"Master, I am truly sorry."

Amagi had prepared herself to be destroyed.

Just then, an ornament on the dress Amagi was wearing began to glow, deploying a shield.

But the Guide didn't panic.

"Fuhahaha! I know those are disposable! If I just keep attacking--keep attacking?"

No matter how many times he fired, he couldn't break through Amagi's shield.

And then, the energy in the handgun the Guide was holding ran out first.

Click, click. Only the empty sound of the trigger could be heard.

Amagi looked at the Guide.

"--Weren't you going to destroy me?"

She had a somewhat exasperated look on her face.

That was understandable.

He had been boasting about destroying her, yet all he brought was a single gun that couldn't even penetrate her shield.

It was far too crude.

"D-don't look at me like that!"

The Guide threw the handgun aside and fled as if escaping.

"Damn it! I still don't have enough negative emotions! I'll gather more and unleash them on Liam! No more elaborate schemes! I'm going to kill Liam with everything I've got!"

Amagi watched the Guide leave, and once she could move again, she tilted her head in confusion.

"Who was that just now?"

Had she just encountered some kind of extraordinary being?

And that being had spoken Liam's name.

Amagi lowered her head, feeling uneasy.

"--Does Master truly have a secret?"

She felt that strange things had been happening from time to time.

To think that such a being was behind it all--it felt like too many things didn't add up, but Amagi found herself worrying about Liam.

"Is Master truly fortunate?"

Amagi worried for Liam, who was being targeted by such a creature.

"It seems it would be best to act sooner than planned."

And so, the Guide's existence solidified a certain resolve within her.

◇

Liam had cut down a battleship.

Normally, no one would believe such an absurd story.

But--it was a fact that had occurred in the skies above the Capital Planet.

There were many witnesses, and it had spread as fact.

Everyone had no choice but to acknowledge that the power of the One-Flash Style was real.

Calvin rested his elbows on the desk in his private room, lacing his fingers in front of his mouth.

"Bringing a battleship into the Capital Planet and causing such a commotion... they've truly done something foolish."

It was the result of a portion of the nobility running wild.

He hadn't thought they could be this foolish.

Even though they had left his faction, they were originally nobles from Calvin's faction.

Calvin's current reputation was that of a coward who pushed responsibility onto his younger brother to escape the war against the interstellar nation.

And now, 'fool who failed to assassinate Liam' had been added to the list.

Calvin looked at a box placed on his desk.

Inside was a pile of broken cores--the remains of the ninjas, those who had become protean assassins with bodies of flame.

When he woke up this morning, it had been sitting on his desk.

"A message that they can kill me at any time, is it?"

He had underestimated Liam's shadow organization.

Calvin, dragged down by the foolish nobles of his faction, had been driven into a corner.

"I thought I had him cornered, but it seems I was the one being cornered."

He couldn't let it end like this.

Calvin decided to gather the nobles.

"A democratization movement is occurring in Liam-kun's territory. We'll use that as a reason to make him take responsibility."

If he couldn't win on the battlefield, he would compete in an arena where he excelled.

Calvin decided to strike at Liam's weakness.

That weakness was the democratization movement happening within his territory.

"The Empire despises democratization movements. If the military is dispatched for this, Liam-kun's territory will be razed to the ground."

If that happened, Liam would lose a great deal of his power.

◇

An emergency hearing was held in the Empire.

It was because of the foolish nobles who had brought a battleship to the Capital Planet.

And I--I was summoned to the scene as a person of interest.

Despite that, I was being pilloried as if I were the criminal.

"--I will never forget this humiliation."

I grit my back teeth.

What I felt inside was intense rage.

Calvin was also in attendance at the hearing.

I didn't like the cool expression on his face, how he seemed to be looking at something far away.

He's acting like he has nothing to do with this, but he's the one who drove me into this corner.

He humiliated me and made me a laughingstock.

I will kill you with my own hands, I swear it.

I will have my revenge on the man who brought me here and shamed me.

You alone, I will never forgive.

The Prime Minister, seated in a high position, looked down on me as I hung my head in frustration.

I didn't like the look in his eyes.

"Shall we not reach a conclusion soon?"

The surrounding nobles were all saying the same thing.

"Really, Lord Liam is quite a handful."
"He needs to be a little more aware of his duties as a nobleman."
"He is a future duke, after all. He must consider his position."

Men and women who looked to be in their thirties were looking down on me and sneering.

This whole hearing was held because of Calvin.

He was the one who started saying there was a problem with my administrative abilities.

The ones who brought the warship to the Capital Planet were from your faction, yet you started blaming me on the spot.

Calvin's allied nobles also made a fuss, denouncing me at the hearing.

And now, they're all looking away from me with cool expressions.

I've memorized all your faces.

I'll never forgive you!

The nobles on my side who attended the hearing looked somewhat apologetic.

Baron Exner came to console me.

"Count--I'm sorry."

If you're going to apologize, then help me! Help me!

Damn it! You're the first one to ever push me this far, Calvin!

The Prime Minister banged a gavel, like one you'd see at a trial, silencing the murmuring hall before addressing me.

"Then, for the Count--"

"Kuh!"

I looked down and clenched my fists.

This shouldn't be happening.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

I--I had underestimated Calvin too much.

For now, I'll admit this is my defeat.

Yes, just for now!

◇

When the hearing ended, Calvin's faction was holding their heads in their hands.

They had made a scene at the hearing, claiming there was a problem with Liam's administrative abilities, all to corner him.

They obstructed the proceedings and used every trick in the book, vowing not to let the hearing end until this topic was addressed.

A democratization movement is happening in Liam's territory.

They are criticizing the Empire's politics.

They brought up topics the Empire is sensitive to, trying to pillory Liam at the hearing.

"--Can someone please explain?"

Near the hall where the hearing was held.

In a break room, Calvin's gaze swept over the assembled members of his faction.

Everyone averted their faces.

Calvin was laughing cheerfully.

"The Prime Minister spoke to me as he was leaving. He said that continuing this unsightly display would not be in my best interest."

He was laughing, but he couldn't possibly be laughing for real.

One of them made a pained excuse.

"Your Highness, the agents sent to Liam's territory were dispatched by the viscount who led the defectors. When we received the data, it was certainly a pro-democracy demonstration."

"Did this look like a pro-democracy demonstration to you?"

As evidence of a pro-democracy demonstration in Liam's territory, a video was played at the hearing.

What it showed were Liam's subjects holding placards.

"'Fulfill your noble duty!'"
"'Cherish Lady Rosetta! And remember Lady Eulisia from time to time!'"
"'That's right, remember meeee!!'"

Towards the end, Eulisia herself was shown joining the demonstration.

What they thought was a pro-democracy demonstration was actually a 'make-a-baby' demonstration.

Calvin covered his face with his hand and laughed.

"What about my position, after I said with a straight face that there was a problem with Liam-kun's administrative abilities?"

The distant look in Calvin and his followers' eyes was them escaping from reality.

They never imagined the video would have such content.

"Why didn't anyone check the contents?"

Everyone had assumed there was evidence.

It was human error.

He remembered how the tense atmosphere of the hearing had slackened.

The nobles, who had been on edge about a warship entering the Capital Planet, had been considering a stern warning or penalty for Liam, saying his provocative actions were also a problem.

But after seeing Liam looking embarrassed by the demonstration, they said things like, 'Do your best with your noble duties,' and 'The Count is so innocent,' and '--Please be more careful in the future.'

Like looking at an adorable grandchild.

As if teasing him for fun.

And as if sympathizing with him.

Liam's punishment was reduced.

In effect, he was let off with nothing more than having to lie low for a while.

In contrast, the hearing members' impression of Calvin was the worst it could be.

Interrupting the hearing midway was seen as an attempt to change the subject.

In a place where he should have had the advantage, Calvin had essentially lost to Liam.

Before he knew it, the weak faction with Cleo as its figurehead was--closing in right behind them.

"We no longer have the luxury of worrying about appearances."

When Calvin announced this, the nobles of his faction also steeled their resolve.

◇

Some idiot brought a battleship to the Capital Planet.

The world is full of idiots.

After the party venue was attacked, the Imperial Court told me to lie low for a while, so I've been spending my days elegantly at a hotel.

As expected, after all that commotion, I'm refraining from parties myself.

There was an investigation that lasted several weeks--and the hearing, too.

My probation period is for several months.

"Now the only problem left is those guys who claimed to be from the One-Flash Style."

According to the rumors, there are two of them.

Is this the price of fame, I wonder?

If they're fakes of the One-Flash Style, I'll definitely kill them myself.

However, this is an interstellar nation.

Searching for a single person seems easy, but it's surprisingly difficult.

We haven't been able to track down the people who claimed to be from the One-Flash Style.

Tia, who is preparing tea in my room as if wagging her tail, speaks to me.

She had returned from the expeditionary force.

She came asking for praise, so when I retorted, 'You must be happy to be able to work for me, right?' she shivered and nodded her head vigorously.

You should learn a thing or two from the competent Kukuri.

"Lord Liam, there's still the issue of the large-scale demonstrations in your territory, isn't there?"

"--As for that, once this is all over, I'll crush those demonstrators. Making a fuss about my private affairs... who the hell do they think they are?"

What I can't forgive is my subjects protesting and telling me to hurry up and make a move on Rosetta.

I don't need you people telling me what to do!

Damn it! When I get back, I'll crack down on them for real.

My army has returned from the expedition and is now resting and recovering.

To make myself seem great, and more powerful than I actually am, I pay close attention to my army.

There are times when I push them hard, but if I do that constantly, the possibility of betrayal arises.

When it's time to rest, I make sure they rest well.

That's why I can't mobilize them right away.

As soon as the army is ready to move, I'll crush them immediately!

Tia just laughed off my words.

--I think of myself as evil, but this one's pretty dangerous herself, isn't she?

"Well, it was fortunate that the democratization movement didn't spread in your territory, Lord Liam. I'm not joking, if you hadn't seriously suppressed it and silenced them, the Empire's regular army would have been dispatched to quell it."

"I would have preferred being suppressed."

Calvin's faction tried to recover from their blunder by attacking me at the hearing.

In a place meant to investigate them, I was the one who was blamed.

That bastard Calvin made me understand all too well that he's better than me at court politics.

He made a fuss, claiming a democratization movement was happening in my territory!

The Empire detests democratization movements, so the topic was brought up at the hearing.

However--when the Empire's investigators looked into it, they weren't protesting for democracy, but making a fuss about my succession problem.

Can you imagine how I felt, having to watch my subjects make a scene about my succession problem at the hearing?

The video even showed Eulisia participating in the demonstration, and I was at a loss for words.

That girl causes nothing but trouble when left to her own devices.

I was forced to watch that footage, and--it was incredibly embarrassing.

I still remember the indescribable looks everyone gave me.

Looks of laughter, exasperation, and even pity.

I still remember the Prime Minister's lukewarm gaze!

Tia smiled, but it was a meaningful one.

"But with this, Calvin's faction has been cornered. Prince Cleo's faction has gained significant power, and in turn, they have been driven into a corner. Everything is going according to your plan, Lord Liam."

"I was winning from the start. My own luck is frightening."

I say that, but my good fortune is all thanks to the Guide.

Even if it looks like a pinch at first glance, everything leads to victory.

Life is on easy mode.

That's what it means to be an evil lord.

"Well, I'm getting tired of lying low. Shall I go out for fun for the first time in a while? Get the car ready."

"Yes, sir."

Tia gives orders to her subordinates to arrange for the car.

Brian (´；ω；｀): "Lord Liam's life is on hard mode, I assure you."