Episode(26): Hesitation and Curiosity
SOVEREIGN OF DEATH~(26)
[Is he doing a street performance or what...why did he feel the need to unleash his ultimate attack on a monster that was already on the verge of death?!
It even says here that the monster had no regenerative abilities from start to finish and with his wing, legs and arms severed, tell me where the hell would it even go!!!??]
Maria felt like immediately drawing her sword and dashing off to behead the fool right this very instance.
There was no doubt that if he stood before her right now he would already be on his way to the afterlife.
[Wouldn't a spoon be able to kill it at that point?
What was the point in using an ultimate attack on a creature that's already half way across the bridge of death??!
That just destroyed the village for nothing you b*stard! Its no wonder the villagers are so angry!]
If anyone ever saw the princess this mad they wouldn't dare to believe the kind princess could get so angry. They would definitely claim her as an imposter!
However she couldn't help it at all. Ever since he came to this world, Renji had been up to all sorts of antics and didn't spare her at all.
[Princess Maria...I also agree with your notion that things were done out of proportion this time.
However, the king is stating that it is necessary to display the power of the hero to the outside to gain their praise and support]
Maria scoffed. She almost spat in disdain as she heard this.
Gain support? More like gaining enemies!
Was having a revolt so tempting that you had to go out of your way to cause trouble?!
At this moment, Maria was so angry she nearly passed out due to the anger raging through her.
What good is saving them if their loyalty were to decrease and they all gain animosity for the empire? Wouldn't such people easily betray the kingdom if the time came for it?
The only way to resolve this situation would be to give compensation but if it went this way every time something like this happened then others would take advantage of them and wouldn't the empire go bankrupt before the final battle even occurred?
Just imagining not having funds to give the army proper armor, the thought made Maria grit her teeth. Just what sort of look would the other empires and kingdom give them?
'And why the hell is that old guy still giving orders when he's supposed to be on house arrest?'
The Valkyrie had decided to place the king on house arrest until his final judgment was given.
In this period of time he was stripped of his status as the monarch and was to stay obediently in his palace and not cause trouble.
Thanks to this most of the responsibilities of the empire fell in Maria's arms the moment her father was stripped of his status.
Someone definitely needed to answer for this. But Maria really didn't want to be the one to do it at all.
'Just what should I say to that Valkyrie when she comes'
'I really don't want to meet her again, she's too scary!'
Anxiety filled Maria's heart just thinking about meeting that terrifying existence again. Her body trembled thinking back to the overbearing pressure she felt from the Valkyrie and it took a while before she could calm herself down.
[…. The prospect of Summoning heroes in the first place was to save the world, not to have a mascot]
At this point her father was just trying to make the hero a poster boy and the most irritating thing was that he was too self-absorbed and stupid to see that he was being used!
[We don't need someone parading around with the name of our kingdom on their chest like a clown, what we need is someone to slay the demons and the demon king while gaining the peoples trust and admiration]
Just by performing his duty without extra gimmicks, then the admiration of the crowd would surely follow him.
[All he needs to do is what is needed of him and it will ultimately lead to increase in their 'interest' in the hero so that the world will begin to center around the heroes]
That way, Floren would naturally gain fame and prestige as well.
Maria creased her forehead with a frown and sighed again.
[But that hero, he just goes around blasting every single city to bits and adding more women to his harem...shouldn't he already be satisfied with the ones in his party]
Karian smiled awkwardly. She had the same thoughts as the princess to the matter but as a consultant she naturally wouldn't gossip.
She awkwardly scratched her cheek.
[...The princess looks distraught...might I recommend a treatment?]
Maria smiled wryly.
[If that treatment is far away from my father and that hero then yes!
I'll gladly take it.... but it's giving me a headache so enough sophistry.
Thinking about anything other than killing the demon king is just taking the cart before the horse]
They couldn't relax with such a monster breathing down their necks even with the heroes on their sides. Right now all their concentration had to be on nothing other than defeating the demon king and its forces of evil.
[As for the village's issue, how about appointing a few earth mages and a few apothecaries to restore the soil and get those who don't have any ties to the capital]
That way they wouldn't decline the offer because they had family in the capital. Just give them a few gold and they'll gladly do the work.
[We'll have them stay in the villages for a period of time until everything calms down]
They must want the royal family to give them money but Maria wasn't foolish enough to hand over gold like that for no reason. If it was just restoring the soil and rebuilding houses then a few mages could easily do the job.
A fraction of these villages that wanted to take advantage of the kingdom were the ones that didn't even pay tax. Maria ignored it from time to time because it didn't have much of a difference on the economic situation of the nation but they were just getting ahead of herself.
If she was the type to hold a grudge she would have immediately cut off these villages.
However it was better to keep these villages under the protection of the kingdom. That way refugees wouldn't come directly to the capital when they lose their homes due to the war but they would instead go to the villages under the protection of the empire.
'If the number of commoners in the capital were to overflow then the nobles of the noble faction might take the chance to act'
Maria was kind but not naïve enough to give those vipers a chance. There was no other choice then.
The mage plan was the best solution for each party involved.
However now that she had her eyes on these places if they missed a single dime off their taxes then she wouldn't lose the chance to squeeze them dry of everything they owned.
'I bet they won't complain if they see how reality slaps them hard in the face!'
[Princess, your evil smile is showing]
[Ehem!]
Maria coughed awkwardly trying to cover up her thoughts. However it was too late and she was already seen through.
The office was instantly shrouded in silence and Maria blushed in shame.
Sure, so what if she was thinking like a loan shark? Can't a princess be evil even in her thoughts?
Soon, the awkwardness disappeared and the two got back to business.
[Let's just try to get as many things done as possible, it's the best we can do]
[And what of the heroes?]
Karian asked.
[Hmmmm…..]
Maria leaned comfortably against her hand while thinking before she spoke again.
[…..It's a simple fix in this case. They've only trained for a month and decided on their own nonexistent authority to use their abilities now look at the damage...]
If she were to leave this behavior as is, then something similar or even worse may happen in the future. There was no way she would allow such a thing to happen!
[Please do not allow a single one of them to leave the palace until they have sufficiently been trained and can control their abilities to the extent where they don't wantonly cause destruction!
This should also be assessed and reported by their mentors of course and if said mentors deem them not ready for immediate combat then they shall continue until they get a pass. I'll get a headache if any more villages start telling us to pay them compensation for damages]
[Yes Maria-sama]
Karian nodded.
Maria also felt that for the short term this should fix all the current issues.
If she could get some free time to focus on gathering information on the demon kings army then she could alleviate the pressure on the battle against demons. She could also focus on improving her swordsmanship as well which was a huge plus.
'That reminds me, I also had that new magic sword made the other day'
She needed to head back and check on the progress of the sword when she had the time.
On the other side, Karian had a hesitant expression on her face as she looked at the princess. She looked like she had something to say but wasn't sure. In the end however she called out.
[U-Uhm princess...]
Maria looked up in surprise. Karian wasn't someone who normally stuttered so this was a huge shock especially when she saw the hesitant expression on her face.
[Yes? Please speak your mind and don't be hesitant]
She ignored the strange actions of her best friend and decided to ask directly.
However if she knew what was going to follow she might have never wanted to hear it at all.