Licking an empty bowl

"You do know that you don't have to ask me about things like that, right? The only person in this entire Kingdom that you should be slightly concerned about screwing is the Emperor. I mean, there are a few more, but realistically speaking, you aren't gonna get charged with treason and stuff if you killed someone like a Duke Myghell." Jerome replied.

"Huh?" I was a bit confused at that point. The same guy who asked me to tread carefully while dealing with Myghell is telling me now that I can realistically kill him with no repercussions. What the hell!

"I mean, you can technically kill him. But you're gonna be scorned by everyone. And even though you could not be charged with anything because you are royalty, you're gonna be killed off the next time you pull off some bullshit tho. So, it has its own cons." Jerome replied.

I sighed. "It's only got cons, if you ask me. I mean, what's the point of killing Myghell then? Like, the point is to suppress Myghell so that I could become the Emperor. So, if I just killed him and didn't end up being the Emperor, isn't it pointless?" I asked

"Umm, I guess you're right about that." Jerome nodded his head as he said that.

"Ha, anyhow let's deal with Viscount Patrick now." I mumbled.

"Yea, let's do that now, shall we?" Jerome smiled as he said that.

This was one of the few times that I had seen Jerome smile thinking about the misfortune of someone else. And seeing him smile like that, I couldn't help but bring out my sadistic side just slightly.

So, the first thing that I did was outright ignore him. Why? Because the one thing that I know of egotistical maniacs like him is to trample on their ego so badly that they won't bring their head back up. And I guess this plan of mine was hugely successful because the moment I did that, I could see his face distorted in a really disgusting way.

"Grand Duke Nosir!" Kenneth cried out loud thinking that I was gonna continue tolerating him like before.

However, little did he know that it was gonna be quite the opposite. "When did we ever get into a first name basis, Viscount Kenneth?" I stared a hole into him as I said that.

"Umm, Grand Duke Albius, I thought we were…" Kenneth looked so confused at that point.

"We were what?" I asked.

"Nothing, my lord." Kenneth was quick to fold in, but his face looked like he was about to spit poison or something. And this simply means that he's still not willing to go down. I guess it's fine because I could simply press him over and over until he freaking stays down.

"Is it something important?" I asked.

"Huh?" Once again, Kennett looked extremely confused. He looked like he didn't know what to do at that point.

"I asked if you're here for something important." I repeated myself.

"Well, no." In that split second, Kenneth had no choice but to be honest.

"Is that so?" I mumbled before turning away from him and diverting my attention towards the people behind him. "So, what are you here for?" I asked the old man.

"My Lord, I just wanted to talk about the bandit attack that happened last week." The old man spoke.

"Bandit attack, huh. Why didn't you talk about it to the higher ups in your area? Like, wouldn't it have been easier for you?" I asked.

The old man sighed. "No one was willing to help, my Lord. It wasn't that I didn't try or something." He spoke.

"I see. Come in. Let's talk about this issue a bit more deeply then." I replied before turning my attention towards Kenneth for a second. "Now, you wouldn't mind waiting, would you? After all, you're basically here for no reason." I smiled as I said that.

"Of course I wouldn't, my Lord." I could see Kenneth clenching his teeth ever so slightly as he said that.

"Okay, old man. Come in now." I invited the old man in at that point.

#

"So, bandits. Why are the higher ups not helping you lot with this issue?" I asked.

"Well, that's because they directly profit from it." The old man spoke as soon as he made himself comfortable.

"What do you mean?" I got a bit confused at that point. Why would the higher ups gain profit if the bandits looted from their province. I guess it would kinda make sense if the bandits that they are teaming with bandits that loot in their neighboring areas.

"Ah!" Before the old man could ever say something, Jerome seemed like he had an idea about what was going on.

"Hmm, you look like you got something to say." I turned towards Jerome at this point.

"Well, I get what the old man is talking about, right now." He spoke.

"It would be great if you explain that to me as well, you know?" I shrugged because I couldn't help doing that.

"It's the misuse of the insurance covering bandit attacks, I presume." Jerome spoke before turning towards the old man who was nodding his head at that point.

"I see. Now, are you gonna explain it to me or not?" I asked.

Jerome sighed. "I forgot that I had to do that for a second. Anyhow, there is something called the insurance that will pay off the money under unforeseen circumstances like calamities and bandit attacks, etc. Now, this is done so that normal people could benefit from this. However, the problem arose when the authority of providing these funds from the treasury to the common people came in the hands of the nobles." He spoke.

"Ah, I guess they got bandits on their side, took a cut off the loot, then claimed for the insurance and then took it from the commoners as well." I spoke.

"Precisely. They managed to lick an already empty bowl." Jerome replied.

#