ushernet Chapter 267
Chapter 267
Chapter 267
Chapter 267
Side Story – The Memories of a Certain Princess (42)
What’s this?
“Your Highness... I have committed a crime deserving death. Please forgive me...”
I looked down at Ast, who was kowtowing on the floor, with complicated feelings.
“Ast, even though you commit crimes deserving death about five times a day on average... this isn’t one of them, right?”
If anything, he deserved to be praised.
“Just what’s going on with you?”
“Please just... my title...”
Ah, I see.
“I didn’t realize calling you Count Ast would have this great an effect...”
If he was always this obedient, that might be nice.
He’s at the point where I’m conflicted over whether to kill him or let him live, and yet put up a merit and he calms right down.
“Build up more merits from now on.”
“I absolutely refuse.”
When others are anxious because they can’t build merits, Ast gets anxious when he does.
“What should I call this, Renia?”
“I think you just have to say it’s so very Ast, Your Highness.”
I nodded at Renia’s cold words.
“You’re right. Very Ast-like.”
Only Ast could make someone as clearly emotional as Renia be this cold.
“Then for the promotion...”
As Ast glanced around to gauge the situation, I gave him an honest answer.
“Truthfully, making you a Count would still be too much.”
While he may have been born a commoner, Ast had only been a noble for a few years.
And even becoming a noble in just a few years was highly unusual, let alone becoming a Count just recently.
“I’m sorry about this, but there are certain traditions among nobles.”
“That’s fine, such traditions. I hope they continue in the future.”
He really is a weird guy.
“You’ll probably just end up with a commendation.”
“Wonderful. It’d be even better if you give a thick stack of cash along with it.”
The moment I mentioned a commendation, his eyes filled with greed.
“Why do you like money but dislike titles?”
Power and money have an inseparable relationship, and yet he reacts like this.
“The more money the better, but the higher the title, the more of a pain it is.”
“But don’t higher titles allow you to gain more things?”
“That depends on each person’s standards. My goal is to live comfortably while earning a bit less.”
I couldn’t understand it.
“Wouldn’t being a high-ranking noble make your life easier?”
“Don’t high-ranking nobles have far too much to do while living like that?”
“Is that so?”
“Your Highness is special, which is why. Other members of the imperial family are meeting various nobles every day through banquets and the like.”
“For once, Sir Ast’s words are correct. You have less activities compared to other members of the imperial family.”
Since even Renia was saying this, Ast’s words seemed to be right this time.
“Do you really have to put ‘for once’ in that sentence, Miss Renia?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Isn’t that being too definitive?”
Ast seemed a little hurt by Renia’s attitude, but given what he’s done to her in the past, I decided not to worry about it.
“In any case, thanks to Ast, we were able to swiftly defeat the enemy’s vanguard. General Pelstein must be satisfied with this as well.”
His soldiers who had sworn revenge might feel somewhat futile, but aren’t wars always like that?
Just being able to achieve their goal without fighting should satisfy the soldiers as well.
“While war wasn’t declared, we endured more than that. Should we also attack in retaliation?”
“No way! War is bad, Your Highness. Peace is the best!”
“You’re still saying that? You’ve already blown peace away with your own hands.”
In a certain sense, Ast could be called the worst enemy of the Merdeah Kingdom.
Ast found out that the people secretly assassinating the diplomatic envoys were from the Merdeah Kingdom. And the high elf they suspected to have been kidnapped from there was also rescued by Ast.
The Merdeah Kingdom’s vanguard that Ast just annihilated this time was also his doing.
“That, that can’t be...”
“Give up. It’s too late already.”
At my words, Ast became frustrated.
He hung his head gloomily, muttered something under his breath, then suddenly stood up and yelled loudly.
“I want peace but the world won’t leave me alone!”
“That’s not true at all, is it?”
“It doesn’t seem that way to me, Sir Ast.”
From my perspective, it was Ast who disturbed the peace first.
I had forgotten that my position was the Princess’s exclusive servant.
I only had one superior, the Princess, and because of that there were no malicious nobles who could hijack my connections.
Moreover, I was the one who came up with this bombing, and I was also the one who devised this plan.
So every time the bombing succeeded, achievements came to me,
“Then who should I give them to next?”
And I was put in the position of having to distribute the achievements among all the personnel under me.
“Damn! Have I given to all the officers I can give to? Should I give to the same people again? No. Should I rather distribute among the non-commissioned officers?”
It wasn’t easy distributing achievements either.
Why were the officers here working so hard and fighting on the battlefield?
The first reason was of course because of our suddenly war-bound Princess, but the second was to advance their own careers.
Soldiers have to get promoted.
The more they advance, the higher their salaries become, and of course their authority increases, as does the number of subordinates under their command.
And to get promoted, they need achievements. But is it easy to build up achievements?
Of course it’s difficult for everyone except me.
It’s too difficult for those who desperately want it, yet too easy for me.
I don’t need this stuff!
If I really become a Count, I’ll become a focused management target both in the Empire and the Organization.
There’s a reason for the saying: In a fight between whales, the shrimp’s back is broken.
If my title keeps rising, I’ll end up crushed between the Empire and Howling, the two whales.
So I distributed it to subordinates who wanted achievements.
I diligently prepared documents saying ‘This guy did that, so the credit for this achievement should go to him!’
I was happy that my own achievements decreased, and the subordinates were happy that they had opportunities to advance.
It was a happy ending for everyone, but the effects didn’t last long.
“Damn! I need a breakthrough soon.”
To think the famous military powerhouse Merdeah Kingdom would be so bad at getting things done.
I wanted to sell the anti-magic bombing defensive gear developed in the Empire to the Merdeah Kingdom.
If I could sell it, it would be a business I could earn 10 times the cost price on!
“Huh?”
The worries about whether I should make a shady deal in advance with the Organization quickly disappeared.
“This is...”
Reading through the report, I felt an enormous presence, like when the Avengers found the silhouette of Than-s.
And the next day.
“Your Highness, it’s Ast.”
“Come in.”
Early morning when no other military officials were present.
The only time when just Renia and I could have an audience with Her Highness!
“Please take a look at this?”
I showed the Princess the bigger picture of this war, seizing this opportunity.
“This is...”
“Do you understand what this says, Your Highness?”
The Princess’s eyes widened as she quickly grasped the content.
“Renia... take a good look at this.”
I couldn’t make a PPT without PowerPoint, but the graphs I’d worked on all night told one truth.
“What is this?”
“It’s the death toll statistics from battles across the Merdeah Kingdom.”
“That’s right. At a glance, they look similar overall, but most are actually one-sided massacres by the mages’ magic bombings.”
“But there are casualties approaching those numbers...”
As expected of the Princess. Unlike Lady Renia who still looked puzzled, she rapidly comprehended the content of this report.
“That’s right. Namely, Duke Religius Ruh Laiasha.”
“Giving command to Duke Laiasha, known for his incompetence, has Merdeah Kingdom reached its end?”
Seeing the sighing Princess, I said in a serious tone.
“Your Highness, this is an opportunity.”
“What opportunity?”
“Grand Marshal Religius Ruh Laiasha Duke, isn’t he perfect?”
“What the he...ck...”
The Princess who had frowned her expression fell deep into thought for a moment.
Her face changed in various ways as she seemed to ponder something.
The last expression left on her face was a very wicked smile.
“Grand General Duke Religius Ruh Laiasha. He really is perfect.”
“Isn’t he?”
“Hehehe! Good. Do you have a plan?”
“I do. First...”
While Lady Renia still didn’t understand, the Princess and I began preparing for the Make Grand General Duke Religius Ruh Laiasha Project.
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