The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#Chapter 218: Demon Kron (16) - Kuella's Expiration A feudal lord is a powerful ruler who can reign like a king within their own territory. However, it's practically difficult for a feudal lord to personally visit each village and city within their territory to directly check whether things are going well or poorly. Not only is the physical distance an issue, but the time and stamina consumption is also considerable. Therefore, when managing a specific territory, feudal lords indirectly understand local situations through reports written and submitted by local officials such as village chiefs or mayors. This means that if officials intentionally falsify report contents, the feudal lord has no choice but to be deceived as well. Of course, there are methods to prevent this. They prepare separate reporting routes from local officials and compare the two reports to find contradictions. They periodically replace local officials so that successors will expose their predecessors' corruption. They dispatch investigators directly under the feudal lord without warning to attempt surprise inspections. However, it's a universal principle that if there are policies above, there are countermeasures below. Mayor Teikei of Ozerye City under Count Ospin's Territory was someone who had mastered such principles. In short, he was a shrewd corrupt official who exploited loopholes in existing policies to secure his own benefits. Diversification of reporting routes? In the end, they're all people eating and living in the same city. Coordinating their stories with each other wouldn't be too difficult. Periodic replacement of officials? Just put forward a suitable puppet as successor and rule as the real power behind the scenes. Surprise inspections? If you slip some money to the main house in advance and build good connections, making surprise inspections not so surprising is just common sense. However, Teikei was someone who maintained his own sense of boundaries. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say he was good at walking the tightrope. Even when committing corruption, he did so secretly from behind the scenes as much as possible, and when victims arose, he was careful to prevent their voices from surfacing. When he heard that Count Ospin had been stabbed in the back by his own daughter and thrown into prison, and that the daughter had become the new countess, normalizing all the taxes he had secretly embezzled through ledger manipulation was also part of that 'tightrope walking.' "When circumstances change, actions must change too." Stubbornly insisting on the old ways without knowing what kind of person the new feudal lord is would be foolish. Under such judgment, Teikei began to be as careful as possible with his actions, and the fact that his judgment was correct was soon proven. Those who tried to manipulate the inexperienced feudal lord to gain more benefits and those who used the same methods they had used against the previous feudal lord. Village chiefs and mayors belonging to both sides immediately began getting purged. Thinking that his judgment was indeed correct, Teikei smiled. "—Mayor Teikei. You seem quite cunning. It took quite some time to catch your tail." So he could smile until the day Countess Ospin suddenly burst into his office. Pink long hair and eyes. A dress mixed with black and red. Judging by appearance and attire alone, she should have been a flower-like young lady enjoying her youth, but what could be felt from her gaze and confident behavior was not immature, fresh youth. She was a steel ruler reigning boldly over her own territory. "Tax embezzlement using double ledgers, concealing your good-for-nothing son's crimes, bribing inspectors and treasurers. There are several other things too, but explaining them one by one would be tiresome, so if you're curious, read it yourself." Thud! A well-organized bundle of documents was thrown in front of Teikei. Teikei did not check the documents that probably listed all the crimes he had committed and their evidence. After all, at the point where Kuella had come and turned his office upside down like this, trivial evidence had no meaning. He simply asked a question. "How did you find out?" After Kuella became the feudal lord, Teikei had committed no crimes. The criminal activities Kuella had just mentioned were all things that had happened during the previous Count Ospin's time. But how did she find out about those incidents and even prepare evidence to come barging in like this? "How? What do you mean how? I compared every single document and the numbers didn't match up, so I investigated." "The ledgers should have been perfectly matched." "It's not enough to just match the city's internal ledgers. They have to align properly with the documents submitted by merchant groups entering and leaving this city and nearby checkpoints for it to be meaningful." It was an answer delivered as if 1 plus 1 equals 2 was obvious, but to Teikei's ears, it was simply an absurd response. If it were that easy, why would feudal lords around the world keep separate treasurers, and why would the bureaucrats under them rack their brains? No, even before that, if someone had just become a feudal lord, there would be mountains of new things to do, so when exactly did she dig through old reports one by one to find contradictions? "Anyway, you have two choices." To the dazed Teikei, Kuella declared. "One is to go to prison as a criminal like this. I'll tell you in advance, you probably won't see sunlight alive." And, she added. "Clean up the crimes you committed with your own hands, apologize to the victims, and incidentally work as a bureaucrat under me. If you work well, I'll reduce your sentence." The question of whether that was coercion rather than a choice was meaningless. In a situation where he would just be thrown in prison without even room for excuses, where else would he get to at least have the appearance of making a choice? 'For now, I have to bow my head. There will be a chance to become free later.' With such thoughts, Teikei bowed his head to the young feudal lord who was young enough to be his child. "Put the pen in the signature box and sign... put the pen in the signature box and sign..." "What happens when you finish processing a mountain of documents? You have to face another mountain of documents." "Aaahhh!! This is insane!! I'll just go to prison, so let me out of here!!" "Nonsense. You have to keep working here!! This is the path you chose, so grit your teeth and endure it!!" Teikei realized that his choice was somehow wrong only after seeing his colleagues(?) who had gone through similar processes and been reborn as model workers of the new country—no, new territory. The hellish workshop had unnecessarily clean air and pleasant temperature, thanks to some maid in the corner who maintained the work environment in optimal condition by using both airflow control and temperature control techniques. "......" "......" Suddenly, the maid's and Teikei's gazes met. The moment he looked into those hollow, unfocused eyes, Teikei felt as if he had awakened prophetic abilities. Because he saw a future where retirement would not be permitted for a long, truly long time. *** "This is a territory?! This is a territory?!! What was that man thinking when he made this mess?!!" Kyaaahhh! Kuella, who had been letting out a cry that was either a scream or a shout, flopped face-down onto the desk. It was fortunate that they had recently renovated the office with high soundproofing. Another line wouldn't be added to the bizarre legend of the 'demon countess.' "Lord Kron. I never knew my father, no, that man, was such an affectionate person. He was so cold to his own daughter, yet he ruled the territory with such 'virtue'. Yes..." If you flatter well and offer good bribes, you're 'family.' Even if you're somewhat lacking in ability and corrupt, all that should be embraced with familial 'affection.' Conversely, those who speak harsh truths to their lord and refuse to practice 'affection' under the excuse of being incorruptible are 'outsiders.' No matter how capable they are, such people shouldn't be employed. The previous Count Ospin's benevolent rule was so effective that it was difficult to find an uncorrupted official among the bureaucrats within the county. So much so that there weren't even talents to fill vacant positions, requiring the recycling of corrupt officials who were either capable or less guilty. "Ugh... this should be done this way, that should be done that way... I need to establish a mutual cooperation system with Count Ribespegel... and there's also academy homework..." Watching Kuella grumbling with her mouth while diligently continuing work with her hands, Kron suddenly burst out in laughter. "...Are you mocking me right now?" At Kuella's sulking glare, Kron waved his hand dismissively. [No, just. You reminded me a lot of someone.] "?" Administrative work has somewhat peculiar aspects, where the workload varies extremely depending on the work style of those in high positions. Count Ospin's workload probably wasn't even half of what Kuella has now—likely not even one-tenth. And that's based purely on Count Ospin's Territory-related matters alone, excluding things like Count Ribespegel territory or academy academic issues. Only report when problems arise. Handle this yourself. Do I really need to know about such trivial matters? When you make it routine to dump work on subordinates like that, the workload dramatically decreases. If you take responsibility for whatever happens, it could be called trust-based leadership, but if you dump both the work and the responsibility on subordinates, the situation becomes even worse. Because when subordinates realize that they'll be the only ones getting in trouble when they report problems, they become accustomed to hiding and covering things up instead of making issues public and solving them. Conversely, when a leader begins to examine every single report in detail, cross-verify with other documents, and check progress one by one, the workload increases endlessly. A certain Crown Prince felt exactly like that when he first started working. As time passes and experience accumulates, she'll eventually be able to distinguish between areas she truly needs to interfere with and areas she should leave to subordinates, but until then, she has no choice but to learn through direct experience. This isn't something you can clearly divide by creating some kind of regulations. In other words. [Kuella, the contract is terminated.] —Now all Kuella needs is experience. It also meant that she no longer needed special demonic abilities. "...What?" Kuella's reaction was somehow dull. It wasn't that she couldn't understand Kron's words. Rather, since she had some idea about it, it would be more accurate to say she was trying to play dumb. Pleased with her appearance that had become shrewd in a bad sense, or grown in a good sense, Kron calmly continued speaking. [The parents who oppressed you have become imprisoned criminals, and your sister has become your attendant. The fiancé who neglected and ridiculed you was disgraced before others, and you used your own power to depose a royal of this nation and proudly protected your friend.] [You have seized the rightful inheritance you should have received, gained the respect you should have originally had, and obtained friends to share friendship with and vassals to lead.] [Your body can now overwhelm knights who cannot manifest sword aura, and your mind has become capable enough to hold its own even in this nation's royal court. And those abilities will continue to grow even further.] [—You no longer need a demon.] Kuella tried to answer that it wasn't so. However, she realized that no matter how much she spoke in her mind, the content wasn't being transmitted. Therefore, she quickly looked around. And she approached the mirror in one corner of the office. The demon was there. Just as it had been at the very beginning. Just like when he had granted the desperate wish of a girl who was sobbing and lamenting her fate in a shabby room. "Don't go, Lord Kron." "Everything you mentioned was only possible because you were by my side." "I can't do anything by myself. Without you, I am nothing...!" At Kuella's cry, the demon was silent for a moment. Then he answered with a tone that somehow contained playfulness. [If you say that you are nothing without me—then all the more, you must not depend on me.] "But...!" [Believe in yourself, Kuella.] Kuella's hand placed on the mirror. As if meeting that hand, the demon beyond the mirror touched his hand to it. [You can definitely continue to do well. You can overcome any difficulties that come your way. I will believe in you too.] "That's... unfair, Lord Kron." [I'm a demon. Being unfair is natural.] The demon smiled. Kuella also smiled while looking tearful. The countess who was once a powerless girl said. "Thank you. My demon." The demon who was no longer needed answered. [It was enjoyable. My contractor.] The illusion in the mirror disappeared. The contract between a demon and a girl thus expired. (E/N: I feel like this arc went a bit fast, but anyway, great. He could have told her not to trust other demons though x.x)