Reincarnated as an Emperor ~ Will the Emperor at Birth Survive?

After ordering the Viscount, the acting feudal lord, to improve the ‘thousand rice’, we returned to the ranks.

In the end, my detour had repercussions and it was late in the evening when we arrived at the Marquis Maldora mansion where we would be staying.

Dinner was served without much of a greeting, and we were immediately pushed into our rooms.

This mansion wasn’t owned by Marquis Maldora but is the residence of one of his subordinate viscounts.

It seemed that so-called lower-class aristocrat mansions don’t have ‘sealing barriers’, so one was brought all the way from the capital. This one was smaller than the one used in the palace and could be carried around. This would prevent any magical assassinations… but was in the way now that I want to use the magic tool that Vera-Sylvie left me.

I might be able to use it in the ‘sealing barrier’ but I don’t know if it will operate normally. I would prefer to use it outside if possible…

“Timona, how many guards are there?”

The guest room was smaller compared to my own room. Personally, I felt more at home here. The only two people in the room were me and Timona Renan. This is how it’s going to be like every time.

“There are two guards in front of the door and a few spies in the yard outside.”

Hmm. Then, I guess it’ll be fine if I use the window to get outside.

“Are you the one in charge of the spies?”

“No, a young spy named Henri de Mallow is in charge of the spies. He belongs to a family who has served Count Palatine Vedett for generations.”

… I almost mistook him for a boy since you said ‘young’… but it probably just means that he has only just been promoted to a ‘spy’.

“I see. Then… No, this is fine.”

I thought about asking them to step down for a second, but then I realized that they would probably know that I’m involved with Vera-Sylie, and they wouldn’t be able to hear me if I put up a soundproof barrier anyway.

“I’m going out for a bit. Have everyone stand by.”

“Yes. As you wish.”

I went outside and put up a barrier. I only put soundproofing on the barrier, allowing magic and mana to pass through.

Then, I put mana into the earring that Vera-Sylvie gave me.

“Oh, it’s glowing.”

It charged for a while then the emerald began to flow.

『Can… you hear… me?』

Then Vera’s voice came from the gem.

“Oh, I can hear you. I can.”

『That’s… good. It works… properly.』

Hmm. But still, how does this thing work? Is it transmitting some kind of radio waves? … Where is her voice coming from when this just looks like a normal gem?

Oh no. I want to know how this works. I want to take it apart… but I won’t.

“… Say, do you know how this thing works?”

But I’m curious about how it works, so I’ll ask.

『I… don’t… know. But it was originally… the same gem… Father…』

The same gem? That may be the reason why this earring is a magical tool, but I don’t understand… I guess there are still some magic theories that I don’t know about. I’m looking forward to learning them.

“You mean the count would know more about it?”

『Hmm. Probably… I don’t know… Maybe? It’s an… old… family… heirloom.』

Artillery^[1]TN: He misunderstands what she says… Heirloom and artillery have the same word in Japanese? She didn’t say artillery or luck… Huh? Is this a family heirloom!?

In this nation, heirlooms are the kind of thing that people say they would die of shame and indignation if the enemy took away their heirlooms.

“Hey, is it alright for you to give me this?”

『… Yeah. Because… I wanted… to give it to you.』

It’s problematic even if you say that cutely. I have to give it back to her… I can’t take this apart.

“I see. I’ll give it back to you.”

But still… I wonder if Count Chamneaux will kill me if he finds out I have one of his heirlooms.

“Oh. How’s it going? How are things over there? Well, it’s only been a few days since we last met though.”

『Hmm… I had… a lot of food… today.』

It seemed like a happy occasion and her voice was full of excitement.

“Oh, I see. I’m glad to hear that.”

『I hope… I’ll get lots of food tomorrow… too.』

“I’m sure you’ll get lots of food tomorrow too.”

The amount of food she was eating has increased dramatically…

I ordered Count Palatine Vedett to increase her food intake when Vera started learning magic and her physical growth resumed. At that time, I assumed that Vera had unconsciously used magic to stop her growth due to malnutrition, and her growth, which had stopped, had resumed when she became able to control her magic.

But increasing her food intake would raise suspicion since she was in confinement. I didn’t have enough power to replace all the tower guards with spies. So, we increased her food intake secretly…

But it was still obvious. In other words, the Counts at the capital decided that increasing her food intake wasn’t a problem. The surveillance around Vera had weakened.

Lord Aquicurl wasn’t happy because Count Chamneaux would have been in the Regent faction if she had not been imprisoned. For him, there was no merit in keeping Vera-Sylvie imprisoned.

The Chancellor faction was probably monitoring her. But it was inconceivable for the Chancellor, who had brought Count Chamneaux into his own faction under the guise of her being unjustly imprisoned by the Regent faction, would blatantly monitor her from inside the tower.

Who had decreased her surveillance? Who had imprisoned her in the first place?

There was only one person. That old hag.

I see. It seems that the Regent’s influence in the capital has diminished in one day now that I’m gone.

The Chancellor wasn’t in the capital now, so it was hard to believe that his faction had taken action. So, the one who had caused this was… the Chief of the Ministry of Ceremonies?

He unified his own faction, which had been divided, while there was no one left to cover for her. Was this why he let the Chancellor decide on the destination of the tour…?

But well, I’ll leave this be for now. He has several sons unlike the Chancellor… They all had an incredibly bad relationship with each other, so a plot can be hatched at any time. Their possibility for success was low as long as the old geezer was around.

I should be worried about the Regent’s outbursts… I’m not good at dealing with her since I don’t know what she’s going to do. I guess I’d better cut this tour short before she goes off the rails…

I’ve been talking to Vera for five minutes with this earring.

I was feeling a little sentimental because it reminded me of mobile phones from my previous life. I miss them so much.

◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

We then spent a week or so travelling through Marquis Maldora’s fief. During this time, nothing unusual or interesting happened. I had met Marquis Maldora at the palace several times, so there was nothing new.

We passed Count Bailer Torre’s fief in one day. We were really just ‘passing through’. But Count Bailer Torre wanted to collect as much tax as he possibly could, so he set up three toll gates on this road that only covered his fief for a short distance and charged merchants a toll for each time they passed through.

This was dirty and disgraceful. Isn’t this decreasing the number of merchants going to the capital? I wish he would stop.

And today, we arrived at Count Kushad’s fief without incident. Or rather, we had just entered Count Kushad’s villa which was near the border of Count Bailer Torre’s fief.

Ah, I’m so glad. I was almost forced to sleep outdoors today.

Because there was a big dispute when we entered Count Kushad’s fief from Count Bailer Torre’s fief…. Over handing the troop’s leadership over to the Regent faction. The dispute was mainly between the two Counts.

I was told that this was later than planned, the number of people didn’t match what was previously declared, and that they had incurred unnecessary expenses and that it wouldn’t be paid. I think this dispute happened because Count Bailer Torre is stingy, and Count Kushad is fussy. They both whine about every little thing.

And our delay of less than an hour was getting worse because of their quarrel.

It got ridiculous, so I took a nap in the carriage and didn’t hear what had happened after that, but they were still quarreling by the time I woke up, so they must have wasted a lot of time. Everyone was exhausted, even Timona.

Me? I was sleeping like a log, so I’m fine. It’s great to sleep on a girl’s lap.

Now then, I went into the room first and it was surprisingly big today.

“Timona.”

It was a perfect time for a break, so I spoke to Timona to see if I could contact Vera… but he didn’t answer.

I thought he was outside the door, so I searched for him with thermal magic when I suddenly realized…

I couldn’t feel the… ‘sealing barrier’s’ immobilizing magic.

Hmm. This is…

As a test, I tried to knead mana outside of the door… but I couldn’t. So, the sealing barrier is working outside of this room? It’s only off in this room…? I didn’t think that was something that could be tweaked.

Next, I sent my magic through the walls. This is… an inward Christel…? One that is effective against both physical attack and magic.

This clearly shows it was carefully prepared. And of course, the culprit’s purpose was to…

Then a man in a butler’s uniform suddenly appeared at the center of the room without a sound and he spoke.

“It is nice to meet you, Your Majesty. I will get right to the point… Please die here for Ojou-sama’s sake.”

Oh my, an assassination? I knew it.