The Prince Wants To Retire

4. Fuck the imperial faction! (3)

The next destination, the Ministry of Finance, also tried to beat the inspectorate, but was beaten up by Kariel.

“Hey, am I happy?”

“Hey, it’s not… … .”

“Is the Minister of the Treasury a better boss than me? Or is the Prime Minister more important than the Crown Prince?”

Seeing Kariel craving for one of the treasury officials, everyone stood dead with their heads bowed to keep sparks from igniting.

After smashing the mentality of one of the bureaucrats he had captured, Kariel clicked his tongue as he looked for people he could crave with a hawk’s eye.

“Give me ten minutes. Bring all the materials requested by the Inspection Department.”

Giving the same time as in the Ministry of the Interior, Kariel left the Ministry of Finance.

Soon after, the carts arrived, and a huge amount of material was transferred to the Inspection Department.

It was the Inspector General who oversees the Imperial Inspection Department who welcomed Cariel, who returned with a huge amount of data as if returning from gold.

“god! Inspector-General Podolski sees His Majesty.”

“Nice to meet you. Cariel.”

In respect of Podolski, a high-ranking official, Kariel asked, tilting his head.

“But what happened?”

“When I heard that Your Majesty had come to the inspection department, I hurried to run.”

“Hmm, right? Just go in.”

Saying so, Kariel brought Podolski into the room.

Kariel, assigned to the special team and arriving at the conference room, opened the door and entered.

“As promised, the materials were brought. Do your best to dig it out.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The inspectors responded in unison and moved busily.

“It’s hard to talk about here… … .”

“Let’s talk in my room.”

Kariel went up to the top floor of the building with a word of thanks to the inspector who promptly entered.

After a while, a warm tea set was served to Kariel and the inspector general, who were sitting on the sofa, and the conversation began in earnest when the secretary stepped back.

“Why are you looking for me?”

Podolski swallowed his silence at Kariel’s question.

The returned Kariel would not be inferior anywhere in terms of political power, but it was the same with Podolski.

It was Kariel’s loss to go against such a person.

It was because she was still young and that she was just passing on information to someone who didn’t know what Kariel’s political power or level was.

That’s why Kariel put on a slightly arrogant expression and asked directly.

“How far is Your Highness thinking?”

At Podolski’s question, Kariel put her chin on her chin and frowned.

“What are you talking about?”

When Kariel asked, pretending not to know, Podolski sighed and asked more directly.

“How far are you trying to reach?”

“Which line… … .”

Kariel looked at Podolski with cold eyes.

However, Podolski, who was not a person who even became the Inspector General, looked directly at Kariel and said,

“Your Highness knows that balance is important to Your Majesty.”

“Balance… … . Do you mean that my actions will upset this balance?”

Podolski chose silence instead of answering Kariel’s question.

“Are you saying something worthy of the neutral faction?”

said Kariel laughing at him.

Then Podolsky’s expression frowned for a moment.

“Does the Empire look balanced now?”

“I’m anxious, but I think I’m tuned in to some extent.”

The huge aristocratic faction, and the imperial faction with the emperor on their backs.

And among them, the neutral faction that supports the empire.

Thanks to this balance, the Empire is holding on.

Although the power of the empire will gradually weaken, the biggest reason for not collapsing right now is this balance.

Podolski vowed to keep this balance as long as he had the strength.

‘The moment the balance collapses, the empire is over.’

Podolski’s view of the empire was so rotten.

Kariel rested her chin quietly and looked at Podolski.

‘Those with distorted beliefs’.

The image of Podolski that Kariel saw was exactly this kind of existence.

I have lived to protect the wrong balance created by the emperor in the name of maintaining neutrality because I lack my own strength.

He did so inevitably because he knew that if this balance was broken, the empire would collapse.

However, just as a person inevitably smells bad if he is with filth for a long time, his beliefs that he had originally made up for himself have gradually deteriorated and become contaminated.

That’s why I became a person with distorted beliefs and am here now.

‘What should I do?’

Kariel was troubled as she tapped the sofa with her finger.

Originally, he did not want to reveal his capabilities, but seeing Podolski in person, his mind kept changing.

What if even those with distorted beliefs could return those beliefs to their original place?

Wouldn’t it be at least a useful person?

Even in his previous life, he was a person who kept the minimum line until the end, so his heart kept going.

‘I want to fix it to be useful.’

The moment she thought of this, Kariel’s eyes lit up.

“This is the balance… … .”

Kariel looked at Podolski with a cold expression.

Then Podolsky’s expression began to harden.

“Do you see this as balance?”

Cariel’s disrespectful attitude without any counter-respect made him look like he was contemptuous of himself.

“Is it balanced in the country? What if the national power weakens in the process?”

“that… … .”

“Can we achieve balance with other countries?”

Saying that, Kariel looked at Podolski.

“Tell me. Can you say that this is also a balance?”

“… … The Empire is the strongest on the continent.”

“How does it compare to the eastern continent?”

Kariel laughed at Podolski’s words.

The strongest in the West Continent was the Empire.

Ignit, the strongest empire in the Western Continent.

Roman, the strongest empire in the East Continent.

It was a two-way system that had been maintained for a long time, but now it is slowly starting to lean to one side.

The Roman Empire, too, had withered and died as it slowly decayed over the years, but recently met a powerful emperor and was dreaming of being resurrected.

On the other hand, what about the Ignit Empire?

As only the armies took power three times in a row, they were in a state of endless decline.

Now, the countries of the Western Continent, who did not even dare to look at the empire, were climbing up.

“Don’t you know how much other countries have grown by focusing only on faction fights? Or are you pretending not to know?”

Podolski felt the pain of digging his chest out at Kariel’s words.

As the empire began a long factional war, it was the neighboring countries that benefited the most.

Even though they know it is harmful to the empire, they use the bribes they stabbed to make unfair contracts and sell the empire’s interests.

At first, the emperor faction started to raise the forces lacking, but now all the nobles were doing that.

“Ask me again. Is this the balance you speak of?”

Podolski couldn’t answer Kariel’s question.

Because that was a well-known fact.

The fact that an innocent person cannot rise to the top, he himself took bribes, turned a blind eye to crimes, and lived a life of ignoring harm to the empire because he had to keep the balance.

What kind of answer can he give to Kariel’s question?

Looking at Podolski, who started shaking, Kariel smiled slightly.

“The neutrals are the last remaining pillars of the Empire, right?”

Saying that, Kariel looked at Podolski.

There was once a grand duchy, but they left the empire as they were abandoned by the imperial family.

So, all that was left was the neutral faction.

“Are you like that too?”

At Kariel’s question, Podolski looked at the prince with trembling eyes.

“… … Yes. Even though it stinks from being covered in filth, I have not forgotten my neutral beliefs.”

At Podolski’s words, Kariel smiled a little.

Watching him speak proudly, Kariel spoke in a tone filled with sneer.

“It’s fun. He may think his beliefs are clean, but as long as they are already polluted, even those beliefs are violated… … . I think you are already done.”

At Kariel’s words, Podolski’s eyes began to tremble.

“Even though the Empire is now engulfed in darkness, there is no law that the sun will not rise like Roman. It seems to me that you who only play balance have no place to stand in the Empire where the sun has risen.”

“… … The sun may rise… … . Your Highness is dreaming.”

“Well. If a dream and the future are the same, they say it’s a precognitive dream, right?”

As Kariel spoke with a smile on his face, Podolski’s expression became serious.

His own intuition was telling him that the young prince wasn’t just dreaming.

“Are you planning to make your dream a reality?”

“I have no plans to tell Omul.”

Podolski gritted his teeth at Kariel’s words.

To keep the balance, I smeared myself with filth, and I’ve never regretted it.

But at this moment, I regret it so much.

“… … Even filth will have a use.”

“Well? It’s good if you don’t pollute others.”

“You can even feed yourself into a bigger cesspool.”

At Podolski’s words, Kariel looked at him for a moment.

I looked at the conviction in his eyes.

Even though it was out of line, the belief was not yet completely tainted.

There is room for improvement.

Kariel, who confirmed it for the last time, opened her mouth.

“The only way to wash off the dirt. Do you have the courage to wash away the filth?”

The Prince’s serious question.

Feeling instinctively that this would be a turning point in his life, Podolski made up his mind.

The flowers that had not bloomed in the rotten filth for a long time began to spring up little by little.

The moment when the sprout finally blooms after breaking through the polluted ground.

“Yes, I can take any risk if it is to wash away the dirt.”

Seeing Podolski whose eyes had changed, Kariel smiled.

“I’ll tell you just once, so listen carefully.”

“Yes.”

At Kariel’s words, Podolski straightened his posture.

“I told His Majesty that I was giving up the position of crown prince.”

At his words, Podolski’s eyes widened and his pupils began to shake.

“I said that I wanted to pass on the position of crown prince to my talented younger brothers. ruler! then that’s a problem What would happen if I handed over the position of crown prince to my younger brothers?”

“That, that… … .”

Podolski looked at Kariel with a puzzled expression.

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Just thinking about it right now would throw the empire into chaos.

The next problem was given to Podolski, who was diligently rolling his head.

“ruler! Then the next problem. In that situation, would the continuation of the imperial faction be necessary?”

Podolski’s eyes filled with astonishment rather than surprise at his question.

“The nobles are strong. That’s probably why His Majesty is trying to maintain the current balance.”

Kariel nodded, pretending to understand.

“However, even if the imperial faction has crossed the line, it has gone far beyond that. Are they really more useful than the aristocrats in such a situation?”

“Are you trying to destroy the imperial faction?”

At Podolski’s words, Kariel smiled.

An aristocratic group led by two dukes.

What if that power splits in two to push each prince away?

Then, two forces devour the place where the imperial faction was destroyed, and it is again divided into three factions.

In other words, the balance desired by the emperor is re-established in a new form.

“Before you leave, you have to destroy the imperial faction and leave, so the Crown Prince will not be able to save his face. I don’t know which of my brothers will become emperor, but wouldn’t an empire without the imperial faction be better?”

If only the imperial faction, a hotbed of corruption, disappeared, the empire would be much better than it is now.

“There will be chaos.”

“It will be better than it is now. And I never said I was going to deal only with the imperial faction.”

At Kariel’s words, Podolski made a puzzled expression.

Then Kariel told him the next plan.

The moment he heard it, Podolsky’s expression became strange.

“… … Is it possible?”

“Well. What if it doesn’t work? Wouldn’t it be better to try something than to sink slowly and proceed towards destruction?”

Podolski pondered for a moment at those words, then abruptly stood up and knelt down to Kariel.

“From this moment on, I will follow your command no matter what.”

“Maybe that will take your life?”

“It doesn’t matter. Even if it is the road that leads to the four limbs, I can walk with a smile.”

At Podolski’s words, Kariel smiled.

“great. Give the first order.”

“Give me an order.”

“Let’s destroy the imperial faction.”

At Kariel’s first command, Podolski smiled and bowed his head.

“Yes, my lord.”