"...?"
The girl stood beside us, looking bewildered and slightly frightened.
Not only was she struggling to understand what Shirley and I were discussing, but she seemed terrified that she might have somehow displeased me.
"Rest easy. I'm praising you."
"Oh..."
"More importantly, what is your name?"
"It's... Kate."
"Kate, is it? And your family name?"
"I don't have one."
"I see."
Lacking a family name was hardly unusual among commoners.
Out on the frontier, the very concept of a surname scarcely existed; people were simply referred to as "So-and-so of Such-and-such House."
This "Such-and-such House" usually took the name of the head of that household.
To use myself as an example, my eldest son would be called "Shem of Noah's House."
In places with no other naming conventions, if a surname became strictly necessary, people would adopt their father's given name as their family name.
Furthermore, there were customs where, having lacked the concept from the start, a person would simply append the names of their father, grandfather, and great-grandfather in a long line after their own.
When someone possessed a family name that sounded like a given name, it was almost always due to one of these two traditions.
Since it was such a commonplace arrangement, I didn't press the matter.
Right now, I was far more interested in Kate herself.
"You—"
Slam!
The door flew open violently, revealing the village chief from earlier alongside several villagers.
Every one of them wore a sour scowl.
"What have you come here for?"
"Leave this village at once."
Whether from fury or sheer habit, the village chief trembled as he spoke.
"How insolent! Do you have any idea what you are—"
I raised a hand before the bristling Shirley, cutting her off.
"Understood. We shall leave. Come, Shirley, Kate."
"Hold it. You're leaving that girl behind."
"...What?"
"We may have incurred the Kala God's wrath. Just in case, Kate stays."
"What are you saying?! You watched that monster get slain with your own eyes!"
Her anger finally boiling over, Shirley shouted at the village chief, her face flushed red.
"A god does not perish from a trivial thing like that."
"Aye, that's right!"
"What will we do if the revived god unleashes its wrath upon us?!"
"Leave that girl here!"
"...Shirley."
"By your command."
Catching my eye as I said her name, Shirley grasped my intent and stepped outside the house.
Having come solely to detain Kate, the chief and his villagers made no move to stop Shirley as she exited alone.
Once outside, Shirley fired a signal flare into the sky.
Though we had parted ways along the road, I, the Emperor, had not yet returned to the imperial palace.
Cheryl and her unit had naturally remained on standby nearby.
A few minutes later, a thunderous rumble shook the ground—thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.
"Wh-What is that?!"
The village chief gaped in shock.
Just then, another villager burst into the room.
"Chief, it's terrible! Soldiers—a whole army of regular imperial troops has arrived!"
"What did you say?!"
Thrown into utter turmoil, the chief could not fathom what was happening.
Amidst the confusion, Cheryl appeared.
Dressed in full knight regalia, Cheryl strode into the house and dropped to one knee before me.
"Did you summon me, Your Imperial Majesty?"
"Em..."
"peror...?"
The village chief and every single villager were struck dumb.
"You stand in the imperial presence—lower your heads!"
Returning a moment later, Shirley barked at them with cold fury.
Jolted back to their senses, the villagers looked back and forth between the soldiers encircling the house—no, the entire village—and me, before dropping to their knees in unison.
"P-Please forgive our insolence! We had no idea you were His Imperial Majesty!"
The village chief pressed his forehead to the floor, trembling violently—this time unmistakably out of sheer terror.
"This was an incognito journey; opposing Us under such circumstances constitutes no crime."
Imperial Law clearly stipulated as much. Having served as the Minister of Justice, I had no intention of violating it.
"Th-Thank... Thank you, Your Majesty..."
"However."
My tone shifted.
Simultaneously, I released a subtle wave of intimidation through Leviathan.
The temperature in the room plunged by nearly ten degrees in an instant, sending a collective shudder through the prostrated villagers.
"We will not tolerate vigilantism outside the law."
"Th-That's—!"
"We had no choice!"
"I-If we defied the Kala God, the whole village would be ruined!"
"The Kala God, was it? To be sure, facing such a monstrosity, that you feared and obeyed it is not entirely beyond comprehension. Therefore, We shall grant you one chance."
The villagers lifted their heads at once.
Their faces shone as though they had just glimpsed a ray of salvation.
Watching them with cold detachment, I turned my attention to Kate, who remained kneeling beside me in a daze.
"Kate."
"...Huh? Ah, yes!"
"Do you forgive this village?"
"What?"
"You are, after all, the victim. If you say you forgive them, We shall forgive them."
"..."
Kate looked at the villagers.
They stared back at her with desperate, pleading eyes, but...
"I will not forgive them."
Clenching her teeth, Kate forced the words past her lips.
"Wh-Why?!"
"No one ever helped me."
"That was—"
"Even when I was... violated."
"—!"
The villager trying to argue choked on their words.
That had nothing to do with their supposed "Kala God."
Confronted with that reality by Kate, they had no defense left to offer.
"It is settled, then. Shirley."
"Sire."
"This village shall be permanently barred from all tax exemptions. Convey this to the local magistrate."
"...? By your command."
Though clearly puzzled, Shirley dutifully accepted my order.
The villagers were equally baffled.
Hearing a decree that sounded like a punishment yet didn't seem particularly harsh on the surface, they all wore bewildered expressions.
Deciding there was nothing more to say, I ordered Cheryl to clear them out.
Only the three of us remained in the house: myself seated, with Shirley and Kate standing before me.
"Your Majesty... was that truly sufficient?"
"Do you not grasp the intent?"
"Er... no, Sire."
"In Our Empire, tax exemptions are granted under two primary conditions. The first is in the wake of natural disasters."
"Yes."
"The second is that, in an Empire reliant largely on poll taxes, citizens are exempt once they pass the age of sixty."
"—Ah."
Hearing that, Shirley finally realized what I meant.
The vast majority of the revenue the Empire extracted from its populace came from poll taxes.
And that tax, legally mandated for a lifetime, was only waived after sixty "upon formal application."
"Furthermore, We can go a step further—refusing to recognize deaths by illness or accident."
"...Ah."
"As long as a name remains on the family register, the poll tax continues to accrue, regardless of whether the individual is actually dead."
"...Ohh."
"We served as Minister of Justice. We know countless ways to torment within the strict boundaries of the law."
"Magnificent as always, Your Majesty!"
Offering Shirley a faint smile, I turned back to Kate, who was still staring in stunned silence.
"That is the reality of it. From this day forth, this village will suffer a slow, suffocating bleed. Let that satisfy you for now."
"No... thank you so much... thank you..."
Tears spilled down Kate's cheeks.
Whether born of relief or gratitude, I could not tell, but it seemed as though everything she had kept locked inside had finally burst free.
"...Right. Let us return to the capital."
"Are you ready to depart, Sire?"
"Indeed. We have obtained Our prize. The harvest has been more than sufficient."
And so, taking Kate with me, I returned to the capital.
☆
A few nights later, in my private chambers within the imperial palace.
As I sat reading a book, a knock sounded at the door.
When I granted permission, Empress Audrey entered, accompanied by her younger sister, Low Consort Anya.
The two approached and offered graceful curtsies in accordance with noble etiquette.
"What brings the two of you here at this hour?"
"The hour grows late, and we thought it might be time for you to rest."
"You have an early morning tomorrow, don't you?"
Perhaps because she had given birth to Shem, Audrey had grown noticeably more mature of late, contrasting sharply with Anya, who still possessed a lingering, charming innocence.
Standing side by side, that contrast worked wonderfully, with each highlighting the other's appeal in a way I found quite pleasing.
"I'll sleep after reading a little more."
"You read your books late into the night every day, don't you?"
"Yes. Most of the world's knowledge is recorded in books. If you read extensively, the true nature of things becomes clear. Reading is the very foundation of knowledge."
"Even though you already know so much, you're still reading? You really are incredible, Your Majesty."
"Heh. By the way, surely you didn't come all this way just to tell me that?"
With that, I looked squarely at Audrey.
At night, neither the Empress nor the consorts typically visited the Emperor on their own initiative.
The Emperor selected his companion, and the eunuchs made the arrangements.
That was the established order governing the Emperor and his consorts.
To bypass that custom meant she had a specific purpose in mind.
"As perceptive as ever, Your Majesty. Have you considered taking more consorts?"
Slightly taken aback, I set my book aside and met Audrey's gaze.
"What prompted this?"
"I have reflected on many things since becoming Empress, and my perspective has broadened. For an Emperor, having only a single consort simply does not present the proper dignity."
"...Hmm."
I could have dismissed appearances as trivial, but for a noble—and the Emperor standing at the apex of nobility—a failure of prestige was no light matter.
"Even Dustin has more than ten concubines."
"Him, is it?"
Tenth Imperial Prince Dustin.
He inherited Father's bloodline more distinctly than anyone, already keeping concubines in the double digits despite being only twenty-two years old.
"And it is not merely a matter of prestige. Your Majesty should take more concubines to offer hope to women across the realm. I believe that is an Emperor's duty."
"A fair point."
Paths of advancement for women were exceptionally narrow. To "rise to the top," aspiring to become a noble's wife or concubine was the most common route.
Furthermore, the nobility took their cues from the Emperor.
If the Emperor kept few consorts, the nobles would feel obliged to exercise restraint, unable to expand their own households.
Indeed, I had no rebuttal against the claim that having only Anya as a low consort was far too few.
After a brief pause, I spoke.
"Very well. In that case, let us hold a selection for low consorts—no, an Imperial Consort Selection."
"A selection, Sire?"
"Yes. Once a year will suffice. We shall summon women of both beauty and intellect from across the Empire. Those who distinguish themselves will be inducted as consorts."
"..."
Audrey studied me in silence for a moment.
Then, as if realizing my intent, her eyes lit up.
"Just like the Knight Selection?"
"Precisely."
"I see... so that is what you are aiming for... Truly magnificent, Your Majesty."
I chuckled softly.
Rather, impressive as always, Audrey, to grasp my true purpose in an instant.
"Huh? What does that mean, Big Sister?"