Even now, I could hear the cheers of people thanking Her Majesty for releasing grain for distribution.
It was noisy, but it felt somewhat wrong to stop people from shouting their thanks to Her Majesty until their throats burst.
So I had left them alone until now, but.......
“Your Majesty.”
“Ah!?”
It was probably time to stop them.
Her Majesty, who had been peeking her head out of the Great Hall’s window to listen to the praise directed at her, started in surprise.
I understood that it pleased her to hear the people’s praise, but.......
The Great Hall, the royal office, had neither glass windows nor railings, so it was dangerous.
The royal citadel did serve as a residence, but it was fundamentally built with the King’s final stand in mind when under foreign attack. There was no particular protection against falling.
Her bedchamber had glass windows, but it lay too deep within the inner ward to hear the people’s voices.
It truly was a palace deep within a palace.
“Listening to the subjects’ voices is the proper bearing for a ruler, but the window is far too open, and Your Majesty is so small that it is dangerous.”
Especially with windows this small, an adult could at least get wedged in them and avoid the danger of falling.
But Her Majesty was small from her head to the rest of her body, making it even more dangerous.
One misstep, and she could slip right through and fall.
“I only did it because I kept hearing people call for me. I am sorry, Grand Duke.”
“You have no reason to apologize to me. Your Majesty merely needs to cherish yourself more.”
“Yes, Grand Duke. But was there truly that much money?”
“There was. We will use it for the guests invited to the Late King’s funeral and the coronation, and with the rest.......”
As I was reporting to Her Majesty about the finances gained from killing the Finance Minister, a thought occurred to me.
“Before that, Your Majesty.”
“Yes, Grand Duke.”
“Other than the funeral and coronation, where do you think Your Majesty ought to spend money? I am handling the finances, but since Your Majesty has agreed to take charge of receipts and disbursements, I ask.”
Her Majesty flinched in surprise.
I had told her I was entrusting it to her so that she could learn. I thought she would know.
“I-I thought I was merely doing calculations....... Was I not?”
“The Key Staff, one of the Royal Regalia, is with me, so I will handle the direct receipts and disbursements. But I wish to know in what direction Your Majesty believes the national treasury should be spent. There is now room in the treasury for such spending, so please speak freely.”
“Uh, uhh. That, um.”
“Anything will do. Tell me to make a new crown, repair the castle, build a villa in which the Queen may rest—simply tell me anything.”
Doing calculations was something that could, in truth, be left to the working staff.
To properly see Her Majesty’s aptitude for finance, I wanted to begin by seeing how she planned to spend money.
Of course, I had no intention of making it a major test.
It was simply like asking a niece or nephew where they would spend their allowance before giving it to them.
If they said they would buy a toy, I could find that innocence cute. If they said they would save for something expensive, I could find it admirable.
There would not be many children like that, but if they said they would buy books or a gift for their parents, I would be unable to contain my admiration at such unchildlike thoughts and give lavish praise and greater support.
After considering it, Her Majesty clenched a fist over her chest and spoke.
“Everyone says that I must establish royal authority.”
“That is right.”
“If that is so, could there be a better move than winning the people’s hearts......?”
Why was she saying the right answer while trembling?
Was she still afraid of me?
Even though I tried to smile more in front of Her Majesty, she was still like that.
“What expenditure do you mean for the purpose of winning the people’s hearts?”
“I know of the Empire’s Chicken Law.”
The sudden mention of the Chicken Law might seem strange, but it was an Imperial law directly connected to the people’s hearts.
The Empire possessed fertile land beside enormous plains, a rich country that raised enough chickens for its people to eat.
For commoners, chickens were a good means of obtaining protein.
Because of that, there was a strange law called the Chicken Law: one day a week, a chicken meal had to be served. If this was violated, the noble of the territory received a penalty.
It was a law that supplied protein to the people and imposed its punishment provisions only upon nobles.
It sounded like a farce, but it was regarded as a sound bill that cared for people’s livelihoods in its own way.
It was also a boast that the Empire’s land was fertile and productive enough to have such a law.
Of course, because the law disadvantaged nobles, it had not been properly enforced since the Empire’s finances worsened after the war.
The lords were not people with enough leisure to check whether commoners had eaten chicken.
“Then are you thinking of buying chickens?”
“Would the subjects not like meat and eggs as well? They are this happy over grain alone, so I thought perhaps we could implement a Chicken Law like that once more.”
“Your Majesty, in that case, rather than have the kingdom buy and bring chickens directly, how about giving silver coins with which to buy chickens somewhere?”
“That would be far more convenient?!”
“However, Your Majesty.”
“Yes, Grand Duke.”
“This subject does not agree. A monarch is fundamentally one who takes the subjects’ taxes.”
The economy of this world was not highly developed, so its understanding of matters such as inflation and the monetary economy was somewhat lacking.
I was no expert in this area either, but I had a definite advantage through the memories of my past life.
“It is difficult to make people like someone who takes their money. Therefore.......”
“But, Grand Duke.”
“Yes.”
When it seemed Her Majesty had a rebuttal, I immediately stopped speaking.
Her Majesty’s directly expressed opinion mattered more than my teaching and explaining every detail.
“Uh, you can say more.”
“No. It is my duty to receive Your Majesty’s words.”
Surprised that she had interrupted me, Her Majesty placed a hand over her chest, calmed her breathing, and then spoke.
“A monarch is the subjects’ parent. Is a parent not one who cherishes, loves, and gives to them? There is no parent who takes allowance from a child, is there?”
“That is a splendid attitude.”
“Really......?”
“Yes, of course.”
Although I praised her almost every day, Her Majesty always felt embarrassed. This time, however, she seemed happy and began laying out her opinion.
“Yes, Grand Duke. Even if I am one who receives taxes, I wish to give back more than that. I wish to gain strength through their existence and protect them like the father of a household. Though I am sorry to collect taxes from them and take their food, I think it is all right if I return even more to them.”
She would not simply give.
She would provide benefits equal to what she collected.
Excellent. That was how it should be.
As middle managers, nobles had upper nobles and a King to whom they had to pay taxes, making it difficult for them to give generously.
But a King had no one above them to whom to pay more taxes, so it was good for them to give their gains to those who only paid them tribute.
Just as religion did.
“Then how would you do that?”
Though I asked, I had already thought of the answer.
It could be done by promoting agriculture, commerce, and industry at the national level.
International trade was also well suited to being a national enterprise, so if she spoke of trade, I intended to praise her so highly that I would want to carry her on my back.
If she said she would increase agricultural output, I would call that the right answer as well.
Even after collecting taxes, the subjects would be well fed and full, leaving them with no cause for discontent.
“W-will you teach me swordsmanship?!”
“Pardon? Swordsmanship, all of a sudden?”
Her Majesty’s request was extremely out of the blue.
The answers I had expected were agriculture or trade, but swordsmanship all of a sudden? What was this?
Was she changing the subject because she could not think of an answer?
As I stood bewildered, Her Majesty replied.
“I-if I conquer and expand the land, and take the goods, gold, and silver from that land, will I not be able to fill a sufficient national treasury worthy of those taxes? Then my country could have the Empire’s Chicken Law too!”
In other words, she meant to make up the shortage by taking it.
Our Queen truly was a descendant of the Conqueror Kings.
“If there were a chicken country, would you go seize its chickens?”
“By fighting the chickens?!”
Thinking of Her Majesty fighting chickens and being pecked by their beaks, I felt I would not be able to hold back my laughter. So I used pressing work as an excuse and ended my audience with her.
‘Right now, she looks as though she would lose even to chickens.......’
As I left, I thought about Her Majesty.
What interested her was swordsmanship and giving.
What she disliked was equestrianism.
What she had been praised for was arithmetic and literature.
Her ability in economics and management was still lacking, but she seemed to have talent of her own.
“Language and mathematics. Well....... That gets you more than halfway there.”
She had an interest in law as well.
Only diplomacy would be better left out of her hands for the time being.
Unpredictable diplomatic patterns would lower the international community’s trust.
Therefore, for now, I only needed to teach Her Majesty economics, law, and conquest (......).
“Conquest. Cough.”
It was funny because it was so absurd.
Imagine such a tiny girl yelling, “Conquest! Plunder! Kill and take!”
She was from the bloodline of the Conqueror Kings, so it made sense. Certainly.
I asked the Frost Sword, one of the Royal Regalia.
“What do you think, Frost Sword? The person who will become your next master.”
‘I am going to go mad.’
“Heh heh heh.”
For the record, the Frost Sword could speak.
***
There were many rumors about the Frost Sword among the Royal Regalia.
[It recognizes royal blood.]
[Its power varies greatly according to its owner’s ability and bloodline.]
[A human consciousness resides within the sword itself.]
I was able to verify those rumors immediately from the time I took over the Royal Regalia.
‘Let us see, you are a bastard who has inherited the blood of my former....... former former former owner.’
“......Hmm?!”
I had experienced all kinds of bizarre things—reincarnation, dragons, a Dragon’s Eye transplant, magic, and divine power—but even I found this wondrous.
‘Your blood is very dilute. I do not know much about the ways of the world, but I do know that only the most exalted person can wield me.’
My maternal great-grandmother had married into the family from the royal house.
She was of the same generation as Her Majesty’s great-great-grandmother.
Thus, Queen Casertania, the Late King, and I did have a relationship by marriage.
Of course, I gave up counting the degrees of kinship, but the blood connection existed. If I counted the line of succession, I would probably still be somewhere in the top three hundred.
“So do you find me a usable person?”
At any rate, wondering whether this was the legendary Frost Sword choosing its master, I asked.
‘Not at all. With your bloodline, you can use only about ten percent of my power at most. Yet you are wielding me? Has the royal house fallen?’
“Interesting. The royal bloodline continues, but other families’ blood enters it, and the blood naturally keeps thinning. Yet you manifest your power by calculating that probability?”
‘There are those in that bloodline in whom it manifests most distinctly. They can draw on all of my power. My previous master was such a person.’
“The Late King truly was strong.”
‘Even when mixed with other blood, there are those who bear my first master’s blood most strongly. My previous master was one of them. Therefore, one of his descendants or the brother of one who had once held me should be able to handle me.’
Unless there was inbreeding, it was natural for blood to thin over generations. Yet the royal family had continued for nine generations and one hundred fifty years.
But the Frost Sword was flexible enough not to insist upon pure blood alone.
What mattered was inheriting the greatest amount of the bloodline’s power, no matter how many generations had passed.
Atavism was a real concept as well, so it was not wrong.
“Then, as a sword, you can distinguish the royal family’s bloodline?”
‘But are you not surprised? Normally, people make a great fuss about a sword speaking.’
“No, I find it interesting. There was a time when I was practically someone with two personalities in one body, so I was a strange man who talked and played alone. I am glad there is a bastard who can carry on a conversation with me.”
‘It is not as though you are a pervert.......’
To think I would be mocked by a sword.
“Anyway, tell me whether you can distinguish the royal bloodline or not.”
‘Ah, I can. That is why my previous master brought children in and had them hold me. Every master until now did so.’
“I see. I see.”
It had served as a royal paternity test.
Queen Casertania had been born in a separate palace to the King and his mistress before he married.
Of course, the mistress later became the official Queen, but every child of the King born outside the royal citadel tended to carry a stigma.
Rumors that they might be ‘cuckoos,’ for instance.
Fortunately, Her Majesty had not been entangled in such rumors, despite originally being born out of wedlock.
Living among nobles, I often saw how important bloodlines were. Even a mere provincial lord who could not have children with his legal wife faced constant attacks and suspicions over the bloodline of his illegitimate children.
Then why had other relatives in the line of succession who coveted royal authority, such as the Duke of the East, not turned that into a political attack?
I had wondered, but the Frost Sword resolved that doubt for me.
“Then which of them has the strongest bloodline power?”
‘The one best able to use me is my previous master’s younger brother. Unfortunately, his children lack the strength to use me. Their bloodline is merely strong.’
“They are still young.”
‘Well, if I train you well, I can fulfill my role as a sword. So do your best. Then you may be able to draw out even twenty percent of my power.’
“No.”
‘Hmm?’
***
I spoke to the Frost Sword again.
“That person should wield you. She wishes to learn swordsmanship, and I intend to help her wield you quickly.”
‘Please use me....... It would be better to raise you. I will somehow make it possible for you to use twenty percent—no, fifty percent.’
“First, it would be good to wage a war against the chicken country.”
It might be a sword that chose its master, but I was teasing it because it arrogantly disregarded the Queen.
‘No, I am still a sword wielded by kings, and now chicken feathers and chicken blood.......’
“They will just go cheep.”
The ‘kingmaking’ ego sword that had once smelled of kings might now be surrounded by chicken feathers.