He Died and Receive an Overpowered Tyrant System

The Duke's Rage

As Nicholas briefly deliberated with Ernest about how the infiltration group progressed, Ernest clicked his tongue, smashed the table bluntly, displeased at what he had just heard.

"What? How can they be so that stupid?? Didn't I tell you before that they should not get involved with the people there? The mission was compromised!! They were exposed!" Ernest threw his hands up in exasperation.

"But Volksfuhrer, the reason they did that is because of the harsh punishment delivered to the girl...forty slashes just because the hem of her dress...it was too much."

"I understand their reason...but it was supposed to be an espionage, not a rescue mission…" Ernest countered, "I admit, I too was infuriated on how Duke Gustave governed his dominion…"

'Shit...Gustave is more tyrant than me…'

The beautification decree, harsh punishment to those who violated the law, the whole shebang. But Ernest didn't expect the infiltration group to react softly to the circumstances. They were supposed to give him intel about Duke Gustave and yet they saved a little girl, jeopardizing the mission in the process, and one of his men getting thrown to jail in doing so.

Also, the fact that the infiltration group suggested the citizens of Yutia seek refuge or asylum here...It was just mistake after mistake.

"Volksfuhrer, I haven't told you the good news yet."

"Good news? Is there good news? Tell me where exactly the good news at your report."

"I wasn't finished, Volksfuhrer. Perhaps you can calm yourself first." Louis suggested.

Ernest breathed deeply, calming his nerves, infuriated at the fact the mission turned out to fail...or so he thought.

"As we speak, Mike, who we sent with Jasper and Saiki, told us that there is a rebel group in Gustave's dominion called Red Brigades."

Ernest's eyes furrowed after hearing that. "Where's the good news there?"

"Well, it seems like the rebel group wants to ally with UNSP to overthrow the duke from power. They said and I quote "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Nicholas said and continued. "Jasper, who they caught from saving the girl, was freed."

"Hmm, Red Brigade was it? They want to ally with us...okay, I get it...I understand. But the problem is our vision is way more beyond that. The UNSP does not stop after dealing with Duke Gustave...we extend further…"

"I understand where you're getting to, Volksfuhrer. But they seem to have a load of information about Duke Gustave and they had written it perfectly in this letter."

Nicholas pulled out a letter from beneath his uniform and gave it to Ernest.

Ernest tore off the seal and opened it, after that, he perused the contents. While reading the contents, Ernest asked Nicholas.

"Where did you receive this mail?"

"It was from Saiki sir, she's in the city now, want me to hail her here?"

"No there's no need for that…"

As he almost finished reading the letter, Ernest's eyes widened. It was crucial information he desperately needed. He faced Nicholas.

"You said that Saiki is here right?"

"Yes sir."

"Then I want her to convey a message to Mike to recall and get back to this city, as soon as possible."

…

The same day, in the evening.

"It's magnificent! Its beauty stirs my very soul!"

The Gustave domain was home to the office of the Warden of the North. There, enshrined in the palace, was a gold statue glimmering beautifully in the bright torchlight. A majestic middle-aged man with long red hair and an impressive beard, Elm Gustave, the Duke of the Western Region shed tears of joy as he beheld the sight of the monument.

He sighed feverishly as he spoke. "Immortalizing His Grace in bronze and stone? That would be inexcusable. But a statue of pure gold is just the thing to cement the king's authority in the minds of the people…"

"I've already talked to Count Blumund about having it placed in the royal capital's central gardens, milord. As soon as we transport it there, it'll be installed in the middle of the main fountain. If it pleases you, I have a concept sketch here."

As Gustave trembled on his knees before the statue, his secretary, a short, older man named Pierre stepped into the shadow Gustave cast in the light of the flame and gave his report in a high, nasally voice. The man handed his lord a rolled-up piece of paper.

Gustave unfurled it and nodded in satisfaction. "Marvelous work. Count Brumund is hailed as the most stylish man in the kingdom, so I knew I could count on him...Have the means of transport been arranged?"

"Yes, Your Grace. As you know, a statue of pure gold is too heavy for horses and cattles, or dragons to pull. I was thinking that we might use elephants."

"What's an 'elephant'?"

"A beast we've been importing alongside the slaves from Eastern Poreue Continent. They used to live in the southern parts of the kingdom as well but were wiped out due to the high demand for ivory. Their bodies are massive, and they boast such strength that some natives even ride them into battle. A team of four such creatures should be sufficient to carry the statue to the capital."

"So...feral horses?"

Gustave wasn't exactly pleased with having creatures like that to be the ones to transport the physical symbol of his loyalty. At the same time, however, it seemed somewhat fitting to have the statue extolling the king's authority carried by a beast belonging to the tribes the king himself was in the process of subjugating. The two contradictory thoughts clashed within the Duke, but he eventually gave his decision.

"Very well. However. I place a little faith in those savage creatures. I want a troop guarding the statue during transport, and I demand their utmost vigilance. If it suffers so much as a single scratch, every one of those soldiers and families are to be executed...Am I understood?"

"Absolutely, Your Grace. I will be sure to impress them with gravity of their task."

"Hmph. One other thing, Pierre."

"Yes, Your Grace?"

Gustave had called out to his manservant as the latter was preparing to leave. The duke spoke in the same voice he might have used to demand a glass of water.

"I hereby commission four more identical statues, one to be installed in each of the kingdom's cardinal wards. Start procuring gold at once."

However, the man's request was downright insane.

"Wh…?! F-Four more statues, a-all pure gold, Your Grace?!"

"For the time being. When all is said and done, I aim to have one in every domain in the kingdom so as to remind the commoners who is it they serve."

Pierre's face turned pale as sweat began trickling down his face.

"N-Not gilded, but...solid gold?!"

"Naturally. I will not stand for gilding or other such deception when it comes to the manifestation of my undying loyalty! Or, perhaps, are you suggesting that my devotion itself is gilded, merely surface deep?"

As Gustave glowered at him, Pierre instinctively dropped to one knee and bowed.

"N-N-No, Your Grace! I-I know full well that your loyalty to His Majesty is beyond reproach. H-However, if I may offer my humble opinion, making these single gold statues has placed a heavy burden upon the people within your domain. I have heard that it's not uncommon for your people to eat the flesh of the travelers or relatives to stave off starvation...If we were to try and create four more statues while they are in that state, then…"

"My people will perish?"

"Y-Yes, Your Grace."

"That is fine."

"What?!"

Pierre's eyes went wide. That wasn't the reaction he'd expected.

However, Gustave didn't pay Pierre's surprise the slightest bit of attention. He merely gazed reverently at the statue he spoke.

"Knights prove their loyalty to His Majesty through deeds of arms. Nobles prove their loyalty to His Majesty through proper governance of the lands they're entrusted with. So how then, do lowborn peasants prove their loyalty? There is but one answer: through dying for His Majesty."

"Wha…?!"

"It's for his sake that they must wear fineries and keep their towns resplendent despite their poverty. Proper expression of gratitude toward the king demands that they must wear perpetual smiles despite their misery. That is how the peasantry must comport themselves. The fact that it's wrung from their bodies is what gives the statue's gold its meaning."

As far as Gustave was concerned, gold was little more than lumps of glittering clay. It had no intrinsic difference from inferior materials like bronze and stone. However, the gold he had used for the statue was no ordinary metal. It had been metaphorically scraped off the peasant's bones, making it the crystallization of their lifeblood."

"This statue is imbued with the devotion of all who dwell within my lands. That's why it's able to serve as a symbol of my loyalty to His Majesty. Do you understand now, Pierre?"

Gustave's black gaze drifted toward the servant. Pierre quivered internally.

There was no hint of sycophancy, vanity, or self-interest in Gustav obsidian eyes. The only thing glimmering in their depths was a nigh-boyish sense of unconditional devotion to the emperor.

"It is as you say, Your Grace…" As he acquiesced out of fear, Pierre found his convictions reaffirmed.

This man's loyalty is unquestionable. Duke Gustave doesn't have a selfish bone in his body. Just an unflagging willingness to give his all for the king. Beautifying the domain, building gold statues...It's all solely for His Majesty's sake. If His Majesty told him to die, Gustave would surely kill himself with a smile on his face.

Between the duke's mentality and his steadfast devotion, none could be better described as heroic than he.

But as a leader, he's the greatest fool there is.

If things continue as they were, the Gustave domain would be in ruins in the next few years. With their tax base eviscerated, the nobles would be unable to maintain their lifestyle. If the man remained in charge any longer, everyone would be ruined. Gustave's grotesque devotion would be the death of commoners and nobles alike.

'We of the Red Brigade needed to carry out our plan, and soon...But to do that, we must have a way to deal with the Treasured Spear. As long as it's converges, trying to destroy it is futile. If only there were some way.'

As Pierre pondered his secret treachery, a voice stirred him from his reverie.

"Now, something else concerns me, Pierre." Gustave went ahead and changed the subject.

Terrified that he'd been found out, Pierre piped up with a shrill, startled.

"Yes, Your Grace?

Fortunately for him though…

"Has the rebellion in Eighbury been suppressed yet?"

...What Gustave wanted to talk about had nothing to do with his secretary's secret.

Pierre breathed an internal sigh of relief as he gave his answer.

"Sir! Once winter is over and the path for our army clears, 50,000 troops are ready to descend upon Eighbury."

They were making full use of the time before the war started to get their supply lines up and running. Marquess Leonhard and Brachride had been renowned masterful generals during the Crentis-Elba war and Human Coalition Forces - Crentis War, and it was clear why. Pierre went on, laying out their troops' movements while praising Brachride for his superb leadership of the domain's unified forces. Or, rather, that's what the servant tried to do.

However…

"Perhaps I misheard you."

At Gustave's interjection, Pierre went silent. The Duke's statement and the tone in which he made it sent a chill down the man's spine. Gustave's voice was a blade of ice. Pierre could practically feel the air around him freeze, crack, and shatter into tiny fragments. The secretive conspirator had a nasty feeling about this.

"After winter? After winter? Did you say after winter? You mean to tell me that Brachride and Leonhard haven't marched yet?"

"Huh? No, sir…"

"So you're telling me we have allowed those pests to trample over His Majesty's sacred land for over four months?!"

Actually, it was just one month as he had just learned of the existence of the UNSP last month.

"Yeeeeeeeek!!!" Pierre's fears had been instantly confirmed.

Gustave bellowed in rage, lashing out around himself as he clawed at his scalp and ripped out his hair. "Such...such utter disgrace! Such utter ineptitude! His Majesty entrusted me with these western regions! How could I let those insects fester for an entire month?! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

When his shriek reached its climax, he knelt before the gold statue, placed his hands on the ground...and smashed his head to the ground.

"Y-Your Grace?!"

"My deep apologies, Your Majeeeeesty!!! I'm an inept fool! H-how can I ever atone for this?!...GRAAAAAAHHHH"

It wasn't just once, either, In a display of utter mercilessness, Gustave brought his forehead to bear on the stone floor over and over again as he wailed. Even as his skin tore and blood pooled on the ground, he refused to stop.

Pierre could no longer comprehend his behavior.

Eventually, Gustave stopped slamming his head and called for his manservant. "...Pierre."

"Y-Yes, Your Grace?"

"Bring me the Divine Spear of Fiery Heavens from my bedchamber…"

Pierre found himself unable to hide his shock…

"Y-You really mean to use the Treasured Spear now…?!"

"ARE YOU DEAF?, YOU IMBECILE?! I SAID BRING IT HERE!!!!"

"R-Right away, Your Grace."