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It might seem slightly cliché, but the Empire’s Dukes that appeared throughout the 300 years of history were all remarkable figures. They either had extraordinary personal abilities, wielded great influence, or possessed both. All five current Dukes belong to this last group. The Empire’s future was certainly bright.

As the Executive Manager of the Prosecutor’s Office, I was a direct subordinate of the Emperor, so I’d met the Dukes many times compared to other Civil Servants. Maybe it was because we shared being used by the Emperor, but my luck was certainly terrible.

Anyways.

This wasn’t a situation where I was summoned by a Duke to the capital, but a case of me going to the Duke’s territory. This was too sudden and unexpected even to Marghetta and the other Student Council members.

“This is a document sent by the Duchy of Boyar.”

“Can I take a look?”

“Of course.”

As she agreed, I started reading it. A document sent by the Duchy of Boyar. No, more precisely, a document full of the Gold Duke’s will.

‘It’s amazing how consistent he is.’

I felt at ease after reading the document. As the nickname Gold Duke implied, the Gold Duke was a noble obsessed with money. If he smiled, it was because he’d make a huge profit. And if he moved, it was to make a profit.

In that sense, the reason why the field trip’s location was set to Boyar was simple. He said he’d built a new resort in the Duchy of Boyar, so he wanted to promote the newly built resort and revitalize the local economy with noble students.

“It’s indeed the Gold Duke I know.”

“Right? It’s reassuring to see that he hasn’t changed.”

The Duchy of Boyar was already famous as a resort, and it was one of the economic centers. It wasn’t some random rural area, so it was a place where the students would like to go.

“I wanted to go somewhere close, but it didn’t work.”

I could feel the fatigue in Marghetta’s voice, who did her best to talk brightly.

There were two victims of this field trip. The first was me, who wanted to avoid the Dukes as much as possible. And the second was the members of the Student Council, who had to make a schedule to move hundreds of students and Academy staff. For the Student Council, who wanted to go to a reasonably close area, this must have felt like lightning on a clear day.

Considering the character of the Gold Duke, the Academy probably had received some help from him, so the Student Council now had to pay. Even if a Duke’s daughter was standing as the Vice President, there was nothing she could do against a Duke.

“If there’s anything I can do, I’ll help.”

“Fufu, thank you. I’m going to call you at any time, so be prepared.”

A familiar energy momentarily appeared in Marghetta’s eyes as she made a faint smile. It was the eyes of a poor Civil Servant who was forced to drift from the original plan because of a superior’s will.

‘A Duke’s daughter as a Civil Servant.’

I felt a mixture of novelty and pity. After all, she was going through suffering and pain she didn’t need to endure. If one of the Managers had been in this situation, I would have patted their shoulder.

Marghetta, who tilted her head at my stare, looked pitiful today.

It seemed like the location of the field trip would be publicly announced today.

***

“It’s my first time going to the sea!”

“Really?”

I nodded at the excited-looking Louise. To see her so happy at the mere sight of the ocean was a bit naive, but it’s understandable upon considering the territory of the Empire.

The territory was incredibly big, but the only means of transportation was a carriage.

Of course, there was teleportation. However, it wasn’t something anyone could use. That’s why most people inland don’t see the sea throughout their lifetime.

“Well. It’s hard to see the sea unless you really need to. I’ve also never been there.”

“Me neither. What a coincidence.”

I heard information I really wasn’t interested in. Erich was a guy who’d stayed in our territory, while Tannian had grown in the Holy Kingdom, which was an inland territory. Ainter, who was silent, had spent most of his life inside the Palace.

“So none of us have been there?”

“I’ve been to the sea before. Although it was to check the areas hit by a tsunami.”

“Does work count? I’ve been there for a union meeting.”

It seemed like the two Princes had been dragged around for business matters. I might forget it, but those two were members of royal families, so them having international activities was inevitable. The weird one here was Ainter, who couldn’t leave the Palace.

After hearing Rutis and Lather, Louise’s gaze turned toward me.

“I’ve also been there because of work.”

It was obvious what question she would ask, so I answered beforehand. The Sea? Yes. I’ve been to the sea numerous times because of work. The most memorable incident was when I chased some smugglers who were trying to traffic forbidden goods out of the country. It was a fun game of tag that covered all corners of the Empire.

Eventually, we couldn’t stop them from boarding a ship, so we sank their ship along with them. The thought of valuable goods sinking to the bottom of the sea was frustrating. Of course, the smugglers deserved it; they would’ve faced execution even if we’d captured them alive.

“So it’s everyone’s first time going for fun, right?”

Louise started rummaging through her bag and pulled something out. It was a thin booklet with a blue cover.

“Ta-da! It’s the Boyar Duchy’s pamphlet!”

‘Why is that here?’

While I was feeling confused, Erich solved my curiosity.

“A pamphlet? Where did you get it from?”

“I saw them at the library with Irina last week. There were lots of them.”

No matter how you look at it, they had deliberately stocked the Academy’s library with these booklets in preparation for the school trip. It’s a way for students to be better informed about what’s available in Boyar before they arrive and to plan where they’ll spend their money.

What a person…

Since hundreds of noble guests would flock, he probably didn’t want things to go to waste.

The Gold Duke is seriously something else.

“Oh, so there’s something like that too.”

“Knowing about a place before going on a trip isn’t bad.”

The sight of five men rushing toward Louise as soon as they had an excuse to get closer was quite pathetic.

Wasn’t it too much for six people to read a small booklet?

“The Boyar’s Duchy is located on the southern coast of the Empire and has been a prosperous center of maritime trade since the Apels era.”

Just as I was about to tell them to move away, Louise’s voice rang out. She began reading it.

After hearing Louise’s reading session, I realized that those guys weren’t interested in the content. Even Villar would probably give the same answer. Even though she was reading, they were just blatantly staring at her.

“The development of vacation facilities began two generations ago…”

I felt sorry for the hardworking Louise. She looked like a kindergarten teacher reading a book to five immature kids. Kids usually fall asleep when they read a book to them. What were these five guys doing?

I silently looked at them when I saw Erich. He had a bright expression on his face. That dumbass. You should’ve offered to read it or brought more things from the library.

‘Is there a sixth one?’

Recently, I’ve been asking that. There were five of them, yet none seemed to be able to make proper progress. Was this right? Was there a sixth person I wasn’t aware of? Would things progress if someone could make them feel a sense of crisis? But if someone else joined, that meant I had one more headache.

While I was grappling with this serious dilemma, the miraculously attended reading session momentarily stopped. Even though someone was speaking, there seemed to be no one listening.

“The continent’s best casino?”

It seemed like our pure, noble lady felt awkward at the appearance of the casino. She blinked several times and turned her gaze toward me. She looked flustered.

“All sorts of nobles gather at the resort, so the income can be quite good if someone sets up a proper casino.”

“Really?”

She awkwardly laughed while saying that, but I could feel her rejection of the word ‘casino.’

‘She really grew up innocently.’

Was it because the original author was a modern person? This world’s perception of gambling wasn’t good despite the background of this world being medieval Europe. Thanks to this, someone so naive among the nobles was born.

And in reality, the Boyar Duchy’s casino wasn’t a place that operated proudly. That place was just an ATM of the royal family.

‘I’ve also used it, too.’

Occasionally, some Civil Servants who went to the Boyar region for a business trip won some money at the casino. However, casinos were fundamentally designed for the house to win; the customers almost always end up losing.

So, loyal nobles who serve the Emperor go there, lose some money, and that money ends up with the Emperor. And a portion of the money that goes to the Emperor gets allocated as special budgets for the Special Service Agency or the Prosecutor’s Office. Part of that becomes my salary, which I then go and lose at the casino…

What the hell? This circular economy sounded weird. I’m not sure if I’m losing my money at the casino or whether I was returning something that wasn’t mine in the first place.

“There are many other places you can enjoy besides that, so don’t worry about it.”

I quickly added that in case these guys also got caught in the strange cycle I’d fallen into. I received a salary or budget at least. If these guys lost at the casino, that was the end of it.

“Yes. I’m planning to go to the beach.”

“If it’s the sea, one should definitely go to the beach.”

“Right? I’m looking forward to it.”

Judging by their reactions, there was no need to worry. More than that, why was that bastard Erich kept saying ‘of course’ about a beach he hadn’t even been to?

“Woah. It seems like there are many unique fruits.”

As Louise’s reading session started again, I quickly fiddled with the communication crystal in my pocket. The students might be excited, but for adults dealing with various matters, there was a lot to prepare for.

Just considering what’s immediately apparent, we needed to send high-ranking officials to the far southern edge of the Empire, not close to the Academy. This meant that the joint forces of the three countries must travel quite a distance. It’s a situation where the Boyar Duchy had to allow the forces of the three countries to enter.

‘The world outside the Academy is a dangerous place.’

The idea of going somewhere else was wrong from the beginning. Shouldn’t we avoid sending the students out to dangerous places?