"Your Excellency the Court Count, as you well know, our government simply cannot afford to pay the interest on this loan."
"The interest amounts to merely seven poons per year."
I sipped the fruit wine. It was sickeningly sweet. It was so cloying that even a child would refuse to taste it and dump it on the ground.
I had been deliberately drinking abnormally sweet fruit wine lately because Lapis had finally ransacked every last drop of alcohol in my office, my bedroom, and every storage cellar in the Demon Lord's Castle. It was absurd. Thirteen secret stashes, large and small, had all been incinerated.
How on earth had she found out about the secret storage rooms hidden at the bottom of the Demon Lord's Castle's pond? Did my private life simply not exist as a concept in Lapis's mind?
In the end, the only alcohol I was permitted was this stuff that might as well have been sugar water. "If you insist on drinking even this, then by all means," Lapis had said, handing it over. It was the equivalent of nicotine gum... Here I was, the wealthiest of all the Demon Lords, and I couldn't even drink properly. Such was the absurdity of life...
Originally, the wealthiest among the Demon Lords had been Paimon. All of Paimon's assets had been seized into the imperial treasury. Thanks to that, the Empire had secured enough funding for the next twenty years of budgets. The Habsburg Empire was "my" Empire, so in effect, my own pockets had grown fat.
Paimon's entire inheritance had become mine, every last coin.
I smiled.
"Normally, I would have lent it at an interest rate above ten percent. But for Count Bercy's sake, I lowered it to seven poons. That's practically a steal. And yet you're saying even repaying the interest is difficult?"
"...Cities where taxes are properly collected are few and far between these days."
Count Bercy's face twisted with humiliation and sorrow.
The finance minister of an entire nation had to grovel like a debtor. There could be no greater indignity.
"The southern cities aren't paying taxes at all—openly so. Some nobles are citing the absence of the current Emperor to cleverly exploit loopholes in the law."
"Good heavens. Then why not deploy the military to crack down?"
"You know full well and you're just mocking me! I've handed even the capital's security and defense over to the Batavian Army. There's no capacity whatsoever to punish the southern nobles!"
The Frank Empire's Imperial Capital, Parisium, was currently being protected free of charge by the Batavian Army.
The problem was that this arrangement had a one-year term. The promised year had already passed. The Batavian Army could leave at any moment, and no one would bat an eye. Count Bercy must have been losing sleep over it.
Incidentally, the person in charge of this Batavian Army was Anna de Witt. The chief commander of the Liberation Alliance. In other words, the Frank Empire's finances and national defense were quite literally in my hands.
"Then abandon the South. The southern nobles are practically half-openly demanding independence. Grant their request and all your problems are solved."
"......!"
Count Bercy stood up and seized me by the collar.
I couldn't remember his exact rank, but Count Bercy was a formidable swordsman. The reason he hadn't collapsed from his murderous workload was surely thanks to the stamina he'd built up over the years. As if to prove it, he yanked my clothes with a monstrous grip.
"Say that again—Jean Vole."
"......"
"You said you gave me a discount on the interest rate out of consideration for my face. Very well said. But I, too, have let quite a few things slide out of consideration for yours."
Count Bercy looked as though he wanted to bite my face off.
"You have brought nothing but war and massacre to Frank. Each time, you claimed it was a patriotic decision for the salvation of the nation. You even put forward a fictitious comedic actor named Jean Vole as your front man! The reason I didn't erupt in fury is because you shamelessly offered to lend massive sums at a dirt-cheap interest rate!"
Frank had been desperate for funds no matter what. Count Bercy was not the kind of man who would let personal feelings jeopardize state affairs.
"I know that as well. That's exactly why I offered the loan at such a favorable rate."
"What did you say...?"
"Yes. I exploited your dignity and pride. I dangled an offer at a moment when you couldn't refuse and couldn't afford to be angry. Was that wrong?"
The corner of my lips curled slightly upward.
"As a result, Frank was rescued from its fiscal crisis. You saved an entire nation at the cost of something as worthless as personal pride—you should be thanking me, if anything."
"......!"
Count Bercy raised his right fist. He was about to hammer my face.
His fist was mere inches from my cheek when Count Bercy's arm froze dead in its tracks.
"W-what..."
Count Bercy screamed and twisted his body. But he could barely manage to gasp out a breath. His forearm—and indeed his entire body—had gone rigid as a statue, utterly immobile.
"If you move any further, I will treat it as an assassination attempt and kill you."
My bodyguard, Daisy, had seized the Count from behind. Despite the Count's body being easily twice her size, Daisy had him completely pinned. She had merely locked his arms, neck, and waist, yet he was unable to do anything beyond breathe.
I sighed.
"I never instructed you to hold him."
"This man once attacked Father before as well."
Daisy muttered flatly.
"You must never show mercy to the same person twice. That is what Father told me. Perhaps Father was teaching his adopted daughter rules he himself doesn't follow?"
"You fool. Last time, the Count struck Jean Vole the priest. But now I am Demon Lord Dantalion. Surely the Count perceives us as different people."
"......"
Daisy fell silent for a moment, apparently weighing whether my argument held water. After a brief pause, she released the Count.
"That's a fair point. This man does have the right to strike Father."
"You always have this fatal flaw of knowing one thing but not the other."
I clicked my tongue.
"When will you ever fix your shortcomings? Well, I suppose you were born stupid, so that's just your lot in life."
"My lot may be questionable, but is it any dirtier than yours, Father?"
"This is exactly the problem with being simple-minded—you only know how to wag your tongue."
I let out a derisive snort.
Then I looked at Count Bercy.
"My adopted daughter was quite rude just now, Your Excellency the Minister of Justice. In her stead, you may strike me twice. No one has hit me twice before, so I consider it quite a valuable privilege."
"......"
Was he still unable to believe that a young child had restrained him? Count Bercy looked back and forth between Daisy and me with a hollow, disbelieving expression. He slumped weakly into his chair.
"...What a fool I am. Fooled of my own accord, angry of my own accord. Nothing but a clown."
The Count covered his forehead with his palm, as though suffering from a headache. He murmured:
"I will have the interest ready within this month. I promise. But southern independence is out of the question... I serve the nation, not to break it apart. I will not tolerate foreign interference."
"Do you serve the nation, or do you serve the people?"
Count Bercy raised his head. His face had aged visibly in just a matter of minutes.
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said. The nation and its people are not one and the same. There are countless cases where state power has oppressed and exploited the common folk. But to you, it seems as though nation and people are one and the same..."
Count Bercy's brow narrowed.
"Repeat your question. What do you mean?"
"When they suffered under Bretagne's tyranny, the people of northern Frank fought back bravely and boldly. Resistance forces sprang up constantly. Meanwhile, the cities of the South remained silent. Which group do you think was happier—the people of the North, or the people of the South?"
"......"
Count Bercy stared me down. His eyes brimmed with dissatisfaction, though he held his tongue. He was willing to hear me out.
"The taxes a city pays ultimately come from the blood and sweat of the common people. The less tax a city forwards to the government, the lighter the burden on its citizens. In my view, the southern cities are not making the wrong choice."
"If the nation is not strong, the people will ultimately suffer."
"Is the Frank Empire currently functioning as a proper nation? It has entrusted even the defense of its capital to foreign troops."
I let out a mocking laugh. Count Bercy had no choice but to fall silent.
"Your Excellency. You know this as well. The southern nobles aren't being uncooperative because they're particularly malicious. Rather, they are convinced that they themselves are the ones serving their people."
"...What exactly are you trying to say?"
"Grant autonomy to the South. Not just the South—all cities should be granted broad autonomy. However, the entity guaranteed autonomy should not be the landed nobility, but the assembly of each city."
Count Bercy frowned.
"What is your objective?"
"My objective is the same as it has always been: the welfare of all the people."
A lie, of course.
Behind Count Bercy, Daisy was sneering with nothing but her mouth muscles. I maintained the most earnest expression imaginable.
"Right now, you and Her Majesty the Empress are barely holding the government together. But what happens if something befalls you two? Who represents the government? Chaos is inevitable. And in times of chaos, what the people always desire is a powerful and wise dictator."
"......"
"I want the people to be able to navigate through chaos on their own. We must prepare from now, Your Excellency. Build a small but powerful government. Frank must become a nation of true authority."
"True authority?"
"I mean a nation in which the cities and the people participate voluntarily."
And so Frank would become a kind of fragmented federation.
On the continent, the only truly powerful empire that needed to be under my direct control was the Habsburg Empire. Frank was to remain a solid ally of the Habsburg Empire, but it must never become a potentially dangerous power. It needed just the right amount of national strength.
"...Our Frank doesn't—rather, the government doesn't have enough of a track record to reclaim its own authority."
"Didn't you seize quite a bit of Sardinian territory in the last war?"
"The Chrysanthemum War was your war. We merely stepped in at the very end. It's hardly sufficient to demonstrate the government's authority..."
I nodded.
"How about this: I will have all the Frank-born slaves currently held in the Habsburg Empire and the Demon Realm set free."
"...What did you say?"
"On your end, announce that your government successfully negotiated their release. The friendship between Habsburg and Frank will be stronger than ever. And the world will praise your government's diplomatic prowess for rescuing its own people."
I smiled.
"First, announce that you recognize the independence of the southern cities. The southern nobles will be jumping for joy. That very moment, declare that you have liberated your countrymen from the Demon Realm. However, the cities that have already declared independence are no longer part of Frank. Naturally, they will not enjoy the benefits of the slave liberation."
"......"
"If they wish to free the slaves, they must accept subordination to Frank."
Count Bercy rebutted in a subdued voice:
"But they would never give up their independence so easily..."
"They wouldn't. But the common people of the southern cities will voice their discontent. The common folk already see themselves as citizens of Frank. They won't be pleased that their nobles' selfish ambitions are denying their families, relatives, and neighbors the chance to be freed from slavery."
And then, I said softly:
"This time, the southern nobles seized the northwestern territories of Sardinia. Are you aware?"
"Of course. How could I not?"
"The territories they newly acquired would naturally become 'territories not part of Frank,' wouldn't they?"
"......!"
Count Bercy's eyes went wide.
"You don't mean—"
"In the last war, we captured an enormous number of slaves. Practically everyone we could get our hands on. Most of them were sold to the Helvetica Confederation or the Demon Realm."
Of course, they too would be granted liberation.
But only if they bore the label of "Frankish citizen."
"The people of northern Sardinia are already furious at being occupied by foreigners. When they learn that the Frankish nobles' personal greed has robbed their families, their neighbors, and their relatives of the chance to be freed from slavery..."
"A massive revolt..."
I grinned.
"Yes. A revolt. They did not acquire new territory for free. It is an item for which a steep price must be paid."
"......"
Count Bercy looked at me with trembling eyes.
"How... no, when did you... Did you orchestrate all this from the very beginning? Were you targeting the southern nobles all along, giving them the chance to seize Sardinia?"
I did not answer his question. I simply continued.
"Let them be consumed by revolt. When their strength is nearly spent, incite the southern cities. Tell them that if they only bow to Frank's central government, all the unrest can be quelled. The citizens won't sit idle."
"......"
"Your Excellency. Make the people form a nation 'voluntarily.'"
Of course, it would only appear voluntary on the surface.
But what did that matter?
Count Bercy, you too believe that you became Frank's finance minister of your own free will. In truth, it was I who had secretly orchestrated and arranged your appointment.
The same applied to Frank's people. As long as they believed themselves to be voluntary participants, that was all that mattered. The truth never needed to come to light... I could only hope that a proud nation would be born.