Volume 7, Prologue
The intergalactic nation known as the Algrand Empire.
Is it possible for an aristocratic government headed by an emperor to establish an intergalactic nation?
Some might ask such a question, but they have it all wrong.
Considering the sheer size of an intergalactic nation, it’s impossible for a ruler to manage one by himself.
Taking into account the cost to rule over such a vast expanse of land, it’s better to leave the management to other people, and that’s why the system of aristocracy was revived.
There seems to have been other things going on in the past, but I honestly don’t care about such details.
What’s important is that I, [Liam Sera Banfield], am a Count of a large empire, and I have control over several planets.
“Everything inside my territory is mine. This includes the lives of the inhabitants. What do you say to this?”
I’ve returned to my territory, and I’m in front of a beautiful woman in the drawing room of my mansion.
A tall elf with long ears is sitting in front of me in a folk dress.
The mesmerizing dress is both thin and white, highlighting the elf’s body-line.
The embroidery on it is of a unique design as well.
The female elf has flawless white skin and blue eyes.
She’s so beautiful, in fact, that it seems almost fake.
—It’s honestly repulsive.
Two other equally tall elves are standing next to her, serving as guards and staring down at me who’s sitting on the sofa.
They’re pretending like they’re just on guard against me, but I’m sure they’re looking down on me in their hearts.
Elves were once considered a race with a long lifespan, but the world has become a place where humans could live for over 500 years.
As Elves could only live for around 300 years, they’re now treated as short-lived species.
What’s more, unlike us humans, their forces are few in number, so they hold a weak position in society.
Despite all this, they slight humans and behave arrogantly because they believe that they are being sought after.
It’s true that many people are still fascinated by Elves.
One of the well-established theories states that humans are attracted to Elves in part due to their physical beauty, but more so because of their charming magic power.
Elves are mystical creatures even in this world.
Not that I care though.
As for why I’m showing them such a brazen attitude, it’s because we’re in my territory, and they’re demanding me to “return” one of the planets that I own.
The female elf before me is of a special race called the High Elf, and she is treated as royalty among the other elves.
That might explain why she seems to be looking down on me.
“An ideology befitting an aristocrat. However, I’d like to point out that the planet under the Count was originally our ancestors’ hometown.”
“That wasteland of a planet was once your ancestors’ hometown? And now that I’ve finally succeeded in bringing back the vegetation, you want me to return it to you? What a convenient story. I never knew that Elves were such a shameless race.”
Provoked, the two knights acting as guards narrow their eyes.
In contrast, the Elf Queen remains calm.
“Our hometown has been restored. Surely, this must be the universe’s way of telling us Elves to return to our hometown and prosper. I hear that there’s a World Tree on the restored planet. Lord Count must be having some trouble taking care of the World Tree, no?”
World Tree—a sacred plant that produces elixir.
Humans are said to be incapable of taking care of one.
If we could secure a reliable source of elixir, it would indeed benefit the territory, but I’m not interested at the moment.
If I want to obtain elixirs, I just have to hunt some pirates.
By defeating them, I would gain the right to their possessions.
I can turn debris into resources with the Alchemy Box and convert the pirates’ soul to elixirs using the Planetary Development Device.
Working one’s fingers to the bone?
Nay, as an evil lord, I make sure that I don’t leave anything behind, not even their souls.
In essence, the pirates are my wallet.
They go around rampaging and collecting treasures all so that they could lay down their lives to profit me.
As long as pirates exist, I won’t face any troubles.
But then again…
Having a World Tree under one’s control is a symbol of status for a lord.
In a discussion between aristocrats, I would be able to boast that “there’s a World Tree in my territory!”
In that sense, there’s no harm in keeping these Elves.
“Hmm, fine. I’ll think about it. If you’re willing to work for me, the least I can do is let you guys exist.”
I say this in a condescending manner.
In return, the Elves smile at me with murderous intent.
—Well, not like they could kill me with that.
Amagi, who has been listening to the conversation, reminds me of my next appointment.
“Master, your next guests are about to arrive.”
“There are quite a lot of them today.”
I’ve been having similar conversations with dozens of others since the morning.
Whenever I return to the mansion, guests always flood here.
The Elves leave the room.
◇
There were wrinkles on the Elf Queen’s forehead as she left the room.
“How dare that filthy human brat—”
Despite being much younger than her, he remained brazen until the very end.
The queen was annoyed that Liam had not bowed before her beauty.
All the humans that she had dealt with until now were more than happy to see her.
The aristocrats were no exception.
However, her beauty had been ineffective against Liam.
One of her guards spoke to her.
“But a planet with a World Tree is very precious. We must get our hands on it.”
“You’re right. Our clan can prosper so long as we continue to produce elixirs. Even if we happen to squeeze the World Tree dry, we should be fine for the next few centuries.”
Elves were indeed a race capable of taking care of the World Trees, but these World Trees often died prematurely after a couple hundred years when they should have been able to live for tens of thousands of years.
This was because the Elves prospered by squeezing the World Trees dry of elixirs, destroying the planets in the process.
There were many such Elves, and the Elves that truly desired to protect the World Trees resented them for their actions.
At the same time, there were some groups of Elves that could not tolerate being treated like ethnic minorities in the intergalactic nations when they should have been revered and held in high regards.
As they walked down the huge corridor, they came across the next set of guests which consisted of a tall man and a short one.
The difference in their sizes was apparent.
The short man was only around 1.2 meters tall.
On the other hand, the tall one was 2 meters in height.
Both of them were wearing suits, but they appeared so out of place that the Elf Queen laughed at them.
The short man was a Goblin while the tall man was an Orc.
From a human’s point of view, they looked vastly inferior to the Elves.
The two men’s expression became ugly when they saw the Elf Queen and her guards approaching them from the other side of the corridor.
From an evolutionary standpoint, Elves, Goblins, and Orcs in this world shared a common ancestor.
However, the Elves had evolved to be beautiful while the Goblins and the Orcs had not.
They were all treated as minorities in this universe, and the Elf Queen had a rough idea as to why they had come to visit Liam.
“I’m sure that you’re here to ask for the planet containing the World Tree, but you were a little too late. The Count would choose us for sure. Ugly beings like you should continue to wander in space.”
Both the Goblin race and the Orc race were capable of managing the World Tree, but they were often deprived of their hometown because of their ugly appearances.
This was because the Elves would manipulate the humans into chasing out the two races, occupying their planets after they were gone.
Aristocrats preferred having beautiful Elves on their planets, even if they were the culprits behind the World Trees wilting.
To begin with, humans didn’t know that Elves were causing the World Trees’ deaths, and they wouldn’t believe it even if they were told such.
This, ironically enough, was because of the existence of Elves that took their job of managing the World Trees seriously.
The Goblin and the Orc that came to visit Liam were part of those that had to roam the universe after being chased out by the Elves.
It was difficult for them to survive on a planet that did not have a World Tree, so they had been wandering in space looking for a planet which had one.
The Goblin was seemingly aware of what the Elf Queen was plotting.
“It’s blasphemous to purposely have the sacred World Tree wilt and have its planet destroyed-gobu. Besides, that planet’s also the hometown for us Goblins and Orcs-gobu.”
One of the planets that Liam owned just happened to be their ancestors’ hometown, and it used to have a World Tree that was deemed outstanding even in this world’s standards.
The ones that made it wilt—were the Elves.
The Orc also protested vehemently.
“How many World Trees have you killed, and how many planets have you destroyed? Just how many must die until your people are satisfied!?”
The Elf Queen mocked the two for their seriousness.
“So what? That’s how we Elves keep ourselves fed. Be it the World Trees, the planets that they’re on, or the lives on these planets, they all exist to be the source of our food. No matter how much you struggle, that planet will land in our hands. None of the humans understand the true value of the World Trees anyway. That little brat will surely have us manage his World Tree.”
Even so, the Goblin had his faith in Liam.
“—Count Banfield is someone that’s hailed as a virtuous lord-gobu. As long as we explain things properly, he will definitely understand-gobu.”
The Elf Queen flashed a fearless smile.
“A virtuous lord? That brat is just another human, and he’ll no doubt choose the beautiful Elves over ugly beings like you.”
Yes, that was how the world worked.
However, they weren’t aware of one important fact.
—Liam Sera Banfield was someone that aspired to be an evil lord.
◇
A Goblin and an Orc have arrived.
I knew that Goblins and Orcs existed, but this is my first time actually meeting them.
I’ve been anticipating this meeting much more than the meeting with the Elves.
“Lord Count, please let us take care of the World Tree. As for what World Trees are—”
The Orc goes through a lot of effort to explain things to me.
Apparently, the original purpose of World Trees isn’t to produce elixirs.
Something about their very existence being meaningful—to sum it up, they have spiritual value.
Anyway, I’m not really interested in what they have to say.
However, I am interested in the Goblin and the Orc themselves.
—Don’t you think they fit in with the image of an evil lord’s sidekick better than the Elves?
Those domineering Elves aren’t exactly my cup of tea.
If I had to choose, I’d rather employ the Goblins and the Orcs.
They’ll be my trusty companions that remind me of how evil I am.
To begin with, I can gather as many beauties as I want, but things are a bit different when it comes to gathering Orcs and Goblins.
You see, there aren’t that many Goblins and Orcs in this world, so they’re considered rarities.
I thought there would be a lot more Goblins and Orcs roaming around, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Either way, I’m planning on having people take care of the World Tree for the sake of putting up appearance, and I’d rather employ them than the Elves.
The Goblin begins saying something out of desperation.
“Lord Count, us Goblins will spare no effort in supporting you-gobu. I implore Lord Count to give our companions salvation-gobu.”
“Willing to spare no effort in supporting me, you say—I like it.”
The Goblin-and-Orc duo raises their heads.
“Gobu!?”
“Eh!?”
They look utterly surprised. Did they not have high hopes?
They must have thought that I’d choose the Elves, but I can always catch the Elves anytime I want.
Hmm, now that I think about it, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have them under these two’s captivity so that things develop in the direction of those doujins.
The idea reeks of evil and corruption.
There was this one junior in the past that was very enthusiastic about doujins.
Something about an evil lord doing something to the Elves…
It seems like Goblins and Orcs come out often in those scenarios.
“I’ll bestow you with the planet that has the World Tree. You two will henceforth work for me.”
“Y-yes, sir!—But what exactly will we be tasked to do?”
The Orc replies in a hurry, but it seems like he has no idea what their job entails.
What a blunder. I only have a rudimentary understanding of those matters, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to have them do either.
The thing is, I wasn’t really paying attention when we were having that conversation about doujins.
Sorry, junior.
“—I’ll call for you guys when the need arises. For the time being, take care of the World Tree and raise it properly.”
“U-understood, gobu!”
I have a magnificent World Tree in my territory!—I just want that kind of bragging rights.
I’ll hit them up with something when I need their service.
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