A Treacherous Courtier Manages the Empire Well

56 – Unpredictable

“Your Highness. You are released.”

The underground prison. It was a place that did not suit the noble status of a prince, yet Rashid spent several days there with dignity, knowing he would be freed eventually.

After coming out of the underground prison, he dressed quickly, took a bath, and returned to the palace. He headed towards the Sultan’s chamber. Amir and Saladin entered with Rashid, who walked in like a victor, while the Sultan and Amir watched in silence.

“Stabilize Dagamba.”

The Sultan said so. But Rashid shook his head. Having always followed his father’s orders with great respect, Rashid now looked up at his father with an unprecedented fierce determination.

“Why should we stabilize Dagamba? To wage war again? Not for Karamba’s peace and well-being, but to fulfill the Sultan’s ambitions of conquest? If that’s the case, why bother stabilizing it? If war breaks out, trade with Aylam will cease, and Dagamba’s economy will collapse.”

“Rashid!!! Are you refusing to obey my command?!”

The Sultan shouted angrily, but Rashid remained steadfast.

“If war breaks out, Dagamba will be the one to crumble! Why operate with affection! Sultan!”

“Once we conquer the Eastern Continent, Dagamba will prosper again! Why can’t you see that!!”

“How long do you think the war will last? Even if we win the war, do you think Aylam will have the same production capacity as before the war? Do you think their magicians and people will produce goods as the Sultan claims? If the Sultan continues to abduct skilled individuals and turn resistors into slaves as before, will the future Aylam be the same as it is now!!”

“Randor must have said something strange to you, right? It’s a scheme to divide us and split Karamba! Why don’t you see that, Rashid!!”

“Father!!!!”

Both the Sultan and Amir were surprised by Rashid’s cry. Rashid was a person who clearly distinguished between public and private matters. He had never addressed the Sultan as father in public before.

“Randor said those words to me. He asked if I was a slave. He questioned whether I would stand by and watch the Empire crumble due to the Sultan’s wrong decisions. He asked if I would stand by like a powerless slave without the right to make decisions. After he left, I agonized for days over his words.”

Rashid was choked with emotion.

“There’s an old saying that even if a monkey speaks, if it’s the right thing, you should listen. Unfortunately, I had no choice but to conclude that Randor’s words were right. Father, I am not a slave. I believed it was my duty to speak up if what you commanded would bring misfortune to the Empire.”

Rashid had never opposed his father before, which made the shock for the Sultan and Amir even greater.

“Father, please abandon your ambition to conquer the Eastern Continent. That war will be a war with no winners. It will leave behind much blood, pain, and despair, without creating anything positive. If you ordered to stabilize Dagamba for the war with the East, I will not obey.”

“…….”

“Just kill me here and now, and it’s better to leave Dagamba in a standstill. If it will lead to the same destruction, it’s better to stop now than to bring about an obvious misery for everyone in a war.”

The Sultan seemed to weaken at Rashid’s words, swaying as if his strength had left him. Amir hurriedly supported his father.

With empty eyes, the Sultan looked at Rashid.

He seemed to be greatly shocked, as he remained silent for a long time before finally getting up from his seat and leaving the room without a word. As the Sultan left, Rashid could finally breathe heavily.

“Damn it! Brother! Are you insane!!”

Even Amir, who had always looked down on Rashid, was now worried to the point where Rashid’s recent actions were extraordinary. In his prime, if the Sultan had been the ruling Sultan, he would have cut off his head immediately, whether he was his child or not.

But Rashid instead broke into a laugh.

“I believe Sultan will make the right choice. If I know my father well, he will surely do so.”

“Why on earth are you doing this! Brother! Why!”

“I can’t make Karamba unhappy.”

With a calm word, Amir looked at his brother with a breathless expression. Rashid, without saying another word, left the room.

There was no sign of Pibaram.

As a price for touching the Sultan’s pride, Rashid, his own son, was not to lose his life. Instead, the Sultan seemed to be consumed by sorrow. For three days, he remained locked in his chambers, neither eating nor drinking, until he finally summoned Rashid.

Rashid stood before his father again, thinking it was the first time the Sultan’s long beard looked dull.

The aged Emperor, with a somewhat bewildered and slightly embarrassed expression, looked down at his son.

“I brought wealth and peace to the empire. I united hundreds of tribal nations and city-states to create an empire never seen before.”

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“Yes.”

“I believed conquest was the way to serve the empire. I have never once doubted that fact throughout my life. And a few days ago, you dared to challenge my words.”

The Sultan’s expression was enigmatic.

A mix of resignation and anger, indistinguishable.

“One who aspires to be a ruler should not just refute but must have a plan. If we do not engage in a war of conquest, in which direction do you think this empire should go?”

“Coexistence.”

“Coexistence.”

“If the Sultan decides not to conquer Aylam, it was mentioned that we would receive significant investments from Randor. They also indicated they would accept students from our side, provided they are not spies, to learn our sorcery in return.”

“…”

“By interacting and complementing each other’s weaknesses, we will create a better world. Karamba and Aylam will move away from competition and conflict to become nations that are essential to each other.”

“Is that the empire you desire?”

“Yes.”

The Sultan remained silent for a long time.

Then, as if suddenly finding everything futile and boring, he turned his body on the vast sofa.

In a gesture showing his back to Rashid, the Sultan sighed.

“Do as you please.”

Rashid’s eyes widened.

“Father…”

“Leave. This traitor. How dare you defy me. I don’t want to see you for a while. Go and do as you wish once. I will observe if you take responsibility for your own words.”

Rashid was taken aback by those words.

It seemed like the first time he witnessed his father yielding.

That stubborn and prideful Sultan, nothing more.

“Please watch over him, Sultan.”

After bowing in respect, Rashid left the room.

The Sultan remained silent for a while, then suddenly cursed.

“Randor, you bastard. You are truly playing with me. Playing with me!”

Thinking about the torn glasses and laughing beyond the Raco Mountains, his anger surged, but the Sultan, as ambitious as he was, had a mind that could turn.

No matter how much he thought and thought again.

Yesterday, Rashid’s words seemed right.

The chances of winning the war seemed too slim, and even if they were to win, both Karamba and Aylam seemed likely to suffer catastrophic blows.

“That bastard…playing with me…”

And on top of that, contrary to the image of a conquering king, was the fact that he loved his eldest son too much.

He simply couldn’t bring himself to cut the throat of his rebellious son.

What can I do?

As I age and enter menopause, it must be emotional changes.

Like many ordinary middle-aged men, he couldn’t help but feel depressed as he realized his prime had passed, sitting despondently on the sofa for a long time.

It was Randor’s victory.

A victory achieved without swinging a sword, solely with his tongue and gold coins.

“Randor. What was that factory we saw today? There are too many factories these days, I can’t tell what’s what.”

A factory city near the commercial city of Porto.

On the way back after checking the progress of the newly constructed factory, Karia cautiously asked me a question. I burst into laughter at her words.

“It’s a car factory, Karia. More precisely, it’s a factory for automobile arcane engines.”

“Automobiles?”

“Yes. Think of them as silent carriages with miniaturized arcane engines that roll automatically.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. It will be a revolution as a new means of transportation in the future.”

Of course, it wouldn’t happen right away. The automobile industry was surprisingly complex. Developing tires required the advancement of the petroleum industry, as well as mechanical engineering and magical engineering. It was an industry that required the integration of various technologies to be completed.

But I kept pushing forward steadily.

Since everything was new, I often found myself heading the ball on the ground, but laying the foundation through such hard work was necessary for a comfortable future.

“You seem to be working too much these days, Randor.”

“hahahaha. My mind has been a bit scattered lately.”

The sports industry, broadcasting industry, automobile industry, railway industry, food industry, and so on. I didn’t even know how many fields of business I was involved in. Both Carl Hansen and I were naturally busy. However, it was also true that we hadn’t had much time alone with Karia recently because of it.

“Do you remember Illusion Company, which was a fantasy stone processing company in the film industry? I placed an order with that company to create a machine that can receive images and sound from the teleport tower. Before long, people all over the world will watch broadcasts through that fantasy stone, Karia.”

Quietly, I said while looking out the window at the aisle.

“Everyone will sit at home watching TV, listening to the radio, taking out food from the fridge to eat, driving cars around. Long-distance trips will be done by train. Such a world is being created. I will definitely create that world.”

Karia cautiously embraced me in response to my words.

“I believe Randor can surely create such a world.”

The feeling of her large chest gently pressing against my back.

I am a man too.

I couldn’t resist this almost insane sensation.

Was it because I felt my lower abdomen tightening?

“Randor. Are you busy?”

“Bu-busy.”

“I’ll make time. Tonight.”

“I will.”

“I’ll prepare the stamina enhancer. You have to do it ten times. Tonight.”

Karia, with her innocent face, was saying unexpectedly suggestive things.

How did it come to this?

In the end… Considering the numbers I’ve been fixated on, it’s not unreasonable for things to change like this.

“I’ll give it a try.”

As I pray to survive this evening, I answer like that.

“Randor, sir.”

Carl Hansen rushes towards me with an urgent expression, out of the blue.

“What’s going on? Is it Karl Hansen? Is it about the oil issue? Or is it about the cars?”

I naturally assumed it was about business and looked at him, but business was not what came out of his mouth.

“I heard that His Majesty the Emperor has collapsed.”

An event that was scheduled in the original novel had occurred.

Karia and I looked at each other before starting to run.

“To the capital. Activate the teleportation station immediately!”