by Dojyomaru
“...So, do you think you can secure the funds for the war subsidies?”
“Hm? Yeah. I’ve already secured the funds to send to the Empire.”
“...Huh?”
“Right now, I’m trying to squeeze out the funds for my reforms. They’ll cost even more than the war subsidies, after all.”
Wait... Wait, wait, wait, wait! He’s already secured the funds? The amount the Empire requested was so massive that it was equivalent to the national budget, from what I heard!
“Where did we have that kind of money...?”
“I sold off, like, a third of the treasure vault.”
“The treasure vault... Our national treasures?! Don’t tell me you sold off our national treasures! You didn’t, did you?!” I closed in on Souma, who looked very blasé about the whole thing. “The national treasures belong to the whole country! Just arbitrarily selling them off is a betrayal of our people!”
“Now, now, just calm down. If you say they’re the property of the people, I’d say selling them for the benefit of the people is all good.”
“Even so, there must have been objects with historical and cultural value...”
“Ohh, if that’s your concern, I had those set aside. All I sold were jewels and ornamental objects that had material value.”
Souma looked through the paperwork for the treasure vault inventory. “Treasures were divided into three categories: Category A (items with historical or cultural value), Category B (items without historical or cultural value but with monetary value), and Category C (everything else). We only sold items from Category B. Rather than sell the stuff in Category A, if we put it on rotating display in a museum, it’s likely to serve as a more permanent source of income.”
“Well, maybe... What about Category C?”
“Magic tools, grimoires, and the like. Honestly, I’m not sure how best to handle them. You could say they’re like weapons, in a way. We can’t sell them off or put them on display without the proper precautions. That full set of Hero Equipment looked like it might fetch a nice price, though... Mind if I sell that?”
“Please, don’t...”
Technically, you’re supposed to be the hero... Ah, wait, you’re the king now, aren’t you?
“But, if we have all this money, shouldn’t it go to the military? In officers’ school I learned ‘Spend always on defense, never on tribute.’”
“Let me answer that pithy saying with another one. ‘Time is money.’ Which is to say, by offering the war subsidies as a sacrifice, we can gain the one resource our country most needs right now: time.”
“...Why do you have to talk in such a roundabout way?”
“Don’t worry about it. Anyway, even if we were able to strengthen our forces, it would all be for naught if we can’t also get domestic issues under control. Until the food and refugee issues are resolved, we’re only going to continue losing the support of the people. Once that happens, we’ll be left with a fragile state that’s easily thrown into riots with a little agitation by foreign actors.”
“No... The people love this country, too. They wouldn’t riot...”
“You’re being idealistic there. ‘Only once one is clothed and fed does one learn manners.’ In the end, you can’t have morals or patriotism on an empty stomach. If you’re too busy looking after yourself, you can’t afford to look after others.”
Souma’s eyes were cold as he said this. It was a harsh and realistic view. That alone made me feel he was on the mark. From the look of him, you would expect him to be a weak man, yet somehow...
...he looked so reliable.
◇ ◇ ◇
After spending another day, I was finally able to secure a certain amount of funds. While I wasn’t exactly flush with cash, I would have the money I needed for my reforms for the time being. I managed to extract all of this money from just my direct holdings, without having to touch the Three Dukedoms, so I’d have liked some praise for that, at least.
Looking around the room... It was a disaster. Bureaucrats were passed out on their desks, others were leaning back asleep in their chairs, their faces looking skywards. On the sofa, Liscia had lain down and was snoring softly.
I moved over to her quietly, sat on the sofa’s armrest, and watched Liscia sleep. In the end, this girl had stayed up until close to dawn helping me with my work. Even though she must have wanted to say a thing or two to say about being forced into an engagement with me...
I patted her sleeping head. Her silky hair slid smoothly between my fingers. The excitement from being set free after such a long job must have been affecting me. Normally, I’d have been too embarrassed to do this sober, but just sitting here like this made me happy.
“Mrm...”
Liscia groaned, so I pulled my hand out of her hair. The next moment, Liscia opened her eyes and sprung up. Maybe she was still a little groggy, since she was looking around all over.
With a wry grin, I bid her good morning. “Good morning, Liscia.”
“M-Morning... Huh? Did I fall asleep...?”
“We’ve hit a good stopping point now. Do you want to go back to sleep?”
“Oh, no. I’m fine. What about you, Souma? You haven’t slept, have you?”
It looked like she was fully awake. I was happy to see her showing concern for me, too.
Lifting myself from the armrest, I stretched my arms wide.
“I plan to have a good long rest after this, but... could you come with me for a bit first?”
“Hm? Where to?”
“For a before-bed walk,” I said.
It the light of near-dawn, Liscia and I bounced along on horseback.
While breathing in the morning mist, Liscia’s horse sped along with a clip-clop, clip-clop, not bothered in the least by the weight of two people. Liscia sat in the front holding the reins, while I was behind her with my arms around her slim waist, holding on for dear life.
“Hey, don’t squeeze my belly so hard,” she objected.
“No way. This is pretty scary.”
“Pitiful. Normally shouldn’t you, as the man, be the one holding the reins?”
“Well, it’s not like I had a choice. Since I’ve never ridden on a horse before.”
In modern Japan, there was rarely any chance to ride horses.
At best, I’d ridden on a pony at the petting zoo as a child while someone else led it on a leash.
“In this country, pretty much everyone from peasant farmers to the nobility can ride, you know?” she told me.
“In my world, there were many more convenient vehicles.”
“Your world... Tell me about it, Souma.”
“Hm?”
“Did you... leave behind any family, a lover maybe, in the other world?” Liscia asked me hesitantly. Was she trying to be considerate of my feelings?
“No, nobody. My last relative, my grandpa, just passed away the other day... yeah.”
“...I’m sorry.”
“It’s nothing to apologize about. Grandpa had had a full life. That’s why, well... Nobody’s waiting for my return, so I guess I don’t feel the need to go back in any hurry.”
“Oh... You don’t.” Liscia seemed somewhat relieved.
As we talked, the horse kept clip-clopping along. It was around six in the morning, maybe. The time when people finally start to stir. As we passed through the shopping street, no shops were open yet and there was almost no one out. Passing through the castle town, we reached the wall that went around the capital. We came up to a massive gate, the likes of which I had only seen in foreign fantasy films, and after speaking to the guards there, we went outside through a small door beside it.
Liscia did all the talking here. If the newly-ascended king had told them he wanted to go outside the city without any bodyguards, I doubt they’d have allowed it. So, Liscia, who held an officer’s rank, told them, “I have been dispatched outside by order of the king,” and played it off as part of her duties.
Once we safel
y passed through the gate, Liscia added, “Since I said it was a royal order, there’s going to be a record of it. Who knows what Marx is going to say to us later...”
I ignored her complaints.
After a short trip through the city streets, we finally reached our destination. “...Stop here,” I said.
As she stopped the horse, Liscia looked at me questioningly. “This is where you wanted to come? All I see are farmers’ fields.”
Indeed, there was nothing but verdant fields of green leaves here. Green fields, wet with the morning dew, as far as the eye could see. This was the place... No doubt about that.
“This is the place I wanted to show you, Liscia.”
“These fields? I suppose they’re pretty when they’re wet with the morning dew like this...”
“Pretty... huh. Even though it’s because of this that people are starving to death.”
“Wha?” Liscia’s eyes widened in surprise.
I sighed. “Take a close look. These ‘inedible fields’ are the root of this country’s food crisis.”
◇ ◇ ◇
Inedible fields... That was what Souma had called the fields spread out before me, looking at them bitterly. Souma had said he’d wanted to show me these fields, but I still didn’t understand why.
“...What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. All of the fields you see here are cotton fields.”
“Cotton fields... Ah! That’s what you meant by inedible!”
Cotton flowers were grown to produce cotton thread. Sure enough, these fields didn’t grow anything you could eat.
Souma sat down there, resting his elbows on his thighs. “Jumping straight to my conclusion, it’s the excessive increase in the number of these cotton fields that has caused this country’s food shortages.”
“...Come again?”
Did he just sort of off-handedly say something incredible now? The cause of our food shortages?
“While I was sorting through the paperwork, I noticed it. With the expansion of the Demon Lord’s Domain, the demand for clothing and other daily necessities has skyrocketed. Of course, the demand for the raw materials has shot up, too. With the selling price of cotton flowers rising, and being able to sell as much as you can produce, the farmers have entirely stopped growing the food crops they had produced up until that point. Crops grown to sell to others instead of to eat are called cash crops. Which is to say: our farmers have turned to growing only cash crops, which has led to a lowering of this country’s food self-sufficiency rate.”
I was speechless. The cause of this country’s food shortages...
I had always just assumed it was bad weather, or that our country had just had poor soil to begin with. Here was a concrete reason, and yet I, who had lived in this country for more than ten years, hadn’t seen it. Meanwhile Souma, who had been summoned here only a few days prior, had managed to.
“If I were to go a bit further, I could say it’s the cause of this country’s poor economy, as well. When the food self-sufficiency rate drops, you have to import from other countries to avoid starving. However, imported food involves transportation costs as well, so the price of food rises. That puts pressure on household budgets, but you can only cut food costs so far. If you don’t eat, you’ll starve, after all. Of course, if you’re going to trim the fat somewhere, it’s going to be in nonessential and luxury goods. This change in spending practices is causing a downward spiral in the economy.”
What had I been looking at? Had I just been a private citizen, it would have been fine to just laugh scornfully at my lack of insight. However, I was a princess.
The ignorance of those at the top kills those at the bottom.
“I’m... a failure as a royal.” I lost all strength, falling to my knees there. In all my life, I had never so keenly felt a sense of powerlessness as I did now.
Seeing me like that, Souma let out an “Uh,” and an “Um,” scratching his head, before resting his hand on my head.
“Don’t let it get you so down. We’ve secured the funding we’ll need. It’s not too late for agricultural reforms.”
“...What are you planning to do?”
“Place limits on the growth of cash crops, bring back the growing of food crops, and improve our self-sufficiency rate. The country will pay subsidies to help support that transition. First we’ll replant the fields with beans, which have a wide range of uses, and potatoes, which are resistant against famine, and over time I’d like to increase the number of paddy fields. After that...”
Souma spoke eloquently of his plans for agricultural reform. He used a lot of words like “paddy fields” that were unfamiliar to me, but as I looked at his face in profile, he seemed so radiant.
I felt I could understand why my father had abdicated the throne to him. He was what this country needed most right now. We had to do whatever it took to keep him tied down here. Our betrothal had probably been meant as another chain with which to bind him.
I guess I can’t afford to be upset about the engagement being decided without my input.
Souma had said that once he got the country on track, he would return the throne, but we couldn’t let him do that. It would be a loss to the country to have a man of such rare talent leave. It needed to be prevented at all costs.
He says he has no family in his old world. If I were to become his family here, could I keep him in this country? I wondered. As his fiancée, if I can just make the marriage a fait accompli... Wait, the best way to make it a fait accompli... would basically be... doing that with him...
The thoughts that came to my mind left my face flushed red.
“So, in the mountains we’ll... Hey, Liscia, you listening?”
“Eek! Wh-Why, yes, I’m listening.”
“Hm? Your face is all red, you know.”
“It’s just the sunrise! Think nothing of it!”
My cheeks were on fire. I was ready to just die of embarrassment.
From there on, I don’t think I heard a single word of Souma’s explanations.
Chapter 2: Start From X
The technology in this world was kind of all over the place.
On Earth, technology had moved like this: from man power, to the water wheel and windmill, to the steam engine, and then on to the combustion engine. It was a series of incremental advances.
If you wanted to fly freely through the sky, before you could build an airplane, you would first need to discover the concept of lift, and a propulsion system (the internal combustion engine) would need to be created. In order to create that propulsion system, you would need to understand the system behind how things burn. In the history of Earth, new technologies had always been built atop other technologies that had laid the groundwork for them.
However, in this world, there were mysterious creatures and magic. If you wanted to fly freely through the sky, you could just ride a wyvern. These people had skipped past the concept of lift and propulsion systems and just gone flying.
In a world where you can create fire, ice, and more with magic any time you want to, the difference between what is possible and what is not becomes extreme.
In this world, they had large tamed beasts that could haul as much as a four ton truck.
There were steel battleships, only they were drawn by massive sea dragons.
There was no electricity, yet the nights were bright in this country. The street lamps had lightmoss in them, which stored light energy during the day and was phosphorescent at night, keeping the town lit.
They didn’t have gas, they used firewood, ovens, and fire magic (or magic items) to cook.
There were no aqueducts; however, all around town, there were wells with water elemental spells cast on them that drew water from deep below the earth... well, that’s enough examples to get the point.
In this country, even without science, many things could be done with magic. Turning that around, if you were to take away their magic and mysterious creatures, this countr
y’s civilization would not be that advanced. Comparing it to a point in our own world’s history, they were probably in the late Middle Ages or early modern period, at best. The feudal system was still intact, and the industrial revolution a long ways away.
That was the kind of country I was now king of.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Liscia, agricultural reforms don’t happen overnight,” Souma told me. “So, for the time being, I suppose we’ll have to increase our imports from other countries to compensate.”
I sat across from Souma, nibbling on my toast as he talked. On the narrow table, there was a basket of bread, as well as plates with scrambled eggs, sausage and salad for two on them. It was breakfast time.
“But didn’t you say imports are expensive, and that causes a decline in consumer spending?”
“I did. That’s why we’ll probably end up having the country buy up goods, then resell them at domestic prices for a time. We’ll take a loss on the tariffs, but we need to bear it for now. I’d like to make up the shortfall with exports, but first we’ll need to find a replacement for our current primary export, cotton.”
“Sounds hard... Anyway, let’s set that aside for a moment.” I asked the question that had been bothering me for a while now. “You’re the king, so why on Earth are you eating in here?!”
This was the castle cafeteria. What’s more, it was the general cafeteria which the soldiers and maids used. What we were eating right now was the A-Set lunch for this morning. The king of a country was sitting amongst the guards, eating the same food that they did. There were limits to how little dignity a king could be allowed to have.
“The constant curious glances from the guards and maids are starting to hurt, you know!” I protested.
“Don’t let it bother you. The whole castle is being frugal right now, so I can’t allow wasteful spending on my meals.”
“Didn’t you say austerity measures were a bad influence on the economy?!”
“If you just accumulate the money you’re saving, yes,” he said. “But if the extra money is used properly, it makes the economy go ’round.”