Chapter 107 - #106 Discussion (2/2)
”...Alright” She looked at her father's shocked expression before answering me.
”Y-You are that famous Red Devil. Despite my retirement, I still heard a few news about your feats...W-Why are you here?” After a few more seconds, Chouri finally recovered and asked me with a confused expression.
”You aren't afraid despite hearing about my ”feats”? Interesting...” I muttered while holding my chin with an interested smile.
”Well...if you wanted to kill me, you would have already done it, no?” He replied with a forced smile.
”?!” Spear was shocked by her father's words as she looked at me with a questioning gaze.
”...Maybe but as you have guessed, I am not here to kill you. I want to cooperate with you, I also don't want Honest on the post of Prime Minister.” I said while resting my right leg on my left thɨġh.
”...Spear, please give us some time” Chouri said while looking at my reaction so I just closed my eyes to tell him that I don't mind.
”But father...” Spear wanted to say something but she had no idea what to say since she was too confused about how this situation even escalated.
”Please, it will take a few minutes at most.” Chouri tried to convince her and she looked at me just to see me sending her a small harmless smile. In the end, she nodded her head and obediently left the room.
”...Why do you want my cooperation? I am just an old man who got overthrown by Honest. What do you gain from this?” He asked me with a serious expression when Spear finally left us alone.
”I will be completely honest with you...I am not a kind person or type of person who will go out of my way just to help someone as if I felt it was the right thing to do. I am a selfish person who does things whatever I want. I kill when I want to kill, I save when I am in a mood to save someone. However, one thing that I can't ignore is this country. The country is made of its people, happy people usually means prospering country. Each day passing by, the Empire is slowly losing its former glory. Even if I am someone who doesn't really care much about masses, as one of the most prominent houses in the Capital, it is my duty to ensure this country's future.” I explained with a stoic face and then took a sip of tea previously prepared by Spear.
---
'I can't detect any lies in his words, however, it could be also due to his perfectly stoic face concealing his true intentions' Chouri thought to himself while observing Akashi.
---
”I am glad that you are so honest with me and not telling me something like ”because it's the right thing to do” since I wouldn't be able to believe someone like you if those words left your mouth. Your family must have done a lot of bad things to be allowed to keep standing next to the Honest.” He nodded his head with a serious expression.
”In this world, everyone's hands are dirtied no matter what side they stand on. One is only looking at how much dirtied they are. People can even wash their dirtied hands but most people don't bother to do that once they see how much effort they have to give in.” I nodded with closed eyes and agreed with his statement of our family doing ”bad” things.
”...Then what do you even want from me? And how do I know that you aren't just making up those words to persuade me?” He thought for a while about my words before asking me with a confused expression.
”First of all, the country needs someone capable of leading it and you are someone who cares about the country's people because they are making the country we are talking about. One person alone can't lead it so I am gathering as many qualified people as I can.” I replied with a smile.
”As for the reassurance that I am not lying...I have nothing but if you will ever travel to the Capital, you can visit my family's territory and you will see the real order.” I continued while shrugging my shoulders.
”A real order you say? What exactly do you mean by that?” He nodded at my reasoning for wanting his cooperation with understanding expression and then asked me with an interested expression after hearing my ”reassurance”.
”In my territory, one can eat a full meal that will satisfy his hunger as long as that person will work on some civil projects or perform some community services. So no one can die there out of hunger as long as he doesn't want to die. And even small markets are letting their goods on display while they are closed or their owners are away...” I said with an amused smile just thinking about his reaction.
”What?!” And as I thought he stood up just from the shock but it should be about those markets instead of public meals.
”How is it possible that people just let their goods on display? Aren't they afraid that someone will steal them?” He quickly sat down and asked me with a curious and impatient expression since he was aware that I was teasing him on purpose by not saying everything in one go.
”You are quite energetic for ”old man”, heh. Thievery? In my territory rules IRON LAW, no one can steal in my territory, NOT EVEN THE EMPEROR HIMSELF!” I chuckled at seeing his impatient expression before saying with a strong and cold voice and narrowed eyes.
He opened his eyes wide but I didn't let him say anything and continued talking.
”Any thief will be punished according to the severity of their crime. The same with murder, no one will get away by killing anyone in my territory as long as the ones killed are registered as citizens of my territory. Even if that person will hide inside someone's else territory, I will see to it that he receives his punishment.” I said with a cold smile while staring at Chouri's shocked face.
”...How are the thieves punished?” He suddenly asked and I instantly knew why.
”Nah, they aren't crucified nor killed, they are to do forced labor and perform community services until they pay off what they have stolen plus a little bit more for the offense. Although murderers are a different matter...I don't want to explain everything here, it's too complex to explain it within a few minutes. For example, stolen goods are also returned and if not found, my house will provide money according to the damage to its owner. Some merchants even wanted to exploit it...unfortunately they were found out and their punishment was even more severe than of that thief who was cooperating with them.” I waved my hand to deny any ”cruel” punishments but that forced labor can sometimes be even crueler than death but I don't give a shit about that since for honest people and people afraid of death it is purely best kind of punishment.
”...Are you perhaps planning on taking the throne?” He suddenly asked me after a few seconds of processing my words.