The Banfield family's fleet has returned to Planet Augur.
The fleet of thirty thousand ships lost several thousand, and a funeral is now being held.
Dressed in mourning clothes, I stand before the memorial.
Klaus approached and spoke to me.
"What are you thinking about in front of the memorial?"
He must have found it suspicious that I was gazing at the memorial.
Thinking that, despite being a corrupt lord, I was being serious just this once. But for me, only the dead can be trusted.
They—both men and women—died for me.
That is proof that their loyalty was genuine.
I'm sure there were some who hated it, but in the sense that they died for me, it's all the same. They have the right to curse me, and it's fine if they resent me.
"It's nothing."
Even if someone like me said, "I'm praying for the dead," no one would believe it, and for those who died, it's too little, too late.
This is nothing more than my own self-satisfaction.
"I will reward the bereaved families handsomely."
"Of course."
As I turned my back on the memorial and began to walk away, Klaus and my knight escort followed me.
Just then, Wallace, also in mourning clothes, came running up.
"Liam, this is terrible!"
"What is it?"
"A huge problem has erupted on the Capital Planet! Look, the department Liam was in was accused of corruption and is being shut down!"
Wallace operated his terminal, showing me an article about the corruption scandal on the Capital Planet.
It was the workplace I was at before my transfer.
"Ah, that. Well, my training period is about to end anyway."
"What do you mean by that?! It's a huge deal that your old workplace is being shut down. If things go badly, Imperial investigators could come storming in here."
Wallace was making a fuss as if it were a major incident, but there was no need to worry, so I started walking again. Wallace followed, looking dissatisfied, so I explained the reason.
"I was the one who blew the whistle."
"Huh?"
"I didn't like the workplace that kicked me out, so I gathered evidence of their corruption. It was a real pain to finish it by quitting time."
Once I decided to expose them, my motivation went through the roof.
There's a saying about not burning bridges, but I went ahead and demolished my entire former workplace.
I have no need for people who would cast me out, and besides, it's their own fault for letting me get my hands on evidence of their corruption.
Wallace's cheeks twitched.
"You crushed them just because you didn't like them?"
"That's part of it, but the main goal was harassment. —Randy-kun of the Langran family must be having a tough time because of this."
Randy, whose training was also about to end, must be in for a fun time seeing how this incident affects his training period.
If I recall the custom, if you're involved in corruption, you have to redo your training, right? When he was dumping all his work on me, I subtly set things up—I wonder if he's been ordered to start over by now?
In this case, "starting over" means everything except for the impossible-to-repeat elementary school.
In other words—it means starting over from the officer's academy.
All the nobles in training at my old workplace are redoing their training, all together.
Wallace was completely taken aback.
"You're a demon. Considering Randy's age—he'll stick out like a sore thumb at the officer's academy."
"Don't worry. He'll stick out just for having to redo his training due to corruption."
Basically, if you haven't finished your training by the time you're over two hundred, people around you give you that "Oh, honey, no..." look. And on top of that, he's in a punishment-game-like situation of having to redo it for corruption.
However, it also means that if you haven't finished your training, you can get away with corruption, which just goes to show how lenient the Empire is with its nobles.
As expected, being in power is the best.
◇
On the Capital Planet.
The department where Randy had been assigned for his training was now an empty shell, stripped of all its desks, chairs, and equipment.
An official investigating the corruption stood before the gathered sons and daughters of nobility and made a declaration.
"Ordinarily, this is conduct unbecoming of an Imperial noble. However, you are all half-fledged trainees who have not yet completed your training. By having you start your training over, we shall overlook this incident."
Facing the bureaucrats who answered directly to the Chancellor, Randy's brow furrowed in frustration.
"Are you really going to subject me, of the Marquis Langran family, to this?"
The bureaucrats snorted at his words.
That got on Randy's nerves, but their next words made him forget all about it.
Or rather, the target of his animosity shifted.
"We have a message from Count Banfield. He says, 'Too bad, you were so close.' Unlike all of you, Count Banfield, who transferred, has properly completed his training and become a full-fledged adult. Don't you think that's admirable?"
Liam had kicked down his former colleagues, juniors, and seniors, forcing them to redo their training while he alone finished his.
Imagining Liam laughing triumphantly, Randy's face turned red.
"That... that guy?"
"Yes, Count Banfield was the one who blew the whistle. He said he wanted to know what kind of faces you all were making. Oh, could everyone please look this way?"
In exchange for the inside information, all Liam had requested were pictures of Randy and the others' frustrated faces—just images.
Everyone was furious that he would force them to redo their training for something so trivial.
"He's gotten too big for his boots. We're part of the faction—"
As Randy said that, someone entered the room.
It was Rosetta—acting on Liam's behalf on the Capital Planet.
She was surrounded by guards, among whom were Tia and Marie, clad in knight uniforms.
With Liam absent, they had been released from their maid duties to serve as Rosetta's guards.
"Lord Randy, the faction's what?"
"Y-You're—Liam's fiancée."
"I am Rosetta. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Rosetta's voice echoed through the barren floor.
Once all eyes were on her, Rosetta operated her terminal.
"It seems His Highness Cleo has something to say to you."
When a holographic image of Cleo seated in a chair appeared, Randy hastily straightened his posture.
"Your Highness Cleo, this is—"
Before he could make an excuse, Cleo raised his right hand, cutting him off.
"Lord Randy, I am disappointed in you. Go and redo your training."
"Please wait, Your Highness! This is Liam's—"
"Are you trying to say it was Count Banfield's trap? If you can't even see through a trap of this level, there's no way you could lead a faction, is there?"
Realizing he had been met with disappointment, Randy looked down in frustration.
"Count Banfield has finished his training and will be returning to the Capital Planet. Thank you for your work as his substitute."
As Cleo's hologram vanished, Randy collapsed to his knees.
"Why? I'm—I'm the heir to the Langran family. Are you saying you'll cast aside the Langran family, which has deep ties to Your Highness Cleo?"
Rosetta looked down on Randy.
"I won't say it's wrong to try and ride the winning horse. However, your timing and your attitude afterward were both failures."
Normally, it would have been safer to bow his head, join the faction, and place himself under Liam. The mistake was using his position as a relative of Cleo's biological mother.
To think, if only he had supported Cleo from the beginning—but that's a pointless hypothetical.
"—It's not over. It's not over yet."
However, Randy had not given up.
Rosetta, her business concluded, turned her back and left the room.
"Is that so."
She no longer showed any interest in Randy.
◇
As Rosetta exited the now-empty building, Yulysia, who had been acting as her secretary, approached while operating a terminal.
"I hear they're going to tear down this building and rebuild it since it has a bad image from the corruption."
Rosetta showed no interest in the casual talk of rebuilding the building.
"More importantly, how are things on our end?"
She directed her gaze toward the workplace where she had been assigned.
She had been working on a floor exclusively for women, but Rosetta's training was also coming to an end.
The result was—
"Everything's fine. The superiors from the Calvin faction have been demoted, and we've filled the positions with people from Cleo's faction. Man, after three years, seventy percent of the posts belong to our faction."
—Thanks in no small part to the competent Yulysia's efforts, Cleo's faction now controlled most of the positions.
As Rosetta and the others were about to return to their workplace, a former senior colleague who had been fired approached them.
"How dare you!"
Her hair was a mess, and she reeked of alcohol.
Before she could get close to Rosetta, Marie blocked her path.
Still, the former senior couldn't contain herself and began to harass Rosetta.
"Don't you think you can get away with this! It's your turn to be brought down next. Don't think His Highness the Crown Prince's faction will just stay silent!"
The reason she was fired was, simply put, embezzlement.
She probably didn't even recognize it as such, as nobles like her behave as they please, doing whatever they want.
She was merely paying the price for her actions.
"Is that so. I have no lingering attachment to this workplace, so now that my training is over, I'll be resigning, you see."
Hearing Rosetta say she was resigning without a care from the workplace she had been so obsessed with, the former senior was stunned—and after a brief pause, she began to shriek at the top of her lungs.
The knights escorted her away as Rosetta returned to the office.
Yulysia shrugged.
"You've made an enemy."
"You're the one who did it."
"You told me to get serious."
While Yulysia's shortcomings were usually conspicuous, when told to do something, she could accomplish almost anything. To Rosetta, it seemed like she was always slacking off.
"From now on, get serious before you're told to."
"I think it's better to slack off moderately. Lady Rosetta, you're always too wound up~"
"And you slack off too much!"
As the two had this conversation, Tia was receiving a report. She held a hand to her ear, her face serious.
Rosetta grew concerned about Tia's demeanor.
"Is something wrong?"
Tia lowered her hand from her ear, her expression looking panicked.
"—Regarding the war with the Hegemonic Kingdom, the Imperial Army has been defeated. His Highness Calvin's main army has retreated, and the military has suffered heavy losses."
"What?"
The news that the conflict on the border where Liam had been dispatched had ended in the Hegemonic Kingdom's victory made Rosetta's face turn pale.
◇
At the spaceport of Planet Augur, damaged ships were arriving one after another.
Ships that had been wandering in search of a nearby place to resupply and undergo maintenance were now gathering here.
However, more ships than expected had assembled, and the spaceport was congested.
Wallace, standing next to me, gulped as he looked at the Imperial Army's ships.
"How could they win after losing their commander-in-chief? Liam was the one who defeated Izel."
The Imperial Army had been defeated.
While we had been victorious on the battlefield where I fought, the Imperial Army had been defeated on all other fronts.
It seemed the nobles of the Calvin faction had fought bravely, but they couldn't withstand the fierce assault of the Hegemonic Kingdom's army and decided to retreat.
"So a cornered Calvin decided to retreat, huh."
Reports were coming in one after another, and from what I could gather—there had been some unnatural movements. It seemed some nobles had allowed the Hegemonic Kingdom's army to pass through towards Planet Augur.
I have no intention of forgiving them just because we won, but there's nothing I can do if the idiots who pulled such a stunt are already dead.
Wallace clung to me.
"Liam, let's run! This isn't a rear support base anymore. It's the front line! Even my brother retreated. No one will complain if we run away."
Calvin was competent, wasn't he? The Imperial Army's losses weren't that great, but once he judged they couldn't win, he decided to retreat to minimize the damage.
Thanks to that, Planet Augur has become a frontline base.
And he left me a little parting gift.
"It's useless. An order came down from the Capital Planet."
I flicked the small window displaying the electronic document floating in the air towards Wallace. It moved to hover in front of his face.
After reading the contents, Wallace's eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted, collapsing to the ground.
What was written there was an order to station me, now a full-fledged adult after completing my training, on the front lines.
It was an order to act as a breakwater against the Hegemonic Kingdom.
"I was planning to go back and taunt Randy and the others, but you just had to get in my way."
Calvin judged that he couldn't win and ran off, pushing the border onto me.
As I was pondering what to do next, a flustered Klaus came running up.
"Lord Liam, we've received a message that the Hegemonic Kingdom is sending an envoy."
"From the Hegemonic Kingdom?"
"Yes. They wish to discuss a ceasefire."
Now that they've carved out a large chunk of territory from the Empire, they want to end the war here, I suppose?
"Furthermore, the Hegemonic Kingdom has specifically named Lord Liam, the one who struck down Crown Prince Izel, as the negotiator."
"Is the enemy already in a victorious mood? What an impatient bunch."
"What will you do?"
Klaus was also breaking out in a cold sweat.
However—it sounded interesting, so I decided to participate in the negotiations.
"Contact the Capital Planet."
Honestly, just when I thought I'd won a large-scale fleet battle, it turns out that was just one small part of the bigger picture.
Even if I win, it means nothing if we lose on all the other fronts.
—But, this is a gamble for Calvin, too.
If he can't recover from this, he'll likely lose his position as Crown Prince.
"—Oh, right. Klaus, take Wallace to his room."
"Y-Yes, understood."
Klaus picked up Wallace and carried him away.
Wakagi-chan ( ゜∀゜): "Even if the web version is complete and I have no place to shine, I, who continue to be active by hijacking the afterword, am the true idol of 'The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs'! So, I'll cheerfully do some promotion today!"
Wakagi-chan (*´∀`): "The release date for Volume 4 of the manga version of 'The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs' is August 7th! Also, chapter 23 of the manga was updated this week, and it's a massive 50 pages long!"
Wakagi-chan (´∀`): "For readers who got interested through 'I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!', starting with the manga version might be a good idea. —By the way, I, as Naegi-chan (Sapling-chan), haven't appeared yet, so don't be disappointed."
Wakagi-chan (´∀`*)ノシ: "Please support 'The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs,' which has over 300,000 copies in circulation!"
Brian (´;ω;`): "...This is painful."