I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!

Chapter 19: Fellow Evil Lords

I found a weakness in the One-Flash.

Certainly, its an amazing sword-style, but its almost impossible to hold back while using it.

Its a sword style specifically designed to kill your opponents.

It is possible to hold back, but if youre facing an opponent even slightly stronger than yourself- then youd have no choice other than to kill them.

The One-Flash was a very specialized school.

Up until now, I never had to worry about such things because Ive only been fighting with pirates.

What a weakness.

Its a style I cant really use while Im studying abroad.

I was aiming to be an evil lord, but that was only in my own territory.

While I was still in anothers domain, I tried to keep my attitude in check.

Or rather, I couldnt.

Even if I went on a rampage in the Viscounts territory, Id still be overpowered in the end.

The strength of an individual didnt really matter here.

Well- I still hated to lose.

With that said-

Liam, were the ones in charge of taking care of the garden this afternoon.

-Kurt, who had just been ridiculing me, was acting strangely familiar all of a sudden.

He had changed into work clothes and had the necessary tools prepared.

-well, I guess this is fine.

What is?

It was a problem that I wasnt really communicating with my own roommate.

This was fine, but recently, I couldnt help but feel like the girls were looking at me with scary eyes.

It wasnt just boys who came to train at the Viscount house.

Girls also came here to train as apprentices- they were entrusted to other families to complete their bridal training before they got married.

With the Razel house being a popular place to study, there were many such girls.

But the eyes they turned towards me and Kurt have been scary as of late.

I often heard them muttering, Its Kurt and Liam or No, its Liam and Kurt etc.

What the hell was that?

Sometimes, depending on which name was called out first, theyd start fighting amongst themselves. What this just a custom of this universe, or something unique to the Razel house? -The intergalactic empire was just too broad to understand everything.

When thinking about common sense in general, there are many instances of common sense only made sense to the local populace.

In order to correct such misunderstandings, is that not one of the reasons why youd send someone to another house to train in the first place?

The possibilities were endless.

Liam, if we dont hurry up, then the instructor knight will be angry with us again.

That old man is too hot-headed.

He was quite the short-tempered leader.

I didnt dislike it though.

Half a year has already passed since weve begun training.

You know~ I dont really have a need to seriously train~

Peter, who was holding a wooden sword while sitting in a chair, didnt move even though it was currently time to exercise.

In fact, I already have my swordsmanship license for the Arend-school, so theres no real point in training any further.

A woman in sportswear chided Peter, who put out excuses as to why he couldnt move,

Peter, you have to move your body properly.

The woman was [Katerina Sera Razel].

She was Randolphs daughter and the person who he wanted to become Peters bride.

Peter also favoured Katerina- a beautiful girl that had blue eyes and her blonde hair tied into a ponytail.

Rina, Id still be strong even if I didnt train. I mean, in my territory I was unbeatable.

Katerina -Rina turned doubtful eyes towards Peter, who didnt look very strong.

If thats true, then show me how you fight.

A man of true strength never fights except for truly important battles.

Rina was fed up with Peter, who kept making constant excuses.

Outside of the training hall, the sons and daughters of nobility that had come here to study were maintaining the garden.

Peter cast a condescending gaze towards them,

I dont like them, poverty stricken nobles should just quietly do their work instead of coming to school.

Rina frowned as she gave an explanation,

Certainly, they not be the children of powerful houses, but theyre better than you, Peter, a man who doesnt even bother to move.

Theyre nothing. If I fought them seriously, they wouldnt even last a moment.

From the surroundings, the girls who had come for training brought over prepared towels and drinks for the men they fancied.

For them, the training hall doubled as a meeting place.

However, none of them spared a glance towards the children maintaining the garden outside.

While Liam was troubled by how easy training was.

Tia, who had gone to a university in the imperial capital, was suddenly approached by a student.

He was a man of the Razel house.

Are you Christiana? The lord you serve is actually studying at my familys house right now, did you know?

Suddenly bringing up the circumstances of her employer, Tia was troubled as to how to deal with the person who approached her.

(I dont really want to interact with anyone of the Razel house, but theres also Lord Liams current position as someone studying in their territory to consider. Should I just make something up here?)

It was a frivolous-looking man.

If they had been raised in a strict house, continuing their studies at one of the imperial capitals universities was the equivalent of being given vacation time to play around.

With that said, there were still some children that still took things seriously after arriving, but the majority didnt.

With their newfound sense of freedom and many other factors, there were many people who jumped straight into the leisure life.

This man was one of them.

Er, yes, I know. You were a son of the Razel house, correct?

Yep, thats the one. Your lord is currently being taken care of by my father. If youre okay with it, lets exchange contact information. Well probably have many reasons to talk to each other from now on.

Tia couldnt help but be amazed at what he was saying.

(Are you seriously trying to flirt with a knight affiliated with another house? Youre nothing but a brat who doesnt know the implications of the actions youre doing. Depending on how I react, I could end up damaging Lord Liams reputation. I have to avoid that at all costs.)

The other party had called out to her with ulterior motives.

Although she intended to reject them, she still thought he was foolish for trying to use their houses as an excuse to build a relationship.

No, Im fine, thanks.

Responding with a smile, Tia walked away.

(Dealing with these things is so troublesome.)

The residence of the Razel house.

I was talking to Kurt in our room.

The content of our conversation was-

You dont know how to run your territory?

Oh, yeah, something like that. Were kind of upstarts. Its really cool that weve received territory, but its also a bit troubling.

A bunch of land was suddenly pushed onto them.

They were grateful, but the Exners who had never ruled over anything before were perplexed.

I just dont know how much taxes I should take and how to treat my people.

How you were supposed to handle the populace differed from planet to planet.

To figure out such a thing required lots of time and effort.

Conversely, even if you were managing it properly, theyd undoubtedly find something to be dissatisfied with.

There were even cases of people revolting, creating such a big deal that the empire themselves had to step in.

What about my case? If they started to complain, all I had to do was send out my private army to suppress them.

I hate people who go against me.

Im kind to those who obey me, but theres no need to treat others the same way.

Youre overthinking it, just squeeze out what you can from them.

No, even if I wanted to do that I cant. Theyve already been practically squeezed dry.

Squeezed dry? Did they already wring them out for all they were worth?

I guess hes actually a pretty evil guy.

But for the Exner Baron house to also want to squeeze out more taxes- this has potential.

As a fellow evil lord, should I give him some advice?

Connections are important after all.

Let me tell you whats important. Before you wring out a rag, you soak it in water, right? You cant squeeze anything out of a dry rag.

-of course not. Liam, what are you saying?

Isnt it obvious? Before you squeeze them, help your people grow a bit first. The more you invest into them, the more money theyll earn, and the more they develop, the more likely theyll turn into something that you can actually squeeze out. Investments are important.

Even I know that much, but thats not exactly an easy thing to do.

Just do it! Lighten up on the taxes for a bit and invest into them. If you leave them alone, theyll eventually start developing things themselves. Just endure it for a bit, and then youll be able to squeeze as much as you want out of them once theyre rich! Ah, but make sure to maintain your military separately.

Some nobles were afraid of rebellion and didnt develop their territory too much.

They only allowed those who were useful to them to get an education, leaving their domain in practically a medieval environment.

my parents were like that.

If you were a noble in debt, then you had even more reasons why you shouldnt invest in the territory.

But its only possible to bleed them dry once they were rich.

Those words have a lot of weight considering your original state as a lord, Liam.

Im an expert when it comes to wringing out my people.

As your senior evil lord, Ill give you as much advice as you need.

So make sure to pay me back if something ever happens.

While listening to Liam, Kurt was thinking,

(Yes, the first thing I need to do is to enrich the lives of the people whove been bled dry.)

The territory father received was already in a bad state.

And yet to maintain their forces and fulfill certain contributions they were obligated to- the Exner Baron house had squeezed their territory for what little they had left.

They knew itd be better to reduce taxes, but things werent that simple.

To the people they had practically bled dry, they couldnt help but apologise.

It costs money to build-up forces. Its impossible for us to do any more than this. Maintenance costs are another problem.

Having heard that, Liam started to frown as he laid down on his bed.

Reduce the number. Whats important is the quality and skill of your forces. Rather than keeping dozens of old, obsolete vessels, you should try to buy several of the newer generation models.

Numbers are important, and it costs money to do that too. We cant take any more from the people.

So you really squeezed them dry

Liam had an impressed expression on his face as he said that.

Then borrow the money. As long as you pay the lenders back, theyll happily give you it. Oh, but make sure you keep the repayment deadlines, my house struggled with that before.

Kurt was speechless at Liam who suddenly started talking about such things.

Without credit, theres a limit to what we can borrow. Were still upstarts, so we dont have anything to give as collateral.

Liam started muttering,

If thats how it is then Ill talk to my Echigoya.

Whats an Echigoya?

Kurt was honestly happy to have come to the viscount house for training.

After all, a strange but reliable friend was found here.

(Even though Liam has a bad mouth, saying that hes squeezing out his people and such, hes actually doing his best for them.)

Though, that was just a misunderstanding.

The Henfrey company was suddenly contacted by Liam.

Hmm this is troubling.

Whats wrong?

After being asked by his subordinate, Thomas responded that he had just received a loan application.

Did the Banfield house ask for it?

No, it was a baron house. The upstart Exner house is applying for it, but I cant refuse them because they were referred here by Lord Liam.

If it was just the Exner house asking, then theres no way hed lend this much of a fortune.

But when Liams name was involved, things were different.

If the Count is backing them, shouldnt it be okay to lend them a hand?

Its not that, Im more worried about another issue.

He had made a vast amount of capital in Liams territory, so its not like he couldnt.

Besides, he was indebted to Liam, so when asked, hed make sure to put in the utmost effort.

These kinds of stories spread quickly. Many nobles will start applying for loans after this with no intention to pay us back.

Ahh, so thats the problem.

Since you lent money to Baron Exner, you can lend some to us too, right?

People with that kind of attitude would start harassing them, with absolutely no intention to pay anything back.

The Henfrey company has recently risen in power.

Along with Liams backing, they were quite despised among the aristocracy.

I cant refuse if Lord Liam is asking though. Make preparations to contact Baron Exner as soon as possible.

My evil Echigoya merc- no, Henfrey Chamber of Commerce was currently introducing themselves to Kurts parents.

I was happy to know that my circle of villainous contacts was spreading.

If we build a good relationship here, well be able to help each other out in times of need.

I was currently on my way to throw away the trash that came from the garden maintenance.

A voice could be heard from behind the building.

Whats this?

It was Katerina- the daughter of the viscount house was there.

Hiding in the buildings shadow, she was flirting with a man.

N-no, what if somebody finds us?

Itll be fine as long as were quiet.

Certainly, there were rumours that Katerina was going to marry the rich and influential Peter.

However, the man there wasnt Peter.

My heart went cold at the sight.

She was cheating- just like my wife from my previous life.

I couldnt help but feel sorry for Peter, who was going to be marrying such a woman.

Well, I havent talked to Peter though. I tried to avoid him because I didnt really want to build a connection with his house.

I heard that Peter came from a righteous house that governed their people with virtue.

Theres no way I could get along with such a guy.

As someone who strove for something in a completely opposite direction than myself, I had to avoid him.

Still poor Peter.

At the same time, I couldnt help but lament how much of a b*tch1 Katerina was.

I still had work to do, so I left that place and pretended that I didnt see anything.

In my thoughts,

(I knew it, theres no point in living virtuously. Even a serious person like Peter had his girl taken from him.)