Chương 9: Incompetence Visualized

PRINCE snapped his fingers. Instantly, luminescent particles of pale-blue light condensed in the absolute center of the room, materializing a massive, three-dimensional holographic map of the Japanese archipelago.

"Aaaah! More sorcery!"

"It's going to suck out our souls!" The warlords dissolved into utter, shrieking panic. 『Silence. This is a topographical render of your future. 』 PRINCE announced coldly, illuminating several ominous crimson nodes across the map. 『As it stands, this nation is nothing more than a fractured "tribal coalition," ruled by regional warlords operating on nothing but personal whims.

Your operational efficiency is garbage, your decision-making protocols are lethargic, and your defense parameters are fundamentally compromised. Left unchecked, you will be seamlessly swallowed whole by the Sui Dynasty across the mainland. 』"The... Sui?!" Umako's face instantly drained of color. To a tyrant holding the reins of a tiny island, the hyper-power ruling the continent was the ultimate incarnation of existential dread. 『Therefore, a foundational system migration is required.

We will permanently deprecate the lineage-based Shisei clan infrastructure and deploy a merit-based Bureaucracy. … Gennai, initiate the [Visual Rank System]. 』 With a heavy, resonant HUMMM, "something" manifested directly over the heads of the gathered warlords. It was a collection of translucent, floating user interfaces—the unmistakable architecture of a LitRPG status screen.

[Name: Soga no Umako] Political Power: 95 Intelligence: 88 Loyalty: 20 Ambition: SSS [Name: Mononobe Soldier A] Political Power: 12 Combat Prowess: 60 Intelligence: 5"Wh-What is the meaning of this?! There is sorcery floating right above my brow!" Umako frantically swatted at the empty air over his head, but his fingers slipped harmlessly through the Augmented Reality data. 『Those are your hard metrics. Your factory specs. Not your family lineage—your raw capability.

』 PRINCE informed them, his tone entirely devoid of empathy. 『Moving forward, your imperial rank will be dictated entirely by these numerical values. The incompetent will be systematically purged from the registry, even if they are the direct spawn of the Grand Minister himself. The competent will be elevated to high office, even if they are born of dirt-stained peasants. ─ This is an absolute Meritocracy. 』 The declaration turned the room into a literal glacier. In this era of Yamato, bloodline was absolute.

To suggest that a man's worth could be measured and judged by cold, hard numbers was an unadulterated blasphemy against their entire worldview.

"Don't mock us, boy!" An elderly chieftain roared, slamming his fists down as he stood up. Floating directly above his head was an aggressively pitiful stat: [Intelligence: 3].

"I possess a sacred, ancient Kabane title passed down through generations! To think you can reduce my legacy to a handful of miserable numbers...!" 『Sit down, you low-spec component. 』 PRINCE didn't even grant the man a proper look. With a casual glance, an invisible, crushing wall of kinetic pressure slammed into the old chieftain, violently forcing him back onto his rear. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

『If you possess grievances regarding your allocation, optimize your metrics. Work harder. Produce deliverables. If you find those parameters unacceptable... 』 PRINCE gently stroked the grip of his scepter. 『... You will be permanently de-allocated from the system. 』 The tension in the chamber reached a suffocating precipice. It was logical. It was fundamentally, indisputably logical. But cold logic was a weapon that left deep wounds.

To a room full of fiercely proud, narcissistic warlords, it was a lethal neuro-toxin. Umako's gaze shifted, his eyes narrowing into slits of pure venom once more.

"... Fascinating," Umako purred, his hand subtly sliding down toward the concealed dagger tucked into his silk sash.

"But tell me, boy—if you purge all of us, who runs your precious country? Do you intend to plow every rice field in Yamato with your own two hands?" This is bad, I panicked. Tyranny only breeds violent revolutions. If this kept up, the room would dissolve into a bloodbath within seconds. It was my turn to deploy. Steeling my resolve, I forcefully threw myself directly into the line of fire between PRINCE and the shadow dictator.

"W-Wait! Please hold your blades, Lord Grand Minister! And you as well, Prince Umayado!" Wiping a deluge of cold sweat from my brow, I forced my facial muscles into the most desperate, diplomatic smile I could muster.

"Allow me to act as the intermediary. My name is Kataru Mononobe, and I am the official interpreter for this session."

"An interpreter?" Umako barked, his face twisting in deep suspicion.

"Yes, my lord. The vocabulary of Prince Umayado is tuned to a hyper-lofty frequency, making his true intent somewhat... challenging for the layman to synthesize. Allow me to decompress his parameters for you." I spun around to face PRINCE, dropping my voice to a manic, hyper-speed whisper.

"(Will you please just shut up for a second?! Your 'logic-harassment' is about to trigger a localized war! Let me handle the narrative rewrite!)" 『…Hmm. Proceed. Allocation granted. 』 PRINCE crossed his arms, his eyes instantly glazing over with aristocratic boredom. Turning back to Umako, I opened the floodgates of my ultimate weapon: sheer, unadulterated narrative fiction.

"Grand Minister Umako. The Prince does not harbor the slightest desire to eliminate you from the infrastructure. In fact, it is quite the opposite."

"The opposite?"

"Precisely. The Prince holds your [Ambition: SSS] metric in the highest possible regard." I gesturedgrandly toward the glowing characters floating above Umako's head.

"This particular value is the mathematical manifestation of your raw passion—a metric of how deeply you desire to conquer and rule the world below the heavens. You are the only entity in this entire archipelago to register a value of this magnitude." Umako's expression twitched, his eyebrows arching slightly. Perfect. He's the type who can't resist flattery.

"The 'Meritocracy' proposed by the Prince is, in reality, the ultimate exploit tailored specifically for you, my lord. Until now, you've had to waste precious bandwidth managing incompetent relatives and listening to the endless, droning complaints of obsolete clan elders. But with this new system integrated..." I leaned forward, dropping my voice to the seductive purr of a devil offering a contract.

"... You can legally, flawlessly purge those useless liabilities. You have the ultimate, unarguable justification:'Your metrics are insufficient for the firm.'" Umako's eyes violently snapped wide open.

"... I see," the tyrant muttered, a dark smile slowly carved into his face.

"I can openly and righteously execute the old relics who shield their uselessness behind ancient family names."

"Exactly, Grand Minister! You can utilize the highly optimized youth as your personal instruments, ruling this land with terrifying efficiency.... Don't you agree that this system lays down the perfect foundation for a global Soga Empire —one that could comfortably stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Sovereign of the Sui Dynasty?" Umako swallowed hard, his throat clicking in the silence. The existential dread that had paralyzed him was instantly rewritten, replaced by a monstrous, towering greed.

To his eyes, PRINCE's proposed autocracy had been masterfully reframed. It was no longer a dictatorship over him; it was a dictatorship built for him. The narrative rewrite was a flawless success.

"…Not bad at all." Umako let out a low, guttural chuckle. It was a grin of pure, unadulterated villainy—the kind that gets etched into the dark corners of history books.

"No... it is a magnificent protocol! Prince Umayado—no, Lord Regent! I am profoundly moved by your vision!" Umako roared as he stood tall, turning a fierce, sweeping gaze upon the trembling warlords below.

"Did you hear that, you bums?! As of this moment, the source code of this nation has changed! The incompetent can get out! The exceptional will follow me! We will re-engineer this country exactly as the Regent commands!""""" H-Haーーっ!"""" The assembled chieftains threw themselves to the floor in perfect, synchronized submission. Terror, raw greed, and a bizarre, cult-like fervor instantly claimed absolute dominion over the council chamber. 『… Fascinating.

』 PRINCE murmured, looking down at me as the corners of his lips subtly curved upward. 『Excellent execution, Narrative Architect. It seems convenient fictions yield high utility. 』"Please, don't ever make me sweat like that again..." I muttered, collapsing onto my rear on the straw mat as my legs completely turned to jelly.