(70 Power Stone Bonus)
Chapter 34: Esdeath Has Returned
Faced with the question from Yumesaki, Tatsumi scratched his hair awkwardly, then narrated the difficulties being faced by his village.
"My village can almost no longer bear the burden of the Empire's taxes, so I hope to use this Danger Beast in front of me to cut down a portion of those taxes."
"It can be done."
Yumesaki nodded calmly. "Starting from today, your village only needs to hand over one-tenth of its daily harvest. How about that?"
"Is that true?" Tatsumi's eyes instantly lit up.
A tax of one-tenth—he must definitely not be dreaming.
If it really were so, then the village would definitely be able to survive, and even become happier than before.
"Of course it's true," Yumesaki said calmly.
Leone and Sheele looked at each other, and they both saw a trace of surprise in each other's eyes.
It was unexpected that the fake Prime Minister in front of their eyes actually possessed quite a humane side, even establishing a tax like that.
Could it be that the other party was actually a good person?
After Tatsumi confirmed that Yumesaki was not lying, he then left with deep, heartfelt gratitude.
He also had not expected that he, who had only just arrived in the Imperial Capital, had already resolved his village's crisis.
This Prime Minister was truly a good person.
After Yumesaki sent Tatsumi off with his gaze, his eyes rested upon the bodies of Leone and Sheele. "You two, what kind of wish do you have? Just say it."
Leone placed her hands on her hips, then spoke bluntly: "The two of us want to become people in high positions. I wonder if the Prime Minister is willing to take us in?"
Yumesaki let out an oh, then asked: "You want to become my subordinates?"
"Correct," Leone said. "I heard that you, Prime Minister, are extremely powerful. If we become your subordinates, surely there won't be anyone else who dares to oppress us anymore."
"I see, so that's how it is." Yumesaki showed a face as though he had just realized something, yet in his heart, he rolled his eyes.
If it weren't for the fact that he recognized these two people, he really would have believed that load of nonsense.
Two assassins from Night Raid were still afraid of being oppressed by others?
Heheh.
However, Yumesaki did not expose their secret. Instead, he said: "It can be done. Since you are capable of hunting Danger Beasts, it is already enough to prove your strength. Since you wish to side with me, I naturally won't let you lose out."
"Just say it, do you want to stay by my side, or do you want to hold a certain position?"
"For example, the position of the Imperial Police Captain seems to have been vacant recently. Are you interested?"
Leone and Sheele looked at each other, then shook their heads and said: "We are willing to stay by your side, My Lord."
Yumesaki narrowed his eyes, then gave a small smile.
I see, are you targeting me?
"Fine, then starting from today, the two of us are my exclusive maids."
"Huh? Maids?"
Leone displayed an incredibly baffled face. She had initially thought that at the very worst, she could still obtain an identity as a bodyguard. Why did she suddenly degrade into a maid instead?
"That's not right, Prime Minister. No matter from which angle you look at it, I don't look like a maid, do I?" She could not help but voice a protest.
Yumesaki said calmly: "You are so beautiful, and also so good at fighting. If you don't serve as a maid, wouldn't that be a shame? The thing I want to do most right now is form a maid corp that possesses high appearance value as well as good fighting ability."
"You two are number three and number four of the maid corp."
He did not give the two people a chance to argue, making a decisive and swift conclusion.
Seeing this scene, Leone could not help but raise her eyebrows.
"We are number three and number four, then who exactly are number one and number two?"
Yumesaki raised both of his hands and clapped twice. Two women wearing maid outfits instantly materialized in front of Yumesaki.
They were precisely Suzuka and Mez from the Four Rakshasa Demons.
"These two are experts who hail from the Imperial Fist. Right now, they are my maid number one and maid number two."
"Come, greet them."
Suzuka smiled slightly, then said: "I am maid number one, Suzuka."
Mez showed a displeased face, yet did not dare to disobey Yumesaki's command. "I am maid number two, Mez. Please guide me well from now on."
Leone raised her head to look over there. These two people were indeed beautiful girls who belonged to the top tier.
Furthermore, judging by the sharp and swift movement of their appearance, they should be extremely good at fighting.
This fake Prime Minister really knew far too well how to enjoy life.
"I understand."
After voicing a fierce complaint deep in her heart, Leone finally nodded...
Sheele nodded with a blank gaze. "I am maid number four, Sheele. Please lend me your assistance."
"Very good. Now you guys go and roast these Danger Beasts for me. I want to eat roasted meat."
While speaking, Yumesaki utilized Archive Magic, then crammed the entirety of meat-roasting techniques into the brains of the four maids all at once.
This was a new application by Yumesaki toward Archive Magic.
Within Archive Magic, there was a technique called magic implantation. By implanting large-scale magic knowledge into the mind of a designated target, it could make the other party learn a new super magic within a very short period of time.
After Yumesaki mastered this Archive Magic, through several modifications, he could implant large amounts of knowledge into the brain of a designated target from a distance via Telepathy Magic.
And then make the other party master a certain skill.
Not long after, the four maids had mastered the meat-roasting technique.
"Hey, hey, hey, what kind of Imperial Arms is this?"
Leone squeezed her own brain in disbelief, feeling the foreign knowledge that had been added into her mind, and then displayed an absurd expression.
She knew that Yumesaki could modify cognition, but she had not expected that Yumesaki could even make a person learn a completely new ability all of a sudden.
This was truly far too terrifying.
Exactly what kind of Imperial Arms possessed an ability this horrifying?
Yumesaki rolled his eyes and said: "What Imperial Arms this and Imperial Arms that? This is magic."
"Magic?"
Leone also rolled her eyes. Guess whether I believe you or not.
How could there possibly be something so completely unscientific like magic in this world?
In reality, it wasn't just her. Even Suzuka, Mez, all the way to Sheele who possessed a naturally airheaded trait, displayed looks of disbelief.
Yumesaki was speechless.
Leone and Sheele could be set aside for now, but Suzuka and Mez should have seen him using magic before.
Despite that, they still were not willing to believe it?
Prejudice could be harmful.
At this moment, Yumesaki felt a bit of a loss of interest, so he waved his hand and told them to go roast the meat.
Over the next few days, Yumesaki quickly grew bored of this Prime Minister position, because holding this position meant Yumesaki had endless official business to process every single day.
He only wanted to eat, drink, and go on sightseeing trips.
Replacing the Prime Minister was also only for the sake of playing around with Prime Minister Honest.
Now, trapping himself in the Prime Minister's position to process official business... Yumesaki was not the right person for that.
Therefore, Yumesaki directly brainwashed the entire civil and military officials in the court, making them work like crazy and ensuring they never came to disturb him.
Facts proved that this was indeed a magnificent idea.
Ever since the entire civil and military officials were brainwashed, within their heads, there was only one single thought.
Work, work, and keep working.
Therefore, the citizens living in the Imperial Capital discovered with surprise that the Imperial Capital was improving at a speed visible to the naked eye. Many arrogant and tyrannical nobles had been purged until nothing remained.
The Empire seemed to be returning to the past era where the governance was clean and clear.
This was also witnessed by Sheele and Leone within their eyes.
They could not help but assume that Yumesaki was a completely sincere, good person, and replacing the real Prime Minister was only for the sake of saving this country.
The two people could not help but hold a discussion in a hidden place regarding whether they should declare their identities to Yumesaki.
When Yumesaki by pure chance overheard the whispers of those two people once again, he could not help but chuckle.
Was he trying to save this Empire?
My word, this had depicted him far too nobly and highly.
Was he such a great person? How come he himself didn't know?
However, he did not expose Leone and Sheele's secret. Instead, he pretended to know nothing at all, every day ordering those two people to roast meat for him, or hunt Danger Beasts.
Yumesaki could eat different delicacies day after day.
In this manner, day after day passed by.
Leone and Sheele never once declared their identities to Yumesaki. Instead, they performed their maid duties exceptionally well.
Yumesaki also let it happen.
On this day, Yumesaki rarely made an appearance above the court hall, because the other strongest general of the Empire...
Esdeath had returned.
Yumesaki naturally wanted to observe this member of the pure combat faction from a close distance.
Above the court hall, Esdeath knelt on one knee, then offered a greeting to the little Emperor.
However, within her eyes, there was completely not a shred of respect toward the imperial power nor toward the little Emperor.
The reason why she knelt was also merely just following the local customs.
When she raised her head and saw Yumesaki standing beside the little Emperor, she could not help but be stunned for a moment.
"Nice to meet you, General Esdeath."
Yumesaki greeted the other party while flashing a wide smile.
"Who are you?" Esdeath felt keenly that there was something wrong with the man in front of her eyes.
"I am Yumesaki. However, in their eyes, I should be Prime Minister Honest. Are my words correct?"
Everyone, including the little Emperor, nodded one after another.
Esdeath only just realized that the entire civil and military officials in the court, including the little Emperor, had all become puppets of the man in front of her eyes.
This discovery made Esdeath extremely excited. Being capable of doing this proved that the other party was incredibly strong, and the thing she wanted to do most was fight with a strong person.
"How did you do it?" Esdeath slowly stood up from the ground, bit by bit, a cold frost leaked out from around her body.
"I said it's magic. Do you believe me?" Yumesaki asked back.
Esdeath let out a cold snort. This sort of thing was something she had stopped believing in ever since she was three years old.
Seeing the situation, Yumesaki could not help but let out a sigh. In this day and age, even telling the truth gained no believers.
Then, he looked toward Esdeath, whose cold aura was becoming increasingly dense, and said: "I say, General Esdeath, with this attitude of yours, could it be that you want to fight with me?"
Esdeath raised a hand to straighten the hat on top of her head, and within her hand, an additional sword of ice materialized.
"Is that not allowed?"
Yumesaki shook his head and said: "Forget it, you are no match for me."
"Hah, that's not for you to decide."
Esdeath suddenly stamped her foot against the surface of the ground, intending to dash toward Yumesaki. However, in the very next second, a shock occurred.
She discovered with surprise that her body betrayed her own desires, and actually stood in her original spot without moving even a single millimeter.
Esdeath: "???"
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