In the process, anyone who was attached to maintaining Amidonia's
independence (which was pretty much all people who had launched rebellions to
usurp Julius's position) was eliminated by the annexationists.
Herman Neumann, the old general who had stopped the Turgish advance at
Nelva, along with the former Minister of Finance, Gatsby Colbert, who was staying
with him, both lent their names to support the annexationist faction, which was a
major factor in that. It seems Colbert was well-trusted by the people for his
reputation as a great minister who supported the country through financial
difficulty.
And so, a request for the annexation of the entire Principality was delivered to
me.
...
...Yeah. It makes you go, How did this even happen?
If I weighed the pros and cons of annexing all of the Principality of Amidonia,
there were more negatives than positives. The positive was that it would raise our
population, which would increase the power of our nation in the long term.
Furthermore, the Principality of Amidonia was rich with rare mineral resources,
such as gold, and this would provide a steady supply of those mineral resources that
we couldn't mine inside the kingdom.
The negatives, on the other hand, were that even though we had finally resolved
the issue of the food crisis inside the kingdom, we would now need to deal with
Amidonia's food shortages, too.
In addition, it was a nation that had been our enemy until mere days ago, so it
would likely be difficult to rule.
Also, until now our country had only shared borders with the Union of Eastern
States, the Principality of Amidonia, and part of the Turgis Republic. With the change
in borders, in exchange for the disappearance of Amidonia, we would now border
the Mercenary State Zem and the Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria, which was
another downside. The more nations we bordered, the more difficult our diplomacy
would be, after all.
Another thing was that, though I hadn't ever been counting on them, the war
reparations would stop being paid, too. Since the citizens of Amidonia would
become part of our country, the border between those paying the reparations and
those receiving them would be gone.
When I looked at it this way, it seemed like there were more negatives than
positives to annexing Amidonia.
However, we didn't have the option of refusing. That was because the negatives of
choosing not to annex Amidonia were even bigger.
First, it would shake our just cause in claiming, "We incorporated Van into the
kingdom at the request of the residents." If we took in just Van, but not the rest,
then: "Oh, so, in the end, the kingdom just invaded the land they wanted," people
would point out.
Furthermore, if we left Turgis and Lunaria to invade the country, ultimately, we
would still end up bordering more countries.
Also, ruling Amidonia while it was facing food shortages would be difficult. If the
two countries failed to rule properly, and famine and civil war were to break out in
the former territory of Amidonia, we would see a fresh influx of refugees. That being
the case, it would be better if we took responsibility for caring for all of it from the
very beginning. It would be difficult now, but in the long run, our investment would
pay itself off.
In the end, I accepted the integration of all of Amidonia with the kingdom, and
notified various foreign countries. As I did that, I also moved a naval unit under the
command of Excel that was standing by in the southwest of the Elfrieden Kingdom
to the border with Turgis, putting myself in a position to invade at any time.
From the Republic's perspective, they wouldn't want an attack on their mainland
while their primary force was laying siege to Nelva. They immediately withdrew
from Nelva, and the forces of the Republic pulled back from Amidonia like the
receding tide.
Also, seeing that the chaos in Amidonia had subsided, the forces of the Orthodox
Papal State of Lunaria that were deployed along the border stopped preparing for
war.
Unlike Turgis, they hadn't made any major moves. Because of that, it was hard to
gauge what they had been thinking, and it felt creepy.
Anyway, that was the sequence of events that led to my annexation of Amidonia.
Sometime after the Turgis Republic withdrew...
I was back at the castle in Van to handle the post-annexation paperwork, and on
this day, I was seated on the throne in the audience chamber to present awards to
those who had contributed to defending against the Turgis Republic. It had come up
suddenly, so I hadn't brought many of my followers with me, but, as per usual, Liscia
and Aisha stood on either side of me, while Hakuya carried out the ceremony.
There were two people receiving commendations on this occasion. The old
general who had defended Nelva, and by extension Amidonia, Herman Neumann;
and the former Minister of Finance Gatsby Colbert (his first name was Gatsby, but
because he was a former minister, I felt like I should call him Colbert) who had
worked with him to unite the fractured Amidonia. Herman was a battle-hardened
old general, like Georg or Owen, while Colbert was a more delicate intellectual type
in his mid-twenties.
Behind them were two piles of something, but I couldn't tell exactly what because
they were covered. Whatever it was, it was apparently a gift to our country.
When they bowed before me on the carpet, I told them, "Raise your heads."
Once they had, I first addressed Colbert.
"Sir Colbert. I thank you for bringing the people of Amidonia together. Without
your hard work, the chaos would have been drawn out, and the people of Amidonia
would have suffered much misery for it."
"You are too kind." Colbert bowed his head deeply.
I had tried speaking of the people of Amidonia as if they were my own people, but
he showed no real response. Well... he did plan to push all of the responsibility off
onto me, so that was only natural, I suppose.
Colbert raised his head and said, "In any event, Your Majesty, I have something
here which I would like to give you."
"What is that?" I asked.
Colbert removed the cover from one of the two piles. What appeared from
beneath it was a mountain of documents. Hakuya, who was standing beside him,
said, "I see," with a strained smile.
I wasn't sure what it was that he saw, but I asked Colbert, "What are those?"
"These documents are statements of income and expenditures as well as
materials regarding rights and ownership within the Principality of Amidonia,"
Colbert explained. "They were originally stored in the archives at Van, but we
carried them away before the outbreak of hostilities in order to prevent them being
lost in the fires of war. The war is over now, so we have brought them back to Van,
where they belong."
Oh, now that he mentioned it, when we had taken custody of Van's archives as
collateral against the war reparations, I might have received a report saying that
none of those documents were there. That must have been the reason for Hakuya's
strained smile. Because, for Hakuya, things hadn't worked out the way he had
planned there.
"I see," I said. "That makes a wonderful gift. It will make ruling easier."
"I'm honored to hear you say that."
"However, I think it would be best if you returned them there with your own
hands," I said, refusing to accept them.
"Huh?" Colbert looked dumbstruck.
Hm, I think that evens the score.
I grinned as I said, "Former Amidonian Minister of Finance, Colbert! Do you wish
to serve me?!"
"Y-Yes, sire!" Colbert responded almost reflexively. Good, I had a commitment
from him now.
"Very well," I said. "In that case, I will prepare a position for you equivalent to the
one you held in Amidonia. Henceforth, as the Minister of Finance of both the
Elfrieden Kingdom and the Principality of Amidonia, I ask you to support the
finances of this new nation."
"I-I am an Amidonian, you realize... Is that all right?" he stuttered.
"It doesn't matter to me. I'll use anyone I think I can use. If I obsess over race and
nationality, I'll never get this country rebuilt."
"Y-Yes, sire..."
No, seriously; I had been wanting someone like him. I had been studying the
humanities, so mathematical calculations and decisions involving the economy were
always difficult for me. If this guy had the skill to keep this less-than-prosperous
country from going bankrupt when the military was eating up its budget, I wanted
him working for me, no matter what. If there were a capable Minister of Finance
trimming unneeded expenses, I might be able to find room in the budget for a policy
or two I hadn't been able to before.
Heh heh heh... oh, the possibilities.
"Minister of Finance Colbert," I said. "Those documents will surely be the tools of
your trade. Take them back, and work to rebuild the Amidonia region."
"Ye... Yes, sire! I understand!" Colbert prostrated himself before me again.
I nodded, then looked to General Herman. "Sir Herman, you did well to defend
against the forces of the Turgis Republic. Without the fierce struggle you put up, I am
sure the Republic would have made it past Nelva and into the heartlands of
Amidonia. If that had happened, our aid wouldn't have arrived in time, and the
situation would be even more chaotic than it is now."
I had thanked him, but Herman's stern expression didn't soften.
"Warriors are the defenders of the people," he said. "Even without a master, that
remains the same. I merely did what is my duty."
H-He's pretty strict and formal, huh... I thought. He was probably the sort that was
dedicated to his profession. If Owen was a laughing old man, this guy was a stubborn
old man.
Yeah, he was like a tsundere old man from Japan, and I liked that. His earlier
words had been the equivalent of: "I-It's not like I did it for you, okay? I didn't have
any choice after losing my ruler, so I just defended it!" or something like that, I guess.
Herman stood up and walked over in front of the other covered pile. "I, too, have
come bearing gifts, Your Majesty. I hope you will not make me take mine back after
receiving them."
With those words, Herman pulled back the cover. Beneath it was a pile of many
colorful textiles, all rolled up like roll cakes.
"The south of Amidonia has a successful industry that produces high quality
wool," he said. "These textiles were made with that wool. Please, accept them."
"Hm... May I come take a closer look?" I asked.
"As you wish."
I rose from my seat, approached the pile of textiles and put my hand on one.
Yeah, it felt good. Was this one a carpet? I didn't know how to judge the quality of
these sorts of things very well, but I could still tell somehow that this was a good
one.
"Hm? A carpet?" I murmured.
A carpet as a gift... huh. I dunno... I feel like I've heard of this scenario somewhere
before. If I recall, there was a scene like this in Earth's history... Huh?!
"...Sir Herman," I said.
"What is it?"
"There wouldn't happen to be a woman hidden in that carpet, would there?"
The moment I said that, Herman's face stiffened.
Wait, seriously?!
One of the textiles in the pile began wriggling. Had an assassin slipped in? The
soldiers and Aisha were on edge, when...
"No fair, no fair! It was gonna be the surprise of a lifetime! Why'd ya have to go
and figure it out?!" a girl's voice exclaimed.
The moving textile slowly came unfurled, and out popped a girl who was
somewhere between middle school and high school age. Her long hair was tied at
the nape of her neck into ponytail-style twintails, and she had lovely, regular
features and beady little eyes. That was the kind of girl she was.
The young girl put her right hand on the back of her neck, and her left hand on
her hip, shaking back and forth a bit while she posed like a model. "Welcome or not,
here she is, dun-da-da-dun! It's Roroa!" Then she gave a coquettish giggle and tried
to act sexy.
She was slightly shorter than Liscia, and her body had a distinct lack of curves, so
she just looked like a little girl trying too hard to seem like an adult. But, well, it was
cute in its own way, like a small animal, and... Wait, wasn't Roroa the name of Julius's
little sister?!