Emperor! Can You See Stats!?

Chapter 134: Eastern Envoy

With Cain’s final feat, all the unrest in the south was suppressed.

“No… Does this mean I have to fight for my life against superhumans on my vacation?”

“If you whine one more time, I’ll use my authority as a duke to ban you from entering my territory!”

“…”

He kept grumbling that it was unfair, but he had no choice but to shrink back when his father, the duke, roared at him.

“I’m sorry to show you such a disgraceful sight, Your Majesty.”

“Not at all! I heard you had a cold relationship, but it doesn’t seem so. I’m glad.”

“Well…”

Although he spoke harshly, Eurius had heard that they were quite awkward with each other. It seemed that they had reconciled to some extent on their way here.

The duke kept bowing his head in embarrassment, but Eurius smiled and moved his steps toward the palace.

***

“…That’s all for the report on the southern turmoil.”

“Hmm… You’ve done well.”

The emperor looked at his ministers on both sides with a satisfied face. 

Among them, the number of nobles had decreased by two-thirds. 

A whopping third of the nobles were arrested for being involved in this incident.

‘I spilled much less blood than I thought. This should make it easier to deal with the nobles from now on.’

When the emperor decided to sweep away the southern nobles, he expected that at least half of the southern territories would be devastated by civil war.

But when Eurius used tax audits as bait to weed them out, he managed to clean them up without much civil war. 

Of course, there were fierce battles behind the scenes, but that was something the emperor didn’t know at this point.

‘This should be enough to trust him with controlling the nobles from now on.’

With that thought in mind, the emperor gave an order.

“Those who participated in the rebellion will be punished according to their crimes. And those who contributed to the suppression will receive appropriate rewards!”

“Thank you!”

The emperor sent a signal with his eyes to Eurius, who bowed his head.

‘I have something to tell you after the meeting is over. Follow me.’

And a little later.

“You know why I called you, right?”

Eurius nodded at the emperor’s question.

“Is it about the crown prince’s coronation ceremony in a few weeks?”

“Yes. Have you decided on the territory and title you will receive? I haven’t heard from you yet because of the busy state affairs.”

It was something that should have been decided long ago. 

The crown prince could receive a title equivalent to a duke and a territory through a proxy, even if he didn’t rule it directly.

But what was really important was what came next! 

The territory and title were meaningless to the crown prince who lived in the capital anyway.

What the emperor was asking was about his activities after the coronation. 

The crown prince had the authority to lead the state affairs on behalf of the emperor.

The emperor revealed a bit of his malicious intention here.

“How about you take over the state affairs for a few years as a test? There won’t be anyone who opposes it now.”

“…”

Eurius chuckled inwardly at the silence.

‘You’re trying to hand over the state affairs to me at this opportunity?’

He said it was for a few years, but how long would the old emperor live? 

This was undoubtedly an implicit pressure from him saying ‘I’m going to rest now!’ and handing over all the complicated state affairs to Eurius.

‘But you’ll have to work hard for a little longer.’

It would be nice for Eurius if the old emperor retired from tiring state affairs and lived long, but it wasn’t time yet.

Didn’t he still have enemies left?

“It doesn’t matter! Thank you for entrusting me with such an important position.”

“Hooh…”

The emperor smiled slyly.

‘Is this guy finally willing to follow my will after wandering around? But why does he agree so easily? It feels strange.’

“But!”

Eurius, who seemed to answer obediently, suddenly raised his voice. 

The emperor frowned openly at this.

“What? What’s your complaint now? Ugh…”

Eurius opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry, but there’s one more place I want to visit before I go.”

***

There was a good reason why it took three months to prepare for the crown prince’s coronation ceremony.

First of all, they needed time to send envoys to each country, and it also took a lot of time for them all to gather. 

In addition, Eurius had some more complicated circumstances.

“The envoy from Holy Kingdom has arrived.”

“Partia has sent an envoy as a representative of South Desert Kingdom.”

“The representative of North Barbarian… No, North Tribe has arrived.”

It was because Eurius had many forces under his control. 

Especially, it took a long time to decide when the news came from the farthest north and south of the continent.

There were whispers among the officials.

“Is this the first time that North Tribe and South Desert Kingdom have sent envoys to the crown prince’s coronation ceremony?”

“Well, His Highness… No, I guess we can call him His Majesty now. Anyway, he personally went there and made alliances with them, right?”

“It’s unprecedented. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had something to do with the East before he became the emperor.”

“Hey… No way!”

There were so many surprising people among the participants of this crown prince’s coronation ceremony that such jokes came out.

However, the bureaucrats and nobles in the empire were calm. It was because it was no different from doing something that had been decided several years ago.

The order of the ceremony was simple. 

A noble who served as a host recited the achievements that Eurius had made to become the crown prince, and then he received a crown from the emperor himself.

The interest of the officials was not in such formal procedures, but in Eurius’s activities afterwards. 

They would probably hear it after all the ceremonies were over today.

As time passed, the emperor declared solemnly on the stage set up in the hall.

“With this, I appoint Eurius, the first prince, as the crown prince.”

“Wow!”

After a cheer burst out once, Eurius raised one hand.

Shh.

“…”

As his hand went up, the hall was silent in an instant.

“There was one project that I wanted to pursue if I became the crown prince.”

At his words, the eyes of the people in the hall were more focused and waited for his mouth to open with bated breath. 

Soon after confirming that enough attention was paid, Eurius opened his mouth.

“I want to send ‘Eastern Envoy’ again!”

“…!?”

“Eastern Envoy?”

The officials who expected his future plans or policies were puzzled for a moment.

Eastern Envoy!

It was an event where Scharnos Empire and Hwan Empire, a single state in the east, regularly exchanged envoys after trade began with the eastern continent.

It had its own tradition and lasted for more than a hundred years, but it suddenly stopped when Hwan Empire stopped sending envoys.

But was there a need to send an envoy separately now?

The officials were all unconvinced by that question.

“…”

But since the emperor didn’t say anything, it was clear that this was not a joke.

“I will announce the participants of the envoy later. That’s all for now!”

“…”

Clap clap!

The officials, who were only staring at Eurius coming down from the stage with a stunned expression, finally began to clap sporadically.

***

“Ah!”

And a few days later, when the list of the envoy was revealed, the officials had to nod their heads.

“I guess I know what His Majesty’s intention is. Tsk… Power is cruel indeed.”

“I thought he would be merciful, but he seems to be very angry because of the southern rebellion that happened before. It’s a rather ingenious way to eliminate his enemies, don’t you think?”

The officials looked at one side of the hall with pity.

They thought that Eurius had used the excuse of sending an envoy to get rid of his last enemies as he became the crown prince.

[The 99th Eastern Envoy List]

Envoy Leader: Leonhardt von Sharnos, the second prince

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He will be accompanied by servants and porters.

‘Damn it…’

Leonhardt felt the pitying eyes of the officials and got angry, but what could he do?

‘As soon as I go to the east, I will lose all my connections, including Father’s protection. It wouldn’t be strange if I only left a corpse.’

He gritted his teeth and recalled a week ago.

Eurius, who suddenly visited his place, asked him how he was doing with a bright smile.

“How have you been? Are you healthy?”

“Haha! What could happen to me who is eating and playing in the capital? How about you, brother? You’re going to have your crown prince’s coronation ceremony soon. Are you okay?”

Eurius nodded and opened his mouth again.

“I’m glad you’re in good shape. I have a good offer for you. I’ve consulted with Father and came here.”

“…!?”

Leonhardt felt suspicious inside, but he didn’t show it.

“An offer? I’m looking forward to it. Is it about going out of the palace?”

“Yes!”

“As expected…”

Sure enough, Eurius’s offer was in the worst form possible.

“I’ve decided to send an envoy to the east, and after consulting with Abamama, we thought it would be best to send you as a representative.”

“Me?”

Leonhardt broke out in a cold sweat. 

Just as Duke couldn’t do anything to Eurius in the palace, now the situation was completely reversed and he couldn’t go out of the palace at all.

‘If I go out, I might die without anyone knowing.’

He opened his mouth.

He would have been lucky to leave a corpse behind. 

If he was thrown into the sea or had an accident in a faraway continent, there would be no hassle of cleaning up after him.

Leonhardt quickly weighed the pros and cons and sprang to his feet.

“What’s going on?”

He bowed down in front of Eurius, who asked with a puzzled expression.

“Brother… no, Your Majesty! Please spare me!”

“What are you talking about?”

“I have no power left, do I? I know nothing about the nobles’ rebellion! Please believe me!”

Eurius scratched his head silently with a dumbfounded expression as he watched his brother’s sudden change of attitude.

“…”

‘He still has a keen sense of the situation. He has too much pride to bow down to me, even if he feels threatened by death…’

He looked at his brother, who was lying on the floor with his head down, and pretended to be sympathetic.

“Get up.”

“Please forgive me!”

Eurius spoke more firmly as he saw that he did not get up.

“Then it’s an order. Get up.”

Flinch.

Leonhardt shuddered for a moment and slowly got up. 

Eurius opened his mouth with a still sympathetic expression.

“If I wanted to get rid of you, would I have consulted with Father? You don’t have to worry, I have no such intention this time.”

“…!?”

Leonhardt fluttered his eyelids slightly but did not answer. 

He thought that going to the east was no different from jumping into a hellish inferno.

Eurius sighed as he read his thoughts.

“Sigh… Let’s say I want to eliminate you. Then why would I use such an inconvenient method?”

“…”

Leonhardt’s face turned pale for a moment. 

Was that a threat that he could kill him right away if he didn’t go to the east?

“And I swear! As long as you don’t touch me first, I won’t kill you either. This is also a promise I made with Father.”

As Eurius repeated his threats and coaxing, Leonhardt had no choice but to surrender.

“I believe that you will keep your promise, brother.”

“Of course.”

They made a promise, but they didn’t trust each other at all. 

Leonhardt was not the type to trust anyone in the first place, and Eurius had experienced it before, so he had no reason to believe him.

[Leonhardt von Scharnos]

Player Factor (50%)

Job: Emperor, Intermediate Knight

Strength: B+ Agility: B Intelligence: A+ Spirit: A+ Force: B+ Force Aptitude: A

Disposition: Cold-blooded, Ambitious, Charismatic

Current State: Anxious, Relieved, Doubtful

[Traits]

Imperial Bloodline-You have inherited the player’s bloodline. You receive a bonus that makes all your abilities grow faster.

Versatile-You learn any field faster than others.

‘He doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the Order from his stats. But he has the player aptitude and maybe a memories of his previous life, so he must have some secrets.’

Eurius had to go to the east for the quest anyway, so he thought he would take this opportunity to see how he would turn out.

‘Actually, I was going to monitor him while I was going as the leader.’

Unfortunately, that plan was thwarted by the emperor’s fierce opposition.

“You want me to send both of them who have the right to inherit the throne across the sea? I can’t do that even if you put a knife to my neck!”

“I can protect myself in any case. I heard that the sailing route is quite safe these days.”

“That’s not the problem. Would you send both of your children there?”

‘How do I deal with this…’

Eurius was at a loss as he faced the rare strong opposition. 

But then he had a brilliant idea.

“What about Leonhardt? Actually, I need someone to check on the situation in the east.”

“That bastard Leon?”

Eurius persuaded him earnestly and finally the emperor had no choice but to settle the matter by sending Leonhardt.

***

Three days after the eastern delegation left, Marius rushed in with a pale face.

“Your Majesty! There’s trouble!”

“What is it?”

The emperor asked while slightly closing his eyes.

“It’s… Eurius Your Majesty…”

“Did he disappear?”

“How did you know?”

The emperor silently pointed at a note rolling on the floor.

[I thought Leonhardt’s movements were suspicious, so I decided to go to the east for a while.

-Eurius-]

“…”

After a brief silence, the emperor put his hand on his head.

“Bring him back by any means necessary.”

“We’ll prepare to send a backup team to the east right away.”

Marius quickly answered at his resolute tone. 

The emperor spat out the next words as if squeezing them out of his head.

“When I bring him back this time, I’ll have to lock him up in the palace, even if I have to abdicate him.”