TWEM Vol. 3 Chapter 13 Part 2
After the lunch break, I came back to the conference room.
Even though I dismissed everyone, Finne, Iris, Suzuno, Asha, Kusel, and Ephyr were following me.
Aren’t you bored? I asked them, but Finne replied and said, “I just want to be near Haruto”.
I don’t think I can chase her away after saying something like that.
So, when the Prime Minister and his colleagues returned with some new faces, we resumed the meeting.
“Now, to continue where we left off…any ideas or recommendations?”
As I said that, the Prime Minister nodded.
“Yes sir. First of all, for the finance, judiciary, and legislative affairs, we don’t know how many royalists are among the officials who have been subordinates to the respective ministers, so it’s risky to choose from among them. However, these three are currently serving in other ministerial positions, but they have experience as ministers of finance, justice, and legislative affairs, so we will have them take office. Let them nominate their most trusted subordinates for the vacant ministerial positions.”
I see, it’s reassuring to have someone with experience.
“That’s a good idea, let’s go with that…by the way, what’s the current financial situation?”
“Well, we’re just getting by.”
“I’ve also heard that the country is exploiting them.”
The Prime Minister’s face twisted at my words.
“Yes, since the king took over, various taxes have been increased and the tax revenue has more than doubled. However, the amount of money that goes to running the country has not increased that much…”
“You mean it’s all going into the pockets of the nobles and royals?”
The Prime Minister nodded.
“I see…if that’s the case, there won’t be any hindrance to the operation of the state, so we’ll restore the tax rates first. As for the details regarding budgets and whatnot, I’m more or less an amateur, so I’ll leave that to you.”
The new Minister of Finance nodded vigorously.
And then Iris raised her voice.
“Hey, Haruto, what about the royalist nobles? I think there are probably some who are taking advantage of the additional taxes.”
That’s very perceptive, coming from you, Iris!
…Oh, right, I keep forgetting that she’s a princess. She must have studied politics at some point.
“Yes, you’re right. We’d better set up a system to make sure the flow of funds is transparent, and then investigate each noble strictly again.”
If there are any royalists who have something to hide, they will be dissatisfied with this reform, so it should be easy to identify them.
The Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance nodded when I gave them a look.
“Well, then, let’s move on to agriculture…are there any candidates?”
“Yes. In place of the royal family, who did very little work, we have brought in a man who was practically the head of the ministry organizing the officials.”
When the Prime Minister said this, a young man who had not been present in the morning stepped forward.
“My name is Lemurt. I am a noble now, but I used to be a farmer, and I was hired to be the facilitator because of my knowledge and experience. I will give it my best.”
“I’m Haruto, I’ll be counting on you.”
As I was speaking to Lemrut, who bowed his head, Suzuno uttered, “Oh”.
“Hmm? What’s the matter, Suzuno?
“Come to think of it, weren’t there two people in our class whose parents are farmers?”
Oh, now that she mentioned it, I think there were. This might be convenient.
“Mr. Lemurt, there are two heroes who might have some knowledge of agriculture. I’ll check with them later and send them to you.”
“Wow! This means that I might be able to gain knowledge of agriculture from another world?”
Lemurt’s face lit up.
Yup, just as he said, he might be able to gain something useful from Earth’s agricultural knowledge.
Well, the classmates in question may not know that much about farming, since they don’t do it themselves… I’ll just have to hope for the best.
“Good. Now all that’s left is the military…this is the tricky part.”
After all, the first prince was the minister. If we choose the wrong person, he might go out of control too.
Then, Tendo asked the Prime Minister.
“What about the Knight Captain Glifas?”
“Yes, the minister is not in charge of the actual work, but rather the overall coordination of the organization of the army. Also, this country has military and security organizations separate from the Knights, and they need to be managed as well…”
Taking over the words of the Prime Minister, a man in his late thirties, who had been silent for a long time, opened his mouth.
“I think that Captain Glifas is capable of performing his duties as a minister, but the Knight Order still needs that man.”
“Um…who might you be?”
I don’t think he was present in the morning either…
“Haruto, his name is Dazan. He’s a former knight commander who joined the order around the same time as me.”
“It’s been a while, Ex-Vice Captain Kusel—Apologies Mr. Haruto, I’m late in my greetings. My name is Dazan.”
“Right, I’ll be counting on you then…by the way, why did you quit the Order?”
Dazan nodded in response to my question.
It’s for the same reason as Ex-Vice Captain Kusel. I was ordered to raid the elven village, a mission in which I could not possibly participate…”
“Dazan is good at interpersonal relationships. He was the so-called middle manager, a coordinator between the upper echelons of the Order and the rest.”
Sounds just like the minister I just heard about, doesn’t it?
“Yes, and sometimes I was also in charge of planning operations…so, when I had to quit after Kusel, captain Glifas cried out to me. But, for the same reason as Kusel, I couldn’t tell the Knight Captain why…”
The Prime Minister smiled in response to Dazan’s words.
“I was also visited by the knight captain about the fact that the vice captain possessing high fighting ability and the excellent coordinator were both leaving the knight order at the same time. I was also apprised of the plan, so I couldn’t really say anything…that’s why I thought it would be a good idea to make Dazan the Minister of Military Affairs, and brought him here.”
I see, that explains it.
“Well, you certainly seem to have a lot of talent and experience, from what I’ve heard…Dazan, are you up for this?”
“It would be my pleasure sir!”
Dazan nodded vigorously.
“Okay, so we have our ministers. I’ll leave the management to you…although, there’s one more thing I’d like to propose.”
“What is it, if I may ask?”
The prime minister tilted his head.
“I want to free those who have been unjustly enslaved, human and subhuman alike. Of course, this does not mean that we will be doing away with slavery altogether. Criminal slaves are integrated into society as a labor force after all.”
“I see, let’s move forward with that as well…it seems that the competence of each minister will be tested in various areas.”
The Prime Minister seemed somewhat amused by my words.
In the past, they would have been held back by the royal family, who were mired in self-interest. I’m sure he’s looking forward to doing all the things he’s capable of with excitement.
Oh, that’s right.
“Listen, everyone, I, Tendo, and the other heroes possess knowledge of another world. Although we were still in the process of being educated, many of us have ideas that do not exist in this world and wisdom created by our predecessors in the other world.”
I broke off my words and looked around at the ministers.
“So go out there and talk to them. I’m sure they’ll have something useful for you.”
“““Yes sir!”””
The eyes of the ministers shone brightly as they replied in unison.
Thus, the new Glicente Kingdom had taken its first step.