Chapter 319: Chapter 315: Acting Recklessly
"What have I done to make you disrespect me so much that you don’t even want to call me ’Lord’?" Perfikot stretched her hand towards the bald man, making a gripping gesture, and lifted him off the sofa, causing the match and cigar in his hand to roll onto the floor: "To berate my orders so recklessly in my office and be so impudent, what gives you the courage to act so wantonly in front of a Count of the Empire?
I don’t care whether what you say is right or wrong, I just want you to know that only I have the authority to make decisions because I am the Lord of the Northern Territory, only me! Besides Her Majesty the Empress, only death can annul my command."
"Co... Count! I beg you, spare me! I... I... know my mistake!" The bald man grabbed his neck with both hands, speaking the words of plea with difficulty.
But it was already too late.
"Crack." Perfikot released her grip, took out a white handkerchief from her person to wipe her hand, then tossed the handkerchief onto the now lifeless bald man’s face. She then addressed the guards who barged in upon hearing the noise: "Drag him out and hang him at the highest point of Eagle’s Beak Cliff. I want everyone to see his corpse! Then tell everyone, this is the consequence of defying my will."
"Yes, Lord!" The guards swiftly and deftly dragged the body out.
Only then did the old butler arrive leisurely, frowning slightly as he watched the body being carried away.
This bald man was brought by him to see Perfikot, and he had only stepped out momentarily to arrange refreshments for the guest.
Yet in such a short time, this bald man became a body to be carried out, which inevitably made Foster ponder.
However, he did not reprimand Perfikot over anything — neither his status nor his position gave him any reason to do so.
The loyal old butler merely asked Perfikot, "Miss, did Mr. Thomas offend you in some way that led you to take such action?"
To the old butler, there seemed to be a bit of inappropriateness in Perfikot killing a major merchant just like that.
Even though, by Perfikot’s standing, in feudal times, she would have had no issue killing such merchants for sport, times are different now, and some level of caution regarding influence should be kept.
Nonetheless, Perfikot’s justification was very thorough: "He boasted in my lab, criticizing my policies, and had no respect for me, not to mention he violated the law I just enacted."
"Alright, I understand, I will handle the remaining matters." The old butler immediately caught on, realizing this was merely to set an example, not a simple emotional outburst.
"Mm, thank you, Uncle Fu." Perfikot nodded, then asked, "Who is this guy? People who come to see me shouldn’t have status too low, but I’ve never seen someone so uncouth."
Earlier when Foster brought this person in, he did introduce his identity, but to Perfikot, such a person’s identity was not worth her attention, so she didn’t listen at all.
"A wealthy merchant from the New Continent, perhaps people from the colonies lack education." Foster shrugged and echoed the prevalent stereotype held by residents of the Empire against the colonies of the New Continent.
Foster didn’t think such a person was worth much, and his death could only be seen as his comeuppance.
After all, in the Empire, although disrespect for nobility no longer has as severe consequences as it did in feudal times, any noble who feels offended still has the right to take any actions he deems necessary under Imperial law.
This "necessary action" includes, but is not limited to, slaying the offender on the spot until the offended noble feels his noble dignity has been restored.
Perfikot wasn’t surprised by this at all and simply nodded, saying: "Well, it appears that implementing education in the Northern Territory is indeed urgent!
Please, Uncle Fu, pass it down that all Pioneer Knights must establish a school in the settlements they oversee and ensure every child aged four to twelve attends school.
If someone fails to achieve this within a month, I will revoke their pioneer documents!"
"Yes, Miss, I will convey your orders." Foster nodded and then turned to leave to convey Perfikot’s orders.
The Lord of the North has the authority to do whatever she wishes in the Northern Territory, although revoking pioneer documents is a very significant matter, since Perfikot said so, Foster must carry out her will.
When he conveyed Perfikot’s new orders to the civil officials of the Northern Territory, unsurprisingly these officials expressed their lack of understanding.
Of course, they didn’t understand why Perfikot issued such an order, not that they had any objections.
In this era where feudal monarchy remains strong, while everyone is gradually starting to speak of civility, this doesn’t mean noble lords cannot still act arbitrarily.
To these civil officials, the lord’s orders are absolute, just as before, to be obeyed whether understood or not.
You could choose to resign, leaving your head and job together just fine.
This is no joke, for the Northern Territory belongs to the Count of Exploration, and Perfikot, as lord, holds all military and political power over her territory, including but not limited to taking someone’s life.
Although by Imperial law, the laws and orders Perfikot enacts in the Northern Territory must not conflict with current Imperial laws, she still cannot act entirely as she pleases.
But if it’s merely killing a few people, neither the Noble Council nor the elected parliament would trouble Perfikot over such a trivial matter.
They have brains and sanity, and won’t risk having Steam Knights smash their manor windows over a few unrelated people.
Well, Perfikot wouldn’t have the Steam Knights smash their manor windows.
The efficiency is just too low, using the Flying Airship to drop a thermobaric bomb is a much cleaner and more efficient choice.
Perfikot needs a government that can carry out her will and assist her in the construction and development of the Northern Territory, not a bunch of politicians who only know how to hold her back and cause trouble. If someone indeed has poor judgment, she would choose to eliminate them in the literal sense.
As for whether such actions would incite public resentment? If Perfikot cared about these things, she wouldn’t have chosen to completely exhaust the three Old World nations that declared war on the Empire.
It should be known that in other countries of the Old World, her reputation is comparable to that of a demon.
Even within the Empire itself, while many support and admire her, her public reputation can still be described as mixed.