"But as big as my earning, I think the earning of an entire Empire is much bigger than mine."
Edeline nodded. "The tax we got from merchants and nobles do sum up into a significant amount."
"I figure so. My companies paid a lot of taxes."
Edeline giggled. "Should I revoke the tax for your companies?"
"No need to do that. Besides, the money will be used for the improvement of the Empire anyway. How's our corruption rate anyway?"
"It should be low by now. But to keep things in control, a little corruption is necessary."
"How necessary?"
"Very necessary. Everyone only cared about themselves, Aldred. Who give a damn about the lives of peasants when you can enjoy expensive wine and huge mansion? This is what is in their mind. A lot of them don't have the interest of the Empire."
"Can't we remove this people?"
"Sadly, no. Although they are corrupt, they also had the competence to back it up. Think of the money they stole as bonuses for their skills instead."
"They better not take too much."
Aldred said that statement with great killing intent. In fact, since he was now Diamond Rank, his aura could permeate into the astral dimension and this made all the corrupted officials to produce cold sweat.
They did not know what just happened, but for some reason, their heart is telling them to reduce the amount of money they were about to steal.
Not only that, they also had an urge to initiate a project to better improve the lives of the locals.
This made everyone shocked. What had came to these corrupted officials? A lot of people knew they only cared for themselves, but all of a sudden, they became a saint.
With their intellect and competence, so much things were built, water filtration system, waste management system, pest control system, and everything else were created. They even proposed a mandatory workout routine for every able citizen.
Aldred saw all of these amazing proposals and was elated.
Edeline was also impressed by this.
"A thousand mind is so much better than one. We can't think all of this by ourselves. Only with the collective mind power of the entire Empire could we be better than everyone else," Aldred said.
For the next few days, so much construction project happened all around the empire. Millions of worker golems tireless working day and night. No one had ever seen something like this before. Golems require a huge amount of energy to sustain. Only a very rich figure could create an army of golems.
So it was impossible to see golems working on mere construction job.
Aldred's companies also had never received any order from the peasants since they were too poor to afford his service. Only nobles, merchants, and sometimes adventurer asked for his service.
He thought it was fine though. He believed he was the robin hood, taking money from the rich, and then giving it to the poor, except this time, the way he did it was completely legal.
Of course he did not want to simply give people money. He wanted them to be self-sufficient.
That was what the education system is for. Hopefully, with the knowledge they earned from it, they could create or do something useful.
Just as Aldred and Edeline worked on to reform the entire Empire, a shocking news came like a train.
The Republic of Selia had conquered its western side. The Grand Duchy of Erachinia, Principality of Lahland, and the Principality of Aliravilia were all taken over.
Now The Republic of Selia bordered with Yevileria which was Tarrar's home town and the former place for the company's headquarter.
If Selia manage to conquer Yevileria, the republic will be bordered with the Ceraisian Empire.
Selia was one of the strongest nation in this continent, rivaling Duria, and the Ceraisian Empire. Duria was close to Ceraisian Empire but the ocean and the nation of Torvenia kept the two afar.
Now if Selia were to be nearby, Ceraisian Empire could fight against two behemoths at once.
"Let them come if they are so brave," Aldred said.
"No, Aldred, you don't understand. You will not only fight Diamond Ranks, but also their secret weapons. This isn't like the civil war where only Diamond Ranks fight against each other. Every nation has a secret weapon."
"That also mean we have one, right?"
"We do, but we can't fight against two at once."
"Isn't the Holy State of Montcresia our ally now? Can't we ask for their assistance?"
"My only alliance with them is to keep peace between the both of us. I don't think they will help us with a war."
"In that case, I will infiltrate and destroy their weapons."
"I don't think we have someone with that capabilities."
"Yes we do. Me."
"Not this time. It's too risky. You will be fighting inside enemy territory. I can't send my forces to you in a short time frame."
"You don't have to send any help."
"You are now the Emperor Aldred. As a ruler, you shouldn't be fighting in the front line."
Aldred smiled. "That's not how I do it."
"We should think about this more after your coronation."
"We should postpone my coronation. I don't want a war knocking on our door the moment I will be coronated."
"No. The coronation comes first. We can think about the war later."
Aldred was confused. "Why?"
"The Throne can't be kept empty for long, Aldred. Someone has to fill it."
"Alright."
For the next few weeks, Edeline and the others continued to prepare for his coronation. But she also sent more spies all over the continent to keep a lookout for the enemies.
Aldred also ordered his golems in all over the continent to sent valuable information.
For the next few weeks, they found out that Duria had been building a new type of super weapon. They didn't know what was it exactly, but its existence should be noted with caution.
The Republic of Selia was still cleaning their territories of rebels and riots. They also conquered nearby villages with their powerful armies.
Since Republic of Selia did not have any agreement on his golem companies, he sold the golems to the rebel forces at a cheap price, letting them fight back and even took some territories.
The battle went back and forth, but Aldred just want to buy more time to gather information. He did not care the losses on both sides incurred.
The Yevileria Tribal Union also saw this threat and they stopped fighting against the winged-man race.
Aldred's help manage to slow Selia's advancement, but the enemy quickly increased their army and managed to push through.
Aldred retaliated by sending more golems for the rebel forces to buy. The rebel forces didn't even have to use money to buy his golem. A simple paper of agreement to let him collect local resources was enough, and the rebel forces was more than glad to give it to him since they couldn't even protect those local resources alone anyway.
The Republic of Selia was of course enraged by this blatant retaliation from the golem companies.
All of this news were ignored however, because today was Aldred's coronation day.
