第１６４３堀：厄介なのが分かってしまう (Part1)
Chapter 1643: Sensing the Trouble
Side: Seraria
“...You go off to inspect the port town, and the moment you return, you bring Steve along with you. What exactly happened?”
My beloved husband stands before me, but when we meet in the office, it is almost always to discuss work. Furthermore, we had only just finished debating the appointment of the hospital director for that very port town. With Steve in tow, there was no chance this wasn't business.
I narrow my eyes at him, making my suspicion clear. He wears that same expression as always—the one that makes it impossible to tell what he’s thinking—but I know him. While he constantly claims he wants to slack off, take a break, or play games, he never fails to complete his tasks, and he never misses a deadline. In fact, if others are falling behind, he’s the type to step in and push them forward. He knows exactly how to switch between "off" and "on."
If he’s come to my office, it’s undoubtedly work. And if it requires the permission of the Queen—that is, me—it’s a matter of significant scale. There are times like these when I find my husband slightly vexing.
“Don’t glare at me like that. Personally, I’m all for keeping the burden as light as possible.”
“Is that so? Your mouth says one thing, at least.”
“That’s for sure. The Boss says that, but he’s always working.”
“Indeed. He could just play like a normal person.”
It isn’t just me; even Quar agrees with Steve’s assessment, suggesting he should rest more. He’s so strict with me, yet...
“Her Majesty knows how to slip away in moderation. Yuki-sama, on the other hand, won’t play until the work is finished.”
“No, no, I get along well with my wives at night. We play games and such.”
“That’s true for anyone outside of work hours. I’m not saying you should slack off as much as Her Majesty, but please, find more breathing room.”
“Eh? But during breaks, I’m having tea and playing games with Prol and the others?”
“As I have said many times, that is true for anyone outside of work hours.”
I feel like saying “Eh?” just like my husband did at Quar’s remark, but I have to agree that he pushes himself too hard. The subordinates in the room nod in unison, clearly aware of it too. While there is no doubt he spends his nights well with us, I do wonder if he is truly resting. He works so hard for all of us. In that sense, I do feel he doesn't get enough downtime. Well, that doesn't mean I’d ever want him to stop our nightly routine.
With my grumbling out of the way, I get to the point.
“So, what did you come to talk about today?”
“Right. I inspected the port town, and I found something blatantly troublesome, so I brought it here. It’s a matter that would be problematic if it didn't go through you, Seraria.”
“I see. You wouldn’t have come all this way otherwise. And since you brought Steve, I assume this concerns the Monster Army?”
“Yeah, it’s related. But first, Prol, Orelia.”
““Yes.””
At his command, Prol operates the console, projecting a map into the air via a call, while Orelia hands us the documents.
“Look at the documents later. I’ll give you a rough explanation. First, the map on display...”
“This is the map of the port town, isn't it?”
“As Quar says. It’s the current state of things. The commercial district is mostly finished in terms of boxes and buildings. All that’s left is to build the general residential areas based on the number of applicants. As for the resort area, with Ratz leading the charge, it’s almost ready.”
“...Almost, you say.”
My husband rarely uses such vague language. He almost always speaks in numbers. That means there is something else going on. After all, that’s why he came here in the first place.
“Yeah. The problem came to light when I was talking to Ratz in the resort area.”
He prefaced his explanation by noting that despite being a port town, they haven't been able to secure goods or seafood. While the goods were prepared, the sea area wasn't stable enough to operate a fishing port. As a solution to this...
“After discussing it with Dressa, the idea came up to expand our territorial waters and widen the detection range to make defense easier.”
“I see. With a territorial limit of only 500 meters, the town is exposed immediately. If the detection range expands, we’ll have more leeway to intercept.”
I understood the logic. But there was one problem.
“Expanding the detection range is fine, but that means the area we have to defend also expands, doesn't it? Do we have enough strength for that?”
“Exactly as you say, Seraria. Expanding the territorial waters and the detection range is meaningless if we don't have the troops to respond. So, we want to increase our numbers, but when I was talking to Mikos and Aslin, the topic came up: will the military be doing the town’s security forever?”
“““Ah.”””
At those words, even Steve lets out a cry of realization.
“Steve, were you unaware of this as well?”
“Completely. I just heard it now. Wait, that means if it’s security, we need to coordinate with the police, right?”
“That’s the issue. The port town’s police currently only have the status of a police box, and there’s no one at the top.”
“Huh? Then we can’t even begin to talk...”
“Poni is technically at the top, and Deryu is handling the port town’s affairs. They can handle things on their own authority to a certain extent.”
“I see. Still, we can’t keep doing that forever, and then there’s this new problem.”
My head starts to ache. Just as I’m wondering what to do, Quar speaks up.
“It is certainly necessary to coordinate with the police, but could we not combine them with the military? While Weed separates public order maintenance from the military, it cannot be said that all other nations make such a clear distinction.”
“True. In most places, the military and the public order units are organized separately. Even if they are the same organization, the nature of a military force deployed abroad and a unit maintaining domestic order is different.”
I had thought the same as Quar, but as my husband says, even if the public order unit is part of the military, it is an organization meant to protect from within. Before I came to Weed, I acted recklessly to investigate the number of orphans like Vilia, but that was originally under Aria-oneesama’s jurisdiction, and our interference was unwelcome. They said it was because we didn't follow protocol and were too violent. At the time, I thought that meant we couldn't catch the criminals, but now that I am Queen, I understand the importance of those procedures.
Having the military and public order maintenance be the same is problematic. Unless it is handled with extreme finesse, it is clear that trouble will arise.
“And in the event of an emergency, the military will be deployed. Then the question becomes: who holds the command?”
“Having to go through Dressa every single time is a problem.”
“That’s for sure, Boss. If things go poorly, it’ll have to go through me too, right? How much paperwork would that be? Why not leave the command to the police, or at least to Sis-a and Sona at the town office?”