Ch.819Run Away

Seven days and nights passed like flowing water.

Baron Lambert seemed to have chosen punishment over a celebratory drink, as he ignored my polite invitation to meet and went into hiding. So thoroughly that even Sir Sean couldn’t find him.

In the end, I had no choice but to release the hounds of judgment to track his whereabouts, feeling like a detective pursuing the bat man.

He was someone I absolutely needed.

An administrative hero who could save me from mountains of paperwork. I couldn’t just let him go. That’s why I sent the judges after him.

If he thought he could escape my grasp, I needed to teach him what a ridiculous delusion that was.

“Miss, you’re daydreaming again.”

“Ah.”

As I twirled my pen, wondering when Lambert Sigel would be dragged in, Leonore, who had uncannily noticed I was lost in thought, shook her head and scolded me.

“Let’s focus on work. We need to finish quickly so we can check on the recruits’ training.”

Leonore sighed while tapping the piles of documents stacked on the desk.

Eleonora, sitting across from me, didn’t voice any complaints, but she was looking at me like a squad leader who had discovered a private sleeping during guard duty.

In other words, she was looking at me like I was utterly worthless.

Her gaze was so cold it reminded me of the bitter cold of the Sky Mountains, making me shiver.

Don’t… don’t look at me like that…!

Muttering this unspoken lament in my heart, I cursed Leopold who had brought this suffering upon me. May the hair roots he lost sprout anew on his chest.

—-

When it was decided to establish a country, I thought:

If I just dumped all the practical work on the experts, all I would need to do was point them in the right direction.

I realized what a grave misconception that was when thousands of documents piled up like hills on my desk, all waiting for my review.

Initial planning proposals to implement my directives.

Secondary proposals revised after review by Eleonora, Leonore, and several civil officials.

Separate documents on projected profits and losses, impact analyses, and necessary resource allocations.

Work logs recording progress and unexpected issues.

And finally, lengthy reports analyzing the final results, their effectiveness, and future improvements.

With five or six different types of documents pouring in for every single directive, I was beginning to feel genuinely afraid.

While I could pass off detailed planning and specific instructions to others, I still had to personally review and stamp the core documents.

Thanks to that, I had to endure endless work for nearly a week, to the point where I was approving documents even in my dreams.

“Someone cast a mental blessing on me. I think I’m developing a phobia of paperwork.”

“There’s no such phobia.”

Eleonora, who was pinching the bridge of her nose as if her eyes were strained, sighed and replied.

She probably meant I should stop talking nonsense and get back to work.

Really, who would have thought those wary, hedgehog-like eyes would turn into looks of utter exasperation in just a few days?

I had tried throwing down my pen saying I couldn’t take it anymore, pretending to swim on the pile of documents, or “accidentally” dropping a lit cigarette to burn all the paperwork… but even so, there was no need to treat me like I was completely worthless.

It seems Hersella’s comment about me warping the personalities of those around me wasn’t sarcasm but plain truth.

—-

While creating a country, I made some adjustments to existing laws and systems to prevent Hestella from inheriting the Empire’s flaws.

At the same time, I didn’t forget to throw carrots to my supporters.

For example—

“Borrow the criminal code from the Church of Astraea. But lower the punishment levels by two degrees.”

Burning at the stake becomes hanging. Life imprisonment becomes 50 years. Cutting off both arms becomes cutting just one wrist.

The Church of Astraea’s penal code was remarkably systematic, befitting those who worship the goddess of order and justice, but it had the drawback of punishments being too severe for the crimes committed.

Therefore, I adopted the church law while reducing the punishment levels to more realistic standards.

If I had been a mere priest, I might have been branded a heretic for tampering with doctrine, or at the very least, faced fierce criticism from disgruntled members within the church…

But who could complain when the Holy Maiden herself declared this was right?

Unless I touched the core aspects of doctrine, a proposal to show some mercy to those who committed minor offenses was quite acceptable.

No, in fact, it went beyond acceptance to praise.

The church clergy cheered “This is truly a holy state!” and “Praise Astika!” just because the laws of my kingdom referenced their canon, while non-clergy praised me for being merciful for a Holy Maiden of the Order.

That wasn’t the only carrot I threw to the church.

“Those territories we swept clean? Dispatch our church’s priests and paladins there. And investigate the clergy who were already rooted there.”

An order to send clergy from the Church of Astraea to bring order to lordless territories in chaos.

Additionally, instructions to remove existing religious forces if possible, if they didn’t welcome these newcomers.

Wouldn’t such actions cause friction with other denominations?

Well, that would only be the case if the existing religious forces in those territories were decent priests.

But how could they be?

Heretics, cultists, rapists, and traitors—it was hard to find a lord who wasn’t scum, so the likelihood that priests in territories where such atrocities occurred were decent people was slim.

If the priests in such territories were truly good and devout clergy, they would have either died under suspicious circumstances long ago or been quietly crushed under the lord’s pressure.

To live comfortably in a criminal lord’s territory, one would naturally have to form deep ties with the criminal.

I don’t know for certain, but decent priests would likely be rare there.

So, even if the Order’s clergy I sent exposed their evil deeds and banished them, other denominations would express gratitude rather than opposition.

—-

The criminal code wasn’t the only system I modified. In fact, compared to other improvements, the criminal code was barely touched. Especially—

“The current governance system seems too inefficient. Incompetent fools strut around as lords just because of their father’s bloodline? No wonder everything’s a mess.”

The existing governance system, where nobles inherited and operated territories under feudalism, was an issue I definitely wanted to address.

For nearly a month, I had clearly seen what harm incompetent and corrupt nobles could inflict on the world.

Therefore, I designated all territories of Hestella as royal domains and decided to dispatch administrators who had proven their abilities through qualification exams to manage and govern these regions, instead of hereditary nobles.

In other words, whether commoner or lower nobility, anyone could rise to high positions if they could prove their abilities.

“Treating nobles and commoners equally? That might be difficult, even for you. The backlash would be tremendous. Even our radiant Emperor might find it hard to defend you.”

“Equal? Hardly. To become an administrator, one must pass a qualification exam to prove their ability. That itself is far from equality.”

Noble children who can learn all kinds of knowledge from private tutors from an early age, versus commoner children who have to help with farm work once they turn ten.

It’s obvious which group would perform better. Education is only possible with family wealth.

“When starting points are so different, if a noble loses to a dirt-poor farmer’s child, they should just stay home and waste their family fortune. I absolutely cannot stand watching such incompetent fools drain my country’s resources.”

The nobles will resist? Let them try if they dare.

After seeing dozens of nobles burning at the stake, only the most rebellious or those completely unable to survive under the new system would dare oppose me.

Removing such people would be no difficult task.

“It’s too radical, but… there’s logic to it.”

Eleonora, apparently not too fond of nobles either, nodded in agreement with my opinion to remove incompetent nobles.

“Though I’m not sure what kind of test could prove one’s qualifications as a lord.”

She was skeptical about the effectiveness of qualification exams, but that was a problem for the practitioners to worry about, not me.

“That’s for you to figure out. You’re much more skilled at such things than I am.”

“…Ha.”

Seemingly deeply moved by my trust, Eleonora gave me an intense stare, her face speechless.

Her gaze was so powerful that I felt it might pierce through even my divine protection and wound me.