Chapter 200

Chapter 200: Incompetence and Ignorance

Summer, with a scorching heat beating down relentlessly.
The seasons flowed relentlessly with the passage of time, but Hestia’s prosperity remained constant.
News of Hestia began to spread among the lower class of the Empire.
— Have you heard of a place called Hestia Village?
— Isn’t that the land ruled by that Red Dragon?
— A terrifying tyrant ruling the place? Can humans even live in such a place?
— Surprisingly, they live quite well. An acquaintance of mine settled there, and he says it is much better than living in the Empire!
— Better than the Empire?
— Do you believe that nonsense?
For imperial citizens, a village outside the Wall evoked similar images.
Upon leaving the imperial capital, one would be drinking collected rainwater, with no healers, so one could only pray not to die from a simple cold; a backward life.
Since most places were actually like that, it was a prejudice with reason.
— They say clean water comes out in every district.
— In the Empire lots of water comes out too, what else is there?
— And do you think they would dig the ground to sell that water? The better the land, the more taxes are paid. If you end up moving to a place like that, you will worry about food for life and get scammed.
— That is not true! I heard the water bill is not even a quarter of the Empire’s, so they can even save money!
— Save money?
For the lower class, saving money was an impossibility.
— Even so, isn’t it a dangerous land? Right next door is a land plagued with monsters…
— The Red Dragon protects it, so it is actually safer. Besides, if you enlist, they also allow you to use magic.
— You keep saying absurd nonsense!
— How can one use magic?
— What was it… magic ointment? They say there is a staff made with that.
— Magitechnology, you mean?
— Yes, that! They say that if you do reserve force training, you can even touch it.
— So do you have to join the army?
— They say it is only used when monsters invade. And joining the army is actually better! In the Empire, there are tons of guys dying to enlist but cannot. Even I was like that.
— Mmm… a good place…?
— Anyway, I plan to vacate and pack everything in a week. I am also going to try to settle in the East.
— Seems like a foolish idea…
— I will send a letter. If you change your mind later, come. Rather than continuing to be treated as outsiders here, I am willing to cross, even if I have to pay the exit tax.
The population of the Empire was leaking out.
They were crossing that Wall—of which they say that once you enter, you never leave—to try to settle in new lands.
It was not only the simple lower class making that choice.
— Adventurers say they are lately trying to make a fortune toward the Demon Land.
— And they say they also treat blacksmiths well. There must be a lot of iron to forge, right?
Technicians with an ambiguous standing in the Empire were also observing the new land of opportunities.
In the end, the imperial capital had no choice but to discuss this as a problem.
— The current population inflow figures reported are similar to last winter’s levels.
The newly appointed Interim Emperor, Ureas Arken, asked while seated.
— Is that a problem?
— Normally, population movement in summer is approximately one-third of that in winter. At this rate, we estimate that this winter’s inflow will exceed three times the norm.
— And?
— A significant portion of this population is currently leaving the imperial capital.
— Just looking at the numbers, it is not enormous…
— The most important problem is that a population exodus is occurring.
— If this continues to manifest, the nation’s credibility will be affected.
Ureas concluded the situation like this:
— Then, execute those who try to cross the Wall and make an example of them. That will work, right?
— That is not possible. This matter is different from military law.
— Ruling by fear will only intensify the citizens’ backlash. Right now we need to win the trust of the citizens that the Crown Prince could not obtain.
— Then triple the exit fee to prevent them from escaping?
— That will also cause problems for the entry and exit of merchants. The backlash will come from the nobles’ funding sources, and then the Crown Prince’s side—.
— If you are going to say that this does not work, that that does not work, why on earth did you ask? Are you trying to see how incompetent I am?!
Ureas flew into a rage.
Ureas Arken was a novice in imperial politics, just as Valdemar had predicted.
His way of cutting irresolvable knots in a single stroke was impossible in imperial politics.
Just waiting in silence was enough to show that Alexander was relatively more competent.
Even so, there were those who wanted to block Alexander’s restoration.
They were the new forces trying to expel the existing power structure,
— Oppa.
And Olivia Arken.
She sat next to Ureas and took his hand tightly.
— Do not be so angry. They are only helping Oppa make a wise decision, are they not?
— Olivia, what would you do in this situation?
— Leave it like that for now.
— Leave it like that?
— Hestia is a newly born village. Just as a sparrow has to take ten steps for every step a stork takes, trying to imitate the Empire will lead them to self-destruction; it is only a matter of time.
— Is that so?
— Of course. How about using this opportunity to expel the vagrants who eat away at the Empire, calling them a nuisance?
— Mmm… cleaning house. It is not a bad idea.
— That will not do!
Unable to bear Ureas nodding, a man protested.
— You must look further ahead. This could return as a massive reverse effect from a small flutter.
— Why?
— Upon checking the living standards of the escaped population, 90% live better than before. If you expel the vagrants from the slums and even their lives improve, Hestia Village will only be recognized as a land of opportunity. The population exodus will accelerate. We must control Hestia Village as much as possible.
Olivia reacted to those words.
— You are imagining too many useless things. Hestia Village is the pride of our Empire and the land that gives the Empire justification to exist on the Serdes Continent. Are you planning to give them grounds for independence by controlling Hestia Village?
— A declaration of independence will not be possible yet. Hestia Village still belongs to the Empire, and without the Empire they cannot establish a proper foundation. They are people who know what suffocates them.
A tense confrontation.
Olivia turned her head toward Ureas.
— Oppa. Did you not see with your own eyes how Alexander Oppa ended up when he tried to control Hestia?
— …..
— You cannot gain superiority in the succession race with this war alone. That is why we must help Regent Ferda and exclude Alexander.
— Princess! I do not know what you are whispering, but step away from him this instant! Vixen!
The man finally could not contain his anger and shouted.
Olivia asked with a look of astonishment.
— Just now… what did you say?
— I said a woman should not meddle in politics! I have held back and held back, but I will say it! Do you know that rumors are spreading that you are in collusion with Regent Ferda?
Olivia’s face hardened.
She brought a hand to her chest and swallowed saliva.
— Right now… are you saying that I am committing treason? Why would you—?!
— Drop the act! If you are going to play the Saintess, just play the Saintess! How dare you in a place like this—!!
The words did not continue.
Ureas’s sword was pointing at the man’s throat.
— How dare you…
Ureas’s face contorted ferociously.
— How dare you insult my younger sister to my face?
— Second Prince, General…
In the man’s eyes flickered a hint of betrayal.
He spoke calmly.
— General, I am on your side. Do you know how many battlefields we have crossed together? Do you not know that my loyalty is to you?
— I know. That is why your head is still attached, isn’t it?
Ureas’s hand trembled.
— I want to slit your throat right now.
His face gradually lost composure.
His hand looked like it would strike the man’s throat at any second.
— Oppa…
Olivia grabbed Ureas’s forearm.
When Ureas looked down, he saw her face glistening with tears.
— Please… at least stop the killing.
She pleaded, trembling like a small animal.
Ureas lowered the sword pointing at the throat.
— Guards! Drag this man away. Strip him of his status and exile him from this Empire!
— Y-Your Highness!
The man made a face of disbelief.
A comrade of over ten years fell apart just because he insulted his younger sister.
Even the last vestige of affection he cast was cold.
— If you cross my path again, you will be a corpse.
He was dragged away by the guards.
Ureas, unable to calm his fury, pointed his drawn sword toward the table.
— I know that I know nothing. My job is swordsmanship and commanding soldiers, so of course! But if anyone speaks carelessly of my sister, this time…!
Screech!
He cut the entire board with the map on it in half.
— This is what will happen to all of you. Do you understand?
— Y-yes, yes!
— We will engrave your words in our hearts.
Ureas sheathed his sword again.
— Dismissed. We will discuss the war with the Kingdom of Heinkel, so prepare for that.
The meeting of Ureas’s close aides ended.
Olivia wiped her tears with a handkerchief and stood up.
As she wiped her moist eyes, they dried as if nothing had happened.
«Ureas’s people are not soft either.»
«Colluding with Regent Ferda, scheming to inflate Hestia Village… these were not easy things to notice.»
«Even so, they do not know Ureas well.»
They overlooked one thing.
No matter how close a comrade was who watched his back, before his younger sister Olivia, they were nothing.
Olivia had made Ureas that way.
If opposing Alexander felt like that, with Ureas it was an intimate sibling relationship.
They were united by the shared pain of being relegated in the order of succession.
Ureas leaned on Olivia when things got difficult; she substituted for the role of a mother.
That was why blood was thicker than water.
«Alexander is incompetent.»
That incompetence will take its toll on him someday and, naturally, will lead to a succession struggle with Ureas.
«Ureas is ignorant.»
Incompetence and ignorance are worlds apart.
Incompetence knows the problem but cannot solve it; ignorance does not even know what the problem is.
If you do not know the problem, it is easy to exploit.
In the end, Ureas is also just a shoe to wear and discard.
«Increasing the population of Hestia Village is also only a matter of time…»
The Black Bandana has been reorganized as a shadow department under Valdrova, continuously controlling information.
It is also becoming a new gathering point for warriors sent from the Northern Alliance in the name of conquering the Demon Land.
Right now it is just a branch that can break at any moment.
But when we look back, it will have grown too large to cut down.
When that happens, she will surely be delighted.
— Aaah…
An uncontrollable exclamation welled up.
Olivia clasped her hands devoutly before a shrine located in the corner of a corridor.
Her eyes were surely looking at the emblem of Alte, but what she saw was different.
A man with gray hair and blue eyes surfaced vaguely in her mind.
It was mere imagination, yet Olivia felt ecstasy.
«Ferda-nim…»
She offered a prayer to the god.
«I will definitely make you happy.»
— …Even with this situation, it does not seem like it will cause major problems for the expansion construction.
— The Princess is helping with all her heart.
Pressure from the capital should have arrived long ago, but with Ureas seizing power and the Kingdom of Heinkel issues overlapping, things were clear.
Ferda only hoped that the war he was preparing would not end anticlimactically.
— Any other special matters?
— A special matter: the Armored Knight has disappeared.
— Disappeared?
— Yes. She spoke with Eri, the Branch Master of the Adventurers Guild, formally withdrew, and left to find her own path.
— Mmm…
Armored Knight.
The mysterious person who arrived before Hestia Village even had its name.
Received much, and was suspected and misunderstood in equal measure.
«The biggest misunderstanding was recent…»
Due to his lack of mental strength, he mistook her for Valdrova several times.
He committed rude acts and finally collapsed from exhaustion and had to be carried, causing her a lot of trouble.
«It would have been nice if we could have at least talked.»
An unusual figure that lingers in the mind even upon leaving.
Just in case, Ferda asked Isabella.
— Did you try to track her?
…..
The first moment Isabella’s words, which flowed like water, got stuck.
Try to track her?
Of course she did.
The Armored Knight was one of the most important assets.
Until her identity became known, that was certainly true.
«To think that person would be Valdrova-nim…»
The informant was Erika.
As a longtime friend who shared hardships, she said it as a warning to be careful.
«Warning, my foot…»
Isabella knew Erika.
This definitely came from a ‘let us suffer together’ mentality.
Right now, the fact that she made Valdrova work is hitting Isabella’s solar plexus hard.
— Administrator?
— Yes.
— How did the tracking go?
— Tracking will probably be difficult. She was originally difficult to detect.
— Is that so?
— I apologize for disappointing you.
— Not at all.
What is there to be disappointed about?
Isabella gives her all in everything.
— You may dismiss. Keep doing the same from now on as well.
— Understood.
Isabella bowed politely and exited.
Ferda looked at the documents piled on his office desk.
No, he saw them.
No, he looked up at them.
«This damn work just keeps piling up every time.»
Of course, more than 70% were documents he could overlook, but Ferda did not trust people properly.
He could not allow himself to be deceived with his eyes wide open, so he reviewed everything meticulously.
His personality exhausted him.
Ferda decided to pull an all-nighter and opened the first document.
Knock, knock—.
Someone knocked.
— Come in.
The door opened cautiously.
That was all.
«Echidna?»
The one who opens the door and does not show herself is always that woman.
But today was different.
The glimpse that showed itself was not a wide-brimmed hat and gloomy, unkempt hair.
Two pairs of horns rising up and bright red hair.
She peeked through the half-open door.
Her behavior was like that of a rabbit in its burrow.
In Ferda’s eyes, those menacingly raised horns looked like black ears.
— Ferda-ssi… are you busy by any chance?
Valdrova asked.
— I am free.
He closed the documents and pushed them aside.