23-

Nier..."

Nier, who was by my side, shifted her face over and quietly said: "Your majesty, I..."

I pressed my body against her body with all my bodyweight. Nier softly coughed. She ran her

emerald eyes over me with disdain and disgust. She straightened her back and looked at the side of

my face. She softly said: "If you can't hold your liquor, why'd you drink so much? You look ridiculous

for a prince. You make her majesty and the empire look bad. I beg, please kill yourself, alright?"

"Why…? Didn't I just drink a little too much?"

Nier helped me upstairs. This was the first time I felt the staircase was never ending. To be fair, for a

terrible tasting wine like that to get me drunk is quite the feat. The truth is I purposely got myself

drunk so I could leave because I didn't want to socialise with those people.

Only afterwards did I find out that I could've just said so and left. There was no need for me to get

myself drunk.

This is why Nier had to help me to the door. Nier trained as a Valkyrie since she was young so her

strength was comparable to a flower-boy. That said, it was still difficult for her to help a man

weighing more than one-hundred kilograms up the stairs. This was the first time I saw Nier's b.o.o.bs

move as she huffed and puffed...

Nier has a pretty hot body…

"Your majesty, I never feel humiliated by the gaze of others on myself, but why is that I feel an

impulse to kill you when you look at me?"

"Don't you always have an urge to kill me?"

"Since we're finally on the same page, please kill yourself."

"WHY?!"

I pushed the door open and Nier tossed me onto the bed as if she were throwing out trash. She let

out a heavy sigh and said: "Alright, goodnight. I'm going to rest now... Whoa..."

That scream should've come from my mouth shouldn't it?! Why is there another person on my bed?!

I was going to crawl into bed and sleep after Nier tossed me onto the bed, but when I landed on the

bed, it didn't feel soft. Wait, no. A better question is, it felt soft, but why was the soft thing I came

into contact with warm...?

I then heard a cough... I opened my eyes and found that my face was buried in two valleys. Two

powerful warriors were battering my face and something with the colour of cherries caught my eyes.

"WHOA!!"

I shrieked and then rolled off my bed onto the ground with a loud thud. The girl on the bed shyly

pulled the blanket over her body, sat up to look at me and said in a sobbing tone: "Y-Your majesty...

Umm.... Umm... Please be gentle with me..."

I noticed Nier who was on the other side of the bed looking at me with disgust. She bowed slightly

and then said in an extremely disdainful tone: "So that's what you bought the elf for. You really are

an animal of l.u.s.t from head to toe. I thought you bought her out of good intent. I never thought that

you did it to fulfil your l.u.s.t. You really are a disgusting prince, huh? I now fear for myself as a girl by

your side... But I can't comment too much on your business. I hope you enjoy yourself..."

"Wait! Wait, Nier! This wasn't my order! I've never seen her before!!"

I seemed to be awoken from my drunken stupor. I held onto my b.u.t.t which hurt from my fall and got

up. I looked at the elf before me, unsure whether I was meant to laugh or cry and said: "Umm... Say...

It's nice to meet you. I'm Troy... Before you introduce yourself, could you please tell me why you're

on my bed...?"

She tightened her grip on her blanket. She lowered her head and said: "B-Because I've always.... I've

always done this... That's how they always... Used me... I thought..."

I rubbed my head and said: "Oh, you don't need to do that with me. Didn't I tell you that I bought

you to work as a maid? I don't intend to do that with you. Just work as my maid and look after this

place. Don't worry about a thing... Go get dressed first, and then let's talk about what you'll do from

now on."

The elf gripped the blanket and got off the bed from Nier's side, and then ran into Nier's small room.

Nier folded her arms and looked at her room before looking at me. She t.i.tled her head.

I looked at Nier with a slight sense of guilt and said: "Well.... I did say I didn't have those sorts of

thoughts, right? I honestly didn't arrange this..."

Wait a second. What do I have to feel guilty about?! Why am I so afraid of my bodyguard?! I'm the

prince! What can you do about me if I sleep with a woman? And every emperor has a harem, so how

could I call myself an emperor otherwise?! Just why do I feel like a little kid before Nier...?

Nier pinched her chin, looked at me and said: "I'm surprised you didn't do anything. I now suspect if

you're a normal man..." This la.s.s is getting more and more arrogant! She doesn't even seem to

consider me the prince!

What exactly do you want?!

I grit my teeth. I don't know where I got the gall from. Maybe the wine? I looked at Nier, grit my

teeth and made an order that Nier would mock me for countless times later on: "In that case, I'll

prove to you that I'm a normal man! Nier! I order you as the prince of the empire! Let me rub

your..."

...

I hate silent atmospheres the most.

I regretted what I said as soon as it escaped my mouth. Unfortunately, it was already said and done.

Nier looked at me with a look of surprise and contempt. Her gaze changed this time. She looked at

me like kitchen waste. No. More like she was looking at regurgitated food. She shook her head, let

out a heavy sigh and then reached her hand up to undo the b.u.t.tons on her clothes...

"Wait! Wait! Wait!! Stop!! Please, stop!! Don't! Don't! Don't! Sorry! Sorry! I was joking! I was joking!

Honest!"

I waved my hand like I lost control and turned to my side. I really wanted to slap myself. Did I get

mercury in my brain or something? How could I make such a request...? Nier's hands didn't stop. She

then took off the top layer of her military uniform and undid her b.u.t.ton, revealing the cloth she used

to wrap her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She walked up to me and said: "Your majesty, I shall obey your orders."

Nier's body is very beautiful. I don't think there was any fat on her body. I don't think I could pinch

any fat on her waist. She had the coveted eleven-abs*. She had a few scars but that didn't diminish

her beauty. She wrapped her chest cloth but I could still see the prominent shape of them. If she

were to undo it...

"Do I need to undo this as well?"

Nier's gaze was filled with hate and disgust. Her hands, however, continued to undo her chest-cloth

without hesitation. I reached my hand out and pressed it on her shoulder.

I took in a deep breath. I can't do this sort of thing... Nier hates me to begin with. I can't do

something that will completely wreck our relationship... I shook my head, paused and said: "ThThere's

no need to... I... I'm in the wrong. It's my fault. I shouldn't have made such an overboard

request..."

"Your request was not overboard. You were just going to touch my body. It's just that being touched

by you is so disgusting it's vomit-inducing, that's all."

Her gaze indicated she wasn't lying. I just pressed on her beautiful shoulder and her eyes were filled

with disdain as per usual.

"Are you complimenting me or cursing me?"

Nier mercilessly replied: "Of course I'm cursing you."

I stood up with my back facing Nier. Nier stood up as well. At that moment, the door to Nier's room

opened... Nier and I turned to look in that direction. The elf dressed in her black and white maid

uniform looked at us, shocked... In that moment, we... Yeah... Nier's clothes were still on the floor

and she was also still on the bed...

"I'm so sorry!!"

After she shrieked, she closed the door loudly and hid inside…

It's not like that!! Listen to my explanation! Listen to my explanation!!Dungeon of the inner court…

Nier walked at a relatively fast pace. She sneezed as she pa.s.sed through the complicated pa.s.sages with a fire torch in hand. She finally saw the empress dressed in black deep inside the prison. The empress was kneeling down and gently caressing a black hound's head by her side. When the hound stood up, it was taller than a human. Its eyes didn't look friendly like a pet-dog. To the contrary, its eyes were filled with aggression. It resembled a wolf more than a hound.

However, the wolf obediently knelt by the empress's side, not even daring to wag its tail. It was afraid of the empress. Even a wild animal is afraid of the empress.

"Your majesty!"

"Oh, Nier, you're here. Come over here and tell me if it was these people."

The empress looked at Nier who knelt down on one knee before her. She stood up and rubbed her head. She then waved her hand, and the Valkyries on both sides responded by extended their hands which shone a light on the dying women who was kneeling before the empress. Their bodies were covered in blood and wounds. Their hands and legs were bent and contorted in odd ways. They must've been subjected to torture just before.

Nier nodded and said: "That's right. Those are the women that touched his majesty in the brothel. That should be the boss-lady of the brothel, and this lady is…"

She reached her hand out, grabbed the lady by her black hair and lifted it up as if she were harvesting a carrot. The lady had already lost her tongue and teeth, so she could barely make a sound. She scanned everything around her lifelessly. If her mouth and nose weren't still trembling, then n.o.body could've told that she was still alive.

"This one is the one his majesty chose."

The empress waved her hand and Nier knew to let go. The empress pressed down on the black lady's face with her knee. She raised her head up so that she was looking at the empress with her lifeless eyes. One of the Valkyries who stood to a side took out a small bottle, and then poured it down her mouth full of blood. A moment later, her lifeless eyes and body were replenished with life, albeit her eyes still looking terrified. She mumbled something as she looked at the empress.

"Black hair… Black eyes… Hmmm… So my son likes this type, huh…?"

Nier quietly said from behind: "Your majesty, you have black hair and black eyes."

The empress froze for a moment, and then spun around to look at Nier. Her expressionless look suddenly turned into a shy smile. She reached her hand out and roughly rubbed Nier's face, and giddily said: "That's right! That's right! I… I have black hair and black eyes!! I… Yeah, I do!! This woman… My son uses me as his standard for desirable women! My son… I'm the woman in his heart! It's me!!"

Nier, whose face was getting rubbed and squished into all sorts of different forms by the giddy empress, spent a lot of effort to say: "Y-your majesty… I… I think… Being seen as a woman… By your s-… Isn't… Good…"

"No, no no! That goes to show that I have a place in his heart. It shows that I'm a woman that he wants to keep in his heart forever. I get it. I get it. I was once told that men look for women that resemble their mother. It looks like my son has accepted me as his mother! He sees me as his mom, and not some blonde woman!"

The empress, still giddy, let go, crouched down and happily rubbed the hound's head. The happiness of the empress seemed to rub off onto the hound, as it stuck its tongue out and panted excitedly.

"All is good, all is good. I'm very happy!!"

The empress stroked the face of the lady with black hair. The lady with black hair cried tears of joy. After the empress reached her hand out, the Valkyries by her side dragged the black-haired lady out, leaving just a few women behind.

"You people dared to touch my son with your dirty hands…"

The empress wore a cold smile as she raised a bowl of blood up and poured it down onto the women, completely drenching them in the scent of blood. The hound got stimulated and stood up. However, without the empress's orders, it could only pant excitedly and didn't rush over.

"I'll forgive that woman. But as for you, I will never forgive you. I will only allow my son to marry a woman I approve of. As for offing you s.l.u.ts, let's just interpret it as me doing some purification work… No, wait… That'd be somewhat boring…"

The empress was supposed to order the hound to jump them then, but just as she was about to wave her hand, she hesitated. She then whispered into Nier's ear and Nier nodded. The empress elegantly turned around. Her cape which her son held in his hand was now soaked with blood. After she left the dungeon, Nier and the Valkyries left as well.

No one would find out that there was a hound that hunted humans down there once…

And the hound was the victor.

Day two…

I left the palace again and went with Nier to that street filled with the stench of sulphur.

I'm in a really good mood today. It was the first time I'd been called awake by a beauty dressed in a maid uniform. This is the isekai life that everybody else and I desire. You need a maid that wakes you up. It's a must. The elf was kidnapped during the war ten years ago. At the start, she just carried out simple maid work, nothing of "that" sort. She was given to the creditors to mess with after the n.o.ble family went bankrupt a few months ago. After the creditors got bored of her, they sold her off.

Women are nice to have, but money is still more comforting.

Her name is Luna. However, she just won't believe that I'm the elf prince. I initially thought she'd recognise me.

"The prince must be a pure-blooded elf. He can't be a half-blood! So you can't possibly be the prince of elves!"

Well, nothing I can do about it… And there's no need for me to prove I'm the prince either…

Nier left in a rush last night and came back without being covered in blood in any form, so it indicated that she didn't kill anyone last night.

I almost got lost this morning. I went according to the path I took the first time so I used the brothel as one of the checkpoints, but when I got there this morning, it was no longer there. It had been replaced by a bank… They couldn't have changed owners overnight, right? I queried the manager, but the manager of the bank swore that he'd been operating his bank here for over ten years and that I'd made a mistake.

I noticed the yellow flag overhead and felt a little stupid…

Did I really get lost…?

"Big sis! Big sis! You're back!"

After I jumped over a puddle of water, a group of kids gathered around. They ignored me and flocked to Nier who was behind me. They surrounded Nier and chattered endlessly. You just met her yesterday, why are you acting like you're having a family reunion…?

Nier smiled and crouched down. She reached her hand out to scrub their heads. When will this gentle version of Nier treat me… I smiled helplessly and leaned on the wall to watch them. I'm in no rush. I just came to check on the progress. The kids surrounded Nier and I could tell that she really liked kids.

"Oh yeah, I brought some candy for you today."

After they greeted each other, Nier took out the small bag of candy from her belt. She opened it and placed a ball of candy into their dirty hands. The kids cheerfully put the candy in their mouth and loudly exclaimed: "Thank you, big sis!"

"You don't have to thank me. It was his maj-… Ahem… It was this mister here that bought it for you."

The kids turned their attention to me. I lazily raised one hand and said with a smile: "Just thank Nier. I bought it for you because of Nier. There's no need to thank me."

The kids cheerfully laughed out loud. One of the slightly older boys excitedly looked at us and shouted: "In that case! Big brother! Are you two lovers or husband and wife?!"

"Uhh…"

Look at your big sis, Nier's gaze. What sort of wife or girlfriend do you think would look at her husband or boyfriend like she's looking at trash like that…I pushed open the door to the red-lady's shop, and the smell of metal filled my nose once again.

She raised her head from among a pile of random metal devices to look at me, and waved her hand casually to greet me: "You're here, prince."

I think the most awesome figure in the city must be her…

"Hey, uh.. Big sis!!" Just as I was to call her aunty, I saw her emit a dangerous light from her eyes so I immediately changed my choice of words. She nodded with satisfaction, folded her arms across her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and waited for me to speak. I looked at her and said: "Umm, I want to discuss my…"

"Oh, your armour, right? It's done. That piece of armour was actually very easy to make. You just have to purify the 'defence' spell into pure magic and then cast it onto something else. I prepared some undergarments for you and then cast the spell onto it. I also increased the strength of the spell. Hmm… This is the one."

She carefully took out a white undergarment that looked very normal without any decorations from a paper bag. There was just a coat of arms added to the chest region. It's the same one as the twin-headed eagle in the palace. Perhaps the coat of arms was something that belonged to the royal family. She shook it around and then placed it on a shelf to the side. She then handed me a flintlock pistol and said: "In the past, the Earth Dragons weren't able to defend against arrows or piercing attacks from spears due to their fragile scales. However, their reinforced silk can. A strong beast may be able to break a wooden cage, but it can't break a net made from rope. Fire the gun at the undergarment and see for yourself."

No matter how I looked at the undergarment, I just couldn't see how it had any defence capabilities…

I picked up the loaded flintlock gun and pulled the trigger. An ear-piercing sound rung through the room. The smell of smoke made Nier frown and back up a few steps. I fanned the white smoke away with my hand, and walked up to the undergarment. I've never used a flintlock gun, but I wouldn't miss at such a close range, right? The garment floated in the air. The red haired-lady grabbed it and lay it flat on the table.

There wasn't so much as a mark on the garment. The red-haired lady bent over, threw a black bullet onto the table and proudly said: "See that? It's all thanks to me adding the spell to the silk. That's why I said that no blades could penetrate this piece of armour. However, this garment won't reduce the impact behind a strike. It can reduce it a bit, but… In other words, if I were to fire a shot at your back, the bullet won't pierce you, but the impact of the bullet will still thump you."

I nodded and said: "I know." The bullet won't hit my flesh, but the armour can't nullify the impact entirely. But as long as it doesn't reach my flesh, getting hit by a flintlock gun like that would only cause me to stagger or some bruising I reckon.

"It's just that this sort of stuff requires quite a bit of material. If we were to use Earth Dragon scales to make an Earth Dragon scale armour, then this garment could be exchanged for five Earth Dragons scales I reckon… Oh, right. There's also this. You gave me an extra bag of scales, so I created an additional chest plate. There wasn't enough material for anything else, so I had to go with a chest plate."

She took out a vest which was significantly smaller than my torso. I smiled helplessly and said: "I already have this garment, so why do I still need that chest plate?"

"Because if I were to purify it, then that bag of Earth Dragon scales would be nothing more than Earth Dragon scales. You can't complain about there being too much of this sort of stuff, right?"

She shrugged with an "I don't care" att.i.tude. She then turned to look at Nier and said: "You can give it to your bodyguard. She'd be more at ease and safe if she couldn't be hurt by blades, right?"

Nier paused, and then asked in a shocked tone: "HUH? I can have something like that?!"

I looked at her, scanned her, and then handed her the vest. Better weapons and better armour are forever pursued by warriors. Nier won't be moved by diamonds and jewels, but this vest will definitely please her.

"Take it. I have the undergarment already, anyway."

I generously handed her the vest. Nier paused. She took in a deep breath, bowed down and took it with two hands. She then said in a loud voice: "Thank you for your reward, your majesty!"

"Let's go with that then… Wait. Don't undress here!!"

I reached my hand out and pulled Nier's hand away from her b.u.t.tons. I know you're excited but could you please not undress in front of me a second time?! Nier was excited like a kid that just bought a new toy and wanted to try it on… But I wonder if the vest will fit her given her top proportion…

Stop! Stop! Stop!! What am I thinking?!

"If you want to change, go change in my room at the back." The red-haired lady pointed to the room at the back. The possibility of me being attacked didn't even cross her mind. She jogged over to the room. The red-haired lady sighed and rubbed her messy red hair. She then looked at me and said: "It doesn't look like you're about to leave. You have something else you came to see me for, right?"

I nodded and said: "Yeah. I want to see what tools you work with… I want to make a gun."

I've thought about it seriously. I can't produce an automatic gun right now. Forget guns, I can't even produce the bullets for it. Even if I want to create a firearm, I'm limited to paper ammunition. I know how to create the ammunition itself, but I have no way of creating the sh.e.l.l. Given those restrictions, paper ammunition is the best fit.

Thus, there's only one gun model I can create. There's no meaning in me creating a back-loaded gun which can be produced right now. I want to make a gun that can fire consecutively, a weapon I can always carry with me. What came to mind was a revolver. Yes, the gun that has six bullets.

Of course, I can't create it with the techniques of the modern day. I'll consider it successful as long as it can fire successive shots. I once created a revolver during a practical one year while in school. I successfully made the revolver and the bullets using machines and materials. I successfully fired fifty-five rounds of six shots.

If a flintlock gun can be made, then I can create a revolver, even if it's extremely basic.

And yes, that's under the condition that I have the required tools. I don't have spare time to go creating a lathe. If I had that much time on my hands, I'd directly use a lathe to create metal bullets… Since flintlock pistols can be made, I don't think it can be that hard to make a revolver.

The red-haired lady didn't entirely understand what I was getting at but she took me on a tour of her workshop nonetheless. What surprised me was that there was a lathe here. And this model was a relatively developed model. She proudly pat the lathe before me and said: "I was the one that improved this thing. Previously, I used it to control blade pieces by virtue of experience. But I can manufacture a tool of any dimension you want. Further, I have more materials here. What sort of material are you after?"

I excitedly checked out the familiar workshop. The workshop had evolved to look like more recent ones. I don't know this red-haired lady's background but the technology of her workshop had reached the standard of the nineteenth century already, and the first revolver happened to come about in the nineteenth century.

I think it'll be a walk in the park for a twenty-first century light-weaponry student like me to make a gun about the same as that then.

"That's great. Big sis, I'll draw a picture… Umm… Don't make this gun for anyone other than myself… It's reserved for the royal family's use only. Reserved for the royal family… Yeah… Something like that…"

I don't know swordsmanship, nor do I know how to use magic. I'm helpless and always relying on Lucia and Nier to protect me when I'm with them. Courage is a virtue, but courage without strength is nothing more than recklessness.

My only weapons are my brain and my knowledge. I'll have the courage to take on a group if I can make myself a revolver.

I've finally got the chance the show off my skills as a modern person after coming to this different world!Since you elders are here today, let's not let what happened a few days ago happen again. I see that General Kurt and Federline are also here. What do you two have to say today? Ah, right, before that, Kurt, I want to know how Andre's arrangements for the parade you had planned for my son are coming along."

The empress sat behind the black veil and spoke in a cold tone without a hint of compa.s.sion. Kurt turned around to look at Andre, and Andre froze because he seemed to be put on the spot. He fidgeted around a bit and then answered in a shaky voice: "Your majesty… I… I overlooked the fact that the garrison guards had just finished their exercise. The soldiers and horses are worn out and are not in condition to put on a parade…"

The empress shouted: "Useless!"

Andre shivered with fear. His formerly steady eyes became filled with terror in a split moment. He knelt down with a thud, his entire body quaking, not knowing what to say.

The empress angrily stood up and violently shouted: "Useless sc.u.m! Does the army get vacations?! If enemies were to attack our imperial city, are you going to tell them that our troops are fatigued, ask the enemy to let them rest for a few days and ask to fight at a later date? The parade is to be conducted the day after. You have one day to rectify the situation with the army. I'll kill whoever doesn't look in optimal condition on the day of the parade! You're not exempt!"

Andre trembled as he replied: "Understood!"

The empress sat back down on her throne, took in a deep breath and then said in an annoyed tone: "I led the army for ten years, and never once did I hear the soldiers complain of fatigue. Why is it that there are more and more problems after you generals took command? You complain about this and complain about that. I didn't complain once when I had to face armies with more than five times the armoury or supplies. I gave you my trust, so I hope that you'll return my kindness with merit!"

General Kurt bowed and respectfully replied: "I will, your majesty."

Andre is the commander of the imperial army. In terms of ranking, he's lower than Kurt. The empress changed her legs position and then said: "Kurt, Federline, what are your opinions on the matter with Castor? I don't want to hear your a.n.a.lysis, just give me your conclusions."

"Understood, your majesty. Umm…"

It took quite a bit out of Federline to get his fat body off the ground. He raised his hand which had jewels fitted on every finger and said: "Your majesty, I am a merchant. Based on my judgement, if we try to control the business front solely, then our empire will suffer great losses. I believe that only by combining our efforts with the army will we achieve complete victory."

"Your majesty, I believe that it will not be a problem for our troops to capture that city. Their navy is of no significance to us as we can sink their ships when the war starts." Kurt looked in the direction of the empress and firmly continued: "Castor is but a mere city. If we can destroy a country, conquering a city is but child's play."

"General Kurt. If I needed that city, I would've conquered it years ago."

The empress supported her face on her hand as she sat on her throne. She sounded tired as she said: "What I want right now isn't land. Our empire has enough land and territory. Castor's religions, their peoples' lifestyle, their culture and traditions are completely different to ours, so it's very easy for us to come into conflict. If we act rashly, our businesses there may run into the ground. I want to maintain its status quo. Does our army have the ability to siege their city and force them to surrender?"

"I believe it will be very difficult as they have sea access."

Federline answered first. With an idea in mind, he said: "We cannot completely trap Castor, but if we point our heavy cannons at the city gates towards them then that will serve to threaten them. That will benefit us during our negotiations."

The empress pondered his suggestion for a while. She then sighed and said: "Forget it. We'll discuss this again later. There's nothing else for today. You may all leave."

"Bang… Bang… Cough! Cough! Cough!"

"Cough, cough! How dare you play with guns in my workshop, you brat! Go outside and test your gun!"

The revolver I created stopped working after firing two shots… No, it's not because it can't fire consecutively, but because my nose was overwhelmed with the smell of the smoke in the workshop which was released from my gun after I fired the two shots. The entire room was covered in white smoke. I was choking so bad I was tearing up. The red-haired lady also suffocated; she grabbed me by my arm and threw me out of the shop.

The door of the shop which hadn't been opened in a long time finally opened, albeit for the sake of getting rid of the suffocating and blinding smoke. I took in big breaths of air. Nah, this won't work. This black gun powder isn't suitable for consecutive shots. If I actually fire six shots, I'll die from smoke inhalation. It looks like I need to create gun powder that doesn't release smoke…

Even Nier was choking and coughing non-stop. She held her chest with her hands as she gasped for air, and while looking at me with contempt, said: "I don't know what you invented, but it looks like it's capable of choking its wielder to death. If you've finally thought it through and committed to suiciding, please go into a small room and use it yourself."

I smiled helplessly as I fanned the gun-smoke and asked: "Would I need to choke myself to death if I used this to kill myself?! Couldn't I just put a bullet in my head instead?"

Nier looked at me with antic.i.p.ation and said: "Please go ahead then."

"I won't die!!"

I still don't want to die yet, sorry!

Despite the commotion, the creation of my revolver was very successful. It may not be as compact as a modern one, but it's not a bad revolver. It can fire six shots consecutively, except I won't be able to see anything in front of me afterwards because my vision will be completely covered by white smoke…

Loading the bullets is also extremely difficult. That's just one of the problems with revolvers that you can't do anything about.

"To be honest, you continue to surprise me, prince."

The red-haired lady leaned her back on the wall. She took out a pipe from her pocket, put some tobacco leaves in, and said: "Where did you get that idea from? The elves have never been renowned for their use of machinery. And judging from your handiwork, handling and thought patterns, it's fairly obvious you're an experienced gunsmith. Where did you learn this from in the past? I think that if you were to run a workshop, you'd truly be able to change this world."

"You're flattering me. These are actually ideas I usually come up with, I just never acted on them is all."

I looked at the revolver in my hand and then tucked it into my belt. I then smiled and said: "Before I leave, I have another idea to share. I hope to see this long gun model made."

It was the rifle I wanted to make for Lucia. I don't know why myself, but while I was making this revolver, I wanted to make Lucia a rifle that belonged to her alone as well. I believe that Lucia would be formidable with the gun since she has the a.s.sistance of wind elves who could a.s.sist with bullet trajectory. She'd probably have a one-hundred percent accuracy rate.

As such, I wanted to make Lucia a rifle with relatively high accuracy.

Rifling isn't a problem since this red-haired lady already knows about it. What came to mind therefore was a rifle with high accuracy and a greater range. And that would be none other than the Sharps rifle that the United States cleverly crafted.

But before I create that sort of rifle, I need to make gunpowder which doesn't release smoke first…

The red-haired lady knocked on her pipe, looked at the street, coughed, and faintly said: "But a war will probably start soon, won't it?"

I got surprised and asked: "WHY?!"

"Because Federline runs this street. He's already ordered gunsmiths to begin making artillery. There has also been someone buying Castor coins at the market recently. It's obvious that something big is about to go down."

"That fatso owns this street?! He's a firearms merchant?!"

"Firearms merchant?"

"Someone who sells firearms."

"He's involved with everything. He originally was an arms manufacturer. Afterwards, when the empire didn't need to go to war, he turned his attention to other stuff. But since he's gone back to manufacturing artillery, it's an indication that a war is about to start."

I nodded, and lowered my head to think about it carefully. Kids who grew up in my generation don't a.s.sociate any positive adjectives with firearm merchants, because they're essentially people who incite wars for monetary benefits. But I didn't hear anything about a war starting… I didn't know about this as the prince. And when I met that fatso yesterday, I didn't realise he was a firearms merchant.

"Then why do they need to buy Castor coins? What's buying Castor coins got to do with waging a war? Oh… Right… After Castor becomes occupied, they won't need their coins anymore… But… But something like that should've been an order pa.s.sed down from the royal family. I didn't hear anything about it."

The red-haired lady waved her hand and said: "It wasn't someone from the royal family. I haven't seen the person who's buying the coins, however, judging by the looks of things, it doesn't seem like he's on the same side as that fatso. Also, I don't think it's correct to call it 'buying'. It's more like converting, as in taking Castor's coins and then exchanging them for bronze or gold coins."

Huh? Who'd buy Castor coins? Why would they buy Castor coins? Does that mean that something is going to happen to that currency? Is Castor about to face some sort of problem and they coincidentally happen to be preparing for war? I just met with the Envoy from Castor yesterday and I didn't hear anything about the two countries relationship becoming tense.

I stood up and asked: "Where's the person who's buying Castor's coins?"

Why would they buy Castor coins if a war is about to break out?

Nothing about this is normal!

"Nier, come with me!"

I want to find out what the problem with Castor's currency is!There's definitely a crowd of people at the forefront of the market that can be described as so: They sit in chairs with all sorts of coins in their hands with a scale in front of them. They're not merchants, but they can't be separated from businesses. They're money changers.

The values of the coins differ from place to place. They get the coins from here and then exchange them at places with different exchange rates to earn the difference. The major factors that determine the value of the coins depend on the amount of the respective metal present in the coins as well as whether the country it belongs to is large and powerful or not. The first factor is an intuitive value, the second factor is the degree of faith the citizens have.

Let's say that the empire coins have the greatest credibility. If a country were to perish, its currency would lose all meaning. But at present, the strongest country in the mainland, the Rosvenor Empire's currency is the most stable currency. As such, a lot of people are rushing to exchange the current currency they possess for the empire coins with the empress's face printed on it. Thus, the empire's currency is the most trusted currency for all of humanity, regardless of area or country, as well as being the most stable currency. It's relatively similar to the modern day U.S. dollar.

And hence the currency controversy between Castor and the empire's silver coins.

I sat down in front of a money changer. He looked at me with a smile and asked: "My, my, what currencies would you like to exchange, sir?"

I looked at his small table which hand the nine currencies neatly arranged. That indicated that he could exchange those nine currencies with one another. I scanned them and said: "I want to exchange my coins for Castor coins."

"Castor coins did you say? The value of Castor coins have risen recently."

He rubbed the stubble on his chin, smiled as he took out a small bag with Castor coins, and then said: "To be honest, I'm not too willing to exchange them… I heard the value of Castor's coins were going to inflate. I'm honestly thinking of stockpiling them."

I paused and then asked: "Inflate?"

"It's insider news." He leaned his body over in a mysterious manner and quietly said: "It's said that the value of Castor coins will rise. I don't know what's going on either, but that's what everyone is saying."

I nodded to indicate I understood. There are usually a number of ways the value of a certain currency gets inflated. With the metal coins before me, the most common way is by introducing new coins which contain a greater amount of its respective metal. That way, the value of the coins themselves rise. If these people possess a large number of Castor coins, then they'll earn the difference. For example, if Castor's silver coins were originally exchanged for sixteen bronze coins, they can now be exchanged for eighteen bronze coins, thereby earning them two silver coins.

Increasing the amount of metal in the coins can also influence the credibility of the currency though, regardless of how large and powerful a country may be. At the same time, if your coins contain far too little metal, then its credibility will also suffer. The empire coins and Castor coins are in a race right now. You're telling me that the value of Castor coins are going to rise before a war breaks out? Are they saying that to increase their compet.i.tive edge?

Is this related to the trade war and the war? What I want to know right now is the ident.i.ty of the person spreading the news that the value of Castor's currency will rise. Is that factual? If Castor's currency does in fact rise, then the purpose of spreading the news wouldn't benefit the person who spread the news in any way shape or form. If Castor's currency happens to depreciate, he won't benefit either. So why did he spread this news? Is his aim to gather all of Castor's coins in one place so that it doesn't circulate around anymore?

Was that fatso the one that spread the news or was it Castor's people? The current situation between the two countries is delicate. A war could break out overnight between them which completely perplexed me.

"Thank you."

I threw down two silver Castor coins. To be honest, that was too generous of me, but it's not my money, so who cares? It's not even the empress's money. I don't even know who's giving me money every day, but I'm happy to spend it.

Nier, following behind me was confused and asked: "Your majesty, what exactly are you doing?"

I paused and then replied: "It's a bit tough to explain because it's an economics issue after well… It'd somewhat make sense if it were someone from our side collecting Castor coins, but if somebody from Castor was collecting Castor coins, then I don't understand their purpose myself. This person is collecting Castor coins while he conceals himself. This isn't something the government of either country came up with. In other words, somebody is plotting something."

"Will a war break out?"

"I don't know. I'll need to ask her majesty when I get back. I'm not sure… But it makes no sense for their envoy to be attending a ball if a war is about to break out."

"Why are you so worked up, your majesty? This clearly has nothing to do with you."

"I don't want a war!"

I turned around, looked at Nier and said: "War should be avoided if it can be helped. How can I sit and watch a war break out as the prince of the country?"

Confused, Nier shook her head and said: "Isn't war a glorious thing to you, your majesty? War is just like another meal or another sleep for us. Our empire became the strongest through war. Her majesty is the ruler of this world. War is but just an event to get rid of those barbarians. War is our means of achieving glory and respect. Why is war such a bad thing to you, your majesty?"

"No! No! You should never wish for war!" I looked at Nier and continued sternly: "Unavoidable wars are one thing, but recklessly waging a war is another. How many people lose their lives in wars? What about the parents and children of fallen soldiers? Regardless of what the circ.u.mstances are, war is the worst solution. You shouldn't kill if you can help it, and you should avoid war where it's avoidable…"

"Weakling."

Nier cut me off before I finished. Her eyes were colder than any I'd seen before and she looked at me with more disdain than ever. She said: "The most glorious thing to a soldier is sacrificing himself for his emperor. A soldier is never to be concerned over his life because he's dying for the emperor. It's a great privilege and honour. Yet you as the emperor refuse to give the soldiers a chance. You're not worthy of being an emperor!"

"I'm not an emperor to begin with!!"

I felt as though I had no way of communicating with Nier… Our viewpoints, philosophies and values completely contradict each other… For Chinese people, the pain and sorrows of war are too much of a burden. We aren't afraid to sacrifice ourselves, but that's when enemies rock up on our doorstep. We love peace, but we're not afraid of war.

But why are the people here so enthusiastic?! You people are definitely not farmers! You people must've been nomads or pirates in the past! Why do you people crave war so much?!

"The empire that exists right now wouldn't exist if it weren't for war. Your rejection of war is also a direct rejection of her majesty! Weak people can't become emperors. I thought that you would be like her majesty and stand at the forefront with us. I never expected you to be a coward who's afraid of death and hides at the back!"

"The desire for war will become the downfall of the empire! The empire isn't trying to expand right now so there's no need for another war. Is sacrificing people fun to you?! Did you consider the suffering of those who are left behind after someone dies?!"

"I am a Valkyrie! I have no family! I belong to her majesty!"

Nier looked at me as though she was ready to draw her sword and slash me to death. This was the first time I got really angry too. I have no way of communicating with someone like this. Is it fun to throw the people into a cesspool of misery and suffering? Is it fun to have people kill each other and die? I died once slaying Earth Dragons. Was that fun? Are those things you enjoy repeating over and over?

"Forget it. Go back, Nier. This is an order. Don't follow me again."

I sat myself down on a wooden chair by the road, looked at Nier and waved my hand.

Nier pressed her sword on her sword handle and went silent. She didn't insist on following me this time. She turned around and left instead.

I raised my head and watched Nier's back. Her white cape swayed left-and-right as she moved. The little cloth pouch she attached to her belt bounced up and down.

Forget it.

I need to check things out, regardless of whether a war breaks out or not. What sort of conspiracy is taking place behind the scenes? The matter with humanity isn't so simple. Behind every action taken by humans lies a conspiracy.Huh? You want to know who mentioned it? Everybody is talking about it man. Hence why I'm doing this."

"N-No… I meant, who told you? Or who did you ask?"

"I went and asked Henry next door…"

"Got it. Thank you."

"You're Henry, right? Umm… I wanted to ask you, from where did you here that the value of Castor's currency was going to rise?"

"I heard it at a restaurant. That's what the restaurant owner said."

...

I panted slightly as I looked at the huge courtyard before me. I backtracked and pretty much ran through every street of every suburb, asking everybody who knew about it. In the end, all the clues I gathered pointed towards this particular trading company. Basically, all the news claiming that the value of Castor's currency would rise was mentioned by a particular merchant from this trading company.

Everything else aside, I was exhausted. These boots aren't remotely suitable for getting around in a rush, so why do so many people wear them?!

Trading companies are essentially alliances people create to improve their prominence and with it, their benefits. This in turn reduces bickering between merchants and companies, and the cooperation means that they have support. I don't know if the claim that Castor's currency would rise in value was a business tactic of the company or an individual act of a merchant. If it's the former, then I want to know if they have some sort of relationship with Castor.

I looked at the door and felt that it was probably best to not alert them by asking about the currency matter. That said, I still have to investigate the matter. I checked out the logo of the company. They used a horse carriage for their logo… Hmm… I keep feeling like I've seen it somewhere before. I couldn't recall where I saw it after thinking about it for a while. But I honestly feel that I've seen it somewhere before. The elves have granted me very keen senses. However, my brain capacity as a human limits me from remembering everything my senses pick up…

I knocked on the door and the door to the courtyard opened. Two people rushed over to greet me and then ran back. Inside the courtyard, I could hear people shouting and horses neighing. The centre of the courtyard was filled wooden boxes. Some were open. Inside were boxes of apples, mink, nails, wheat, salt… It was just a scrambled collection of everything.

People inside the company were shouting orders to move things or split up material delegations, so there was no one to bother with me. I fumbled through their goods to see if I could find any problems. If they were Castor merchants, then their goods must be connected to Castor. Such goods could be for example, fish, things you'd normally come across.

Nothing I found indicated that the goods were somehow connected with Castor…

"Are you looking to buy something?"

"Ah… No…"

I looked at a guy who came running over with books in his hand. He waved his hand, looked at me, and then asked: "Then are you here to bring in goods or are you from another shop?"

"Umm… Neither… I just want to know… Mmm… Where do you guys deliver to?"

"We deliver to many places. We deliver to the mountains in the North, the elves border, the desert in the West, and the plains in the South." He looked at me with a frown and asked: "You are here for…?"

I was put on the spot. It's best I don't bring up the matter about Castor's currency. If I alert the one responsible, they'll become more cautious, making it even more difficult to investigate. I hesitated for a moment and then asked: "Do you people have sea goods then? Like eel or fish and the sort…?"

He shook his head and then replied: "Unfortunately, we don't deliver to Castor. You should try your luck somewhere else. We, Six Horse Carriages don't do sea travel. I suggest you check out the sailing boat trading company… But before you leave, check out our stock. If you want to run a shop, you'll need good building materials… Our nails are made by ironsmiths from the desert. I guarantee…"

"Sorry… Sorry…"

After I rejected his offer, I left the "Six Horse Carriages" company and sighed. There's no reliable information here. I only managed to prove that the company wasn't connected to Castor. So then why would a company not connected to Castor make that claim?

There's definitely some connection. I just can't figure it out… So what do I need to do now to investigate…?

I raised my head up to look at the sky. It was getting dark. I spent the entire day outside chasing up clues I had today, and I haven't got much after an entire day… Looks like I'll have to spend another day investigating the matter if I want to get to the bottom of this. I'll go pay Castell a visit tonight when I get back. Castell should be a merchant, right…?

What about NIer…?

I sighed. Nier isn't easy to comfort. You can't smooth things over with her with a bouquet of flowers, a ring or a meal… I reckon she'd be moved to tears if I get her majesty to hug her. But are you asking me to go back to the empress and ask: "Mom, my bodyguard is ignoring me, can you please give her a hug?"

What the h.e.l.l is that bulls.h.i.t?!

"Your majesty!!"

As I was slowly walking somebody shouted loudly from my side. I turned to see the boss I bought eel from yesterday kneeling on the ground… How did I end up here again…? I nodded and said: "Please rise."

"What are you doing here, your majesty?"

"Oh… I'm heading back… The eel you served me yesterday tasted great."

He wore a scrunched up smile that made it difficult to discern his facial features. He rubbed his hands and elatedly said: "Please come by anytime if you wish to have some again. Please come by anytime. How about I give you a dish now?"

I looked at his carriage before him and noticed he was about half-done with packing up, so I said: "It's fine. Do you take your stuff with you every time you head home?"

"No, no. This barrel belongs to the trade company. I have eel in here…"

I casually glanced at the barrel. I looked at the eel inside the bucket and…

Wait!!!

I was shocked. I suddenly recalled where I saw that carriage logo. In order to prevent mixing up barrels, trade companies mark their barrels with a small logo. Normally, people don't notice it, and it's also inside. But in order to fit a few more barrels, the barrel was placed sideways right now so I could see the bottom of the barrel with one glance. And there I noticed that small logo!

I saw it through the water yesterday!

This is the fish the six horse carriages trade company sold!!

"Unfortunately, we don't deliver to Castor."

Bulls.h.i.t!

They lied. Clearly they ship eel and this sort of fish, but they claimed otherwise. They come from Castor and they're the ones spreading the news the Castor's currency will rise in value. There's definitely a problem. Both Castor and their currency have problems. The same goes for that trade company. I must carefully investigate that trade company!

Luna, who was cleaning the staircase handrails by the entrance smiled, bowed and said: "Welcome back, your majesty."

"Uhm."

I nodded nonchalantly and then called for a messenger. I wrote a fairly rough note and gave it to him. I then said to Luna: "Luna, tell the kitchen staff to prepare food and wine for two people. I want to eat in the dining hall tonight."

"Ah… Understood."

"Castell! I feel that the formal clothing faction are too much! On one hand they want peace, while on the other, they're asking for war. It's our army and yet they keep trying to take control of it! That's a bit much, don't you agree?! That applies particularly to that fatso. He dared to point at me and act out before me. Doesn't everybody know he wants to buy army materials?!"

Castell laughed, and stretched his hand out to stop Kurt from continuing. The two of them were walking in a corridor in the palace. Kurt's face was red and showed that he was frustrated. Castell, on the other hand, was as calm as usual. Castell turned around, looked at him, smiled and said: "General Kurt, it is pointless for you to bring this up with me. Do you think that I can get Mr Federline to ease up?"

"You're her majesty's favoured retainer! There isn't a problem with waging a war, but please don't let the reason for us heading out to war be because of those from the formal wear faction!"

"That has nothing to do with me. I cannot possibly change her majesty's decisions. Her majesty has yet to pa.s.s down an order anyway. I am more concerned about his majesty."

"His majesty? Wasn't he not going to get involved?"

"No, he has already taken action. His majesty is also very sharp. He has discovered the most important key."

Castell watched the messenger rush over. He smiled slightly and softly said: "It is his majesty's messenger. This must mean his majesty has understood…."Luna stood to one side after she set my napkin for me. Castell sat on my right hand side and asked me with a smile: "Your majesty, for what reason have you gone out of your way to invite me to dinner at the outer chamber?"

I raised my wine gla.s.s and said: "To her majesty."

"To her majesty."

Castell couldn't speak while we were paying our respects to her majesty so he had to take a drink even if he did have a question. If you wanted to poison somebody, that drink would be the best opportunity, because according to the rules, you can't reject a drink dedicated to showing respect to her majesty. But of course, poisoning a drink that's supposed to be used to pay respect to her majesty will result in the death penalty.

We had our first drink. I didn't have any thoughts about poisoning Castell. I placed my gla.s.s down, looked at Castell and said: "Castell, I want to ask you a few questions. Answer me honestly."

Castell smiled and asked me back: "When have I ever lied to you?"

Indeed, Castell has never lied to me since hiding a fact doesn't count as lying. I paused for a moment and then asked: "Castell, do you have any information on Federline and Andre?"

Castell smiled and pursed his lips with red wine on them. He looked at me and faintly asked: "Your majesty, I do not quite understand what you mean. Are you asking about their men or them themselves?"

Castell isn't a bad guy, but his love for playing word-games with people is annoying as can be. Do I need to be explicit with everything? Won't her majesty kill you with a kick if you behave like this? You want me to lay it bare for you? You're knocking on h.e.l.l's door.

"Them?"

"Yes, your majesty." Castell smiled slightly and then continued: "Humans will forever be social animals, especially within this large palace. Humans are the cruellest creatures. They enjoy their wine as they kill. They embrace you as they hurt you. They even beautify it with the word 'fate'. To protect themselves and gain more power, they find people who share their visions and goals, and ally themselves. That is how the conference chamber is made up."

"And they're separated as factions or parties? So you're saying Federline and Andre belong to two factions?"

"That is correct. The merchants team up with other merchants to become the pigeons taking the food, while soldiers team up with soldiers to become the eagle which overlooks things. That is how it goes, your majesty. They sought you out to increase their political power. You must have noticed that neither side has made a suggestion which her majesty has been satisfied with regarding the matter with Castor."

Castell looked at me, smiled like a merchant and continued: "For the generals, fighting Castor is the best option for them to win favour with her majesty since Castor is but just a city. There is no way they cannot bring down their city gates with heavy artillery. However, for the merchants, it would be easier for them to do business there if there was no blood shed… However…"

I looked at Castell and softly said: "Arms dealers."

Castell nodded and said: "That is correct. There are arms dealers among the merchants. They do not necessarily wish for war, but they seek conflict. There does not need to be a war, they simply need to increase the tension at the borders. But there are those in the army that understand that war is not the best option. They want to maintain the existence of a complete city."

"I get it now."

In short, there's a radicalism party and a conservative party. The radicalism party views the army as their stronghold. They rely on military accomplishments to prove themselves. The conservative party on the other hand, are satisfied with the status quo.

I looked at Castell's hypocritical smile, paused for a moment and said: "So which party are you with, Castell?"

Castell earnestly replied: "I belong to the empress party."

"The empress party?"

You boot-licking slave…

I grinned and then raised my wine-gla.s.s. I now understand the political situation of both parties, but I still don't know if the rumour that a war is going to break out is true or not. According to what Castell said, the arms dealer doesn't actually want a war. He just wants tension. With tension comes orders for arms. So is a going war start or not?

"What has her majesty got to say?"

"Her majesty is your mother. It is better for you to go ask her instead of myself."

True…

And now for the most important question.

I handed Castell a Castor coin. Castell looked at it, then laughed and asked: "Is this not a Castor coin? What point are you trying to make, your majesty?"

"I want to ask if you know about the value of Castor's currency rising."

"I know that there are people spreading the news to make money."

"What do you think about it?"

"I only received a Castor coin from their envoy and that is all."

Castell handed me a Castor coin which was exactly the same. Had I not seen him take another one out, I would've gotten the two mixed up. I picked up both coins and checked them out. No matter how I looked at them, they were identical. From their weight, the way they felt, their jagged spots, the print, there was no difference.

"So what do you think?"

"Here is what I think, your majesty."

Castell didn't answer me directly. Instead, he smiled and said: "I may run a trading company, but the company itself belongs to the royal family. I do not know what changes have occurred with Castor's coins. However, I would like to ask you a question, your majesty. Between Castor's envoy and I, who do you feel dresses more befitting of an envoy?"

"You."

That I can say without hesitation.

"No, no, no. I did not mean us as people. I did not express myself clearly there." Castell went on to rephrase it. In the swaying of the candle lights, his face was half hidden by the shadows like an undertaker paying a visit. He looked at me and said with a smile: "I was referring to how we are dressed."

"What's the difference?"

"You are not an envoy, so perhaps you are unaware, but as envoys, we must dress extravagantly when in another country as an envoy. No, it is not a corrupt custom to dress as such during such times. It is about dignity. It is a representation of their country's dignity. Only strong and wealthy countries have people who dress extravagantly and eat well. Seeing an envoy dressed extravagantly tells the ruler of the host country that the country the envoy hails from is powerful and respectable. An envoy is thereby essentially the billboard of a country. It is practically impossible to be over-extravagant."

Castell smiled and nodded. He then touched his smooth chin, picked up his gla.s.s of wine and said: "Your majesty, please do not let my presence ruin your wine. How about we end tonight's matters here? I am struggling to resist helping myself to the feast you have prepared for me. Please allow me to wish you good health with this gla.s.s. Long live her majesty."

"Long live her majesty."

Castell never makes his point explicit when he speaks. Is he trying to protect himself or test me? I raised my wine-gla.s.s and finished my gla.s.s in one go. I'm not sure if it's because I've become accustomed to it or what, but I could taste red wine this time. Luna walked up to me and politely refilled my gla.s.s. She then walked back to stand inside the shadows. Castell looked at her, laughed and said: "Is she the maid you purchased, your majesty?"

"That's right, your people tried to fight me for her."

"I am very sorry."

Castell smiled and bowed. He then raised his head and said: "Your majesty, please always be attentive of your surroundings. Everybody is after you because of your value as the prince. However, if you dig too deep, you will be in danger."

I looked at Castell and asked: "Will you protect me?"

Castell smiled casually and replied: "No, I will not protect you."Luna who was following me upstairs quietly said: "Miss Gilliante has yet to return today…"

I silently tugged on my garment that can't be penetrated by blades and softly said: "I ordered her to not follow me. She might never come over again."

"I see."

Luna felt awkward and lowered her head as she slowly walked behind me. She was dressed in her black and white maid uniform. She used a cloth to cover her elf ears. She usually busies herself at the outer court, and then she turns in at night with Nier in her little room. I don't know what the two of them talk about in there, but judging from Nier's personality, I don't think she'd say anything.

"So what will be of your safety then, your majesty?"

"I won't be in danger."

She lowered her head and softly muttered: "No, I… No, I mean… I, your humble servant do not think that will be the case." Elves don't use that many formalities in their speech, so as an elf, she was unaccustomed to the formal way humans spoke. Castell and others who belong to n.o.ble families can refer to themselves as "I". However, servants like Luna have to refer to themselves as "your humble servant".*

The Valkyries may have tragic backgrounds, but as the ruler's bodyguards, they are allowed to refer to themselves as "I". The captain can use a less formal version of "I."

I turned around, scrubbed her head, smiled and said: "It's alright. You don't have to worry about me."

"You don't have to bother with the formalities of referring to yourself in a particular way with me. I'm an elf too… I mean, a mixed-blood. Just refer to me the way you would as an elf."

She bowed her head to thank me and said: "Understood. Thank you, your majesty."

After making several turns we arrived in front of my room. Someone dressed in white knelt silently by the door. She had her head lowered as she looked towards the room. She had her sword placed to one side and her two hands on her knees. She was leaning over in an apologetic pose very characteristic of Asian cultures while facing my room. I rubbed my eyes.

My eyes aren't playing tricks on me, are they? That should be Nier, right?

"Nier?"

I didn't quite understand what was going on but walked up to her anyway. I supported her shoulder and she raised her head to look at me. I noticed that the left side of her face was swollen as well as traces of blood below her nose and her lips. I froze up for a moment, and then reached my hand out to gently wipe the blood off her face. I took a deep breath and asked: "What's wrong? Who hit you?"

"I sincerely apologise, your majesty. I angered you this afternoon. I will accept any punishment you have for me, but please do not get rid of me."

Nier prostrated herself and bowed her head to the floor before my feet. The fearless Nier I knew was trembling before me. Her voice was trembling with fear. She continued to tremble as she begged me: "I beg you… I beg you… Don't kick me out…. Her majesty… Her majesty said that she'd kick me out of the Valkyrie squad if you kick me out… I… I… I don't want to leave her majesty…. I… I don't have anywhere I can go if I leave the Valkyrie squad…. So… So I beg you, please don't kick me out…."

I helped Nier up. Nier's tears were flowing out uncontrollably from her emerald eyes. Her tears rolled down the left side of her face where it was swollen. Her body was quaking with fear. She gripped my leg tightly as she begged me. I never saw her so afraid before, but I did the reason know why.

I turned around and took the winter cloak Luna was holding in her hand. I sighed and said: "Get up, Nier. Come with me."

"Understood… Where do you want to go?"

"The inner court. Come see her majesty with me."

Ten minutes later at the inner court.

The empress restlessly threw down her pen. She drew something indiscernible on the sheet of paper. She ma.s.saged her temples and asked the Valkyrie who entered a question.

The Valkyrie replied with an awkward look on her face: "Umm… Umm…"

"Stop stuttering, and out with it already. If someone trespa.s.ses into the inner court, just kill them and be done with it. A mess like this is so unseemly!"

The empress whipped her hand, stood up, walked up to the bed and aggressively pulled the curtains open.

"Umm… It…. It is his majesty… We had a bit of a run-in with him…. He seemed really angry and asked to come in…. We told him you were already resting but he insisted on coming in. He even attacked the Valkyries…"

"WHAT?!"

The empress threw her pen at the face of the Valkyrie, walked over with big strides, grabbed her collar and shouted: "Where did you get the gall from?! Are you revolting against me?! The prince is my son. A son is being stopped at the door and prevented from seeing his mother?! Allow the prince to come and leave as he pleases from now. There's no need to report to me. Are you all blind?! I wondered why the prince never came to the inner court. Turns out it was all because of you lot! If you dare to hurt the prince, I'll personally kill you all one by one! Let the prince in! All of you come over here and kneel!"

"Right away!!"

The Valkyrie ran outside quivering. She wiped her sweat on her forehead and ran outside even though her legs were so weak she was struggling to stay on them. Whenever her majesty gets that angry, it's like the entire room is set on fire. The anger of a sovereign really can kill everybody within a thousand mile radius. She'd probably be headless right now if she did something to the prince.

I looked at the Valkyrie before me coldly and returned the gun in my hand to my belt. The Valkyries watched me vigilantly and placed their drawn swords against my neck. I glared at them and asked: "Her majesty must've heard the gunshot before. Would you believe me if I told you that you'll all be doomed if your swords scratch me?"

"The inner court…"

"Of course I know it's her majesty's resting place. That's why I came here!"

I took two steps forward and the swords on my neck followed suit. I really must praise the Valkyries' skills. They're keeping their swords against my neck and staying in rhythm with each step I take. I don't feel anything on my neck. They looked at each other and not one of them dared to make a move.

Nier had her head down as she followed behind me. She didn't have her sword drawn. She was more like bystander as she stood behind me.

"Her majesty has orders! His majesty may enter and leave the inner court as he pleases from now on. There is no need to report it! Withdraw your swords! Her majesty called for all of us!!"

I took in a deep breath and watched the blades pull away from my neck in a quick moment. Last time I almost cried myself out of fear, but there's something more important this time. I'm scared of her majesty killing me, but I don't want to see Nier's tears.

The empress walked out in the same military gear she wore during the day. She pat her face and then waved her hands. The Valkyries all knelt down at her motion. The empress looked at me and asked with a smile: "You don't have to come in anymore. What are you looking for me for so late at night, son?"

I looked at the empress and felt my hands shake. I'm scared, but right now… No, when I saw Nier's tears, I couldn't suppress my anger. Perhaps it had to do with me drinking three gla.s.ses of red wine. But I felt angry as though somebody had destroyed something of mine.

But when I came face to face with the empress, I got scared again. I felt my entire body shaking. I didn't know why either. The empress was clearly smiling gently, but why was I shaking instinctively? Was it because I wanted to flee? Is this… Is this a reaction from the memories of the original owner of this body?

"I know. I understand the mistake of the Valkyries. They're all good girls. It's just that they're too rigid. The bodyguard unit caused you quite a bit of trouble, didn't they? So… Elisa, off yourself."

"Understood!"

"Wait…"

Just as I spoke out, and before I could reach my hand out, a young girl on the empress's left hand side resolutely drew her sword and stabbed it through her heart.

I watched as blood spurt forth before the empress. The sword pierced right through her body. The young girl's body jerked a few times. The last thing she did was look at the blood in front of the empress, reach her quivering hand out and fall before the empress, covering the blood stain with her body…

"Did you see that, son?"

The empress looked at me and smiled gently. She flipped the young girl's corpse over with her foot. The girl wore a satisfied smile on her face. The empress looked back at me and quietly said: "You are the future emperor. You are their master. You are the emperor. If somebody disobeys you, just order them to kill themself and it will be settled. The same goes with Nier. Nier disobeyed you today, so you have all the rights to make her kill herself. Nier, have you apologised to the prince yet?"

I quivered as I responded: "Yes… Nier has apologised…"

"Do you have any other requests then, son?"

The empress reached her hand out as she looked at me with a smile.

"I… I… I want… No, nothing…."I want to stop this war.

This was the first time I had such a clear vision of what I wanted.

The red-haired lady knocked on my head with a gun barrel, and with a small wooden stick in her mouth said: "Don't disparage Elizabeth in my workshop… If somebody finds out, both you and I may lose our heads."

While she did say that, I didn't feel like she was worried. She probably just said that because Nier was present. I originally intended to explain what happened to her majesty last night, but I ended up getting frightened by her instead. That was the first time I felt afraid of power. I also came to the realisation that perhaps I can't change Nier.

The young girls were willing to die with just a word from her majesty. They didn't die for their own ideals or dreams, or some sort of lofty goal. The young girls were willing to pierce their heart with their sword simply because they were told to. I've never witnessed such an era and therefore have no way of comprehending the way they think.

I really don't get it. Can such an empire last long? When I posed the question to the red-haired lady cleverly, she knocked on my head.

"If you ask me whether Elizabeth is a good ruler, I'd honestly say 'yes'. You can tell by looking at the citizens. As long as they stay in line, they get to go on with their lives. Their income isn't low either. They don't even get taxed one-twelfth of their earnings, and neither do they have to deal with mandatory military service. Merchants aren't restricted by what goods they decide to sell. There are no restrictions on scholars, poets or mathematicians etcetera either. Government decrees are also very reasonable, which is why the people whole-heartedly and voluntarily obey Elizabeth."

"Then…"

"Killing people is Elizabeth's personal hobby. Elizabeth may kill but she never kills indiscriminately. It's just that she's extremely sensitive about imperial power. She interprets disobedience and indecorous behaviour as mutiny and will kill those that do so."

The red-haired lady looked at the rifling, and then looked at me and said: "Elizabeth does kill a fair bit, but she is a wise and able ruler. She commands people very intelligently. She kills and conquers because of her past. Prince, do you know how she raised an army? Back then, the imperial capital was just a mere city. Your grandfather, Elizabeth's father was very fervent. He was very kind to the barbarians around. When a famine struck, he welcomed the barbarians with open arms. Those barbarians repaid him by storming the royal palace, decapitating him, and throwing his head down before Elizabeth. They then filled it up with wine and forced her to drink it. If she disobeyed, they were going to have her bare their children. Elizabeth was therefore forced to drink that wine mixed with her father's blood out of his head."

Seeing my shocked face, she laughed out loud and said: "Do you know what happened after? The barbarians vanished and n.o.body saw them again, because Elizabeth killed anybody that was blood-related to them. At that time, Elizabeth sold her palace, and her clothes for funds to train an army. After she slaughtered all the barbarians, she used the head of their leader, filled it with wine – so it was a drink mixed with brain-parts and blood, and Elizabeth drank two skulls of blood-wine. Do you think she's a benevolent ruler?"

"Still, she can't…"

"You didn't witness Elizabeth's past. She was much more extreme in the past. She drank blood in the past, you know? She could only drink wine if there was blood mixed in there. During that time, the blood of young girls was prepared specifically for her. She also brought her sword with her to the conference chamber during that time. And if somebody did so much as sneeze, their head would be flying the next moment."

The red-haired lady shrugged as though it was "whatever", and then attached the barrel and firing device together. She then looked at me and continued: "It was only after she had you that she became less violent. Although you can't say she's benevolent right now, she at least doesn't kill indiscriminately anymore. Elizabeth's heart became distorted long ago. If a war truly breaks out, I don't think there will be Castor will have many survivors."

"Didn't you say she doesn't kill indiscriminately?"

"Yeah, she doesn't. But you can't put up a resistance. If you put up a resistance against her forces, then you're an enemy. If that's the case, Elizabeth will definitely kill you. Her father was killed because of his benevolence and because he was an approachable individual. Do you think she'd go and develop a close relationship with somebody? Elizabeth is a wise ruler, but she's also destined to be a tyrant. Prince, what sort of emperor do you aim to become? Forgive me for being blunt, but if you intend to become a benevolent emperor, then I don't think you should return here to humanity."

"But…"

"No buts. An emperor who doesn't kill will be killed. No benevolent emperor ever met a good end. There's always somebody eyeing the power of royalty, and the only thing that can make them give up is dominance. Your majesty, a throne soaked in blood may feel uncomfortable to sit on, but it'll allow you to sit on your throne for a litte longer."

I silently took my long rifle she handed me. This is basically the beta version of the rifle I was making for Lucia. I can create guns here at this workshop without worry as this red-haired lady doesn't sell these things or have any thoughts of producing them. She's just purely interested in these things. I can tell. She doesn't serve any customers and doesn't create any weapons… But what I'm curious about is why n.o.body messes with her.

"Come to your senses, prince. You're the future emperor."

She reached her hand out and scrubbed my head roughly. She smiled and said: "Your kindness is a great gift the G.o.ds gifted you, but you require the strength to protect your kindness. Elizabeth is called the King of Conquest. So what about you, prince? What do you want to be called in future? The Benevolent Emperor? Or The Last Emperor?"

I looked at her, paused for a bit, took out two Castor silver coins and said: "I don't want a war, nor do I want to slaughter lots of people. I don't believe that there is someone who'd kill me. Conquest can get people to surrender to you, but only benevolence can get people to sincerely submit and respect you. If it were me… I wouldn't send people off to die on a whim."

"You're not fit to be an emperor then. You should go and be the king of elves."

The red-haired lady struck me with her blunt words and then walked up to the door. She took a smoke, slowly blew out the smoke and said: "Did you say Elizabeth was wrong? She's not wrong. It was fate that caused her to turn out this way. If it weren't for that incident, Elizabeth would still be a bright girl, so don't go thinking that Elizabeth is wrong. She turned out the way she is now because she did the right thing. Now, what did you want me to do by giving me these two coins?"

"I want to examine what the difference between these two coins is. Please let me use your workshop."

"What exactly are you trying to do, prince?"

I took in a deep breath and said: "I don't want a war to break out. I didn't want to bother with it before, but I do now. I won't let the empress go and attack Castor. Yes, I don't know the people there. Yes, the people there aren't related to me in any capacity, but the people that are dying are right before me. I'm weak. I don't have to guts to kill people and I don't want to witness war. But… But because of that, I'm going to give it my best to prevent people from killing each other and a world of bloodshed…"

What Castell said reminded me that an envoy dresses extravagantly as he is the billboard of his country, and yet the envoy from Castor I met had different b.u.t.tons on the sleeves of his shirt. You can't seriously tell me that an envoy from another country has to fix his clothes by sewing and handiwork. That suggests that Castor's financial power isn't as great as imagined. That means that the likelihood of them retrieving their coins and re-moulding them to raise the value of their coins is very low.

It also means that there should be something different in the mould of the new coins.

I know what I'm going to do might cause Castor to go bankrupt like this, but if they do go bankrupt, that'll prevent her majesty from slaughtering them.

I've already lost what exactly I'm trying to do… I've never been an emperor and I've never received the royal family's education. I'm just a normal person. I have no idea what att.i.tude I should face this world I'm living in right now with. I naively thought I became accustomed to this world only to find out I haven't. I just can't understand it.

Ever since coming here, I've truly come to the realisation that my courage and kindness doesn't work here.

I can't approach people here using my previous ways of thinking.Nier."

Nier stood up from among the group of kids, watched me walk over, bowed and asked: "Do you have orders, your majesty?"

I looked at the side of her face that was still swollen. She started to look a bit livelier. A moment later, I smiled as I shook my head and said: "No, nothing. But after we get back, I'll rub some of the elves' spring water on your face for you."

Nier looked at me and asked: "Why?"

"It hurts, doesn't it?" I looked at her eyes and sighed. I felt slightly dispirited, lowered my head and softly said: "Sorry… I originally wanted to get her majesty to apologise to you, but… I didn't have the courage in the end…"

Nier aggressively drew her sword which frightened me and I retreated one step. NIer looked at me and coldly said "Her majesty is never wrong. I was punished because I made a mistake. This is her majesty's reward. Your majesty, no one is to speak ill of her majesty, even if it's you. Her majesty is never wrong!"

"But! But you left me because I gave you the order to! You just followed my orders, so you're not at fault!"

"That still doesn't mean her majesty is wrong! Her majesty is never wrong! Those who claim that she is wrong are all traitors and rebels. I can't allow anyone to malign her majesty, even if it's you! Your majesty, my sword can penetrate your throat. Please do not think that our relationship has eased up by any means." Nier's sword was very steady. She looked at me expressionless and had the tip of her sword at my throat. I raised my hands in surrender and I could see my terrified look in the reflection of her sword.

Nier hasn't changed a bit. I thought she'd accepted me after I stood up for her last night, but her loyalty was still devoted to her majesty, and she hasn't eased up towards me in the least.

Nier is the same as those Valkyries, isn't she? If her majesty were to tell her to kill herself, she'd probably kill herself without hesitation. Nier is a Valkyrie, but when I see her reveal her smile when she's with kids, I feel that she's just a normal young girl.

A young girl ran over and tightly hugged Nier's leg, looked at Nier fearfully and exclaimed: "Big sis!! Don't fight with each other!"

Nier lowered her head to look at her, then at me and finally sheathed her sword. She then crouched down and pacified the young girl. She didn't look at me again. Her white cape was facing me who was determined and lonely.

This is a form of blind loyalty, isn't it? It's also a form of fanaticism.

Seeing her loyalty pains me. If Nier were a normal girl, if she were an elf, she would be a warrior in the imperial guard unit. She'd probably play around freely during breaks and go on dates with the man she loved, have kids, leave the imperial guard unit and live the rest of her life peacefully.

But unfortunately, she's a Valkyrie. The empress is her everything. She can't have her own feelings and her own love. She likes children but can't even buy candy for them. Her life could end at the wave of the hand or a word from the empress.

Is she happy?

For the current Nier before me right now, being able to serve the empress must be her idea of bliss. She's afraid of leaving the Valkyrie squad and the empress. If she left the empress, she'd suffer a break down, because in her world right now, the empress is her world. If… If I showed her a different world, would she realise something?

I helplessly smiled. Nah, forget it. Nier would never spare a look for a different world. I'm already satisfied that she doesn't kill indiscriminately under my orders. As for the future, I really don't know when I'll be able to lift her sense of loyalty. When will I be able to become an existence more important to her than her majesty?

Ah, scratch it.

I turned around and returned to the workshop. The red-haired lady hit the two coins lightly with a small hammer. When she saw me come back in, she said: "I've got good news and bad news, which do you want to hear?"

"The good news?"

"The good news is that these two coins are indeed different. Their exteriors look the same, but you can tell that they're different once you hit them with a hammer. However, I'm not quite sure what's different about them."

"You've told me the bad news as well."

I chuckled and picked up the two coins. I then placed them on the table instead of hitting them with the hammer. Since I can't figure out anything using physics, let's use some chemistry to reveal the truth then. In my memory, the closest thing to silver is cup.r.o.nickel. Cup.r.o.nickel is commonly mixed with silver goods. However, in this era there shouldn't be any records of the two being mixed yet. Chemistry exists here, but it's not advanced and hasn't become a system. I'm too lazy to write up the periodic table, so I'll leave it in the hands of the next generation.

Nitric acid does exist though. I just created a reagent of nitric acid and a bunch of other chemicals to create smoke-less gun powder, and finally got rid of the side-effect of choking from released gun powder.

I picked up the concentrated hydrochloric acid bottle and carefully placed drips on them drip by drip… I can't imagine life without pipettes… As I expected, one of the coins soon showed a layer of deposits.

This is a silver coin, while the other didn't have anything.

This is bronze.

I turned to the red-haired lady and asked: "Does Castor manufacture cup.r.o.nickel…?"

"Cup.r.o.nickel? What's that? Oh… you mean white-coloured bronze? That's really cheap stuff. There are natural mines containing it in foreign countries, and it's also manufactured in the East. It's not considered valuable or expensive anywhere. Huh? Are you saying that this isn't a silver coin but a bronze coin?" The red-haired lady was surprised as she picked up the silver coin without any deposit on it and scanned it.

I nodded and said: "That's right. This is no longer a silver coin, but a bronze coin. To be honest, it's not easy to make a silver coin out of cup.r.o.nickel and get the weight so close. If cup.r.o.nickel were indeed a valuable metal, then it means that the value of Castor's currency will indeed rise. But since cup.r.o.nickel isn't valuable, it means that the value of Castor's currency will depreciate."

"What does that prove?"

"Isn't there a rumour that the value of Castor's coins would be rising in price going around? That's why a lot of people are collecting Castor coins and the number of Castor coins circulating on the market is decreasing. If their currency doesn't rise in value and depreciates, then there'll be a huge number of people who want to get rid of their Castor coins. Then there'll be someone who'd collect them at a low price. So, who's the one profiting here?"

The red-haired lady t.i.tled her head as she looked at me completely baffled…

I sighed, and said: "The winner would be the ruler of Castor. Castor must be facing a huge financial crisis at the moment. I initially thought it really would rise, but I noticed that their envoy had to resort to sewing on b.u.t.tons to replace the missing ones on his sleeve. If it were Castell, he would've chosen another robe to wear. A country that can't even spare money for its envoy must be facing financial difficulties. But mentioning monetary value in the face of a financial crisis makes no sense whatsoever."

(Increasing monetary value can improve currency compet.i.tiveness, but the country would have to invest greater quant.i.ties of rare metals into their currency.)

"But my guess has been proven correct. Castor is facing a financial crisis. The ruler of Castor has already resorted to using cup.r.o.nickel to replace the silver in their coins. They should be in their experimental stage at the moment. If n.o.body notices it, then soon there'll be a large scale popularisation of their new silver coins. And as such, their country will earn the difference."

"But that method is akin to only treating the symptoms. Once it's revealed that they're actually bronze coins, the compet.i.tiveness of their coins will suffer a huge blow. Resorting to killing the goose that lays the golden egg means that Castor is on the brink of bankruptcy."

I placed the coins down, looked at the completely baffled red-haired lady and continued: "So what does Castor need most right now? They need to retrieve all their silver coins, because their silver coins are actually copper at present. So how can they retrieve all their circulating coins? They'll need people to h.o.a.rd them. Everybody is h.o.a.rding their coins, waiting for their value to rise right now. When it depreciates, n.o.body would be willing to suffer the losses, and so they'll immediately look for somebody to exchange it for them. And so who's going to be the one who'll exchange their coins in ma.s.sive volumes for them?"

"Castor?"

"That's right. Castor's trading company was first to spread the news. They want to retrieve all of the Castor coins."

I stood up, picked up the two coins and then left via the door. I laughed and said: "If it weren't for this bottle of hydrochloric acid, I probably would've never discovered this, since this metal is difficult to distinguish in the first place. But since I've discovered what's going on, Castor now has an exposed weakness. I'm going to personally pay that trade company a visit. I want to sit them opposite me at the negotiation table!"