Civilization for the Emperor (2)
Emperor Kalbrant II had spent his entire life as a workaholic.
The public regarded him as a wise ruler who thought only of the Empire’s advancement.
In truth, however, there was a somewhat different reason he had become addicted to work.
‘Even after becoming emperor, there is not a single thing I find enjoyable.’
As a member of the imperial family, he had spent his entire life in the Imperial Palace. To commoners who knew nothing of their circumstances, the imperial family might seem like people who could do anything they pleased, but the reality was quite different.
Countless rules of imperial etiquette constrained their every action. If they failed to observe them, even an emperor would be called a reckless, tyrannical madman.
He could not go out whenever he pleased, could only eat food that had gone cold by the time the poison tasting was finished, could not get drunk, and could not even sing or dance as he wished.
He could indulge in a few luxurious hobbies, but the emperor had no interest in meaningless extravagance, and like most members of the imperial family, he had entered a political marriage with someone he did not love.
As a result, the only thing capable of holding his interest was work. For an intelligent man like him, running a vast empire was enjoyable in its own way.
“But today, I cannot seem to focus even on that.”
Recently, however, even the emperor had found it difficult to concentrate on his work because of his worries.
He had two concerns. The first was the Empire’s slow development. The emperor had tried in many ways to revitalize the Empire’s internal affairs, but there was a limit to how much could change through his efforts alone.
The other was the Crown Prince. The imperial grandson left behind by the emperor’s son, who had died young, had been a good child who listened well to the emperor when he was younger. Even now, there was nothing about him that made him unfit to be Crown Prince.
The problem was that he was far too impetuous.
Young and hot-blooded, the Crown Prince thought of nothing but expanding the Empire’s territory even farther.
He certainly had the makings of a conquering monarch, but in the emperor’s eyes, the Empire was not even making proper use of the lands it already possessed.
Of course, conquest and warfare were just as important as internal administration. But when the man destined to ascend the imperial throne kept leaving the Imperial Palace at every opportunity to cause trouble with the knights, the emperor could only sigh.
“Tsk. I should call it a day and retire early. Hm?”
Unable to focus on his work, the emperor was considering leaving earlier than usual when a particular document caught his eye.
“The Magic Development Department has presented a newly developed item? Tsk. It seems they are resorting to something excessive again to avoid having their budget cut.”
The emperor had recently discovered that the Empire’s finances were being managed wastefully and had drastically cut the budgets of departments with poor results.
As this was a sensitive issue that would inevitably lead to personnel problems as well, every department had begun scrambling to produce results at the last minute.
The Imperial Magic Development Department, which was often criticized as useless, also seemed to have made something strange in an attempt to avoid its budget cut. Judging from the paperwork, it appeared to be a toy using illusion magic, but the report claimed it was so intricate and entertaining that one would lose all track of time.
The emperor found that laughable. He already owned several toys that used illusion magic. They were entertaining when first played with, but they inevitably became boring.
“Still, I was growing bored. It may serve to pass the time. Is anyone there?”
The emperor immediately summoned someone and ordered them to bring the toy made by the Magic Development Department. He intended to inspect it personally, and if they had once again created some pointless trifle, he thought he might charge the entire department with lèse-majesté and send them all to the Demon Realm or the northern front lines.
“Hmm. At first glance, this is quite an intricate artifact.”
After examining the artifact the imperial attendants soon brought him, the emperor could tell that the mage who had made it was highly skilled.
His expectations rising slightly, the emperor activated the toy called a ‘game console.’
A screen formed from illusion magic immediately appeared, accompanied by singing.
-Baba Yetu yetu yetu uliye♬
“What a strange song.”
It was ‘Baba Yetu,’ the most famous main theme of the Civilization Development series. Ian, who had created the artifact, knew the song well and had decided to include it, but since the lyrics were in Swahili, the emperor naturally could not understand their meaning.
“Still, it is rather lively. But this does not appear to be something meant merely for listening to music.”
Muttering to himself, the emperor read the report submitted alongside the offering.
Press New Game, choose a nation and a leader, then select the difficulty… Even reading the instructions felt utterly unfamiliar. The illusion magic was astonishingly intricate and sophisticated.
As though it had been made by someone who had seen things that did not exist in this world.
“Hmm… Choose a nation and a leader, is it? Audacious, but amusing.”
It was slightly irreverent, but nothing he could not tolerate. He particularly liked that the Empire and his own traits appeared to be the best.
The emperor concluded that whoever had made this had to be a loyal subject.
Of course, Ian was about as far from a patriot as a person could be, but regardless, the emperor proceeded to the next step.
“Hmm? This is rather insolent. Emperor Difficulty?”
According to the report, ‘difficulty’ apparently indicated how difficult the game was, and one of the difficulty levels was named Emperor.
The emperor had no objection to there being a difficulty named Emperor.
What displeased him was the fact that Emperor Difficulty was not the highest.
“Immortal and Deity? I do not like this. Does that not sound as though ecclesiastical authority stands above imperial authority?”
The emperor, too, regarded the divine as sacred.
But that did not mean he believed the Church stood above him.
There had once been a time when the Papacy wielded greater power than secular monarchs, but now the emperor’s authority was unquestionably stronger.
“How displeasing… Still, if it is difficult enough to be compared to a deity, then I shall try it.”
Fortunately, the emperor was a tolerant man.
He immediately selected Deity Difficulty and began the game.
“This is absurd! Our Empire……!”
And in less than thirty minutes, the emperor’s first empire collapsed after three nations declared war on him.
***
“The budget-cut plan for the Magic Development Department has been withdrawn. So for now, everyone can rest easy.”
Not long after I submitted the game console to the department head, welcome news arrived.
Apparently, the emperor had taken a liking to my game console.
Since this was a world without computers, I had to recreate it by using consoles like PlayStation and Xbox as references, but illusion magic was my specialty, so it had not been particularly difficult.
Of course, the actual content of the game was almost entirely plagiarized from the original.
If I were on Earth, the company that made it probably would’ve sued me.
“Ah, and Ian. You have been promoted.”
“What? Me?”
“Yes. You are a team leader now. Keep up the good work.”
A promotion?
Getting promoted out of nowhere is a little bewildering.
The moment news of my promotion spread, murmuring broke out around me.
Some people looked at me with jealousy.
Especially those of noble birth.
From their perspective, they probably did not like seeing a commoner like me become a team leader.
This could be trouble… Of course, I would’ve had to get promoted eventually, but I was still young. This was happening much too quickly.
For someone like me, who wanted to live quietly, retire, and enjoy a comfortable old age, this was an unexpected complication.
Did the emperor really like the game that much? Enough to give me a special promotion?
He was known only as a workaholic, but apparently he had a surprisingly strong tendency to act on his moods.
“Ah, and come speak with me alone for a moment.”
“What is it?”
The department head called me aside, glanced around with a slightly nervous look, then spoke.
“About that thing you made… Could you make one for me as well?”
“What? Why all of a sudden?”
“Well… I tried it briefly before presenting it to His Majesty. But it was so entertaining that time disappeared in an instant. I have not been able to think about anything else since that day.”
“I see…….”
It certainly lived up to its name as a devil’s game.
This world had magic, but its entertainment remained at an ordinary medieval level. A game so engrossing that it had been nicknamed a time machine was apparently far too stimulating here.
“Of course, I am not asking you to spend your own money making it. I will pay for it out of my own pocket. Better yet, have you considered making several of them and selling them? I can help you with my connections.”
“Hmm… Leaving everything else aside, would we not need His Majesty’s approval to conduct business?”
“Do not worry about that. I hear His Majesty is completely absorbed in that ‘game’ you made as well. He has even taken a break from affairs of state, something he never once skipped before.”
Oh… so he really did like it.
Anyway, a business……
There was no need to overthink it. If I went through with it, I’d definitely make money.
I had actually considered making games several times before.
But I had never had much reason to do it, and I did not want to draw unnecessary attention to myself.
Even now, I was not particularly desperate for money. Besides, as the saying went, the protruding stone was the one that got hammered down. If a commoner stood out too much, people were bound to start talking.
But Department Head Terren held the title of count.
If a noble like him sponsored me, that changed things somewhat.
It meant I would have someone powerful backing me.
“You will have to provide the investment capital, Count. And naturally, you will have to give me a generous share of the profits.”
“Of course. On my honor.”
It was not as though I disliked money, so there was no reason to reject the count’s business proposal.
Still, if I was genuinely going to start selling games, having only ‘Civilization Development’ felt a little lacking.
Grand strategy simulation games like Civilization Development tended to divide people sharply between those who loved them and those who hated them. Even if they enjoyed it at first, they might eventually grow tired of it.
So I wanted to make a wider variety of games.
But for that, the artifact’s capabilities would need to improve……
‘I can’t do this alone. I’ll have to gather some team members.’
The problem was that even though I was a team leader, there were probably only a few people who would actually listen to me.
This was a world where the class system was still very much alive. Even with the position of team leader, people might refuse to follow my instructions as long as I remained a commoner.
There was also the issue of using government personnel for my private business…
Although that could change if the emperor viewed my game development favorably enough to sponsor it.
While the department head and I were discussing the direction of the business—
“Excuse me. Is Ian Maxwell here?”
Someone came looking for me.
“I am Ian. What is it?”
“Ah, I have come from the Imperial Palace. You must come to the palace immediately.”
“? What is this about?”
The palace was looking for me?
Why?
“His Majesty the Emperor is summoning you.”
No sooner had I wondered that than the emperor came up again.
Wait, promoting me was not enough, and now he wanted to see me personally?
Could it be… there was something in the game that he could find fault with?
I had censored as much of the content that might be considered irreverent as I could.
“Do you know why His Majesty is summoning me?”
“I do not. Even if I did, I would not be permitted to tell you. There is no time. If you make His Majesty wait, you will be punished for lèse-majesté. Please follow me at once.”
I had no idea what the reason was, but if I dawdled, I really might end up being charged with lèse-majesté.
So I hurried after the imperial attendant.