Volume 11 Chapter 4 - A Naive Trap

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If I have to describe Lysithea in one word, it’d be “misfit”.

Political strifes are everyday occurrences in the palace, and kind-hearted knights like her are oddities that quickly get preyed upon.

And it doesn’t help that her skills don’t match her social status.

Despite being a princess herself, she’s an oddball that volunteered to be a knight in order to protect her younger brother.

Things might have worked out if she was stronger. However, it’s a cruel world that we live in.

Objectively speaking, she’s only as skilled as a common knight, and she doesn’t possess any ability that makes her stand out.

“I’m sorry, Duke Banfield. I wasn’t able to put a stop to Cleo.”

I’m currently walking down a corridor with Lysithea, who approached me after I left Cleo’s office.

Her face is as pale as snow, and her head is hanging low.

I listen in silence as she beings to talk about how Cleo acts these days.

“He’s completely changed after having a taste of power. He used to be such a kind child, but now he’s no different from his elder siblings. In fact, he’s even worse than them.”

He’s trying to hurl me into a battlefield, ignoring all the hard work I put in to make him the Crown Prince.

It’s a terrible act of betrayal no matter how you put it.

Even so, I don’t hold it against him.

–After all, I never trusted humans in the first place.

Cleo’s betrayal was well within my calculations.

Having said that, I didn’t think I’d be treated this coldly.

Lysithea laments her powerlessness.

“My words aren’t reaching him anymore. I told him numerous times that we should continue having an amicable relationship with you after all the help that we received, but he just wouldn’t listen.”

Lysithea is a kind person by heart.

However, it’s not appropriate to have this kind of conversation inside the palace.

There are eyes and ears everywhere, and Cleo won’t be happy once he learns that his sister has approached me.

Lysithea moves on to explain how she’s been treated recently with a self-deprecating smile.

“He didn’t want to constantly hear me nag, so he removed me from my position. Now that I’m no longer his guard, I can’t even talk to him anymore. Still, I wanted to apologize in his place as his sister. If it’s at all possible–”

Does she expect me to forgive him? To not hate him?

Whatever the case, she doesn’t finish her sentence, probably out of a sense of shame.

–And it’s good that she didn’t.

Lysithea knows as well that there’s no turning back anymore.

I flash a small smile and give her an appropriate response.

“I understand what Lysithea-dono means. Now, if you’d allow me to excuse myself.”

I turn my back on her and quickly leave without turning back.

◇

I’m inside one of the rooms of my luxury hotel, a room that I’ve set aside for personal use in case I find myself in the Capital.

News of my arrival must have spread as there’s been a steady stream of visitors from early in the morning.

Among the visitors are Elliot of the Clave Company and Patrice of the Newlands Company, who’ve come to visit regardless of the time of day.

Their expressions are dark, and I have them fill me in on recent events.

“Were you also given the cold shoulder by Cleo?”

The Clave Company that Elliot belongs to is among the Empire’s biggest merchant groups, and they even serve as imperial purveyors.

Yet even they seem to be suffering from a decreased number of transactions in recent times.

“Things are looking grim out here. Our company spared no effort in providing His Highness Cleo with everything he needed, only to end up in this predicament. Lord Liam, by all means, we’d like you to raise another candidate and have them compete for the throne.”

They’re trying to target companies that are close to me.

It’s not clear whether Cleo ordered this or if people around us are just trying to be careful.

If this is something that Cleo and the Emperor cooked up, then it’s rather underwhelming.

Unlike Elliot, Patrice seems to be at her wits’ end.

“More and more executives of the Newlands Company are considering cutting off ties with Lord Liam and siding with His Highness Cleo instead. If you’re planning on supporting someone, please tell me. I’ll introduce you to someone convenient straight away.”

Though she’s trying to appear calm, it’s clear that she’s agitated as she insists that I hurry up and raise an opponent that can go against Cleo.

“What’s wrong? Trouble at the board meeting?” I ask with a grin.

Patrice scowls as if she’s swallowed a bitter pill.

“An increasing number of executives want to offer me to the prince as a gift.”

Patrice, who’s been betrayed by her allies, gets comforted by Elliot.

“That’s rough,” he says sympathetically.

However, his eyes remain cold.

At the end of the day, they weren’t friends.

They wouldn’t care what happens to the other person as long as they’re not the ones being harmed.

It’s a dry relationship, but at least they’re more trustworthy than people that move based on emotions.

Those without power are cut off and thrown away after they’ve outlived their worth.

This rings true regardless of the world I’m in.

“Patrice, I’ll lend you one of Kukuri’s subordinates. Keep the hostile executives under control.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you.”

“In exchange, I want you to do me a favor.”

“Do you want me to introduce you to someone that can become Cleo’s rival?”

“Let’s discuss that at a later date. We’re about to go to war with the Kingdom of Dominion. It’s a great opportunity to earn money, is it not?”

A flicker of light appears in the depths of Elliot and Patrice’s eyes when they hear this.

Profits above all else. That’s what being a merchant is about.

Elliot asks about the battle against the Kingdom of Dominion.

“Profit is indeed important, but what are your plans in this war, Lord Liam?”

He’s asking whether I intend to go all out to defend the country or fight passively and retreat to preserve our strength.

Taking everything into consideration, the ideal choice would be to fight half-heartedly and retreat after coming up with an excuse, after which we’d meet at the negotiating table.

However, I refuse to be so lame.

“I plan on getting an overwhelming victory.”

◇

The next person to visit me is someone from the Seventh Weapons Factory.

Nias, their representative, is crying rivers in front of me.

“They took away all our contracted work! They aren’t being discrete about it at all! I can’t believe they’d go this far just because we’re on good terms with Lord Liam!”

The Seventh Weapons Factory consists of weirdos that pursue productivity, maintainability, and performance over design, but even then, they’d get orders from the Empire to produce weapons for them.

They earn money by selling mass-produced weapons that the army has officially adopted, but it seems all the orders were canceled.

As a result, the Seventh Weapons Factory is now in the red.

Standing next to me is Eulisia, a former employee of the Third Weapons Factory.

She’s accompanying me as my secretary, and she tells me of a complaint that she received from her former workplace.

“The Third Weapons Factory has been getting fewer orders as well. It’s not in the red yet because of how popular it is, but if the Empire continues to give you the cold shoulder, they’ll probably reconsider their relationship with the Banfield Family.”

Seriously, is this all that Cleo and the Emperor amount to? Just this?

It makes me wonder if they’re doing this on purpose.

Could they be playing around?

I promise Nias who’s still crying that I’ll place a large order.

“Stop crying. It’s gonna dampen my mood as well. We’re about to go to war with the Kingdom of Dominion, so I’ll be placing a large order, including spare parts.”

“You promised!”

Seeing how happy Nias has become, Yurishia shakes her head with folded arms.

She must’ve noticed that this is only a temporary solution. It’s not going to solve the deficit issue that the Seventh Weapons Factory is facing.

While I’m at it, I also inform Eulisia that I plan on purchasing a lot of equipment from the Third Weapons Factory.

“Eulisia, tell the Third Weapons Factory that a large order will be coming in. No discounts required. We’ll buy them at a premium. We wouldn’t want to lose face in the Empire.”

“–Will that really be alright?”

Eulisia, who’s already somewhat a part of the Banfield Family, is aware of our financial situation.

We don’t have much leeway right now because we’ve invested a lot of our budget into developing the territory and expanding the military.

Even with the alchemy box, it’s getting difficult to keep up with our spending.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll prepare the money.”

“I’ll try to contact them, but don’t get your hopes up too high.”

“Tell them we’ll pay double the regular price.”

‘F-for real!?’ her expression seems to say.

Nias, who’s been listening to our conversation, butts in and begs me with her hands held close together.

“Lord Liam, the Seventh Weapons Factory is willing to go to h**l and back for you! So please buy our products at a higher price as well. 50, no, 20% will do!”

If the Seventh Weapons Factory loses a customer like me, they’d be forced to close down almost immediately.

On a separate note, Nias is still a terrible saleswoman.

“Your factory’s already at the brink of collapse, isn’t it? You should focus on getting out of the red first. I’ll be buying your products at a regular price, so bear with it for now.”

“Nooo~”

Nias wails in despair, but Eulisia only shrugs.

“It’s your fault for letting others know your weakness. Having said that, the Third Weapons Factory has also sniffed out that Lord Liam’s in a bad position.”

“–That’s right.”

Sorry Eulisia, but I’ll be having your former workplace, the Third Weapons Factory, share its fate with me.

Consider the extra payment my apology.

◇

After all the guests have left, Tia and Marie enter the room to discuss what happened.

Tia seems to doubt the merchants.

“We should have Kukuri’s men keep an eye on Elliot and Patrice to make sure they don’t betray us.”

As for Marie, she expresses dissatisfaction toward the Third Weapons Factory.

“The Seventh Weapons Factory aside, I don’t like the attitude of the Third Weapons Factory. They’ve raked in so much thanks to Lord Liam, and yet they’re trying to take advantage of our situation the moment things get dicey.”

I’m in a precarious situation, which is why many people have left our camp.

But I’m satisfied with how things are turning out at the moment.

I’d even say that it’s looking better than expected.

“It can’t be this easy. They must be cooking something up behind the scenes.”

Hearing what I said, Tia and Marie also become vigilant.

It’s clear that they also suspect the Emperor and Cleo.

Tia in particular is struggling to understand why Cleo and the Emperor aren’t using more effective means to cut us off.

“It’s certainly strange. With how things stand, they should’ve gone with the carrot, not the whip. If they really wanted to weaken the Banfield Family, they would’ve had our allies pretend to remain friends so that they could stab us in the back. I’m starting to wonder whether they’re being serious or not.”

Marie goes on to predict what the merchants and the weapons factories are thinking.

“Even if they switch over to Cleo’s side, there’s no guarantee that they’d be safe. If they betray the Banfield Family only to get betrayed by Cleo, it’d be pointless.”

They must be having trouble deciding which side to take.

If they side with me, they’d be seen as a thorn by the Empire.

But would they be safe with Cleo? No one knows.

There’s no guarantee that they’d be treated like before even if they betray me and join Cleo.

If I was in Cleo’s position, I would’ve gone ahead and promised to treat them better in the future.

“Are they underestimating us, or are they taking this lightly? –It’s as if they don’t want to win.”

Honestly, it’s quite unsettling.

It’s off-putting that Cleo and the Emperor aren’t employing better methods.

“–Is this the Guide’s blessing?”

It was a quiet whisper, but Tia and Marie somehow manage to hear what I said.

“What do you mean, Lord Liam?”

“Is there something wrong with guides?”

It’s kind of creepy that they were able to hear that, but for now, I shake my head.

“It’s nothing.”

Things are progressing a little too well.

It’s hard to tell whether it’s the result of an intricate trap or the Guide’s blessing. Regardless, I should offer my thanks to the Guide today as well.

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Wakagi-chan ( ゜∀゜): “Hahahahaha! Mr. Guide must be writhing in pain about now! That said, it’s always the annoying ones that are the most persistent!”

Brian (；・`ω・´): “Right….”

Brian (｀；ω；´): “That aside, today’s the day that Volume 4 of ‘I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire’ goes on sale! Please grab a copy and read about Lord Liam’s activities in the light novel. Brian shall do his best to promote the book so that everyone can enjoy Lord Liam’s story, which has been expanded from the web novel!”