Ugh… I thought the Blood Emperor wanted to use my power for something, but it turns out he's just taking me around the Empire Capital to make it rain!
At first, Iri thought the Blood Emperor wanted her to conjure a blizzard for Theocracy, which she didn't have a good relationship with, during the upcoming harvest season. She never expected it was just for disaster relief. It's clear the Blood Emperor is a good Emperor. Still, it's a pity…
These past few days, the Blood Emperor has been taking Iri all over the Empire's territory. Each time they arrived at a new place, he would ask Iri to perform a Sky Transformation. It wasn't too much trouble, and since they had already agreed, Iri simply went along with it.
After all, the Empire would become a vassal state of Nazarick in the future, and Iri didn't want to see the people of a vassal state suffer. It's just that all the places they had to go to were places Iri had never been to, so she couldn't teleport directly. Plus, there was the Emperor's travel and the previous attack incident.
So… this time, it was another grand procession. I can't help but feel that the Blood Emperor is using me to boost his popularity, right?
Although the commoners indeed worshipped me every time Iri used Sky Transformation, I vaguely heard some remarks, mostly praising the Blood Emperor.
But it doesn't matter… Anyway, the Blood Emperor's people will also be Nazarick's people in the future. For now, let him do as he pleases, Iri thought, and didn't dwell on it too much.
The only thing that made Iri uncomfortable was that the Blood Emperor wouldn't let Iri bring along the little black and white ones. Iri had even thought about acting cute to get her way.
But the Blood Emperor, with a pitiful expression, explained to Iri that the local populace hadn't seen much of the world and he was afraid Iri's two pets would scare them. So, he earnestly pleaded with Iri to please show mercy. Since he had said so much, she would let him off this once!
Today's journey was over, and Blood Emperor Jilniv's entire convoy was heading towards the Empire Capital.
On the way there, Blood Emperor Jilniv had ridden with Princess Elizabeth. Today, on the way back, Jilniv found an excuse, saying he had urgent matters to discuss with his ministers.
Princess Elizabeth didn't say anything, just indicating, "You all go about your business! I'm fine on my own." She and her servant simply moved to another carriage.
This time, Princess Elizabeth only brought one maid, You Li. As for the other one, during a previous casual conversation, she feigned asking about her whereabouts and was told that the other's health wasn't very good, so she was left in the Capital. Anyway, You Li taking care of her on the road was enough.
After Princess Elizabeth was dismissed, there were no so-called ministers in the Blood Emperor's carriage, only Empire General Bajed of Lightning and his adjutant. This was because the ministers had not been brought out on this trip; they had other things to do.
Neither Bajed nor the adjutant in the carriage spoke. Although they really wanted to know why their master was taking the Great Demon's daughter around 'randomly,' boosting her reputation.
Previously, during the prayer for rain in the Empire, the Emperor hadn't eaten or slept well for several days because of this matter. Why was he suddenly taking her around again? Wasn't this putting the cart before the horse?
"Are you very curious why I didn't try to stop her, but instead took her around to pray for rain for the common people?" Jilniv asked.
"Your Majesty must have Your Majesty's reasons for doing so. We dare not question Your Majesty's decision; we are just very curious about the reason," the adjutant replied.
"The reason? Hmph! It's simple, it's to restrict her and reduce her influence that I'm doing this," Jilniv snorted.
"This is…" The adjutant was bewildered, and Bajed, beside him, also 'revealed' an expression seeking an explanation, looking at Jilniv.
Originally… during the prayer for rain in the Empire Capital, almost all the ministers of the Empire had warned Jilniv not to let Princess continue 'causing trouble.'
The drought was originally an Empire matter, but it was perfectly resolved by the Princess of an enemy nation. If this continued, wouldn't it lead other countries to misunderstand that the Empire and Nazarick were actually in league?
The Empire must do something to eliminate Princess's influence! However, His Majesty Jilniv actually chose a policy contrary to his ministers, and even said it was to restrict her and reduce her influence, which was very difficult to comprehend.
"Are you as pedantic as those old fogies? Princess Elizabeth prayed for rain in front of so many people! To directly eliminate her influence, would I have to kill and silence everyone who was present at that time?" Jilniv retorted.
"It doesn't need to go that far…" The adjutant was a bit intimidated, and his voice became softer.
"Then I ask you, if it were you, how would you eliminate or reduce Princess Elizabeth's influence without bloodshed?" Jilniv didn't blame him, but simply asked him with a very indifferent expression.
"If it were me, I would probably first blockade the news… The most direct way would be to bribe the common people who were present at that time with money. Giving them a considerable sum of money should be able to make them keep quiet, right?" the adjutant replied.
"Hmm… that is indeed a feasible method, but… I can only give you 20 points," Jilniv's expression softened a lot. Seeing that the adjutant he had personally promoted was indeed capable of thinking, he felt somewhat relieved. It's just… his thinking was still not thorough or complete enough.
"20 points…" The adjutant immediately wilted. Out of a hundred points, getting only 20 points was quite terrible.
"Don't worry, our Emperor's demands are always very strict. Getting any score is already quite good. So, Your Majesty, can you tell us now? The reason for your actions," Bajed said, comforting the adjutant, and then looked at Jilniv.
"Let's talk about bribery first. I had considered this long ago, but doing so would have no practical effect. Even if those people took the money and kept quiet about it, Princess Elizabeth's influence would indeed be eliminated.
But the Empire's drought would not be eliminated, and your scope of thinking is still too narrow. Do you remember when Princess Elizabeth performed Ultimate Magic in the square? Do you think only the common people in the square saw such a grand display?" Jilniv said.
"Ah… indeed." The adjutant recalled the scene when Princess Elizabeth performed Ultimate Magic: the dazzling magic circle and the towering pure white light pillar could be seen from afar.
And after the spell was completed, the dark clouds spread out directly from her as the center. As long as the people of the Empire looked up at the sky at that time, they would clearly know that someone in the Empire's Imperial Palace had cast some spell to make it rain.
"So, trying to silence those who saw it is unrealistic. Since you can't silence them, then don't bother trying," Jilniv continued.
"…" The adjutant said nothing more, but if it couldn't be solved, there was no need to help Princess expand her influence, right?
"Are you thinking that since there's nothing to be done, there's no need to continue helping her expand her influence, right?" Jilniv asked with a mocking laugh.
"That's…" The adjutant was indeed thinking that. Since His Majesty had pointed it out, he didn't need to deny it.
"That's why I said you see problems too narrowly. I am indeed helping her expand her influence, but haven't you noticed? The words of the common people who received the grace just now," Jilniv reminded him.
"Uh… Ah!! So that's how it is!" The adjutant carefully recalled the words of the common people when His Majesty was about to leave.
Yes, it was true that when Princess Elizabeth performed Ultimate Magic to pray for rain in front of many common people, almost all of them came to worship her.
This basically confirmed that the rumors in the Capital had already spread, meaning that before Princess Elizabeth arrived here, the common people already knew of Princess Elizabeth's prestige.
However, after the prayer for rain ended, those common people were all praising His Highness Jilniv, because… Princess Elizabeth was brought by His Majesty Jilniv to help them!
If His Majesty had not brought Princess Elizabeth around to solve the drought, they would have simply been at the mercy of fate. His Majesty's move was indeed brilliant, using Princess Elizabeth to boost his own reputation.
"Do you understand?" Jilniv asked with a half-smile.
"I understand. Your Majesty's coping method is indeed very powerful," the adjutant said with great admiration.
"Hey, hey! Don't just understand by yourself, I still don't understand!" Bajed looked at the adjutant, whose expression had suddenly cleared, and also became curious.
"His Majesty's approach is like this…" The adjutant then explained what he had understood, and Bajed burst out laughing after listening.
"As expected of His Majesty, using that little sister's hand to boost his own reputation, and incidentally solving the drought that has plagued the Empire for so long," Bajed said.
"Alas… my method only gets a sixty percent. After all… Princess Elizabeth's influence truly cannot be eliminated. I have to say, Ainz Ooal Gown's move is truly too formidable," Jilniv sighed after laughing, 'revealing' a weary expression.
"Huh? Your Majesty, how does this involve the Great Demon?" Bajed didn't react immediately. Why was that terrifying Great Demon mentioned again? No matter how he thought about it, it shouldn't be related to him, right?
"I think… the drought suffered by the Empire very likely originated from Ainz Ooal Gown," Jilniv said.
"Do you mean that Ainz Ooal Gown had secretly 'manipulated' the Empire's climate months ago?" the adjutant asked with a surprised expression.
"Yes, I have to say… Ainz Ooal Gown is indeed very formidable. He had set up everything months ago! Leading the Empire step by step into a trap! However, we, who have seen through the trap, are powerless and can only watch as the Empire falls into his calculations step by step. This damned fellow!" Jilniv became more and more agitated as he spoke, finally slamming his fist onto the carriage.
"If this was planned months ago, this… is too terrifying!" The adjutant's face was not much better than Jilniv's.
"It feels like this is no longer an opponent we humans can deal with, Your Majesty… Before the Empire is completely devoured by him, do we have no other way?" Bajed also recognized the seriousness of the problem.
"No, this is the most terrifying thing about Ainz Ooal Gown!" Jilniv held his forehead, looking melancholic.
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 40 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!