Chapter V: Purge I

Hehehehe.

I’ve done it. I’m pretty sure I’ve finally learned how to say ‘Kick them out!’

It’s been 9 months since I was born.

I’m not even sure how it took me that long to figure those words out.

‘Kick’ isn’t used often. That’s why.

Rira, who was just demonstrating how to properly kick, sees my massive grin.

“Rira, bring Bedo here.” I tell her

Bedo is the head butler’s name. I’ve finally learned it.

Rira nods “Okay!”

She rushes off and into the hallway.

Soon enough, Bedo heads in. Rira’s following him.

“Bedo, the mistresses who have been trying to take this house over. Kick them out.” I order with as much authority my extremely high pitched voice can muster.

Hmm… actually, you know what? I’m pretty much a baby.

No one will blame me if, say, I were to purge my entire territory of those who are trying to claim the riches of the Akashi House, are taking bribes because they think a little baby like me won’t notice, or anyone who’s corrupt, really.

“Right away, Little Master.” Bedo replies with a bow and a smile that makes him radiate excitement.

He heads out into the hallway and brings a guard in.

“Bring over all Harold’s mistresses.” he orders

The guard nods and heads off.

After a few minutes all of my father’s mistresses are gathered.

Betha has a scowl across her face, and the other three look quite angry.

I motion for the guards to let Betha go.

I didn’t mean for Bedo to bring her here, but kicking the other three out will surely be something to be happy about. They’re bringing the entire house down.

Bedo’s expression falls a bit for some reason.

Then, with glee, I point at one of the mistresses.

“Kick her out.” I order

Bedo looks like he’s about to laugh, Betha has a slight grin on her face, and the expressions of the two mistresses who I’m planning on kicking out look at me in fear.

The mistress who’s getting kicked out begins to beg for forgiveness.

She’s not someone who knows how to earn her own living, and has been relying on the house for all her needs.

Sure, she could get married to someone else so they can take care of her, but to most commoners, doing so would be an insult to me, a viscount. They don’t have the status to survive such a thing.

As for nobles, taking the mistress of someone else is something that could burden their social life significantly.

As such, if she were to do that, she would have to make it worth the risk.

The same goes for the other two.

Two of the guards take the begging woman out of the room.

I point to another mistress. Fear freezes her in place.

My aura isn’t something a baby would normally have.

It’s perfectly fine to be a sadist towards sub-trash like the three mistresses. Personally, I have no issues with anything bad at all being done to them. They could become slaves for all I care. In this world, slaves are something that are rather common.

Around maybe a third of this country’s population are slaves, though it’s higher than normal now since plenty of slaves were taken from the defeated countries in that war from a bit before I was born.

If someone’s trash, I’d be willing to personally wield the reaper’s scythe.

The world would be better without trash, so trash should die.

These women have taken advantage of the Akashi house’s kindness, and so they must be dealt with, by my honor as a noble.

This world, especially all those fairy tales Rira and Betha have been reading to me, has really taken their toll on my mindset.

A noble’s honor must be protected with their life!

“Kick her out,” I order the guards to take out the next mistress.

She stares blankly into space.

I point to the final mistress and tell the guards to kick her out as well.

“I’ll have my revenge on you for this!” she shouts at me as she’s being dragged out

I narrow my eyes at her.

“Actually, keep her in the cells for now instead,” I tell the guards

They lower their heads and drag her down the halls.

That’s clearly a flag, and an easily avoidable one at that.

So the best option is to shut her up now. By the law of this kingdom, as a noble, I can execute any commoners that belong to my territory without any reason. With any reason at all, I can execute any commoner.

I’ll be as ruthless as necessary to build some prestige as well.

Fear is the best thing to keep foes at bay, and anyone thinking of rebelling after I purge a bunch of people will have to be very mad in the head.

Even if it’s a baby at the head, that baby is the one that decides your fate. And if they don’t have to fear backlash, there’s no reason for them not to decide to cut your life short.

“Bedo, bring me the files on those in power within my Territory.” I order

Bedo’s eyes gleam.

“Right away little master!” he shouts excitedly before rushing off.

It’s not long before he enters the room carrying a small stack of parchment.

Did he prepare for this or something? He’s very dependable.

“Little master, here’s the list of those in power within your territory.” Bedo tells me as he hands me the stack.

…I forgot I can’t read yet.

“Read it to me.” I order

Bedo nods.

Then he begins reading it out.

I tell Bedo to dig up dirt on many of them as we go along. Anyone even slightly bad will have to be suspected.

…There’s 182 Houses of Knights. It’s a huge list.

And that’s after the war…I wonder how many there were before that.

I’ve asked Bedo to dig up dirt on 132 Houses of Knight’s whose interests do not align with mine.

73 I suspect of committing treason against me, 38 are probably just trash who shouldn’t exist, and the rest are probably radicals for various factions of the succession war.

The 21 radicals aren’t to be purged unless they cause trouble. But the other ones are to be purged immediately.

The rest of the houses are fine.

There’s a lot of houses to purge mostly because as a baby, they see me as someone they can easily take advantage of. Someone who they can get away with stuff with easily.

I mean, it’s sensible, but in this particular case, it’s very bad for them. I’m not a normal baby.

After we’re finished, Betha has a shocked expression on her face, whereas Rira looks pretty angry.

“Why are there so many evil people in our territory?” Rira asks

She can’t really understand things well. That’s probably why she didn’t try anything even though I’m a baby.

Bedo sighs. “Mistress Rira, it’s best that you keep your Naivety and Innocence on the ways of the world.”

Betha nods.

My stomach growls.

It’s time to eat. In my concentration, I’d forgotten to eat at the correct time despite the maids coming in with food for me.

I take a bite out of the bread.

The food in this world sucks…

After that, I spend the rest of the day recovering my brain power. It’s complicated trying to figure out if someone’s suspicious or not sometimes…