Ch.182Epilogue. The King’s Inspection (3)

Touring the country I ruled felt like quite a unique experience.

I didn’t just look at waterworks, fully cultivated farmlands, factories, and schools.

…To be honest, seeing people’s faces was more interesting.

“I am deeply honored that you have visited our humble village. I am Dan Burko, Your Highness’s faithful servant. I will do my utmost to ensure you experience not even the slightest discomfort during your stay here…!”

This man in his thirties wasn’t just kneeling—he had his head pressed to the ground while reciting his loyalty pledge.

He was the appointed village chief of a directly administered territory I visited during my inspection.

At first, I dismissed it casually since there were countless people who cowered before me, but soon a thread of suspicion arose.

Burko. It was the surname of a family I had not only demoted to commoners but also exploited for over a decade under the name of “rehabilitation.”

“Are you from the Burko family?”

“…John Burko, the former Count, is my great-uncle. Fortunately, thanks to Your Highness’s mercy, I was not included in the rehabilitation program, but I live with a constant sense of repentance.”

“It would have been stranger to include even distant relatives like you. You must have been quite young at the time anyway.”

“You are indeed generous.”

The Burko family’s branch member looked deeply moved, as if I had bestowed some tremendous favor upon him.

It wasn’t incomprehensible. The Burko clan had only gained their freedom four years ago after paying off all their debts, and John Burko, the head of the family, died shortly thereafter.

Many of his children and nephews still worked in my territory. They seemed to have grown accustomed to the life of scroll workers over the years.

The Burko family had reason to fear me. But I felt nothing toward that clan.

After all, the nobles I had killed or sent to labor camps numbered in the thousands.

Even now, countless people were being worked to death in mines and logging camps. Compared to them, the Burko clan was blessed.

Still, seeing this trembling man gave me a peculiar feeling.

‘So there was someone who managed to survive even as his family was swept away.’

Suddenly demoted to commoner status, yet he struggled through school, entered civil service, and finally became responsible for administering an entire village.

It couldn’t have been easy living with the Burko surname, yet he had made it this far.

It was a moment that made me newly aware that there were many people besides myself who lived life fiercely.

“There’s no need to be afraid. If there’s anything you wish to request, speak.”

“Everything in this land belongs to Your Highness—”

“Drop that and just speak plainly.”

“…Please grant us a water reservoir.”

“I’ll do that. I’ll send engineers.”

Even though I granted his petition on the spot, his fearful expression didn’t ease. Only after I gestured did he slowly rise, still watching me cautiously.

He seemed rather timid, but that was far better than madness. Unlike John Burko, who had recklessly sought guarantors even as his family was on the brink of dissolution, and the ghosts of the exchange who followed him, at least this man wasn’t causing harm to society.

‘I suppose smashing heads wasn’t entirely meaningless.’

Of course, not everyone I met gave me a sense of fulfillment.

Two days later, at a sulfur mine.

It was a place I visited on impulse, realizing I had never been to a labor camp before.

There was one prisoner who seemed to recognize me and hesitantly approached.

The mine supervisor shouted, “How dare this bastard!” but I quietly raised my hand to stop him. It was a novel experience to have a prisoner in a sulfur mine address me first.

“Hero. Do you recognize me?”

“No.”

“…I’m Keeper.”

Only then did I recall who he was.

When I burned the succubus Iclit, I had also punished an Academy student named Keeper as a bonus.

I had definitely sent him to an iron mine, so I couldn’t understand why he was in a sulfur mine. It was also surprising that he was still alive.

“You were caught attempting real estate fraud, right?”

“It was attempted fraud, not executed. I was only nineteen then. But you, Hero, threatened to turn me into fertilizer and sentenced me to hard labor. …I accepted that punishment with only the thought of survival, and—”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Keeper’s expression of utter injustice.

I wasn’t disappointed. After all, I seized power because of people like him. More precisely, I’ve been doing all this to create a country that wouldn’t be shaken even if someone like Keeper appeared and caused trouble.

“I’m not asking for leniency now. I’ll probably die here. …But Hero, don’t you think you were too harsh back then? Was my crime really deserving of such punishment?”

“You seem to feel very wronged.”

“Of course I do…!”

“People of your kind typically think that way.”

“My kind?”

In truth, people like Keeper still appeared from time to time.

People who bribed dog handlers to fix races, those who swindled farmers by promising to install temporary water systems, those who scammed lottery winners, and so on.

Despite the Security Bureau’s diligent efforts to catch them, people seeking to get rich quick kept appearing. That procession would continue indefinitely.

Perhaps Keeper was a senior figure among them. As I watched him plead with a face full of grievance, I suddenly muttered:

“I’ll have to keep cracking down hard on them.”

“After all the suffering I’ve… What?”

“Actually, there’s been discussion among younger officials about abolishing penal battalions. The border can’t be used as a dumping ground for criminals forever. …However, it would be better to maintain labor camps even after penal battalions are abolished.”

Keeper’s face gradually contorted.

“So you’re saying… you thought of that while looking at me?”

“Yes. You’ve been an important reference. I plan to keep a few places like this sulfur mine for people like you. Those with the worst offenses will have to be executed, but for most, it’s best to extract labor from them before they die.”

“……”

“Thank you. You may go.”

I gestured for Keeper to be taken away. Even so, I didn’t forget to instruct the supervisors not to beat him too severely. Mining sulfur with just an iron bar was probably more painful than most torture.

Watching his retreating figure, I thought this visit had been worthwhile after all.

Originally, the purpose of this inspection was to confirm my achievements so far. Since there was no one to evaluate me, I wanted to grade myself.

But thanks to this unexpected fellow, I gained new motivation. I also learned that severe punishment is the only answer for fraudsters.

Yes, cracking down hard was the best solution.

Fortunately, it was what I did best in this world.

***

…

It had been fifteen days since I left the imperial capital.

Today I arrived at the outskirts of the primeval forest at the border. Specifically, it was the village that Gwon Heejin’s party had once used as a hideout.

These days, many people simply called this area the Northern Forest.

Monster attacks still occurred occasionally, but it had become easier for humans to venture in compared to the past. The village where I set foot had been incorporated into the Empire long ago.

One of the beings leading this change was, surprisingly, not human.

“Hero. The village chief is away. I will guide you instead.”

It was Silvina, the elf wearing a coat made of red fox fur.

She was still a scout for the Border Count.

However, she wasn’t just scouting.

She led her assistants in systematic hunting, supplying the leather and fur to my clothing factories. The volume was so large it was hard to believe it came from an individual hunter.

“The workshop handling primary processing is over there.”

Silvina had even built a tannery in the village where she once hid. Judging by its size, at least twenty people worked there.

To think that the elf I had banished to the border to keep her out of trouble had now become a business owner.

I knew roughly how she lived due to her reputation, but seeing it with my own eyes gave a different impression. This wasn’t just good adaptation—she was driving the northern development.

And her attitude toward me was quite different from the past.

Though still blunt, she volunteered information even without my asking.

“Since last year, hunting permits have been issued under the Border Count’s name. While there’s no concern about animal populations in this vast forest, quite a few second-rate adventurers and hunters lose their lives to monsters after entering ignorantly.”

“Hero, I know you granted Millia and her husband official positions thirteen years ago. You even promoted them four years ago. Millia is still doing her best to maintain security in Caderia and its affiliated islands.”

“And…”

From the current situation at the border to updates on the former Hero’s party members. If left alone, she seemed ready to explain even the ecosystem of the Northern Forest.

I doubted whether she was truly the same elf I had arrested in the past.

I had no intention of telling her to be quiet. Some of the information was quite useful, and it was interesting to see how Silvina had changed.

In the end, she carefully chose her words and spoke with gravity.

“Hero. I have something to say.”

“What?”

“Thank you.”

“……”

“Thank you for how you’ve treated me and my companions, and for what you’ve done for the Border Count’s territory. Of course, I know it wasn’t generosity you offered willingly, but I thought it right to express gratitude. I’m glad to have this opportunity today.”

I was momentarily at a loss for words.

It was true that I had shown leniency to the former Hero’s party.

But I never expected to receive thanks from Silvina of all people. When I first banished her to the border, I thought it would take at least 50 or 100 years for her to change her mind, but she had adapted successfully much faster than I anticipated.

A rapid transformation reminiscent of the current Empire.

“This is enough,” I found myself saying. The faces of all the people I had encountered also came to mind.

Afterward, I simply nodded to Silvina. I thought that this journey, which I had begun on a whim, was drawing to a close.