?
"S-sir!"
"Hmm?"
A young voice suddenly interrupted me.
When I turned around, I saw a young man watching me from among the servants.
Looking at his clothes, I guess he was a low-ranked servant, probably a slave or something.
He had a look in his eyes that said he wanted to say something.
"Mind your manners, you are in the presence of His Majesty"
Olcott reprimanded him as a master should.
That is the way it is with status differences.
It is outrageous for a servant more so for a slave to interrupt the conversation between the Emperor and the Governor.
One can't complain even if one were to be disrespected here and there.
However,
"It doesn't matter. You have something to tell me, don't you? Tell me."
With I–The Emperor's permission, it doesn't matter.
"..."
As proof, Olcott frowned, but could not say anything.
The man gulped as he saw Olcott like that.
After taking a breath and being surprised, he stared at me.
"A-are you really the Emperor?"
"Hm? Didn't I just prove it to you?"
"Well, that's not what I meant. I just can't believe that the Emperor would be here."
"Is that so?"
"Really ... the thing is ..."
The young slave and I had a not very meaningful exchange.
Olcott got grumpy when he saw it – but couldn't interject.
I, the Emperor, gave him permission to speak and say what he wanted to say.
It was the equivalent of giving the young slave the right of direct appeal, albeit summarily.
The Emperor himself had granted the right of direct appeal.
To interrupt him would be an act of disrespect.
Therefore, Olcott could not say anything.
On the other hand, does the young slave understand this or not?
The young man was finally convinced that I was the Emperor and that I had appeared here.
"T-there's something I want the Emperor to see."
"What is it?"
"This!"
The young man removed the front of his garment.
I was wondering what he was suddenly doing when I saw something sewn into the lining of the garment.
The man ripped open the stitching.
He took out an envelope from inside his clothes and held it out to me.
'What's this?'
"My Lord–it's the evidence of Olcott's bribe."
"Waa!"
Olcott exclaimed.
He then immediately jumped on the man and tried to reach out to grab what the young man was offering but,
"Gwaa!"
Leviathan's mild intimidation caused him to slump down and not be able to move at all.
After stopping Olcott, I asked the man again.
"Why do you have proof?"
"M-My parents and my sister were killed because of Olcott."
"So you went undercover to get revenge."
"Yes! I got the evidence, but I couldn't find anyone I could trust. Besides…"
"Besides…"
"I had to keep it under wraps and wait for the right moment to use it because if I didn't, it would be buried under the rug."
"..."
I was impressed.
"What's your name?"
"Eh? P-Phil Mohm."
"Phil, huh."
I looked at him admiringly so much so that even others could tell.
It's not uncommon for people to turn themselves into slaves to avenge their families.
It is not that difficult to infiltrate and get evidence.
The most difficult thing is to hold on to the trump card in your hand for as long as you can and to snap it when you think it is effective.
I now understand what he meant earlier when he wasted no time in carefully checking that I was the Emperor.
He made sure that I am the Emperor, the supreme power of the Empire, and used his trump card.
Phil Mohm.
This fellow…
"Show it to me."
"H-Here."
I took the documented evidence and looked at it.
"Phil Mohm."
"Y-Yes!"
"Well done. From now on, you are the Governor."[TN: LOL]
"""......."""
As soon as I said that, everyone in the room froze.
Of course they did.
But.
"What's wrong, you don't want to be?"
"N-not that. Umm ...thank you very much!"
Phil bowed his head in a panic.
Either because he was too flustered or because he didn't understand the situation.
Phil's response lacked any manners.
But that's not it.
――――――――――――
Name: Noah Ararat
Empire Emperor
Gender: Male
Level: 17 + 1 / ∞
―――――――――――
HP's stat that I can see out of the corner of my eye, it had it's '+' went up.
I thought that Phil was a rough gem, a talent that has yet to be polished.
☆
The next afternoon, the 'Former' Olcott residence.
After Olcott was dismissed from office, I decided to use this place as my temporary residence.
In the study there, I met Zoe, whom I had called back.
"Your Majesty, how wonderful!"
Zoe's eyes lit up when she heard what had happened last night.
"You selected him as soon as you discovered the right person for the job. As expected of His Majesty."
"That good perception? It's a natural thing, hard to get. I hope we can nurture him well."
"It's His Majesty, so it'll be alright!"
"More importantly, how is the confiscation of their property coming along?"
"Ah, yes."
Zoe hurriedly looked at the documents in her hand.
Olcott and the others who will be imprisoned for the salt tax will have their property confiscated.
I'm having that done as soon as possible, and I'm putting Zoe in charge.
"Ashley–well, the cheeky one's residence, there's a bit of a problem."
"What is it"
"Well, actually, some human remains were unearthed in the yard, and they think he might be suspected of murder."
"....Fu"
I laughed.
"Fu...…, Your Majesty?"
"That's a common occurrence."
"Eh?"
"When you're confiscating property, the soldiers go there to monitor it, tally it up, right?"
"Y-Yes."
"And, most of the time, they'll sneak the subject's assets back into their pockets. Well, it's a little bit of a scam. And it's pretty annoying."
"Annoying, sir?"
"Yeah, the subject's wives, concubines, etc. Those sorts of people, even in a situation like this, will cry and scream with their emotions bare. They will say, why is it only us"
"Ah, ..."
"So, when it gets out of control and interferes with the soldiers' 'pocket earnings,' they are harassed. In this case, they bury human remains and falsely accuse them of murder."
"As expected, Your Majesty."
"Hmm?"
Isn't 'As expected' too soon? I looked at Zoe, wondering.
"I already know it's a false accusation. The ribs and pelvis of the human bones that came out looks like a mixture of male and female, and when soaked with water, I found out that the place where they were dug up was recent."
"I see."
So, it was quickly discovered at the site.
"Your Majesty is amazing. I can't believe that you could figure it out right away before I even reported it to you."
I smiled again.
I used to be the Minister of Justice.
Because of my experience in confiscating the property of many criminals, I know exactly how they do it.
That's it.
"Now, ..., give me a rough estimate of how much will it be?"
"Let's see, ....Ah.."
Zoe looked at the paperwork and gulped.
"What is it?"
"Well ... no less than 20 million reens."
"That's quite an accumulation."
While thinking that I admire them in a way.
"20 million ..."
The current national treasury is less than 5 million.
That's an increase of 20 million all at once.
And on top of that, we can expect the normalization of the salt tax.
With this much money, we can do a lot of things, I thought.