Chapter 2: A Story of Using Shrimp as Bait to Catch Sea Bream, but Instead Catching a Shark (part 6)

Though they were on even terms, why was it I felt more of an affinity with Roroa?

It was probably because, unlike Julius, Roroa understood the importance of family.

"I want to ask one more thing," I said. "The other day, there was rioting in the

north of the country that was put down by Julius, right? Was that something you

instigated, too?"

"I'd never do that!" Here, Roroa was indignant for the first time. "In fact, I

arranged for the revolts to all happen at the same time to prevent a situation just

like that! It'd get my brother tied up so he couldn't suppress the people! I'd've never

allowed an uprisin' that was sure to meet a horrible fate like that!"

Despite her vehemence, her voice was full of sorrow. It didn't seem like she was

lying.

"Well, was the revolt in the north a natural occurrence, then?" I asked.

"That ain't it, either," she said, shaking her head. "Look at the geography. What's

near the north where the riots broke out? Wasn't there some people actin' shifty up

there?"

"Ah...! The Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria!"

Amidonia bordered the Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria in the north. What was

more, the Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria had gathered its forces along the border

in the name of defending their coreligionists.

Roroa nodded with a frustrated look on her face. "There ain't no borders when it

comes to religion. As close to the Orthodox Papal State as that region is, there're a lot

of followers of Lunarian Orthodoxy. The Orthodox Papal State probably stirred up

the believers there, tellin' them it was a direct order from the pope, or somethin' like

that. I'm sure they planned on sendin' in troops to protect those believers."

"But the north is hardly fertile land," I said. "I mean, it's bad enough that they

were rioting over it. Was there any reason the Orthodox Papal State would want it?"

"It ain't the land they want," she said. "It's the people. Believers. If they're zealous

believers, no matter how hard the lives they lead, they'll never break away from the

center of the faith. The troubles and hardships they face are all trials bestowed on

them by their god, they'd say. That's why that country doesn't have to think about

the daily lives of its people. So long as they're performin' the right rituals, they'll

support them. That's why that country wants all the believers they can get."

"That's problematic..." I murmured. "And, hold on, Roroa, it sounds like you're not

so fond of Lunarian Orthodoxy."

"I don't give one whit about Lunarian Orthodoxy itself," she shot back. "What I

hate is the people who use religion to politically enrich themselves, then do radical

things and hurt people around them who don't have anythin' to do with it."

"Yeah," I said. "On that point, I can agree with you."

It seemed that mixing politics and religion was trouble, no matter what world

you lived in. Normally, religion was something that existed to soothe the hearts of

people, but some people used it as a justification and excuse for their actions.

Interpretations of doctrine changed with those in power at the time, and those who

didn't adhere to their doctrine would be branded as heretics and punished in the

name of their god. Honestly, there was nothing worse than that.

"If it were an option, I'd go the rest of my life without ever having anything to do

with them," I said.

"Too bad it's not," Roroa said bluntly. "That country's sure to try and make

contact with you."

"Why? I'm not religious at all, you know?" I said.

"Because that country hates the Star Dragon Mountain Range and the Gran Chaos

Empire, that's why."

"I can sort of see why they'd hate the Star Dragon Mountain Range, but why the

Empire?" I asked, surprised.

The Star Dragon Mountain Range was essentially a nation for the sentient

dragons.

The faith which worshiped Mother Dragon who lived there was one of the two

largest faiths on this continent, tied only with Lunarian Orthodoxy. (Though I didn't

know what kind of faith was practiced in the Demon Lord's Domain.) So I could

understand the Orthodox Papal State hating the Star Dragon Mountain Range, which

was the center of Mother Dragon worship. But why would they hate the Gran Chaos

Empire, too?

"You know how Empress Maria of the Empire is called a saint, right?" Roroa said.

"That's just somethin' the common people saved by her policies started callin' her on

their own; but in Lunarian Orthodoxy, the pope is the only one who can recognize

someone as a saint. In fact, there's a woman in Lunarian Orthodoxy who's called a

saint. That's why the Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria sees Madam Maria as an

unforgivable villain who's misrepresentin' herself as one."

"If the people just started calling her that on their own, I don't see how that's any

fault of Madam Maria's," I said.

"They don't care about that," she shrugged. "In a theocracy, what the people look

for more than anythin' is charismatic leadership. If they recognized a saint who

appeared naturally, it'd impact their credibility. That's why, now that Elfrieden's

grown bigger by absorbin' Amidonia, the Orthodox Papal State won't be leavin' you

alone. Somewhere, somehow, they'll try to make contact. Could be they'll offer you

some made up title like 'Holy King' and try to drag you into their conflict with the

Empire."

Urgh... That sounded both possible, and undesirable.

Because my secret alliance with the Empire was just that, a secret, other

countries couldn't find out about it. Actually, it would be a problem if they did find

out about it, so the intelligence branches in both of our countries were working hard

to conceal it. That meant I couldn't openly admit to being allies with them.

The church offering those in power religious positions in order to make their

own influence unshakable was something that had been seen in Earth's history.

They might try to turn us into the Holy Elfrieden Kingdom and have us lead the

charge against the Empire for them.

That said, I wanted to avoid conflict with the Orthodox Papal State as much as

possible. The troublesome thing about religion was that even if you crushed the

center and their leaders, the believers would still be left behind. When believers

were oppressed, it formed stronger bonds between them, and when their leaders

were killed, they only became more revered as martyrs. Worse yet, the vast majority

of believers were ordinary people, unconnected to any scheming inside the

organization. If I tried to eliminate all of those believers, it would make me the

primary culprit of a genocide.

The Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria... They were a truly troublesome group to

deal with, one I would rather not cooperate with or oppose.

While I was starting to feel fed up with all my unpleasant imaginings, Roroa

clapped her hands, as if to signal it was time for a change of mood. "Now, that's

enough about the Orthodox Papal State for now! What you ought to be decidin' on

first is your marriage with me."

Roroa looked straight at me with those beady little eyes of hers.

"Mr. Souma... Do ya want me? Or don't ya?"

"Urkh..."

I was at a loss for words. If she asked it that way, there could only be one answer.

"...I want you," I said.

Desperately, at that. There was no room for doubting it. After all, the benefits of

taking her as my wife were too great.

First of all, a marriage to Roroa would help emphasize the legitimacy of my rule

over the annexed Amidonia. Roroa was loved by the people of the principality. If

they saw her happily married in the kingdom, the people of the principality would

feel less worried about being incorporated into the kingdom.

On top of that, her talents were appealing. The ahead-of-the-curve economic

sense that had allowed her to come up with the idea of using commercials as a

source of revenue, and the network of merchants she had built up on her own, were

incredible. It was also good that she seemed likely to know any underhanded tricks

that the nobles might use that Hakuya and I tended to miss. She was just the kind of

person I had been wanting.

Besides... I liked the way Roroa thought. It was that mercantile spirit, you could

say. While she had a realistic view that "the world's all about money," she still had a

sense of honor and empathy. While it had never been allowed to bear fruit thanks to

Gaius and his lot, she had been trying to use the money she earned for the sake of

the people. For the sake of the people she cared about, she had been ready to

confront even her own brother.

On top of that, she was cute, so I had no reason not to want her as a queen.

If there was one problem... it was how Liscia would feel about that. She was a

princess from a country that they had been enemies with for many long years. Was

she going to be able to accept her as a queen, essentially someone in the same

position as her?

"What do you think, Liscia?" I asked.

"If you've decided you need her, then it's fine." Liscia gave her assent without

seeming all that troubled.

Was it all right for her to give me the okay for it that easily?

While I showed my surprise, Liscia just shrugged her shoulders. "I can see for

myself that this girl has talent. I think it's worth taking her as a queen. If you'll just

take proper care of the issue of succession, I have nothing more to say on the

matter."

"Liscia... um... Thanks."

"Do make sure you take proper care of us, too, though, okay?" Liscia said.

"Of course," I said immediately.

She really was... such a great girl. I was so grateful... truly grateful... to have Liscia

as my fiancée.

While we were having a touching moment, Roroa butted in. "Uhh, sorry to bother

you while you two're off in your own li'l world, but you don't need to be worryin'

about that stuff any. I don't give one whit about the princely throne of Amidonia."

"You don't?" I asked, startled.

"Yeah. In exchange, though, I've got a favor to ask, Darlin'."

Darling, seriously...? I thought. Well, whatever.

Almost like a pleading child, working up all the charm she could muster, she

looked at me with upturned eyes. "Y'see, I want my own company."

"A company?" I asked.

"That's right. Listen, Darlin', I wanna see how the money I make with my own

skill changes this country. Your policies show foresight, but y'don't always have

fundin' for them, now do ya? They can be high risk, and I'm sure you'll have a hard

time usin' the national treasury for things that may end up bein' pointless."

"That's... Well, yeah."

Now that I had expanded my power as king, when it came to projects like the

road network expansion, or the construction of the new city, those where it was easy

to demonstrate their practical value, I could get them funded relatively easily.

However, if there wasn't an immediate effect to show, or the enterprise looked

meaningless at first glance, it was hard to allocate funds to them.

Specialized research funds, for instance. Even if a specialist knew second place

wasn't good enough, it wasn't something they could explain to a non-specialist and

have them understand.

"So, this's what I'm thinkin'," said Roroa. "When you've got a policy you want to

implement, Darlin', but you can't fund it, you come to me. I'll back you up usin' the

money I've made with my own company."

"That sounds very reassuring, but... are you sure?" I asked. "If a queen is seen

acting like a merchant, I don't think the people will respect your authority."

"I'll be runnin' it behind the scenes, so that's no worry," she said. "I know! For the

public face of the company, I'll put the owner of a place I frequent in Van, Sebastian

of The Silver Deer, in charge."

Sebastian of The Silver Deer... Wait! Ahh! That was the place I'd gone to with Juna

and Tomoe! I'd thought he ought to be a butler with that name, so I remembered

him.

So, the regular customer he'd said was "like an adorable little tanuki" had been

Roroa, then? If I recalled, Sebastian had been a nice, middle-aged guy who seemed

like a capable merchant, so he could probably serve as the representative of a

company.

"Wait, hold on, you and Sebastian were connected?" I burst out. "Were you trying

to investigate me?"

"Well, yeah, I wanted to know what the man I was plannin' on marryin' was like,

didn't I?"

"You don't overlook a thing, do you?" I said. "When you take it that far, I have to

be impressed."

She really was a little tanuki. Childish, but cunning. I felt like she had tricked me

good.

"Um... As the one who's going to be in charge of the treasury, may I say one

thing?" Colbert interjected, looking troubled.

"What is it?" I asked.

"If you have that kind of money, I'd prefer you put it in the treasury."

...Yeah. I knew how Colbert felt. The kingdom had been going through all sorts of

austerity measures until recently, after all.

Roroa and I spoke up in unison. ""But, I refuse.""

"Why are you two suddenly in sync?!"

"It's fine," Roroa said confidently. "I'll be earnin' the money on my own, anyway."

"And with the extra budget, I can carry out internal policies more freely," I said.

"But, sire..."

"Now, now, we won't be spendin' it wastefully like my old man did," Roroa said,

waving her hand. "Consider it a division of roles. I earn money. You tighten our belts,

Mr. Colbert. It's all good that way."

"If you spend too recklessly, I will do everything within my power to stop you,

you hear?" But Colbert reluctantly backed down.

He would be keeping a sharp eye on Roroa and me from now on to make sure we

weren't spending money recklessly. I was glad. It was important to have people on

staff who could earn money, like Roroa, but people like Colbert who could save

money where precious, too.