Several hours before the fishing show.
I went to meet Law Officer Benny Mitchell in advance.
Even though the chancellor had come to visit, the arrogant bastard was sprawled out asleep.
Even though I knew what to expect, it still does not feel very pleasant.
The bureaucratic system of the Crawford Principality was quite different from the empire’s.
Since it was such a small country, the scale of the court was also small.
That was why there was no position of Chief Justice, only a single Law Officer.
And that position was placed directly under the chancellor.
“Excuse me. Law Officer Mitchell.”
I hid my displeased expression and began waking the bear-like man.
He had a massive build and a fierce face.
The scar running across his face looked extremely intimidating.
But to me, he only looked like a neighborhood thug.
No matter how scary he appeared, what did it matter?
In the end, he was just someone who had not held a sword properly for a long time.
I can clearly feel that he is much weaker than me.
This was the perspective of a true expert.
By the way, why was this guy not waking up?
While I stared down at him with an uncomfortable gaze, someone cautiously approached and spoke.
“Um… Chancellor, Your Excellency?”
“Ah, you must be the secretary. Is there something wrong with the Law Officer?”
“Wr-wrong?”
“For example, something like narcolepsy.”
“No. He is just tired.”
“Oh? It looks like he was on some nighttime arrest operation.”
“He was drinking until morning.”
I now understood what kind of state this tiny National Hall was in.
A Law Officer who drank all night long, and a secretary who honestly reported it.
Both of them were equally tactless and brazen.
Of course, strictly speaking, this bear-like bastard was far more at fault.
Since this was his usual behavior, the secretary probably had no loyalty toward him.
“I need to wake him up first. Could you bring me some water?”
“W-wait, surely you are not…?”
The secretary widened his eyes but did not stop moving.
It looked like he was actually looking forward to what was about to happen.
Just how dysfunctional is this place?
Whatever state the National Hall had been in until now did not really matter much.
I was going to overhaul everything anyway.
“Here it is, Chancellor, Your Excellency.”
I took the glass of water from the secretary.
Then I raised my right arm high and…
Slammed it down.
Thwack!
“Huk!”
The secretary let out a loud gasp, apparently quite shocked.
He must have thought I was going to pour the water on him.
Of course, that had been my initial plan.
But no matter how I thought about it, it did not seem like that would be enough to wake him.
Especially since we had been making so much noise right beside him while he slept soundly.
So I smacked the Law Officer on the head, and in the process, water splashed everywhere.
“Uwaaaaah!”
Benny Mitchell woke up with a delayed scream.
He stared at me with a confused expression, clearly not understanding what was happening.
Then he suddenly exploded in anger.
“You rotten bastard!”
A punch flew in along with the curse.
However, Law Officer Mitchell could not complete the action.
Grab!
I easily caught his fist.
“Ugh!”
The man let out a suppressed groan.
He shook his arm wildly, trying to pull it free.
But there was no way he could escape my grip with such pathetic struggling.
“You need to come to your senses. Otherwise I will carry out summary execution right here.”
“Wh-what?”
“It is written in the Crawford Code of Law. In cases of groundless violence against a superior, summary execution is permitted.”
“That is for the military section!”
“It applies to bureaucrats as well. There was a clear supplementary clause.”
“That would only apply when there is a superior. I have nothing to do with… Wait a minute. Could it be you?”
It seemed Benny Mitchell had finally come to his senses.
He must have recognized my face while ranting.
The mention of a superior must have made it click.
“Ah, uh, um, Chancellor, Your Excellency. But what brings you here?”
“You really do not know?”
“Well, if I knew, would I be in this situation? I would be working as an astrologer instead.”
He looked like an honest bear, but he was surprisingly the type to spout nonsense. His behavior reminded me so much of Cordell McNeil that I felt like hitting him again.
Sensing the subtle killing intent, Law Officer Mitchell hurriedly spoke.
“Ahem! I was just speaking figuratively. But why did you really come?”
“I heard you were sleeping instead of working.”
As soon as I shot back, Benny Mitchell stretched his neck to the side.
It seemed he was trying to glare at the secretary standing behind me.
After exchanging some kind of signal, he straightened his posture.
“That person did not snitch.”
“Ah, yes, yes. I know. It is just that this fellow’s usual behavior is a bit…”
“Does he have a loose mouth?”
“Yes. He is my friend’s younger brother, so I cannot just fire him. It is quite a headache.”
From my perspective, Benny Mitchell himself was an incredible chatterbox.
That was probably why the conversation kept derailing in strange directions.
I had not come here to talk about this.
“I will ask you only one thing.”
“We have finally reached the main point.”
“Benny Mitchell, Viscount. Do you have any desire to change this country?”
“Excuse me? What do you suddenly mean by that?”
“I am asking whether you are the same kind of human as the ticks in the Senate.”
“……”
Benny Mitchell stared at me blankly.
The atmosphere froze completely, as if time had stopped.
Then a thunderous, hearty laugh broke the silence.
“Uahahahahaha!”
Law Officer Mitchell kept laughing like a madman.
There was no trace of sarcasm in it.
It sounded like he found it incredibly refreshing.
“Wow! In all my years, this is the first time I have heard someone compare the senators to ticks. That feels so refreshing.”
“Is it not obvious? They cling to the body of the nation and suck its blood. They are no different from lice.”
“You are absolutely right.”
“Though you, who only drink all day and neglect your duties, are not much different.”
“I would need actual authority to do my job.”
“Excuse me? What do you mean by that?”
“What is the point of being Law Officer? Even if I make a ruling, the Senate can just reject it. If it does not suit their taste, it gets rejected indefinitely.”
“Oh……”
I had not dreamed there was such a backstory.
I had read through the entire Crawford Code of Law, yet there had been no such clause.
It seemed to have happened because the Law Officer’s influence was overwhelmingly weak.
The Senate’s power is unnecessarily too strong.
It was only a legislative body, yet there was no area of national affairs it did not interfere with.
One could say the entire country was controlled by the Senate.
In this situation, it was no wonder Prince Peilly III had asked the Emperor for help.
“How do the senators view you?”
“It is a bit embarrassing to say this myself, but they see me as a fierce dog on a leash?”
“You must have had quite a reputation once.”
“I was once called the Beast of Lake Verkal.”
“That is the same as the lake’s name?”
“All the place names around here are like that. I heard it comes from the name of a fairy that settled here long ago.”
It felt incredibly out of place for Benny Mitchell to talk about fairies.
He seemed aware of that himself and looked somewhat sheepish.
He quickly changed the subject.
“What do you want from me?”
“You are not completely tactless after all.”
“Come on, if I could not figure out even this much, would I be human? I would be a bear.”
For a moment, I almost said something.
Bears are surprisingly intelligent animals.
Perhaps more than you…
No, it was better not to say the last part.
I shook my head vigorously and spoke.
“You do not have anything special to do, Law Officer Mitchell. Just follow whatever the Senate tells you to do.”
“Excuse me?”
“You will understand everything later.”
I gave Benny Mitchell a meaningful smile and patted his shoulder.
Still, the situation was not terribly bad.
There was at least one high-ranking official who dreamed of change.
I can use him someday.
I walked away while picturing the future of the Crawford Principality in my mind.
“I am Benny Mitchell, Law Officer of the National Hall. Open the door right now!”
Bang bang bang bang!
Shocking events were taking place all across the Crawford Principality.
The reason was a single bear-like man leading security forces and raiding various locations.
Surprisingly, the targets of these surprise raids were the homes of the senators.
“Hey? Isn’t that Senator Miles’ mansion?”
“Looks like that guy stole royal treasures too.”
“We do not know for sure yet. The security forces just arrived.”
“Do you know how high their accuracy rate has been lately? They say wherever they go, there are always embezzled treasures and gold coins.”
“Really? So they were not senators, but monsters devouring the royal family and national treasury.”
“Do you know what is even more shocking?”
When one man lowered his voice, people eagerly leaned in.
They wanted to hear the story in more detail.
“What? What is it?”
“I heard the one who ordered this is the newly appointed Chancellor. He apparently hits the mark every single time and catches embezzlers.”
“How is that possible?”
“They say he was famous as a prophet in the empire. He was even invited by the Aramid Church.”
“For such an excellent person to become our country’s chancellor… Does this mean the world is finally changing?”
“Wake up. No matter how great he is, he is still a member of the imperial family. There is no way he will care about poor people like us.”
Murmurs spread endlessly throughout the city.
People felt refreshed watching the Senate get raided.
However, that did not mean they fully trusted Abel Carius.
They had suffered too much in the past to believe in someone so easily.
“If we are not careful, sparks might fly our way too.”
“How many nobles have framed people like us for crimes and then escaped?”
“So keep your mouth shut and stay quiet.”
They were afraid the bloody wind of the purge might reach them as well.
However, the blade of the purge was extremely precise.
It cleanly cut out only the rotten parts of the Crawford Principality.
In just one week, the Senate had completely lost its function.
With no members left, it could neither participate in national affairs nor perform its original role of legislation.
From warehouse keepers to financial officers, everyone involved in embezzlement was arrested.
The bureaucrats then flocked to Abel Carius with panicked faces.
“Chancellor, Your Excellency! At this rate, the National Hall’s operations will be paralyzed!”
“So you want me to let criminals continue working?”
“Of course not, but we need a clear solution. We are severely short on manpower!”
Despite the bureaucrats’ pleas, he did not bat an eye.
He simply swept over them with a cold gaze.
“But did you know? The embezzlers were not doing any work in the first place. They only abused their authority.”
“Still, someone has to handle approvals.”
“Send all of them to me. I will make the decisions.”
“Excuse me?”
“Why? Do you think I lack the authority?”
“Ah, no.”
The bureaucrats had no choice but to back down.
The other party was the monstrous chancellor who had received full power from the Prince.
Of course he had the authority.
The real question was whether he could handle receiving every single approval document from the National Hall.
Still doubtful, the bureaucrats returned to their posts.
They resumed their work as usual.
Surprisingly, everything was running smoothly and efficiently.
“H-how on earth is he handling that massive amount of work?”
Everyone was curious, but they could not know what was happening inside the chancellor’s office.
Specifically, that a black sugar glider and a white bat were grunting while clutching documents.
Abel Carius lay sprawled on the sofa, only picking out the results brought by the two half-demons.
“Hey, hey, this won’t do. If we proceed like this, it will be rejected. Send it back.”
—You said it was fine earlier!
“I did not know it would cost this much money. Reject it.”
—Aaaargh!