As I was speaking with Neil, the carriage gradually slowed down before coming to a complete halt.
"Looks like we've reached today's campsite."
Almost the exact moment I said it, the young eunuch Luke called out from outside.
"I-It's Luke, Your Majesty."
"Enter."
"Pardon the intrusion."
Having received my permission as Emperor, Luke stepped into the carriage and prostrated himself before me.
"What is it?"
"It seems we've arrived at the campsite for the night. The pavilion will be ready shortly, so please wait just a little longer."
"Very well."
I nodded, glanced at Neil, and pondered for a moment.
"I think I'll go inspect the grounds."
"An inspection? What for?"
"To establish an alibi."
"An alibi...?"
Even after hearing my answer, Neil looked all the more bewildered.
With a faint smile, I held the ring up before my eyes.
Focusing my thoughts, I summoned Apophis.
Apophis, the sovereign ruler of all poisons.
During this personal campaign, I had been using Apophis at night to purge alcohol from my body the moment I drank it, keeping me sober no matter how much I consumed.
Now, I was going to do the exact opposite.
"Ugh..."
"Y-Your Majesty...?"
Neil and Luke both furrowed their brows at the same time.
Neil had an especially blunt reaction—pinching his nose shut despite being in the imperial presence.
"Judging by your faces, you caught the scent, didn't you?"
"Caught the scent? That's an understatement! What is this reek of booze? It smells like you spent a whole day soaking in a wine barrel!"
Neil barked, and Luke nodded along vigorously.
"Just a little magic."
"Could it be... from the magic sword Leviathan?"
"It's not Leviathan, but well, something similar."
If she heard me say that, the prideful Leviathan would probably kick up a fuss, but I decided to frame it that way for simplicity's sake.
To an ordinary person, there wasn't much difference between Leviathan and Apophis anyway.
The fact remained that neither was human; they were entities that transcended humanity altogether.
"You mean you can control that completely at will?"
"Indeed."
"Incredible... And from the looks of it, it really is just the smell."
"Sharp of you to notice. That's precisely it."
As expected of Neil, I thought.
Yes, I had ordered Apophis to produce the stench of alcohol, but that was all it was.
Normally, if someone reeked of liquor this badly, their footing would be unsteady, their mind clouded, and their speech slurred, but none of that was happening.
It was purely, entirely just the smell.
I stepped out of the carriage first.
Neil and Luke hurriedly scrambled after me.
Stepping down, I looked out over a vast grassland where the encampment was already roughly eighty percent established.
Seeing it ready the moment the carriage stopped had surprised me a bit on the first day, but it was unthinkable for the Emperor to travel at the very front of the vanguard. The Emperor's—my—carriage had arrived just as the advance guard finished setting up a good portion of the camp, which was why things were already so far along.
Without saying a word, I set off across the field.
Behind me, Neil gestured for several soldiers to fall in behind us as an escort.
Luke stayed behind.
Seeing Neil bringing armed guards along, he likely judged that a eunuch like himself had no place tagging along.
Regardless, with Neil and the others in tow, I made the rounds inspecting the camp.
Most soldiers snapped to attention and rendered a standing salute the moment they caught sight of me.
In peacetime, one would perform a kneeling salute—dropping to one knee—before the Emperor, but in the field, maintaining combat readiness took priority, so standing salutes were permitted unless extraordinary circumstances dictated otherwise.
Because of that, their facial expressions were plain to see.
Roughly one in ten soldiers wore an unmistakably sour look toward me—toward the Emperor.
Naturally.
A ruler who caroused with women until dawn every day, and whenever he did show his face, reeked from head to toe of booze.
It was only natural for them to despise such an Emperor.
I was pleased with the reaction.
Between the rumors about Alice and parading myself like this, everyone would firmly peg me as a worthless emperor.
If there were a few enemy spies lurking among the troops on top of that, it would be all the better.
"Wait! What are you doing?!"
"Restrain him!"
Suddenly, an unsettling commotion broke out from the direction I was walking.
An instant later, breaking through the grip of several soldiers, a middle-aged soldier rushed up before me and prostrated himself on the ground.
"I speak at the risk of my life, Your Majesty!"
"Stop it!"
"Get back here!"
The soldiers he had shaken off caught up, grabbing him by the arms and shoulders to haul him to his feet and drag him away.
"Leave him be."
I held up a hand to stop them.
"Huh?"
"Y-Yes, Sire!"
The soldiers restrained by my command were at first unable to process the situation, but recognizing that an imperial order brooked no argument, they released him and melted back into the ranks of the onlookers.
All that remained was the middle-aged soldier. Even after having his arms and shoulders yanked, he remained prostrated without budging an inch, as though rooted to the earth.
Keeping his body low, he lifted his head and stared resolutely at me.
"Who are you?"
"I am Centurion Andy Hayden of the Third Army."
"Hmph. And what business does a centurion have with Us?"
"I speak at the risk of my life, Your Majesty! You must immediately banish that witch of ruin back to the capital!"
"Oh?"
"That witch brings Your Majesty a hundred harms and not a single benefit! Keeping her by your side will only pave the way to our ruinous defeat!"
"In other words, you mean to say We are losing Ourselves in lust?"
"Kh...!"
Centurion Andy caught his breath for an instant.
It was because I had cross-examined him in a sharp, intimidating tone.
However, his hesitation lasted only a fraction of a second.
Gritting his teeth hard, Andy pressed on with an expression of grim resolve.
"'Former' wise rulers who lost their senses to women and made fatal misjudgments are too numerous to count! If this continues—"
"I see. Very well."
I gave a slight nod.
Andy's resolute expression brightened for a brief moment.
His face seemed to say: He understood.
"Neil."
"Huh? Ah, yes, Sire!"
Caught off guard by being addressed out of nowhere, Neil looked blank for a second before snapping to attention.
"Arrest this man."
"Huh? Ah... er, what's the charge?"
"Lese-majesty against the Emperor."
A collective murmur rippled through the surrounding troops.
Neil stared at me for a moment, but soon bowed his head.
"Understood."
With that, he stepped forward to apprehend Andy.
"Unhand me! Wait! I have not finished speaking—"
"Silence him. Don't let him utter another word."
"Sir!"
Obeying the order, Neil drove a swift strike straight into Andy's solar plexus.
Andy's eyes went wide. He retched violently, then lost consciousness and crumpled to the ground.
"Take him away. His sentence will be handed down later."
"Understood!"
With that, Neil hauled Andy off himself.
I continued my walk, surveying the camp as the unrest among the troops showed no sign of dying down.
Unsurprisingly, no second remonstrator stepped forward.
That night, a single carriage traveled in the opposite direction, heading away from the Emperor's personal campaign army and back toward the capital.
Inside the carriage lay the unconscious Andy, with Neil looking down at him.
Accompanying them were several knight aspirants from the Duelist Unit who served as Neil's subordinates.
Aboard the carriage rolling steadily beneath the moonlight, Andy stirred awake from the rattling vibrations.
"Where... Ah!"
"Awake, are you?"
Andy bolted upright, scanning his surroundings in utter confusion.
"Relax. You're in a carriage heading back to the capital."
"To the capital...? Wait, my bindings..."
Andy noticed something strange about his own body.
What should have been there was completely missing.
Andy had directly remonstrated with Emperor Noah.
And he had incurred Noah's wrath.
It wouldn't have been surprising if he had been sentenced to death on the spot, and at the very least, he should have been bound in irons like any other criminal.
Yet there was nothing of the sort.
Andy was completely unrestrained, a free man.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"An imperial decree."
"—Kh!"
When Neil straightened his posture and proclaimed the words aloud, Andy's eyes widened before he instantly dropped to the floor in prostration.
Having confirmed the transmission of the imperial decree and the proper etiquette before the Emperor's proxy, Neil continued.
"The charge of lese-majesty against Centurion Andy is granted a special pardon, and he is hereby ordered to transfer to the Ministry of Justice."
"What?"
Stunned, Andy raised his head to stare at Neil.
"That's all. What's the matter, no words of thanks?"
"Eh? A-A thousand thanks for this gracious favor..."
"Good."
"Um... What on earth does this mean...?"
"It's His Majesty's consideration. He applied lese-majesty under Imperial Law rather than military law. Count yourself lucky; under military law, you would have been executed on the spot back there."
"B-But even under lese-majesty—"
"I'm just parroting His Majesty here, but the essence of lese-majesty is that it's the Emperor's personal law. If the Emperor chooses to laugh it off and forgive it, that's the end of the matter."
"..."
Andy started to argue, but swallowed his words.
Under military law, punishments for the same offense were almost always set one tier harsher than under regular Imperial Law.
Because the Empire was a "nation of warriors," the military was kept under strict discipline through severe laws and heavy penalties.
Lese-majesty, however, existed strictly to censure speech and conduct directed against the imperial family—and by extension, the Emperor.
Though commonly misunderstood, there was actually a far greater chance of escaping punishment under it.
Nobles, and royalty in particular, occasionally needed to make a public show of their magnanimity.
Therefore, there were plenty of precedents where an offense was generously overlooked.
Andy had fallen prey to that common misconception as well, but when Neil laid it out, he could only think, Well, that's true, but... and fell into deeper confusion.
"I knew the theory behind it, but that's the first time I've ever seen an Emperor actually use it that way. If it's an insult against himself, then if he forgives it, it's over... I mean, sure, theoretically that's how it works, but still."
Neil let out a dry chuckle.
Watching Neil nod as if everything made perfect sense, Andy felt all the more lost.
"Um..."
"Oh, right, a message from His Majesty. I'm not allowed to recite the exact words, so there's a bit of my own spin on it."
"Y-Yes, my lord!"
"'His Majesty is currently playing the fool.'"
"!!"
"'I understand what you are saying, but right now, I cannot heed it.'"
"...Eh, ah..."
"'However, a man who, in that situation, with that difference in rank, fully aware of military law, was still prepared to die just to speak his mind is a rare treasure. Once there is no longer a need to play the fool, I will make heavy use of him. For now, let him follow in My footsteps at the Ministry of Justice'—that's the gist of it."
"M-Meaning..."
"You got in the way of His Majesty's plans, but His Majesty took a liking to your sheer integrity. People are treasures, after all. He really is an incredible man, honestly."
"..."
Neil voiced his genuine admiration, while Andy was left in utter astonishment, completely at a loss for words.