Volume 3 Chapter 6 Part4 (1/2)
“Hold on a moment!”
As I froze upon hearing Roroa’s sudden marriage proposal, a fl.u.s.tered Liscia ran down and pressed on to Roroa.
“You’re Amidonia’s princess, right! What are you saying!”
“Whut do ye mean whut? The same as you, big sis”
“Big sis!?”
On the other hand, Roroa was still at ease.
“Big sister Liscia is Elfrieden’s princess too, aye? The reason fer ye to marry Soma-han was at first to give him a case to govern Elfrieden, no?”
“H, how did you!?”
“Dinnae be underestimanting merchants. And then I’m the same. By marrying me, Soma-han gains a case to rule Amidonia. He’d somewhat lessen the chance of rebellion by the people”
“Well … yes, but even if it’s that way in the beginning, but I’m now completely doing it to support Soma’s rule. There’s my feelings for him too. Not just for giving him a case. Me, Aisha, and also Juna, we all chose to stay by Soma ourselves!”
Being sort of confessed to so loudly made me, who was listening from the side, feel embarra.s.sed. However, even having listened to Liscia’s proclamation, Roroa said with a grin,
“Ah—, naught a problem then. I like Soma-han plenty myself.”
that easily.
“Back when I was sheltering in Nerva, I saw the Royal Broadcast. That was revolutionary I say, and there’s still a lot of uses for it, too. Ye could make a fortune depending on how ye use it. Let’s see … both the Kingdom and Princ.i.p.ality have Purveyors, aye? The one where the highest quality items they present gets a seal of approval from the government? That is simultaneously a guarantee of the quality of the item and publicity for only the guaranteed goods. So whut about taking just a wee bit of time on the Royal Broadcast to publicize these goods for a fee? Big merchants who want to publicize their goods will be willing to spend a lot of money for it I think.”
“Ah, I see. You want to air commercials”
That was a blind spot. Currently the Royal Broadcasts were airing public broadcasts. I haven’t thought much about commercials at all. Because I didn’t think that the idea of becoming a TV sponsor exists in a world without TV. But just like Roroa said, there are merchants like Purveyors who do trade by publicity. They’d be willing to part with money if we gave them a place to advertise. Using that for programme production costs would help lighten national expenditures.
As I was thinking, Roroa flashed a grin.
“Soma-han looks like ye could bring both Elfrieden and Amidonia together to a more prosperous era. I think there’s going to be a lot of fun things if I stay with ye. I’ve always thought that it’s better to marry someone fun”
“Roroa … are you sure you’re alright with me?”
I looked Roroa straight in the eye. This is something I must ask of her.
“I’m the man who killed Gaius … your father”
The air froze as I said so … or so I felt. Unexpectedly however, the only ones who are tense were people from the Kingdom. Roroa only calmly shrugged.
“If ye’re going to say that, then I’m the one who drove out brother. I used the merchant’s network to cause many riots to happen at the same time”
Ah … so the simultaneous riots really were this girl’s plan.
“About Lord Faither, ye neednae lose sleep on him. Or would ye prefer a girl who glares at ye saying ‘how dare ye kill my faither!’ ?”
“Um, it’s not about preference …”
Seeing me baffled, Roroa breathed a sigh.
“… well, not that I didnae feel anything. He’s still my faither after all. But, he was also going to kill ye as well, aye? A battlefield is where ye kill or get killed. That is something that cannae be helped anymore. Ye’ve also kindly returned his body, so there’s nought left for me to say”
“Well … it only shows how much we dinnae get along that I only felt this much.”
Roroa said with a somewhat lonely look.
“Lord Faither and brother were so obsessed with revenge to the Kingdom, they couldnae see the reality. Amidonia is a poor country. We have mines, but that’s all we have. We’re also not food sufficient. The ones to make the people suffer isnae the Royals or the people of Elfrieden, but hunger and poverty. What we really need are jobs and food. We, that is me, Colbert, and the officials, desperatly tried to raise money, but Lord Faither puts them into army spending right away”
“We managed to reduce the number of people that are starving, the girls selling themselves off, the children who had to be sent away. Fueling hatred for the Kingdom to suppress dissent isnae healthy. Someday it’s going to fail. But even so … Lord Faither never lent us an ear. I wonder when it began … when did I stop thinking of him as family …”
“Roroa …”
Roroa shook her head, pulling herself together, and made a grin.
“My family is already old man Hermann and ‘big brother’ Colbert, and also the uncles and aunties living in town. The ones I want to protect isnae the family only connected to me by blood, but the ones important to me”
She wants to protect not the family only connected by blood, but the ones important to her. Back when we negotiated post-war arrangements, Julius cast Roroa away, thinking she would become a political opponent. And now, Roroa is also abandoning Julius. It should’ve been even, but somehow, I felt more filial piety in Roroa. Probably … unlike Julius, Roroa understands the importance of family.
“One more thing. The insurrection in north-western Amidonia the other day, causing Julius to come cracking down, is that also your instigation?”
“I’d never do something like that!”
For the first time since Roroa was here, she was angry.
“In fact, I made it so that the rebellion happens at the same time to avoid that. Rendering brother immobile so he dinnae oppress the ma.s.ses”
“So the insurrection in the northwest happened on its own?”
“That’s also wrong. Judging by the location, what’s near the northwest where it happened? Was there anyone who acted strangely?”
“! Holy Orthodox Empire Lunaria!”
The Holy Orthodox Empire Lunaria was to the northeast of Amidonia, and they sent troops to the border in order to take care of their believers within Amidonia. Roroa made an annoyed look and nodded.
“Religious affairs go beyond borders. Being so close to the Holy Orthodox Empire, that area had lots of Lunarian believers. The Orthodox Empire probably instigated the believers with a papal commandment. They dared send in troops and call it protecting the believers”
“But the northwest isn’t a prosperous land, right? What would the Orthodox Empire gain from it so much as to cause an insurrection there?”
“Whut they want isnae land, but people, believers. True believers, no matter how much they suffer, willnae latch away from the Holy See. Troubles and hards.h.i.+ps are a trial from the G.o.ds. Therefore the country never has to think about the people’s well being. They get support so long as they observe the rites. That’s why the country is happier the more believers they have.”
“Nothing quite as troublesome as that, huh … speaking of which, you sound like you really don’t like the Lunarian Church, Roroa”
“I dinnae care about the Church itself. Whut I hate is the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds using religion for politics, filling their own pockets while causing suffering.”
Hmm, I guess mixing religion with politics does cause trouble no matter what world you’re in. You’re using something that was supposed to heal people’s hearts as justification to do what you want. Interpretation of dogma is left to the powers that be, condemning people under the name of G.o.d for being heretics, for not espousing the same creed as themselves. Really, there’s nothing quite so troublesome.
“I’d rather avoid having anything to do with any of it if I could”
“But ye cannae do that, aye? That country’s going to contact you eventually”
“Why!? I’m not a believer”
“Because that country detests the Star Dragon mountain range and the Grand Chaos Empire”
The Star Dragon mountain range is obvious. It is the (de facto) country of intelligent dragons, and the faith of the Mother Dragon that inhabits it is one of the two great faiths of the continent along with the Lunaria Church (though it’s unknown what they believe in the Demon King Territory). That’s why the Orthodox Church would obviously detest the Star Dragon Mountain range, being the seat of the faith of the Mother Dragon.
“Ye ken that the Empress Maria is called the ‘Holy Maiden’, aye? The citizens that were saved by her relief policies called her that on her own. In the Lunaria Church, the right to name Holy Men and Maidens belong to the Pope. The Lunaria Church actually has someone they call the Holy Maiden. Which is why to the Orthodox Empire, Lady Maria is someone who sullies the t.i.tle of Holy Maiden.”
“Since it’s the people who called her that, Lady Maria did nothing wrong, right?”
“They dinnae care. A religious country seeks charisma over everything else. It’s a slight on their honor for a Holy Maiden to just spring up on her own. Which is why after absorbing Amidonia and expanding your power, ye cannae expect the Orthodox Empire to leave ye alone. They’d try to probe you out somewhere. They may even slap a Saint t.i.tle on ye and drag ye along in their fight with the Empire.”
Uwaa … it’s scary how likely that is. The secret alliance with the Empire, with it being secret and all, cannot be publicized to other countries (in fact, since it would be a problem if it were ever found out, both countries’ intelligence bureaus work around the clock to keep it under wraps). I have seen how the Church stabilized their own influence by giving the powers that be a spiritual position, back in the histories of Earth. They could possibly start calling us Holy Elfriedenian Empire and set us up to head the fight against the Empire.
But that said, it’s not easy to just antagonize them. The problem with religion is that even when you crush their home base and kill their leaders, their believers will remain. The more you suppress the believers the more united they become, and the leaders you killed will be revered as martyrs. Furthermore, most of these believers are common citizens. It would be just short of a genocide to eradicate all believers. I can’t join or antagonize them. Seriously, such a pain.
Wincing back from the bad imaginings, my shoulder was stroked by Roroa, who switched the topic.
“Well, let’s leave the matter about the Orthodox Empire for now. What ye should decide now is about our marriage”
“Uuuh…”
“Soma-han… Do ye want me, or do ye not?”
A straight-ball question. A pair of big round eyes looked straight at mine, looking like the puppy from “What to do, Aif○l?” 1. Well, since you asked like that, then the answer is obvious.
“I do”
There were just too many benefits to marrying her I desperately want to reach out and grab her. Firstly, marrying Roroa would reinforce the legitimacy of the Amidonia merger. Secondly, she was attractive from a personnel point of view. She had the economic foresight to come up with a source of revenue in advertising, and independently establish a mercantile network. It was also well that she understands the tricks that n.o.bles use, which is something that Hakuya and I had overlooked. Both she and Colbert are talented people I want to have at all costs.
Furthermore, I have a good impression of Roroa’s way of thinking. Her downtown merchant spirit, or rather, the way that even when she’s a realist that screams “The world, it’s money!” she was still aware of duty and humanity. The money she earns for the people, she uses for the sake of the people, even though it didn’t come to bear fruit thanks to Gaius’ actions. She had the guts to b.u.t.t heads with her own brother for the people she cares about. To top it off, there’s nothing to complain about having such a cute girl wanting to marry me. If there’s a problem … that would be what Liscia thinks. She’s the princess of a longstanding enemy country, after all.
“What do you think, Liscia?”
“If Soma thinks she’s necessary, then I’m okay with her”
Said Liscia, bluntly. I couldn’t see any ill feelings in her face. What’s weird was that she was slightly miffed as if saying, “what’s that look for?”
“She looks like a capable girl to me as well. I think she has what it takes to be received as a Queen Consort. If Soma would manage inheritance rights later, then there’s nothing more for me to say.”
“Liscia … thank you.”
“Naturally, you’ll still care for the rest of us, right?”
“Naturally.”
Really … such a good girl. I’m really glad about having Liscia as my … fiancée. Roroa then interjected with a somewhat good mood.
“Ah, sorry for barging in on your sweet world for two, but ye dinnae have to worry on that front. I dinnae care about the crown”
“Really ?”
“Aye. … in return, there’s something I want to ask of ye, Darling.”
Darling? … well, okay. Roroa then looked up at me with upturned eyes and a face like a child begging for something.
“Something you want?”
“Ye see, I always wanted a company of my own”
“Company?”