Chapter 1: Fundraising (part 2)

In stories where a hero is summoned to another world, the hero sometimes gains

powers as a result of being summoned. It seemed the people in this world all had

some ability to use magic, and so where was the harm in hoping I might have gained

the ability to use magic, too? Technically, I had been summoned here as a hero.

So, right after I had had the throne ceded to me, some priestly-looking guys

carried out an inspection of my abilities.

Apparently there were various types of magic that people could use, and they had

devices that could test it. This one looked kind of like a stone slate. When a person

touched the slate, that person's magic type and abilities were displayed in that

person's head. Not even the people of this world understood the principles behind

how it worked, but it seemed there were a fair number of these sorts of out-of-place

artifacts in this world.

So, I got my diagnosis, and here was the power I'd gained:

[The Power to Transfer Consciousness Into an Object and Manipulate It]

It was an ability that let me transfer my consciousness into objects I touched, and

I could manipulate up to three of them simultaneously.

It sounded more like a psychic power than magic, but the lighter the object, the

more freely I could control it. I could get an overhead view of whatever I was

controlling, as well. What was more, in addition to my own consciousness, I could

have that object move under an independent consciousness, as well. Using an object

as a medium like this, I could think about multiple things at the same time.

While there was the limitation that I could only move around things close to me,

being able to make things move around at will was neat. Like I was triggering a

poltergeist effect.

So, that was why I named my ability "[Living Poltergeists]." Sounds like I have a

case of middle school syndrome, maybe?

Having gained my [Living Poltergeists], one thing immediately came to mind:

"This is going to be so useful for doing paperwork!"

...Yeah. Copying my consciousness into three pens, I could review multiple

documents simultaneously with parallel thinking, and by manipulating those three

pens, I could sign off on them. Man, ever since I learned I had this ability, I've gotten so

much more work done. Actually, without that ability, the giant mountain of

paperwork that had piled up in the confusion since I had been given the throne

would probably have buried me in an avalanche by now.

...Yeah. I know what you want to say. I get an ability, and it turns out to be mostly

good for handling deskwork more smoothly?

While I was getting good use out of it, whenever I thought about it as a hero's

power, I could only think, "How did things turn out like this?" I mean, even if I hadn't

gotten super powerful magic that would let me take on hordes of enemies at the

same time, I'd have liked some defensive magic that would at least let me protect

myself.

...Well, wishing for things I couldn't have wasn't going to get me anywhere. And it

was, as a matter of fact, a useful power to me.

Today, as usual, I was fighting the mountain of paperwork with my [Living

Poltergeists]. While I was doing so, someone entered the room with a thunderous

noise that sounded like they'd tried to kick down a perfectly good door. When I

peeked through a gap in the paper mountain, I saw it was a young woman in a

military uniform.

With her regular features, skin so pale as to be translucent, and silky platinum

blonde hair, she was so gorgeous that at any other time I would have been

captivated by her beauty. However, having pulled three consecutive all-nighters, I

saw not a beautiful girl but just a new source of labor.

After calling her over and practically forcing her to sit next to me, I pushed two

stacks of paper in her direction. "Please compare these two sets of documents and

look for places where the values, or the number of items, don't agree and mark

them."

"Huh? What? What kind of work is this?"

"What, you ask? Digging for buried treasure. That's what." I explained to the

perplexed girl in uniform. "For 'unaccounted-for expenditures,' to be precise. One

pile is requests for budgetary appropriations, the other is income and expenditures

reports. Even if the amount requested and the amount spent match, if the number of

items differs, that can be indicative of either wasteful investment undertaken to fully

use up their budget, or embezzlement disguised as investment. We'll check those,

and if any laws have been broken, we'll make each of the responsible parties pay to

make up the loss. If we uncover personal embezzlement, we will mandate

repayment, and in the event they cannot pay, we will arrest the offender and seize

their assets."

"U-Understood."

Perhaps she had been intimidated by the threatening air of a man who had gone

without sleep, because the girl nodded along as I talked.

Good.

Perhaps around two hours passed with her working quietly next to me.

At last, the girl in military uniform spoke to me, her hands never ceasing their

work of checking documents as she did. "...Hey."

"What? If you're tired, you can take a break whenever."

"No, that's not it... I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Liscia Elfrieden. The

daughter of the former king, Albert Elfrieden."

I stopped moving my pen. "...You're the princess, huh?"

"I don't look like one?"

"You were in uniform, so I didn't notice. But... Yeah, maybe you do look princessy."

At this point, she finally made me take note of how attractive she was.

"I'm... Souma Kazuya. Technically, I'm the new king."

Liscia turned to face me. She was pretty close, and we looked into one another's

eyes. Unlike me, who was just taken aback, her golden eyes seemed like they were

trying to evaluate me. After we looked into one another's eyes for some time, Liscia

slowly opened her mouth.

"I'm not a princess anymore. Because you usurped the throne, my current

position is a little unclear."

"Usurped...? Your father pushed the throne and all his duties off on me, I'll have

you know. Honestly, why do I have to go through all this pain and hassle?"

"...Seriously, what happened? I know you're the summoned hero, but how did

that suddenly turn into you taking the throne?"

"You tell me. I just did what I felt I needed to in order to protect myself..."

I explained what had happened around the time of the summoning ceremony to

Liscia.

When I had been summoned to this world, I'd been on the verge of being handed

over to the Empire. The king hadn't seemed enthusiastic about the idea, but, seeing

as he had no other plan, if the Empire had put pressure on him to do it, he probably

wouldn't have had any other choice. There had been no telling what might happen to

me if I was turned over to the Empire, so I had asked the king to choose the "do not

hand over the hero" option.

My proposal to the king and prime minister was that they pay the war subsidies

to buy time, and with that time, push forward with policies that would build a strong

and prosperous country. If they were saying "hand over the hero in place of war

subsidies," all we had to do was pay the subsidies. If we did that, they would lose any

justification for interfering in our affairs. It was not an actual threat, no matter what

it seemed like. To keep up appearances, the Empire would not insist on it any

further. That was my reasoning. We would use the time bought this way to pursue

country-strengthening policies which would let us stand on equal terms with the

Empire.

The two of them had had objections, of course. They had said this country had no

means to pay the war subsidies. But, after inspecting the materials they brought me,

I was able to show that if we sold off some state-owned facilities, enacted caps on

government spending, and the king turned over some of his "personal assets," it

would be possible to pay.

I had gotten into the university's School of Socioeconomic Studies (with the

subject I had selected for the socio- part of the entrance exam being World History,

by the way), and my dream for the future had been to become a local government

employee. This was all within my field of expertise.

Hearing this plan, the king had taken on a ponderous expression, but the prime

minister, Marx, had been enthusiastic. He must have ultimately decided that, rather

than turn over the hero to preserve the status quo, enacting economic reforms was

more likely to leave the country with a future. The king became more enthusiastic as

we went on.

As the guy who suggested it, I knew I'd probably be expected to put in a lot of the

work on those reforms, but only as a single bureaucrat in the finance ministry... that

was what I had thought.

"And then he pushed the throne off on me."

"Um, well... Sorry."

"It's nothing you need to apologize for. If anything, you're a victim in all this,

suddenly finding yourself engaged to me."

"Well, yeah... Wait, huh? Which of us is higher-ranked now? Do I need to be super

polite and formal?" She looked unsure of whether she should speak to me as a

commoner would to a king, or as a princess who was candidate to be queen.

"...We can keep it casual, I guess?" I said.

"...Sure."

"Also, don't worry about the betrothal thing. I'm just holding onto the throne for

now. I'll probably quit this whole king gig in a few years, anyway."

"Huh? Why?!"

"Because I only ever planned to work hard enough to earn the subsidies for the

Empire so that I wouldn't be turned over. Now that I've been handed the throne, I'll

do enough to get this country on the right track, but after that, I'll leave it to the

people of this country to handle the rest. Of course, we can tear up the engagement

then."

I gave Liscia a reassuring smile.

◇ ◇ ◇

"I'll probably quit this whole king gig in a few years anyway." My eyes went wide

when I heard Souma say that.

He makes it sound so simple. Does he even realize how difficult that would be?

Even someone like myself, who had focused so much on military matters that my

political knowledge was a bit weak, could see the situation our country was in. I

believe the word was "checkmate." Food shortages, economic malaise, the influx of

refugees caused by the invasion of demons, plus pressure from the Gran Chaos

Empire. We had nothing but uncertainty bearing down on us.

For that reason, I could somewhat understand my father's decision to

immediately abdicate the throne to someone he sensed was more capable. But still.

Considering all that, was it even possible to get this country back on track? Even

supposing he somehow could, would the people allow a king who had accomplished

such a great feat to retire so easily?

"...So, do you think you can secure the funds for the war subsidies?"

"Hm? Yeah. I've already secured the funds to send to the Empire."

"...Huh?"

"Right now, I'm trying to squeeze out the funds for my reforms. They'll cost even

more than the war subsidies, after all."

Wait... Wait, wait, wait, wait! He's already secured the funds? The amount the

Empire requested was so massive that it was equivalent to the national budget, from

what I heard!

"Where did we have that kind of money...?"

"I sold off, like, a third of the treasure vault."

"The treasure vault... Our national treasures?! Don't tell me you sold off our

national treasures! You didn't, did you?!" I closed in on Souma, who looked very

blasé about the whole thing. "The national treasures belong to the whole country!

Just arbitrarily selling them off is a betrayal of our people!"

"Now, now, just calm down. If you say they're the property of the people, I'd say

selling them for the benefit of the people is all good."

"Even so, there must have been objects with historical and cultural value..."

"Ohh, if that's your concern, I had those set aside. All I sold were jewels and

ornamental objects that had material value."

Souma looked through the paperwork for the treasure vault inventory.

"Treasures were divided into three categories: Category A (items with historical or

cultural value), Category B (items without historical or cultural value but with

monetary value), and Category C (everything else). We only sold items from

Category B. Rather than sell the stuff in Category A, if we put it on rotating display in

a museum, it's likely to serve as a more permanent source of income."

"Well, maybe... What about Category C?"

"Magic tools, grimoires, and the like. Honestly, I'm not sure how best to handle

them. You could say they're like weapons, in a way. We can't sell them off or put

them on display without the proper precautions. That full set of Hero Equipment

looked like it might fetch a nice price, though... Mind if I sell that?"

"Please, don't..."

Technically, you're supposed to be the hero... Ah, wait, you're the king now, aren't

you?

"But, if we have all this money, shouldn't it go to the military? In officers' school I

learned 'Spend always on defense, never on tribute.'"

"Let me answer that pithy saying with another one. 'Time is money.' Which is to

say, by offering the war subsidies as a sacrifice, we can gain the one resource our

country most needs right now: time."

"...Why do you have to talk in such a roundabout way?"

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, even if we were able to strengthen our forces, it

would all be for naught if we can't also get domestic issues under control. Until the

food and refugee issues are resolved, we're only going to continue losing the support

of the people. Once that happens, we'll be left with a fragile state that's easily thrown

into riots with a little agitation by foreign actors."

"No... The people love this country, too. They wouldn't riot..."

"You're being idealistic there. 'Only once one is clothed and fed does one learn

manners.' In the end, you can't have morals or patriotism on an empty stomach. If

you're too busy looking after yourself, you can't afford to look after others."

Souma's eyes were cold as he said this. It was a harsh and realistic view. That

alone made me feel he was on the mark. From the look of him, you would expect him

to be a weak man, yet somehow...

...he looked so reliable.