Chapter 5: Knights' Oath
Sitting at his desk, Jircniv smiled wryly as he looked at the pile of documents before him. He had forgotten this part of being a ruler!
It has been a week since his coronation and Versailles has readily handed everything over and retired.
Jircniv was pleased with this move but called it a ruler's flaw or insecurity, but this only made him suspicious of his Father and thus decided to keep a close eye on him.
Speaking of parents, Jircniv has not met his Mother since his arrival to the past. Perhaps it is fear of abandoning his ambitions or something else, however, he kept pushing it back on his list of agendas.
The death of his Mother was one of the reasons he became the Bloody Emperor.
With no one to really help him grow, he had to become something that everyone was afraid of messing with.
Fluder Paradyne was there for him but even he could not replace what he lost at such a young age.
Looking through the documents, Jircniv sighed as he could see most of them dated weeks and even months back.
Versailles did not have real power and could not do much, hence he could only turn a blind eye to them.
Most of these documents do not benefit the common people but instead increase the wealth flowing into the nobles' pocket.
Comparing the documents during his Father's reign and his, there is a sharp decline in the wealth being stolen. Perhaps this was the nobles' way of showing him goodwill.
Reaching for a document with the seal of the Re-Estize Kingdom's Royal Family, Jircniv read it with a smile on his face.
"I remember when I obtained the throne, many nations laughed at me because of my name and my age. Now looking at this letter, I feel nothing. Different perspectives, brings different views."
The letter came with words of congratulations but no words of treaty agreements.
At this point in time, the Baharuth Empire did not have much power against Re-Estize.
To say it bluntly, the Baharuth is weak, very much so.
There are a couple reasons Re-Estize has not attacked. The first one is Katze Plain.
The Baharuth is a buffer between Re-Estize and the land of the dead.
Another reason is the Slane Theocracy.
As the leader of human sovereignty, Slane Theocracy does not want to see humanity weakened.
Fighting for pieces of land is fine but invasion is out of the question.
That's why in his previous life, he allowed skirmishes with Re-Estize. The goal was to weaken the Kingdom's overall military power and to train the Imperial Army.
In this life, Jircniv wanted to do things differently.
Since his goal is to become the Human Emperor, the Re-Estize Kingdom will join the Baharuth Empire.
As for Slane Theocracy? That was an obstacle that must be tackled with a lot of planning and power.
Looking up, Jircniv witnesses Tira emerging from darkness and kneeling before him.
Tina and Tia have returned earlier with news from the surrounding nations and sent on different missions.
Of the information he most needed, Tira was tasked with, as she was the strongest.
Jircniv has to admit, the shadow skills of the assassin sisters were very good. With it, he can task them to kill someone or gather information.
At first, he was jealous of their ability but the more he saw it, the less effect it seemed to have on him. Jircniv imagined this was the effect of carrying divine blood.
Of course, he wondered if this was the case with all gods or just Lord Touch Me.
Lord Touch Me seems like a perfect counter to darkness and evil.
Jircnv leaned forward, with expectation in his eyes, "Tell me, what have you found?"
Tira took a moment before responding, seemingly collecting herself.
"Re-Estize is hosting the competition as we speak. The ones you wanted to be on the lookout for have not been found, however, there is plenty of time before the competition is over, so maybe they will appear then."
There was not a lot of information that Baharuth and the Re-Estize exchanged with one another, so Jircniv thought the competition was over or atleast going to take place later.
In fact, not even Versailles knew about this competition, since it was the first of its kind. Plus, Jircniv imagined Re-Estize didn't want anyone to steal their talented warriors, which he is currently thinking of.
To Jircniv, this was a good opportunity. He could represent his nation and build a relationship with Re-Estize and at the same time, he could fill some of the Twelve Zodiac positions.
Currently, only the three sisters were in the Twelve Zodiac but they were only in the Lower Stars position.
In Jircniv's eyes, the sisters were talented but far from being worthy of an elite unit, but he had to start somewhere.
As the sisters were still young, there is a possibility they could surpass Adamantite and reach the realm of heroes.
And even then, that was weak in his opinion.
Adamantite, Heroes, before Ainz Ooal Gown, there was no difference!
Before a god, all mortal efforts seem as insignificant as an ant.
Unfortunately, there were many things going on in the Baharuth Empire and his time was limited.
Pondering, Jircniv found he could leave for a maximum of a week, but that would leave Baharuth unstable. He didn't trust Versailles to handle the situation. Because in his eyes, his Father was at best incompetent.
Seemingly remembering something, Jircniv smiled.
Turning to look at Tira, Jircniv said, "Tira, you and your sisters will follow me to Re-Estize. This is a secret mission, so other than us, none must be aware. Do you understand?"
Slightly surprised, Tira nodded and disappeared.
Pleased, Jircniv yelled for someone.
The door opened and a servant rushed in and knelt down, "At your orders, Your Majesty."
Jircniv's ears and eyes watched the servants movement and found it odd. His steps were so light and his fingers were a bit long. Despite him seemingly in a rush, his heartbeat was steady, too many conflicting things.
Looking at the servant with a sharp gaze, Jircniv realized this might be an assassin, however, he did not say anything and issued his order, "Bring Valor Embercrest here."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The servant bowed and closed the door behind him.
"Such smooth movements, at the very least, he should have been a servant before but became an assassin for some reason." The reason Jircniv let him go was because his senses didn't pick any hint of danger.
Moving at such a high it seemed like he disappeared from the room, Jircniv watched the servant from the shadows, seeing him carrying out his orders without delay.
"My sense shouldn't be wrong. Interesting. I will have someone keep an eye on him." Shaking his head, he disappeared again and reappeared in a secret room beneath his office, with wooden spears.
Over the past week, Jircniv has been practicing his spearmanship.
Spearmanship at the basic level encompasses a couple things: sweeping, lunging, block, feints and slashing. It was very similar to a sword but was harder to master.
Jircniv, after studying the basics of swordsmanship, figured it was the same for a spear. That was true but the difference in range caused some problems.
For example, slashing with a sword was easy in close confined places but spear is different. When he slash, he must take into account the distance between him and the enemy for the spear to actually hurt the enemy.
If the enemy comes too close, the spear loses its ability.
However, Jircniv thought of a way around this.
If his spear weighed a ton, even if the enemy came close, if they got in contact with the spear's shaft, they would die from the weight alone and if they stayed out of range, the spear's blade would kill them.
Overall, although his skills still need a lot of work, there was a huge improvement. Even with his lack of experience, with his speed and strength, he made up for it.
Frowning, Jircniv sighed and disappeared, appearing inside his office.
As soon as he appeared, the door was knocked, "Your Majesty, I have brought Sir Embercrest as ordered."
"Good, let him in and continue your duties."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The door opened and an old man walked in with his sharp eyes scanning the room. Even though he was old, one would be surprised at his muscles and straight back.
Jircniv looked at this man and thought he looked similar to Sebas Tian, the Iron Butler. The difference is that one is a frightening monster and the other is a slightly stronger human.
"Valor, I will cut to the chase. I will be going to Re-Estize for some business. While I am gone, you are to take my place and govern Baharuth."
Valor Embercrest looked surprised. He never expected that Jircniv would give him such an important task, especially after the fact he was the mole planted by the Five Great Families, however, thinking about it, it seems he was the only one that could do it.
This is a very important task and cannot be accepted on whim. He must think it through and not overstate his capabilities.
"I understand, Your Majesty. However, I can at most keep everything in order for two days at most."
Thinking about it, two days didn't seem bad. It was less than he wanted but considering everything, it's truly the best Valor could do.
"Two days is fine. In that meantime, I don't care what method you use, I want you to find all the information on the nobles who have been taking the wealth of the Empire for themselves."
Valor's eyes flash with amazement. He could imagine what Jircniv was going to do but wasn't too soon? If he did such a big movement right after his coronation, his popularity would fall.
As if reading Valor's mind, Jircniv spoke again, interlocking his fingers and resting his chin on his hand and staring at Valor with his glowing purple eyes, "I do not care about my popularity with the nobles. If I could get rid of all of them, it would be better. My job as the Emperor is to improve the lives of my subjects. Of course, I cannot deny that my actions are fueled purely on the ambition of making Baharuth, an actual Empire."
Standing up and looking through the window, the memories of his old Baharuth Empire appear in Jircniv's mind, "At this moment, the Baharuth Empire is very weak. It's a stretch to call our nation an Empire, it's at most a feudal state. None of the surrounding nations take us seriously. Each step to make us the strongest in this world must be taken swiftly without raising waves. Do you understand?"
Valor was shocked that these words came out of the mouth of a 9 year old and couldn't help but tremble with excitement.
How many years has it been since such thoughts have appeared in his mind? How long has he long for a proper ruler to emerge in the Empire?
Taking a deep breath, Valor Embercrest knelt down, "Your Majesty, I, Valor Embercrest wish to swear an oath of fidelity to you. Would you grant me this honor?"
It was Jircniv's turn to be surprised. What a sudden twist of events.
~Ding~
[The host has been granted the Knights' Oath.]
[Knights' Oath: Anyone who makes an oath to you, cannot break it without you being aware. Host can inflict damage onto the one who breaks the oath.]
Double surprise!
Looking at the notification, Jircniv didn't think he would get such an ability. Perhaps Lord Touch Me is really watching him and encouraging him on his path.
Knight's Oath is a bit too powerful, if used well, Baharuth might turn into the holy land of knights.
With this ability, he could establish another form of nobility system that he was fully in charge of.
Walking before Valor, Jircniv looked around for a sword but couldn't find one.
"Valor Embercrest, I accept your fidelity, however, when I come back, I will properly knight you."
Signing, Valor knew it was sudden and this kind of thing cannot be done on whim, "I understand, Your Majesty."
(AN: Baharuth Empire and Empire are the same thing. Re-Estize Kingdom and Kingdom are the same thing.)
[Name: Jircniv Rune Farlord El- Nix
Epithet: Bloody Emperor, Regent
Race: Human (Hetermorpics - Insect)
Level 33: Adamantite
Power: Heavenly Aura(), Divine Strength(), Holy Heal(), Knights' Oath()]