Chapter 1:
Viscount Razel
ON HIS HOME PLANET, Viscount Randolph Sera Razel had gathered his
vassals in a large meeting room. They were seated around a long table, though
some of them attended remotely.
Going over some data in a particularly fancy chair was Viscount Razel, a
man with a fox-like face and swept-back brown hair. He was of average height,
and he wore an expensive suit on his slender frame. There was something
untrustworthy in his features.
The topic of this meeting was the next batch of noble children who would
be studying under the family. The viscount was looking over the names of the
people who would be coming to stay in his territory next year, and the year after
that. The holographic data in the air before him contained an extensive list of the
money and resources each child's family would be sending with them. To
Viscount Razel, accepting children for education and training was in part to
strengthen relationships between families, but it was also a business
consideration.
"Not a great crop next year. It won't be worth establishing long-lasting
relations with many of these houses."
The viscount didn't consider the potential of the children he was taking in;
all he cared about was how powerful each child's family was. His vassals were
of the same mind.
"That baron's house is out of the question."
"This house is on the decline. I might suggest rejecting the application."
"That one viscount family is promising, Lord Randolph. Looks like
they're making a nice profit through trade."
Only rarely did the children themselves enter into the conversation.
"Lord Randolph, the first son of House Exner will be coming the year
after next," a knight announced. "They've included plenty of gifts with the
application. The boy seems talented as well."
When Viscount Razel looked at the family's data, however, he was
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uninterested. The head of the family was a baron, but they were clearly new
money, and Viscount Razel didn't like that.
"Upstarts like them aren't worth forming relationships with."
The knight wouldn't back down, though, being very interested in this boy
who would succeed Baron Exner. The heir showed much promise. "If I may, my
lord, the future Baron Exner looks quite capable. I believe he could become
quite distinguished in the future."
"I can worry about that if and when it happens. The children's abilities
aren't important; it's all about the connections between our families. The
family's strength is the only thing that matters."
The children's abilities didn't matter, no—yet he happily praised and
invited any whose poor families labored to build up their own fortunes and offer
him sufficient gifts.
As they discussed their plans in the meeting room, a man slid directly
through the wall and appeared inside. It was the Guide. Neither Viscount Razel
nor any of his men noticed the mysterious being. He walked through the room
and took a peek at the documents the men were examining. At that very moment,
they happened to be going over Liam's data.
"Hee hee... Hee hee hee hee!"
The Guide peered down at Liam's information. The report detailed how
House Banfield had quickly built up a vast amount of resources and capital.
When he'd first viewed these numbers, Viscount Razel had been only too happy
to take Liam in.
"At last, the time for my revenge has come! Liam, now you'll finally
experience my malice!"
He touched the report displayed in the air, trying to manipulate the
information it contained, but he only produced a feeble spark, and his tampering
was rejected. He was far too weak.
"Curses! Then I'll just do this...and this!"
The Guide did his best to change just the numbers. But he couldn't muster
the strength to alter a digit or two in the digital display, let alone meddle in
Liam's greater affairs. While he struggled, the meeting went on without him.
"This is all Liam's fault!" the Guide moaned. "It's so pathetic that I've
been reduced to petty tricks!"
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As he stewed in frustration, the Guide noticed the name "Peter Sera
Petack" in the data.
"Oh? Well, now, this is an interesting fellow."
He saw in the data that Peter was a count just like Liam, but his reputation
was the exact opposite. The economy of Peter's domain was suffering, and he
had massive debts that he wasn't repaying. House Petack's resemblance to
House Banfield before Liam's takeover piqued the Guide's curiosity.
"Let's see if I can switch the data..."
At last, the Guide was successful. He swapped the report details for House
Banfield and House Petack, making it so that the former appeared to be a ruined
family devoid of any merit and the latter a wealthy, up-and-coming house.
When they looked closer at Liam's information, Viscount Razel and his
men were disgusted by the state of the Banfield family. His reputation had
plummeted in an instant.
"This is terrible." Viscount Razel massaged his eyes, as if questioning his
vision.
One of his vassals spoke up then, disparaging House Banfield. "There's
always one of these every year. They throw their weight around without
knowing their place, trying to establish a relationship with the noble House
Razel. Would you like us to reject the application, Lord Randolph?"
"No, we've already informed House Banfield of our approval, and the
compensation's been received. If we deny him now, it'll just sully our
reputation. So we'll take him...but he'll receive only the treatment his low
standing demands."
"Yes, sir."
House Razel did not bother giving a warm welcome to the children of
families it did not consider worth fostering long-term relationships with. As far
as House Razel was concerned, these families should be grateful their children
were taken in at all for training, even if their treatment was harsh.
"Our family does make a profit off idiots like this, so they're not entirely
without worth." Viscount Razel smirked, and several of his vassals sneered in
kind. Seeing this, the more principled vassals grimaced.
Liam had been honored with a medal on the Capital Planet for his
vanquishing of pirates, but since the Empire was so vast, wide circulation of
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such information was hardly instant. Plenty of people received medals on the
Capital Planet, so there was no way to recount them all.
Thus, Viscount Razel understandably wasn't familiar with Liam's name,
nickname, or achievements. His territory was far away, and the viscount didn't
have much interest in such accolades in the first place. Just as Liam knew
nothing about House Razel, House Razel had no interest in House Banfield.
The Guide burst out laughing, clutching his stomach. "This is your once-
in-a-lifetime training—you've got to enjoy it! Ah, I should make some more
arrangements. I'll have to build up some strength for a while."
When the Guide slipped through the wall of the meeting room and left,
Randolph and his men lost interest in Liam and moved on to the data of another
child: the boy of House Petack.
"Th-this is amazing!"
"House Petack appears to have quite the momentum right now."
"A truly appealing family. Your thoughts, Lord Randolph?"
"Wonderful!" Viscount Razel was clearly impressed. "Now, House
Petack is a worthy connection. I'll have to think about arranging my daughter's
marriage to this boy as well."
Due to the Guide's meddling, House Petack seemed extraordinary
compared to House Banfield. Viscount Razel immediately coveted a relationship
with the family, blissfully ignorant of the false attribution.
"I can hardly wait for next year's batch."
Viscount Razel's fox-like face twisted into an excited grin.
***
My life grew even busier after it was officially decided where I would be
studying. I would leave my domain for three years to stay with House Razel.
Before my departure, many people came to meet with me.
One of them was my personal merchant, Thomas Henfrey. A plump, mild-
mannered man, Thomas was the head of the Henfrey Company, traders who
traveled the stars. He looked like the sort of kind old man you'd see anywhere,
but on the inside, he was a crafty merchant.
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"Where's your usual gift, Thomas?" I urged him, and as part of our age-
old routine, Thomas brought out a package.
"I have it right here."
"I knew I could count on you!"
I accepted the package of "yellow sweets"—a bribe. He'd once again
brought me gold to remain on my good side.
In my old life, gold was a symbol of wealth. Perhaps I had a nouveau riche
attitude, but to me, gold was a symbol of success. In this fantastical world, there
were metals like mithril and adamantite that had more worth than gold. I knew
this, but I still preferred gold. I could only think of other prized metals as
materials for arms and armor. It made more sense to utilize those metals than
display them.
As I marveled at my gold, Thomas made a bit of small talk before moving
on to business. "I heard you've decided where you're going to study, Lord Liam.
That's wonderful."
"I can't say I'm looking forward to it, myself, after hearing what it's really
about. I mean, it's just taking in the children of other nobles so houses can cozy
up together, right? I'm basically just going to play around there."
I set the gold down and leaned back against the couch cushions. Since I
was so disinterested in the topic, Thomas didn't seem quite sure how to proceed.
"You don't wish to study under another noble, Lord Liam?"
Typically, the children taken in for training were treated very well, but the
"training" they received was not particularly stringent. If fostering relationships
was more important than actual learning, then it was training in name only, with
more of a focus on socializing.
"If I'm just going to be fooling around for three years, I could do the same
thing here. I know complaining won't change anything, though, so I'll get
through it."
I didn't care about the schooling, but since my future relationships as a
lord were on the line, I couldn't be too cavalier about it. I'd decided to play nice
for my three years of noble schmoozing.
"I don't think you need to be concerned about the quality of your training.
I hear where you're going is a very popular spot for training."
"I can hope so, at least."
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My current goal was to finish my training and my education as quickly as
possible. This three-year foray to another domain wouldn't be the end of it,
though—my little "study-abroad program" was just the start of a lifetime of
work.
"Do you have any idea what sort of family House Razel is, my lord?"
Thomas asked me.
I understood why he knew so little. The viscount's domain was quite far
from here, especially considering the scale of the intergalactic empire. In terms
of geography from my previous life, House Razel's domain was like a faraway
prefecture—not quite another country, but still possessing its own unique
identity. A distant, different region in my eyes.
"Not beyond the basics, really. Seems they've only got one habitable
world, but they do control several mining planets. All I know is that House
Razel's domain is a popular place to study, they make most of their money from
mining, and their military strength isn't that impressive."
Their economy flourished due to their mining operations. They didn't
have much in the way of personal military force, but because of their bonds with
other noble families, their standing was higher than House Banfield's. Having
lots of noble friends was its own kind of power—one of the reasons why I had to
improve my own isolated domain. To that end, playing nice with the other
nobles would be far more important than studying.
Thomas nodded. "Since you're working to improve your military, it
makes sense that Viscount Razel would want to join forces with you. You might
even expect talk of marriage."
"He's got a daughter about my age, but I can't say I'm very interested."
Viscount Razel apparently had many daughters in addition to his heir.
From what I'd heard, offering up his daughters for marriage was another means
by which he established relationships with other houses. So were his daughters
just tools to him?
At this, Thomas shot me a puzzled look. "This is a perfect opportunity for
House Banfield to foster a relationship with another family, is it not?"
"I guess so. Well, I'll be civil. I can do that, at least."
"Erm, right." The merchant seemed unsettled by my attitude.
I had to admit, I was a little curious about House Razel, what with its good
reputation and all. I'd made sure to send them plenty of gifts, so I expected a
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warm welcome.
"When does your stay with House Razel begin, my lord?"
"Two years from now."
"You'll be...fifty-five, then."
A homestay at the age of fifty-five would have been unthinkable in my
past life. This world with its long life spans really threw my conception of time
out of whack.
Our chat must've triggered a memory because Thomas suddenly brought
up a particular female knight in my employ. "Speaking of—Lady Christiana has
already begun training to gain her proper credentials as a knight, has she not?"
Christiana Leta Rosebreia was a candidate to serve my family as a knight
of the Empire, but she'd recently left my domain in order to earn her
qualifications. To become an Imperial knight, one had to graduate from two
designated schools, one of them being a military academy. It was the same for
nobility, so I'd be attending the same schools in the future. After that came more
training to put your knowledge and skills into practice, so becoming a knight
took decades of hard work.
Christiana—or Tia, as I called her—was enrolled in a school on the
Algrand Empire's home planet, where she was studying with some other knight
candidates. The lot of them had been knights of another nation before their
abduction by space pirates and subsequent rescue. In their home nation, they'd
apparently been esteemed as talented warriors, but they couldn't become knights
of the Algrand Empire without first going through the Empire's own
qualification process, hence their absence.
"I've sent her to school with the others. I think she should be done with
her training by the time I'm back from Viscount Razel's."
Tia would be in school for six years, and then she'd have to train as a
government official for two. After that, she'd be looking at a further four-plus
years of training—twelve whole years just for what could be considered the
equivalent of a college education. In this world, where people's lifespans were
so long, compulsory education was drawn out to match. And this was just the
bare minimum; without money and backing, the process could take decades.
Thankfully, Tia, her colleagues, and I didn't have to worry about that.
Still, I had plenty of training waiting for me—my stay with Viscount
Razel was just the tip of the iceberg. Tia and the knight candidates wouldn't bear
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the same burden.
"I'm jealous of the people who can get this done in only twenty-four
years," I muttered.
Thomas smiled awkwardly, and our talk finally moved to business.
***
Tia—the subject of Liam's and Thomas's conversation—was currently
attending the hardest university to get into on the Imperial Home Planet.
Tia was extremely capable, and she stood out even among the rest of
Liam's knight candidates. She already showed enough promise to vie for the
position of head knight, leader of House Banfield's entire knight regiment. Tia
had her eye on the prize.
Despite her capabilities, Tia had been captured by a space pirate named
Goaz and subjected to unthinkable horrors. Her body had been mutilated, and
she'd been forced to spend each day in hellish despair. To this day, she hesitated
to speak about her cruel treatment. Then, one day, Liam swooped in, defeated
Goaz, and saved Tia and the other captives. Feeling indebted to him, they all
pledged to become his knights.
In the past, Tia had been something of a legend known and respected as
"the Princess Knight." Had she not been betrayed by her comrades and tricked
by the cowardly Goaz, she never would've made it to Liam's domain and sought
to be his blade.
Tia was currently seated in a café near her university with two other
knight candidates, discussing the location of Liam's impending training. It had
taken ages to find him a place to study, so the three ladies were overjoyed. To
anyone passing by, they must've looked like three normal female students
having a carefree chat.
"It's wonderful that Lord Liam has finally found a noble house to take him
in!" Tia was saying, a big smile on her face. "But as for those other houses, the
ones who turned him down in ignorance... Oh, what I'd like do to them!"
With her long, glossy blonde hair that always seemed to sparkle and her
gemlike green eyes, Tia drew the eyes of any passing man. However, her angelic
appearance, which hardly seemed suitable for a warrior, blatantly clashed with
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her boorish and aggressive manner. In fact, she was a fierce enough fighter to
kill most men in an instant. Tia was skilled, smart, and above all else, completely
devoted to Liam. In other words, she was the ideal knight.
Her two companions, devoted and talented in their own rights, nodded
emphatically in agreement.
"Right? Normally, you'd never think they'd turn him down!" said one.
"Normally, they'd prostrate themselves and beg him to come!" added the
other.
These women were not joking; they were seriously displeased with Liam's
treatment. After he rescued them, they'd become extremely loyal to him. They
admired him so much that, in their eyes, the normal thing would be for a noble
to plead for Liam to come study under their house.
Tia closed her eyes, hands on her reddened cheeks. The gesture made her
look like a blushing maiden, but on the inside, she was still a fearsome warrior.
"I should return to see Lord Liam after my training is complete. Then I'll
be able to welcome him back from his schooling..."
Even now, Tia could hardly wait for that moment.
***
Before I knew it, it was time for me to head to House Razel.
Having embarked from House Banfield in a fleet of three hundred ships, I
now approached Viscount Razel's home planet. Apparently, it was too
threatening to approach another lord's home planet with a huge armada, so I'd
brought along a small force instead. I would've loved to roll up in a fleet of ten
thousand to show off my military might, so I was feeling pretty bummed about
this.
Much to my disappointment, my superdreadnought hadn't come in time
either. I ordered it from the Third Weapons Factory, but I'd made so many
demands that the construction was heavily delayed.
"I wanted to come on my superdreadnought," I griped. "It'll really be
something else. How long was it gonna be again?"
My personal chambers on my flagship were so lavish, it was hard to
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believe they existed on a battleship. I'd had the original commander's quarters
modified just for me, though I realized it was a huge waste with space being so
limited inside a ship.
Standing beside me, Amagi answered my question in her emotionless
manner. "The vessel you have ordered from the Third Weapons Factory is a
three-thousand-meter-class ship. To answer your question concisely, the ship
will be three kilometers long. Most superdreadnoughts are around one thousand
meters in length, Master. Yours will be three times that size."
Though she showed no expression, I got the impression that Amagi was
angry with me. Well, I did have a ship built three times as large as the huge one-
kilometer model. It had taken three times the funds too. Actually, no, it'd cost
nine times our original estimate.
Brian, who had also come to see me off, gave me an accusatory look.
"You were too greedy. A normal one-thousand-meter class would have been
fine, but you had to go and order a three-thousand-meter class all on your own,
Master Liam."
I'd wanted to show off, and a massive battleship like that was something
straight out of a man's wildest fantasies. I'd figured I was entitled to it, but now I
did secretly regret the decision somewhat.
"I wanted it. Lay off."
"You know, we're the ones who have to figure out the facilities and the
personnel needed to maintain a ridiculously huge ship like that. You're only
causing problems for us to deal with while you're gone, Master Liam."
Brian and Amagi were both mad at me for going off to fulfill my training
and leaving them with this burden. If it were anyone but you two, I'd have them
arrested on the spot just for talking back to me! Unable to punish Amagi or
Brian for their insolence, I sullenly averted my eyes.
Upon seeing my attitude, Amagi said dispassionately, "The fact of the
matter is that you will often be away from your domain in the future, Master. I
see nothing wrong with having a flagship prepared, but there was no reason to be
so heavily involved in its design process. Is it not likely that you will be
constructing another superdreadnought once your training period is over?"
Since my money problems were taken care of, I'd gone a little overboard
with my spending in favor of extravagance. I still wasn't in any financial
distress, though. My pocket money was far from stagnating—in fact, the
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numbers were steadily ticking up. I just found it annoying to have to finance the
ship's ongoing maintenance and personnel, since that wasn't something I could
just solve in one big purchase.
"I'll be more careful in the future, so just let me get away with this one," I
said. "Anyway, when you come pick me up from school, come in the
superdreadnought. I'll want to flaunt it to everyone."
Brian shook his head as if I were just a little kid who wanted to boast
about his new toy. At the same time, he seemed almost relieved. "It's a bit
troubling that the thing you're most proud of is a superdreadnought, but I believe
it's healthy for a boy your age to show off a little."
"Hey now, stop acting like I'm a kid."
While I was enjoying this banter, Amagi announced, "We have reached
our destination."
She called up screens to show me the view outside. Numerous fleets
carrying the youths who would be studying on House Razel's home planet were
converging on this point in space. The spaceport was swarming with battleships,
each carrying a young noble like me on their way to House Razel for their
training.
"So this is where I'll be spending the next three years." I gazed at the 3D
image of the planet projected before me.
Brian straightened his posture, ready to fuss. "Please be on alert for injury
and illness, Master Liam. If anything happens, I trust you will contact us
immediately. Understood?"
"Yeah, yeah," I responded, tired of hearing the same thing over and over
again. It ruffled his feathers a little.
Amagi expressed concern for me too. "Please return safely, Master."
"Eh, this is practically a vacation. What's going to happen to me? I'll just
do what I can to enjoy it, I guess. I'll leave the stuff back home to you."
"Very well."
I was sure to receive a warm welcome from House Razel. I mean, I'd paid
them ten times the standard fee for my stay to make sure of it. I was looking
forward to seeing exactly how they would entertain me.
Meanwhile, Brian had begun crying. "I'm so happy to see that you've
grown up to be such a fine young man."
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This guy's always crying. I wish he'd knock that off. What the heck am I
supposed to do every time this old dude starts with the waterworks?!
"Will you stop crying?"
"How can I not? You've finally started your training, and the day that you
become a proper count is nearer than ever! I'm so delighted, I can't stop my
tears from flowing!"
"Riiight." I stared at him, dumbfounded.
"Brian is more nervous than you are, Master," Amagi chimed in. "He has
prepared many gifts for House Razel since it was decided that you would be
studying there. He even sent his prized bonsai tree, which won a competition."
"You sent your prized bonsai?!"
Brian wiped his tears with his handkerchief. "It was the finest item I could
offer, so I had little choice."
Bonsai was one of Brian's hobbies, and since he'd been practicing it for
hundreds of years, it was natural that he would win a contest. I knew he had
treasured that plant. It was the sort of thing that someone with a trained eye
could tell was valuable, and I wished he hadn't given it away like that for my
sake.
"That's heavy, man. Well, why don't you relax about things a little, now?
It's just noble schooling..."
Brian must not have wanted me to be treated as a lesser noble and was
doing what he could to help.
"Are you not taking this too lightly, Master Liam? I'm starting to worry."
"It's fine. I found plenty of excuses to send them money and gifts. Even
the most upstanding noble's gotta cave after all that."
I'd made sure to personally send House Razel plenty of money in addition
to the official gifts from my house. In other words, the viscount had accepted
some pretty hefty bribes from me.
"That may be a problem. After all, you're here to learn what it takes to be
a proper noble lord."
"I don't think that'll be necessary."
Even a good person could be won over with money; that was just the way
the cookie crumbled. I was sure these people would let me get away with
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anything. Besides, I had interest in a lord who would happily accept my money.
Maybe we could get along well, one evil lord to another. Whatever the case,
unless the lord was so sanctimonious that he would never be swayed by money,
he'd have no choice but to treat me well.
"Anyway, I look forward to seeing how House Razel receives me."
A smile came to my lips as I imagined the stay ahead.
***
Viscount Razel's spaceport was full of battleships from young nobles
who'd come for their training. Representatives from multiple houses filed
through the port, each bearing gifts for Viscount Razel. These gifts were separate
from the tuition fees, but they symbolized the families' gratitude for their
children's acceptance. Among all these items were the gifts sent by House
Banfield, prepared for Liam's sake by Amagi and Brian, which they had
procured through the Henfrey Company. They had also provided resources that
Viscount Razel desired, and the resulting heap in one of House Razel's
storerooms looked like a mountain of treasure.
All the workers were amazed.
"This is the first time one family has sent this much, isn't it?"
"Did you see the fleet that delivered it? Those ships looked cutting edge."
"Man...House Petack sure is something!"
All the containers were marked with the crest of House Banfield, but
neither the workers nor their superiors recognized it as such. The Guide stood
among them, desperately working to distort their perception.
"All right, finished here too. Hee hee hee... Liam, all the goods you sent
will be treated as someone else's! Everything you've done is pointless!"
The Guide was continuing his secret work, doing whatever he could to
chip away at Liam's happiness. Right now, that involved swapping people's
recognition of the Petack and Banfield family crests.
"By the way, did you hear?" one of the workers grumbled. "Those country
bumpkins, House Banfield, came with thousands of ships."
"That's the problem with these know-nothings. Peasants didn't even send
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a single gift. Don't they have any manners?"
"Yeah, and they're making House Razel deal with the resupplying and
maintenance of all those ships. Why'd the viscount accept such an idiot?"
It was impolite to approach another noble's home planet with a large fleet,
which meant House Petack—or "House Banfield," rather—was leaving a poor
impression on House Razel. Liam hadn't made a single misstep, but the Guide
had swooped in and completely trashed his reputation.
As the workers complained, the next container was brought in.
"Next is...Baron Berman? Haven't heard of this one either."
The name wasn't local or familiar to the Razel employees.
One of the senior workers clapped his hands, spurring the others. "Come
on, let's get this done with already!"
As time went on, more and more containers were delivered.
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