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nVolume 4 Epilogue New Project Announcement!

nAfter being gunned down by Liam’s bullets of gratitude, the guide was walking down a dim alley.

n“Eulisia… you’ve betrayed me!”

nHe never would’ve imagined that Eulisia’s revenge was just for her to throw Liam away in a rejection.

nWhy the hell did she need to enter the special forces for that?! –it couldn’t be helped that the guide felt betrayed.

nNormally, those who had returned to the military for re-education don’t enlist into the special forces.

nAnd so, the guide was now moving to see Yasushi– a person who hasn’t done anything this time.

n“Yasushi. I swear, if you’re going to betray me too…”

nShedding blood from his mouth, what the guide saw while checking up on Yasushi’s situation was–

n“That’s not enough! Liam was able to do this much easily– you’ll never be able to surpass your senior pupil at this rate!”

n–living inside a hidden place, Yasushi had created a training ground and was currently instructing two children in the way of swordsmanship.

nLooking at them, the guide could finally see the light of hope.

nTwo children were standing in unbalanced positions, gripping onto wooden swords as they sweated.

nAlthough they were just little kids, they seemed to be stronger than Yasushi.

n“I knew I could believe in you, Yasushi!”

nYasushi was currently teaching them the One-Flash.

nHaving already been proven as effective through Liam, he was apparently teaching the two in the same way using all the money he had left.

nEducational capsules were used multiple times, he had invested everything he had to make them stronger.

nThere was a reason why Yasushi was going this far.

nVisiting this place, some obviously corrupt knights had come.

n“Hey, old man. Have you heard anything about the One-Flash swordmaster Yasushi being here?”

nSome delinquent-like youths had arrived.

nYasushi immediately answered them,

n“The One-Flash? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

n“Is that so? The information we collected said that the great knight Liam’s swordmaster was in this area…”

n“What?! Such a celebrity was nearby?! I’m sorry, but I don’t know anyone of the sort.”

n“Tch! Let’s go, you guys…”

n–Just like that, more and more people were searching for Liam’s swordmaster.

nYasushi was frightened.

n(Damn it! This bad situation is all because Liam keeps spreading the name of that fictional sword style! I’m constantly sticking out in a bad way!)

nHe didn’t have any time to waste.

nTo defeat Liam, the One-Flash was necessary.

nFor that goal, Yasushi was currently taking care of two children.

n“That’s enough!”

nThe two children let out deep breaths while blindfolded.

n“You two have done great. You’ve both grown splendidly.”

nThey removed their blindfolds.

n“Master, why did you lie to those people?”

n“Hmm?”

n“Small fish like them are easily defeatable.”

n“T-that’s because… you’re not supposed to brandish your swords recklessly! Those blades that you’ve honed were made to defeat the strong!”

nThe two of them were calling the knights from before small fish.

nEven the guide could see that they were stronger than them.

n“…they still aren’t a match for Liam, but they’re definitely growing. Yasushi, I’m cheering for you.”

nThe guide disappeared at that moment, but the dog was still there, watching over the situation.

nThe kids wiped their sweat,

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n“You’ve told us that multiple times already. If we defeat the senior pupil, will you finally recognise us?”

n“I will. Once you defeat Liam, you’ll pass.”

n“But, is our senior pupil really that famous Liam person? I can’t really believe that.”

n“D-don’t doubt me! Trust me, you’ll definitely meet him in due time.”

nTheir stomachs empty, the two kids wanted to go back home already.

n“Ahh… I want to eat more food.”

n“I’m hungry~”

n“H-hey, wait!”

nLooking at the figure of Yasushi struggling to take care of the children, the dog then disappeared as well.

n◇ ◇ ◇

n–that’s weird.

nI was currently in Avid’s cockpit.

nWhen I tried pushing the machine heart onto the control panel, Avid absorbed it.

n“Even though it didn’t work on Amagi…”

nAlthough there were a few problems, it was still an artifact given to me by the guide.

nI was sure it was the real thing, so I tried using it on Avid.

nAnd with that, I think it’s output has increased.

nWell, it was more the sake of using it.

nI didn’t care about small changes in the specs.

n“I’m happy because Avid got a power up, but how does this work?”

nWell, since it didn’t work with Amagi, maybe this was a good thing… yeah, let’s go with that.

n◇ ◇ ◇

nA room in the mansion.

nBeds for the maid androids were lined up there.

nAmagi– who was lying on one of them, woke up.

n“…life.”

nTo give life to a lifeless object.

nWhen the machine heart didn’t react to her, Amagi felt a little happy, but also a little sad.

n“Does this mean the emotions I’ve been feeling are real?”

nWhile mulling over those thoughts, Amagi stood up to return to work.

nAlmost immediately after, Liam sent her a call,

n“Amagi, I was able to power-up Avid!”

n“Master, did you use the machine heart to do that?”

n“I did!”

n“…did I not tell you to refrain from using it until I had it examined?”

n“Don’t worry, it came from a source that guarantees its safety.”

nDespite him saying that, Amagi was worried as she had absolutely no idea about its origins.

n“Come on, let’s give it a spin!”

n“…understood.”

nAmagi had resolved herself to board Avid in order to confirm its current state.

n(Why do so many things naturally find their way to Master?)

nArtifacts of lost technology seemed to unnaturally gather to Liam.

nAmagi couldn’t help but wonder if there was some reason for that.

n◇ ◇ ◇

nA hotel rented out by Liam at the imperial capital.

nRosetta was currently working as its administrator.

nIn the lounge, the hotel manager was currently explaining the schedule to her while operating a tablet.

n“Currently, about eighty percent of our rooms have been occupied.”

nKnights, soldiers, and officials of the Banfield house were the ones that used them.

nOther than that, they had also taken some of the children training at Liam’s estate for a session of studying abroad.

nIn addition, the majority of the women who served Rosetta personally were actually noble daughters who had already graduated from said training.

nTaking advantage of their tutelage under Liam, they were doing this in order to experience what life in the imperial capital would be like.

nAfter all, there were many aristocrats who never got to leave their territories, and there were many women who didn’t really feel like they were daughters of nobles during their training.

nWith the personal experience she had gained while training here, Rosetta wanted to show them what the upper-class were like.

n“So we still have room to accept more then.”

nThen manager replied,

n“Yes, but if we become fully occupied, it’ll be hard for us to respond to any sudden changes that may occur.”

n“That’s annoying. There are many people out there who want to know more about the universe.”

nThere were a large number of countryside nobles from the frontier gathering here.

nEven if you had heard about how amazing the imperial capital was, it was impossible to truly understand that without actually visiting the place yourself.

nWith that in mind, it was necessary to educate your people properly about this.

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nEvery now and then, some people would gain superficial knowledge and rise up against their lords in rebellion, thinking that they could do whatever they wanted.

nWhen situations like that occured, the Empire themselves intervened and burned those planets to the ground.

nThey were merciless against those who undermined their power.

nSo it was necessary to teach those people how big the universe was beforehand.

nThe simplest solution would be just to deprive them of all power from the beginning.

nHowever, that was against the way Liam did things, so Rosetta decided to follow his policies.

nAlso, there were other things she needed to work on as well.

n“I still need to find a mansion for us here in the capital…”

n“As his wife, I guess it’s only natural for you to be busy.”

n“R-right now, I’m still only his fiancée.”

n“Oh, please excuse me.”

nSeeing Rosetta’s face flush red, the manager decided to change the topic,

n“Now that I think about it, both of you will be attending the university soon. Lady Rosetta, will you be working as an official as well?”

nOnce Liam returned, he’d be enrolling into the university.

nRosetta was looking forward to it.

n“I am.”

nIn the future, if Liam was absent, it would be necessary for her to act as the lord in his place, so she needed the training to at least be able to do the minimum of work.

nWhenever he was gone, it would be her duty to cover for him.

n(Darling, please come back soon.)

nRosetta was looking forward to her university life together with Liam.

n◇ ◇ ◇

n–I had finally returned to the imperial capital after a long time.

nIn my own territory I was a king, but here I was just another noble.

nI still had a lot of power, but the fact that there were people above me here bothered me.

nWith that in mind, I was going to try and keep myself from picking fights with troublesome opponents.

nIt’s not like I’d lose against them, but it was annoying when these feuds dragged on for years on end.

nThat said, the returns I received from defeating the Berkley family were amazing.

nMultiple planetary development devices.

nThe machine heart.

nAs well as the Berkley family’s assets.

nSince I even obtained some resource satellites from them, I now had an excuse ready for when I brought out large quantities of rare metals in the future.

nI boarded a limousine-like vehicle and sat beside Amagi as I watched the scenery of the capital pass by.

n“Everything’s grey.”

nIt was a concrete jungle– not, the materials used weren’t concrete, but there definitely was a lack of greenery.

nThe feeling of being in the middle of a major city was strong.

nWallace– who was also on board, was currently suffering from a hangover.

n“Liam… give me some medicine already.”

n“That’s your fault for making such a ruckus earlier. You should wallow in your pain for a while as punishment.”

nIt’d be easy to cure him with medicine, but I left him alone because that wouldn’t be interesting.

nAnd honestly, this was probably a better medicine for him anyways.

nAmagi’s line of sight was focusing on the hotel as we approached.

n“…Master, did we not agree that you only set up a modest greeting?”

nThere were knights and soldiers lined up to welcome me.

nIt was a grand welcome ceremony.

nI know that she asked for a modest one, but Amagi deserved something big and flashy deserving of her.

nAn orchestra began to perform, while the knights and soldiers were lined up in formal wear.

nThis felt great.

n“Surprise!”

n“Something of this level would usually be for someone of Lady Rosetta’s status.”

n“…well, I guess.”

nThough I think she’d be happy no matter what I did, doing something like this would probably get me another hug.

nHowever, if she was honest with herself– she’d probably be troubled.

nConsidering the life that she’s lived until now, she actually preferred things to be more modest.

nFlashy stuff seemed more like Eulisia’s thing.

nWhen the limousine landed on the ground, the lined up subordinates all saluted at once.

nOpening the door, I got off first,

n“Amagi.”

nWhen I extended my hand to her, Amagi hesitated for a moment before grabbing it.

nAnd when she finally stepped outside– a commotion seemed to break out in the surroundings.

n“What’s this? This guy is seriously holding his hand out to an android.”

nA gaudy man whose face was already flushed despite it being the morning, approached us while being escorted by knights.

nApparently, he had come here just to ridicule me.

nHe seemed to be a noble.

nMy subordinates immediately rushed over to the man to drive him away.

n“This is the private property of the Banfield house. Please leave the premises at once!”

nWhen my knight said so, the other man burst into laughter,

n“A mere knight dares to complain to me, the heir of a Marquis house? Just because your lord became a little famous, you think you’re better than me?! Even so… to think he’s so poor that the best he could do was a deserted hotel like this.”

nSo he knew about this hotel’s circumstances?

n…well, it doesn’t matter.

nIt looks like I’m already involved with something, but I don’t really want to waste too much time on this.

n“Amagi, you should enter the hotel first.”

nShe gripped my hand firmly.

n“Master, don’t do this.”

nWatching this all happen, the heir to a Marquis pointed his finger at me and laughed,

n“He’s actually talking to the thing! ‘The oh-so-great Liam still plays with lifeless dolls!’”

nI turned to look at the man’s face,

n“What did you just say to me?”

n–I didn’t even know who this idiot was, but he seemed to know me.

nHe knew that and still chose to pick a fight,

n“This here is the imperial capital~ Don’t bring filthy androids here~!”

nI took one last look at the person screaming at me like a baby, before turning my back to him and escorting Amagi to the hotel.

nAfter rushing over to me, I gave my order to Tia,

n“Hey, clean this up.”

n“Are you sure?”

n“I don’t see any problems, do you? After your done, carry Wallace in.”

nAfter assigning someone to get Wallace from the car, I moved to enter the hotel.

nThings were still fine up until there.

n“Gahahaha~! So you’re not even going to say anything in your defense?! Android lover LI~A~M~!”

nThe man who was laughing up until that moment suddenly fell to the ground, having been vertically bisected in half, his two parts spraying blood everywhere.

nI only did that because I wanted him to shut up– but that truly was refreshing.

nThe surroundings that were so noisy until then instantly went silent.

nWhen I ignored the situation and proceeded to the hotel, Amagi narrowed her eyes.

n“Didn’t you say you were going to be cautious when picking fights with other nobles?”

n“Oh, I made sure to consider things beforehand, and as a result– I’ve decided to crush them. I’m going to investigate his house thoroughly, find out everyone who’s related to him, and I will erase them like the Berkley family.”

nIt was their fault for picking a fight with me in the first place.

nTheir status seemed to be high, but they didn’t look that powerful.

nThe Berkley family had already given me enough practice with these things.

n◇ ◇ ◇

nThe underlings and the knights of the heir that was killed immediately closed in on Tia.

n“Do you know what you just did?!”

n“Are you seriously going to turn the Marquis into your enemy?!”

n“Something like this can never be forgiven!”

nPulling out her rapier with a smile, Tia swung her blade to the side and beheaded a knight.

nBlood sprayed out, and as the knight’s body fell she opened her mouth,

n“Let’s clean this place up.”

nHer subordinate knights were somewhat hesitant,

n“B-but!”

n“It’s the ultimate shame for a knight to fail in protecting their charge. It’s far more merciful of us to give them the opportunity to avenge their master. As for the underlings who had just lost their position… kill them.”

n“No, but–”

n“Lord Liam ordered us to clean up.”

nOne of the opposing knights rushed forward and pulled out their sword, but fell after their head was pierced by Tia’s rapier.

nWhen she pulled out the blade, blood spouted out of the hole.

n“Lord Liam will never forgive anyone who ridicules Amagi. Kill all of them without exception, and send the bodies to their houses.”

nThe nobles and the knights were trembling.

nLiam’s knights pulled out their swords, imagining Liam’s rage at the fools who dared to insult Amagi.

nThe soldiers lifted up their guns as well.

n“…they dared to make a fool of Lord Liam. For that alone they deserve death.”

nThe underlings and the knights were then slaughtered by Liam’s subordinates– their then thrown to the Marquis’ mansion in the imperial capital.

n◇ ◇ ◇

nWhile I was relaxing in the top floor’s suite, Rosetta burst through the door.

n“Darling, did you do something?!”

n“What?”

nI was currently sitting on the sofa while reading a book on my tablet terminal.

nVarious information was floating around.

n“…an acquaintance from my training period had begged me intercede on her behalf.”

n“Your acquaintance?”

n“She’s a child who apprenticed together with me in the palace.”

nWhat would such a person want with me?

n“Who?”

n“She’s the child of a Marquis house. Darling, they recently angered you, and now they want to apologise.”

n“Is this person your friend?”

n“Uh, that’s a bit…”

nWith how Rosetta had trouble answering, I could tell.

nI’m sure they weren’t close.

nJust as I was wondering what to do, Marie entered the room,

n“Lord Liam, here’s the information we’ve collected on the Marquis’ house.”

n“…oh, those people.”

nAfter receiving and confirming their information, they seemed to actually be a fairly large house.

nBut the only thing fitting of their status was their size– their territory was comparable to that of the Berkley family.

nTheir territory wasn’t developed, and their fleet was basically a paper tiger.

nThey might’ve had a hundred thousand ships, but the Berkley family was stronger than them.

nI knew they were small fries.

nMarie was looking at me with her back straight.

nI sat down on the couch with a relaxed posture and returned the documents to Marie.

n“They annoy me, so let’s crush them. From here on, let’s start moving aggressively!”

nSince it would be troublesome if this dragged out, I wanted to end this quickly.

n“That might be difficult. The Marquis has already asked the Empire to intervene. They want to apologise.”

n“What, they don’t want to fight?”

n“After hearing that their heir picked a fight with you, Lord Liam, they immediately went through the procedures to disinherit him. They’re even willing to offer up their daughter to appease you. I’ve heard that she actually learned how to behave under Lady Rosetta’s tutelage during their apprenticeship.”

nI felt like Rosetta’s expression turned cloudy there for a second.

nSomething definitely happened during their time training together.

nIt might be interesting to watch Rosetta’s reaction when keeping such a woman nearby.

nOkay.

nLet’s start moving things in that direction.

nThinking so, I started to get a little interested.

n“Do you have a picture of her? Is she beautiful?”

n“I do.”

nWhen Marie prepared the holographic image, a girl who could definitely be considered a beauty was projected there.

nShe looked to be on the cusp of entering adulthood, as she still had many childish features.

n–but she was no good.

nI could never add someone like her as a mistress.

n“I hate flashy girls like her. Tell that to the Marquis.”

n“Are you sure? If you accept her as a mistress, the child born between the two of you could be the next Marquis.”

nShe was subtly telling me I could take over their house, but I didn’t want such a thing.

nAlso, I just didn’t like her.

nShe was beautiful, but she had the kind of face that screamed that she would betray me.

nIt gave off a similar feeling to that of my ex-wife.

nShe might have the looks, but I could never welcome such a girl as a mistress.

nI prefer more modest girls.

n“I’m not interested. If I wanted something like that, I could’ve just crushed them and taken their assets by force.”

nWhen I said that, Rosetta’s expression instantly brightened.

n“Darling!”

n…no, it’s not like I refused them for you or anything.

nWhy are you so happy?

nMarie seemed pleased as well,

n“I thought this would happen.”

n–so why did you even bring that last part up? Well, I guess from her position it was only natural to report that.

n“Darling, I love you!”

nProbably misunderstanding things, Rosetta went on to hug me.

nW-wait, don’t! Even if you’re really happy right now give me some space!

n“L-let go of me! Rosetta, stop!”

nWhile I was still flustered and struggling, Amagi had brought some tea when she saw my figure.

n“Oh, you two seem to be getting along… should come back with the tea two hours from now?”

n“Y-you’re wrong! This is–!”

nIt was almost like I was caught in the middle of an affair.

nAt that moment, Marie seemed to misread the situation and went, “Make sure nobody interrupts Lord Liam and gets in the way!”

nThis person really was useless.

nWhile I tried to pull away from Rosetta’s embrace, Eulisia burst into the room with a bunch of shopping bags.

nIt looks like she’s been visiting various stores today as well.

n“Lord Liam~ I want to show off to my former colleagues, so let’s take a picture together!”

nThis person really was the worst.

nShe wanted a picture together with me just so she could brag to the mistresses of other nobles or her colleagues that were also aiming for a mistress position.

nAs I thought, a disappointing girl will always be disappointing.

nAmagi and Marie grabbed Eulisia and dragged her out of the room.

n“Eulisia, you should be more aware of your position as Lord Liam’s aide.”

n“Don’t get in Lady Rosetta’s way, you piece of junk.”

n“W-wait! Aren’t you treating me a bit too terribly?! I want another chance~”

nThe three of them left.

nAll that remained was Rosetta and I.

n…this is bad.

nRosetta’s cheeks were flushed.

nWhile I was thinking about how to escape from this place– the door burst open to Wallace yelling.

n“Liam, we’ve got a problem!”

nWith Wallace suddenly charging into the room, Rosetta reluctantly let go of me and took her distance.

n“Nice timing, Wallace! –so what happened?”

nI guess it wasn’t wrong of me to make this guy my underling.

nRosetta fixed her appearance.

nWhat the out-of-breath Wallace needed to tell me was– a new problem.

n“It’s… different. T-the third prince.”

n“The third prince?”

n“The prince third in line to the throne wants to meet with you!”

nAt those words, Rosetta covered her mouth in surprise.

n“The third prince… but why?!”

nWallace and Rosetta’s eyes gathered on me.

nIt looks like things are getting interesting again.

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