It happened while I was still entangled with the pitiful girls.

When the guide suddenly appeared, he was painfully grasping at his chest.

Was he in a hurry or something?

Liam did you not notice? Im the reason why your enemies had gathered together!

Huh?

Apparently, the coalition between the Berkley fleet and my enemies within the military was all the work of the guide.

Youre the reason why my enemies were working together?!

Exactly! Yet you still never realized it, not even after everything was already finished!

Hearing that, I felt feelings of regret well up inside of me.

Im sorry. I never noticed.

Well, its fine. However, now you know the truth, right?

What?

Come on, it should be obvious! Who your true enemy is!

My true enemy?

The guide was trying to tell me who my true enemy was.

In other words, there was someone out there who manipulated the Berkley family?

Dont tell me, has this guy been protecting me from them this entire time

You, it cant be!

So you finally understand!

Yeah, I finally get it. Thank you so much.

huh?

Of course the guide would be angry after being run down so raggedly.

If I was protecting someone from their true enemy, Id grow irritated if they never noticed either.

Im sure that hes gone through some tough times.

Looking at him closely, even his clothes seemed to be tattered.

All of this was because he was gathering my enemies for me.

He saw that I was troubled and set things up so I could finish everything in one battle.

I thought it was weird seeing the Berkley family working together with the faction of the military that was hostile to me.

Well, the only thing they had going for them was their numbers though.

I was actually surprised by how weak they were.

Were they betting everything on that secret weapon that came out at the end?

N-no, Im telling you!

But before the guide could say anything, I went ahead and expressed my thanks to him.

There was the matter with Avid, as well as many other things as well. Im seriously indebted to you. Ill make sure to look into my true enemy as well, but for now thank you so much!

The guide really was a shy person.

This was probably because there werent that many people out there who could express their gratitude to him in the first place.

He was trembling in embarrassment even now.

S-stop it!

You dont need to be so self conscious about it. Though honestly, its kind of cute.

STOP IT!!!

The guide watched in horror as golden matchlock guns manifested behind Liam.

A large number of vintage guns were all pointing their muzzles in his direction.

Liams gratitude was combined with the gratitude various people had for him, turning into ammunition the guns used as they shot at the guide.

But Liam was unable to see it.

Hey, whats wrong?

N-no!

The guide was unable to lay his hands on Liam directly.

Each encounter theyve had so far, the tables have been turned against him.

Liam had grown that powerful.

(What the hell are you?! Even though Ive worked so hard to make you miserable?! You thank me every time this guy, is he not taking pleasure in the unsightly figure Im left in?!)

Liam a person who was grateful no matter what, was an object of fear for the guide.

It was to the point that he was starting to wonder if he was doing this all on purpose.

(Does he actually know that his gratitude hurt me? N-no, that should be impossible.)

As Liam approached him, bullets were fired one after another from the firearms.

Hitting their mark, black smoke spewed out from each new bullet wound.

I HATE THIS!!!

At that moment, a golden bullet filled with gratitude pierced through the guides body.

Unable to withstand anymore pain, the guide escaped from that place as black smoke.

H-hey, where are you going?! Im still not done thankin and hes gone.

With the guides disappearance, Nias and Eulisia began to move normally again.

Lord Liam, please give me more funds!

Ill never let go of you for the rest of my life!

Liam who was currently being hugged by the pitiful girls, was wondering if he was ever going to get the chance to properly thank the guide.

The dog was watching his figure from the corner of the room with a sad expression.

Four years have passed since I got my official assignment.

Considering my future status, it was decided that the final rank Id receive as I entered reserve duty would be that of a General.

This extraordinary advancement was justified through my various achievements, but theres no doubt my bribes had a tremendous effect on this.

It was only four years.

This level of military status was only natural for a member of the nobility.

Incidentally, Tia was promoted to Brigadier General.

Marie had become a Major.

And as the aide to a general, Eulisia was promoted to the rank of Colonel.

As a side note Nias was promoted to a Technology Major by using my backing.

For some reason, when my name was mentioned as ones patron it was strangely easy to get consent for things. It made it troublesome to refuse them, so even the pitiful ones got promotions easier.

With that said, Wallace really disappointed me this time.

Wallace, why are you entering reserve duty as a Captain?! What the hell were you doing?!

As my underling, I was sure hed become a Major, but he was stuck one class lower than I thought.

He made a troubled expression.

Well~ You see~

Why havent you been promoted?! I even gave out bribes for you!

Wait, thats wrong. They were seasonal greetings and donations.

I mean, I made sure to take care of my army.

I bought favours from the regular fleets usings my funds, applied for additional supplies for the domestic affairs game I played at my station, and I even contributed to the renewal of the militarys equipment by purchasing their old ships.

With those achievements behind me, I asked for Wallaces promotion!

Dont you know how ashamed I am as your patron?!

N-no, you see, there wasnt anywhere for me to play an active role in! All I did was supervise a construction site on the surface!

But as a noble you shouldve been promoted anyway!

Maybe its because Im part of the royal family?

Seriously even this guys brother Cedric, was promoted to a general.

Wallace joined his hands behind his head.

In the first place, once we go into reserve duty our military classes become meaningless. Dont they just entitle us to a bit of money annually then?

Though as the head of a house, I wasnt going to be paid that.

Not that I needed it in the first place.

Its for the future. I just didnt want to stand out too much.

If you were constantly saying things like that, wasnt that the reason why you never got promoted?

Wallace turned his gaze away from me, so I was probably right.

However, it was true that I never delegated any real work to him.

So Ill let things slide this time.

Well, its fine. Were going to be entering the Imperial University next year anyway.

Thats right! Ahh~ my long awaited campus life is about to begin! Everyday well go to mixers, play around and have fun!

was it okay for a member of the royal family to be like this?

I mean, I already have a fiance was it really appropriate for me to join mixers?

At times like this, I feel like itd be better to plan your life out.

Looking at Eulisia only strengthened this conviction.

Lord Liam! Youre renting out a famous hotel in the imperial capital, right? Please get me a room too!

Towards the pitiful girl who asked me that with sparkling eyes, I shook my head.

do whatever you want.

Woohoo! Im now one step closer to my dream life!

Looking at Eulisia, Wallace was amazed,

I thought she was a serious soldier, but shes actually just like any other girl, and shes even really pretty on top of that.

More or less, that was all true.

I didnt have any problems with her serving by my side.

However

Ahh~ Ill swim in the hotels pool in the morning, go shopping around noon, and then have an elegant moment to myself in a caf afterwards!

I felt nothing but regret when I saw her caught up in her delusions.

Wallace called out to me,

Putting all that aside, have you told Rosetta about your aide yet?

ah.

I still had to tell my fiance about her.

what was this? Why was my chest so heavy?

Liam, are you really okay with this?

With what? Having mistresses or lovers? I was always planning to build a harem, so this is fine.

Huh, really? Wait, I was talking about something else. What are you going to do about the Berkley territory?

Oh, that.

After wiping out the Berkley family, I had taken away their property as my spoils.

Up until there things were still fine, but the problem was that there were too many planets there for me to control.

When I tried to manage them, Amagi told me, There are too many planets that arent within reach of our capital.

If I were to describe it as an image, my territory now looked like an enclave.

I thought it didnt matter since we could just warp, but surprisingly, distance was still important.

Plus, a large number of the planets were desolate and ruined.

Those guys had destroyed their worlds in mass to produce elixirs.

While they were nice to have, if you asked me if I was willing to sacrifice a planet for one, Id only be able to reply, Hmm

So I sold the territory I didnt need to the Empire.

I kept a bit for myself of course, but everything else was pawned off.

Also, I was able to collect a bunch of the items that I wanted.

Planetary development equipment the Berkley family had a lot of them, and I planned to put them into use in the future.

Lets place them on fortress-class ships and have them redevelop some ruined planets.

There also seemed to be a lot of people selling elixirs now.

While I was selling rare metals to merchants, I saw that elixirs were in circulation and bought them on the spot.

There were also the guides words that I had to consider though.

My true enemy.

Surely they were something on a scale incomparable to the Berkley family.

If I was going to fight them, then I definitely needed more power than what I have now.

Also, it was troublesome to protect an enclave.

Since that was how it was going to be, itd just be better to get rid of it from the beginning.

Its such a waste though, cant you just give it to me?

If youre fine with an underdeveloped planet, I can give you something right away.

No thanks, Id prefer a somewhat developed world. Even if its only a planet you developed in your spare time, I wont complain.

at my assigned world, I played a real life game of domestic affairs and actually developed the place more than expected.

There were a bunch of merchants who wanted to open stores there, so I left the details to Thomas, and now the populace of that place was steadily growing.

Well, part of the reason why was probably because it was under the Empires direct control, nearby another one of their cities.

It was only natural for it to develop that fast.

Im not promising anything, but Ill see what I can do.

I have high expectations for you.

again, this guy was supposed to be my underling.

I was also necessary for me to increase the number of my allies in the future.

The guide left before telling me who my true enemy was but because it was him, Im sure he had a reason for that.

For now, lets just concentrate on accumulating my power.

So, what do you plan to do next? Are you going straight to the imperial capital?

At Wallaces inquiry, I answered honestly,

Im going to return to the territory first. I have something I need to do there.

Oh, in that case Ill go to the imperial capital firs

Youre coming too!

I decided to go back home with Wallace.

Ahh~ theres no place like home!

Greeting me with open arms was Brian who was crying, of course.

Lord Liam, youve grown so splendidly. This Brian here cant stop shedding tears.

Can you even see me in that state?

This guy always seemed to be crying.

Turning towards Amagi, she seemed to be the same as usual.

Amagi, I assume nothing happened?

Yes, since all of our damages were caused by military actions, we were ridiculously compensated as an apology.

It looks like some damages came out after all.

I see. Give the soldiers preferential treatment, theyre my precious forces.

As you wish.

After wiping his tears, Brian started asking me about Rosetta,

Lord Liam, putting that all aside, I heard you welcomed a potential candidate for a mistress? Where might she and lady Rosetta be?

I left them behind.

But why?! Lord Liam, do you know how excited I was to hear that you were finally developing an interest in women?!

He thought I didnt have an interest in women? Thats surprising.

Brian wanted me to come back with Rosetta and Eulisia, but they were both enjoying their hotel life.

For Rosetta it was kind of painful seeing her in person, so I left her alone.

And in any case, all Eulisia did was withdraw as my aide, she wasnt a candidate for a mistress.

She was too pitiful to even consider that.

But since Brian would surely become annoying if I told him, I decided to change the subject.

Ah~ hey Brian, do you know that this is?

I brought out a device shaped like a heart.

Brian looked at it with interest.

Now this is rare. The [Machine Heart] its an ancient artifact said to able to breath life into lifeless machines.

What?!

Turning towards Amagi, I immediately pushed the machine heart into her chest.

It sunk in just as much as I pushed, it truly was an amazing bosom.

However, that action caused Amagi to turn cold eyes my way.

What are you doing?

Well, I thought It would bring you to life.

Its a fake. You cant find ancient artifacts that easily.

I-is that so? Thats too bad, I wouldve been really happy if you were brought to life.

thats impossible.

When Amagi said that, she looked a little sad.

Brian turned towards me,

Thats right, I heard you bought multiple fortress-class ships recently. Lord Liam, you shouldnt go buying battleships like toys.

Its fine. Ill be turning them into temporary bases for pioneer planets.

What?! Youre really going to develop more?!

Of course I am.

Ill load up the planetary development equipment I recently received on them and continue further development for the territory.

It was necessary to make preparations for when the true enemy appears.

Right now was the time to accumulate my power.

Ive decided that nows the time to build up my strength. Amagi, Im planning to develop the territory further, so please write up a new plan.

However, Amagis response was different from what I expected,

About that, Im actually going to resign from my management position soon.

Huh?

Weve already nurtured the human resources required. Even without my input, the territory will develop on its own with AI support.

I-is that so?

so now Ill be able to fully support you personally, Master.

Brian went on to explain to me Amagis future plans,

As soon as the transfer is over, Amagi will leave to take care of you on the imperial capital, Lord Liam. If everything goes smoothly, she might even leave here with you.

I felt unimaginably relieved when I heard that.

What, so that was it? Okay! Lets have a flashy welcome for your arrival, Amagi!

No, its fine.

I felt a little lonely at Amagis refusal.

-r-really? Then a normal greeting will that be okay?

Yes. In any case, my kind isnt exactly welcome in the Empire.

Hearing Amagi say that a flashy welcome wouldnt suit her, I felt a little distant.