We've arrived at the home planet of a lord belonging to the Cleo faction.

Having visited the planet of a viscount who holds the lowest seat within the faction, I was now looking down on the viscount and his family as they prostrated themselves in their lavish mansion.

"You've done some pretty unscrupulous things, haven't you?"

The viscount is trembling.

"I-I am deeply sorry!"

"Don't think an apology will be enough."

"Hic!?"

When we came here searching for Master, we found they had hired a swordsman claiming to be of the One-Flash School as an instructor.

The man, who called himself the 'True' One-Flash School, was replicating the secret technique, the One-Flash, using a tool.

It was cruder than a bad magic trick, and when we went out of our way to visit, he looked at us and said something like, "Are you impostors claiming to be from the One-Flash School? Get lost."

Rinho and Fuuka flew into a rage at his attitude and declared they were storming the viscount's mansion.

To be honest, at first, I approved of the viscount.

On a planet with a vast gap between rich and poor, the nobles lived in luxury while making the common people suffer.

This is the very image of a proper evil lord! Thinking that, and since he was a fellow member of my faction, I had intended to just warn him that his One-Flash School was a fake.

And yet!

"Your knights and soldiers pointed their weapons at me. Do you understand? You pointed your weapons at me, the head of the faction!"

"Please forgive me! Please forgive me, Count Banfield!"

He probably thought he could get a taste of the good life by siding with a giant faction.

I don't blame him for that.

If he'd offered the bare minimum of cooperation, I would have even been fine with joining hands.

And yet, the viscount looked at us and declared, "There's no way the Count would be in a place like this. They're impostors!"

He lent a hand to an impostor claiming to be Master Yasushi's disciple and tried to have me killed.

—I will never forgive him.

In the mansion's great hall, the man who claimed to be Master Yasushi's disciple was being kicked by Rinho and Fuuka.

"Who said you were Master's disciple? I don't know you."

As Rinho's kick landed in the fake disciple's stomach, he apologized in agony.

"P-please, forgive me..."

Fuuka stomped on the head of the begging fake disciple, looking down with bloodshot eyes.

"An impostor calling us impostors? You bastard, you've not only smeared the names of your senior disciples and us, but you've dragged Master's name through the mud too. Don't get so full of yourself, you quack!"

As he pressed down harder with his foot, the fake disciple's head made an unpleasant creaking sound.

I spat my words at the viscount.

"As of tomorrow, you no longer have a seat in the faction."

"Th-that would be a problem! Please, I beg you, forgive me!"

"If you want help, go ask Calvin. You're the one at fault for pointing a weapon at me."

"I didn't know that you, Count Banfield, were traveling incognito! If I had known, this would never have happened!"

"—So? And? That doesn't mean I'll forgive you. If you don't like it, we can go to war anytime."

I'm acting all confident, but I've actually looked into the viscount's situation.

Economic power, military strength, and more—after investigating, the result is... this guy is small fry.

That's why he joined the Cleo faction.

Because his is a truly hopeless house that other factions wouldn't even glance at.

If we were to fight, I would win for sure.

In fact, the fleet I brought with me could win on its own.

Marie's fleet is in orbit above, ready to annihilate the viscount's house at any moment.

The viscount crouches down, crying.

It seems he doesn't even have the will to resist.

I want to get this trouble over with and move on, so I'll leave it at this.

It's a real shame, though. If I had the time, I would have crushed him for sure.

"If you get cocky again, I'll destroy you for real. Don't you forget it."

When I intimidated the viscount's family as well, they all nodded repeatedly with terrified faces.

As I thought, oppressing others with overwhelming power feels great!

◇

On the Imperial Capital Planet, the Prime Minister was receiving a report from a spy he had infiltrated into the Banfield household.

The spy was the head maid of the mansion, Serena.

They were speaking via communication, but the Prime Minister couldn't hide his confusion.

"What in the world is the Count doing?"

He had thought that once the Count's noble training was over, he would immediately hold a wedding and become a duke.

However, since returning to his domain, there has been no movement at all.

He had heard that the Count was pouring his efforts into his territory, but upon hearing the actual situation, the Prime Minister broke out in a cold sweat.

Serena continued her report.

"'Last time, he went to the territory of a noble from the same faction and inspected the conditions there. He then expelled that noble from the faction, deeming them unworthy.'"

"Just when I thought his noble training was over, he's off on a journey of swordsmanship training and world-reformation? Is the Count serious?"

The Cleo faction, which had fought fiercely with the Calvin faction and gained the upper hand.

But Liam, the one who holds the faction together, has disappeared from the Empire's central stage.

With no one to keep them in check, Calvin's faction was starting to make a comeback.

However, Serena seemed to think it wasn't all bad.

"'He is likely conducting inspections of the Cleo faction to strengthen its unity. In fact, I hear that many lords have straightened up upon hearing that Lord Liam is conducting inspections.'"

"They would certainly be afraid if they knew the Count was coming. But I can't have him wandering about forever. What's the situation on the Banfield's home planet?"

"'He has left Sir Klaus on the home planet to work on the territory's development.'"

Hearing Klaus's name, the Prime Minister regained his composure.

"'I heard he was brought back from the border with the Hegemony. Christiana is a fine replacement, but to be honest, I would have preferred to leave Klaus in charge of the border.'"

"'So you hold him in high regard as well, Prime Minister.'"

"'He is the Count's right-hand man, after all. To think such a talented individual was still undiscovered... space is truly vast. I'd like to make him a direct vassal of the Empire and place him in an important post.'"

The Prime Minister also held Klaus in high esteem and was considering making him a direct vassal.

"'The Count has so many talented people, I'm quite envious. But having too many can also be a problem. —Serena, is it possible to poach Sir Klaus?'"

"'I will look into it discreetly.'"

The Prime Minister began to make his move to poach Klaus.

◇

"—Something's wrong. Something is definitely wrong."

Klaus, the head knight of the Banfield family, was holding his head in his hands in his assigned office.

An invitation had come from the Empire, asking if he would become a direct vassal.

And that they would prepare an important post for him.

The situation was that the Empire would provide compensation so as not to damage relations with the Banfield family by poaching Klaus.

For Klaus, who was barely managing to survive the important duties Liam had pushed onto him, it was unbelievable.

"Just a short while ago, I was struggling to find a post, and now I'm to be a direct vassal of the Empire? And with favorable treatment? —Impossible. That's absolutely impossible."

The responsibility he had now was already too heavy; Klaus wanted no part of a position with even greater responsibility.

"I should probably decline politely."

Klaus wondered why he was being cornered into such a situation.

Into Klaus's office came a certain knight.

Since he knew who it was that would enter without permission, Klaus sighed in exasperation, thinking, "Again?"

"Chengshi, haven't I told you to ask for permission every time?"

Looking displeased, Chengshi ignored Klaus and stated her business.

"—I'm pissed off. I want to fight, so find me an enemy."

After being defeated by Liam and losing his interest, Chengshi's sparring partners had been Rinho and Fuuka.

But Liam had taken those two with him on his journey.

It seemed she was frustrated and couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Again? You said the same thing a little while ago and forced your way into a pirate subjugation mission."

"They were cowards who fled the moment they saw the Banfield family crest. It wasn't enough to relieve my stress."

Seeing Chengshi's bloodshot eyes, Klaus thought.

(If I leave her like this, she's liable to start a duel with one of our own. I can't have her rampaging here, so maybe I should send her out?)

Then, Klaus had an idea.

"Among the petitions to Lord Liam, there's a request for pirate subjugation."

"Pirates again?"

"Hear me out. You won't be participating as the Banfield house, but as a mercenary."

"Why?"

"Because the client is a noble from the Calvin faction. If we openly join hands, it will be disadvantageous for both sides. You will lead the hot-blooded ones and participate as a mercenary."

"Fine. I have no interest in politics, and as long as I can rampage, I'll be satisfied."

Watching Chengshi leave, Klaus felt a sense of relief.

(Normally, I would have refused this request, but Lord Liam isn't here. It's safer to have them out of the territory.)

A battlefield for the hot-blooded knights.

With that in mind, Klaus had intended to simply drive Chengshi and the others out of the territory.

◇

A crisis had befallen Yasushi.

Inside the prefab dojo, Yasushi was sitting in a formal kneeling posture, surrounded by his grim-faced disciples.

He was only feigning a calm demeanor.

"I never thought the magistrate himself would come to a place like this."

Yasushi smiled, but inwardly, he wanted to scream.

(Why is a big shot like him coming to my dojo! Don't come hereeee!!)

Before him was the magistrate of the planet where Yasushi and his group lived.

The man, who appeared to be in his mid-twenties, was tall with a trained body, and he showed an impudent attitude as he looked at Yasushi.

"I had your disciples demonstrate their skills. I was thinking of executing you if you were a fake, but it seems you're the real deal."

The grim-faced disciples were cozying up to the magistrate more than to Yasushi.

"The magistrate has invited you to be his instructor. You'll accept, of course, won't you, Yasujirou?"

Yasujirou was Yasushi's alias.

His disciple addressed him without an honorific, but Yasushi didn't complain. No, he couldn't complain.

"It seems you have given me more praise than I deserve."

"Watching your disciples convinced me. You are the real thing, aren't you?"

There were thirty disciples present.

All of them had mastered the One-Flash, and every one of them was stronger than Yasushi.

They had all become powerhouses who could make short work of any run-of-the-mill knight.

What's more, they were, to a man, all villains.

(How did it come to this? It took even Liam and the others decades, so what's with them mastering it in just a few years?)

The magistrate looked at Yasushi and brought up Liam's name.

"Once, Liam Sera Banfield obtained the One-Flash School, revived his desolate territory, and achieved his current status. With that power, he dominated his planet and rose to become one of the strong."

"—Indeed."

(I don't really know, but if he says so, it must be true.)

Although he agreed, Yasushi wondered, Was that how it happened?

However, saying "That's not right" would likely displease him, so he kept quiet.

"I am a man of the count's family that holds this planet as its territory. But I have dozens of older brothers above me. Thanks to that, I'm the magistrate of a poor planet like this."

The ambitious young magistrate planned to follow Liam's example, master the One-Flash School, and rise through the ranks.

For young nobles, Liam's rise to power was becoming a source of aspiration.

The increase in One-Flash School impostors was also because the number of those who admired Liam was growing.

Yasushi looked at the magistrate.

"So, you wish for this humble one to teach you the One-Flash School?"

"That's right. I'm not a man who will end his days on a planet like this."

(No, you say it's a poor planet, but it's only not developing because you're squeezing it dry. That brat Liam was solid on that front.)

The magistrate right in front of him was the very person hindering this planet's development.

His name was [Chester].

Born into a count's family, he was an ambitious man serving as the magistrate of a frontier planet.

However, Yasushi had no right to refuse.

After all, his counterpart was the magistrate who ruled this planet.

"I shall assist you with what little power I have."

"I'm grateful. From today, you are my sword instructor. As for your disciples, I will take them on as my knights, starting today."

Hearing this, the boorish men raised their voices in joy.

"From today, we're knights!"

"Let's rise up together, Lord Chester!"

"With the One-Flash School, there's nothing for us to fear!"

Watching those disciples, Yasushi thought.

(How did it come to this?)