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Volume 11 Chapter 4 Part 2

If his child was 15 years old 10 years ago, then this means that he must be 25 years old now.

Huh?

Doesn’t this calculation seem a bit off?

「Uhm…」

「Is there something wrong? Your eyes seem to be filled with suspicion.」

「It’s just that… you look a little too young for that.」

「You can say that. It was Our duty nonetheless, so I had to see it through.」

Does that mean that the Emperor started having sex and had a kid at age 14? No, including the near-one year of pregnancy period, he must have gotten himself a kid when he was 13 years old.

Even if it is assumed that one turns adult at the age of 15, he procreated when he was 15 years old. Does that mean that when an emperor turns 15 and becomes an adult, he automatically receives a sex partner?

God, I am so envious of him right now! It makes me want to steal a bike and run him over!

Actually, I am not sure whether I should be envious of him or not.

I have heard that having sex as a duty is toilsome, and much worse that doing it just for the sake of feeling pleasure.

S-So you see? T-There is no reason for me to be envious of the Emperor. Not at all.

「Is that so? But why are you joining the Society now after growing old?」

「If We don’t exterminate the Labyrinths, there is no meaning to Our life. Because Our child needs to grow to adulthood, we have to do it in their stead.」

The Emperor gives a heroic justification, but honestly, that kind of determination seems tragic to me.

Being an Emperor doesn’t seem to always be a good thing.

Even the Duchess of Hartz, Cassia, is like that. The nobles in this world seem to have noble thoughts, but I wonder if there is more to it than that?

In Japan, the children of the nobles were always spoiled rotten while they were growing up, which resulted in most of them becoming little more than useless good-for-nothings, but that was how things worked in the past, while in England, from what I heard, children of the nobles were trained from a very young age to become their country’s elites when they grow up, or so I heard.

I wonder if the nobles of this world are similar to the ones from my old world in that regard, or if they are going to prove to be fundamentally different.

「Shall we begin then?」

When I was puzzled after learning of the Emperor’s heroic resolve, Baron Ester came back to us.

Nice timing.

「Are we finally starting?」

「Yes. Everyone, wear this, please.」

The Baron handed us white clothes that he was carrying with him, and he is also wearing one himself.

It is an oversized T-shirt, or at least looks like one.

According to「Identify」, it is something called Dalmatica.

「Dalmatica?」

「It is commendable for Michio to recognize it. It is an equipment handed down in the Society to its newest members. It is a ceremonial garb required to be worn on the occasion of the admission ceremony.」

Ester explains while passing the Dalmatica to me.

「I think I have seen it somewhere before.」

「It is the equipment one of our Mages wears.」

「Ah, so it was that, huh?」

The Emperor and the other man were engaged in such a conversation. Like I speculated, the other man has to be related to him in some way or another.

Since he said 「One of Our Mages」, then does that mean that they are both a part of the same Party?

Can other party members join, too?

「Put this on and head to the next room when you are ready.」

「Ester, We heard that it is unusual for more than one person to join the Empire Liberation Society at the same time. Is that true?」

The Emperor asks Ester a genuinely curious question.

「That’s right. This is the first time more than one person is joining our ranks at the same time ever since I became the Society’s president.」

Okay, now that is something genuinely important.

Baron Ester seems to be the Empire Liberation Society’s President. And certainly, as the president of the entire organization, he is more than qualified to judge and examine those who would like to join it.

「As We thought, it is unusual, huh?」

「There are not many talented people who can be classified as appropriate for admission. There is almost no precedent of three people joining at the same time. As for you two, as you may be aware, it is a custom for the member of the Imperial Guard to join together with the Emperor, as it happened in the past, too.」

So the other man is actually the member of the Imperial Guard?

Since he is the one chosen from the Imperial Guards, then he must be pretty strong. As you would expect from an Emperor, they need to be guarded at all times.

There are no guards with the Duke and Baron here though, but they do have Sacrificial Misangas on them, so maybe they think that this much protection should be enough for them?

I don’t care about the Duke, though.

「Umu, alright then. As for the order of joining, Michio should be the one to decide.」

After pondering over something for a while, the Emperor announced something like that.

「Huh? Me?」

「Because of Our occupation, we are not used to respecting others. We often look down on our companions as a result of that. That is not supposed to be a good example ti be set, so We want Michio to be admitted first, so that We may respect him as Our senior in membership. This way, Our arrogant heart may soften up a bit. It is unusual for three to join at the same time, so this surely must be a kind of guidance for Us, We are sure of it.」

No, no, no, wait a minute!

Even though what you said is absolutely wonderful, and of course I want to be respected, but what you first need to do is to try to put yourself in the shoes of the person being respected.

My heart will not soften, and the Emperor must be aware of the situation of the person being
respected from his experience, because it is only natural for the Emperor to be respected by his subjects… is that why he can maintain such unbroken composure?

「That resolve of yours is truly wonderful.」

Ester congratulated the Emperor and showed his appreciation.

「Is that so?」

「The order of joining will be Michio, Gaius and Carlos then.」

「That is good.”

The order of admission has been decided, As if it were an Imperial decree, and I felt a ring of sweat forming on my forehead.

The Emperor’s proposal must not be denied.

Actually, the Imperial Guard Carlos is going to be the last to be admissioned, after Gaius.

Is it unacceptable to show respect to a guard who accompanies you at all times? Why don’t you have your way with your official first?!

「Well then, once you have finished your preparations, come over.」

「Of course.」

Since I can’t help it, I put the Dalmatica on top-down and move to the next room as prompted.

It is quite dark inside the neighboring room. Only two thin candles are lit. The two candlesticks are on a long and narrow table lying on which is a single white cloth. Both the Duke and the Earl are on the other side of that table

Both of them have the Dalmaticas on as well

Ester goes to the other side and positions himself between the two.

「Close the door, please.」

「Understood.」

Upon Ester’s request, the Emperor’s guard closes the door. The light that was pouring in from the previous room vanishes completely, making the room even darker.

The atmosphere feels eerily occult now

Only the candlelight is illuminating the surroundings dimly, making it hard to see in front of me.

「Michio, step forward.」

「Okay.」

Upon the Baron’s instruction, I step forward to the front of the table.

At the same time, the Duke moves. He shifts to the side of the table and puts equal distance between me and the Baron.

「We will now hold Michio’s admission ceremony to the Empire Liberation Society. The referrer will address the referred.」

「I, Brocken, a member of the Empire Liberation Society, recognize the strength and the character of this person named Michio. I recommended him as I found him suitable to be a member of the Empire Liberation Society. Michio will bring new ideas and competition to the Empire Liberation Society, and he will definitely become a force to be reckoned with in the effort of exterminating the monsters and the Labyrinths.」