Signs Of The Count's Family Decline, Part 3 (Exile's Perspective)

The King of Calamity—

After being informed by the king that the legendary king of monsters was about to awaken and ordered to assemble a force to defend the kingdom, Count Wind had been racking his brains.

Just what kind of members should he recruit?

How large should the force be?

What about the budget?

The problems were piling up—or rather, there seemed to be nothing but problems.

As a first step, he decided to ask the Minister of Finance how much funding could realistically be allocated.

The Minister of Finance had also been informed about the King of Calamity by the king.

“Even if this is a national crisis, we don’t know whether it will actually attack Elmeda, much less when it might strike. We cannot afford to spend money like water.”

“But surely the safety of our citizens should come first—”

“Naturally. However, even among our citizens, there are priorities when it comes to whose lives should be protected.”

The Minister of Finance grinned.

“The king, the nobility, the wealthy… We should first protect those who wield influence over this kingdom and those close to them. Even if a few commoners at the bottom of society were to die, it would hardly affect the kingdom.”

It was a coldhearted way of thinking, but the count agreed with him on that point.

People like them were the beating heart that kept the kingdom running.

The common folk at the bottom were worth little more than fingernails or hair.

Even if some were lost, they would simply grow back.

Those who deserved protection first were people like themselves.

“In that case, our highest priority must be the royal capital. Its defenses, at the very least, must be made impregnable.”

“Precisely. We shall allocate ample funds for that purpose. As for the cities farther from the capital, I believe more modest defenses will suffice.”

“Hmm…”

He certainly had a point.

However—even if that approach made sense for the kingdom, the count had another concern.

His reputation.

Whether in the royal capital or the remote borderlands, any civilian deaths would be reported as ‘casualties.’

How effectively he minimized those ‘casualties’ would demonstrate his competence as the man entrusted with the kingdom’s defense. It would effectively serve as his ‘performance evaluation.’

“We cannot squander the kingdom’s precious funds merely to preserve your reputation, Count.”

The Minister of Finance was quick to warn him.

“Supposing the King of Calamity does attack our kingdom, your duty is to minimize ‘casualties’ as much as possible. Mine, however, is to minimize expenditure… Heh heh heh.”

“Even if that means sacrificing the lives of our citizens?”

“Surely you care just as little about the lives of commoners as I do?”

“Urgh…”

The count groaned.

It seemed that extracting funds from this Minister of Finance would be no easy task.

In that case, how could he persuade the minister to commit to a larger budget?

If he lost this battle of negotiation, his chances of successfully carrying out his assignment would diminish accordingly.

“Grrrr…”

The count groaned again.

—In the end, he managed to secure only about half the budget he had originally envisioned for defending the kingdom against the King of Calamity.