“Duke Vargas!” Excel interjected, as if scolding him. “If you call yourself a warrior, you must always show the proper respect to those you deal with.”
After Excel’s rebuke, Castor meekly gave his name.
“…Right. I’m Air Force General Castor Vargas.”
According to my information, Castor was Excel’s son-in-law. Perhaps the reason he was acting more meekly than the personality I had heard for him (a muscle-head) was because of that power dynamic between them.
“…I apologize for raising my voice just now,” the sea serpent said, accompanying her words with an elegant bow. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty. I am Excel Walter, at your service.”
“I am Army General Georg Carmine,” the beastman said shortly.
This brought the introductions to a close.
…This lion-faced beastman is Georg Carmine, huh? I thought.
He had a well-built physique that an ordinary guy like me couldn’t hope to compare with, a mane that served to accentuate his manliness, and, lastly, the shining, fiery eyes of a lion. Even though I was only seeing a video image of him, it felt like he was right there in the room with me.
I could understand why Liscia had admired him. He had the look of an experienced warrior.
“Duke Carmine…” Liscia began.
The duke said nothing.
Liscia had let out his name without intending to, but Georg didn’t even cast a glance in her direction.
“I will now issue an ultimatum to the three dukes.” In order to keep myself from being overwhelmed by Georg’s presence, I issued this pronouncement in a clear tone. “In the time since I took the throne, you have all failed to respond to repeated requests for your cooperation. While it may have been Sir Albert’s own idea, I am sure the suddenness with which the throne changed hands must have played into that. As such, I will not hold you responsible for not obeying my commands up to this point. However, if you continue to disregard my orders, I will be left with no choice but to declare you traitors. I would like to hear your opinions on this.”
“I have something to ask you, sire.” The first to open her mouth was Excel.
“…What might that be?” I asked.
“What do you intend to do about the three duchies?”
I looked Excel’s image in the eye. As might have been expected from a woman who had inherited the blood of sea serpents, her eyes were endlessly cold, seeming to stare into the depths of my heart.
“If you obey me… I have no intention of laying a hand on the three duchies themselves,” I said.
She immediately came back with another question. “Then what of the three ducal armies?”
Her ability to accurately cut to the heart of the matter impressed me.
“…The three ducal armies will be folded into the Forbidden Army to create a new unified army,” I said. “Furthermore, noble fiefs will be forbidden to maintain personal forces in excess of what is needed for policing. These excess troops will also be incorporated into the Forbidden Army. In accordance with this, the special rights afforded to the three duchies for maintaining an army will be abolished. They will henceforth be treated the same as any other noble fief.”
“So that is it, after all…” Excel murmured.
“…You understand what you’re trying to do here, right?” Castor said, glaring at me.
“Castor…” Excel seemed to be trying to rebuke him for his attitude, but Castor held up a hand to stop her.
“This is important, Duchess Walter.”
When he responded with that serious tone of voice, Excel grudgingly closed her mouth.
Taking it as a sign of acquiescence, Castor looked me straight in the eye and spoke. “The three ducal armies are a system put in place to prevent the rise of a tyrant. This is a multiracial state, but the royal family is human. If a tyrant were to become king and institute policies that favored humans, the other races might face oppression. In order to prevent that, our predecessors came up with the three ducal armies. We three dukes of different races support the royal family, but we also monitor it, so that we can step in and depose a tyrant if it comes to that. Are you saying you want to destroy that system?”
It was a direct question, so I looked Castor in the eyes and answered. “In times of peace, that system would be fine, I’m sure. However, the world is full of instability now. While the expansion of the Demon Lord’s Domain to the north has stopped, there’s no telling when that might change suddenly and drastically. The intentions of the great power to the west, the Gran Chaos Empire, also remain unclear. The Duchy of Amidonia, who long for revenge on this country, and the Turgis Republic, with their Go North policy, are actively looking for any opening to seize our territory. The disputes with the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Union to our east over fishing rights are unending.”
I was speaking about the situation this country had currently found itself in. This country’s situation was incredibly unstable. Ordinarily, we shouldn’t have had time for this petty squabbling.
“Look at the situation in the world, Duke Vargas,” I continued. “In this unstable situation, an army with multiple command structures is not going to perform anywhere near well enough. This is the time to centralize power.”
“And what if the center is rotten?” he demanded. “How can you say for certain that you won’t become a tyrant? If we leave the entire army in your hands, who could hold you to account?”
“If that happens, then come for my head yourself!” I slammed my hands down on the desk hard, knowing this was where I would have to fight.
In the corner of my eye, I could see the image of Georg, his eyes closed and his arms crossed. That man… He wasn’t about to stop now. However, that only made it more important that I win Castor and Excel over to my side here.
“I’m only human,” I said. “I can’t guarantee that I won’t turn into a tyrant. Of course, that said, I have no intention of ever doing anything that would make Liscia and the others sad.”
“Souma…” Liscia said sorrowfully, but I went on.
“I will be dismantling the three ducal armies, but I will promise you positions within the national defense force. So, if I do become a tyrant, then lead the armies and stage a revolution, or whatever.”
“Talk is easy,” Castor said. “If that time comes, wouldn’t you move to protect yourself?”
“There’s a political thinker from my world, Machiavelli, who had something to say about that. ‘The best possible fortress is not to be hated by the people.’ If the people are on your side, anyone plotting rebellion will quickly be exposed. On the other hand, if the people abandon you, you might wait out a rebellion or two by hiding in your castle, but there will never be a shortage of foreigners willing to assist a people who have taken up arms against you. If I were to become a tyrant, so causing the people to abandon me, a rebellion would easily succeed.”
Castor was quietly listening to me speak.
Were my words reaching him…? At this point, I couldn’t be sure one way or the other.
Then, Excel spoke.
“I would like to ask one more thing. I hear that you are building a new coastal city. When that city is completed, what will become of Lagoon City, I wonder?”
Lagoon City was the central city of the Walter Duchy.
I had heard that for Excel and her race, the sea serpents, Lagoon City always came first. Apparently the sea serpents had been driven out of their former home, the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago, and Lagoon City was the place they had found to live in peace after many years of wandering, or something like that.
Since I didn’t want to incur the wrath of the sea serpent people, I made a point of explaining myself carefully. “The new city is being planned as a tourist destination and trade port. Because, from a secrecy standpoint, the tourism industry and a military port mix incredibly poorly, I have no intention of having the new city function as a military port. So, Lagoon City will likely continue to serve in that capacity. I’ll generally be leaving the construction of warships to Lagoon City, too.”