The Wish

“More than anything… the thought of making that person my prince consort is terrifying.”

“Terrifying in what way?”

Efaria, who had been puffing up in anger until just a moment ago, changed her expression into a serious one.

Had that display of anger been an act? Perhaps the topic of marriage… had been leading me somewhere?

If the goal was to preserve the blood of the rightful royal house, there was no way the regent and the others had not considered marrying her to the prince.

“I would ask that you take this only as the foolish chatter of a little girl named Efaria…”

Efaria emphasized that this was not a statement as the Holy King… it did not seem that she merely still had complaints about that prince, but rather that she was about to speak of something suspicious that would be improper to say as the Holy King….

Honestly, I did not want to hear it… but if I did not, it did not seem like the conversation would move forward.

“Of course, that was my intention from the start. No matter what you say, I will not think of it as having come from the mouth of the Holy King.”

“You have my gratitude… this was about three years ago, when a commemorative festival was held for the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Lufelon Holy Kingdom. The Second Queen of the Kingdom of Sorakil returned home with the son in question. At that time… I do not know what caused it, but an incident occurred in which he suddenly attacked me with a blade.”

“…A prince of another country attacked the Holy King… no, back then you were still a princess. Well, either way, for royalty to attack royalty… that would be an incident serious enough to start a war, would it not?”

“Yes… however, martial law was declared over this matter, no formal protest was made, and publicly it was treated as though nothing had happened.”

“…That is a remarkably lenient response. If it were me, I would crush the entire country.”

“The Lufelon Holy Kingdom has never waged an external campaign since its founding… and also, I have heard that Father, Uncle, and Aunt were very close siblings, so I believe the truth is that they did not wish to make a great issue of it. Fortunately… though it may not be right to call it that, I was protected by my guards and suffered no injury….”

…I thought there were a great many problems with smoothing something like that over… the Lufelon Holy Kingdom seemed not merely softened by peace… but somewhat unsuited for those at the top of a nation.

If it was to endure, a nation had to show strength in carrying things through when the time came.

A sense difficult to call a virtue, such as ferocity or savagery… when leading a nation, one needed to show that sort of fearsome quality outwardly.

What people sought in those above them were things generally called virtues, such as fairness, sanctity, strength, and kindness… but peel back one layer and reveal the truth, and what took priority over everything was their own benefit.

The shape of that benefit differed from person to person, but people supported a king because there was benefit in it… whether that benefit was spiritual or physical, what was demanded of a king was to provide and protect it… a king who could not do what must be done should not be king. It was the shrewd one, who could swallow both the pure and the foul, who ought to be king.

The Lufelon Holy Kingdom had existed for over one hundred fifty years, and though it had never waged war abroad, in this age I could not believe it had never experienced war at all.

I had heard that despite the disorder among the upper ranks, the country itself remained stable, so they had likely long governed well and brought prosperity to the nation. That was something to be proud of, and there was no doubt that it was the result of generations of kings pouring their heart and soul into it.

However, just as in war the word underhanded could be praise, in relations between nations, the side at fault in intrigue was the one that showed a gap to be exploited.

Intrigue exploited the gaps in one’s heart… because those who led a country showed openings that could be taken advantage of, other nations attacked with delight… and since resources were limited, it was only natural to take from where there was something to take.

The work of a nation’s ruler was to make their own country prosper. If anything, the ruler who abandoned that should be the one condemned.

Well then… even after thinking of it in such an ugly way, I still did not think a kind king was a bad thing. It would just be even better if he also possessed shrewdness.

“But the real incident occurred after that.”

There was no point in nitpicking the deceased Holy King… I focused on Efaria’s story.

“An incident even greater than one foreign prince attacking royalty…?”

Far too much was happening… no, was that itself part of the Kingdom of Sorakil’s scheme?

I would likely cross swords with the Kingdom of Sorakil one day as well, but… they sounded like a troublesome opponent. Should I wipe them out all at once with a preemptive strike?

“Outwardly, the matter of the prince of the Kingdom of Sorakil attacking me was treated as though it had never happened, but my aunt… the Second Queen, was greatly angered by it… and it seems she rebuked him quite harshly.”

Well… of course she did. Her own son had attacked a girl six years younger than him with a blade… normally anger alone would not settle that, and given who the victim was, even losing his head would not have been strange.

Though, perhaps judging by the balance of power between the two countries, that had not been possible….

From what I had heard so far, it sounded as though the Kingdom of Sorakil stood higher.

“It seems there was a great deal of conflict over it, but after that no further trouble arose, and the two, who had been state guests, returned to the Kingdom of Sorakil… and on the way back, the Second Queen died.”

That came out of nowhere….

“The Kingdom of Sorakil notified us that she had died when they were attacked by bandits on the road… but even I at the time could not believe such a story. Fortunately… though it is difficult to call it that, according to the Kingdom of Sorakil, the attack took place within Sorakil territory, so we were not held responsible in any way… but I have heard that the order of knights of the Kingdom of Sorakil that had accompanied them as guards was dissolved, and the person in charge was executed.”

Well… for bandits to break through an order of knights guarding royalty and kill the most important figure, the Second Queen… what kind of super-bandits would that even be?

And yet the balance of power between the two countries must have been tilted enough that they had no choice but to swallow such an absurd story.

“I went to the funeral as well, together with Father and Uncle. Naturally, it took place in the royal capital of the Kingdom of Sorakil… and when I met that prince there again… outwardly he made himself look dejected, but after the ceremony ended, he secretly approached me and said this: ‘My mother’s flesh was soft, but is that true of the women of Lufelon’s royal family in general? One day I’ll make sure to test your flesh too, so look forward to it.’”

A royal crazy psycho!!

Seriously, the prince of Sorakil was far too dangerous… three years ago, and six years older than Efaria, so he would have been… thirteen at the time? That was way too extreme…. And what was that? Out of resentment over being scolded, the prince killed his own mother?

I did not know whether, for the Kingdom of Sorakil, the Second Queen’s death had gone according to plan or was the prince running wild, but this was a horrifying piece of information… and more than that, the fact that this girl described someone like that merely as impossible to accept on a physiological level was something else…. No, really, this was not the courage of an ordinary ten-year-old child.

“Even if those words were not the truth, I cannot permit someone who would utter such things to become my prince consort… much less king.”

Well, naturally… whether it was true or false, that was not something to say at your own mother’s funeral… no, not something to say regardless of whether it was a funeral… and if a man like that were made prince consort… there was no need to think long to know that nothing good would come of it.

“I understand what you are thinking, Efaria-dono. So in the end, what is it that you seek from me? At first… no, Count Heldio seemed to be asking for Efaria-dono’s asylum, but your thinking seems to be somewhat different.”

When I said that, Efaria showed me a gentle smile.

“When I left my country, I intended that as well. To abandon the country, the people, and my retainers… and one day gain strength and reclaim the nation as the rightful royal house. However, now that I have come to know the country called Einheria, I have come to hold a far simpler wish.”

Efaria cut off her words there once, straightened her back, and looked at me directly.

Her expression and bearing made it seem as though this was where speaking as Efaria the individual ended.

“Then let me hear it, Holy King-dono of Lufelon. What is it that you seek from our Einheria?”

“The removal of my enemies. With the power of your nation, I intend to accomplish that.”

Though I had expected those words from the flow of the conversation, the expression of Count Heldio standing beside Efaria still stiffened.

However, since Efaria was speaking as king, she did not seem inclined to interrupt.

“And in return, what will you pay? No… with what can you pay?”

“My everything. This body, this name, this life… I offer them all to the King of Einheria.”

“Are those truly the words of the Holy King? Were you not the one insisting on the rightful royal bloodline?”

“That feeling certainly exists. However, how much value does that hold for the people of the Lufelon Holy Kingdom?”

The people, huh… certainly, to the people… whether the line was legitimate or collateral probably did not matter all that much.

“…If you say everything as Holy King, does that include the royal position and the country as well?”

“Whether it takes the form of annexation or the form of a vassal state… I do not mind. I only ask that some small measure of mercy be extended to the people of the Lufelon Holy Kingdom as well….”

A vassal state, huh… so long as we could place mana collection devices there, I did not much care either way… though well, compared with an alliance, a vassal state would make it easier to force the placement of mana collection devices.

And with our policies, it was not as though annexation would mean doing anything especially drastic… we would leave administration to the local people anyway. That said, the balance of power was far too lopsided, so an alliance was impossible, at least for now.

“So you would hand over the country if I save you, is that it… though if I conquer it, the result does not seem all that different?”

“I believe it would be simpler and more peaceful than conquering it by force. Besides, I thought the King of Einheria considered the expansion of his territory to be a good thing.”

Well, at present I was at war with three countries, so I understood why she would say that.

“I merely brushed away the sparks that fell upon me. It was this side that was attacked, and the ones who showed ambition were the countries that came invading, were they not?”

“That sounds like a fisherman saying he would not have caught the fish if it had not bitten the bait.”

So my setup had been seen through completely…. The position of those three countries that bit on a setup simple enough to be seen through by a ten-year-old child was just sad….

“…And yet you would entrust your people to such a king? How is that any different from entrusting them to the scheming Kingdom of Sorakil?”

“I saw both the inside of Sorakil and the inside of Einheria with my own eyes. The Kingdom of Sorakil spread out before me as an ordinary landscape with nothing in particular to comment on, but Einheria was different. It had been only a short time since the war… and yet it overflowed with such vitality that one would never think the people had belonged to the side that had been annexed. The roads were peaceful in every sense… and I have heard that the king himself sometimes goes out to subjugate monsters and bandits.”

…As for the monsters, that was because necessity drove me to it, you know? Though the effect had been rather slight….

“Reduced tax rates, improved roads, and improved public order… these are producing effects too great to be dismissed as mere attempts to curry favor. Moreover, while stabilizing, no, developing the nation, you are also conducting war against other countries with overwhelming advantage. Lowering tax rates while fighting wars against other nations? And against three countries at once? And on top of that, the king of that country supposedly slew that dragon said to be a calamity. It is absurd beyond absurdity, to the point that even as a joke it cannot be laughed at!”

She really shouted at me….

“What sort of sages and how many heroes would it take to make such a country function!? It is impossible!”

Well, honestly… I thought it was because the cost of the military, which could be said to be the biggest devourer of money, could be handled in a game-like way.

An army that required neither equipment nor food… and since the soldiers did not truly die in battle, there was no need for bereavement payments and no danger of them becoming prisoners either… if a commander was struck down the troops would vanish all at once, but those commanders were not merely worth a thousand men, they were far beyond even that.

Well, aside from the military, Einheria could also cover the other parts through mana stones, so taken to the extreme, taxes were not even necessary. So long as they paid only what was needed for the maintenance of the towns, that was enough.

Since the full amount the state would ordinarily collect in taxes was simply not needed, the tax burden in the towns could be made light, and because the governors did not treat taxes as their own income, there was no need for them to squeeze the people.

And as for the villages, under the Kingdom of Lumoria they had paid taxes in the form of their harvest, but now we took none of that and instead bought the surplus, so a great deal of money was flowing into the villages as well. The only thing we had the villages provide as tax was the specialty crops I had given them seeds for and had them grow.

For that reason, whether village or town, the whole of Einheria was currently thriving in a boom.

From the perspective of people from other countries… especially rulers, the degree of prosperity in Einheria would certainly be enough to make them want to shout.

“My apologies, I lost my composure for a moment. What I meant to say is this… when choosing to whom one wishes to entrust everything, there is no need even to think between a king who can bring prosperity to his own people and even to the people of a former enemy nation, and a king who seeks to snatch a country by intrigue. Even if the blood of the royal house were to end.”

I thought it rash to decide to entrust a nation based only on what could be seen on the surface… no, perhaps not.

The Lufelon Holy Kingdom had been driven into a situation where it had to judge quickly.

However, in truth… from Einheria’s point of view, either outcome was acceptable.

The disorder of a neighboring country was not something that would spread enough to affect us, and my goal was… officially, at least, to install mana collection devices in various places as a countermeasure against the Demon King’s mana, which was Fio’s wish.

This was a world where the logic of so long as you win, all is well held true, so taken to the extreme, I could just subjugate other nations without discussion. Well, I was not going to do that, of course….

So even if the Lufelon Holy Kingdom went one way or another, it was hard to say that I cared not at all… though honestly, it was difficult to put it quite that way now.

If something like that had happened somewhere I never knew of, I would not particularly care what became of Efaria… but now I had already formed this connection with her.

If I simply said goodbye here and she ended up dying, it would leave far too bad a taste in my mouth.

However, being unable to nod lightly was exactly what it meant to be a ruler….

“Even if they are the words of the Holy King, I cannot simply believe and accept everything at once. I too have people I must protect.”

Efaria nodded at my words without showing the slightest trace of disappointment.

There was not a shred of childishness in her.

“However, I shall guarantee your safety while you are in this country. And when I can become convinced that Efaria’s words are true, Einheria shall lend its strength to the Holy King-dono.”

“Is that truly acceptable?”

Efaria looked slightly surprised, as though she had not expected me to say I would help after speaking this far.

No, unlike my initial impression, she was rather shrewd, so I could not deny the possibility that even this was an act.

“You are offering me an entire country without effort, are you not? Of course, we will have to work out the finer details from here on… but it was spoken once by the Holy King herself. Surely it will not be so easily cast aside?”

“I swear in the name of the Holy King that I shall not violate this agreement.”

“Then there is no problem. Our intelligence people are excellent. It will not take long to confirm the facts, and until then, you should rest at your leisure and restore your strength.”

At my words, Efaria and Count Heldio bowed their heads deeply.