The Iron Blood Emperor was one of the most renowned wise rulers among the Empire’s historical monarchs.
He possessed exceptional political acumen and the ability to employ talented individuals, and contrary to his title of “Iron Blood,” he didn’t easily shed blood, however, once he drew his sword, he never failed to strike down his target.
Reviving the Adventurers Guild was just one of his many accomplishments.
Yet, even such an emperor had one worry—his misfortune with children.
His firstborn son with the empress didn’t live past his first birthday, and the second and third sons also lost their lives to a fall from a horse and illness, respectively.
When the Iron Blood Emperor himself passed away at the relatively young age of fifty, only two princesses and the youngest prince remained among the children between him and the empress.
The Empire had no precedent of an empress regnant, and it was impossible for the young prince, not yet ten years old, to perform the emperor’s duties.
Naturally, the Empire’s power was divided into two factions.
Those who followed Duke Lennart, the Guardian Lord of the State, and those who followed the empress.
In this political climate, the influence of the Haidern Marquis family, which was the empress’ birth family, grew by the day.
Likewise, the arrogance of Maximilian Egir Haidern, the second son of the marquis family and nephew of the empress, also increased by the day.
I must protect His Highness, the Crown Prince and Her Majesty, the Empress!
He was young and immature and divided the world into a simple dichotomy.
To him, the empress and young crown prince were good, while Duke Lennart and his faction who threatened them were evil.
Maximilian doubted the loyalty of Duke Lennart’s family. The reason was simple.
Originally, it was naturally my father’s role to sit in the position of Guardian Lord of the State and lead the Empire. Duke Lennart stole that position through cowardly power! If they were truly loyal subjects, how could they plot such a scheme!?
It was meaningless to point out that with the empress’ presence already strengthening the Haidern family’s influence, therefore, the chances of the position of Guardian Lord of the State—that was, the regent position—going to an in-law of the empress were slim to none.
Such a dismissal only came about from Maximilian surrounding himself with like-minded individuals, causing him to be in an echo chamber of flattery and agreement with his flawed thought process. Naturally, there were those who took his paranoia to greater extremes.
— When time passes and His Highness the Crown Prince comes of age, the Empire will naturally return to its rightful owner and to themselves who assisted that owner.
— When that happens, Duke Lennart, who is currently in the position of Guardian Lord of the State, will also be pushed out. But will the ducal household, who is addicted to power, step down easily?
— What if they plot something or use a dagger before His Highness the Crown Prince comes of age?
— Wait a minute, come to think of it, it’s a bit suspicious that the other princes died in succession. Could it be...?
— Perhaps even His Majesty’s untimely departure at such a young age...?
— You scoundrel! Duke Lennart! How can you be so wicked and treacherous!? I can never forgive you!
To clarify, let it be said that these people weren’t making such a fuss because they had obtained any decisive evidence.
If anything, each other’s statements were both testimony and evidence.
If A muttered some baseless hearsay, B would pick it up and mutter it again, and if C chimed in agreement from the side, A, who first made the statement, would sincerely believe, “Ah, I guess my words were really true!”
It looked truly idiotic from the outside, but this phenomenon was surprisingly common within isolated groups.
Determined to thwart Duke Lennart’s family’s supposed schemes, Maximilian gathered friends who were deeply loyal and ready to dedicate themselves to the empire.
Like Maximilian, they were idlers who had ambiguous positions within their families and wandered around without doing anything in particular.
Their activities were diverse.
Martial arts training, bonding with the people, hunting magic beasts and fierce animals, more bonding with the people, beating down the ruler maintaining balance in the back alleys and turning it into a state of warring factions and then congratulating themselves on establishing justice, even more bonding with the people, and lastly... more bonding with the people.
Any concern that they were bonding a little too often fell upon deaf ears. After all, heroes were supposed to be womanizers. At least according to their claims.
Maximilian and his gang roamed about various parts of the Empire, causing trouble, but no one could stop them.
The title of being the empress’ nephew was that powerful.
Even nobles with weak influence had to bow their waists, let alone commoners.
Maximilian and his followers, with their noses high in the air, overlooked one fact.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ wonders if he’s just a mere marquis after all!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ argues that you need to be at least royalty, a prince, a margrave who started a revenge plot after having their engagement broken off, or a duke’s family to be somewhat recognized by others!]
There were madmen in the world who regarded worldly power as mere dirt under their nails.
***“Huh—mere marquis...”
Adelaide seemed shocked by the Tin Knight’s word choice, sweating a little.
Although she had been scolded by Dorothea about having flowers in her head or whatnot, she was still a noble lady in her own right.
She couldn’t claim to be well-versed in politics or strategies even as a white lie, but she at least had the minimum education and knowledge regarding decorum.
Depending on the situation and circumstances, there might be some differences, but usually, a marquis was often a high-ranking noble that even a king couldn’t dismiss lightly.
Let alone someone who was a relative of the imperial family and the nephew of the current ruler—they were definitely not people who should be called “mere” anywhere.
Not realizing how he was being evaluated, Buttermilian—no, Maximilian shouted while restrained, “You evil witch! I will never forgive you!”
Dorothea replied, “You won’t forgive me?”
“No matter what happens?”
“Ha! It’s too late to beg for forgiveness now!”
Dorothea nodded her head greatly.
Then she opened her mouth, “Then there’s no helping it. Tin Can. Proceed.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ rejoices, saying he’s always wanted to reenact an execution scene from historical dramas!]
As the clear sound of a sword being drawn from its scabbard rang out, the noble youths’ Adam’s apples moved greatly.
Maximilian shouted in panic, “You fools, are you in your right minds? Do you know who I am and still dare to cut me down!?”
“You said you wouldn’t forgive, no matter what. If we let you go, it’ll only cause trouble later, so why should we let you live?”
“My father—no, Her Majesty won’t forgive you! Silencing us here won’t end this!”
“So, that’s the same, even if we let you live. No, revenge would come even faster.”
As the blade raised by the Tin Knight shone brilliantly in the light, Maximilian’s face turned deathly pale.
The witch’s words were utterly sound, but to him, they were too unreasonable.
He had grown up receiving the empress’ affection and was close to the crown prince.
When he barked at someone, they were supposed to cower in fear or beg him to let them off somehow.
That was the world Maximilian had lived in.
That was the common sense he knew.
But to these people, that obvious common sense didn’t work at all.
It was the other youths captured with him who gave Maximilian the “correct answer”.
“W-we won’t seek revenge! We won’t retaliate at all, so please!”
“Forgive us just this once! We only drew our swords because we were flustered by the sudden situation, we had no intention of being hostile!”
“If you need compensation, say anything! If it’s money, we’ll give you plenty! So please!”
“W-wait. What are you all saying?”
“My lord, you must endure! If we die so pitifully here, who will protect His Highness the Crown Prince and support Her Majesty the Empress!?”
“That’s right. It was a fight that originated from a misunderstanding in the first place, so we’re just correcting that!”
Maximilian’s eyes rolled quickly.
The Tin Knight was dancing around the youths who were kneeling and tied up, swinging his sword here and there.
He was clearly not in his right mind. It was creepily scary.
In the face of the surrounding pressure that seemed to tell him to bow his head immediately, and the fear of death, Maximilian surrendered, “F-forgive us. The talk of revenge, I take it all back. So, please!”
Dorothea frowned, then sighed.
She was about to cut her palm with a dagger, but after checking the number of people, she said to the Tin Knight, “Draw some blood from these guys. Just slightly on the skin so we can heal it without leaving traces.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says dealing 1 damage isn’t difficult!]
The Tin Knight’s sword flashed, and small wounds appeared on the youths’ bodies.
It was such a skillful technique that even those who were cut barely felt any pain.
The blood they shed floated in the air without touching the ground, transforming into several contract documents.
Facing dozens of eyes looking up at her, the witch declared, “Sign. Now.”
***“Was taking away their memories enough? Since they were people with some power, I thought there might have been many other ways to use them.”
To Sophia’s words, Dorothea shook her head.
“It’s fine. I hate getting tangled up in power struggles, and blood oaths aren’t something that can be used so conveniently and frequently in the first place.”
As if afraid that Dorothea might change her mind, she explained while watching the youths hurriedly running away, “If it’s a type of contract that forces specific actions, the contract ends at the point when that action is completed. But if it’s a contract without a clear end, it continuously pressures the caster’s capacity. Specifically, things like total mana or recovery rate decrease. Magic control also becomes trickier. To live while shouldering a bunch of guys like that, I can’t do that.”
“What? Do you have something to say?”
“No, I just thought you had quite some luck in meeting people?”
“You’re talking nonsense.”
After turning away from Sophia, Dorothea looked towards the mercenary group.
I should do something about those guys, too.
She had hidden important parts like necromancy and the youths’ identities.
But the general flow, that was, the process of Maximilian’s gang picking a fight with Dorothea and getting beaten and driven away, was witnessed by all the mercenaries, so if they went around running their mouths carelessly, it could become troublesome in the future.
As Dorothea was pondering whether she should erase these people’s memories too, it happened.
Starting with the mercenary captain and Hindler, the Iron Stake Mercenary Company as a whole knelt before Dorothea.
“Thanks to you, we lived!”
“We will never forget this kindness for the rest of our lives!”
To Dorothea’s question, the mercenary captain said with wide eyes, “The boldness to not back down even a step against powerful rulers! And overwhelming strength! You are the true mercenaries I’ve been dreaming of! Please accept us as your subordinates, Big Sis!!”
“Please accept us, Big Sis!!”
Dorothea’s jaw fell open.
She was so surprised that she even unconsciously dropped the staff she was holding.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ congratulates Dorothea on becoming ‘Big Sis’!]