第３１掘：国を支えた聖女は只の人 そしてお子様は成長する (Part1)
**Dig 31: The Saintess Who Supported the Nation is Just an Ordinary Person, and the Children Grow**
*“Do not treat waste as waste.”*
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**Side: Rurua**
I was saved from the brink of death thanks to Lady Elju.
No, to be precise, the one who truly saved me was the Dungeon Master of this place.
Right now, in this room, the residents of the dungeon are gathered. We are sitting on cushions—a strange, soft grass-like material—arranged around a table.
“Alright, saving Rurua was one thing. Now, as for how to handle her from here on out… shall we hear everyone’s opinions?”
The Dungeon Master—Yuki, was it?—who could be called the king of this place, spoke.
He is a figure who, according to rumors, is more legendary than even the Demon Lords or the True Dragons, a being who could be called a walking disaster.
I had met him twice before through a skill called ‘Call,’ a form of designated protection, but this is the first time I have faced him in person.
He looks like a completely ordinary young man.
Yet, he is the very person who saved Roschur, Gartz, and Litea from plunging into war or civil strife.
He is a man of exceptional talent who created a path to resolve those conflicts and proposed solutions that saved countless lives.
That is why I found his words so incredibly strange.
Why would he ask others for their opinions?
“Big Brother? …Um, what is it that you want to do, Big Brother?”
It was the slave he had purchased, I believe.
The Rabbit Beastman girl asked him this, perhaps because she felt a sense of doubt regarding his words.
Or rather, why would he allow a slave to speak so freely?
“Ah, my own opinion will come last. It feels a bit early, but in a way, it’s perfect. From now on, I will always give my input on management last. I told you all that I want you to run this place, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you said you wanted us to help…”
“If I state my opinion first, you’ll find it difficult to oppose me, won’t you? I want your help. And that doesn’t mean helping by following my opinions—I want the opinions that you yourselves have felt.”
“But wouldn’t that go against what you desire, Big Brother?”
“Ah, I think there’s a misunderstanding. Ratz… no, everyone, really. You’ve been saved by me, provided with food, clothing, and shelter. I am the Dungeon Master, and given everything that has happened, don’t you think that everything I do is correct?”
“…I don’t think you’ve been wrong so far, Big Brother.”
“Things have just gone well until now. That doesn’t mean it will continue forever. Don’t get it wrong—I am just an ordinary person. I can make mistakes. That is why I want your help. Please, lend me your strength. Even just voicing your opinions has meaning. If I’m wrong, stop me, even if you have to hit me. At worst, stop me even if you have to kill me. I beg of you.”
Saying this, he bowed his head deeply before his slaves.
I could not hide my shock at his words.
For someone in a position of power, his posture was unnaturally low; this would never maintain dignity.
A nation is built upon the dignity maintained by its king or, in my case, the Saintess who serves as its symbol.
There has never been a ruler who lacked such dignity.
Moreover, to bow one’s head to mere slaves…
If this continues, the slaves will get carried away and do as they please.
“Big Brother…”
The woman called Ratz seemed to share my thoughts. She looked bewildered by his statement.
The others, too, seemed unsure of how to react.
“…I shall call you Yuki-san. Forgive my rudeness, but a nation cannot function with your way of thinking. You, as the Dungeon Master, must show the way and lead. That is what a ruler of a nation…”
I tried to correct Yuki-san’s misconception, but…
“Rurua, a nation doesn’t need a ‘king.’ What it needs is a representative. A representative who protects, nurtures, and listens to the opinions of the people living in that country. It just so happens that, until now, the form of the ‘king’ has been that representative.”
“That is not true!! The King, the symbol!! They are necessary for a nation!!”
“Are you saying that as someone who was removed from that position as a symbol—as a Saintess—due to the backlash of the people?”
“Ghh!! That was because those around me orchestrated…”
“Is that not the result of you failing to listen to their opinions… failing to grasp the situation?”
“…”
“In the end, they easily replaced you, the symbol. Hey, you realize it now, don’t you? That what is needed isn’t some decorative piece called a Saintess.”
…He is right. Kings and Saintesses only have the highest influence.
If all one’s subjects turn their backs, one cannot call oneself a king or a symbol.
“…Royal authority, symbols… they are sacred. The law is something that should be upheld by those of that lineage… by the nobility.”
I tried to argue with him, using every point I could think of.
Yes, the law is something that should be carried out by those meant to do so.
It is decided from the very beginning, from the moment of birth.
Unless one is like me, revering the gods with piety and accumulating training, one can never reach that seat.
“Ha, don’t make me laugh. Hey, Rurua, and Elju, how many years ago was your country founded, and how?”
“…? I have heard that the Holy Nation of Litea was founded about 400 years ago, when the first Saintess brought salvation to the people of the Reus Kingdom, who were exhausted at the time, defeated the Reus Kingdom, and established Litea.”
“My Roschur was founded about 300 years ago, when a traveling swordsman arrived in the devastated Hirni Kingdom and, to save the people, gathered them together and defeated the tyrant of Hirni.”
Why would he ask such a thing?
“You said it yourselves. Your ancestors were just ordinary people. You are not of the royal bloodline of the nobility. You were outsiders who arrived from elsewhere.”
Everything he had said until now seemed to flood into my mind.
“The people who built your countries saved the people. They led them. How? Because they listened. They watched. They knew. That is why they could save them, and why they could lead them.”
That’s right. The founders of our nations were just ordinary people.
That is why they understood what the country… no, what the people were seeking.