Chapter 169 - Postlude 1: I Shall Share the Disaster with You
Greetings! I am Violia Nico Fortesia!
Today, as a 'bonus,' I think I shall look back on a story from a little while ago... yes, about two months from the day I started the revolution and burned the royal castle.
Looking back now, it feels almost nostalgic, but at that time, I was truly busy, and it felt like my head was spinning. Mainly with cleaning up the mess within the country.
After all, it was a country ruled by that wicked House of Orchesta. It was a mess even before the revolution. And it became even more of a mess because of the revolution.
My first job as King was to clean up that mess. Honestly, if that royal family had been just a little bit more decent, I do not think I would have had such a hard time.
...Well, I shall let the members of the Orchesta family hear my complaints in hell to their hearts' content... let us begin looking back.
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An early afternoon with soft light through lace curtains. An elegant tea time. Today, too, I am enjoying tea and sweets.
The berry mousse, the citron tart, the simple baked goods, and the butter cakes are all of the highest quality. The tea also possesses the best aroma and taste. There is a solid umami even in a single drop.
However, even in such a tea time, my mood is a little bit gloomy. After all...
"Haa, I want to go on a rampage..."
I have not rampaged enough. I have not rampaged enough!
For over a month, I have not gone on a rampage. Day after day, it is nothing but paperwork.
Well, that is a very good thing. There are many people who work for me, I have their trust, and I am in a position to move them... because I am recognized by everyone as the Queen, this division of labor exists. Yes, I understand.
But! But I want to go on a rampage! I have not even gone monster hunting since I became Queen!? It is also because the busy days have continued! But! I want to go on a rampage! I want to go on a rampage! My blood is boiling! Once a month, or if that is difficult, once every two months, I want to do some hunting or a fistfight!
"You say you want to go on a rampage... but even if you say that, Doran and Chesta are doing the behind-the-scenes work."
While I was sighing, Keeb, who was drinking lemon tea next to me, turned a weary gaze toward me.
This boy! This boy! It is certainly true! All the dirty work behind the scenes is left to Doran and Chesta, and sometimes Chris, so there is no turn for me! It would not do for the Queen herself to do dirty work! Yes, I understand!
"That is true, but... haa, occasionally I also want to go out and rampage."
"Naturally, it wouldn't do for Her Majesty the Queen to personally do dirty work."
"I understand that as well..."
I understand, but! I understand, but... unfortunately, my soul seeks struggle... I am well aware of my duties as Queen, and I am not so small-minded as to loathe them. But... but I still want to go on a rampage! I want to go on a rampage!
"Say, Keeb. Is there no stage where I can rampage legally? Is there no stage where not Doran or Chesta, but I myself must rampage!?"
"There isn't."
"There could be at least one!"
Ah! Is there not one lying around somewhere!? A place where I can rampage... a pretext to go monster hunting even in this busy schedule, or an opponent that I myself must purge, or something like that!?
"Violia-sama! It is terrible! It is terrible!"
"Is it a struggle!?"
The one who came rushing in was Lital! Is it some kind of trouble!? Is it trouble where I can personally rampage!? My soul! It seeks struggle!
"The Kingdom of Solas has proposed to more than double the tariffs!"
...It was trouble, but it was the kind of trouble where I could not rampage! Mukii—!
"And they said they could respond to food supply, but they would charge about three times the fixed price...!"
"Oh, in other words, they are taking a lick-spittle attitude, looking down on us because it is right after the revolution!? Purge!"
Purge! Purge! They are probably looking down on us because we are a brand-new kingdom right after a revolution, but in terms of pure national power, we are overwhelmingly superior!? Ignoring that, they have taken a quite greedy attitude! There is no choice but to purge them!
"Violia, are you here?"
"Is it a struggle this time!?"
While I was talking with Lital and Keeb about 'how to purge the Kingdom of Solas,' Doran arrived. It is a bit rare for him to come during the day. It is either because he finished work exceptionally early, or conversely, he ended up coming back in the morning, or it is an emergency, but...
"The guys I killed earlier talked. I found out the source of their drug trafficking. It seems to be the Kingdom of Operia."
"Oh, that is a fine result!"
It was not a talk of struggle, but this was a happy report!
...Yes. It seems there have been people selling drugs made elsewhere in our territory lately, so I had asked Doran and Chesta to investigate them.
And the result was the Kingdom of Operia. ...Hmm, it is foreign-related again. Well, once one becomes Queen, one must respond to attacks not only from within the country but also from outside...
"What will you do. It would be a lot of work to go into Operia and crush the drug trafficking organization."
"T-That is true, in that case, would it mean sending you and Chesta there for two months, three months... at worst, half a year?"
"If you also give me Giovan, I can finish it in two months."
"No. I want Giovan here as well. In that case, three months... uu-mm, I want to keep both you and Chesta by my side..."
Regarding the drug trafficking, I cannot move directly. The impression that I myself am involved in drug trafficking would make the citizens anxious. Therefore, it would be best to have the duo of Doran and Chesta solve it from the shadows, but...
"Violia—!"
While I was worrying, Chesta came in without even knocking.
"What is it, so noisy."
"I heard a Kraken appeared in the port of Elsemarin, is that for real!?"
"Eh, what is that!? I do not know about that!?"
Lital's talk, Doran's talk, it is already a mess, and yet more problems come!? A Kraken!? What on earth is going on!?
...A Kraken is, in short, a giant squid monster. It is also called the king of the sea. Well, I am the king of the land. Ohohohoho.
Yes. A Kraken is... so to speak, a 'Dragon of the Sea.' A powerful monster that rules the sea and plunges humans into terror. It is no exaggeration to call it a disaster!
"...Oh? By any chance, were you having a party without me?"
"Ah, finally even the Grim Reaper has arrived...! What kind of bad news have you brought this time!?"
"Eh, what? Am I that unwelcome?"
While I was worrying, Giovan arrived. I hate this. The fact that Giovan came like this means that ominous information has undoubtedly arrived. There is no mistake.
"Well, as you guessed, it's bad news. Uh, the rebel army set fire to the granary district."
"Execution by fire!"
Aaaaaaaaah! This crime that seems to have timed itself perfectly! Setting fire! To the granary district!? Unforgivable! Arson is my specialty! Absolutely! Unforgivable! Execution by fire! I shall sentence them to execution by fire—!
"...What will you do, Young Lady. If the granary district was set on fire, it seems we'll finally run short of food to get through this winter."
"That is true!"
"Even if we try to import and export, there's a Kraken at the port, right? Ships can't move, can they?"
"Exactly!"
"A-And the Kingdom of Solas, from which we were trying to import food, has raised tariffs and is responding to food exports at three times the fixed price..."
"Plus, a drug smuggling organization is coming in from Operia, huh. ...A lot of things came all at once."
...I suddenly became disheartened. If it were one by one, there might be a way to deal with them, but why did so many things come all at once...? Are they joking...? Is this someone's conspiracy...?
"Ah, Violia-sama...! Please stay strong!"
"Look, do you want some tea? Straight is fine, right?"
Lital put a stole over my shoulders, and Keeb brewed tea for me. What good children...
Uu... straight tea with sugar added really hits the spot. The fragrant and warm tea calms me down.
By the way, during this time, Lital and Keeb are also drinking tea together. Keeb's mouth softening a bit as he brings cake to it, Lital nibbling on a cookie like a little squirrel... it is calming to watch...
"Heh, this is quite good black tea. Where is it from?"
"It is a souvenir from Onii-sama. He said it was something he obtained in Asumbra."
Before I knew it, Giovan was cheekily drinking tea as well. Well, I do not mind this level of rudeness. Yes.
"Hey, Violia—, can I open this one too? It's fine, right?"
"In the first place, I did not even say you could open the first bottle...?"
And in the corner of the room, Chesta is opening wine without permission and drinking it! I do not remember permitting it!
"You want some too?"
"Doran. You are also quite presumptuous..."
...Since even Doran is opening wine without permission, I shall say nothing more... please drink as you like...
...Now then.
"What shall I do. We cannot leave it like this. We must think of countermeasures."
Now that I have calmed down a bit with the tea time and the men's selfish drinking bout, I immediately start thinking of countermeasures. Being dazed will only miss the opportunity. I must move!
"First, the Kraken is fine. If either I or Doran go, it will be a piece of cake anyway."
"I can do it too, you know?"
Ah, that is right. For monsters in the water, Keeb's lightning magic and water magic are very effective. In that case, large-scale troop deployment is unnecessary; it seems we can manage just by one of us going.
"Regarding the arson of the granary district, well, it is a matter of executing the culprit by fire... or rather, that is the only thing to do first."
"Ah, about that, it seems Contraus Onii-chan is already moving."
Oh, Onii-sama is? I am causing him trouble... but on a day like this, I'd borrow a cat's paw or even Onii-sama's hand! (T/N: 'Borrowing a cat's paw' is an idiom for being extremely busy.) I shall gratefully borrow those arms of his right now!
"Then, while we sentence the culprit Onii-sama catches to execution by fire... the problem is the food supply."
Domestic matters, well, to put it simply, can be managed somehow. But the problem is issues involving diplomacy.
"If we try to import food, it would be Windry, Asumbra, or Solas..."
"Young Lady, Young Lady. Windry and Asumbra have had continuous poor harvests thanks to your secret maneuvers."
"That is true..."
Windry has not yet recovered from the monster invasion, and Asumbra is in a similar state since the dragon attack. They are still feeling the effects of the little interference I did, and it seems they do not have the leeway to send food here. Uu, if I had known this, I should have made the attacks a bit more lenient!
"In that case, do we have no choice but to import from Solas?"
"But, they are charging three times the market price! If we purchase food like that, the finances of this country, which were already leaning due to the extravagance of the previous royal family, will lean even further!"
Yes. Currently, if we want to import food, the Kingdom of Solas is the only option. Among the neighboring countries, that is the only one rich in food.
But that Solas has hit us with 'tariff hike, food price three times'...
"Could it be that Solas set this up? Either they lent a hand to the rebel army, or a spy from Solas pretending to be the rebel army set fire to the granary district to make our country's food situation desperate. Then, they created a situation where we have no choice but to import food from Solas. How about it?"
"It is not an impossible story."
Giovan is suspicious, but I am suspicious as well. Yes, I feel like this is being set up. At least, the arson of the granary district and Solas's rip-off declaration seem to be connected.
"Furthermore, the drug smuggling, which seems like it will take quite a bit of time... even though drug trafficking in this country is our specialty, they are truly insolent people."
"Thanks to that, the public order in this country is getting better, though."
By having the state completely rule over drugs, we can prevent the deterioration of public order. But for people to come and interfere there... it is a problem. Truly a problem.
Therefore, in order not to worsen the internal affairs of this country, I want to completely exclude drugs from Operia, but...
"Hands! I do not have enough hands!"
In the end! Too many things are happening at once!
How on earth am I supposed to get through this!?
"Since we do not have enough hands, it cannot be helped. I shall completely stop imports from Operia."
"Eh, are you serious, Young Lady?"
"I am serious. The sea route is the closest from that country to ours. If we cut off the sea route, only smuggling ships will come. For now, we can dam up the influx of drugs... if we cook up a suitable excuse and notify Operia, somehow..."
I shall put the drug issue on hold for now. With so many things happening at once, I cannot make it in time unless I prioritize and deal with them.
In that regard, concerning the smuggling of drugs from Operia, if we stop the ships from Operia, we can at least stop further influx for the time being.
"...No, in the first place, our port is being attacked by a Kraken. Forget smuggling ships, even merchant ships won't be able to come even if we leave them alone."
Ah, that is right. I forgot. A Kraken appeared.
Ah... then I might as well leave the Kraken free. If a monster of the Kraken's level is rampaging, we can stop all imports and exports without needing any excuses. Ufufu...
"Aaaaaah... why does only our country end up like this...?"
Honestly, I feel like my heart is about to break! The Kraken is firmly affecting things even here! Honestly!
Ah—! I have had enough! Since I have had enough, I shall open wine too! When I snatched the bottle Chesta had conveniently picked out and thrust it at Doran, Doran pulled the cork with his bare hands, so I shall drink it straight from the bottle! I cannot do this without drinking!
"Unreasonable! It is unreasonable! Why could this not have happened during the reign of the previous King! Even if the others are man-made! The Kraken! It is unforgivable!"
"Right. It'd be nice if the Kraken appeared in Operia too, wouldn't it?"
Look! Even Chesta is saying this!
Yes, it is strange for only our country to suffer such unreasonable treatment! If it is going to appear anyway, it might as well appear in Operia too...
...Oh.
"That is... right. If we are going to leave the Kraken free, it does not have to be within our country."
I have realized something!
"I have decided to keep the Kraken in the waters near the Kingdom of Operia."