Volume 3 Chapter 3 Part3 (1/2)

Translator Corner

This is Yukkuri demasu!

As always, Yukkuri is overwhelmed by his RL

work… But now he is free‼!

I am sorry for the belatedness on my part.

Now that my work routine had cleared up (I transferred

to a new Hospital you see) I can resume my usual translation schedule…

Hopefully…

DISCLAIMER: There is no

guarantee that my translation is 100% correct. Please correct me if I was

wrong.

Author-sama:

Dozeumaru(どぜう丸)

Lazy Translator:

Yukkuri Oniisan

Le Editor:

So-Chintzy

Postwar Arc

Chapter 3: The Negotiation C

「Wh-……」(Julius)

Perhaps because my firm rejection

was something unexpected, for a moment Julius was at a loss for words. However,

he immediately spoke out with naked anger plastered on his face

「b.a.s.t.a.r.d[1],

are you insane?! Do you think you can escape unscathed to defy the Humanity

Declaration!」(Julius)

「That

is not something that someone like you can say. You invaded Efrieden’s

territory, and then, when you got invaded in exchange, you started yelling “no border

changes with military power”. Because of that, your reasoning doesn’t make any

sense.」(Souma)

「That

is…… Everything was just the previous Duke Gaius’ arbitrary act-……」(Julius)

「You

also know that those words are just excuses, right?」(Souma)

When I threw the question back at

him, Julius’ words were tightly clogged up.

「……Whatever

you say, it doesn’t change the fact that you are occupying our citizens. I, as

this country ruler, ought to liberate my people.」(Julius)

So he objected. But, liberating

from an occupation, yeah……

「Is

that something that Van’s Citizens desire?」(Souma)

「What?」(Julius)

「Julius-dono,

when you were travelling to this place, didn’t you see how Van’s streets and

buildings looks like?」(Souma)

Julius stared in amazement at my

question, but he immediately replied while glowering at me.

「Van

is a city where I was born. I am more familiar with it than someone like you.」(Julius)

「Is

that so…... Then, what “color” does that Van have right now in your sight?」(Souma)

「Color?

If it’s buildings with distasteful color on their walls or roofs, then I saw

several of them, what of it……」(Julius)

「……

Well I wouldn’t find fault in someone’s sense of art, but Julius-dono, if they

are under an occupation, would the citizens who were struggling under

tyrannical rule paint their walls and roofs so colorfully like that?」(Souma)

Without any antagonism, I

explained in a very kind and detailed manner for Julius.

「If

the despot imposes his power on the citizens, then the citizens wouldn’t do

something that would attract the eyes of the despot, right? Since the citizens

wouldn’t know what kind of calamity would fall upon them if they did any flashy

acts that caught up the despot’s eyes. Therefore, the citizens under a

tyrannical rule wouldn’t speak of their discontent, wouldn’t let their att.i.tudes

show their emotions, and would stow away their true opinions into the deepest

corners of their hearts. Because of this, something like colorfully painting

their walls and roofs would be something that they absolutely wouldn’t do.

Right?」(Souma)

At this point, I momentarily

stopped my words, as I stared directly at Julius’ eyes and continued my

explanation.

「However,

what color did that Van have when you were governing this city?」(Souma)

「!

That is……」(Julius)

Julius hesitated to say. Well, of

course. When I first entered Van, the color that I sensed was “Grey Townscape.”

The buildings that stood in the labyrinth-like unmaintained districts were only

houses with ash grey walls and brown earth roofs without any fragment of individuality.

The uniformity of the color tone, even without any standardization, might be the

fault of the lack of freedom given to the citizens of this city.

「The

Van that I govern right now and the Van that you had ruled before, as expected,

which one that seems to be an “occupied” city?」(Souma)

「b.a.s.t.a.r.d,

are you accusing us of being tyrannical despots!」(Julius)

「It’s

a fact, right? Most of your national budget is poured into military expenses,

right? …… Ah, also for the furnis.h.i.+ng of this castle, right? Even though the

tax that the people paid should essentially be used for the Citizen’s welfare, it

wasn’t. Not for maintaining the city, not for maintaining the roads, not for

promoting industry, but all those heavy taxation fees went to the military. Isn’t

that stupid?」(Souma)

「Shut

your mouth up!」(Julius)

「Cease

it, Julius-dono!」(Jeanne)

Jeanne stopped Julius who seemed

to want to approach me. To be stopped no more than a half-step, he gritted his

teeth with frustration. Although they weren’t permitted to carry any weapons into

the audience, if Jeanne hadn’t stopped him, perhaps he would cast a magic spell

at me. If that happens, then we could have attacked Julius under the

justification of self-defense, but…… It is not the time for that.

「Aisha,

you should also release your hand from the hilt.」(Souma)

「……Yes.」(Aisha)

I reminded Aisha, who stood

diagonally behind me while emitting a strong bloodthirst. She replied in the dejected

tone of a child that has just been scolded. Don’t worry Aisha, I didn’t pay any

mind to it. Even if the opponent Julius was acting all high and mighty, I felt safe

since Aisha is protecting me. Then, Jeanne sighed while offering her honest

opinion.

「King

Souma…… I want you to stop inciting Julius-dono.」(Jeanne)

「I am

only telling the truth. An economy is about managing the land and providing

relief to its citizens[2]……

despite that that was the ideal image of a ruler, his governance that was

wasting all the heavy tax for military expenses was clearly tyrannical

despotism.」(Souma)

「Whose

fault was this! You b.a.s.t.a.r.ds had robbed from us our ancestral lands!」(Julius)

「So,

this again……」(Souma)

Julius repeated his constant

insistence, so I sighed.

「Although

Amidonia’s Royal Family had been yelling revenge against Elfrieden’s Royal

Family at every opportunity, that incident happened 50 years ago, right? Not to

mention you, but Gaius too, are not the people that were directly related to

that event. Additionally, I am only someone who arrived in this world not too

long ago. So, why are you holding a grudge against me so much?」(Souma)

「!

That is,」(Julius)

「Ah, please

leave out killing Gaius and capturing Van. The one who began this in the first place

was your side. After all, if I don’t kill Gaius, then I would have been the one

who was killed.」(Souma)

「Kugh……」(Julius)

「See,

you couldn’t find any words to say, right? You don’t have any reason to resent

me after all.」(Souma)

Or rather…… The one who received the

real grievances was the Kingdom’s side.

「Hakuya.」(Souma)

「Yes,