Liam had decided to raise taxes.

It was a tax increase with no reason other than a simple desire to make his people suffer.

He used the excuse of improving social welfare after the fact, but there was no substance to it.

In such cases, with vague goals, the officials can do as they please, resulting in a meaningless tax hike.

However—in the Banfield house, this was happening right after a massive purge.

The officials working in the government office were clutching their heads over Liam's impulsive tax increase.

Why, you ask?

"This is definitely a test!"
"He's left the improvement of social welfare entirely to us because he's testing us!"
"If we mess this up, we'll be punished too."

The officials who had betrayed Liam were, as a matter of course, executed.

Many other officials who had committed crimes, both large and small, were also judged.

Spies from other territories, spies for Calvin, spies from other nations... many who had been overlooked until now were punished.

In such a situation, Liam had merely announced a tax increase and left the details to his officials.

The officials entrusted with improving social welfare thought to themselves:

"If we don't create a system that satisfies Lord Liam—we'll be killed."

A veteran official, his face pale, told the younger officials a story from the past.

"It was nearly ninety years ago. Lord Liam, at the mere age of ten, wiped out all the corrupt officials."

The younger officials had only heard of it as a story.

Many of them didn't truly grasp its reality.

"Lord Liam is more generous and merciful than other lords, but that doesn't mean he's incapable of making harsh decisions. He is a man who will swing a great axe whenever he deems it necessary. And we had forgotten that in just ninety short years."

A period of happy times had passed for a while.

The officials had grown complacent, and some had begun to line their own pockets.

But the veteran's words made the surrounding officials hold their breath.

"I-I've heard stories like that from long ago."
"I heard that a large number of officials were punished when I was a child."
"Things were much worse back then, so maybe he had no choice?"

It seemed they hadn't considered that the same thing could happen to them.

The veteran official looked down.

"If we create a useless, hollow system, Lord Liam will purge us for sure this time. He's a man who does what he decides to do. If anyone tries anything funny with this system, we'll all be killed. After all, governing the territory is a simple matter of leaving it to an artificial intelligence."

Somewhere in their minds, the officials had realized it.

If Liam wanted to, he could eliminate them and entrust governance to an AI.

They were replaceable.

Remembering this, the officials began to tackle their work with genuine seriousness.

◇

An ordinary family living in the Banfield territory.

It was a family of seven: grandparents, parents, and three children.

They were gathered around the dinner table, discussing the tax increase.

"Improving social welfare, huh... If Lord Liam says so, it must be true."

As the father said this, the grandfather nodded while sipping his tea.

"No doubt about it. That man is a wise ruler."

The children, who didn't know the past, looked skeptically at their parents and grandparents, who showed absolute trust.

The eldest daughter threw a wrench in the four adults' consensus.

"But we don't know what will actually happen, right?"

"I see. You children don't know. Even if you learned it in your lessons, you don't have a real sense of it."

By Liam's decree, the people of the Banfield domain had a period of compulsory education.

Nine years might seem short, but thanks to education capsules, all citizens could acquire an education equivalent to a university graduate.

This made it easier to advance further, and the number of children who could attend school after their compulsory education had increased.

The grandparents and parents believed this was why their children couldn't grasp the reality of the past.

The children were not yet fifty years old and had not reached adulthood.

They looked to be around ten years old.

It was understandable that they didn't know about the era known as the Banfield family's dark ages.

"Until Lord Liam became our lord, this territory was truly awful. Senseless heavy taxes, no jobs, and being forcibly conscripted into war was not uncommon."

The grandfather's expression darkened as he recalled how terrible those times were.

The children were still skeptical.

"Is there any point to that? Isn't it more profitable for the nobles to develop their territory?"

It was a natural thought, but the father dismissed it as the naive talk of a child who didn't know the world.

"It would be nice if you could say the same thing in the future after seeing a territory other than the Banfield's. There are very few nobles who can do that."

As the children looked on with incomprehension, the grandmother urged them to resume their meal.

"The food's getting cold, so hurry up and eat. As long as it's Lord Liam, you can rest assured that nothing strange will happen."

Faced with their parents' and grandparents' trust in Liam, the children felt something a little dangerous about it.

◇

The Banfield family's military was also in an uproar.

There was more corruption among the soldiers who had been brought in as reinforcements later on than among those who had served since Liam first reorganized the military.

Among them, the most unforgivable offense was—

"They were colluding with pirates?!"

—that some had been colluding with space pirates.

A colonel who had graduated from the Banfield family's military academy had been accepting bribes in exchange for turning a blind eye to pirates.

He had accepted money and expensive goods, distributing them among his comrades.

Recently, Liam had stopped fighting pirates himself, and many soldiers had let their guard down.

Furthermore, the pirates had become so fearful of the Banfield family that they acted subserviently, which had inflated the egos of some soldiers.

The top brass trembled at this fact.

"W-What a foolish thing to do."
"Lord Liam will be furious if he finds out."
"But if we don't report it, our heads will literally fly."

The reason the generals were terrified was that Liam showed absolutely no mercy towards pirates.

The generals who had supported the army from its early days knew of Liam's ferocity on the battlefield.

Liam, who would never forgive pirates, was bound to be enraged if he found out his subordinates had been letting them go.

An investigation revealed that a large number of field-grade officers were involved.

"Execute all those who colluded with the pirates by firing squad."
"What about the interrogation?"
"Don't hold back. Be thorough!"

More than ninety years had passed since Liam had unified the territory.

The military, believing that further tightening of discipline was necessary, decided to use this opportunity to conduct a thorough investigation.

◇

"There were fewer idiots than I thought."

In my office, I read through the reports coming in from various departments and was left dumbfounded.

"Embezzlement, bribery, collusion with pirates—well, I guess this is about it."

I never trusted humans from the start.

In fact, the number was even smaller than I had anticipated.

Amagi brought my three o'clock snack, so I took it and we talked.

"Compared to other places, the Banfield family is judged to be extremely competent."

"That's good. Well, I'll at least take care of the people who act as my hands and feet."

"Why not extend that kindness to the people of your domain as well?"

"They shamed me. They will pay the price for that."

I will never forget being ridiculed with that baby-making demonstration during the inquiry.

At that time, Yurishia also shamed me—shamed me—wait, what?

"Amagi, what is Yurishia doing now?"

"Lady Yurishia, you ask? Let me check."

When Amagi checked, Yurishia was inside the mansion.

◇

"Lord Liam, you're so cruel!"

"You're the one who's cruel! I ordered you to suppress the demonstration, and you participated in it? Are you kidding me?!"

When I summoned Yurishia to hear her out, it seemed she held a grudge against me.

She had participated in the baby-making demonstration, but she hadn't betrayed me during the incident with Isaac.

Apparently, she had been hiding out of fear.

"Everyone is so mean. To ignore me, a concubine candidate. I was so scared I'd be killed that I hid myself away."

"I forgot about you too."

"You demon, Lord Liam!"

This one also needs to be punished, but Yurishia also serves as my liaison with the Imperial military.

I'm hesitant to execute her.

Then, I came up with a fitting punishment for Yurishia.

I had been talking to Rosetta about preparing a Royal Guard for her.

Since she has no military experience, she can't organize a Royal Guard without an adjutant by her side.

Yurishia has connections in both the military and the weapons factories.

She's a disappointment, but she is competent.

I wish she'd show her competence more often, but she seems to be free now, so I decided to entrust her to Rosetta.

"More importantly, if you're free, go help Rosetta establish her Royal Guard."

"Huh?"

"You're good at this sort of thing, right?"

"W-Well, yes, I can do it, but my position is a candidate for Lord Liam's concubine, right? Isn't it awkward for me to be helping Lady Rosetta, the official wife candidate?"

"The fact that you have the brains to understand that is reassuring. It'll be a sufficient punishment."

"How cruel! I don't want a punishment that seems like it was just an afterthought!"

"Go get worked to the bone by Rosetta! And while you're at it, I'll give you a budget, so use this to prepare the Royal Guard."

I thought I'd give her a budget from my pocket money, but how much should I give?

For now, maybe enough for a few dozen battleships?

Thinking that would be enough, I handed over the budget, and Yurishia's face showed surprise.

"Eh? This much?"

"That should be enough, right?"

"E-Enough is one thing, but could you please tell me what scale you're envisioning?"

"Put together a force that uses up the whole budget. I'm not specifying the numbers. Well then, I'll leave the rest to you."

◇

After Liam left.

Yurishia was left behind, clutching her head.

"'Use it all up,' he says. Do you have any idea what kind of fleet I could assemble if I used up this much money?"

The budget Yurishia received was an astronomical sum.

It was enough to potentially assemble an entire fleet.

"The number of digits is off by three or four!?"

Even for Yurishia, being ordered to assemble a fleet of this scale was difficult.

It was Tia, who had been given a blank check by Liam and prepared tens of thousands of ships, who was the strange one.

The problem wasn't Yurishia's lack of ability.

In fact, Yurishia was more competent than the average soldier.

"A-Anyway, I need to consult with Lady Rosetta and decide. A-And, I'll need to order the ships and weapons from somewhere. Would the Third Weapons Factory be fine? But with a project of this scale, there will definitely be complaints if we don't hold trials."

The budget Liam had thrown at her was so large that Yurishia had no idea what to do.

"Besides, a Royal Guard is a few hundred ships at most, right? It's crazy to assemble a fleet for Lady Rosetta as if I were assembling my own Royal Guard. This would give Lady Rosetta considerable military power—could that be his aim?"

Is he trying to grant significant authority to his own wife?

Yurishia tried to guess Liam's intentions.

"No, maybe he just forgot that his e-money balance display is abbreviated by three digits? No, that can't be it. But I can't imagine Lord Liam doing something like this."

If she really assembled a fleet of ten thousand ships, Liam might get furious.

But if she were too passive and left a large portion of the budget unused, she would likely be scolded for that as well.

Yurishia understood that if she embezzled any of it, she would be erased too.

"Think, Yurishia, think! If I mess this up, I'll truly be forgotten. To avoid that, I need to come up with a brilliant idea—ah, that's it!"

Rosetta's Royal Guard would rarely be sent into battle anyway.

At first, Yurishia had thought it would be fine to assemble a force of average or slightly inferior quality and just make the exterior look luxurious.

But that would result in a force exceeding ten thousand ships.

So—she just had to make the insides substantial as well.

"If I assemble an elite force, it'll be about a thousand ships. In terms of numbers, that's just a little on the large side. They won't be on the front lines anyway, so I can be particular about both their appearance and their performance."

Rosetta's Royal Guard exists to protect Rosetta's person.

Quality over quantity.

In an emergency, it would be sufficient if they could escape with Rosetta.

"Well, if Lady Rosetta refuses, I can just think of something else. This should be fine."

She quickly drafted a plan and decided to show it to Rosetta.

◇

Rosetta was troubled as she looked at Yurishia's plan.

"Is this really okay?"

Of all people, Liam had dispatched Yurishia, a concubine candidate, to assemble Rosetta's Royal Guard.

Rosetta had her own thoughts on the matter, but she couldn't defy Liam's orders.

Also, it was true that she, not having graduated from a military academy, needed an advisor.

Yurishia was a competent soldier and was indeed a suitable aide for her.

"Marie angered Darling and can't return to being a knight for a while, so I suppose this can't be helped."

Her reliable Marie had enraged Liam and had her knighthood revoked.

She was now undergoing education under Serena.

As she looked at the plan, Ciel, her attendant, seemed to be thinking about something.

Rosetta remembered that Ciel was the daughter of Baron Exner, a martial aristocrat.

"Ciel, is something on your mind?"

"—May I be permitted to speak?"

"Of course. I want to hear your opinion. What should I do about my Royal Guard? I'm sorry, that's too vague, isn't it?"

When she apologized, Ciel seemed to have guessed that Rosetta was worried about how to handle the Royal Guard.

Ciel's gaze sharpened.

"Regarding the Royal Guard, a consort's guard is at most a few hundred ships. If it becomes too large, it could lead to a succession dispute."

"That's true. The military should be managed under Darling. If I hold too much power, it could become a seed of conflict."

Even if Rosetta didn't intend it, a conflict might arise between the military and the Royal Guard.

If the scale was too large, it would be a problem.

"In that case, the Royal Guard should be limited to about three hundred ships, and the rest should be given work other than leave and training."

"Work?"

"Lady Rosetta, there are many nobles who cannot protect themselves."

"I understand that. Are you saying I should protect them instead?"

"Yes. How about acting on behalf of Count Liam to handle the miscellaneous affairs that are beyond his reach? Even Lady Rosetta should be able to settle small-scale disputes."

Hearing that she could help Liam, Rosetta praised Ciel.

"That's a great idea. Darling receives many petitions. I hear he can't handle all of them, so I'd like to take care of the minor matters for him."

"Then, you will need a headquarters for that."

"We're setting up a base too?"

"Of course. You will be operating on a separate chain of command from the military."

"I'll consult with Yurishia about it."

◇

As Rosetta went to consult with Yurishia, Ciel pumped her fist in a victory pose.

"Yes! With this, Lady Rosetta will gain at least a little bit of power. Even if it's small now, if she can get a small, elite fleet, she can win over many nobles. Eventually, Lady Rosetta will gain power that Liam cannot ignore."

The reason Ciel supported Rosetta was to stop the rampaging Liam.

For that purpose, she would have Rosetta gain power.

"Eventually, Lady Rosetta will also realize that Liam is a bad guy. When that happens, I'll have Lady Rosetta stop him."

Liam was the kind of person who tormented his people for his own amusement.

Eventually, Rosetta would understand—or so Ciel believed.

"Just you wait, Liam—I will definitely stop you. And I'll open my brother's eyes!"

◇

"—And that's how Lady Ciel is inciting Lady Rosetta."

Ciel had meddled in the establishment of Rosetta's Royal Guard and was plotting something nefarious.

Kunai had immediately come to report, so everything was laid bare.

"This is what you call foolishly cute."

"Lord Liam, are you really going to allow this?"

Ciel's actions were an act of betrayal against me, but she was a woman with a will of steel that I had gone to the trouble of finding.

It would be boring to crush her over something like this.

—However, I have no intention of being caught off guard.

"Forgive Ciel. And summon Rosetta."

"Yes, sir!"

Kunai vanished from before my eyes, and a short while later, Rosetta arrived.

"Darling, did you need me for something?"

Looking at Rosetta, who was smiling with a gentle aura, I felt like telling her to take a page from Ciel's book and at least try to plot my assassination.

"It's about the Royal Guard. It seems Ciel told you to do my chores."

"You knew?"

"Of course. But I reject that proposal."

"S-So it was no good after all?"

If Rosetta wants to be my chore-girl, I won't stop her, but it's not fun to go along with Ciel's plan.

Sorry, but I'll have to interfere.

Right now, Ciel is probably gloating that she's got Rosetta wrapped around her finger, but I'm the one who's pulling the strings here.

"Do as you wish. Don't decide just because someone told you to. You can consult with others, but you are the one who decides. It's your Royal Guard, after all."

For now, I decided to leave it to Rosetta's will.

Besides, she's had military training, but only a little at a junior academy.

She's not a professional, so if I leave her to it, she'll either self-destruct or end up with something unremarkable.

And I—I want to see Ciel fret over such a Rosetta!

"As I wish?"

"You can consult with others, but don't just swallow it whole; you must judge and decide for yourself. Otherwise, I will reject the entire plan. If you understand, you may go."

After shooing Rosetta out of the room, Kunai poked her head out from my shadow.

"Lord Liam, was that wise?"

—Honestly, it was news to me that my e-money display was abbreviated by three digits.

I might have given Rosetta a bit too much of a budget, but I can't ask for it back now.

This is a time to stand on my pride, no matter what.

"I'll let her do as she pleases. It'll be a spectacle to see how Rosetta and Ciel move."

"And what of Lady Yurishia?"

"She's bound to end up a disappointment anyway, and I'll enjoy watching that, so I don't care."

Unlike the peaky Nias, Yurishia is just... consistently disappointing.

"More importantly, I want to get back to the Capital and finish my training. I can't believe I'm being held up by this when I only have four years left."

I'll finish this training period quickly, and then I'll be free to live my evil lord life.

Just then, an urgent communication came in from Wallace, who was on the Capital Planet.

"I-It's terrible, Liam!"

"What is it, Wallace?"

"This is no time to be calm! It's terrible!"

"I think you're the one who needs to calm down. So, what happened?"

"The Hegemonic Kingdom has declared war on the Empire!"

"Oh, is that so."

I wondered what he was panicking about, and it's just some interstellar nation unrelated to my territory picking a fight with the Empire.

I wish he'd bring me more worthwhile reports.

"How can you be so calm?!"

"I'm not interested. More importantly, I'm coming back there to finish my training quickly."

"Huh? Liam, you're not going to participate in the war? I thought you would."

"It's a pain, so no. I'm going to finish my training quickly."

Why did Wallace think I would go to war?

Brian (´；ω；｀): "The day has finally come... Lord Liam's exploits will be published in a book! Please look forward to Lord Liam's further adventures in the print version. Today is truly a joyous day!"

Brian (´；ω；｀): "And now for the usual sad news, but Chapter Seven will conclude with the epilogue tomorrow."