FVN Book 8: Chapter 13: The True Winner
Book 8: Chapter 13: The True Winner
Book 8: Chapter 13: The True Winner
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The Banfield Family's fleet has returned to Augur.
Out of the 30,000 ships that made up the fleet, a couple thousand of them have been lost, and we're holding a funeral for them as we speak.
Klaus talks to me as I'm standing in front of the war memorial in my mourning attire.
Lord Liam, what are you thinking about in front of the memorial?
I've been staring at the war memorial so intently that he must have grown suspicious.
He must be wondering why a villainous lord like myself would act all serious at times like this.
But see, it's only when they are dead that I can fully trust them.
They have laid down their lives for me and proven that their loyalties were genuine.
I'm sure not all of them were willing to do so, but it doesn't change the fact that they died for my sake.
They have all the right to swear at me, to resent me.
It's nothing.
Even if I told him I'm praying for the dead, I doubt he'll believe me. Not to mention, it's already too late for those that have died.
I'm just doing this for self-satisfaction.
Make sure to properly compensate the families of the deceased.
Of course.
Klaus and the other knight-escorts follow behind me as I turn my back on the memorial.
Wallace comes over to me in his mourning attire.
Liam, bad news!
What is it?
A big problem has occurred in the Capital! Look, the department you were in has been accused of corruption, and it's been decided that it'll be crushed!
Wallace operates his terminal and shows me an article about a case of corruption within the Capital.
It's where I worked at before I was transferred here.
Ahhh, you mean that. Well, we're approaching the end of our training after all.
Huh, what do you mean? I'm telling you; your previous workplace is about to be crushed. Investigators from the Capital might rush over here if we're unlucky.
Wallace is making a big fuss about it, but it's nothing serious, so I keep walking.
Dissatisfied by my reaction, Wallace demands an explanation.
I'm the one who made the report.
Eh?
I didn't like the fact that I was getting chased out of my workplace, so I gathered evidence of corruption. I had quite a hard time getting it all done before the scheduled time.
That said, when I made up my mind to be the whistleblower, I became extremely motivated.
There's a saying telling us to leave everything neat and tidy when you leave, but I went ahead and crushed my workplace.
I have no need for people that try to kick me out, and it's their fault for allowing me to find proof of their corruption.
Wallace's cheeks are twitching.
You crushed them cause you didn't like them?
There's that, but it was done more as a harassmentRandy of the Lengrand Family will have a hard time because of this.
Just like me, Randy's about to finish his training, but I'm looking forward to how these changes because of this incident.
Normally, when someone's found to be involved in a case of corruption, they'd have to restart their training.
When he threw his work at me, I made sure to set him up.
Hmm, he should be receiving the information on this by now?
When I say restart their training, I mean redoing everything except preschool, which is impossible to do.
In other wordsit means going to the military academy again.
All the aristocrats that were in my workplace would have to restart their training.
Wallace flinches.
You're a devil. Given his age, Randy would look extremely out of place in the military academy.
Worry not. Just the fact that he has to start over due to corruption would make him stand out.
Basically, if you don't complete your training by the age of 200, the people around you would be like That's a bit
This is especially the case if you have to start over as punishment for corruption.
But this also means any act of corruption would normally be overlooked as long as that individual hasn't finished their training.
This just goes to show how lenient the Empire is with the aristocrats.
As I thought, being in a position of power is the best.
At the Capital
The department that Randy had been assigned to for his training had been emptied of all equipment including desks and chairs.
The official that investigated the case of corruption made an announcement in front of the aristocratic children that had gathered there.
Normally, as aristocrats of the Empire, this would be considered a serious offense. However, as you all haven't finished your training, you're only considered half-baked. As such, you will restart your training, and this incident will be swept under the rug.
Randy furrowed his brows in frustration in front of the officials, who reported directly to the Prime Minister.
You dare do this to me, someone from the Lengrand Family?
The officials laughed derisively at his words, greatly upsetting Randy, but what followed made him dismiss this small details.
To be more precise, his anger was redirected to someone else.
I was told to take things seriously after all.
Eulisia was usually all goofy, but she would be able to accomplish most of what is expected of her once ordered to do so.
Rosetta took this as a sign that Eulisia wasn't taking things seriously.
From now on, take things seriously before being told to do so.
I think it's better to do everything in moderation. Lady Rosetta's too stiff about everything.
And you're too lax about everything!
With her hands on her ears, Tia was receiving a report with a serious look on her face as the two ladies continued to argue.
Rosetta noticed her behavior and asked, Did something happen?
Tia let go of her ears and said with a somewhat impatient expression, It's about the war with the Kingdom of Dominion. The Imperial Army has been defeated. The main army under His Highness Calvin has withdrawn, with great damage to the army.
Pardon?
Rosetta's face turned pale when she heard that the battle at the border where Liam had been dispatched to had ended with the Kingdom of Dominion's victory.
Damaged ships are arriving at the spaceport above Augur seamlessly.
Ships that have been wandering aimlessly in space looking for a place to receive supplies and maintenance seem to be gathering here.
However, there are more of them than we were expecting, and the spaceport is becoming very crowded.
Next to me, Wallace gulps seeing the state of the Imperial Army's battleships.
How did they win after losing their commander? Liam already killed Izel, right?
The Imperial Army has lost.
The battlefield I was on ended with the Empire's victory, but the Imperial Army lost on the other battlefields.
The aristocrats of the Calvin Faction appear to have fought hard, but they couldn't resist the onslaught of the Kingdom of Dominion.
Eventually they decided to withdraw.
Calvin, who was backed to a corner, made the decision to retreat.
News was arriving one after another, but from what I've gather, there were some unnatural movements.
Some of the aristocrats seem to have purposely allowed the Kingdom of Dominion to approach Augur.
I'm not about to forgive them just because we won, but there's nothing I can do if the perpetrators are dead.
Wallace clings to me.
Liam, let's run away! This is no longer a base that's in the rear. We're at the front lines! Even my brother withdrew. No one will say anything if we run.
Calvin's a capable man.
The damage to the Imperial Army wasn't that great, but he ordered a retreat to minimize the damage upon realizing that he couldn't win.
Thanks to that, Augur has become a base situated at the front lines, and Calvin's even left behind a souvenir.
We can't, an order has been handed down from the Capital.
A small window that's used for displaying electronic documents is floating in the air.
I gesture it towards Wallace, and the window slowly moves until it's right before his face.
Wallace confirms the content of the document, his eyes roll back and he faints.
Now that I've finished my training and become full-fledged aristocrat, the document is telling me to go to the front lines and serve as a breakwater against the Kingdom of Dominion.
And here I was, preparing to head back to taunt Randy. What a bother.
After realizing that he couldn't win, not only did Calvin run away, he pushed the matter of the border to me.
Just as I'm wondering what to do next, Klaus rushes to my side.
Lord Liam, we were told that the Kingdom of Dominion would be sending an ambassador.
From the Kingdom of Dominion?
Yes, they wish for a ceasefire.
So now that they've shaved off a chunk of the Empire, they want to end the war?
And the Kingdom of Dominion has nominated Lord Liam, who defeated Crown Prince Izel, to act as the negotiator.
They're already acting like the victors? What an impatient bunch.
What will you do?
Klaus is sweating profusely.
Wellit sounds rather interesting, so I guess I'll take part in the negotiations.
Contact the Capital.
I was under the impression that we won a large-scale battle, but from the looks of things, it was only one piece of the puzzle.
Even if I win, it doesn't mean anything if we lose on all the other battlefields.
But this must have been a dangerous wager for Calvin as well.
If he can't recover from this, he'll probably lose his status as the Crown Prince.
Oh, one more thing. Klaus, take Wallace back to his room.
U-understood.
Klaus carries Wallace away.
Wakagi-chan (): With the web novel completed, I won't be able to play any active role, but as the idol of The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs', I'll continue to pull my weight by taking over the postscript! Now, onto today's promotions!
Wakagi-chan (*): Volume 4 of the manga The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs' will be released August 7th. Chapter 23, which has a whopping 50 pages, will be updated this week as well!
Wakagi-chan (**): For readers of I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire', if you've become interested, you may want to try out the manga first. Oh, but Naegi-chan (aka me) hasn't appeared yet, so don't be too disappointed.
Wakagi-chan (*): Please show much love to The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs', which as a series, have sold a total of 300,000 copies!
Brian (): It's painful.
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