Chapter 12:
An Evil Magistrate
T HE SPACE PIRATE GANG that had approached Planet Augur's
vicinity numbered two hundred ships. Normally they operated elsewhere,
but they were in the process of fleeing the conflict between the Empire and
Autocracy.
A fleet of thirty House Banfield ships had encountered the pirates.
There weren't many of them since they were only patrolling the area, and
they had the misfortune of being discovered by the pirates, who had
immediately launched an attack. They'd attacked the patrol fleet to loot
them for some extra resources before heading to their new hunting ground.
"That's what you get for wandering around with thirty ships from a
noble's private army!"
On the bridge of his ship, the colonel in command of the patrol fleet
rallied his forces.
"The main force is on its way! Just hold out until reinforcements
come!"
Even for the mighty House Banfield army, it wasn't easy to fight
against such odds. Their forces were slowly being whittled away by the
overwhelming number of enemy craft.
The colonel's ship rocked, pierced by a number of shots that
overwhelmed its defensive shields. The bridge crew cried out, and the
colonel ground his teeth.
We won't make it.
He was experienced enough to know they'd be destroyed before
their reinforcements arrived. Still, he couldn't show weakness to his men.
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He told himself that it was a commander's duty to stay strong until the
end.
"Don't worry about our remaining ammo or energy! Give them
everything we've got!"
He was determined to go down swinging under the pirates'
unrelenting attacks.
Then, the colonel heard...
"Not a bad situation. Perfect for my debut battle."
It was a communication from someone, but it wasn't directed at
anyone in particular. It was more as though it had slipped through their
comms. The voice was out of place in this situation too—it seemed excited
for the fight despite the dire circumstances.
"Whose voice was that?" the colonel asked an operator, irritated.
"N-no idea. It displays as 'unknown,' b-but the signal registers as an
ally," the operator replied, bewildered.
The colonel couldn't believe his ears. "How can it be an ally if it's
unknown?! Hurry up and identify it!"
"Y-yes, sir!"
That was when a ship appeared before them. The vessel
immediately engaged the space pirates, deploying a squad of mobile
knights. The mobile knights were Nemains, but they weren't the right
color for the Nemains in use by House Banfield. These were also of
unknown affiliation, while registering as allies.
"The unknown ship has deployed mobile knights! Wh-what is
this?!"
Before the operator could explain the situation, the colonel saw it for
himself on the monitor.
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"Black Nemains...!"
Equipped with boosters on their backs, the black Nemains charged
into the pirate fleet, after which there was an explosion.
A pirate ship blew up; another one did the same. Then they heard
the same voice coming through their communication system.
"A little overly precise, but not bad."
On the screen was one of the black Nemains, having just blown
away a pirate ship's bridge. The colonel and his men held their breath at
the sight of the black craft standing atop the burning pirate ship.
***
The Royal Guard rushed to sortie after the Graf Nemain had already
deployed. Ethel was concerned about Liam, who had gone on ahead of
them.
"We were supposed to sortie at the same time!"
It wasn't that the Royal Guard was late, but that Liam hadn't been
able to restrain himself and had gone ahead without them.
As the Royal Guard in the hangar prepared to sortie, Ethel looked
down at the faces of her subordinates on her monitor.
"Commander, should the craft that are ready head out ahead of
time?"
"We can't just leave Lord Liam alone out there!"
"Platoons Three and Six are prepared to deploy!"
Her subordinates wanted to send out those platoons ready to deploy
early. These were highly loyal knights, gathered to protect House Banfield
—specifically, Liam—and Ethel agreed with their suggestion.
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"Very well. Platoons Three and Six, deploy." After they'd done so,
she addressed the rest of her subordinates. "Don't think of this operation as
a mere whim of Lord Liam's." It had started with that, of course, but at
this point it was an important operation for the Royal Guard as well.
Her subordinates focused up.
Relieved, she continued, "Those idiot knights have betrayed Lord
Liam's trust and besmirched our names over and over."
"Those idiot knights" referred to Christiana and Marie, whose
excessive devotion to Liam had caused him trouble many times in the past.
They'd formerly led two main factions of House Banfield's knights, and
no one had openly criticized their actions in the past, but not all House
Banfield's knights had been happy about their behavior either.
"We need to win Lord Liam's trust and show him that he can rely
on House Banfield's knights."
Ethel had endured bitter frustration with each of their past offenses.
She'd left her home domain in order to obtain the qualifications to become
an imperial knight, and she'd spent ample time away from her new home
on long-term missions. Once, she had trusted Christiana as her
subordinate, but she'd become more and more frustrated with each of the
knight's failures. At some point, her respect for the other knight had turned
to hatred.
Those incompetents are only still around because of Lord Liam's
kindness. I won't ever forgive them for what they've done.
When they'd gone past causing trouble for Liam and outright
betrayed his trust, Ethel had even considered killing them. To her,
Christiana and Marie were now both hateful enemies.
Those idiots disgraced the order of knights, and right at Lord
Liam's side too. They shouldn't think there will always be a place for them
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in the knights.
She would chase them out of the ranks of knights and win back
Liam's trust. That was Ethel's goal.
"Show Lord Liam what you can do! This is the very reason we
exist!"
***
The feel of the Graf Nemain wasn't too bad. It could keep up with
piloting that was on the reckless side, and it was fun for me to pilot a
mobile knight other than the Avid.
"Now, let's have a little fun, shall we?"
The Graf Nemain reached behind its back, drawing guns from
holsters mounted at its waist. It held the guns in both hands, aiming them
at the attacking space pirates. The heavy-looking black handguns were
made to resemble revolvers, but the resemblance was purely aesthetic. The
number of projectiles the guns could shoot, as well as their power, far
surpassed the level of an ordinary handgun.
I pulled the control sticks and blew the heads off two pirate mobile
knights coming at me from both sides. Then I turned and pulled the
triggers again, shooting through the cockpit of another attacking enemy
craft.
"These guns aren't bad either."
I wasn't familiar with the design process of the craft, but it had
clearly been developed with a particular person in mind. That much was
obvious from the unit's weaponry. Not many people dual-wielded guns,
after all.
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I pointed the guns at my swarming enemies and kept pulling the
triggers. Of course, I couldn't deal with all of them with just two
handguns, so when one mobile knight came within range...
"If I just get in close..." I heard over my comm.
"You thought you could win?"
I gave the other craft a roundhouse kick and bisected its torso. The
Graf Nemain's knees and heels sported blades that looked like mere
decorations, but similarly bladelike lasers could be deployed from those
four spots.
"Not a bad gimmick."
It was a very unique style to fight with two pistols and then switch
to legwork at close range.
"Now, let's see what this baby can really do..."
I flew upward and accelerated. An enemy craft chased after me, but
they couldn't keep up with the Graf Nemain's speed.
"I prefer doing the chasing when playing tag. Being chased isn't
really my style."
I shook off the enemy craft and sped right into the midst of the
pirates. Lasers lit up to intercept me, and as I wove through them, I
considered how best to use my craft next.
"I don't think it could hold up if I used my Flash. In that case, I
could try dual-wielding swords."
I stored the guns back in their holsters and opened up the craft's side
skirts, exposing the handles of two laser blades. I pulled them out, the
grips having finger guards that went over the mobile knight's hands. I
extended the blades, flying through the battlefield with a high-powered
laser blade in each fist.
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"I should've asked Fuka what the trick to dual-wielding is... Well,
I'll just experiment for now."
I hadn't tried dual-wielding much, since one blade tended to be all I
needed. The only times I'd done so had more or less been for fun.
I approached a pirate ship and swung the pair of blades. The
momentum lengthened the blades, and they sliced through the entire
vessel. These things were frighteningly powerful.
"Do they use surplus power from the nuclear reactor? It's
impressive, but you couldn't put these things in a mass-produced craft."
I had no complaints about the craft's capabilities, but it had ended
up being a mobile knight that would choose its pilot. I'd heard something
about this prototype being made into a mass-produced model, so were they
going to have to downgrade it?
Pirate mobile knights whose mothership had been destroyed
crowded around me.
"Your speed won't get you anywhere now! You can't run away if
you're surrounded!"
I couldn't help smiling at the pirates' simplistic way of thinking.
"Surrounded? You're just in range of me now. You came over to me
to be cut down?"
As soon as I was finished speaking, the Graf Nemain swung both its
arms and took out five nearby enemy craft. My extended blades rippled
like whips and cut through craft after craft. One tried to run, but a new
Nemain swooped in and stomped on it, simultaneously shooting it with its
rifle.
"I apologize for our tardiness, Lord Liam."
"Hey, I told you that's not right, didn't I?"
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Ethel was displayed on my cockpit monitor. I tapped on my mask a
few times huffily and she turned red, realizing her mistake.
"My apologies, Lord Schwarz Graf."
"Right."
I looked around and saw more black Nemains piloted by my Royal
Guard, slaughtering the pirates. The black Nemains had been tailored to
my Royal Guard, with a base color of black and gold detailing, and a
patterned effect on the chests and shoulders that gave them a real "special
unit" look. Of course, the modifications went beyond custom paint jobs.
The mobile knights of my elite Royal Guard were of much higher
performance than regular Nemains, with all sorts of customizations. They
may have looked no different from the standard Nemain, but they were
about ten percent more powerful.
"I want to see what the mothership's capable of too," I told Ethel.
Understanding my meaning, she ordered her subordinates, "Begin
bombardment."
The Schwarzvogel's crew sought confirmation. "There are friendly
units in our firing line, ma'am."
Normally, you'd question an order that told you to fire on a
battlefield where your companions were fighting, but Ethel just scoffed.
"We don't need anyone who's slow enough to get caught by our
own bombardment. Commence the attack."
It sounded callous, but I'd spared no expense on my Royal Guard. It
would be a problem for me if they struggled against enemies like this. The
crew member on the Schwarzvogel hadn't sounded as though they were
actually worried, anyway; they just wanted to confirm the order. Once
they'd received it, they carried out their orders with ruthless efficiency.
"Roger that."
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The Schwarzvogel began its attack, and pirate ships exploded one
after another. The enemy panicked when they saw their defense fields
were easily pierced, but there was no longer anything they could do as our
overwhelming firepower trampled all over them.
"Not bad for our debut battle."
"I would say that we've certainly made a splash. It's probably about
time we took our leave, though. The main force is almost here."
"Already? Those guys are too good."
If we stayed too long, House Banfield's main force would find us,
and that would mean trouble. We decided to leave. Before we could make
our exit, however, the colonel in charge of the patrol fleet opened a
communication channel with me.
"We appreciate the assist, but could you identify..." The colonel's
mouth flapped open and closed when he saw my masked face, so I cleared
my throat and gave him an introduction.
"The name's Schwarz Graf. Yeah... You can call us...Black
Lightning. I saw you guys getting attacked by pirates and couldn't let them
get away with it. There's no need to thank us."
My little rampage was satisfaction enough and thanks from them
wouldn't mean anything. After all, if they rewarded me, they'd be paying
me with my own money.
"Err, but, Lo—"
He was about to say my name, so I cut the call, ready to head for the
hills.
"Okay, pull out!"
"Yes, sir!"
My skilled Royal Guard beat an efficient retreat. We returned to the
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Schwarzvogel and sped away before the main force arrived.
Heh. That was pretty fun.
***
Claus maintained a neutral expression after the patrol fleet returned
and he heard the colonel's report. Mentally, however, he cradled his head.
"Black Lightning, eh?" he murmured. "Schwarz Graf?"
The colonel wore an indescribable expression on his face, and no
wonder. Claus would probably have reacted the same way in his position.
The colonel looked as though he still couldn't believe it. "That's
definitely what he called himself, but I'm absolutely certain it was Lord
Liam. No one else could have been so strong. Sir Claus, is there some
meaning behind Lord Liam's actions? Something like a top-secret
mission?"
Why would their lord go on top-secret missions in a mask? The
question perplexed Claus more than the colonel.
You said you wouldn't fight, didn't you, Lord Liam? So why are you
doing all this weird stuff just to go fight anyway? You're just causing
confusion in the field!
Claus sighed. "It's not a top-secret mission. I'll confirm things with
Lord Liam myself. Where is he?" he asked a nearby subordinate, who
immediately checked Liam's schedule.
The subordinate's face twitched. "His schedule has him working in
his office on the Argos right now, but we just checked, and he left a note
saying he remembered something important he had to do, and he'd be
gone for a few months."
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"Anything else?"
"No, sir."
Claus leaned back and looked up at the ceiling.
Great... More trouble.
***
"I'm confiscating those, Lord Liam."
"You can't do that! I've only gotten to use them a few times!"
"The fact that you've used them at all is the problem."
Claus had come to my office to grill me about my recent combat
excursions. For the last few weeks, I'd been flying around Planet Augur in
the Schwarzvogel, attacking every pirate I came across. I'd admit that I
went against my word not to go out and fight, but confiscating the craft
was going too far, wasn't it?
I attempted to fob him off with my authority as his master, but the
well-prepared bastard got Amagi on his side. Amagi had the same
demeanor she always did with me, but her eyes were cold.
"I confirmed things with the Third Weapons Factory," she said.
"They manufactured a ship and mobile knights, ostensibly on Lady
Eulisia's request. Several of Third personnel were aware, however, that it
was you behind her request, Master."
I'd tried to use Eulisia to hide my actions, but Amagi had seen
through the subterfuge. I actually couldn't believe those people at the
Third had gone and blabbed like that.
"I see they've betrayed a regular customer."
Claus must have done a thorough investigation before coming to my
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office, because he presented me with further proof.
"I've conducted an investigation with several related parties. It's
clear that you've been calling yourself Schwarz Graf, Lord Liam. We also
confirmed your purchases with the home planet."
Obviously, I'd had to spend a hefty sum to purchase a ship and
group of mobile knights, and though I'd disguised it by going through
Eulisia, Claus hadn't missed that in his investigation.
Amagi was clearly exasperated. "Buying more craft with your
personal funds... I suppose your promise to never do so again meant
nothing to you."
When Claus questioned me, I could be defiant as his master, but I
couldn't be so bold with Amagi. And now she had me feeling guilty for
breaking a promise. "At least don't take them away!" I pleaded with her.
"I've only used them a few times! That's such a waste, don't you think?!"
I'd gone and custom-ordered. They couldn't take them away after
I'd only used them a few times.
But Claus shattered my earnest plea. "As those craft were purchased
with your personal funds, I have no right to confiscate them, Lord Liam."
"Then—"
"However..." Claus glanced over at Amagi, whose red eyes were
giving off a fiercer gleam than usual. She was really mad.
I gulped as Amagi criticized me dispassionately. "You have the
Argos, a superdreadnought, and the Avid, your personal mobile knight.
You hardly have need of additional ships and mobile knights solely for
your personal use."
"A-Amagi? Don't you think that's a little harsh? I mean, there are
times when I want to do something different, you know. Not to mention,
the cost of making use of the Argos and the Avid—"
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Damn it, I thought after making that excuse. It had been a bad move.
Amagi didn't miss my careless little comment. "From the way you
behave, I did not think you were even aware of that expense. In which
case, there is no need to accumulate even more military strength, is there?"
Before I knew it, I'd risen from my chair, eyes wide. "Well, but as a
collector, I like to maintain a variety of—"
Amagi wasn't backing down. "There is no need, is there?"
"No..." I collapsed back into my seat like a marionette with its
strings cut. There was no benefit to arguing further with an angry Amagi. I
felt like a kid who'd just had a new toy taken away.
Claus sighed quietly. "That should wrap things up for now, but I
have to admit it's true that we caused you to be bored, Lord Liam. I cannot
permit you to engage our enemies, but I will convince the various
department heads that you should be allowed to visit the surface of the
planet more easily."
I looked up at Amagi when I heard this. "Really?!"
She must have determined that it would do more harm than good to
keep me cooped up, because she said reluctantly, "Yes, you may descend
to Planet Augur when you wish, Master. I ask only that you take the
minimum security detail with you, and nothing more."
They'd taken the Graf Nemain from me, but now I could go down to
Augur and enjoy playing the evil magistrate. I was pissed at Claus for
getting in my way, but I decided this more or less made up for it.
"I'm going to go down there right now, then."
Amagi bowed to me. "I will have a shuttle prepared."
***
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Down on Augur I was performing an inspection, hidden behind my
gray mask. As the ruling magistrate, I was more important than the royalty
of this planet, so no one would expect me to be down here inspecting
things in secret.
"Heh heh... This is what I was waiting for."
People shot glances at me, but I ignored them as I observed the way
the locals lived.
A voice came from my shadow. "I don't believe there's any reason
for you to be inspecting things yourself, Master Liam."
The voice belonged to Kunai, one of Kukuri's underlings. I'd
chosen her to accompany me as my personal security. To everyone else, it
appeared that I was walking around by myself, but I had brought with me
a security detail. In addition to Kunai, a few guards followed me,
remaining inconspicuous.
"I want to see things with my own eyes. Besides, something fun
might be going on down here."
I pictured someone picking a fight with me without knowing who I
was, at which point I could reveal my identity and have them arrested for
treason. That was just the sort of thing an evil magistrate would do. I'd
tried doing that sort of thing back in my own domain, but it hadn't worked
out. That wouldn't be a problem on Augur, I figured. Their society's
sophistication had been restricted, so some idiots were sure to pick a fight
with me.
Or maybe I should just announce who I was and strut around
arrogantly. I could say, "Hand over your women and your money!" No... I
couldn't do that. This planet couldn't even produce an amount of money
that would satisfy me, and I didn't want to deal with the consequences of
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demanding their women. If Amagi or Brian heard about it, they would just
hound me about taking responsibility. Brian would probably do a little jig
and get ready to add them to the family register.
I folded my arms, considering how best to act like an evil
magistrate, and Kunai timidly said, "May I ask you a question, Master
Liam?"
"What is it?"
"I understand the need for a disguise, but why the conspicuous
mask? I should think it will only attract attention."
It seemed Kunai wasn't a fan of my mask. I liked it a lot, but it was
true that it made me stand out. I considered taking it off, but before I could
make up my mind, I heard a commotion.
It sounded like male and female voices arguing, but I saw it was
only one woman against three men. When I spotted the group, I saw a girl
with blonde hair and blue eyes surrounded by men I recognized as soldiers
from the dispatch fleet.
"You're cute," one said. "Want to play with us?"
"It's an honor to play with the servants of a god, don't you think?"
"That's right—we're a god's servants. We serve the Lord
Magistrate."
The leering men surrounding the woman were soldiers dispatched
by the Empire. To be precise, they didn't work for the magistrate, but I had
no intention of correcting their claim. I didn't feel the need to get in their
way, if they were just trying to get lucky. It did piss me off, though, that
they were calling themselves servants of a god.
The woman hung her head, voice thick with tears. "Please let me go.
I have somewhere I need to be."
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The woman was a native, and the soldiers were displeased by
someone they looked down on talking back to them.
"You can't disobey us, you primitive!"
One of the soldiers grabbed the woman by her arm and lifted her off
the ground. For a soldier whose body had been strengthened as his was,
lifting one woman this way was an easy task.
"Ow! Please stop! Please!"
Citizens around them started to speak up, but the soldiers glared at
them, and they quickly averted their eyes. These people from the sky who
called themselves a god's servants were stronger than they were, and they
possessed more advanced technology. The locals had no way to fight back
against them.
Before I knew it, I'd walked over to the soldiers.
"I was quite clear with my warning that no idiots were to go around
calling themselves servants of God. I didn't expect the dispatch army to
misbehave."
One of the soldiers reached out to me. "Who's this kid with the
stupid mask?"
"Don't touch me."
I grabbed the soldier's arm and, using nothing but body strength,
tossed him away. He crashed into a wooden building, looking as if he had
no idea what had just happened.
"Pathetic. This is the kind of trash they sent as a dispatch force?"
The remaining two scowled in anger and moved to draw their
weapons. When I saw that, I felt myself smile.
"Kunai," I said, and a sword arose from my shadow. I gripped its
hilt and swung, and the two soldiers lost both of their arms. It happened
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instantaneously, and not only the people watching but even the soldiers
themselves had wide eyes, unable to process what had just happened.
The soldier I'd thrown had drawn his gun, but Kunai would subdue
him. The ones missing their arms sank to the ground, sobbing and
moaning. I looked down at them and smirked.
"Who's a servant of God? Did the magistrate not warn you about
doing stupid crap like this? Are your heads just for decoration?"
When I put my blade to their necks, the soldiers at least figured out
that I was a knight, and they panicked, thinking they'd been discovered by
someone from House Banfield.
"W-we're sorry. We were just joking."
"You called yourself a servant of God as a joke? That's even
worse."
I smirked down at them.
The soldiers pressed their foreheads to the ground.
"Please! Please have mercy!"
I tossed my sword back to Kunai. "Idiots."
When I turned to leave, the girl I'd rescued called out to me.
"Umm... Thank you for saving me!"
The girl thanked me even though she'd gone white from the ghastly
sight she'd witnessed. She looked kind of familiar, but I couldn't
remember where I'd seen her before.
She glanced down at the soldiers. She must have thought they'd be
in trouble left like this. "Umm, we should treat their wounds quickly,
shouldn't we?"
It was a fine idea in theory, but with the level of medical technology
on this planet, anything the locals could do would probably just make
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matters worse. It'd be better for them if we just left them alone for now.
"Don't worry, their bosses will come running any minute now."
"Err..." The girl still seemed worried about them.
I sighed. "You won't get in trouble; those idiots are at fault."
I poked one of the soldiers with my foot and he shrieked in fear.
"R-really?"
The girl finally relaxed at that reassurance. It was really starting to
bother me that I couldn't remember where I knew her from. Was it
because I had so little interest in flesh-and-blood women?
"Please let me thank you," the girl requested. "I have somewhere to
be shortly, though, so it will have to be after that."
"Thank me?"
Well, if she really wanted to, I supposed I could accept. I also
wanted to learn who she was, and it would bug me if I simply left and
never figured it out.
***
I couldn't believe the sight before my eyes. I didn't want to believe
it.
"What is this...?"
The girl had brought me to a square on a main street, with a
fountain. It looked like the middle of a castle town, and a lot of people
were around. But the fountain was small, and the stone pavement was
marred by lots of cracks and damage. To my eyes the place was pitiful, but
that wasn't the problem.
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The problem was the statue at the center of the fountain. The girl I'd
saved stood in front of it and put her hands together in prayer. The sight of
an innocent girl praying sincerely made for a pretty picture, and she
probably looked angelic to anyone who wasn't me. I glanced around and
saw other natives doing the same thing.
When the girl finished praying, she turned and smiled. "This is a
statue of the god who came from far away and watches over us. I come
here every day to pray."
If I didn't know any better, I might have been taken with the girl, the
way she smiled with stars in her eyes, but that smile was terrifying to me.
At that point, I remembered who the girl in front of me was. She was the
daughter offered to me by that king with the splendid white mustache—a
princess of this planet.
"G-god?!"
I looked up at the statue and trembled. It wasn't the greatest
likeness, but the statue could only be of me. My double stood on a pedestal
in the middle of the fountain, striking some kind of pose that probably
represented peace or compassion or something.
"Yes!" the princess said with a brilliant smile. "Lord Liam Sera
Banfield. Not only did he free us from the evil god who once tormented us,
he protects us as well."
Before I realized it, I'd collapsed to my knees. I had told them so
many times I wasn't a god, so why were they worshiping me here? This
was so much worse than just calling myself a god's servant.
Concerned, the princess darted to me and rubbed my back. It was a
human virtue to show kindness to someone like this, but this girl was a
nutjob who worshiped me.
"Are you all right?! You aren't hurt, are you? We have to treat your
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wound!"
As the commotion grew around me, a single tear fell under my
mask.
Wait a second... If these folks are worshiping me as a god, then
what have the people who immigrated here from my domain been doing?
The thought terrified me. I never knew what those weirdos would
get up to. I rushed to find out right away.
***
Since the immigrants from House Banfield were limited in their
interactions with the locals, they lived in their own area, surrounded by
walls. Still, it wasn't as if they had no outside contact whatsoever; they
were aware of what was going on with the locals.
Unlike the quaint area I'd just been in, the immigrant zone was busy
with development, heavy machinery and mobile knights modified for
construction milling about. I strode into the area and called out to the first
group of workers I spotted.
"I have a question for you."
The workers, who were likely on break, gave me surprised looks
when I suddenly called out to them.
"Huh? Er, sure. But, umm..." They seemed nervous about me
because of the mask.
"I'm Schwarz. Schwarz Graf! Can you answer my question?"
The men were silent for a few moments before nodding vigorously.
It seemed they still weren't sure what to think of me, but they'd decided to
err on the side of being helpful.
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"Are you aware that the locals are worshiping the magistrate?"
The workers exchanged glances, then the oldest of them answered
for the group. "Yeah, we know...er, sir. One of my buddies told me they
made a statue of Lord Liam that they pray to. I guess he's like a god to the
locals."
So the immigrants were aware.
"It's not happening here though, right?" If they had a statue of me in
here too, I was thinking about chopping it into little pieces with my sword.
Thankfully, the man shook his head. "I hear some guys wanted to
put up our own statue, but they couldn't get approval. Never thought I'd be
jealous of the locals here... Heh."
He apparently meant he envied the way the locals weren't regulated
as the immigrants were, but he didn't seem too earnest about it.
"Has word gotten around about this?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Damn! Sorry for bothering you."
I hurried back to the Argos, spewing curses the entire time.
***
After Liam had left, the workers all discussed his appearance.
"That was Lord Liam, right? Why was he wearing that weird
mask?"
"How should I know?"
"Schwarz Graf is like an alias, right?"
Why was their lord observing their work with a mask on? It was a
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real head-scratcher for the workers, but simply wondering about it
wouldn't get them an answer, so one changed the subject.
"Anyway, we're not allowed to worship Lord Liam, but nobody said
anything about worshiping the masked Schwarz Graf, right?"
"Hey, good point!"
"Now we can build a statue, and we won't get in trouble!"
Thus, a statue of Schwarz Graf was built, since he claimed he wasn't
Liam.
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