18-3 To The Empire

At last, I decided to head to the Empire for collection—no, negotiations.

Remi and Fal were staying home today.

“Souvenirs—”

“Yes, yes.”

I might as well wring those out of that Crown Prince bastard too.

Man, having a little brother underling really was meaningful.

Maybe because some time had passed and things had settled down, Remi and the others no longer looked like they were about to cry or clung to me when I went out.

It was probably because I had returned to everyday life so naturally.

After all, back when I was at the company, it was nothing like this.

No matter how depressed or broken you were, work would never forgive you.

Even if you were dying of cancer, the outrageous act of lying in a hospital bed was not allowed.

Someone I knew at the company really had been like that, so that depressed me.

He was someone who had helped me quite a lot too.

First of all, if something like that happened so often, even I could not take it.

Please spare me.

I was burning with passion.

Because it was November, and in Japan, the crab season in the Sea of Japan would have long since opened, and it was the season when news about how much a whole crab cost would be playing on TV.

If this did not set me on fire, I would not be Japanese.

My soul was trembling with anticipation for fresh otherworld crab.

Wait for me, everyone.

Daddy is going to catch a whole lot of crab for you all~.

Fortunately, I had been told that even cat beastfolk and the like had absolutely no problem with seafood.

I still did not know.

That Takeshi had done the same sort of thing a thousand years ago.

If anything, I would not mind producing a crab restaurant.

In this otherworld kingdom, possible shop names would probably be around Crab King, Crab Prince, Crab Crown Prince, Crab Imperial Prince, Crab Emperor, Crab Imperial Crown Prince, Crab Heir, Crab Empire, Crab Kingdom, or Crab Allied Forces.

Oops, I must not forget the original Crab Duke.

A huge crab sign with moving claws and legs would be essential.

Actually, I had already made a prototype of that thing.

Last night, because I just could not wait for crab anymore.

In this country’s case, I might also have to include Crab Queen Consort and Crab Princess among the shop-name candidates.

Because I was sure crab would be offered to them before the king.

I recalled the women-first sight I had seen at Antonio’s wedding.

I had already reserved Yamamoto-san’s production of crab-miso tofu.

I had also copied the crab legs I brought back the other day, and everyone had already taste-tested them.

Aoi-chan ate a lot too.

Even in another world, everyone went silent when eating crab.

For the little cat children, I served properly peeled portions so they would be easy to eat.

It was not like a Las Vegas buffet, where they made it salty so you could not eat too much.

The saltiness was truly just right.

That Empire really could not be underestimated in areas like this.

Boiling crab was a little difficult for an amateur.

I just could not boil it well no matter what I did.

Even though I had even bought a large alumite pot specifically for boiling crab.

I had also added salt according to the amount of hot water.

But with a pot that large, there was no other use for it.

The pot used to heat emergency food at the school district evacuation drill was that size.

That one had also been left stored under the gas stove in my apartment the whole time.

Recently, I had hardly ever seen live crab even at supermarkets.

Apparently, Yamamoto-san was also good at boiling crab.

True, he had been boiling udon in pots since he was a child.

The greatest gain from the previous uproar was this man.

Among the rare visitors at my place, if one set aside combat power and production ability, the most useless one was actually the headmaster.

Were there still wonderful rare visitors somewhere in this other world?

For the next rare visitor, a Chinese cuisine cook, or someone for French or Italian cuisine, and also a chef for formal Japanese-course cuisine or a sushi chef would not be bad either.

I hoped the next human resource would be a cook too.

And while swelling my dreams and delusions, I teleported to the Empire.

I no longer bothered crossing checkpoints one by one.

At this point, this country was practically mine.

If they disliked that, they should not have picked unnecessary fights with me.

Even if they regretted it, it was far too late now.

Having been raised by a black company, I had absolutely no intention of listening to the whining of trash like some mere emperor.

I teleported straight to the imperial palace, said only “yo” to the gatekeeper, and marched through openly.

When I strode through the imperial palace, everyone ran away.

I still had a marker attached to the Crown Prince—no, the new emperor.

Of course, the markers for the dead former emperor and the second prince had disappeared and returned as spare capacity in my ten slots.

I advanced in a straight line toward him while watching the radar.

My destination was the emperor’s office.

That bastard was still buried in work as usual.

I felt like I had increased his unnecessary work myself too.

And I was going to increase it again now.

There were two guards in front of the room.

Wearing my best outfit, the explosive-flame style, I cheerfully raised a hand and greeted them, but their faces twitched.

“I’m coming in~.”

I knocked, properly called out once, and then entered.

Manners were important, after all.

“I have not answered yet.”

Emperor Doran said that without taking his eyes off the documents.

He probably knew who had come without looking.

There was surely no one else who would do something this rude to the emperor.

“Uh, nice to meet you? I’m Granburst. It’s collection time.”

I had seen him many times, but this was probably the first time he had seen me.

This guy had been imprisoned during the war too.

The emperor pulled himself away from the documents as if giving up and came over here.

He thought of offering me a chair, but since I had already sat down on my own and was leaning back arrogantly, he stopped saying it and sat down gracefully himself.

Yeah, as expected, he looked the part.

If it had been that stern second prince who always wore a military uniform, it would not have been this elegant.

That cunning and utterly selfish man had now become only a head and had become very quiet, though.

“Frankly, hand over crab first. Before anything else, that comes first. I killed only your enemies without killing your soldiers solely to make that discussion proceed smoothly.”

“If possible, I wish you had dealt with the one remaining person too. You may even do it now, if you like.”

Of course, he meant that Duke Beckenheim.

Because under this stiff emperor, the people who could not suck up sweet profits would prop up a fool like that.

“It’s more meaningful for the Kingdom if he stays alive.”

“Do not say such stingy things when you possess the title of duke slayer. I was secretly looking forward to it.”

“Hmph. The greatest pleasures are things you save for later. So what rights do I get? Crab is so obvious that it does not even count as a right.”

For now, I tried confirming that area.

“Nothing in particular has been decided. That part will be a discussion. In any case, we cannot exactly refuse much.”

Oh my.

A blank check, huh? How generous of him~.

“Then, all the lewd elves.”

“Lewd elves?”

“I mean the elves. The people in your country are enslaving elves and doing lewd things to them, aren’t they? Hand over all those elves.”

“All of them? That is quite greedy.”

“No, I don’t intend to do anything lewd to them, but this kind of thing is a promise of the genre.”

“A promise of the genre? Do you think the nobles of this country will truly obey quietly?”

How naive.

It was not a matter of whether they obeyed or not.

Everything had already been settled.

If they still refused to submit to my camp, I would unleash the spirit army and the armies of large and small golems.

And the flocks of strategic bombers, messengers of death, roaring as they flapped their wings and covered the sky pitch-black.

While I was at it, I would unleash a storm of launched magic so overwhelming that it filled the night sky across the Empire.

If I went that far, would the presentation not be perfect?

“It’s fine. As long as you approve, I’ll go collect them from each house one by one. In that case, I’ll smash everything and search the houses. If anyone wants this Demon King-sama to pay them a visit, I’ll gladly do so anytime.”

“Very well, I permit it. Well, it has nothing to do with me.”

“Oh, you really said it plainly. Then I’ll leave the proclamation to you. For now, before the proclamation, should I reduce a few houses to ash as examples? That would make the later collection very smooth.”

“Hey!”

Ah, the tea was delicious.

“Also, do you know my title?”

“I feel you have various ones.”

“Basically, I only have Headmaster of the Beast-Ear Kindergarten. This spring, I’ll be promoted to Academy Headmaster of the Beast-Ear Academy. I won’t forgive beast-ear abuse.”

“Are you suddenly telling me to abolish demi-human slavery? That is impossible. The country would collapse. Even your Kingdom has demi-human slaves.”

So that was the case.

Until he said it just now, I had not noticed at all.

As for beastfolk, I had only paid attention to my children and adventurers.

“Well, I won’t go so far as to say abolish slavery, but I want you to submit measures to improve their treatment. Depending on the contents, I might rampage on the spot, so give the person in charge my regards.”

“Understood. For now, I will have them submit a treatment-improvement proposal. Please, do not rampage. The Empire no longer intends to interfere with you. To begin with, from the start, I never had the slightest intention of clashing with you.”

“That’s fine, then. Also, do something about Count Brown’s matter. I need to compensate him, but he is still being ostracized by noble society, right?”

“Ah, that man who had been subjected to my uncle’s lawless behavior. That uncle truly is a problem. Understood, I will make proper efforts.”

Then I grinned and added one more thing.

“And then… naturally, you’re my little brother underling, right? Do you know what a little brother underling means? Basically, it’s something like a subordinate.”

“Mmph. Even if I said I hated it, you would not listen anyway, would you?”

Doran was making an extremely displeased frown.

What a waste of such a handsome man.

“Now, now. If you won’t interfere with my place or the Albatross Kingdom, then I have no reason to oppose you either. It’s better to be friends with someone like me. You’ve only just become emperor, so you must have all sorts of things going on. If there are times when you want me there, I don’t mind being there for you. Also, a child Sacred Elion is at my place. The parent Sacred Elion is my friend too. Because the previous Empire-related people committed one outrage after another, international pursuit will be harsh in all kinds of ways, and you’ll have little room to stand proud. If you make yourself someone connected to a divine messenger, it should be convenient in various ways. Ah, but academy business takes priority.”

“Understood…”

His answer was reluctant, but I somehow brought the Bernstein Empire under my umbrella.

With this, the security of the Beast-Ear Academy had greatly improved.

“One more thing. Marquis Nielsen of the second prince’s faction had a skill called Armor of the Demon Realm. I want to know where that thing came from.”

“What!? Th-that is absurd! No matter how you look at it, that goes far beyond lawlessness. Is that certain? I have heard nothing of that.”

Good grief, it seemed the new emperor of the Empire had not yet fully taken control of his new workplace.

“I’ve heard that thing is an unbelievably dangerous object. If there are still others who have it, that’ll be a problem, so investigate it thoroughly. And send that information to me too. Depending on the case, we’ll have to eliminate whoever has it, right? Most likely, I think that role would be impossible unless it’s my people.”

“Understood. I will give instructions to that effect…”

His Imperial Majesty the Emperor seemed to have a headache from suddenly being saddled with piles of problems immediately after taking office.

As a substitute for the sake cup that would seal a boss-and-underling relationship, I placed Japanese headache medicine, with usage instructions written in another world’s language, on his desk.