A few days later, shortly before noon.
Accompanied by Cindy, I blended into the crowd.
Through the multitude gathered on both sides of the main avenue, a company of soldiers marched with dignified resolve.
At the center of that company rode a woman on horseback.
Clad in the formal attire of an imperial minister, she sat with her back straight, looking directly ahead.
Dignified, and strikingly beautiful.
Half the crowd was captivated by her appearance, while the other half wondered who she could be.
"Hey, isn't that an imperial envoy?"
"She's a woman, though."
"Don't you know? The current Emperor has plenty of women among his retainers."
"Right, right! One of them even became a Prime Minister, didn't she?"
"Huh, so that means she's someone close to the Emperor?"
"Why would someone like that come here?"
"Who knows..."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
People traded speculations about the identity and purpose of the woman who had appeared before them.
The company advanced further, arriving before the government office.
The main gate was already wide open, and a middle-aged man who appeared to be the magistrate came out to greet them at the head of his subordinates.
"We have been eagerly awaiting your arrival, Minister—"
"An imperial decree."
With a resolute tone, the woman cut off the magistrate's flattering words.
The magistrate flinched for an instant, then hastily dropped to his knees on the spot.
"The inaction and lack of policy regarding the looting is intolerable. Full authority over this matter is hereby entrusted to Minister Maya. You are to temporarily transfer all necessary authority and provide your full assistance—that is all."
"E-Eh, ah—"
"Do you accept the mandate?"
From atop her horse, the woman glared down sharply at the magistrate.
Though phrased as a question, her voice carried no hint of genuine inquiry.
Having it stated with an unmistakable nuance of "You wouldn't dare refuse, would you?", the magistrate cowered on the spot.
"O-O-Of course not!!"
"Then here is your first order."
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Arrest every single perpetrator involved in the looting without exception, and isolate them. I will interrogate them personally."
"Y-Yes, ma'am."
"Listen well: capture all of them alive. If necessary, harsh executions will be required as an example to others. Rest assured that if even one of them dies before then, you will lose your life as well."
"Y-Yes, ma'am!!"
Pale with fright, the magistrate barked orders to his subordinates.
While the surrounding spectators grew even more unsettled by this exchange, the woman led her men inside the government office.
☆
That night, in a private residence on the outskirts of town.
Since we would be staying for a while, Cindy had purchased the building, which happened to possess a proper study where I could hand down various approvals and decisions.
Into this study stepped a figure cloaked in black from head to toe.
The moment the figure entered the room, she removed the cloak and knelt.
"Forgive my late arrival—"
"It is fine, do not fret. At ease."
"Yes."
The one who removed the cloak was that female minister.
Her name was Maya, and just as the crowd had whispered, she was a retainer from my days as the Thirteenth Imperial Prince.
Naturally, her face was very familiar to me.
"Here, the old forms of address are fine."
"Understood, Master."
"More importantly, you looked the part out there. You completely overwhelmed your opponent regardless of status."
"You flatter me. It is entirely the fruit of Master's training."
"Training, is it? You all always put it that way."
I chuckled softly.
Maya was already among the senior ranks of my retainers.
Back when I had just become the Wise Imperial Prince, there were children I rescued from illegal slave merchants associated with the house of Gilbert, who was the First Imperial Prince at the time.
Most of those children went on to serve at the Thirteenth Imperial Prince Mansion, becoming my retainers.
As time passed, following the path blazed by Evelyn—the first retainer I sent into the wider world—some of them took up official posts in the same manner.
Maya was one of them.
Beginning with Maya, these former slaves and certain retainers humbly described my instruction as "training."
"Well, whatever you call it, I rely on all of you to grasp my intentions and execute my orders faithfully."
"Your words are more than I deserve."
"So, how many did you secure?"
"Yes, sixty-nine individuals so far. All of them admitted to the charges and accepted their arrest calmly."
"...What do you think?"
"It feels unnatural to me. Though I cannot pinpoint the reason."
"Mm."
I nodded, stood up, and paced around the study.
At some point, pacing around for a while whenever I needed to organize my thoughts had become a habit.
"My intention was to secure them, and you understood that."
"Yes."
"However, that was never communicated to the common folk, nor would they understand even if we told them. Therefore, under normal circumstances, they would panic or resist."
I looked steadily at Maya, asking with my eyes whether anything of the sort had occurred.
"There was none of that."
"Mm, just as I thought."
"Which means...?"
"Someone is feeding them ideas. Without a doubt."
"A ringleader, you mean?"
I chuckled softly.
Maya wore a surprised expression.
"I do not know if 'ringleader' is the appropriate term. You have the background of the situation in mind, yes?"
"Yes."
"What would have been standard looting was carefully restrained in many ways. Regardless of the truth, that allows them to make such excuses."
"How clever of them."
"I want to focus solely on that 'cleverness'—Maya."
"Yes!"
"Draw that person out."
"Understood. In what manner?"
"Isolate the captured individuals, guard them strictly, and let no information leak to the outside. That is the absolute prerequisite. Can you do it?"
"Leave it to me."
Maya bowed deeply, bending ninety degrees at the waist.
"On top of that—I leave the specific method to you, but can you make it appear as though they are being tortured?"
"It is possible. If we produce waste equivalent to what results from torture."
"Good. Make it look severe. If you do, that person will show up."
"And if they do not appear, what should I do?"
"They will come."
I chuckled softly once more.
On that point, I was almost entirely certain.
My certainty reached Maya, who tilted her head slightly with a look that asked why I was so confident.
"Stopping short of looting to instead destroy buildings and spoil food supplies right on the spot is well and good. I can genuinely praise that as a brilliant tactic."
"Yes."
"However, the instructions given beforehand to keep women and children away, and especially not to let children witness the scene, have only a negligible effect on skirting the law or reducing sentences. That must have stemmed from their 'human heart.' If so, learning that everyone is being brutally tortured because of them will make the pangs of conscience unbearable."
"And so they will come forward... Truly marvelous, Master."
Having heard the explanation, Maya understood and was convinced.
"Leave it to me. I shall lure them out without fail."
"Right."
"Then, if you will excuse me—"
"No, wait."
"—Pardon?"
I stopped Maya as she was about to take her leave.
Slightly bewildered, Maya wore a face that asked, "Is there something else?"
I thought for a moment.
"...During the day, you said not to let a single person die, correct?"
"Eh? Y-Yes. Was something amiss with that?"
"No, let us use that as well."
"W-What do you mean?"
"Demand a respectable amount of medicine every day and have it brought inside. Decoys are only useful if they appear to be kept alive."
"—! Brilliant, Master! I shall do exactly that!"
"Mm."
I nodded, and having confirmed that there was truly nothing left, Maya took her leave.
"...Now then, I wonder how many days it will take for them to appear."
Pondering such thoughts, I turned back to the documents forwarded from the imperial capital.
☆
Three days later, around noon.
As I was reading documents in the study, there was a knock at the door.
"Enter."
"Pardon me."
It was Cindy who appeared.
She closed the door behind her and bowed deeply to me.
"Master, a messenger has arrived from Lady Maya."
I stopped my hand and looked up.
"The message?"
"Merely that she requests your presence whenever it is convenient for you."
"Heh, cautious as ever. Has the person been properly secured, then?"
"Is that so?"
"Do you know what the most important part of the order I gave Maya was?"
"Um... would it be to lure out the ringleader and capture them?"
"Close, but one step short."
"Um..."
Cindy thought about it, but it seemed she could not quite grasp it.
"My apologies..."
"Think nothing of it. It is not an idea that comes naturally to a merchant."
After offering Cindy some comforting words, I continued.
"The most important thing is to present them to me alive."
"...Ah."
"Indeed. Luring them out and capturing them—for what purpose? Because I want to speak with them."
"T-That's right!"
"Maya is likely keeping watch herself. In affairs of this nature, leaving it to subordinates often results in suicide or silencing of the witness. Bringing the person here carries risks as well; the situation is murky, and considering the possibility of being silenced during transit, it is better not to move rashly. Which means—"
"It is better for you to go directly, Master."
"Precisely."
"As expected of you, Master. I could never have thought that far ahead."
I chuckled softly and stood up.
Cindy hastily brought my coat and draped it over my shoulders.
"Let us go."
"Yes!"
☆
Inside the room were only Maya and a young girl of tender years.
The two sat facing each other in chairs.
Though there was an air of surveillance, the girl was neither injured nor bound.
It was a scene that made one feel she could flee if she put her mind to it.
Aside from the scene itself, I was astonished by the girl herself.
Childish innocence still lingered upon her features; she was likely in her teens—early teens, at that.
I had imagined many possibilities, but I had never dreamed such a young girl would appear.
Maya stood up, but since others were present, she limited herself to a nod of greeting and remained silent.
"So that's how it was..."
The moment the girl saw me, she muttered with a look of comprehension.
"Mm? What do you mean by that?"
Stepping inside, I asked the girl in return while sensing Cindy close the door behind me.
"A retainer serving as a minister showing this kind of attitude means you're His Majesty the Emperor, right?"
Hearing those words, I appraised the girl before me with renewed intensity.
There are several criteria to gauge the education of commoners, and one of them is how they address the Emperor.
Most commoners, including farmers, refer to the sovereign simply with informal honorifics. This is purely a matter of their level of education; to those people, attaching basic honorifics is the highest form of respect, no different from how they address the gods.
However, if someone has received even a modest education and possesses knowledge, they know there are proper imperial honorifics.
Such individuals address the sovereign properly as "His Majesty the Emperor."
Despite being so young, the girl before me knew that.
She is at least not an uneducated child, I judged.
Meanwhile, Maya—whose conduct had provided the clue—panicked slightly.
I raised a hand, silently signaling her not to worry about it.
Looking straight at the girl, I asked:
"How much do you know of Us?"
"An amazing person."
"Hmph."
I nodded and approached the girl.
With my use of imperial phrasing, Maya judged there was no longer any need for concealment; despite her status as a minister, she personally pulled out a chair for me to sit on.
I sat down upon it and faced the girl.
She had simply called me "an amazing person," yet I sensed no hint of flattery in her tone.
Once again, my interest in the girl deepened.