第１２１９堀：お礼一つにも一苦労 (Part2)
"Indeed. The princesses understand that failing to offer gratitude to Weed and the other major powers is a matter of life and death. The ones still pushing back are simply those who haven't set foot in Weed themselves."
"Exactly. According to what Micos-chan found, the anti-royalist factions—the nobles—who actually visited Weed have all defected to the royalist side."
"Naturally. If they’ve experienced the intercontinental exchange facilitated by Weed, that is the only logical conclusion. To pick a fight with Weed is to pick a fight with every major and minor power participating in the Intercontinental Exchange Alliance. In my home of Findall, His Majesty has practically ordered the dissenters to step forward. Though, of course, that comes with the threat of the guillotine."
Stasia’s father certainly wields his authority with a heavy hand. I suppose that’s just how absolute the king's position is there. Compared to that, Haiden is...
As I was thinking this, Fiora, who had joined us for this trip, spoke up with a wry smile.
"Haha. It’s much the same where I am. We even have people coming out of the woodwork now, claiming that there was never any need to offer me up as a sacrifice in the first place."
"In the Kingdom of Dafaio, the official stance was simply that 'monsters had dammed the river upstream.' Since the result was no different than if an adventurer had fulfilled a contract, it’s not surprising such opinions are surfacing."
"How foolish. Until Yuki-sama arrived, they were effectively helpless and left it all to rot, weren't they? To not even deploy their own troops and then complain after the problem is solved is truly pathetic."
Fiora shook her head sadly as she replied. She’s right. It really is pathetic. They did nothing, yet they’re the first to open their mouths once the work is done.
"Thanks to that, I had the good fortune of coming to Yuki-sama’s side. And so, Father and His Majesty decided to order those very people to fund the liberation of the monster-infested lands themselves. Besides, even if they were to return, they’d only be used as pawns by the noble faction."
"Dafaio has it rough, too."
"Not entirely. Fortunately, many of the lords there are well-informed about Weed through Roschur, so the noble faction is a tiny minority; they’re easy enough to handle. But, I digress. So, Haiden intends to use this opportunity to purge the noble faction and offer official thanks to Weed?"
"Exactly, just as Fiora said. This provides the perfect pretext to offer a reward. Using this incident as a shield to present a proper gift to Weed was Princess Carrie’s primary objective for this visit."
"I see. And the source of that gift would be..."
"It’s already being hauled away, so I imagine it’s coming out of their coffers. I made sure to tell them we don't need the land, though."
After all, receiving land is just a burden when it comes to management.
"Oh, if Catherine, Kagura, or Micos’s father want it, I can ask for you?"
"““We don’t want it.””"
We all shook our heads in immediate unison.
"If we were to accept land from those idiot nobles, it would be nothing but trouble. We have no use for such territory."
"Kagura-sama is right. Besides, I am perfectly satisfied with the Bide region alone. I have no capacity to manage an exclave."
"Same for Micos-chan. My dad is just a baron with no connections; getting land would just be a headache."
"Exactly. Receiving land means taking on the responsibility of administration. I honestly wonder what goes through the minds of nobles who see that as a simple 'reward'."
"…Usually, it’s considered an honor. To be granted land by the King. Plus, fools think it means more money since they can collect taxes from the residents."
"Honor aside, you have to manage everything else yourself. Being granted land is synonymous with fulfilling the duties of a noble. You might have money on paper, but it’s as good as gone."
"Right? My dad was always complaining about being broke. Isn't it just idiots who get happy over land alone?"
And so, the idea of receiving land through Yuki was naturally scrapped. Accepting such a thing would only increase our burdens. Of course, if the people living there were suffering, moving to help them might be an option, but there’s no reason for it to be dumped on us otherwise.
"Besides, if it were to be 'land for our parents' homes,' that wouldn't really be a gift to Weed, would it?"
"Well, if I frame it as 'I requested it,' it would count. Though, it would be a problem if I didn't keep sticking my nose into how it's run afterward."
"True. If we received land thanks to Yuki but couldn't offer any input, we’d just be criticized by the surrounding nobles."
"Exactly. It’s better that we didn't take the land. Well, I look forward to seeing what kind of gift they come up with. Shall we get moving?"
"““Yes.””"
Indeed. I’ll leave the troublesome matters to the Princess, and we need to head toward the goblin village ourselves. I should make sure to confirm with the Princess later exactly what kind of gift she intends to offer. When it comes to national face or organizational reputation, even simple tasks become a chore. I suppose it’s easier to move freely when you aren't tied down by those kinds of backgrounds. Then again, it’s harder to get support from an organization, so it’s a trade-off.