Shove The Dirty Work Onto Someone Else

Right now, I was in the lord’s mansion in the territorial capital of Yōntsu Territory.

The battle in this city had happened yesterday. Coming here the very next day, my footwork was pretty impressive for a king, but let’s go with “the on-site Overlord,” if you please.

Anyway, in the room I was in now—the reception room—there were six people: me, Lynferia, Kiriku, Arandor, Jōsen, and Karmos.

Lynferia was my guard, and Jōsen was Karmos’s guard, so neither of them was seated.

“Kiriku, Arandor, Karmos. This battle—splendidly done.”

“Yes!”

Honestly, rather than “splendid,” I was just sitting there watching from above and got completely stunned.

I never expected him to take a city by himself… our Grand General was insane.

“We were also able to capture the acting lord who abandoned the city and fled, along with everyone who followed him. We had a fair number of citizens witness his escape, and we’re currently using Cougar and the others to spread various rumors. Karmos should confirm the contents as well.”

“Understood.”

“The captured people were thrown into the jail, right? Besides the acting lord, who did you capture?”

When I asked, Kiriku answered immediately.

“The one overseeing finances, the deputy commander of the territorial capital’s garrison, and ten garrison soldiers.”

“Hm. So the finance overseer was on the count’s side. Hard to call that healthy administration.”

“It is only my lack of virtue. I can only be ashamed.”

“From the sound of it, you accounted for that?”

Seeing Karmos bow his head with a solemn look, I didn’t feel like he’d taken much of a hit, so I asked. Karmos nodded easily.

“Yes. I did not grant him authority of judgment, and only had him manage the ledgers. The title was ‘Finance Administrator,’ but… his calculations were fast and accurate, so I made use of him.”

Karmos said that with a faint smile.

…Yeah. This guy was kind of scary. The type of boss who smiled while giving you a brutal performance review.

Since he didn’t look at me with max loyalty like my kids did, I should be careful.

“Hm… if you kept a tight rein, then there’s no problem.”

“Yes. That said, because our financial situation has leaked to them, it may be an unpleasant matter for Your Majesty…”

“There’s no need to worry about that. Ledgers up to yesterday will lose meaning soon enough.”

Yeah… I honestly didn’t care.

For Einheria, as long as we could collect mana stones, the economy wasn’t exactly our priority… though, well, it wasn’t like we could ignore it entirely.

I did want people to live well rather than wither away. But there was no way I knew how to improve everyone’s livelihoods.

I could think of making farmers grow rare seeds, but “circulating the city economy and revitalizing it”… how did you even do that?

Road construction? Should I do road construction?

Huh? That might actually not be a bad idea. Paving roads… it could create jobs in all sorts of places, trade materials, and get money moving. And if roads improved, travel would get easier… all upside!

Alright—if someone asked me for ideas, I’d tell them: build roads!

“Leaving the ledgers aside… Karmos. What do you intend to do with the captured people?”

“M-me? You want me to decide?”

For some reason, Karmos looked flustered at my words. Huh? Did I say something weird?

“Aren’t you the lord of this city? Wouldn’t you decide?”

Was that not how it worked? Was this some kind of separation of powers?

“I am already a man who belongs to Einheria. I could not possibly claim to be a lord.”

Karmos bowed quietly in response. It sounded like he meant he had no divided loyalties, but…

“…Right. You are already my vassal. And in Einheria, the position of ‘lord’ does not exist. Therefore, Karmos—I appoint you as this city’s magistrate.”

“A magistrate…?”

“Kiriku.”

“Yes. Then I will explain.”

Kiriku explaining just because I said his name—seriously, that was absurdly helpful.

Because… I didn’t really know what a magistrate did. In Sword and Legions, if you placed a magistrate in a city or village, for some reason the mana stone income increased a bit. Weird, since the amount you could squeeze out of one person should be fixed.

The “magistrate” you saw in period dramas—“Heh-heh, ha-ha” kind of… I had the impression it meant some important official.

“In simple terms, it is the one who oversees governance of their assigned post. In other words, it is like a lord, but they govern not land, only a single city. And the greatest difference from a lord is this: no matter how much they enrich the post, nothing goes into their own pockets.”

“…So they can’t use collected taxes for themselves. Taxes are used entirely for the benefit of that post?”

“That is correct. Of course, the magistrate’s salary will be paid by the state, so please be at ease.”

Salary!? Come to think of it… since everyone lived in the castle, it completely slipped my mind—what about my kids’ pay? Oh crap… they weren’t unpaid, right? I should check with Ilmitt.

Anyway, the difference between lord and magistrate… was it like king versus civil servant? Instead of pulling living expenses out of taxes, all taxes went into city-building.

Well, civil servants’ salaries came from taxes too… but for us, “taxes” were mana stones collected without residents noticing… that was a very gentle system. And it even suppressed Frenzy—best of both worlds.

Of course, separate from that, you needed operating costs and maintenance, so you’d still collect taxes… but if you tried to cover everything with mana stones…

That could break the economy. Or rather, it would be hard. If I converted mana stone income into money… I should check using materials that could realistically be exchanged.

“As for the details of a magistrate’s duties, Ilmitt can explain more precisely than I can. We will arrange an opportunity for that explanation later. It likely won’t be identical to a lord’s role, and there should be differences in method as well.”

“Am I truly suitable?”

“Karmos-dono. Do you believe there is anyone among us who knows this city better than you do?”

“…”

“And why do you think Fels-sama allowed the acting lord and his entourage to escape once?”

Because it felt like it would work better.

“To make it easier to govern as the new ruler, by letting the people learn of the former ruler’s inadequacy…?”

“Not quite. The rumors being spread in the city now are of the former lord of Yōntsu Territory’s unseen struggle, the scheming of Harekukku Territory… and Heirik’s flight—the one who was forced in from Harekukku as a son-in-law. That is the gist.”

“T-that… why…?”

“Didn’t you say it yourself? To make it easier to govern as the new ruler. Of course, we are also spreading Einheria’s narrative.”

“…”

“Of course, it will be harder than ever. The people’s expectations will be far beyond anything before, and not all stains have been wiped away. Trade with other territories will decline for a while, and anxiety over no longer being Lumoria Kingdom land will cause merchants and residents to leave.”

“…The responsibility is heavy.”

So… I thought we got tens of thousands of people, but some would leave… Well, it wouldn’t become empty… but still.

“Most people are not so unburdened that they can just leave, but some will. However, major merchants are different. They likely already moved their assets elsewhere, and are simply watching the situation for now.”

“…Then that also means it’s a chance to find good merchants?”

“Exactly. And while we’re at it, it would be good to wash away other stains now as well. Stains that set in over a long time are stubborn.”

Kiriku was saying household-sounding things, but… this was definitely not a calm conversation about scrubbing kitchens and baths. He was assuming there were still dangerous parties left besides those who fled with the acting lord.

“Is that acceptable?”

“Of course. Einheria does not need stains.”

“Then, including those currently in the jail, I will handle them in accordance with the national law.”

…Our national law… what was it like, anyway? At least, since it wasn’t a nobility system, it had to be pretty different from the Lumoria Kingdom’s…

But seriously—between the salary thing and the law thing… I was charging ahead without knowing a lot. Still… Kiriku and Ilmitt would probably handle it, right?

And it sounded like they’d make good use of the people I had ordered captured after letting them flee once. For me, it was more like: if we show the citizens the acting lord’s pathetic escape, governance will be easier, right? That was basically my vibe.

But anyway, with this, it was practically the same as taking control of Yōntsu Territory. From here, I could just throw it all at Kiriku and Karmos.

I’d been throwing most of it at them from the start anyway… I only spoke up during war.

Oh, right. Yōntsu Territory was fine for now, but there was one more “lord” at the castle. I should get my hands on that too soon.

“Then, proceed while confirming administrative affairs with Ilmitt. First, we’ll do an introduction as magistrate, but—”

“Kiriku. Wait a moment.”

“Yes!”

“Karmos, I appointed you as magistrate, but I have another task to ask of you.”

“Understood. Whatever it may be.”

“There’s a viscount from the neighboring territory being held prisoner at the castle, right? Since Yōntsu Territory is about to settle down, I intend to speak with him soon.”

“Viscount Assen… understood.”

“Return to the castle once the installation of the mana collection device is complete. Until then, handle administration here.”

“Understood.”

Alright, I said what I needed to say, so I should take my leave. Once it turned into talk about how to run the city, I’d just be listening, and Karmos would probably work more easily without me around.

Important matters could be confirmed in meetings, anyway.

Thinking that, I decided to return to the castle.