Chapter Volume 9 Chapter 8 - The Governor's Mansion

There existed a satellite far away from the planet governed by Chester, and behind it, a stealth fleet led by Liam was on standby.[1]

The fleet was receiving supplies delivered from the Banfield Family, and Thomas, the merchant, was the one who delivered them.

“I’m always surprised by what Lord Liam does. That said, now that several routes have become safe to use, us merchants can do business with peace of mind.”

There was a look of joy on Thomas’ face as he talked to Marie.

“But of course. After all, Lord Liam’s born to be the true ruler.”

Thomas pretended like he didn’t hear that last part as trouble was bound to come knocking if someone heard their exchange.

“Anyhow, when is Lord Liam planning on returning to his home planet? It’ll be problematic even for us if he remains absent for too long. It’s said that His Highness Calvin is making a lot of moves back in the Capital.”

Marie was also concerned about this.

“Didn’t he fall from grace after being defeated at the hands of the Kingdom of Dominion?”

“Even so, he is still the Crown Prince. Unless Lord Liam is there to put pressure on him, he can move about freely inside the Capital. The Clave Company and the Newlands Company are also eagerly awaiting Lord Liam’s return.”

“And what is His Highness Cleo doing? Lord Liam may be absent, but there shouldn’t be any problem as long as he’s present.”

The Cleo Faction was essentially Liam’s, but it existed to support Cleo, who was a prince.

Hence, although not as great as Liam, Cleo still had a decent amount of authority.

With Liam absent, Cleo should’ve made his presence known and rallied the faction under him.

Marie was slightly discontent since Cleo wasn’t doing that, but her opinions changed after hearing what Thomas said next.

“We’ve also noticed some suspicious movements from His Highness Cleo. He’s been gathering supporters and welcoming them into the Cleo Faction. There’s nothing strange about that in and of itself, but said supporters mostly consist of weak aristocrats without any real power.”

“—How very kind of him.”

Marie’s eyes narrowed when she heard that Cleo was generously providing them monetary support and making them feel indebted to him.

She spoke words of praise, but the same wasn’t happening inside her head.

“It seems he enjoys using the Banfield Family’s wealth to give alms to poor aristocrats.”

“Well— yes. He has requested a huge sum of money from the Banfield Family, and has been generously distributing it.”

It would’ve been understandable if Cleo was doing this to become the Crown Prince, but he was trying to draw in aristocrats and knights who had no power.

This served no purpose at all since they couldn’t be used for political maneuvers.

Originally, the Banfield Family wanted to send a powerful knight to the Capital.

However, they now had to guard their own territory, and the Empire’s border with the Kingdom of Dominion.

There were very few knights who had administrative skills like Klaus and Tia, and even if there were more of such knights, it didn’t help much considering the ever-expanding territory of the Banfield’s.

“Alas, he would’ve had a safe and peaceful future if he had only stayed quiet and done his best to hinder Calvin.”

Frightened by Marie’s demeanor, Thomas decided to change the subject.

“H-have you heard about the activities of Lady Rosetta’s Personal Guards?”

“I have. To help in matters outside Lord Liam’s reach, I heard she’s put together a decent fleet. Really—if she had asked, I would’ve put together an even better one to serve as her guards!”

Marie felt affectionate towards Rosetta.

As such, she had helped her out in various matters.

She had to accompany Liam this time around, but had Rosetta asked, Marie would’ve done her best to help.

“Lady Rosetta’s becoming pretty well-known within the territory. Many citizens are demanding a formal marriage to be carried out as soon as possible.”

“Insolence—is what I’d like to say, but I agree with them. I was under the impression that Lord Liam and Lady Rosetta would be wed immediately following the end of their training.”

She wouldn’t be at ease until they married and had a child.

That was also what the people wanted, but Liam had prioritized his journey.

He refused to listen to anyone that tried to advise him.

“Brian-dono and Amagi tried to persuade him many times, but he wouldn’t budge.”

Hearing Marie sigh, Thomas hung his head.

“We’d also like to see Lord Liam get married. The sooner the better. Is there no other way?”

Marie thought for a second but eventually shook her head.

“No.”

This was one of his shortcomings, the Banfield Family’s power was concentrated too much on Liam alone.

That was why no one could stop him from going on this journey.

Although it was proof that he held absolute power, it meant no one could stop him from doing whatever he wanted.

Marie fixed her appearance in the midst of their conversation.

“It’s almost time for my periodic call with Lord Liam. Thomas-dono, please remain quiet. This is an important, I repeat, an important responsibility of mine.”

Thomas nodded seeing how excited Marie was about this periodic call with Liam.

A small window soon appeared in the air, and the figure of Liam was projected within.

“Lord Liam, it’s time for our pe–ri–o–HIIII!”

Marie let out a scream.

Thomas was similarly shocked by Liam’s appearance on screen.

“Lord Liam!!!”

The reason why even Thomas raised his voice was because Liam was washing the dishes while video calling.

‘Huh? Thomas, you’re there as well? Anyway, I’m busy washing the dishes, so I’ll being cutting the call.’

Marie hurriedly approached the screen.

“You mustn’t, Lord Liam! Lord Liam shouldn’t be doing such a thing! After all, Lord Liam is this Empire’s—Huh? Lord Liam? LORD LIAM?!”

The call had been cut.

Marie felt the blood drain from her face seeing Liam wash the dishes.

“NOOOOO!!!”

Thomas covered his ears as Marie wailed.

◇

We had dinner at our Master’s house.

We ate everything as it’d be unthinkable to leave something that the Madam has prepared untouched, and I’m in the process of cleaning up.

“I’m sorry for having you do the dishes.”

The Madam looks apologetic, but since she’s Master’s wife, I can’t be rude to her.

“Please don’t mind it. I’m used to washing the dishes.”

I’ve done it several times while I was in training, not to mention I lived alone in my previous life, so something of this degree won’t pose a problem.

I look towards the living room from the kitchen and chance upon Rinho and Fuuka playing with Yasuyuki.

“Yasuyuki, call me Onee-chan.”

“Is there anyone ya hate, Yasuyuki? Big sis here will cut ’em down for ya.”

Yasuyuki seems a bit overwhelmed by the two’s enthusiasm.

As he’s Master’s son, he’s like a younger brother to them.

Ellen, who’s like their niece, already gets showered by lots of love.

When it comes to a younger brother, there’s no doubt they’ll spoil him even more.

Ellen appears dissatisfied with the three of them.

“Aren’t you two forgetting the fact that we have to raid the governor’s mansion tomorrow?”

Rinho, who’s been laying down, rolls around and turns to face Ellen.

With a smile that screams “So what?”, she begins to talk about tomorrow’s plan.

“Well, we’ve decided on raiding the place, but we just have to do what we’ve always done.”

“They’re part of the same school.”

“I beg to differ. They’ve become corrupt. They’re no longer qualified to be a part of One-Flash.”

Fuuka joins the conversation while carrying Yasuyuki on her back.

“She’s right. —And if we happen to lose, that just means we were weak.”

The weak have no right to say what’s right or wrong.

To show that we’re right, we’ll be storming into enemy territory to cut everyone down.

After washing the dishes, I wipe my hands and join in on the four’s discussion.

“I’ll be getting in touch with Marie later. We’ll take custody of Master’s family, and ensure their safety before rushing in tomorrow morning. Make sure you’re all ready by then.”

Rinho and Fuuka’s eyes become sharp, and they both smile.

Their blood must be boiling.

We’ve only encountered weak enemies until now.

Although they’ve become corrupted, our opponent this time is from the same school of swordsmanship.

I can feel my heart racing as well.

“They’ve laid their hands on our Master. Since it’s him we’re talking about, he’s probably safe—that said, we must settle the debt properly. Don’t horse around too much.”

Although I’m excited, I’m also furious at them for taking away our Master.

I’d like to have some fun with them, but we must first teach them who’s boss.

The three give me satisfying nods.

—The folks over at the Original One-Flash will have to pay this lesson fee with their lives.

◇

The Guide and Gudwar were on top of a skyscraper with wine glasses in hand.

The glasses were tilted diagonally, and they were filled with the blood of citizens.

More specifically, they were filled with the blood of citizens that suffered under Chester.

While absorbing the negative energy coming from them, the two were waiting to watch the best show of the century.

“Hmm, I prefer negative emotions that are a bit more mature, but the youthfulness in this is good too. This man, Chester, has a lot of potential.”

He was definitely evil.

There was no questioning that he was an evil governor.

The man named Chester didn’t see his citizens as humans, and caused them to suffer by imposing heavy taxes.

He killed those that went against him, and he sometimes killed on a whim.

Such a man had been bestowed the One-Flash by the Guide and Gudwar.

Gudwar was also feeling ecstatic about the situation.

“Once Chesters’ knights have fully matured, I’ll send them to my country to serve as fodder for a warrior who can surpass the One-Flash.”

Neither of them was willing to acknowledge the swordsmanship known as One-Flash, a swordsmanship born through sheer chance.

It was an ‘outrageous swordsmanship’ that appeared out of nowhere, and had no history to speak of.

It wasn’t to Gudwar’s liking either, and it was a school of swordsmanship that had tormented the Guide.

The Guide wasn’t willing to forgive its existence, and wanted nothing more than to see it eradicated.

“That’s fine with me. As long as Liam’s dead, I have no complaints. Putting that matter aside, this place is really nice. There are negative emotions everywhere.”

The Guide let out a sigh that contained relief, comfort, happiness, and various other emotions.

Gudwar stared at his glass.

“Chester’s family as a whole have done some horrible things.”

“Once Liam’s dead, I might just help them out. Have the Empire destroyed from the inside out.”

The Guide wanted Chester to take everything away from Liam.

He wanted to see everything Liam had built up torn away, used for the sake of bringing about a dark age for the Empire.

The Guide smiled, imagining all the negative emotions that would swirl up as a result.

“Cheers to Liam’s death!”

“—Why are you leading the cheer? I’m the one who gathered all those ruffians and allowed them to learn the One-Flash.”

“Eh? Oh, yes.”

The weakened Guide could not speak up against Gudwar.

Instead, he could only lead the latter around while reluctantly pretending to obey him.

He was churning inside as he had to constantly be mindful of Gudwar’s mood.

(This is all Liam’s fault! I was originally at a higher level of existence than Gudwar, but now I could only ask for his help in defeating Liam.)

The Guide’s pride had been shattered, but he had to put up with it if he was to beat Liam.

(I’ll definitely have you kill Liam!)

The Guide burned for revenge, and looked forward to tomorrow’s events.

◇

Around the same time, Chester was contacting his father, the head of a Count’s family.

‘Is Liam still in your area of management?’

“Yes, father.”

With a smile plastered on his face, Chester assumed a humble attitude, paying attention to how his father was feeling that day.

It was all in order to rise up in position.

To do that, he had to bow his head to his father for the time being.

‘Our army is ready. To jump into enemy territory with just a thousand ships, he seems to have grown complacent after winning too many times.’

“How many troops have we gathered?”

‘I had the surrounding lords get involved as well. We have 60,000, with 30,000 of them being our own.’

“—30,000? That’s wonderful news.”

However, Chester was inwardly clicking his tongue.

(I know I didn’t give you much time, but you should’ve gathered more, you s****y old man. Well, I guess for someone like him, this is his limit. Either way, our fleet is for show.)

The same could be said about the surrounding lords’ fleets.

Nevertheless, they outnumbered their opponent 60 to 1.

Liam’s attempt to win against the odds would be for naught when faced with such an overwhelming difference in numbers.

He was able to win in the battle against the Kingdom of Dominion by taking down the enemy commander, but this time around the Count would remain behind the front lines.

(Having more troops would’ve been nice, but this should suffice.)

There was no escape for Liam.

◇

The next morning arrived, and the four of us are standing in front of the governor’s mansion.

Despite the depressing state of the territory, the mansion is rather magnificent.

I would’ve normally praised it, but I’m not in the mood for it right now.

“Are you guys ready?”

Fuuka smiles, but the smile doesn’t reach her eyes.

“More than ever! After retrieving Master, I’ll raise h**l and butcher ’em all up!”

Rinho has a cold smile on her face.

“Today marks the end of the line for the Original One-Flash. Only ours will remain.”

It’s reassuring to know that they won’t go easy on the enemies despite being from the same school.

Both of them have matured well.

However, Ellen seems nervous, so I call out to her.

“Ellen, this will be your first time experiencing this, so don’t leave my side.”

Ellen bows her head in a hurry and replies, “U-understood!”

Fuuka and Rinho take a quick glance at her before looking away.

They probably intend to leave her with me while they go and kill the enemies.

With a One-Flash, I cut down the huge, thick gate.

“—Let’s go. It’s showtime.”

———————————————————————————————————–

Brian (´；ω；｀): “It’s painful. Lord Liam doing the dishes— That’s not something that the head of a Count’s family should be doing! —It’s painful.”

Wakagi-chan ( ゜∀゜): “Two days left! Two days, I tell you! Only two days remain until Volume 2 of ‘I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!’ is released!”

[1] I’m assuming the satellite is like a secondary planet, not the artificial type built by men