“Very well,” I said. “In that case, I will prepare a position for you equivalent to the one you held in Amidonia. Henceforth, as the Minister of Finance of both the Elfrieden Kingdom and the Principality of Amidonia, I ask you to support the finances of this new nation.”
“I–I am an Amidonian, you realize… Is that all right?” he stuttered.
“It doesn’t matter to me. I’ll use anyone I think I can use. If I obsess over race and nationality, I’ll never get this country rebuilt.”
“Y-Yes, sire…”
No, seriously; I had been wanting someone like him. I had been studying the humanities, so mathematical calculations and decisions involving the economy were always difficult for me. If this guy had the skill to keep this less-than-prosperous country from going bankrupt when the military was eating up its budget, I wanted him working for me, no matter what. If there were a capable Minister of Finance trimming unneeded expenses, I might be able to find room in the budget for a policy or two I hadn’t been able to before.
Heh heh heh… oh, the possibilities.
“Minister of Finance Colbert,” I said. “Those documents will surely be the tools of your trade. Take them back, and work to rebuild the Amidonia region.”
“Ye… Yes, sire! I understand!” Colbert prostrated himself before me again.
I nodded, then looked to General Herman. “Sir Herman, you did well to defend against the forces of the Turgis Republic. Without the fierce struggle you put up, I am sure the Republic would have made it past Nelva and into the heartlands of Amidonia. If that had happened, our aid wouldn’t have arrived in time, and the situation would be even more chaotic than it is now.”
I had thanked him, but Herman’s stern expression didn’t soften.
“Warriors are the defenders of the people,” he said. “Even without a master, that remains the same. I merely did what is my duty.”
H-He’s pretty strict and formal, huh… I thought. He was probably the sort that was dedicated to his profession. If Owen was a laughing old man, this guy was a stubborn old man.
Yeah, he was like a tsundere old man from Japan, and I liked that. His earlier words had been the equivalent of: “I–It’s not like I did it for you, okay? I didn’t have any choice after losing my ruler, so I just defended it!” or something like that, I guess.
Herman stood up and walked over in front of the other covered pile. “I, too, have come bearing gifts, Your Majesty. I hope you will not make me take mine back after receiving them.”
With those words, Herman pulled back the cover. Beneath it was a pile of many colorful textiles, all rolled up like roll cakes.
“The south of Amidonia has a successful industry that produces high quality wool,” he said. “These textiles were made with that wool. Please, accept them.”
“Hm… May I come take a closer look?” I asked.
“As you wish.”
I rose from my seat, approached the pile of textiles and put my hand on one. Yeah, it felt good. Was this one a carpet? I didn’t know how to judge the quality of these sorts of things very well, but I could still tell somehow that this was a good one.
“Hm? A carpet?” I murmured.
A carpet as a gift… huh. I dunno… I feel like I’ve heard of this scenario somewhere before. If I recall, there was a scene like this in Earth’s history… Huh?!
“…Sir Herman,” I said.
“What is it?”
“There wouldn’t happen to be a woman hidden in that carpet, would there?”
The moment I said that, Herman’s face stiffened.
Wait, seriously?!
One of the textiles in the pile began wriggling. Had an assassin slipped in? The soldiers and Aisha were on edge, when…
“No fair, no fair! It was gonna be the surprise of a lifetime! Why’d ya have to go and figure it out?!” a girl’s voice exclaimed.
The moving textile slowly came unfurled, and out popped a girl who was somewhere between middle school and high school age. Her long hair was tied at the nape of her neck into ponytail-style twintails, and she had lovely, regular features and beady little eyes. That was the kind of girl she was.
The young girl put her right hand on the back of her neck, and her left hand on her hip, shaking back and forth a bit while she posed like a model. “Welcome or not, here she is, dun-da-da-dun! It’s Roroa!” Then she gave a coquettish giggle and tried to act sexy.
She was slightly shorter than Liscia, and her body had a distinct lack of curves, so she just looked like a little girl trying too hard to seem like an adult. But, well, it was cute in its own way, like a small animal, and… Wait, wasn’t Roroa the name of Julius’s little sister?!
While I was staring in blank amazement at the suddenness of all this, Roroa got angry. “Aw, you’re no fun, Mr. Souma.”
“Mr. Souma?!” I cried. I’ve never been called Mr. Souma before… Wait, that’s not it! Huh? What?
Gaius and Julius had both been scary people who’d given off a serious bloodlust, so why was this girl so friendly? Wasn’t the princely family of Amidonia supposed to hate the royal family of Elfrieden?
While I was still out of sorts, Roroa started punching me in the shoulder. “Still, I can’t say I approve of ya spoilin’ the surprise. I was all rolled up in here for a little under an hour, y’know?…Yeah, it was hotter than I thought it’d be.”
Well, yeah, if you were wrapped up in wool, it would be…
“So, how’d you figure it out?” she demanded. “I was pretty confident you wouldn’t, y’know?”
“Well, there was a woman in the world I came from who did something similar, you see.”
“Urkh, my trick overlapped with someone else’s, huh?” she cried. “What a blunder.”
“Though, that person was apparently naked when she did it,” I said. (*Opinions vary about this.)
“What’s with that woman?” Roroa cried. “Was she some kinda pervert?”
I shrugged. “It’s been said that she was so great that if her nose had been shorter, the whole face of the world would have been changed…” (*Opinions vary here, too.)
I looked at Roroa who was hugging her rather meager chest as if to hide it. She let out a sigh.
Roroa, by the way, was clothed. If she had been naked, we wouldn’t have been able to have an easygoing chat like this. My two fiancées were right behind me, watching, after all.
“Erm… Do you mind if I call you Roroa?” I asked. “You’re the princess of Amidonia?”
“Darn tootin’,” she said. “These clean-cut features, this charm and wit, oh, yes, the breathtaking beauty of Amidonia, Roroa, that’s me.”
“Oh, geez, I don’t even know where to start poking holes in that…”
“‘Poking holes,’ huh?” she demanded. “Which of my holes are you plannin’ on pokin’?…Blush.”
“You don’t say ‘blush’! Also, get your head out of the gutter!”
“No way! You and me, we’ve just met, haven’t we? Let’s start out as husband and wife, okay?” she said.
“You’ve already gotten to the end goal there!” I shouted. “We’re supposed to start as friends!”
“You two… Why are you getting along so well when you’re just meeting for the first time?” Liscia demanded.
While I was diligently playing the straight man in Roroa’s comedy routine, Liscia gave me a cold look.
Whoa! Now that she mentioned it, she was right!
Roroa cackled. “You’re good at this, Mr. Souma. You make a good straight man.”
“Why are you so easygoing?” I asked. “Are you really an Amidonian princess?”
“Sure am. If ya’d like, I can do a formal greetin’ and everythin’.” With that said, Roroa dropped the silly grin and did a respectful curtsy. “I am Roroa Amidonia, daughter of Gaius VIII, of the former Principality of Amidonia.”