Ore wa Mada, Honki o Dashite Inai - CH 64

The King’s Society Reformation

Translated by Mlzkzr

Edited by Mlzkzr

(TN: Change Dream Troupe to phantom troupe)

“That’s all for now.”

At the palace of the royal capital, on the courtyard.

I gave His Majesty the King a series of practice and cut it off at an appropriate point.

Honestly, I have very little to teach him.

I’m certainly more skilled, but His Majesty the King is also very strong, as expected of the royal family of Aegina, having wielded a sword since he was a child.

Well, he has a distinct lack of actual combat experience, and it’s like the so-called “dojo swordsmanship”, which would make him weak if he was in a “killing each other” matchup, but…… well, I wouldn’t point that out.

His Majesty the King, who had put away his sword, received a towel from a maid and wiped the sweat from his upper body.

I don’t even want to see a man naked, but I’ll bear it.

His Majesty the King, after wiping off his sweat, unexpectedly spoke to me in a semi-nude state.

“What do you think, sensei, of my skill?”

“That’s right”

I pretended to think for a moment.

I gave him the bland answer I had asked Mimis beforehand in these situations.

“To be honest, I think there’s still room for improvement.”

“Hahaha, you’re really honest, sensei. It’s okay to be frank and say it’s no good at all.”

The king was in a pretty good mood.

According to Mimis, royalty with a certain amount of power, especially kings, shouldn’t be praised high.

Since they’re used to that kind of crap.

On the other hand, belittling him is also out of the question.

The other side has the pride of royalty and pride in his own skills.

After all, he still has a long way to go, but he’s talented.

This seems to be the most preferred response.

His Majesty the King got in a good mood because we properly had a briefing session.

Then, a man I didn’t know came running into the garden.

The man gave the king an earful.

The good mood he had been in just before was gone, and the king became so furious that his face turned red.

“Fuck”

The king spits out an extremely vulgar word.

What happened?

…… I wonder if it’s okay to ask, or at least to listen.

“What’s going on, Your Majesty?”

His Majesty the King replied with a wave of his hand, causing the man to step back.

“You know there’s been a famine in the Iris region this year because of the drought, right”

“Oh, that?”

I honestly had no idea about it, but I’ll blur it out and move on.

“I have ordered that a budget be taken from the treasury to purchase from merchants and distribute food for the refugees there to spend the winter, but it seemed that most of it went into the pockets of Baron Bacillus, the man who ordered it to be done.”

“Then, no rations have gone to the people……?”

“There’s evidence that it was distributed.”

“Huh……”

I wonder if that’s the case.

How did he do that? Such question came to mind.

This kind of disaster relief has always been a standard cut-throat affair.

If the disaster is so great that it becomes a famine, the first thing that happens is that the taxes that should enter the country will not be included.

Commercial activities around that region will be stagnant in solidarity, and taxes from there will also be reduced.

Even though the tax will be reduced, the country will be hard-pressed when it comes to paying for disaster relief.

That’s why the budget they can allocate is always tight.

If they get rid of the middleman from there, the local situation would be quite disastrous.

“Bacillus, what kind of trick did you use?”

☆

“That’s why I need you to go check on this Bacillus guy.”

When I returned to Pindos, I summoned Kyorus of the Phantom Troupe to the brothel and told him what I had heard from His Majesty the King.

“I see”

Kyorus’ eyes become sharp.

The people who use disasters to line their own pockets are the people the Phantom Troupes hate the most.

“I understand, I’ll go look for it quickly”

“Please”

☆

“Fodder?”

A few weeks later, I came back to the Royal Capital.

After our training session, I told the king what the Phantom troupe had found out.

“Yes, for cows and pigs …… well, it’s the main thing that livestock eat. That’s what they bought”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s just like when you buy flour for baking bread, if he put his money on the fodder, he can buy five times as much fodder. It seems that Sir Bacillus have bought the fodder, distributed one to the refugees, and kept the remaining four in his own pocket.”

“What was that!!”

The king was enraged.

He pulled out his sword and slammed it into the ground.

“Does that mean he distributed livestock feed to the refugees!!”

“That seems to be the case”

“This is unacceptable! I will seize and question him!”

“That is ―― I don’t think that’s possible.”

“What was that!”

The king stared at me, quite angry, and a little chill came on my back.

“It seems that the bandits called the Phantom troupe learned of the story, stole Bacillus’ property, and offered it and the person himself to the refugees. Naturally, the anger of the refugees, who were forced to eat fodder to feed themselves, was ……”

“That Phantom Troupe, huh”

“Yes”

“I see. Hmm, it serves him right”

I sighed secretly.

I only asked them to investigate, but it was too much for them, the phantom troupes went into a rage and “did something” to Bacillus.

Well, I’m glad I listened to the end of their story, because it made me feel better.

“I see, the phantom troupe huh. I’ll have to thank them for that.”

“Eh!?”

I was startled.

The king will thank a bandit?

“Ple,please wait a minute, Your Majesty, as expected, that’s”

“As I thought, is that no good?”

As I thought.

Fuh, His Majesty the King knows exactly what he’s doing.

“Of course, that’s no good.”

“Fumu, that’s also true. Geez, being a king is inconvenient.”

His Majesty the King laughs in self-mockery.

Fuh……

What is he talking about all of a sudden?

I looked at His Majesty the King, who still seemed to be in a painful reluctance.

This is …… I have to divert the story.

“Your majesty, you haven’t come to Pindos lately.”

“Fumu”

“Why don’t you go see Daphne?”

“Daphne, huh, that’s right. Okay, I’m going to disguise myself for stealth. Wait a minute.”

“Yes”

His Majesty the King calls for a nearby maid to change clothes, and enters the palace.

Alright, I’ve deflected the conversation. ……so I thought.

His Majesty the King turned back.

He stood in front of me and made a grinning face.

“I came up with a good idea. Sensei, what about my skills?”

“Eh? No, there’s still room for growth ――”

“How do I compare to the bandits?”

“That’s…… well, you can win with a margin.”

“I have that level of skill, huh. Alright, I’ve decided.”

“……What is it?”

I had a bad feeling about this.

A very bad feeling.

An extremely bad feeling.

“I’m going to hide my identity in secret and join the Phantom troupe to fix the world!”

“……Eeeeeeeeeeehh!?”

I thought I had diverted the conversation, but it seems that my guidance had led him in the opposite direction.