“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 safely 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.