Faced with Rowan's question, Tatsumi awkwardly scratched his head and explained the difficulties his village was facing.
"My village can barely endure the empire's taxes anymore, so I was hoping this Danger Beast could be used to offset part of our tax burden."
"Sure."
Rowan calmly nodded.
"From today onward, your village only needs to hand over one-tenth of its usual harvest. How does that sound?"
"Really?"
Tatsumi's eyes lit up.
A tax rate of only ten percent?
Was he dreaming?
If that were truly the case, then his village would definitely survive.
They might even live happier lives than before.
"Of course it's real," Rowan said calmly.
Leone and Sheele exchanged glances, both seeing a trace of surprise in the other's eyes.
They had not expected this fake Prime Minister to possess such humanity.
He had actually established such a reasonable tax rate.
Could he really be a good person?
After confirming that Rowan was not lying, Tatsumi thanked him profusely and left.
He had never imagined that he would solve his village's crisis immediately after arriving in the Imperial Capital.
This Prime Minister really was a good man.
After watching Tatsumi leave, Rowan shifted his gaze toward Leone and Sheele.
"What about you two? Tell me what you want."
Leone planted her hands on her hips and said boldly,
"The two of us want to rise above ordinary people. I wonder if the Prime Minister would be willing to take us in?"
"Oh?"
Rowan asked,
"You want to become my subordinates?"
"That's right."
Leone said,
"I heard that you're extremely powerful and influential, Prime Minister. If we become your people, surely no one will be able to bully us anymore, right?"
"I see. So that's what you mean."
Rowan put on an enlightened expression while rolling his eyes internally.
If he had not recognized these two, he might actually have believed their nonsense.
Two assassins from Night Raid afraid of being bullied?
Heh.
However, Rowan did not expose them.
Instead, he said,
"Fine. The fact that you were able to hunt a Danger Beast is enough to prove your strength."
"Since you want to serve me, I naturally won't treat you poorly."
"Tell me. Do you want to stay by my side, or would you prefer an official position?"
"For example, the position of Captain of the Imperial Capital Guard recently became vacant."
"Interested?"
Leone and Sheele exchanged glances before shaking their heads.
"We'd rather stay by your side, my lord."
Rowan narrowed his eyes and chuckled softly.
So that was it.
They had come specifically for him.
"Alright. From today onward, the two of you will be my personal maids."
"Huh? Maids?"
Leone stared blankly.
She had assumed that even in the worst case, she could at least become a bodyguard.
How had she suddenly fallen all the way to maid status?
"Wait, Prime Minister. No matter how you look at me, I don't exactly look like a maid, do I?"
She could not help protesting.
Rowan calmly replied,
"You're beautiful and strong. Wouldn't it be a waste not to make you a maid?"
"What I want most right now is to form a maid squad that's both gorgeous and powerful."
"You two will be Maid Number Three and Maid Number Four."
Without giving them any opportunity to object, he made the decision immediately.
Leone raised an eyebrow.
"If we're Number Three and Number Four, then who are Numbers One and Two?"
Rowan raised both hands and clapped twice.
Two women dressed in maid uniforms immediately appeared before him.
They were Suzuka and Mez of the Four Rakshasa Demons.
"These two are experts from Kouken Temple. They are now Maid Number One and Maid Number Two."
"Come on, introduce yourselves."
Suzuka smiled faintly.
"I am Maid Number One, Suzuka."
Mez looked displeased, but she did not dare defy Rowan's orders.
"I'm Maid Number Two, Mez. Please take care of me from now on."
Leone looked them over.
The two truly were first-rate beauties.
And judging by how cleanly and efficiently they had appeared, they were probably extremely capable fighters as well.
This fake Prime Minister really knew how to enjoy himself.
"…Fine."
After ruthlessly roasting him in her mind, Leone ultimately nodded.
"From today onward, I'm Maid Number Three."
Sheele nodded blankly.
"I'm Maid Number Four, Sheele. Please take care of me."
"Excellent. Now, the four of you go roast those Danger Beasts for me. I want barbecue."
As Rowan spoke, he activated Archive Magic and directly implanted all kinds of barbecue techniques into the minds of the four maids.
This was a new application Rowan had developed for Archive Magic.
Archive Magic contained a technique known as Magic Implantation, which could implant knowledge of large-scale magic directly into a selected target's mind, allowing that person to learn a new Great Magic within a very short period of time.
After mastering Archive Magic, Rowan modified the technique.
By combining it with Telepathy Magic, he could remotely implant large amounts of knowledge into a designated person's brain.
As a result, he could make someone instantly learn a new skill.
Before long, all four maids had mastered the art of barbecue.
"Wait, wait, wait! What kind of Imperial Arm is this?"
Leone rubbed her head in disbelief.
Feeling the unfamiliar knowledge that had suddenly appeared inside her mind, she wore an expression of complete astonishment.
She already knew Rowan could alter perception.
But she had never imagined he could also make someone instantly learn an entirely new ability.
Wasn't this far too terrifying?
What kind of Imperial Arm could possibly possess such ridiculous powers?
Rowan rolled his eyes.
"What Imperial Arm? This is magic."
"Magic?"
Leone rolled her eyes right back at him.
Sure.
Like she would believe that.
How could something as unscientific as magic possibly exist in this world?
In fact, it was not only Leone.
Even Suzuka, Mez, and the naturally airheaded Sheele looked unconvinced.
Rowan was speechless.
Forget Leone and Sheele for a moment.
But Suzuka and Mez should already have seen him use magic, hadn't they?
And they still refused to believe him?
Preconceived notions really could kill people.
At that moment, Rowan lost interest in explaining and waved them away to go roast the meat.
Over the next few days, Rowan quickly grew tired of being Prime Minister.
Because holding that position meant endless official documents and government affairs every single day.
All he wanted was to eat, drink, and travel around.
He had only replaced Honest because he wanted to mess with the bastard.
But now he had trapped himself in the Prime Minister's position and had to deal with government work?
That was absolutely not Rowan's specialty.
So Rowan simply brainwashed all the civil and military officials in the imperial court, making them work like madmen and stop bothering him.
Facts proved that this was an excellent idea.
Ever since the entire court had been brainwashed, only one thought remained in their minds.
Work.
Work.
And more damn work.
As a result, the citizens of the Imperial Capital were astonished to discover that the city was improving at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Many arrogant and tyrannical nobles were completely purged.
The empire seemed to be returning to the days when officials were honest and governance was clean.
Sheele and Leone naturally witnessed all of this as well.
They could not help beginning to believe that Rowan was genuinely a thoroughly good person.
Perhaps replacing the Prime Minister had merely been his way of saving the country.
The two even began secretly discussing whether they should reveal their true identities to Rowan.
When Rowan once again happened to overhear their whispered conversation, he nearly burst out laughing.
He had replaced the Prime Minister to save the country?
Good grief.
They were making him sound far too noble.
Was he really such a great person?
How come even he did not know that?
Still, Rowan did not expose Leone and Sheele.
Instead, he continued pretending not to know anything, ordering the two around every day to roast meat for him or hunt Danger Beasts.
Rowan enjoyed different delicacies every single day.
And just like that, the days passed one after another.
Leone and Sheele never revealed their identities to Rowan.
Instead, they gradually became quite competent at their maid duties.
Rowan simply let them do as they pleased.
Then one day, Rowan made a rare appearance at the imperial court.
Because the empire's other strongest general—
Esdeath—
had returned.
Naturally, Rowan wanted to observe this pure combat fanatic from up close.
Inside the imperial court, Esdeath knelt on one knee and greeted the young emperor.
However, there was not the slightest trace of awe toward imperial authority or the young emperor in her eyes.
The only reason she knelt was because that was simply the custom.
When she raised her head and saw Rowan standing beside the young emperor, she could not help freezing.
"It's our first meeting, General Esdeath."
Rowan greeted her with a smile.
"Who are you?"
Esdeath immediately sensed that something about the man before her was wrong.
"My name is Rowan."
"But in their eyes, I should be Prime Minister Honest."
"Isn't that right?"
Everyone present—
including the young emperor—
nodded in agreement.
Only then did Esdeath realize that every civil and military official in the court, including the emperor himself, had become this man's puppet.
The discovery made Esdeath extremely excited.
Anyone capable of doing something like this had to be strong.
And what she wanted most in life was to fight powerful opponents.
"How did you do it?"
Esdeath slowly rose to her feet as wisps of cold air began drifting from her body.
"If I told you it was magic, would you believe me?" Rowan asked.
Esdeath snorted coldly.
She had stopped believing in that kind of thing when she was three years old.
Seeing this, Rowan could not help sighing.
These days, no one believed you even when you told the truth.
Then he looked at Esdeath as the freezing air around her continued growing stronger.
"General Esdeath, judging by that posture… don't tell me you're planning to fight me."
Esdeath adjusted the hat on her head, and an ice sword appeared in her hand.
"Am I not allowed to?"
Rowan shook his head.
"Forget it. You're not my opponent."
"Hah. That's not for you to decide."
Esdeath suddenly kicked off the ground, intending to charge toward Rowan.
But in the next instant—
something unexpected happened.
To her astonishment, her body completely ignored her intentions.
She remained standing exactly where she was, utterly motionless.
Esdeath: "???"
~~~
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