I Didn't Want to Become the Emperor of This World

Chapter 6

The 3rd Knight Commander, Jereuth.

He said he would become my sword.

At those words, I almost let a laugh escape. It was the moment I had somehow obtained the only power that could save me.

However, I did my best not to show it. I couldn't ruin the atmosphere by laughing at such an important moment.

By the way.

‘My plan, huh….’

Jereuth had asked what my plan was. However, as of now, I had no next plan.

Until a few weeks ago, I was an extremely ordinary university student. For someone like me, just finding a way to persuade Jereuth required using all my brainpower.

So, I had no time to think about the next plan, nor was I smart enough to come up with one right away.

But I knew what I had to do.

‘I must reduce the nobles' power and increase my own. Based on that, I must set this kingdom right. So that the people's rebellion does not happen.’

Since I knew the outcome I had to create through the , all I had to do now was design the process for it.

Finishing my thoughts, I calmly answered Jereuth.

“To be honest, I don't have a plan yet. I will organize it and tell you as soon as possible. Before that, please gather as many reliable forces as you can, as quickly as you can, Knight Commander.”

“I understand. Then I will be waiting.”

“Yes. And….”

After thinking to myself for a moment, I looked at Jereuth and said.

“Since you're here, please see my father before you go. When I asked if there was anyone trustworthy in this kingdom, you were the first person His Majesty mentioned, so he will be happy if you say you came to see him.”

My looking after the king wasn't for any other reason. It was simply because my heart was uneasy about the old man dying alone in a dark room with no one visiting him.

A sense of compassion that any human should naturally have, I suppose.

But Jereuth did not answer readily.

“……”

“Are you reluctant?”

“It’s not that I’m reluctant. It's just that… to be honest, after His Majesty gave up on everything, I thought I would cut ties with him. He was a soft-hearted person even in the past, but I was disappointed by how much weaker and more servile he had become.”

It was the same as what was written in the queen's diary.

“But to think that His Majesty actually trusted me, I feel sorry. The thought occurs to me that perhaps His Majesty's complete downfall was because I did not help him….”

“Then offer to me the loyalty you could not offer to my father. I don't know what we'll have to do in the future, but it won't be easy.”

“…I understand.”

Hearing Jereuth's heavy reply, I nodded my head.

Now, all that was left was for me to think about how I should use the card called the ‘3rd Knight Commander’.

“Then I will take my leave first. I hope you take your time with my father, Commander.”

Leaving Jereuth behind, I came out of the queen's room.

***

After finishing my conversation with Jereuth, I immediately took my maid—Elly—from the king's room and headed back to my room.

Elly seemed curious about what I had talked about with Jereuth, but perhaps unable to bring herself to ask, she just kept glancing at me.

“I will open the door for you.”

“Yes.”

After passing through the corridor and reaching the front of my room, Elly politely opened the door for me.

‘…I'm tired.’

My body felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. My forehead was hot enough to burn. I wanted to drop everything and go to sleep right now.

But I had no time to rest. At least not for now.

‘First, let's check the . Since Jereuth has decided to be on my side, the future might have changed.’

Swish.

Sitting on the table chair, I took out the and opened it. Elly stood by the door, silently looking at me.

‘I want to look at the . Should I send Elly out for a bit first.’

“Elly. I'm a little hungry, could you bring me a simple snack?”

At my words, Elly politely nodded her head.

“I understand, Your Highness. I will bring it quickly.”

“You can take your time.”

“Yes. Then I will be back shortly.”

Elly left the room. As soon as I confirmed that, I opened the .

First, I checked the very last page, the part where my end was written.

But.

‘…Nothing's changed.’

The ending written on the last page of the .

The fact that a rebellion of the kingdom's people broke out, and to appease their anger, the nobles put me on the gallows, remained unchanged.

The only thing that was added was this.

The 3rd Knight Commander, Jereuth, and his knight order did their best to protect me, but it was to no avail.

‘Seeing this added, I'm relieved that it seems confirmed that Jereuth is on my side… but I guess just recruiting Jereuth doesn't change the future. Does this mean I have to bring about a fundamental change?’

Hoo―.

Sighing, I flipped back to the front of the , the part closest to the present, and read it.

…….

I succeeded in winning over the 3rd Knight Commander, Jereuth, to my side.

However, that didn't mean everything was resolved. Looking at the last page of the diary, my end was still terrible.

In the end, to change my future, it seemed I needed to fundamentally weaken the nobles' power and strengthen my own.

So, in my room, I pondered for a long time on ‘how to strengthen my power’. While eating the snack Elly brought me.

…….

After pondering until the sun had completely set, I came up with a few ways royalty in history had strengthened their royal authority.

First, start a war with another country using the nobles' private soldiers and money to consume their forces.

—I couldn't use this now. There was no proper justification to start a war, nor did I have the power and means to persuade the nobles.

Even if it were possible, I, for one, could not commit the crazy act of sending innocent soldiers to the battlefield just so I could seize power.

Second, marry into a powerful family and borrow their strength.

—This method was also unusable now. If I married into a powerful family, they would use me as they pleased before I could use their power, and then take everything from me.

Besides these, there were several other methods. Entrusting territories to the royalist faction to build their power and ultimately my own, revoking the titles of the noble faction, or reducing the nobles' privileges.

But as of now, none of them were possible.

Then the last remaining method was just ‘purging’.

The future me, after much deliberation, seemed to have concluded that ‘purging’ was the only way.

At that, a sigh escaped me.

‘Hoo… no matter how much I think about it, there was no other way but purging?’

Purging. Literally killing off all the opposition. It was a terrible and primitive method, but in reality, it was also the most certain and powerful one.

The problem was that if I were to say I would purge the noble faction now, the noble faction might openly start a rebellion. No matter how much the 3rd Knight Commander was on my side, he wouldn't be able to face the forces of the entire noble faction.

In the first place, the 1st and 2nd Knight Orders, which were forces comparable to the 3rd Knight Order, and the nobles' personal knight orders, were still intact. Strictly speaking, my forces were ridiculously weak compared to the noble faction.

‘Putting aside the lack of power, purging the noble faction means I'm going to kill people… can I give such a terrifying order?’

I asked myself the question and immediately came up with an answer.

‘…No, I can't readily order someone to be killed.’

It's not that I'm a saint or an extremely soft-hearted person that makes me hesitate to kill. I am neither a saint nor soft-hearted.

I am an extremely ordinary person.

But because I am an ordinary person, I was even more reluctant to kill someone.

An ordinary person would naturally be reluctant to kill someone.

‘What were the kings in history who carried out purges thinking? Did they just calmly accept killing others for their own power? Or are those born as kings endowed with such decisiveness? Or were they just psychopaths?’

Complex thoughts continued to plague me, raising question after question.

“…I'm going crazy.”

Just as I was muttering to myself.

Scribble, scribble, scribble―.

The began to be written anew.

…….

Through the , I understood that the only possible method for now was a ‘purge’, but I could not rashly accept it. As an extremely ordinary human being, I could not make a plan to kill people.

The trivial conscience of a modern man, I guess. I guess I had a conscience, despite using plastic so wantonly.

In the end, unable to reach a proper conclusion, I decided to go for a walk. I thought it would be better to think while walking lightly than to be cooped up in my room and pondering.

And as I was taking a walk in the predawn breeze.

—Swish!

—Kuaaaack!!

The sound of a whip and a scream were heard from somewhere. The sound of a whip inside the royal palace late at night, I was naturally curious and headed towards the source of the sound.

After following the sound of the whip, I arrived at the ‘gardener's shed’. And in that shed… dozens of gardeners were dead, having been whipped by nobles.

Seeing that, I was able to make a decision.

The decision that in this world, it was natural to kill others for one's own authority.

That was the end of the newly written content in the .

‘I was taking a walk late at dawn, and upon seeing the gardeners whipped to death by the nobles, I decided on a purge… why?’

The described in great detail the things I had already experienced, but any event I had yet to experience, even slightly, was very condensed.

The new content written in the diary just a moment ago was like that. The reason I decided on a purge was not written, it just said, ‘I decided on a purge after seeing the deaths of the gardeners.’

Of course, I could simply think, ‘Well, since the future me decided on a purge, I'll just follow that.’

But honestly, as I was now, the idea of purging the nobles, of living by killing people, did not sit well with me.

I didn't want to just follow what was in the when my heart wasn't in it.

‘First, let's go to the ‘gardener's shed’, which became the catalyst for the future me's decision to purge. If I go, I'll find out. Why I decided on a purge.’

As I was thinking that.

Knock, knock.

—Your Highness, it is Elly. I am coming in.

“Ah, yes. Come in.”

With a knock, Elly came in holding a tray of sandwiches. She had brought the snack already, even though it hadn't been long since she left.

Flipping the over to cover it, I spoke to Elly.

“You’re back already.”

“Yes, Your Highness. You said you were hungry, so I hurried a little.”

“Thank you. I appreciate you bringing it, but would it be alright if I ate it while taking a walk?”

“A walk… you mean?”

Elly tilted her head. It might have been strange that I wanted to take a ‘walk’, something I had never done before.

But that was only for a moment, Elly smiled and said.

“That is a good choice. It is not good for your health to stay indoors all the time, so I will guide you.”

“Yes. I'll eat the snack after we get back.”

“I understand.”

Rumble―.

‘The future me, after all sorts of deliberation, decided to purge the nobles while taking a walk at dawn. So it would be better for me to move faster than that. I have to be at least one step ahead of the future me to properly change the future.’

I got up from my seat and headed for the door.

To take a walk.

***

For the first time in the month since I came to this world, I came to the royal palace garden.

Walking through the scenery I had always only seen from the window felt a little new.

But I had no time to admire the garden.

As soon as I came out to the garden, I asked Elly.

“Elly. Do you happen to know where the ‘gardener's shed’ is?”

“If you mean the ‘gardener's shed’, it’s on the way to the Magic Tower. Why do you ask?”

“I want to go there.”

“To the shed, you mean?”

Elly tilted her head, not understanding my sudden request to go to a shed. Still, perhaps deciding to follow my words, she began to guide me.

“May I lead the way?”

“Yes.”

Elly led the way, guiding me. Before long, a tall black tower came into view in the distance. It was probably the ‘Magic Tower’ Elly had mentioned earlier.

As we got closer to the tower, Elly pointed to a wooden building that looked like a stable and said.

“That is the ‘gardener's shed’. But Your Highness, what business do you have there?”

“I just have something to check—.”

It was just as I was speaking.

—Swish!

—Uwaaaack!!

—The Duke gave an order! How dare a thing like you refuse it?!

Just as it was written in the diary, the sound of a whip and a noble's rough voice were heard.

But the noble's voice wasn't filled with anger, but rather a voice of subtle enjoyment.

—Swish!

‘Don't tell me… it's already started?’

As I headed for the shed, Elly urgently stopped me.

“Y-Your Highness! Are you going into the shed?”

“Yes.”

“Your Highness. Forgive my impertinence, but to go into a place like that is a bit….”

Elly spoke with hesitation, as if she knew something. I was about to ask if she knew something, but I figured I would find out everything once I entered the shed, so I didn't ask and just headed for the shed.

“…Your Highness!”

Elly urgently chased after me.

Anyway, I opened the shed door.

What I saw then was… a middle-aged man—a gardener—whose whole body was torn and ruptured from being whipped.

He was tied by both arms and hung in the air like a piece of meat in a butcher's shop, and his head was bowed low without any movement.

He seemed to be dead.

Next to him, other gardeners were similarly hung in the air like butcher's meat, afraid of being whipped.

The smell of blood, likely shed by the man who had already been whipped to death, and the smell of filth filled the shed.

‘I'm late…!’

“Urp…!”

It wasn't the foul smell that made me retch. It was the unbearably harsh punishment.

I thought that a rookie cop being unable to bear a gruesome accident scene and retching in crime movies was just a movie trope, but experiencing it firsthand, I could understand why.

“Y-Your Highness. Are you alright?!”

“…Yes.”

I barely managed to wave a hand to Elly, who was worried about me, to signal that I was okay. I barely held back the urge to vomit and took a deep breath to calm myself down.

Hoo―.

Then, a group of men holding whips approached me.

“Hmm? What business does Your Highness have here?”

The tone was polite, but there was no hint of a respectful attitude. Moreover, despite having put a person in such a state with a whip, there was no guilt on his face.

It was to the point where I could even feel a sense of relief.

I barely gathered my wits, looked at the man holding the whip, and asked.

“…I was taking a walk and heard the sound of a whip and a scream, so I came. What happened that you would do this to that man—to the gardeners?”

“‘This’? Ah.”

The man holding the whip chuckled lightly and answered.

“Duke Vaimal told me to plant lilacs near the garden fountain. Lilacs are the Young Lady's favorite flower. So I ordered the gardener to do it, and the gardener dared to disobey my order, saying, 「“The flowers planted near the fountain are the ones Her Majesty the Queen loved. We cannot kill them all.”」.”

“…So you whipped a man to death? For the mere reason that he didn't plant a flower?”

“Isn't it obvious? He ignored my order, a noble's, and one that was delegated from the Duke at that?”

“……”

“What's wrong? I just showed a commoner the authority of a noble. From now on, no gardener will dare to ignore the Duke's and my words. If they do, they'll end up dead like that.”

The whip-wielding noble and the group around him showed a calm demeanor.

I didn't know why, but I found that extremely unpleasant. Annoying. My chest felt tight.

I'll be honest. I was angry.

Squeeze….

I clenched my fist so hard that my fingernails dug into my palm, drawing blood.

‘A person's life… you kill a person for such a reason?’

It was a person's life. It couldn't be light. No, it shouldn't be light. That was a common sense that should apply in any era, in any world. In the first place, the reason I was going through all this hardship was ‘because I wanted to live’.

But those bastards were treating life as if it were nothing.

Suddenly, I remembered my earlier deliberation about the ‘purge’.

‘…I thought it was wrong to kill people. Because that's what's normal. So I was curious about the psychology of the kings who carried out purges.’

But perhaps that curiosity itself was wrong.

Just like the nameless noble in front of me who had whipped a gardener to death for a trivial reason, anyone could easily kill for their own authority and purpose.

Kings, nobles alike.

‘…Yes. So that's what it was. The kings in history thought of purging as just a means to an end.’

To think it was this simple, I felt so foolish for having deliberated so deeply on my own.

Did the future me have these same deliberations?

‘Of course, that doesn't mean I'll kill anyone just to live. I'm an ordinary person with at least a minimum of humanity.’

But.

‘At the very least, I will kill such nobles without mercy. For my life and my future.’

Thanks to this incident, I was able to decide on the method for ‘strengthening royal authority’.

Just one person's death brought about such thoughts; I couldn't imagine how heavy a resolve the future me must have made after seeing dozens of gardeners all dead.

But one thing was certain, the future me's decision and my decision now were the same.

Glaring at the nobles who were holding whips and smirking, I made a vow.

‘Purge. These trashes.’

And.

‘There was a saying, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Right now, I am a weak crown prince who can only survive by seizing power. For someone like me, there is no time to care about something as trivial as a modern person's conscience.’

I will not be picky about the means and methods.

Even if it goes against my conscience.