Chapter 168

Hadrian was a prodigy in administration and economics whom Jeilliris favored even more than Helena before the regression.

From his seated position, he could discern the state of all things through mere documents, and by the mere scent of ink, he could detect whether someone was tampering with affairs or not.

While it would be a lie to say that his noble lineage did not influence him becoming the Minister of Finance in his thirties before the regression, even if he had been born the son of a serf, he could have still entered the imperial treasury.

“…So, there’s a need for space around the Street of Learning now. By any chance, are there any plots of land or open areas nearby?”

He neatly styled his white hair grown out over a few months into a short ponytail, wore stylish glasses framed with ox horn, and greeted me with a slightly fawning smile on his blue eyes.

Judging from his leg shaking, he seemed somewhat uneasy, and the moment I entered, he had an expression as if he had been caught in something. Seeing him now, he looked somewhat relieved as if he had done something dirty to me, but since I didn’t feel any harm, I decided to overlook it for now.

Hadrian, while putting on his suit jacket, spoke to his senior finance officials.

“Senior sir, as His Majesty’s advisor has arrived, I will briefly use the third conference room.”

The finance officials, all elites from the nobility of the court, nodded their heads in fear as soon as they saw me.

After guiding me to the conference room, Hadrian said from outside the door.

“I’ll be getting some documents from the related departments. Wait a moment.”

As I sat in the conference room which could accommodate about ten people for ten minutes, I heard something rolling down the corridor.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

The sound of tens of footsteps accompanied it.

I wondered if the Imperial Palace’s Treasury was under attack and placed my hand on the hilt of the Black Tear, but then the conference room door suddenly opened, and high administrative officers in their forties and fifties flooded in.

They all wore white wigs, splendid suits, carried expensive briefcases, and their eyes gleamed with vigor and madness.

Though not dignitaries, they all were upper-level administrative nobles with significant authority.

“Hadrian, what is the matter?”

To a senior administrative official, he handed over a map and pinned it on the board before answering.

“The senior officials from related government departments are here. Seeing that you’ve come all the way here, it appears to be an important matter. Rather than getting permits here and paperwork there, it would be much better to handle everything in one place, so I’ve brought them.”

I lightly glanced over their faces.

They were the elites that maintained the nation’s structure while the Emperor and Dukes had left the capital for war and feasts during the time before the regression.

“Very well. I appreciate all of you taking the time.”

I stood up from my seat, gave them a light bow, and signaled Hadrian with my eyes.

“Let’s begin.”

…

Could a man be like this?

Philip, an administrative officer in his forties and father of two, thought so.

He, too, was of noble birth with mixed-race heritage, but the royal family undoubtedly exuded a different level of presence.

The common people were intimidated by Valenciaunos’ golden eyes, his neatly parted white hair, and his gaunt cheeks, but in Philip’s view, that impression came from those who hadn’t yet met Valenciaunos.

Philip felt Valenciaunos’ aura and presence in his pristine white uniform.

Unlike his reputation as a ruffian, his attire was always ready as if for an audience with the Emperor. His neatly tailored shoulders, his pants with stylishly drawn-out creases, the stiff collar protecting his neck, and the brooch that showed no fingerprints—Philip could imagine how he was making the maids work hard and how meticulous he must be to maintain such an appearance.

Of course, in reality, this was all because of Rudi and the maids he had hired, but misconceptions were permissible.

‘With someone this meticulous in action, we can expect everything to be handled thoroughly. To keep from breaking down at His Majesty’s level, we need to maintain proper conduct.’

‘Apologies for troubling all of you.’

‘Is that a look of sympathy you just gave me? Is this an early apology before eliminating everyone in sight?’

Hadrian’s thoughts weren’t much different either.

‘I need to focus. I don’t want to be sealed in a monastery for my entire life.”

He had recently submitted a report, and the Minister of Finance, who highly valued the effort, bestowed him with a dedicated desk.

The Ministry boldly utilized Valenciaunos’ name to implement policies and received all the blame.

Hadrian swallowed a lump in his throat while looking at the map and continued his explanation.

“Valenciaunos, the Street of Learning is located in the northeastern part of the capital.”

“Yeah?”

“There’s no space to the north, but from underneath the Street of Learning to beside the east gate of the capital, there are scattered open spaces. If we could consolidate all these lands to redirect towards the Street of Learning, the space issue could be resolved neatly.”

“If we call in the palace nobles who own buildings in the academic district and get them to approve some expansions, we could surely resolve the space issue properly.”

A sadistic smile lit up Valenciaunos’ cruel eyes.

However, Hadrian did not relax his heart, and as expected, Valenciaunos also had not finished his questioning.

“If there are scattered open spaces, then why weren’t they dealt with earlier? It’s not like we didn’t know about them, right?”

The administrative nobles exchanged uneasy glances for a moment.

It was a truly embarrassing explanation to give in front of the royal family, but it was a desperate situation as the high officials from related departments were all present.

‘You explain it. You’re in charge of urban planning.’

‘You explain it. You’re in charge of population inflow control.’

‘You explain it. You’re in charge of the merchant’s association.’

‘You explain it. You’re in charge of the slums.’

Messages were exchanged solely through their gazes, and in the end, Philip took one step forward.

“Your Majesty. Originally, the area northeast of the canal was the warehouse district.”

” Warehouse district?”

This was the first Valenciaunos had heard of it.

“Indeed. Large warehouses where goods transported through the canal from outside the capital were stored gathered there.”

“In that case, we should meet with the merchants.”

“However, during the redevelopment that took place several times under the late emperor, the warehouses were moved, and naturally, porters and low-level laborers of the capital gathered in the area.”

Valenciaunos immediately understood this was an issue tangled with jurisdictional rights.

“Does the merchants’ guild still hold the rights to the land, even on paper?”

“Indeed, they do. Contracts remain, some for as short as five years but others up to ten. Furthermore, the porters have lived there for decades, and the area has long been stabilized as a residential zone, making it problematic to demolish.”

Valenciaunos acknowledged it reasonably.

No matter how much administrative officers acted like gears, you can’t expect them to issue eviction notices overnight to people who have lived in those places for decades.

But he was different.

“Even though it might be difficult, it has to be done. We’ll have to set fires again, it seems.”

“Valenciaunos!”

“Hadrian, space is needed anyway. If the high nobles come, their guards can’t all stay in hotels, and they won’t bring in such large numbers to begin with.”

“We’ve also thought about it. We need to clear some space.”

“Clear? Tell me how.”

Hadrian was also someone who worked like a machine, not overly sympathetic if people got caught in the gears.

However, even for someone who planned to burn a street and reorganize it, it was too much to simply nod in agreement.

Hadrian drew diagrams on the board with the senior official from the Department of Land.

“Ultimately, land is key. Houses can be erected quickly. We can consolidate the open spaces and the old warehouse buildings together. We can compensate with equivalent land.”

“Hmm.”

Valenciaunos grinned like a cruel and lazy cat.

His colorless face with luminous yellow eyes stood out.

And Hadrian continued, chalk still in hand.

“Moreover, if the nobles’ guards come in and the army is stationed within the capital, the manpower to serve them will also be essential. All the porters and laborers can be recruited on-site, creating jobs.”

“Good, understood.”

“And I don’t recommend you getting directly involved in this situation.”

“Why?”

“Recently, your reputation… it has really hit rock bottom.”

Hadrian didn’t explicitly say that this was his fault.

“Until now, it was brushed off as your personal misconduct, but going further, it might spread dissatisfaction to the entire royal household. Yes, I get it. You can probably massacre thousands of commoners with just a wave of your hand now. But with high nobles coming soon, we can’t allow the capital to have such a menacing atmosphere.”

Valenciaunos nodded again.

“In that case, we’ll secretly set fire.”

Hadrian shook his head.

“Not exactly. We’ll call the church. By making an excuse about searching for infiltrators, people in the street can be evicted. The buildings can be demolished while people are out. It’s the most civil way.”

Valenciaunos nodded.

It was truly a satisfied smile.

Hadrian was an extraordinary figure who maintained the administration of the empire before the regression.

He wasn’t entirely sure if he still trusted Hadrian or not.

But Hadrian had proved himself.

The evidence was in the camaraderie-filled gazes of the surrounding administrative nobles towards him.

“In that case, I’ll visit the Saint again.”

…

“Valenciaunos has appeared!”

“Capture him!”

In the early evening when the heat had somewhat subsided, purification soldiers and Holy Knights gathered in the lawn within the cathedral compound.

The infamous, great Duke with white hair and golden eyes who had abducted the Saint twice had audaciously shown up.

“Why do you come to this sacred place?”

“To kick someone out, perhaps?”

Holy Knight Angelo blocked Valenciaunos with fiery eyes.

His eyes were burning with divine power, clear as daylight.

“Pathetic insects.”

Valenciaunos deflected the spear tips thrust at him by the church purification soldiers with his hands covered in dark-red scales.

The spear tips, empowered by the priests’ blessings, burned the scales but broke while doing so, making the purification soldiers stiffen and thrust their spears forward once again.

Valenciaunos shrugged and smirked.

“I’ve come to see the Saint and to confess.”

“Confess? You?”

Angelo couldn’t believe his ears, and Valenciaunos pushed through the forest of spears, whispering near Angelo.

“Better bring the Saint here sooner. I need the church’s help. If the church doesn’t support me, I might have to set fire to several thousand people.”

“…”

Shaking his whole body, Angelo glanced towards the cathedral.

It was often said that the baser tactic wins a fight.

“All units, lower your weapons.”

Without a private meeting, Valenciaunos soon met with Matthew, surrounded by many Holy Knights and combat priests.

“Saint, I’m glad to see your complexion bright and healthy. As a devoted follower, I am overjoyed.”

“Lord Duke looks tired as well, undoubtedly working hard for the Empire every day.”

Matthew, with his stern and profound face twisted, still successfully exchanged greetings with this audacious duke.

He had informed Argos previously that the royal court seemed to be using infiltrators for political means.

He desperately wanted to ask Valenciaunos.

‘If I hadn’t cast the Veil over the entire city that day, what did you intend to do about the remaining infiltrators? You surely planned to exterminate them on the spot.’

Looking at the small group he brought, his inadequate armed force against infiltrators and, decisively, his sparse luggage, Matthew thought.

“Saint, we need the church’s help. We must clear out the people from these streets for the search for infiltrators.”

Valenciaunos declared firmly.

Matthew internally sighed deeply.

This shameless and crafty man was trying to entrap the church using proper arguments.

“How could we turn away from greater good and our missions? We’ll send Holy…”

“No, just a few purification soldiers will suffice.”

“What?”

The Saint expressed his surprise on his sharply sculpted face.

“There won’t be any infiltrators there. It’s a smokescreen to create space. So,…”

Listening to Valenciaunos’ continued explanation, Matthew clenched his teeth.

He desperately wanted to shout at him to leave right away.

‘He was surely going to use the infiltrators. I have to pass the bill. We cannot leave everything in the hands of secular rulers like him. Though I don’t aim for conflict like Bishop Paolavan does, we must take more action. We should issue church orders…’

But in the end, he nodded in agreement.

“The reason being, if you don’t send forces, I will have to. I’ll ride Wyverns and spew flames in the sky.”

That phrase, uttered calmly, was enough to make Matthew give in.