I'm In Love With The Villainess Volume 3

Volume 3 Chapter 10 The Imperial Academy: Part 1

The Imperial Academy

THE NUR EMPIRE lay to the east of the Bauer Kingdom, Sousse to the south, the Alpes to the west, and the Loro Empire separated from the Alpes by a desert even farther west than that.

This meant that, of the countries participating in the proposed three- nation alliance, the Bauer Kingdom sat closest to the Nur Empire. In turn, we faced the highest risk.

Of course, I didn't think for a second that Manaria who had proposed the alliance would hang us out to dry, but the dog-eat- dog world of diplomacy didn't allow for personal feelings. No matter what Manaria herself wanted, Sousse had its own agenda as a country.

The same went for the Bauer Kingdom. We had every right to refuse the empire's peace treaty, form the three-nation alliance, and confront Nur directly. But such a decision could not be considered sound, at least not with the kingdom's current need for resources. We had no choice but to take abstance of peace, even if only temporarily.

Shrewd Nur noticed this weakness in the three-nation alliance and took advantage.

That being said, while the empire was indeed a thorn in the kingdom's side, not many Bauer citizens actually understood anything about it. The layperson on the street would likely describe it as a dictatorship that exploited its people and only used its budget on military spending. But reality had a way of surprising you.

"The empire is...not quite what I expected." Claire gawked in surprise at the streets around her. "The city's so lively, and there's hardly a soldier to be seen."

We had arrived in Ruhm, the Imperial Capital of the Nur Empire, and were making our way to the Imperial Castle on foot after leaving the carriage.

"Well, this street runs through the central market. If the central market wasn't doing this well, I doubt the empire would have the leeway to even think about waging war," I said.

The city teemed with life no matter where you looked. Citizens thronged around us, gleefully touting their wares or shopping for goods. The lines of stalls sold not only imports from abroad but also the local specialty goods of the many countries annexed by the empire.

"Wow... I've never seen so many different people in one place. I've never even seen some of these hair colors and skin tones in Bauer. And as far as I can tell, not one person is enslaved. Everyone treats everyone else as free citizens," Claire said.

This was a new sight for me as well, who'd formerly lived in Japan, a largely homogeneous country. Of course, the European-style Bauer Kingdom had felt foreign to me when I first arrived, but the Nur Empire felt even more so with the diversity of its populace. This diversity was largely made possible by the Nur government's policies.

"Miss Claire, do you remember the underlying beliefs of the Nur Empire's policies?"

"I believe it was meritocracy, the same ideology the late King l'Ausseil supported." As expected of an educated lady like Claire. She was well informed about neighboring countries, not just her own. But her answer lacked something.

"The empire takes meritocracy to a much higher level than our kingdom does," I said. "Oh?"

"You know how the empire is invading and annexing countries left and right?"