I overheard some of the locals gossiping.
“...So then, Big Bro Leo went down there all by himself. He let loose with a rocket launcher and blew that whole building to smithereens!”
It wasn't blown to smithereens, damn it. I’ll kill you for exaggerating like that.
Stories were being embellished left and right.
Ultimately, Ton’s company was dismantled by the Chronos police. Because we had relentlessly arrested a business with ties to our own administration, public trust in the police was skyrocketing. Since the police in Chronos were considered part of the military, the reputation of the army improved as well.
But seriously, that bastard Ton... he was actually trying to corner the market on salt!
I warned him that I’d kill him if he tried that because people would die, didn’t I? I told him it would stay at the Official Price for a while, right?
What, do you have a death wish? Are you looking down on me?
For some reason, my own popularity was also through the roof. A Propaganda Theory even started circulating.
Fine, keep it going! Drag my popularity through the mud! I’m just an ordinary soldier, damn it!
“No, I think the moment the King started living in a tenement house, he ceased to be ‘ordinary,’” said Raven-kun.
He had recently been promoted to Commander of the Grand Duchy of Chronos Personal Guard Knight Order and appointed as a Marquis of the Grand Duchy of Chronos. He was now the Chronos Minister of Military Affairs. On the organizational chart, he was essentially the head of the military Bureaucrats. My habit of pushing paperwork onto him had finally paid off; he was now a key figure of the Grand Duchy.
The Colonel had become a General—the head of the actual army. I mean, the Colonel was the only high-ranking officer left in the Chronos Army! He told me he didn't understand the work of a Bureaucrat, so this was the only configuration that worked.
As for the Kamishiro Main House Knights, the Vice Commander was appointed as my personal guard. In practice, the Vice Commanders handled the duty. However, since Raven-kun still lived in my tenement house, our daily lives hadn't really changed. My home had undergone so many extensions that it had been upgraded into a full-fledged row house.
By this time, we were finally starting to figure out the land boundaries and ownership. Since they didn’t have a complete Registry Database like the Empire, I honestly thought the task would kill me. Determining the exact boundaries was extremely difficult because the original reference points were unknown.
It was the kind of Land Readjustment Project that construction companies absolutely drooled over. You guys love this stuff, don't you? You could milk a project like this for half a century.
Fortunately, most of the flood control infrastructure was intact. I couldn't spend fifty years on embankment construction. With the help of the Fairies, we even managed to salvage the old documents. Since the calendar and units were the same as those in Latarnia, that wasn't an issue.
Documents really are vital. Wait, if the Registry Information was this sloppy to begin with... damn it, I’ll kill them! I took it upon myself to oversee the land readjustment personally.
Around this time, the Public Market and shopping district, which had been built through rush construction, were finally completed. Thanks to Zork, our construction technology had advanced to an absurd degree. We had to fix things fast, otherwise, people would die.
That said, the water pipes for the Water and Sewage System—which usually take ages to install—were still functional, so we managed. We even built a new water facility. I was a bit worried about whether the Reaction Tank would work, though.
I filled it with river water and prayed. Depending on the mixture, this could sometimes have the opposite effect, but somehow, it worked out. Now I just needed to identify the specific microorganisms.
Then, at the insistent request of Claire—Lady Claire—we began turning food waste and sludge from the sewage treatment plant into compost. When I suggested we should just burn it because it was a hassle, she told me, “Leave it to me.” Phosphorus is going to run short eventually anyway, so I guess it was inevitable.
I hammered the concept of trash sorting into the Chronosians. Resin-based materials were melted down and reused. Imperial Technology was far superior in that department.
We dried the waste and sludge, added soil and wheat bran—since there was no rice bran—and rotated it for a month. After that, we let it sit for another month to mature, just to be safe. And thus, the Bokashi Fertilizer was complete.
Sometimes this stuff won't decompose depending on the microorganisms in the soil, but it turned out fine. Steam was rising from it and the temperature had increased significantly, so I knew it was working.
Completely Organic Farming? No, that was impossible. No matter how you looked at it, the amount of fertilizer produced was less than the agricultural products harvested. Tilling the fields causes nitrogen to escape, and some is lost to the microorganisms themselves. It’s just a matter of it being better than burning the waste.
Beyond that, we had to replenish the humus. It’s important to supplement the microorganisms and their byproducts. Some of it gets replenished naturally—nitrogen escaping into the air returns with the rain, or it's generated through the life cycles of wild animals and plants. Some of the runoff from the fields to the rivers finds its way back, and some even comes from space.
Somehow, it all feels like a sustainable cycle. In short, I don't really get the science, but the conclusion is simple: it’s better to provide cheap fertilizer than to give direct subsidies to farmers. Regardless, Chemical Fertilizer is still a necessity, so we'll manufacture that too.
A Bureaucrat’s job is to gloss over those details with accounting magic; our job is simply to set the policy direction.
Heh heh heh... Hey there, Chronos-kun! I’m about to do something absolutely wild to the national Agricultural Policy! How does it feel to have your country’s fate decided by a kid playing at a venture business? Well? How does it feel?
If you don't kick me out right now, you’ll never manage a Transition to Democracy!
With those thoughts in mind, I headed to the mall. As I walked in, people started calling out to me.
“King! How’s the fish today?”
“I’m meeting my Wifey today! I’ll pick some up on the way back, so pick out something good for me!”
“You got it!”
“King! I’ve got fresh vegetables!”
“I’ll grab some on the way out! The usual, please!”
“Sure thing!”
Lately, nobody calls me 'Grand Duke' anymore. They’ve all taken to calling me 'King.'
On the third floor, I found my Wifey being guarded by Piggett and her crew.
“Long time no see.”
“Mm.”
Yes, yes, time for a hug. Pat, pat.
“Lord Groom, let us go on a date.”
“Where to? I’d love to take you somewhere nice, but there’s not exactly a lot of entertainment around here yet.”
“Then shall we talk in this shop?”
She pointed to the cafe managed by Ha-san. The menu was packed with the massive 'mega-portion' meals I loved. Apparently, she was planning to start a chain with that restaurant president.
“Did something happen?” I asked.
“I received permission.”
“For what?”
“To conceive a child! My body has finally reached the physical equivalent of an eighteen-year-old.”
Well, that was cause for celebration!
“My term of office is ending soon anyway. Let’s have a kid!”
“O-Oh! ...I see. The National Referendum is close, isn’t it?”
It was a momentous vote regarding the Transition to Democracy. I had been warned absolutely not to engage in any unnecessary schemes. ...Did they really think I would listen?
I was already using my personal funds to support organizations that wanted independence! Fuhahahahaha! I was going to return to being a Grand Duke of the Galactic Empire!
I also poured support into the political parties that opposed the Grand Duke. The path to victory was clear! Success was within my grasp! Long live democracy!
My only concern was that the viewership for The Unruly Grand Duke was nearly 100%. N-No, it’s just the fictional version of me that’s popular! It definitely isn’t me personally!
After all, I’ve been a tyrant. I’ve suppressed merchants who tried to get rich quick by throwing them in prison. I forcibly enlisted delinquents into the army. I’ve subjected the kids to Imperial-style Brainwashing Education—the kind that teaches them to 'value your family and your home.'
I even allowed people to bad-mouth me unconditionally. Every day, the news carries reports of a Corrupt Monarch who is thick as thieves with the Pirate Guild. Heh heh heh... nobody wants a monarch like that.
This time for sure, I’ll spend my days idling away with my Wifey. I etched that resolve into my heart.