Published: January 4, 2026
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In the early afternoon, I took Zoe and went out into the city.
I wasn’t dressed as the governor, nor was Zoe in her aide uniform.
We were dressed like ordinary merchants, accompanied by a servant.
Just the two of us in such attire.
Because of this, no one spoke to us or reacted; we blended seamlessly into the city streets.
This is the first thing that amazes princes who have never left the Imperial Capital.
When you hear “prince” or “royalty,” you expect them to be prominent figures.
You wonder how it’s possible for prominent figures not to be recognized.
But the truth is, “there’s no way to know,” so even without significant disguises, they can blend into the common crowd.
Even the top local officials, like newly appointed governors, are the same.
With such a rather casual disguise, Zoe and I inspected the streets of Larak, the provincial capital of Enlil Province.
Because it’s the provincial capital, and also because I, as governor, am focusing my efforts here.
The city is recovering at an incredible pace. Even now, aside from the usual livelihoods, construction and civil engineering projects are ongoing all over the place.
Seeing this, I nodded as we walked.
“The vitality is coming back.”
I murmured my impression.
Zoe immediately responded.
“This is all thanks to Master’s ability. If this continues, then next we just—”
“I wonder about that.”
“Huh?”
Zoe was surprised.
She must have genuinely thought “from now on, it’s all good.”
Since I denied that, she seemed quite taken aback.
Continuing to walk, I said further.
“This reconstruction involved quite a few forceful measures.”
“In such a situation, it can’t be helped.”
“I think so too, but there must be some corresponding distortions.”
“Distortions?”
Zoe repeated the word in a flat tone, as if she couldn’t quite imagine what I meant.
It was unusual for her to respond so plainly.
“It’s a hunch.”
I chuckled softly.
“I don’t think it’s going to go smoothly from here.”
“So you’re inspecting...”
“Yeah, if it were Father, there’d be an information network that lets him grasp this without such measures, but mine is still under construction.”
That’s why I rely on my own feet.
“The late emperor’s information network...”
“That was incredible. Even now, I’m far behind him in that regard.”
“I’ve experienced that myself.”
“Hmm.”
“So after the late emperor passed away, I investigated. What form it took, what kind of people were involved, how it was done.”
“You’re interested in that?”
“That too, but also because if I could uncover it, maybe I could introduce it to Master.”
“Ah.”
I nodded in understanding.
“But no matter how much I searched, I found nothing. It was as if those people never existed—a mere illusion without a trace.”
“I checked as well. Same result.”
I gave a wry smile.
“That’s exactly the late emperor for you.”
Father’s information network—or rather, intelligence network—was so formidable that knowing this only made me want to build my own.
I glanced briefly at the status display at the corner of my vision.
――――――――――――
Name: Noah Alarate
Governor of Enlil Province
Gender: Male
Level: 33 / ∞
HP: stamina ss (triple s rank) Fire ss (triple s rank)
MP: mp sss Water ss (triple s rank)
Strength ss (double s rank) Wind ss (double s rank)
Stamina ss (triple s rank) Earth ss (double s rank)
Intelligence ss (double s rank) Light ss (double s rank)
Spirit ss (triple s rank) Darkness ss (double s rank)
Speed ss (double s rank)
Dexterity ss (double s rank)
Luck ss (double s rank)
――――――――――――
I’ve come to ignore this status display in the corner of my vision recently.
After Father passed and I took control of the empire, two changes happened.
One was all statuses becoming SSS rank.
The other was the removal of the “+” sign.
The “+” had been there since birth, increasing as humans joined my ranks.