Kill the Emperor Chapter 16 : Chapter 16

Chapter 16 : Ready!

“Really? Lately, the people working in the west annex have been showing a lot of interest in my whereabouts?”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“The west annex, huh…….”

“I heard that recently, people affiliated with the Treasurer’s Office were reassigned to work over there.”

“The Treasurer, huh. Wasn’t the newly appointed Third Finance Office Head said to be from the capital?”

“That is what I have heard.”

“Alright. I understand.”

After hearing Emily’s response, I, Hein Reichart, nodded.

A newly appointed official from the capital, backed by the Vispon Family’s influence, was interested in my whereabouts.

‘Do they believe that if they dig up so information about , they’ll earn favor with Rishu?’

Even during the past three months when I had shut myself away in seclusion, the Vispon Family had been steadily proceeding with the process of tightening their grip over Reichart’s territory.

And in the course of that, the nobles from the capital who had been brought in……

‘They must be busy scurrying around, hoping to earn even a scrap of favor.’

Running a hand through my hair, which had grown quite long over the past three months, I hardened my resolve.

I had achieved the results I wanted to so extent, so it was ti to step outside.

“Um…… Young Master, there is sothing I wished to tell you…….”

“What is it?”

“Actually, when I went out to the market last ti, I bought this.”

At that mont, Emily hesitated, then pulled a small bundle from her bosom and offered it to .

Inside the bundle were two red incense candles.

“You bought this? ……Well, I suppose you are an adult too, so you might need such things.”

The incense candles, adorned with delicate patterns, were items I was already familiar with.

Blended from paraffin and fragrance, these candles contained a small amount of aphrodisiac properties, and were commonly used by noble families or wealthy rchants when they engaged in nightti affairs(?).

‘It’s not like only the rich are allowed to use such things. Still, it would be a stretch to buy these on a maid’s salary, wouldn’t it?’

However, it seed my guess was wrong, as Emily waved her hands hurriedly, her face flushed red.

“No, Young Master! I did not buy these for my own use. I only…….”

“Only?”

“Actually, that day, soone was following . So…….”

“Soone followed you? Did you see their faces, by any chance?”

“I couldn’t see their faces. But sohow, I had a feeling…….”

Emily said it was just a feeling, but given the circumstances, it was entirely possible that soone curious about my recent movents had followed her.

And once my thoughts reached that point, I understood.

‘This girl did sothing quite clever.’

Why Emily had deliberately bought expensive aphrodisiac incense candles that would be difficult to afford on her salary.

“The one who followed you probably thinks by now that I bought these items.”

“If my presumptuous actions have brought harm to the Young Master’s reputation, please forgive …….”

“No. You did well.”

I let out a small chuckle and gently stroked the incense candles.

As I had initially thought, the likelihood of a re maid buying such items for her own use was low.

In that case, those who had followed Emily would have thought this.

‘Hein Reichart, who hasn’t appeared in public for the past three months, had his maid buy aphrodisiac incense candles. That ans he must be hiding sowhere right now, burning the candles while indulging in obscene pleasures.’

‘It’s not like I can completely erase their wariness of , but there’s no harm in giving them sothing like this to misunderstand.’

I spoke as I took out a pouch of gold coins from the drawer.

“On your salary, it must have been a burden to buy sothing like this.”

“It is fine, Young Master. Thanks to the grace you kindly bestowed upon last ti, I was able to purchase it without much difficulty.”

“Grace? Ah!”

Only after hearing Emily’s words did I recall giving her gold coins last month as a special bonus for handling an errand well.

“You worked hard. Thank you for being considerate.”

As a reward for Emily’s perceptive actions and for seeing through my intentions, I took out several gold coins and placed them on a tray holding empty dishes.

“No, Young Master. I did not expect such a thing.”

“Whether you expected it or not is none of my concern, but if you did your job well, you deserve a reward.”

Emily waved her hands in surprise, insisting she could not accept the gold coins, but I ignored her words and turned away.

“Truly…… thank you, Young Master.”

In the end, Emily put the gleaming gold coins into her pocket.

“Did you bring what I asked for?”

“Yes. Here it is, Young Master.”

Emily extended her hands politely, and I took the stack of docunts she brought.

‘Let’s see.’

The pile of docunts Emily brought was densely filled with lists of alchemists and rchants who supplied dicinal herbs and goods to the Reichart Family.

“Didn’t you find it suspicious that officials from the Procurent Bureau were requesting such materials?”

“No one said it outright, but the atmosphere suggested curiosity.”

“Then by now, quite a few people must know that I have obtained this list.”

“Um, so, Young Master, actually…….”

Emily hesitated, then pulled out several more sheets of paper and handed them to .

“What is this?”

“I thought the sa, so…… I wondered if it might help, and went to the dical Departnt to obtain these.”

“The dical Departnt?”

I unfolded the docunts Emily said she had obtained from the dical Departnt.

“……A stimulant formula? Hey. You.”

“Yes, Young Master!”

“Between the incense candles earlier and this, it seems you believe that the single word ‘lecher’ is enough to justify my actions to the people of the inner castle.”

“No, Young Master! That is not what I ant……!”

“No. I am not scolding you, so there is no need to make that face.”

I let out a wry laugh and waved my hand.

By now, the administrators of the inner castle were probably gossiping endlessly.

‘A bastard Young Master who not only indulges in obscene acts with aphrodisiac incense candles, but also secretly siphons off dicinal supplies to manufacture stimulants.’

Of course, such gossip ant nothing to .

It was far better to be treated as a lust-crazed lecher than to let information leak out that I was taking a keen interest in the supplies delivered to the inner castle, so I paid it no mind and issued my next order.

“In addition to the list you brought, there should be ledgers recording additionally supplied goods and current inventory status. Bring those as well. If you say it was by my order, they will hand them over without complaint.”

“Understood, Young Master.”

“And on your way, stop by the dical Departnt and relay this ssage too. Tell them the effect is lacking, so they should increase it to sothing stronger and more reliable.”

“Ah, understood.”

Emily’s face, already flushed red, grew even redder.

With an indifferent expression, I issued the embarrassing orders.

‘If my mory is correct, that fellow’s birthplace was the northern Zodiac. If he had been active as an alchemist from a young age, there should be records of supplies to Reichart as well.’

I traced my mories of the ‘soone’ I was desperately searching for.

Though it had declined, Reichart was still a prestigious family that dominated the northern region of Zodiac.

If he was still conducting alchemical work without being tainted by ‘evil deeds,’ I should be able to find a connection in Reichart’s warehouses.

‘The beginning of that incident, which will occur a year from now, starts with the outbreak of a plague. In the end, to minimize damage, the plague must be suppressed early.’

To do that, the innate alchemical talent that ‘that bastard’ possessed was absolutely necessary.

‘Though his abilities manifested in a twisted direction, his skill alone was worthy of being called the best on the continent.’

Emily, who had been watching silently as I fell into thought, soon bowed her head and spoke.

“Then I shall take my leave. Young Master, and I will bring the list you ntioned and…… th-that, that prescription as quickly as possible.”

Nod.

I nodded in response instead of speaking, and Emily exited at a brisk pace.

‘Then let’s end the ga of hide-and-seek here.’

Left alone, I began preparing to go outside.

Schrrk.

‘Six mana rings in three months. And about a fourth-star level in swordsmanship. Not bad.’

Using a sharply honed razor, I shaved off the thick beard covering my face, reflecting on the realm I had achieved through seclusion.

The results of completely cutting off outside contact and focusing on secluded training had been quite worthwhile.

‘I can now handle up to 7th Circle magic. It’s a pity that I’ve only recovered a few Unique Spells, but it can’t be helped.’

Perhaps because I already possessed the realm I had achieved in my previous life, my progress in magic was smooth, but the problem lay with the sword.

‘Fourth star. How far of a realm would that be?’

The mana engravings carved through sword training amounted to four layers.

By ordinary standards, reaching a fourth-star level in just three months of sword training was undoubtedly a growth rate that would shock the world.

However, considering my mories of already being a master in mana training and the synergy with the sword techniques left behind by Herar, my swordsmanship progress felt distinctly slower compared to magic.

‘Still, it should at least be enough to stretch my limbs. It’s about ti I started moving.’

Strictly speaking, the ti I had spent since awakening was preparation ti to face the fierce storm that was about to blow.

Now that the minimum preparations were complete, it was ti to put my plans into action in earnest.

‘Then shall I walk straight into the storm?’

Whoosh.

As if welcoming my resolve, blue flas flared up along the blade.

***

“We greet the Young Master!”

The knights’ voices resounded loudly across the Training Ground.

The first place my steps carried after ending my seclusion was the Training Ground, where the knights were honing their skills.

“Young Master, it has been a long ti. What brings you here today?”

Among the knights gathered at the Training Ground, the one holding the highest rank approached and asked with a bow.

“I wanted to loosen up my body a bit after so long. Is there anyone willing to spar with ?”

After briefly scanning the knights whose gazes were fixed on , I continued in a light tone.

“Young Master, my skills are lacking, but I…….”

“Young Master, please give a chance. I will do my utmost!”

The mont I finished speaking, volunteers sprang up from all directions.

Though their tone in requesting a duel was respectful, the enthusiasm in their eyes was anything but ordinary.

The reason the knights reacted so favorably to was partly because they hailed from families relatively free from the Vispon Family’s influence, but—

‘He was a hopeless fool until not long ago, yet he changed that much? I want to experience it firsthand.’

‘Is it true that the Young Master actually had great talent in swordsmanship and had been hiding it all this ti?’

Above all, curiosity toward my noticeably changed deanor in recent tis played the biggest role.

“We should hurry.”

“Yes? Young Master, what do you an by hurrying…….”

“With so many people willing to help , it seems there’s no ti to waste.”

Shing.

Having confird the knights’ overflowing enthusiasm, I drew my sword without hesitation.

Then, with the blade pointed toward the ground, I spoke.

“Now, let’s begin. Who’s first?”