Iori didn't hesitate. After the verdict was announced, he decisively gave the order and had all of those people beheaded.
The spurting blood made the officials tremble in fear, while the common people were thrilled, many of them even shouted until their voices gave out.
That afternoon, after finishing the inventory of the embezzled funds in the governor's mansion, Iori split off half of it. He then personally oversaw the process, ordering the warriors to distribute this portion of the wealth to the city's residents.
Items that had been looted were returned first to their original owners. Anything whose ownership could not be proven was temporarily sealed away.
A large amount of gold coins, meanwhile, was distributed relatively evenly among the citizens, with priority given to the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled.
Each citizen received a certificate, which clearly stated that these funds were compensation paid by the court, counted as legal income, and required no further taxation.
Interestingly, besides the official seal, the certificate also bore a strange blue symbol. It was said to be a character passed down from the East, [Soul], and it was this general's personal seal.
And so, the entire city erupted in celebration, as if it were a festival, joy filling every corner.
At the same time, the mark of 'Soul' and the name "Masked General" began to spread among the people…
———
"So amazing… The Revolutionary Army has also held public trials and distributed property to the people before, but every single time all kinds of problems cropped up."
"None of them ever went smoothly… Look at them, their happiness is coming straight from the heart. This is something you can't see anywhere else in the Empire."
Najenda and Akame were also in the city this time, watching Iori's actions from start to finish, their faces filled with disbelief.
The black-haired girl with long straight hair asked bluntly, "How did you do it?"
"Fairness, justice, and transparency!"
Iori answered concisely. "Crimes must be judged fairly, no negotiating or compromising with the governor in advance."
"Assets must be counted openly, no private distribution. When handing out money, everyone must be treated equally, you can't just curry favor with local strongmen and able-bodied youths."
"So simple… Is that really all it takes?" Akame seemed to half understand.
"..."
Najenda understood a bit more, but she couldn't help shaking her head.
Iori had his own core team, just over two hundred people. He could completely control every subordinate, thus ensuring fairness and justice throughout the execution process.
But for the Revolutionary Army to imitate him was nearly impossible… Leaving aside everything else, the Revolutionary Army was a mixed bag. People from all kinds of backgrounds, all with different styles of action, why would they follow your rules?
Yet Najenda was unwilling to admit the Revolutionary Army's shortcomings. Gritting her teeth, she pointed out a problem, "But if you do this, once your reputation spreads, won't it arouse the ministers' suspicion?"
"Let them be suspicious." Iori smiled.
"I never planned to keep climbing the ranks within the Empire's system anyway. The title of general is enough for me. What can they do even if they suspect me?"
He appeared very calm, and indeed, he had nothing to fear.
If he did something like this seven or eight times, his reputation would probably spread across the entire Empire.
By then, everyone would know that the "Masked General" was the Empire's conscience, a hero who stood on the side of the people, and Iori's goal would be achieved.
At the end of the day, his own strength was overwhelming. He didn't need to worry about the ministers' reactions at all. Besides, it wasn't like the ministers didn't get their share of the money, they should be satisfied.
If they pushed him too far, he'd just flip the table. After all, he'd already secured both righteousness and prestige.
"…But you're not a local civil official after all. You can't stay here forever."
Najenda said seriously. "While you're here, naturally no one dares to pull any tricks. But once you leave, will these people be able to keep the money they got?"
"Maybe they can, maybe they can't." Iori shrugged.
"You really don't care at all?" Najenda frowned deeply. "The things you worked so hard to do could be destroyed overnight by those vermin!"
"You sound like you really want to see me fail."
Iori looked at Najenda with a half-smile. "What, did today's events hit a sensitive spot for you?"
"Uh…" Najenda fell silent.
"Actually, I already knew someone would set their sights on the money in the people's hands. After all, in some people's eyes, ordinary folks are just meat on the chopping block… Not just Imperial officials, who knows, the Revolutionary Army might do the same in the future."
"No, I believe that won't happen!" Najenda flatly denied it.
"…Let's hope so." Iori gave an awkward smile and didn't plan to argue further.
"But if you don't care, why go out of your way to hand out money? Wouldn't that make it meaningless?"
"Meaningless? I don't think so."
Iori looked down at the cheering crowd below and asked quietly, "Tell me, when the compensation they received gets taken away again, how do you think they'll feel?"
"…Angry?" Najenda thought for a moment. "Want to overthrow the Empire?"
"No!"
Iori said firmly, "They'll miss me!"
"!!"
Najenda slowly widened her eyes. At last, she understood something. Combined with how Iori had infiltrated the military system, a terrifying guess surfaced in the female general's mind... could it be that the man before her was the biggest schemer of all?
What he wanted wasn't simple power, but something far more direct, the people's "hearts".
"You really are a… terrifying man~"
Najenda suddenly relaxed, looking at Iori with both admiration and wariness. For some reason, even after understanding Iori's ambition, she felt no disgust at all.
Because unlike ordinary ambitious figures, Iori's appearance was a good thing for the people…
"But maybe it's people like you who can truly change this world!"
Gradually, a trace of indescribable complexity appeared in Najenda's eyes, a bit farther back, Akame blinked, her gaze moving back and forth between Najenda and Iori. The female assassin was uncharacteristically shaken.
'What's going on?'
'Sisters, who understands, why is my female boss looking at my male friend so "affectionately"?'
———
"All that shiny silver just handed out to the poor, what a sin!"
Inside a luxurious estate, Minister Honest sat at one end of a long dining table, venting his anger as he viciously gnawed on a thick cut of meat, as if trying to transfer all his dissatisfaction onto it.
"Unfilial brat! How dare he do something like this! Idiot! Is he really my son, Honest's son?"
"Minister, it's said that the one who led this matter wasn't Young Master Syura, but the general under him named Izo."
"What, Izo?" Honest's eyes turned. "That man… a foreign samurai. Didn't he say he only cared about his sword? This doesn't seem like something a killing maniac would do."
A tall, lean man with clearly defined muscles was reporting to the minister. He was one of the "Four Rakshasa Demons," hailing from the martial arts holy land, the Imperial Fist Temple. Though not a Imperial Arm user, he possessed strength on the same level.
"This Izo's identity is also very suspicious. After all, he's never shown his face. He claims he rescued Young Master Syura, but Revolutionary Army headquarters is heavily guarded, how could it be that easy?"
"It's very possible the Revolutionary Army sent someone to impersonate him, just to get close to Young Master Syura and to you!"
"That makes sense…"
Honest nodded, but then grew troubled. "But I personally recommended him to His Majesty the Emperor. If I immediately say he's a traitor now… And besides, Syura's relationship with him is far too close, he's even willing to be treated like a toy… Is that kid really my biological son?"
"Minister, you can always have another one."
"That's true."
Honest nodded, completely disregarding any father-son bond as he decisively made his choice.
"We can't let others say my son is a traitor. Quietly kill them. Let this matter be handled by your Four Rakshasa Demons."
"Understood!"
"But then again…"
Honest thought of the assets that had been sent to his estate, his eyes spinning once more.
"Wait until they stir things up for a while, then take them down."
"Hm? Minister, what do you mean?"
"Hmph! If it weren't for them causing trouble, I wouldn't have known, turns out these bastards have been cooking the books all along!"
Honest looked half-crazed. "My money! It's all my money! I only take one million, they take two million, and I'm supposed to thank them for it?!"
"Uh… I understand."
This man had followed the minister for many years and naturally understood Honest's thinking.
It was simple. What Iori was doing right now was merely ransacking the local governor's home; he hadn't purged the bureaucratic system itself. The Empire's governing power hadn't been affected at all, at worst, they could just replace the governor.
Honest had no shortage of people under him who wanted official positions. This was a perfect chance to replace them with people he found more satisfactory, strengthening his control over the regions. And if doing so stirred up dissatisfaction among the lower ranks, then just throw Syura out there.
'See? This was all their doing. To protect our shared interests, I even killed my own son!'
That was Honest's only son. At his age, it was practically cutting off his lineage. The weight of such a pledge of loyalty was more than enough.
"Money really is a good thing… Those bastards skimmed so much behind my back, it's time they spat it all out." Honest dug at his ear.
"By the way, inform the major and minor nobles in the capital that I have a batch of official positions for sale recently. Ask who's interested."
"Yes, Minister."
The two finalized their plan and broke into hearty laughter.
At the other end of the dining table, Iori wore the same kind of smile.
During the day, he stirred things up outside. At night, he used 'Shambhala' to transfer back to the capital, acting in spirit form, openly observing Honest's reactions, then devising his own action plan in reverse based on the minister's plans.
Not just the capital, even the Revolutionary Army headquarters had transfer marks set up by him.
In terms of force and intelligence, Iori had the advantage. With a Imperial Arm, he could freely move between locations.
At critical moments, he could even flip the table and directly kill Honest, then immediately join the Revolutionary Army.
'A flying dragon right to your face, how could you lose?!'
That was why Iori acted so recklessly.
That old fox Honest probably never imagined there would be a cheating player like Iori. Conventional tactics were completely useless~
Honest thought that handing out money to the poor was a sin, and that the Empire's rule wouldn't be affected. But he had no idea what kind of stance Iori was taking in this struggle for supremacy.
What Iori wanted was never to buy people's hearts, nor did he intend to manage territory. He only wanted to create a big enough sensation so that his name would quickly spread throughout the Empire.
In a normal era of chaos, this approach would be inadvisable, but for Iori, it was the most efficient, because what he wanted had always been "fame".
As for governing the country and bringing peace to the world, once his art-style value rose, and once he dealt with Esdeath and the Guardian Deity Mecha, suppressing the age with overwhelming force like the first emperor, those problems would naturally be solved.
At the end of the day, this wasn't a normal world, but a fantasy world where a top-tier powerhouse could solo an army of four hundred thousand.
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[CG Recorded]
[Imperial Star General: Hawk-Eyed Wolf-Gazing]
[Category, Art Style]
[Level: —]
[Quality: —]
———
[Reward]
[Art Style Value +2]
[Hawk-Eyed Wolf-Gazing? I don't like that term. Sooner or later I'll grind it into Heavenly Strategy General!]
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"Former Imperial Navy personnel, reporting as ordered!"
A young man wearing a blue coat, plainly dressed, with a proper and resolute face, stood at the office doorway.
"Is that Will? Come in."
After receiving permission, Will pushed the door open and entered, discovering that quite a few people had already arrived.
One was a handsome, elegant blond man. One was a strange middle-aged man wearing glasses. One was a tall girl holding a peculiar little dog. And lastly… uh.
Will was startled by the freak at the far side, because that person's upper body was bare, yet his head was covered by a terrifying gas mask, something that looked like it belonged only in a horror novel.
No matter how you looked at it, he was a pervert.
Then he looked at the superior sitting behind the desk. He, too, wore a mask on his face, and his hands were wrapped in bandages. In terms of weirdness, it was hard to say who was worse.
'…What kind of place have I come to?'
"Don't panic, Will."
Iori sat in his chair, fingers interlaced, covering the lower half of his mask, and spoke calmly to the five people, "Some of you were personally invited by me. Some of you received transfer orders from your superiors. And some of you were recommended here by trusted seniors."