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.