"Parents raise their children, and children surpass their parents. That is how humanity has progressed, little by little."
Those were words left behind by Font Gdon, a great military strategist and philosopher of old.
Ever since Father abdicated the imperial throne to me, there was one resolution I had kept locked in my heart.
To surpass Father one day.
To ensure Father remained known as a wise ruler to the very end—and to prevent him from becoming a "former wise ruler who tainted his final years," just as he himself had feared—I had to live up to his expectations.
It was true in any family: second- and third-generation successors squandering the founder's achievements was hardly uncommon.
I wanted to make sure that didn't happen. I wanted to prove Father's decision to abdicate during his lifetime had been the right one.
To accomplish that, I had always believed I needed to become a wise ruler every bit his equal.
Font Gdon's words captured that sentiment perfectly.
Father was a wise ruler.
He possessed the foresight to see not only the span of his own reign, but far beyond it as well.
To match that legacy, I had to surpass him.
Yet, up until now, I had never managed to do so. While I didn't believe I had tarnished Father's judgment, I certainly hadn't surpassed him either.
The prime example of that gap was Father's overwhelming intelligence network.
It was truly monstrous.
I had made it this far by borrowing various superhuman powers, but when it came to that intelligence network, I had no idea how to replicate it, let alone grasp its workings.
It was the greatest difference between Father and me.
And now, for the first time, it felt like I might actually surpass it.
It felt like I might be able to outsmart it.
I sensed that possibility within reach.
I paused where I stood, turning the thoughts over in my mind.
I tried to simulate the situation from the perspective of Father's side—from the viewpoint of his intelligence network.
"...Word that I've returned to the imperial capital has undoubtedly reached him."
Until I entered the imperial capital, while galloping hard on fresh post-horses, I hadn't used the presence diversion technique.
I didn't know by what means Father kept watch over me, but the fact that I had learned of his collapse and came rushing back had definitely been reported to him.
Based on past experience, there was no question about it.
After entering the capital, I used presence diversion and went straight to Audrey's quarters.
They had probably lost track of me then—assuming, of course, that the technique worked against Father's people. If it didn't, the whole exercise was pointless anyway, so I proceeded under the premise that it did.
They might have lost me briefly, but since they were surely tracking Audrey's movements as well, the moment I showed myself before her, they would have pinpointed me again.
After all, Audrey was the Empress; her every move was under constant surveillance.
People often said that an Emperor had no private life, only public duty. While an Empress was slightly better off, she still had virtually no private life to speak of.
Even without Father's network, news that I had returned to the imperial capital would spread in all directions before long.
Therefore, Father's side was undoubtedly aware that "Emperor Noah has returned to the imperial capital."
And right now, they should have lost sight of me again.
They had lost my trail, but they knew I was somewhere in the imperial capital.
That had to be the extent of their intelligence on me.
I considered how best to outmaneuver them from here.
"...No."
Wait a moment, I thought.
There was another fundamental premise to consider.
"..."
I stood silently, piecing the logic together in my mind.
First, I needed to verify my theory.
Instead of meeting Don immediately, I turned around and slipped back out of the estate.
Leaving the grounds, I stepped once more onto the main thoroughfare of the imperial capital, bustling and bright as a sleepless city.
I walked down the boulevard normally.
"Whoa... Watch it!"
"Sorry."
Because I was deliberately walking without concealing myself, I nearly bumped into a passerby.
I could have easily sidestepped him, but I wanted absolute proof that I had switched off my technique. Nearly colliding with him confirmed that people were perceiving my presence naturally.
I kept walking, gradually making my way toward a quieter area.
The crowds steadily thinned until I reached the outskirts of the pleasure quarter. There, I could feel only about ten people nearby—a number small enough for me to track every single presence with absolute certainty.
At that moment, I activated my presence diversion technique.
"Hm?"
"What was that?"
"Is someone there?"
The people around me all turned their heads toward the diverted focal point at once.
Sensing a presence, their eyes were drawn toward it.
While guiding their attention away, I sharpened my concentration to a razor's edge.
Then, I probed the surroundings.
—There.
Despite using Misdirection, there was one single presence whose focus remained locked squarely on me. I caught it—I found it.
When I first developed this technique, I had explained its weakness to Henry.
In the end, it was merely a technique that diverted conscious awareness.
If used on a battlefield or in an environment where focus was heightened, its effect would be weak, if it worked at all.
If you heard a rustling behind you in daily life, you would naturally look back; in the middle of a battle, however, you wouldn't have the luxury to care. It was the same principle.
Father's intelligence network was an extraordinary apparatus.
The operatives staffing it were undoubtedly the best of the best.
They were keeping watch over the Emperor on direct orders from their master, the retired emperor.
How intensely would elite agents concentrate when given such a mission?
Even by a conservative estimate, they were not the type to be fooled by a casual diversion. In fact, the more blatant the distraction, the more guarded they would become, focusing their attention even harder on monitoring me.
Acting on that assumption—and searching specifically for that reaction—I found them.
I found the presence watching me.
"..."
A thrill of exhilaration surged through me.
For the first time—yes, for the first time at my age.
Decades after reincarnating into this world.
For the very first time, I had managed to touch the fringes of the true nature behind Father's intelligence network.
☆
"Is that true?"
Inside Don's estate, within the privacy of his study.
I sat across from Don, speaking in hushed tones.
Upon hearing my explanation, Don looked utterly astonished.
"Indeed. In all likelihood, there is no mistake."
"Incredible... To think you were able to grasp the Retired Emperor's intelligence network..."
Don's expression shifted from awe to sheer disbelief.
"So you recognize just how monstrous it is as well."
"Yes, of course," Don replied with a firm nod. "Up until now, I haven't had the slightest clue how His Majesty the Retired Emperor's intelligence network operates. Yet whether it was the people one met, the words spoken, the contents of a private mutter, or even the number of times someone picked their nose—everything was laid bare."
"I know the feeling well. I've witnessed it countless times since childhood."
"And you truly managed to track them...?"
"Nine times out of ten, I'm certain of it."
"As expected of Your Majesty... Ah, but if that's the case, then this conversation right now—"
Startled, Don quickly scanned the room.
This was the private residence of the First Prime Minister—his own study, a place that should have been the safest sanctuary imaginable. Yet having experienced the dread of Father's network firsthand, Don seemed terrified that we might be overheard even here.
"There's no need to worry about that."
"Why is that?"
"Close your eyes for a moment. About ten seconds will do."
"Eh? Ah, yes..."
Don obediently closed his eyes as instructed.
Muffling my footsteps and taking deliberate care not to make a sound, I stepped out of the study.
After waiting in the hall for a brief moment—
"I'm opening my eyes, Your Majesty. —Eh?"
Don's bewildered voice echoed from inside the room.
"Your Majesty? Where did you go? Wait... are you still here?"
Hearing his utter confusion, I switched off the technique and stepped back inside.
"Your Majesty?! What was that just now?"
"I left only my presence behind."
"Your Majesty's presence...?"
"It's a slight variation of the technique. Instead of erasing my presence entirely, I create a false impression of it and leave it anchored in place."
"...Does that mean you threw them off your trail?!"
"Precisely."
"............Haah."
Don's face went completely blank, as though the shock had overwhelmed his senses.
There was no doubt I had shaken them off.
Having pinpointed the watcher's presence earlier, I could tell with absolute clarity that they had remained pinned in place, fixed on the phantom presence I had left behind.
I had cleanly slipped away.
"Incredible... Truly incredible, Your Majesty..."
Don remained in a state of lingering astonishment and deep admiration.