On the day the Enforcement Bureau returned in triumph, as though they were victorious generals,
I once again enjoyed the burdensome honor of facing the Fifth Prince.
“My brother-in-law was absolutely furious. If you hadn’t been someone I knew, he would have demanded you be removed from your position on the spot.”
“I doubt it will end there.”
“Indeed. A man driven from his seat will inevitably become the next thing they tear into.”
Saying that, the Fifth Prince asked in a subtle tone whether I was not worried.
He had used the party held for my sake as the site of a coup and turned it into a sea of blood.
He had made me strike even at his own faction, causing enemies on all sides to keep watch.
If, at a time like this, he suddenly cast me aside, I would truly become a reject.
He was asking if I had no fear of being abandoned completely.
“If Your Highness truly intended to abandon me, you would not have come to see me like this.”
“It could be a final kindness before you depart on a long road, could it not?”
“If that is so, then there is nothing I can do. I was happy, if only for a short while, to have an elder brother like Your Highness. Born the eldest son of my family, it was my first time living as a younger brother. I pray you achieve all that you desire.”
When I lowered my head as if bidding farewell to the world, the Fifth Prince burst into laughter.
Then he said he understood, and stopped me, saying he would never make such a joke again.
“I’ll be honest. I still haven’t found anyone who can take your place, you see. Even if I wanted to throw you away, I cannot.”
“Is it because the pressure regarding the position of Chief of the Enforcement Bureau has become severe?”
It was a position that required enough nerve to provoke even the Fourth Prince, then the Fifth Prince.
The first Chief of the Enforcement Bureau was such a madman, and thanks to that, the department had become a mad department.
Now it had settled into history as a post where one had to become a mad dog when it came to taxes.
That aspect would surely be a burden to those aiming to become the next Chief of the Enforcement Bureau.
“That is part of it. There is also the matter of the eastern grassland tribes.”
“Ah. I see. I heard new envoys headed there not long ago. What became of that?”
“By now, they should be nearing the border. The officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seem to be taking the matter lightly after seeing your case. We shall know once news comes in. Whether you were merely lucky, or whether it was something no one but you could have done.”
I wonder. I just hope they don’t ruin the trust I built up.
Friendship between people is difficult to create, but all too easy to lose.
The months I spent living among the Urut tribe, the time I endured and experienced there.
The recognition and bonds I earned by fighting warriors of the neighboring tribes for nearly a month.
If they intend to take all that for free, they will hardly be treated well.
After all, the grassland tribes are people too, and they know how to judge what sort of person stands before them.
“You bit into them just hard enough. Thanks to that, my wife’s family was placed in quite an awkward position.”
Although the Enforcement Bureau had not touched the Mentus family, but another place entirely.
The fact that the Mentus family found itself in difficulty meant there was quite a connection.
The Fifth Prince had finished the power struggle and had only the climb upward left.
In this process, his existing ties would instead become shackles around his ankles.
So it was necessary to deal with them appropriately and cut them off at the proper time.
But it seemed the side that had grown accustomed to that taste found the decision quite regrettable.
“Younger brother.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“As you are both a founding contributor and an imperial official, you will soon learn this as well. Within a few days, the date on which His Majesty the Emperor will abdicate in favor of His Highness the Crown Prince is to be announced.”
“So he is pushing it through in the end.”
Historically speaking, there had in fact been few cases of a ruler handing over the throne while still alive.
When the one who had been monarch and the one who was monarch existed together, even that was chaos.
Power was always best when it came from one place and gathered in one place.
Even so, the Founding Emperor had resolved to hand the imperial throne to the Crown Prince.
“Forcing his way through was something His Majesty always enjoyed doing. When I was still a child, he was surrounded by the northern barbarians, yet he broke through them head-on.”
“A decision truly worthy of a great war hero.”
“He was always like that. In matters of the army. In matters of his subordinates. In matters of his children. And even after he shouldered the name of the great Founding Emperor.”
“…”
“Of course, I respect His Majesty the Emperor. There is likely no one greater than he. And I realized something. I can never become a person like His Majesty. I have my own path to walk.”
My own path. Not the path of a war hero, nor of a liege lord, but solely the path of an emperor.
A being who stands at the pinnacle of power, placing all things beneath his feet and acting only for the empire.
One who need not win the hearts of others, but receives loyalty unconditionally.
“When His Highness the Crown Prince sits upon the imperial throne, things will become even noisier.”
“I know.”
“Perhaps my elder brother will come looking for you.”
“Because he will think I bore a grudge after being rebuked by Your Highness and struck at your wife’s family from behind.”
“On the battlefield, things are quite simple. Enemy, or ally. My elder brother will likely approach this matter with that same logic. He will keep tearing into me, trying to create a weakness. Then he will try to sit in the ownerless seat of Crown Prince.”
But before long, he would realize that would never be easy.
If I were going to collapse from attacks of that level, I would not have made it this far.
Rather, the more he dug into the Fifth Prince, the more the Fourth Prince himself would be dug up along with him.
In the process, his naturally hasty temper would be compounded by impatience, and he would make a mistake.
That was the most ideal method of succession the Fifth Prince desired.
“In any case. The inside is this noisy, yet the outside refuses to remain quiet either.”
“Has something happened?”
“Foreign enemies always catch the scent like ghosts. Somehow or other, the movements of the northern barbarians have become suspicious. Reports keep coming in from the border, saying they have been showing their faces more frequently.”
They were the bastards who had been beaten down to their very souls by the Founding Emperor and had remained quiet for nearly twenty years.
That meant the majesty the Founding Emperor had displayed had truly been overwhelming.
But for them, plunder and southward descent were necessary for survival.
In the end, they were once again appearing near the border and revealing their ambitions.
“They dare forget the terror of His Majesty the Emperor and cause trouble again.”
“The barbarians of that time, who had carved His Majesty’s terror into their bones, must have withdrawn, and new ones taken their place. Naturally, they have forgotten. Even if they remember, His Majesty the Emperor, as well as those who fought alongside him, have all grown old now. They believe there is nothing to fear.”
“But the empire has not, has it? Just as those barbarians have filled the ranks of warriors with new men, our empire has also become stronger and more steadfast with new people.”
“You seemed to have no interest in the military, yet it appears you know more than expected, younger brother.”
“Though I may find it difficult to swing a spear or sword myself, I am always learning so that I can do more than the basics in other matters.”
Of course. Naturally, I had to. I wasn’t going to remain Chief of the Enforcement Bureau forever.
By my estimation, once the next matter ended, I would likely have to step down from this position as well.
In any case, it was true that I had drawn glares by tearing into both the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince.
Only by stopping at a suitable point and quietly stepping back would my enemies withdraw their fierce gazes.
“If you have an interest in military circles as well, I will introduce you to a few people. There are many capable ones.”
Masters of countless battles who had turned their backs on the Founding Emperor and gone over to the Fifth Prince.
And the juniors they had raised, the future leaders of the imperial military.
Being able to make their acquaintance was truly an opportunity bestowed by the heavens.
Only now did I understand that this was what the grace of an elder brother who thought of his younger brother looked like!
When I hurriedly bowed and conveyed my thanks, the Fifth Prince burst into loud laughter.
I had worried he might take offense, but thankfully, the flattery worked well.
*
As I had heard from the Fifth Prince, the Founding Emperor eventually stepped down from the imperial throne.
“…As this body of ours has grown greatly aged and is no longer able to lead the empire…”
There was no performance of anyone slamming their head into the ground and expressing opposition.
The Founding Emperor’s will was already firm, and everyone had agreed.
If someone did that here, they would become a clueless idiot.
The imperial palace swiftly welcomed a new emperor as its master.
The Founding Emperor had now become Emperor Emeritus and came to reside in a detached palace.
In less than a year, the Second Prince had passed through the position of Crown Prince and become Emperor.
Unable to properly adapt to the change that had come far too quickly, he seemed dazed.
The Administration, too, was in chaos from the continuous string of major events.
The Emperor stepped down. An Emperor Emeritus appeared. A new Emperor sat upon the throne.
A Crown Prince had to be chosen again, but who would be set in that position?
Could the western frontier continue to be stabilized in these turbulent times?
How would the kingdoms react, and would the eastern grassland tribes continue to remain silent?
The southern pirates were beginning to move, and the northern barbarians were appearing as well.
A powerful figure was needed. Someone who could seize everything and lead it.
Legitimacy, ability, and even support. He had to possess all of it.
“Isn’t such a person none other than me, Chief of the Enforcement Bureau?”
For reference, the one who barged in before me and said that was not the Fifth Prince.
It was the Fourth Prince. The very man who, until not long ago, had been fuming because I had touched him.
But upon hearing that I had targeted the Fifth Prince’s wife’s family, he had hurried over to me.
“To be honest, it was a little strange. Thanks to you, Chief, all those bastards were at the party hall. We were able to wipe them all out. And yet no separate reward was bestowed upon our Chief of the Enforcement Bureau?”
People who originally have nothing much to their name are the ones placed in the position of foremost contributors.
It may look as though they receive all the rewards, but in truth, that is not the case.
It means, “The power structure will change soon, so take this and be satisfied.”
It was not that I did not receive anything. I had been promised I would receive it later.
“And yet, though you said you were only doing your duty, you were scolded by my younger brother.”
Do you not think that happened because you chased after him and made a fuss?
“You executed the law because there was wrongdoing, only to be scolded even more harshly because it was a place connected to his wife’s family. Ha, my. Ishmael has become far too arrogant.”
You are ten times more arrogant, Fourth Prince.
The Fifth Prince is already finished preparing to exclude you from the power structure.
Without even knowing that, you have come here and bitten down hard on the bait, haven’t you?
“Listen, Chief of the Enforcement Bureau.”
“Yes, Your Highness the Fourth Prince.”
“Will you not join hands with me?”
In the end, those words came out. Exactly as the Fifth Prince and I had predicted.
The Fourth Prince excitedly began to promote himself.
He said that his younger brother was called the protagonist of the great undertaking, but that he too had been there that day.
That it was he who killed the bastards who had shared the Chancellor’s intentions.
And that, being older than the Fifth Prince, his rank was naturally higher.
“Your Highness the Fourth Prince. I am truly grateful for your words, but this is also very sudden. Would you grant me time to think?”
“That’s not difficult. But you would do well to decide quickly. After I become Crown Prince, your value will fall.”
The Fourth Prince knew as well. He knew that he was quite far from the position of Crown Prince.
Those final words were a trick meant to make me feel even a little rushed.
All the more because he assumed my relationship with the Fifth Prince had soured.
But I had long since bet both my own future and my family’s future on one side.
“Team Leader One. Team Leader Two.”
“Yes, Chief!”
“Yes, Chief.”
“Let’s begin.”
The next day, the Enforcement Bureau launched a sudden investigation into the Fourth Prince’s faction.
Naturally, standing firmly behind us was the Fifth Prince.