He became the most insane emperor of all time

“Didn’t you hear a noise around here?”

“Damn, there’s nothing. I definitely heard something.”

“Be careful, it could be hiding. A lot of them have already been taken out.”

Around a dozen soldiers were carefully scanning the forest, staying alert.

They had managed to follow the trace I left earlier, but unfortunately, there was no one at the spot they were searching.

The place where the Captain, the Ranger, and I were hiding was a bit farther away from their search area.

[Current stealth mode is active. It will remain until exposed to the sight or an attack.]
[Skill user: Jack Forrest]
‘Impressive. I just followed the instructions and hid among the bushes. And it seems I’m not the only one using a skill…’

I had only hidden in the bushes, following Jack Forrest’s guidance, yet the soldiers couldn’t sense even the slightest trace of us. It was as if some kind of curtain had been drawn, making us completely undetectable.

‘Wait, no, there was no clear awareness of using a skill. For others, it seems to be something they naturally use.’

After all, this “skill” might just be another form of a special ability, like magic or sword energy, which doesn’t need to be specifically labeled as a “skill.”

On the other hand, I can easily learn and use skills, which still gives me a significant advantage.

[Sub Quest Activated: Stealth and Ambush]
[Objective: Attack without being detected more than 5 times]
[Reward: Stealth and Ambush skills acquired]
[Failure: Loss of opportunity to gain skills for one week]

Just like this.

‘The aura from last time I learned automatically, but this time it’s in the form of a quest. But how do I attack without getting noticed?’

Attacking would break the stealth. But I can’t just avoid attacking either.

‘Of course, I’ll have to knock them out in one strike and quickly return to hiding.’

With that thought, I gestured to Jack behind me, signaling him to stay put. He seemed surprised, as it must have been unexpected for me to make the judgment on my own in this situation.

I was surprised as well, but even without more guidance from him, I quickly figured out the most efficient way to take down a soldier and hide again.

This might also be due to my genius trait, but in any case, I drew my sword, still sheathed, and approached slowly.

Thud!

“Ugh.”

‘Good!’

The first soldier I targeted was knocked out cold with a sudden blow to the back of his head. He probably wasn’t dead, right? The stealth mode was immediately deactivated, but I quickly returned to Jack’s position and resumed stealth.

“That way! Someone’s down over there!”

“Search the area!”

The soldiers weren’t blind, so they quickly realized someone had been taken out.

Of course, they couldn’t detect me.

‘Well done, Your Majesty.’

‘We’ll save the compliments for later. Next, I’m going for that one.’

After a brief, quiet exchange, I picked my next target.

Normally, I could have told Jack to pick a suitable target, but I felt confident I could handle it, so I made my choice myself.

Thud!

‘Another one down. Oh, it wasn’t a kill.’

The second unfortunate soldier was knocked out as well. Again, there was no difficulty, but the soldiers’ reactions were becoming quicker.

‘These soldiers have good learning abilities. That’s what gives meaning to the training. Then, I’ll aim for two of them this time.’

The number of soldiers had decreased, but their vigilance had increased. However, even though they were more cautious, moving with hesitation might prevent them from being detected, but they wouldn’t complete the quest.

I decided to go for two soldiers at once and knock them out in quick succession.

But this time, I needed to focus intensely to succeed. I had to strike quickly, neither too fast nor too slow, and take them out without a single mistake.

‘Now!’

I reduced my stride slightly and moved swiftly. First, I struck the back of the nearest soldier’s head with the hilt of my sword.

“What the—”

“Sorry.”

Thud.

The next soldier was knocked out with the reverse swing of the hilt that I had swung out of necessity. This time, instead of the back of his head, I hit his forehead directly.

I used force to knock him out, and although I felt a bit bad because it probably hurt a lot, I comforted myself knowing that the medics were waiting, so treatment would be no issue.

“F-Fourth one already!”

“What should we do? Should we retreat and bring a knight?”

“There’s no one left. They’re moving around recklessly on their own!”

The remaining soldiers, flustered, gathered together and started scanning the area.

By eliminating the flanks completely, there was no opening for them to exploit.

But then, I heard something I couldn’t ignore.

‘It seems the knights aren’t organizing their squads and are moving recklessly.’

‘I apologize, Your Majesty. It seems the soldiers think the knights are hindering them.’

‘Pathetic, as if they think they’ll win the war by themselves? We’ll take proper measures later.’

‘Yes, Your Majesty.’

‘Anyway, it’s time to wrap this up.’

I had successfully attacked without being detected four times. But there was no need to go for a fifth.

The success condition for the quest was ‘Attack successfully without being detected five times,’ meaning I could be detected after the fifth attack.

So, there was no need for me to do it alone this time.

“Hm, you’re all working hard.”

“Ah, Captain of the Guard!”

“We’re still in training. Are you planning to salute the enemy?”

The Captain of the Guard deliberately appeared in front of the soldiers, showing himself to them.

Naturally, the soldiers tried to salute, but the Captain stopped them with a gesture.

“According to the purpose of the training, quickly attack the opposing force, me.”

“W-Wait, against the Captain of the Guard…”

Thud!

“Ugh!”

“What the—”

The soldiers, who hesitated to attack even when ordered, didn’t notice when I approached from behind.

Thanks to that, I was able to attack the last soldier comfortably.

Since the condition was simply ‘attack,’ I didn’t knock him out this time but just lightly struck him.

[Quest Completed!]
[Stealth Skill Acquired!]
[Ambush Skill Acquired!]
[You can now skillfully hide your body in darkness or shadows.]
[Attacks made while undetected are more deadly.]

“These guys, if this were real combat, some of them would already be dead. Four have already been taken out.”

“Your Majesty!”

“Oh? It’s still training. Are you planning to kneel to the enemy?”

The soldiers, who had tried to salute the Captain of the Guard, were about to kneel to me as well, but after hearing my words, they reluctantly stood back up.

“You’re still a bit awkward, but when you didn’t realize I or the Captain of the Guard were here, you moved tactically. Not bad at all.”

“Th-Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“But don’t get too happy with just praise. This alone won’t get you anything else. But the training is still valid. That means you still have a chance.”

I spoke to them while holding my sword. The Captain of the Guard didn’t unsheath his sword but instead held it by its scabbard and assumed a combat stance.

“If you succeed in attacking even once, you’ll have knocked me or the Captain of the Guard down. You’ll get the promised reward as well. Remember? Now, attack!”

“B-But…”

“Or shall I go first?”

“Ugh!”

As I charged forward, the soldiers jumped in surprise and tried to respond. Since I wasn’t using a real sword, I was a bit rough with my strikes.

The soldier at the front was knocked back after taking a hit to the shoulder and was knocked out with a follow-up strike. The next soldier, before he could do anything, was struck in the stomach and collapsed, gasping for air.

Finally, the soldiers came to their senses and formed a shield wall, holding shields and wooden swords.

“Good, now I can see some enthusiasm. I hope you aren’t hesitating to attack just because I’m the Emperor or the Captain of the Guard is here.”

The soldiers’ eyes, visible through the gaps in their shields, now seemed full of resolve, so I didn’t expect them to hesitate anymore. I grinned and ran toward them.

“On the contrary! If you don’t want to waste the chance to grab a big reward, fight more aggressively!”

Clang! Whoosh!

“Ugh! Now’s the time!”

“Ha!”

I struck their shields hard, and while the soldier wobbled, he endured and created an opening for his comrade to thrust the wooden sword.

The collective combat tactics using the shield wall.

Though their discipline had deteriorated, these seasoned soldiers showed they could respond better than expected. However, it was clear their training wasn’t enough, as their movements lacked fluidity.

Slash!

I swung my sword slightly down and struck the hand holding the wooden sword. Without fail, the soldier dropped his weapon, and I swiftly exploited the opening to slip through the shield wall.

“Ugh!”

The soldier, struck, lost his balance and fell. Like the wind, I slid through and grabbed the soldiers’ flanks and rear.

The soldiers tried to retaliate quickly, but my strikes were faster.

Thwack! Thud!

“Gah!”

“Ah, I surrender!”

“Oh, my stomach, oh…”

I ruthlessly struck the exposed gaps in their heads, stomachs, waists, shoulders, and sides. The soldiers who had been close to me, about half of them, collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain.

[Successfully executed consecutive attacks and suppressions, significantly increasing practical combat sense.]
[Due to ‘Leonis’ Favor – Level 1′ and the ‘Genius’ trait, the related skills are rapidly increasing in proficiency.]
[Imperial Swordsmanship has reached Level 3.]

“Is it already over? Not enough tenacity. Try harder next time.”

I spoke with a slight air of superiority, but truthfully, I was a bit nervous.

Since the rule was that even a single successful attack counts as a loss, I couldn’t allow even the slightest touch.

I had to be cautious not to be hit. This forced me to be bold but still maintain caution, which helped me build practical combat sense more than I expected.

“This side is also finished, Your Majesty.”

Meanwhile, the Captain of the Guard had already subdued all the soldiers he had been facing.

He refrained from using his aura, even though the soldiers could have handled him, and with just one hand, he swung his sword. Just like the soldiers I took down, they were struck in every possible place and collapsed.

“Such a pity. Everyone, try to ensure success next time. If you succeed, the promised rewards will be given.”

The soldiers who were still in pain from their wounds couldn’t respond properly. But I continued speaking.

“Don’t be disheartened by the skill gap. I’ll train you until your next chance. This is also something I promised, so you won’t object, right?”

“Yes…”

One of the rules we had established before starting was about the consequences of failure.

Soldiers or knights who were defeated without knocking down the enemy would undergo ‘special training.’

For this special training, the Captain of the Guard, along with Jack, the hunter, would participate.

The Captain would train them rigorously, while Jack would teach them ranger tactics to improve their skills.

“Your voices are too quiet. Captain of the Guard, training them should make their voices louder.”

I thought it might be a good idea to add some spice to the special training. Maybe a little PT (Physical Training) would make their eyes burn with determination.

As I was thinking about refining the elite troops, the Empress Dowager came to see me again.

It was then that she first proposed a scheme.