In the audience chamber of Parnam Castle...
A large number of people were lined up in this place where the hero summoning
and talent award ceremony had been held. These were the bureaucrats of the
finance ministry.
Each wore an exhausted expression on his face.
Their cheeks were sunken, they had bags under their eyes, some wore dry smiles,
while others looked to be on the verge of collapsing. Despite that, each and every
one of them had a twinkle in his eye.
Theirs were the eyes of warriors who had survived a bloody battle.
Since I had become king and launched my reforms to save an economy that was
on the brink of collapse, they had served as my hands and feet, working hard, like
horses drawing a carriage. Anyone who had been working to enrich themselves had
been dismissed, leaving only the serious ones behind. These were people who
worked hard, reluctant to take time off even to sleep.
One of them might spend an entire day comparing the numbers between sets of
documents, while another might spend most of the day on horseback, going around
to ensure funds were being used correctly. They had been spending their days
returning home only to sleep. No... many of them didn't even return home, they just
slept in the castle's nap room, returning to work as soon as they woke.
Some had families.
Some had children.
Some were recently married.
However, the time they would have spent with their families... they cast aside,
continuing to work.
The face of a wife dissatisfied that her husband put work before her, the face of a
child lonely because his father wouldn't play with him, the face of a newlywed wife
sincerely concerned for her husband... They averted their eyes from these faces,
telling themselves it was just for now, and worked diligently.
Earnestly trying to save this country from collapse.
Earnestly trying to protect those in this country whom they loved.
I looked down at them while sitting on the throne. I probably didn't look much
better than they did at this point. While I could rest unused parts of my
consciousness in shifts, I was handling five times my regular workload and working
round-the-clock. While my body might have been fine, I could feel my spirit being
ground down.
"That's a fine look you've all got on your faces, now." I rose, speaking to them in a
quiet voice. Then I went down to them, placing my hand on one thin man's shoulder.
"Your eyes are hollow and lifeless. You've got the face of a ghoul."
They all said nothing.
"I know how it's been," I said. "These days of forgoing sleep, fighting with the
numbers day in and day out, ignoring the pleas of your families that you stop coming
to the castle. You people are my greatest treasure! Take pride in that! With every
moment you've spent putting your souls to the grindstone, you've been saving the
people of this country!"
"""Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"""
Pale and emaciated, anyone could see these men were the indoors-y type, yet
now they roared like barbarians. They thrust their fists into the air, chanting,
"Souma! Souma!" I waited a moment for their fervor to settle, then continued.
"Thanks to all of you, we've managed to secure the funds we need at present.
Now, Project Venetinova can begin in earnest. When this project comes to fruition,
this country's food crisis will be completely resolved. It will be because of all of you
fulfilling your duties, setting this struggling economy straight and finding the funds
to make it happen! In place of the people, I thank you!"
"King Souma!"
"King Souma!"
"You have toiled hard in the shadows for this country! Unlike heroes, your names
won't be left in the history books. However, you have saved far more lives than any
hero could save on the battlefield! I, Souma Kazuya, will remember that fact for all
my life! You are the nameless heroes of this country!"
"Glory to our king!"
"Glory to King Souma and Elfrieden!"
"You've really outdone yourselves," I continued. "Thus, I bestow upon you this
gift. I grant you a five-day vacation, starting tomorrow! Return to your families, rest
your bodies, and restore your spirits!"
"""Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"""
That's the largest cheer yet today, I thought. I can understand how you feel. You're
all starved for rest. I'm sorry for running this place like a sweatshop.
"Truthfully, I want to pay you a bonus, but if I were to dip into the funds you've
worked so hard to find in order to do so, it would defeat the purpose. I'm really
sorry."
They were silent.
"In place of that, after conferring with the prime minister, I've decided to give you
each one expensive bottle from the castle's wine cellar! Have a celebratory drink or
sell it as you please!"
"""Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Your Majesty! King Souma!"""
As I looked at the cheering bureaucrats, I nodded, full of emotion myself.
However, Liscia, who was standing beside me watching, was clearly put off by
this scene.
"Souma... you're exhausted," she said.
"...I won't deny it," I answered.
As soon as we returned to the governmental affairs office, Liscia spoke to me,
seemingly concerned.
Yeah, I shouldn't have been that hyper. Looking back at it, I was acting a little
loopy.
"It's because I was up until almost dawn working. The lack of sleep was giving me
a high," I responded while lying down in the bed set up in the corner of the
governmental affairs office, as I usually did.
"I won't insist it be lavish, but please get your own room," Hakuya had once said
sourly to me. "If the ruler of the nation sleeps in the governmental affairs office, he's
not setting the proper example for his subjects."
But I couldn't give up the convenience of being able to work as soon as I woke up,
so things had stayed as they were. I figured I would probably be sleeping in here
until things settled down a little in the country.
Liscia went to sit down at the end of the bed. In that moment her small, shapely
buttocks suddenly appeared in front of my eyes, so I turned and looked the other
way despite myself. Liscia always wore that tight-fitting officer's uniform, so I could
easily make out the lines of her hips.
"But, Souma, you're able to rest your consciousness in shifts, right?" she asked.
"Huh? Uh... Yeah, sorta. But we were almost at the point where we could afford
the budget for a large-scale project, so I ended up working my full consciousness for
that last push."
When I said that, Liscia sighed a little. "I know you're working hard, but... don't
make me worry. Because you're irreplaceable, all right?"
"Ha ha, if it comes to it... you can just summon another hero, can't you?" I asked.
"You dummy! If you say another word about that, I'll slap you!"
I turned my face to look at Liscia. There was real anger in her eyes.
"Even if we summoned another hero, that person wouldn't be you," she snapped.
"You're the one I want, Souma."
"R-Right..." I faltered.
"Never forget. You're the one I want to be king, Souma. I'll accept no substitutes.
If my father were to demand the crown back, I'd fight him at your side."
When she made that incredible declaration with a straight face, all I could do was
nod my head.
Somehow, it felt like I'd seen a portion of her motherly courage there. Liscia was
going to make an amazing bride someday. That I was (planned to be) the groom,
however, was something I still didn't feel right about.
Liscia seemed satisfied with my response for now. "So? You were talking about a
budget, but what do you need all that money for?"
"Oh, for a start, I was thinking I'd build a city."
"A city?" she asked.
I had Liscia fetch a map of the country from my work desk. Looked at as a whole,
the territory of the country looked like a < shape, and I pointed to the center of it.
"We'll build a coastal city here. Also, we'll be moving forward with road
construction at the same time. If we have a transportation network from a coastal
city to all of the other cities, we can control both marine and land transportation.
That should allow us to make distribution much smoother. Honestly, it's a wonder to
me how such prime real estate has remained untouched up until now."
Incidentally, northeast of that spot was Lagoon City, a coastal city ruled by one of
the three dukes, Navy Admiral Excel Walter. Currently, Lagoon City was the largest
trade port in this country, but at the same time it was also a naval base with docks
for battleships. With a trading port where goods from around the world gathered
and a naval base with its need for confidentiality linked to each other, there were
mismatched priorities. In a crisis, that could lead to trade being stopped.
For that reason, too, it was urgent that we build a new city with a trading port.
"This coastal city will be the beating heart of this country, and the roads that
stretch out from it will be its veins," I explained. "If distribution is smooth, when
there is a shortage of some goods in the south, they can be shipped in from where
they're plentiful in the north. Do you know what that means?"
"Um... You buy goods where the prices have been lowered by abundance, then
resell them in places where the price has risen due to demand... or something like
that?" she asked.
"No, no, I'm not a merchant. The king can't be the one doing that."
"You can't?" She seemed surprised.
"What good would it do to take money from my people when I'm trying to make
them prosperous?" I asked.
Well, if we'd been speaking purely about foreign trade, she'd have been right, but
for domestic trade, we needed to think not as individuals, but as a country.
"Certainly, at first, there will be merchants who do that and make money hand
over fist. However, eventually, the supply shortage will be resolved. Once supply and
demand are in balance, the high prices should gradually come back down. We can
plan for price homogenization across the country. Basically..."
"...people will be able to buy the things that were too expensive for them before?"
she finished.
I gave Liscia's answer a satisfied nod. "Currently, the largest rising demand in the
majority of this country is foodstuffs. In order to stabilize prices on those, we
urgently need to secure distribution routes. Besides, more than half of this country's
border is with the sea. We should be able to harvest a lot of maritime products. If
those can be hauled overland, we can solve the food crisis in no time."
"Even now, we're able to bring dried and pickled goods inland, you know?" she
said.
"Well, can you live on dried and pickled fish forever?" I asked. "Me, I'd get tired of
it."
"Well... Yes, I suppose I would, too."
Dried horse mackerel is tasty, but I definitely wouldn't have wanted to eat it
every day. The salt in it is there to fight bacteria and decay, so you can't change the
flavor, even if you do get tired of it. Fish spoils fast to begin with, and even dried, it
will turn in a matter of days. That was why the speed at which we could ship fish and
shellfish inland was so important.
"That's what the transportation network is for, huh?" she mused.
"Exactly. ...Now, then." I gave a big yawn and closed my eyes. "Let me sleep for a
bit. When I wake up, we'll go to the planned site for the new city together. Ludwin
and his men are probably already there getting started... I need to go see them..."
"Okay." She nodded. "Sleep tight, Souma."
"Yeah, good nigh...?!"
There was a soft, warm sensation on my right cheek. I opened my eyes in shock,
but Liscia was already gone.
Oh... A goodnight kiss(1)... Th-That's what it was, right? They're not that uncommon in
other countries, right? Yeah, it's fine, it's totally normal. Nothing special about it. Liscia
did it casually, I'll bet. There shouldn't be any deeper meaning to it. Probably. I'm sure.
...In the end, I never did manage to get to sleep.
(1)[MISTERLP]: what a pleasant act, how cute.