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Chapter 568-1: Indifferent Reign – Maintenance of Public Order

 

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Translator: Nat

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I press my stamp down as I listen to the sounds of swordplay from outside the window.

「What is that butterfly-like swing!? You don’t have to learn little tricks! First you must swing downward with the intention of overcoming the limits of that immature body!」

Gildress is giving training to Antonio.
Moreover, both are holding real swords, not wooden swords or fake metal swords.

At first, that idiot wanted to throw Antonio into the forest with just a knife and underwear.
If my front kick and Catherine’s bite didn’t dissuade him, he really would have done it.

Of course, it is also too early for a kid to train with real swords, but Antonio himself said he wants to.
Since it was something he wanted to do, I let him go through with it.

Gildress is a pervert, but he’s also an expert.
He probably won’t let a child injure himself.

「I’m a little jealous. I’m here stamping documents instead of swinging swords.」

After the ruling the other day, those who sought mediation for their conflict said they would send girls to me.
I was having trouble deciding who to favor when women came from both sides, and just as I was about to roll a die, Adolph and Celia sent me back to stamp duty.

「What ancestral land? If your family is going to fall from a single hill being taken, then that’s the extent of your family.」

Muttering as I press the stamp down, a bug starts flying around my nose, triggering a sneeze.
A sheet of paper flies away from the wind force.

「Oops.」

Celia will be fed up with me if I miss a stamp on one document.
The cute Celia is getting more and more beautiful, though her cold eyes are proportionally getting more powerful.
Of course, I still get turned on by them.

I pick up the fallen document and stop moving right as I’m bringing it back to the table.

「It’s from Leopolt?」

On paper, he is a border guard in the north, which in reality is a demotion to the frontier, but his true objective is to find the best timing to attack the Federation. Presently, he’s also finding various reasons to send soldiers up north bit by bit.

This document is just a report of formality for his job on paper as border guard.

「A criminal organization seems to be growing around the Federation’s border. They are well-funded, with the illegal slave trade at their core. They are able to bribe local lords and officials, assist them in rough affairs, and grasp the weaknesses of anyone who opposes them……」

Does this mean the thugs are grouping up and getting stronger?

Well, the report came with other documents so it’s probably not that important.
At the very least, it’s not a problem that concerns the entire nation.

「If it’s Leopolt, he would be able to twist it so that it is. Let’s see, multiple bases are being set up in the royal and district territories, as well as the Federation border……?」

Leopolt’s eyes are on the Federation.
So he’s saying that a bunch of thugs is not worth acting against if it will alert even the tip of the Federation’s toes?

「He doesn’t have the heart to help slaves being sold. What a cruel man.」

Tristan signed at the end, saying that the monitoring will continue.
All I have to do is give a confirmation stamp.

「Let’s call Rebecca.」

「I’m here.」

Rebecca appears quietly behind me.

「Oh you’re here. ……did you see me bleeding after pulling out too much nose hair?」

「Very clearly. These clothes, I thought they were only for lewd purposes, but wearing them makes me want to sneak around.」

It seems she has grown fond of those tights.
Staring at her too long will get me in the mood, so let’s get down to business.

「Do you know about the strange group appearing near the Federation’s borders?」

Rebecca immediately nods her head.

「I am aware. They are little more than a bunch of ruffians, but their boss seems to have a good nose, and they have ducked our raids three times. I sent a secret agent to track them, though it seems she was discovered and has since gone missing. If they were rebels, it would be easy to crush them.」

「They’re a criminal organization. Chasing with an army will just scatter them.」

A group of low-grade ruffians is not much of a threat, but on the other hand, there are plenty of small fry to go around, so there’s no point in just crushing their limbs. The only way to destroy them is to seize the boss, but that’s tricky when he has a sharp nose.

「By the way, the one who went missing was……」

「A woman. By the way, she is wearing infiltration clothes like me.」

Then unfortunately, she’s probably being raped.
It’s hard to think otherwise if she was captured wearing that outfit.

「Actually, most subordinates were captured in other missions and had that happen too. But for some reason, their survival rate is higher despite getting raped so I asked them to keep wearing the clothes.」

「Fumu……」

I tap the desk with a finger as I ponder.

Either way I look at it, this isn’t a problem I can deal with by leading soldiers.
If the boss is as sharp as Rebecca says, mobilizing the army will cause them to immediately cross the border.

「Then it has to be infiltration.」

「Are you telling me to prepare an infiltration unit? If you give me two days, I can arrange for covert squad of about 20……」

I grin at Rebecca.

「I’m going to infiltrate.」

Time seems to freeze along with Rebecca’s movements.

「Your Majesty will personally lead the covert squad?」

「No, I’m going by myself. Against someone with a sharp nose, ten or twenty people will be discovered right away.」

Rebecca shakes her head as her movements resume.

「No no no! You’ve got to be kidding! In what world does a king dive into a criminal organization by himself!?」

Panicking, her tone becomes strange.

「To be honest……I’m bored. I’m tired of stamping documents.」

I remove the over-the-top king’s loungewear and change into plain clothes I use for sneaking off to brothels.

「I’m not going for a fight. I’m just infiltrating, I should be fine.」

「Your Majesty’s presence is too high, infiltration is impossible! Aahh, dangit!!」

 

The ravages of war have not touched the part from the capital to the northern border and the highway is properly maintained.
Making up my mind in the morning, I departed the capital on Schwartz and arrived near the border the next morning.

However, there is one person accompanying me.
It’s Rebecca.

「I would have been fine on my own. It’s dangerous, you know?」

「……let me clear at this point, I have beaten everyone from high-ranking nobles to major merchants and venerable individuals with Your Majesty’s backing. If anything happens to Your Majesty, the next day I will be fucked like a rag doll and disposed of. If you die, it’s also over for me! To hell with it your warnings!」

I see, anyways――

「You’re wearing those clothes after all.」

Rebecca is wearing unremarkable traveling clothes meant for stealthy operations and a hat.
Underneath it is her skintight outfit.

「You really like it.」

「It’s form-fitting and easy to move in……it also has a high degree of protection against the cold.」

I brush my hand over her stomach.

「Other than that, what about the attention you get from men?」

「When they gaze at my thighs and ass, there’s an indescribable sense of superiority……wait, no!」

The woodland area of the border is coming into sight.

「There’s nothing we can do if they are hiding there. Well, thugs are humans too. They want alcohol just like they want women. They also want elaborate food.」

「To begin with, their source of income is slave trading. There are no customers or slaves to capture in the forest.」

Speaking of illegal slave trading, it is still a business.
If customers come and there are no products, the business cannot carry on.

「Take the town of Megis for example, it is a rural town in the royal domain with no distinctive features. The value of the position of its governor would be upper middle, where a bureaucrat who has fallen behind would be happy, and a successful one would be lamenting about the demotion……recently, the town has been quite prosperous.」

「It’s decided, let’s go.」

We approached the town of Megis.

「First we wait for nightfall and learn the shifts of the lookouts, then we search for an open space where it is likely for a base to be……」

I pull the hand of the mumbling Rebecca, and boldly walk up to the wooden gate.

「Wait! Infiltrate! We’re infiltrating!!」

It’s too late. I already made eye contact with the guard so there’s no point in making a fuss.

「Who the hell are you?」

The guard turns his wooden rod at me.

「Just a wanderer. I heard stories about how money can be made in this town.」

The two guards look at each other and scoff.

「Heh, another thug?」

He swiftly sticks out a hand.
When I toss out a silver coin, he retracts the rod, but next he glances at Rebecca.

「And who’s that? She seems too pretty to be tagging along with a hoodlum.」

Rebecca is in shock.
Her clothes are meant to keep her from standing out in the public road, not to help her blend in with thugs.

「She’s my woman of course. I’d be lonely at night if I didn’t have her ass.」

I fondle Rebecca’s ass over her clothes.

「Urk……why is such a man……」

Rebecca quickly acts along.
Now, she’ll portray the image of a poor girl who was forcibly made to be a thug’s plaything.

The guards made no attempt to save her, and simply sigh disinterestedly.

「He’s a thug no matter how you look at it. Alright, get going.」

I pass through the gate, my hand still grabbing Rebecca’s ass.

「They revealed their nature the moment they let us pass with that acting. Real guards would have thrown us out or tried to save you.」

In other words, the town of Megis has shady guys coming and going frequently.

「Our first stop is the bar.」

「Right. This traveler costume is too high-grade, huh?」

Rebecca takes off her outer shirt to uncover the skintight outfit.
She hooks her arm around mine and seems more than happy to behave like a prostitute.

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