"You goddamn idiots!!!"

Screaming in my office aboard the ship, I was being tormented by the reports coming up from the surface.

The one reporting was Wallace, who was thoroughly enjoying his life on the ground. He'd complained about various things at first, but perhaps due to his high adaptability, he was now having fun.

But the report from this Wallace was—

"'Isn't it great that everyone's worshipping you?'"

"Who told them to worship me like a god? I never asked for any sacrifices! Who said anything about offering sacrifices, and when?!"

What I said before the royalty of Augur was the truth.

I intended to give them everything, and I was going to protect Planet Augur myself.

The reason? It's more convenient for me that way. That's all.

"'Offerings to the new god,' they're saying. I have to take my hat off to your charisma, Liam.'"

I felt the urge to punch Wallace as he elegantly reported while sipping his tea.

You should learn a thing or two from Cleo.

"I can't believe you're related to Cleo by blood."

"'Did you say something?'"

"Nothing. Anyway, make them stop with the sacrifices."

"'They call them offerings.'"

"It's the same damn thing! I don't need either!"

The previous lord who ruled Planet Augur apparently had them offer up beautiful young men and women under the guise of 'offerings'.

The height of bad taste.

I'm aware that I'm a villain, but I won't go so far as to call myself a god to do evil. I'd feel bad for the Guide.

Well, that previous lord was judged by the laws of the Empire and his house was crushed, though.

I don't know what he did, but there are a lot of Imperial nobles who would be better off destroyed.

—Though I'm included in that group.

"'By the way, Liam.'"

"What is it?"

While all other work was proceeding smoothly, only the negative legacy left by the previous lord was tormenting me.

Or so I thought—

"'Your people. The immigrants, you see—they've submitted an application to hold a festival for you, saying they can't be outdone. It sounded interesting, so I approved it.'"

Wallace, who said such a thing without a hint of remorse, was probably trying to get back at me for bringing him to a place like this.

More importantly, the immigrants I brought from my own territory were now saying they'd compete so as not to lose to the locals. —Why are you all so stupid?

Why, after being brought to this frontier, are you competing to worship me? Competing over something like that, what is wrong with you people?

"Reject it all! We'll sweep away these distorted religious views right now! What's this 'nobles are gods' crap? It's disgusting."

A god is something more like—like the Guide.

I cut the communication with Wallace and leaned back in my chair.

"Ah, this is the worst. It's even more infuriating because everything else is going so well."

Now that the call was over, Amagi, who had been standing silently by my side, spoke up.

"Master, Planet Augur will require time to develop."

"You're right. Their values probably won't change while I'm acting as governor. Well, it's fine as long as I make the impression that I'm a kind and reliable governor."

Planet Augur has ended up near the border with the Hegemony, but from the perspective of the entire Empire, it's quite far from my own territory.

To use an analogy from my past life, would it be like Tokyo and Osaka?

No, my hometown was also in the countryside, so—Yamaguchi and Aomori? Anyway, it's so far away that common sense starts to differ.

I ran wild in my home territory to the point that there wasn't a soul who didn't know me, but elsewhere, the reaction is more like, 'Liam? Ah, I think I've heard that name before, or maybe not?'

You don't really know the names of governors from other prefectures, do you? It's like that.

My fame is rising even on the Capital Planet, but this far away, that's the extent of my recognition.

That's why—I decided to stand out here, too.

To explain with an old analogy, it's like a scenario in a delinquent manga where a gang from another prefecture invades the local turf.

Of course, the invading villain is me.

And the one who wins is also me.

I hate losing.

"I'm getting irritated, so I'm going to blow off some steam. Amagi, notify the military. It's time for a pirate hunt."

"Understood."

Back in my home territory, the pirates stopped coming near, but in a place with lots of people who don't know me, it's a feeding frenzy.

Just by wandering around with a small force, the pirates gather.

Pirates are a valuable resource that gathers honor and wealth for me.

I'll crush as many as I can.

"I'll turn you into parts for the spaceport under construction."

I'll put all the pirates' wreckage to good use.

And this time, it's not just killing two birds with one stone, but three, which feels like a great deal.

◇

—That day, the pirate fleet that came to the vicinity of Planet Augur was terrified.

"What the hell? Who are these guys?!"

It was no wonder the man leading the pirate fleet was panicking.

He was a great pirate leading a large-scale fleet of several thousand ships.

He was a well-known pirate in these parts, an existence that even nobles hesitated to confront.

The great pirate fleet he led had encountered a fleet bearing a family crest they had never seen before.

They had underestimated the unfamiliar battleships and mobile knights, assuming they were just secondhand goods.

However, their allied pirate ships and mobile knights were being shot down one after another.

A fleet smaller than their own was trampling them.

The pirates' faces turned pale with fear.

"Captain, it's impossible!"

"P-please surrender!"

With the bridge crew in a state of panicked confusion, the man gave up and sent a communication to the unknown fleet.

"Connect to the enemy. We surrender."

The pirate ship's crew felt relieved upon hearing this.

It was better than being killed on the spot—or so they naively thought, believing they would be spared if they offered up their treasure.

There were not a few nobles who would do just that.

Many of the spaceships bearing family crests were private armies owned by nobles.

They thought that as long as they offered treasure, things would work out.

However.

The attacks from the mysterious fleet did not cease, and the communication that came back showed a young man leaning back arrogantly in his chair.

He had an insolent attitude.

"'I hear you said you'd offer your treasure?'"

Thinking he was the heir of a great noble, the man adopted a subservient and fawning attitude.

"Of course. We will offer everything to you, Your Excellency."

The man did not accurately grasp who the person before him was.

Because he hadn't even bothered to remember the name of someone he thought he would never encounter.

"'Then offer everything. Your lives, too—everything.'"

As the smiling young man cut the communication, the fleet's attacks intensified, and the pirate ships were sunk one after another.

"That bastard, does he intend to kill us all?!"

The scene the man witnessed was hell.

Other pirate ships begging for their lives were mercilessly sunk by the Imperial noble's private army.

"Why would a noble do this..."

The nobles around here would have settled for this much.

In fact, they found it troublesome to deal with a large pirate fleet and would even overlook them if offered a certain amount of money.

And yet, this opponent would absolutely not forgive them.

The man's ship was hit by concentrated fire and exploded.

Amidst the explosion, the man who led the pirate fleet muttered.

"Who in the hell are you..."

◇

I managed to crush a fairly large pirate fleet.

"Wander around with a small force, and they bite like crazy. Today's a big catch."

The pirates were in a feeding frenzy, and I was beaming.

Back home, the pirates would all run away, so my earnings have been poor lately.

I wish the pirates would show more guts.

—Hah, I guess from now on I'll have to proactively target large pirate fleets myself? Wait? Isn't that a good thing? A great pirate fleet would have plenty of treasure.

I'll actively target them from now on.

Once my noble training is over, I'll have free time, so it should be fine to take a little trip.

As I was smirking, Klaus stood beside me.

"Lord Liam, will you be collecting the debris from the battle?"

"Of course. Collect all of it and have it brought to Augur. Also, contact the Seventh Weapons Factory. They've probably got excess stock lying around."

"The Seventh? Wouldn't it be better to use another weapons factory?"

Klaus recommended dealing with other weapons factories over the Seventh, which tends to be overly focused on technology and performance.

"It doesn't matter. It's a gift, anyway."

"—If it's a gift, I feel that makes it even worse?"

It's just that sometimes, Nias throws a tantrum, saying she won't go home until I buy something, so I just buy things for her when the opportunity arises.

Besides, only the Seventh Weapons Factory can maintain Avid.

That's the only reason I use them.

"Just do it. Contact Nias."

"—Understood."

When Klaus gave the order to connect to the Seventh Weapons Factory, a small window appeared before my eyes a short while later.

Nias appeared on screen, looking like she'd prepared in a hurry, with bedhead and sleepy eyes.

"'Lord Liam, what time do you think it is? I just fell asleep.'"

Checking the time at the Seventh Weapons Factory, it should still be noon.

I thought it would be fine; I didn't expect her to be sleeping.

"You, were you on the night shift?"

"'No, I was working on some blueprints as a hobby until just now.'"

"A hobby?"

"'I was on vacation! I spent two whole days staring at blueprints and was just about to finally get some sleep.'"

She's making it sound like it's my fault, but Nias is the one in the wrong.

In the first place, our dealings are supposed to go through Nias, so it's her job to respond, even on her day off.

—Besides, I pay her a fee for that very purpose.

"Go to sleep."

"'That's what I was trying to do just now!'"

Klaus is covering his face with one hand. He's probably exasperated by Nias's pathetic attitude.

However—perhaps because she was about to sleep, her unglamorous, lived-in appearance was a little exciting. So, I decided to overlook her disrespect.

"More importantly, you've got excess stock, right? I'll buy it, so send it over."

"'Huh? Are you sure?'"

When I said I'd buy her unsold weapons, her eyes lit up.

She's a mercenary woman, but she's easy to understand, which is good.

"Spruce up the exteriors a bit. They're gifts, so no old models. All new models."

The reasons for the pirate hunt were to relieve my stress and—to secure materials for constructing a military base.

And, to put the local nobles in my debt.

"'A gift? If I recall—Lord Liam, you were assigned to a location near the Hegemony's territory, weren't you?'"

"It would be rude to go pay my respects empty-handed, wouldn't it?"

It's a gift for the troubled local nobles.

"'I wonder about sending weapons as a gift, though? Well, as long as it moves my stock, I don't have a problem with it.'"

She's stopped hiding her true intentions, but that's fine for her.

If anyone else did the same, I'd execute them on the spot, though.

"Hurry up and send them."

◇

The front lines of the conflict with the Hegemony.

There, Calvin, who had been dispatched as commander-in-chief, was shocked by the reports from his subordinates.

The location was a large conference room filled with military personnel.

They were in the middle of a strategy meeting to counter the Hegemony.

"Liam-kun is behind us?"

The reason Calvin was surprised was that he wasn't the one who had summoned Liam in the first place. Nor was it the nobles or military personnel of his faction.

The officials who had brought him were not involved either.

Because—

"Why did you allow that?!"

Calvin would never summon Liam to the battlefield.

Because the battlefield was Liam's specialty.

Liam had made a name for himself hunting pirates and had been victorious in numerous battles.

Placing such a man at a rear support base was something Calvin wanted to avoid. The Hegemony was in front of him. And behind him was Liam.

It was like being caught in a pincer attack on the battlefield.

As Calvin considered his next move, a young, energetic noble raised his hand and spoke with confidence.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, why don't we just crush Liam on this very battlefield? Let's allow the Hegemony to pass through to our rear and set them upon Liam."

Those around him agreed with that opinion—or rather, they couldn't.

Not only the military men, but even the nobles objected.

"Fool! Doing so would mean letting the Hegemony into Imperial territory!"
"This is why youngsters are no good."
"Even if we beat Liam, it's meaningless if we lose to the Hegemony and His Highness's reputation suffers."

Facing nothing but disapproval, the young noble wore a frustrated expression. He didn't seem convinced, but Calvin was relieved by the reactions of those around him.

"For now, we will deal with the Hegemony with all our might. We will keep an eye on our rear, but do not interfere."

Calvin absolutely wanted to avoid a conflict with Liam here.

Brian (´；ω；｀): "Regarding 'I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!', it seems sales are going quite well. This is all thanks to the readers who have purchased it. This Brian is extremely grateful. To think that this Brian's afterword might have helped sales even a little brings tears of joy to my eyes that I cannot stop. ...I am so happy."

Wakagi-chan (；゜Д゜): (To rain on his parade and do my own promotion here... no, I can't. I am the idol of the afterword! Since I've decided to take over this afterword, I have to promote until the very end!)

Wakagi-chan ( ゜∀゜): "And please also check out 'Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 6,' which goes on sale tomorrow! This time, there's also a deluxe limited edition, and the special bonus is a [Drama CD]!"

Brian (´；ω；｀)ノシ