“Ahem.”
Once again, three hours had passed since the imperial council had begun.
The Founding Emperor, seated upon his place, suddenly cleared his throat.
At once, the ministers and nobles fell silent.
They waited, wondering if the Founding Emperor had something to say.
“It is nothing. Continue.”
At the Founding Emperor’s reply, the prime minister and several others smiled bitterly.
He was the emperor now, but only six years had passed since he became one.
Before that, from the day he was born, the Founding Emperor had lived his entire life as a warrior.
He had swung spears and swords. Ridden horses. Charged across battlefields and fought.
The splendid clothes he wore now must have felt terribly cumbersome.
The formal manner of speech he had to observe must have been suffocating as well.
“Next is a matter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Urut Beile of the eastern grasslands has sent a man to us.”
“My younger brother, you say?”
A look of delight began to appear around the Founding Emperor’s mouth.
But the prime minister quickly stepped forward and requested that he amend the form of address.
“Your Majesty. You are now the master of the empire, and the Urut Beile is also the chief of his tribe. I understand that Your Majesty once treated the Beile as a brother, but for the sake of foreign relations…”
“Ahem. I understand, Prime Minister. Then. The Beile has suddenly sent someone to me. Has something happened?”
“He says he wishes to formally receive an envoy from our empire. It seems he wants to make it clear to the surrounding tribes that relations between the Urut tribe and the empire remain strong.”
“Did you not just say that my younger brother—no, the Beile—sent someone to me? And I gladly received him. Does that not already show our brotherly affection?”
If this were a matter between individuals, or between families, that would have been enough.
But now it was more than that. It was a matter between a vast nation and a tribe.
And not just any tribe, but an extremely influential one.
A single grievance. A single doubt. Either could swell and produce an entirely different outcome.
“The Urut Beile’s words are not entirely wrong, Your Majesty. For the past six years, the Urut tribe has used its friendship with Your Majesty as a reason to block, as much as possible, the plundering by neighboring tribes near our border. Only if they receive an official letter of thanks from the empire will they be able to maintain their position.”
“That is strange. Is the Urut tribe not quite a powerful tribe out on the eastern grasslands? It sounds odd that they would be shaken merely because we did not send an envoy.”
“It may be that internal dissatisfaction has grown. If they must even be cursed for a kindness that receives no response, it would not be strange for voices to rise within.”
Amid the opinions of his ministers, the Founding Emperor could only let out a low groan.
He had made a mistake. Thinking back to the days when they had mingled in their prime, he had taken it too lightly.
No matter how old men grew, a younger brother one knew remained a younger brother.
But in vast and complicated relations such as these, even that changed.
According to the names one bore. According to the people one led.
Such personal relations could twist and collapse at any time.
No matter how hard he tried to learn, his already hardened mind could not keep up with learning.
No matter how he tried to develop political sense, he had been born a warrior, and even that was difficult.
He had thought that if it was for the people, he could become a good emperor as much as anyone.
Feeling his own inadequacy, the Founding Emperor quietly called the prime minister.
“What is your opinion? Do you think the same as the ministers?”
“I, too, am well aware that Your Majesty and the Urut Beile shared a friendship in your younger days. Given the nature of the grassland tribes, who value trust and loyalty, the Urut tribe will not immediately turn its back on us. However, if internal dissatisfaction rises, their stance may change, Your Majesty.”
“So his request for us to send an envoy is for the purpose of displaying his official friendship with the empire.”
“For the Urut tribe to continue holding the border region, it will likely be necessary.”
The north and south had by no means been perfectly pacified.
The empire, having only just opened its new gates, could not handle every front.
At the very least, the east had to remain quiet a little longer.
The Urut tribe was a good partner. And it would continue to be one.
That was the conclusion reached by every minister gathered at the imperial council.
“Mm.”
Many ministers and nobles, led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And now even the prime minister.
They were all casting their votes in favor of sending an envoy to the eastern grassland tribe.
The Founding Emperor, too, decided to send an envoy without further hesitation.
Then the remaining question was who, exactly, should be sent to that distant place.
It would take two months just to get there, and another two months to return.
They would have to stay there for at least three months and build ties with the Urut.
On top of that, they would need to remain at least another month to observe the surrounding tribes.
And even this assumed that everything proceeded at the greatest possible speed.
At the most generous estimate, one would have to be away from the empire for as much as a full year.
And the destination was not a neighboring kingdom, but the land of a grassland tribe.
Even if the Founding Emperor lacked political sense, he understood the basics.
This was a sensitive matter that could, in effect, be taken as a demotion.
The factions within the capital were already clashing sharply over the matter of the crown prince.
In such a situation, it was difficult to single out one person and send him.
If the Founding Emperor had been a seasoned politician, he would not have cared.
He would have handled it through conciliation and persuasion, pressure and command.
But the Founding Emperor was still a warrior and a war hero.
He believed it was right to gather wills and have people move of their own accord.
“Having heard the words of my ministers, I see that I have failed to properly look after the eastern border. Thus, I will dispatch an envoy at once. I wish to ask if there is anyone who will volunteer.”
As if looking for a platoon leader to send out on an operation, the Founding Emperor asked for their willingness.
If this had been a battlefield. If they had each been commanders.
It was a task someone had to do anyway. If no one did it, they would all die together.
In that case, one of them might have stepped forward, thinking they might as well preserve their pride.
“…”
“…”
But the political arena was different. No one stepped forward rashly.
No one knew what aftereffects it might bring. No one knew what checks it might invite.
If I weaken now, today’s ally may become tomorrow’s enemy.
They would have to be absent from their post for a full year. Who knew what might happen in the meantime?
That was more than enough time for a rival to snatch the seat one was meant to occupy.
In this world, someone else doing well mattered more than oneself doing well.
Even if one performed the envoy’s mission splendidly, there would be nothing to gain upon returning.
It was only better than the winter barbarians of the north or the pirate alliance of the south.
Many nobles of the empire secretly looked down on the eastern grassland tribes as well.
It was not the world of civilization. It was the world of barbarians. They did not want to go.
It would be neither greatly profitable nor noble work.
If ordered, that would be one thing. But they did not want to volunteer.
“Is there no one?”
At the Founding Emperor’s question, the ministers began cautiously watching one another.
Should I step forward even now? Such thoughts briefly arose.
But then, one by one, the things they would have to give up came to mind.
They all knew. This was, in effect, no different from self-destruction.
Just as the silence lengthened and the prime minister’s face rapidly stiffened.
“I will go.”
A young nobleman stepped forward with his hand raised, dignified and unwavering.
It was a familiar face. Everyone at the imperial council remembered him.
“Ethan Montebello?”
The young founding contributor who had recently received great praise from the Founding Emperor.
The man who would be placed in charge of one department of the National Tax Service to be created a year later.
He already had merits and a promised position, so there was no reason for him to do this.
Yet that Ethan had stepped forward, saying he would go to the distant eastern grasslands himself.
“This humble subject will go, Your Majesty. I will go and display both the empire’s dignity and its benevolence, then return after thoroughly observing the situation on the eastern grasslands.”
At Ethan’s steady voice, the nobles began whispering among themselves.
If he had answered the moment the Founding Emperor asked, they would have viewed him with suspicion.
Was he trying too hard to catch the emperor’s eye?
Or had some kind of deal already been made?
But Ethan had stepped forward at the moment everyone was hesitating.
As if he knew that if this continued, it would only become awkward for everyone.
It looked as though he had no choice but to step forward himself.
Thanks to that, a kind of unspoken debt settled in their hearts.
One they themselves did not realize. Something that arose unconsciously.
“Ethan Montebello. I will ask you again. Do you truly wish to go?”
“I do, Your Majesty.”
“What is your reason? I would like to hear why you volunteered.”
The Founding Emperor found Ethan, who had stepped forward despite his youth, exceedingly commendable.
By contrast, the prime minister beside him was looking at him with suspicious eyes.
He had nothing to regret. Why would he say he would go as an envoy?
Ethan had already caught the emperor’s eye and engraved his name in his memory.
On top of that, he belonged to a meritorious family whose father had been a founding contributor.
Ethan himself had also rendered service and was likewise a founding contributor.
From there, he had proposed the establishment of the National Tax Service and been promised the post of Executive Director.
‘If he simply stays still, everything is laid out smoothly before him. Young men tend to place even greater value on the remarkable things already in their hands. Yet in this political climate, he chooses to head for the eastern grasslands, where he may well be pushed to the back?’
There is something here. The prime minister thought so as he looked at Ethan.
“Though the grassland tribes of the east are of lesser importance than our neighboring kingdoms, that does not mean they may be taken lightly. In particular, the Urut Beile is one who once shared a friendship with me. This is not a trivial matter. Ethan. You must show both the dignity of the empire and my heart.”
“I understand, Your Majesty. That is precisely why I have chosen this path.”
“Then you mean to say you know the grassland tribes well?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I know as much as I must know.”
If Ethan had simply been Ethan, he would not have believed him.
But the emperor recalled Ethan’s father, his old comrade.
Though he was no longer in this world, when he was alive, he had been one of his trustworthy friends.
He was not a man who spoke carelessly. His son would not be either.
“…Very well. Ethan Montebello. As soon as the imperial council ends, confer with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and depart for the east.”
“Ethan of House Montebello receives His Majesty the Emperor’s command!”
As Ethan bowed his head and offered his salute.
The emperor looked on with satisfaction. The prime minister with vigilance. The nobles with their own thoughts.
Each differed from the others. All manner of human figures mingled together, their reactions divided.
And.
“…”
At the back, the Fifth Prince was smiling, faintly and unnoticed.
*
The Executive Department alone isn’t enough. I need to raise my value even further.
Just as I was worrying over that, a decisive opportunity came flying in.
‘Envoy to the eastern grassland tribes. This is it.’
Originally, someone from the Eighth Prince’s side would go and make a spectacular mess of it.
The decisive reason was that they did not know the tribes’ etiquette and customs well.
But I’m different. Memories of my past life, common knowledge, and even the setting.
I know everything I need to know. My confidence has a reason behind it.
If I handle the grassland tribes’ matter well, I can prove my usefulness, too.
If I’m someone who watches his words and actions while also doing his job well, they can’t help but find me valuable.
‘I absolutely won’t be purged. No, I won’t let them purge me.’
Do they know how much Father and I suffered to reach this position?
I will survive. A founding contributor will survive, no matter what.