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Lin Ge was a transmigrator—or, more accurately, a transmigrator who'd already been through it many times.

He'd been a Hero, a high-risk job where he rescued a princess stolen away by an evil dragon, then married the dragon;

he'd been an aloof Demon King, feared by the entire world, and then 'taken' the female Hero who came to defeat him;

He'd even, unfortunately, been turned into a woman and become the world's number-one beauty…

Ahem. We can ignore that last one.

According to his memories, the identity he'd gotten this time wasn't bad at all. He was the eighth son of a human count, and his family's territory was prospering. Even if his family had eight more children, he could still live a comfortable, peaceful life. He had nothing to worry about.

He even had the essential transmigrator cheat ability—or something that sort of counted as one.

Whether it was powerful or not depended on how you looked at it.

His looks were fine, too. He was among the best-looking people his age.

If nothing unexpected happened, he was sure to live out his life in peace.

Right. Exactly. As long as nothing unexpected happened…

“Castrate him.”

The blazing sun hung overhead, just as scorching as those three words.

Amid a burst of startled shouts, steel sang as two cold, merciless blades came to rest against his neck.

Everything before him felt unfamiliar, yet strangely familiar.

Lin Ge's vision went black. He was completely dazed.

He'd experienced this feeling—something both familiar and unfamiliar—many times during his previous transmigrations.

But what the hell was with getting castrated the moment he transmigrated?

Hurriedly searching through his memories, Lin Ge confirmed the body's past and identity. Then he looked up, shifted his gaze, and surveyed his surroundings.

His eyes finally settled on the woman not far away, directly across from him.

The woman wore a veil, a yellow robe, and a crown. She reclined on her throne with a languid air. Two maids fanned her from behind, while armored female knights stood on either side. Each knight held the reins of a flying dragon more than twice her size.

Together, it was an imposing sight, and though her face was hidden, her feminine imperial bearing was on full display.

As it happened, the woman before him really was the ruler of a nation…

If Lin Ge's memories were right, she was the Empress of the Unified Sun-Moon Empire. Twenty years ago, during the rebellion of the Nine Kings, she'd seized the throne. She was the first Empress in human history, and under her rule the Unified Sun-Moon Empire had entered an age of female supremacy.

Huh? Wait, twenty years ago? That didn't sound right. No matter how he looked at her, this woman seemed to be only in her early twenties.

“You insolent fool! How dare you glare at Her Majesty the Empress?”

A cold, murderous shout rang out, and a heavy blow struck Lin Ge in the stomach.

Wincing in pain, he hurriedly looked away and turned his gaze to the person beside him.

The woman who'd spoken had clear, bright eyes like stars; fair skin, smooth as snow; and the lovely face of a fairy. Her dazzling silver hair fell to her waist.

Her name was Alice. She was one of the country's 108 nobles, a low-ranking noblewoman and the baron of Grayshawa Territory's Bota City. At only seventeen, she'd already reached the fourth stage of battle aura, making her one of the country's greatest talents.

There were even rumors that, because of her recent achievements in repelling foreign invasions, the Empress planned to reward her with a higher noble title.

Lucky her~ Wasn't this straight-up protagonist treatment?

“Insolent fool! You're still staring!”

Alice barked. She gripped her longsword, and its bright blade flashed in the sunlight as she thrust it precisely toward the head below Lin Ge's waist…

Wait?! Why was she aiming at the head below his waist?

Oh, right. Her Majesty had said to castrate him.

Well, that made sense.

…Not at all!

“W-wait! Hold on! Spare the chicken—no, spare the man! I—I have something important to report to Her Majesty, something that could affect the entire country. So I can't…”

“You're still spouting nonsense? Die!”

There was no room for negotiation. Alice's thrusting sword moved even faster.

He was about to be drenched in blood. He'd only just transmigrated, and now he was about to say sayonara to his little buddy.

But just then…

“Stop.”

“Your Majesty?!”

The Empress's voice rang out, languid and emotionless, yet filled with an authority that made it impossible to refuse her from the depths of one's soul. Alice had no choice but to stop her sword.

At the same time, the Empress's cool voice seemed to affect every noble around them. They snapped to attention, placed their right hands over their chests, and dropped to one knee.

They performed the nobles' kneeling salute to the Empress on the dais. Not a single person dared speak out of turn or act disrespectfully.

Below the dais, cold sweat trickled down Lin Ge's temples. Seeing the sword just a few centimeters from his little buddy, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He'd only just transmigrated, and the strength in his body hadn't fully come back to him yet. If that sword had hit him, he didn't even want to imagine what would've happened.

Wiping away his cold sweat, Lin Ge tried to steady his breathing. But then the Empress's cold, emotionless, authoritative voice rang out again from the dais.

“Lin Ge Dewitt, eighth son of Count DeWitt.”

“Ah, yes. I'm here.”

At the sound of his name, Lin Ge hurriedly turned to face the veiled Empress.

Though the Empress's veil hid her face, the faint glimpse of her bearing still made Lin Ge swallow unconsciously.

Some people were born with an imperial authority no one could refuse. She was surely one of them.

The Empress pushed herself upright with one hand on the armrest. Her eyes were sharp as an eagle's, her bearing fierce as a tiger's. She continued—or, more accurately, demanded:

“You said you had something to report that could affect the country. Is that true?”

“…”

“Your Majesty, it is true.”

After a brief pause, Lin Ge hurriedly dropped to one knee and nodded again and again.

As for what he really thought—How could it be true? Come on, he'd only just transmigrated. How was he supposed to know about something like that?

He was only trying to save his life. He had no choice.

“Oh? Is that so?”

The Empress narrowed her captivating eyes ever so slightly and drew out her words, letting out a cold laugh that made him uneasy.

“If you have something so important to report, then why were you spouting nonsense earlier and showing contempt for me? What were you trying to accomplish?”

“…”

The Empress's cold question made Lin Ge's body tremble.

Right. Exactly. Why had Alice held a blade to his neck? Why had he been charged with showing contempt for the Empress and nearly castrated? It was all because of what the original owner of this body had done just minutes ago.

A few minutes before Lin Ge's consciousness transmigrated into this body, at the Empire's annual gathering, the original owner had suddenly gone off the rails. Without warning, he'd stood up, raised his cup as a signal, pointed straight at the Empress, and started cursing her to her face:

“Get down here! I dare you to come down here! You're nothing but a stinking woman, sitting up there and throwing your weight around! Since ancient times, men have worked outside and women have stayed home. Women should know their place and keep to their duties! And now you expect me to marry into someone else's family like some woman? Well, I'm done!”

…

It went something like that.

Lin Ge had no idea what had gotten into the previous Lin Ge's head. How could he have said something so treasonous in front of everyone?

Sure, even in this matriarchal society, most men were expected to stay home and wait to be married off. That had definitely surprised Lin Ge.

But did he really have to get so worked up? Honestly, getting married off and becoming a kept man who could stay home, do his daily exercise, and live comfortably didn't sound so bad. Wasn't it?

Lin Ge grimaced. To run into this right after transmigrating… This time, he hadn't ended up in some hell-difficulty world, had he?

He wet his dry lips and shifted his gaze, cautiously glancing around…

There was no way the female knight beside him would speak up for him. And his older brother, who'd come here with him… Tch. He was the one who'd egged the previous Lin Ge on to say all that. He wasn't about to help.

He'd only just transmigrated, and his soul hadn't fully adapted to this body yet. Breaking through by force wasn't an option for now.

In other words, if he wanted to live, every word he said next mattered.

For now, all he could do was draw on this body's memories, find a flaw in the country's rule, and bluff based on his past experience… But could someone explain why all this body's memories were about sightseeing, slacking off, and goofing around?

Was this guy completely useless or what?

—Uh… Didn't I used to spend all my time like that, too?

“Can't you answer?”

The Empress's cool voice pressed him again.

With all eyes on him, Lin Ge had no choice. He cleared his throat and started bluffing…

“Forgive my bluntness, but if the Empire keeps being ruled as it is now, sooner or later the other six races will annex it.”

“You insolent fool, spouting nonsense again! Die—”

“Did I give you permission to speak?”

Lin Ge's blunt words earned him Alice's fury, but the Empress's cold, authoritative voice immediately stopped her in her tracks.

“Tch… Hmph.”

Alice clicked her tongue in frustration, sheathed her sword, and glared at Lin Ge.

Seeing Alice—who'd just tried to attack his little buddy—get shut down, Lin Ge secretly snickered and couldn't resist making a face at her.

That only made Alice angrier. Her gloved fist clenched with a creak, and her fierce, leopard-like glare looked ready to devour Lin Ge on the spot.

Seeing that, Lin Ge hurriedly wiped the smile off his face.

Staying alive came first.

“Go on.” The Empress propped her chin on her other hand. “What problem could leave the country open to annexation?”

“Your Majesty, it's because there's a hidden danger in this country that even you haven't noticed,” Lin Ge replied.

“Oh? Even I haven't noticed?” The Empress's lips curved seductively as the topic caught her interest. “Tell me. What hidden danger could I have missed?”

“Heh. It's the problem of children—and population, of course.”

“Children?!”

“Population?!”

The Empress furrowed her brow. At the same moment, all the nobles at the gathering were taken aback and began whispering among themselves.

Lin Ge gave a faint smile and continued:

“May I ask, Your Majesty: Hasn't the country's productivity been falling year after year? Hasn't the population been shrinking? Even the number of people enlisting in the army gets lower every year.”

“…”

The Empress didn't reply. Her deep gray eyes, sharp as swords, stayed fixed on him. Meanwhile, the whispers around them grew louder, and more people murmured in agreement.

It looked like Lin Ge had actually bluffed his way into the truth.

Ah, no. It wasn't entirely a bluff. That was exactly what the Empire was like according to the original owner's memories.

After the Empress took the throne twenty years ago and introduced a matriarchal society, human women's affinity for training in battle aura and magic had somehow improved throughout the Empire, year after year.

As a result, by now, leaving aside men who actually had some ability, most men—including nobles like Lin Ge and his family—stayed home without working and waited to be married off.

That was why the original Lin Ge in this world had made such a fuss and complained earlier.

The marriage rate had dropped year after year. That was the fundamental reason for the population decline.

“It's true. The country is facing that very problem.”

After a moment of silence, the Empress nodded. Then her eagle-sharp eyes narrowed even further.

“Then tell me, how do you propose we solve it?”

“That's easy.” Lin Ge smiled and spread his hands. “Just have one man serve two women—or three. Wouldn't that increase the population?”

“…”

The moment Lin Ge finished speaking, the entire hall fell dead silent…

After a long pause, Alice, the female knight escorting Lin Ge, finally showed a murderous expression and drew her sword. Its silver edge flashed.

She swung it down at Lin Ge's head.

“Die, you insolent fool!”