Reparations Are Something to Be Seized
With the kingdom’s soldiers entering the Imperial Capital, the Holy Church believers inside the city quieted down.
They’d thought reinforcements had arrived, only to see them crushed surprisingly easily. In fact, the central continent was practically under the Church’s thumb—their influence ran that deep. No central nation wanted to openly clash with the Holy Empire’s army, since countless believers lived within their own borders too.
If you opposed the Empire, even your own citizens could become enemies. That’s why the Holy Empire’s army often ran unchecked.
But I destroyed them without even offering terms of surrender. Without the slightest mercy. To the believers, it must’ve looked like a god-defying act. And so, they quieted down.
When Nobunaga of Owari burned Nagashima, the Ikko sect went quiet for a while too. Not every believer is a raving zealot.
“Wait a sec. If we burned a church every day starting now, wouldn’t that wipe out the Holy Church?”
“I think they’d fiercely resist that, Your Highness. Planning to set the whole continent on fire?”
“I wouldn’t mind burning it once to quiet the continent, but too many other races live in the central lands. I don’t care how many believers die, but dragging down the oppressed races with them would be cruel.”
The Church was already the enemy—irrelevant now. They worship a piece of filth who calls himself Pope. Because of that bastard, this world is on the brink. I’ll make him, and his believers, take responsibility.
Really, Nobunaga was great. He burned them down until they were virtually destroyed. Still, this continent is far bigger and more populous than Japan. Wiping out the Church won’t take ten years—it’ll take much longer. We’ll crush them in the next war.
Yes, the next war. The Central Nations Alliance will never accept Arland’s rise. There’s no room for negotiation. Arland’s national creed is harmony among the races—and removing anyone who tries to sabotage it. Some might call it contradictory, but this world isn’t gentle enough for coexistence with the irreconcilable.
So we crush them. I was too soft. Iris—my former self—was right. The enemy can only be destroyed.
With that resolve burning inside, I sat on a luxurious sofa.
“How did it come to this…”
“Please rest, Princess.”
Alicia stood firm, refusing to let me leave.
It started after the kingdom’s army marched down the capital’s main avenue and entered the imperial palace. The soldiers insisted I should rest, saying I was still recovering.
Truthfully, everything else could be handled without me.
The kingdom soldiers left some to guard me, while the rest went out to seize the assets of the government and nobles in the capital. I ordered that resistance with weapons be met with death. Of course, Arland wasn’t barbaric enough to kill for light defiance—only those who raised arms were to be cut down.
I also ordered that each noble family be allowed to keep one item of their property. If it was something like a beloved heirloom from a deceased relative, stripping it from them would’ve been too pitiful… Too soft, I know—I almost hated myself for it. But that much, I permitted.
One item per noble. That was the limit of compromise. Too much leniency and it would unsettle the troops. The Empire was the hated enemy that had tormented Arland for years. Still, for just one keepsake, the soldiers accepted it. A family memento, even if valuable, was fine. After all, most nobles had mansions here in the capital—plenty to confiscate. But then…
“Why are you here, Master?”
“Eh, I know the ship’s structure better than anyone after you. Easy to stow away.”
“By the time we noticed, he was already onboard…”
The knight looked awkward. My master was drinking, as usual. That’s… the Emperor’s private stock, isn’t it? I was planning to use that for reparations.
Apparently, once they realized Master had boarded, the airship tried to return to Arland. But it happened to be carrying Arland’s engineers—the division under Master’s strongest influence. They seized the bridge instantly, and without notifying the other ships, they boldly flew straight here.
The engineers had clearly known from the start and kept quiet. They claimed ignorance, but they helped seize the bridge and avoided meeting my eyes. Obvious.
“Well, if you’re here, fine. You’re the one who’ll get chewed out later.”
“Heh, we Dwarves have a traditional way to dodge lectures. Just drink till you pass out.”
He had no intention of reflecting.
“Then I’ll put you in charge of dismantling the palace, government offices, and noble mansions.”
“Sure thing… wait, dismantling?!”
“Reparations aren’t nearly enough. We’ll dismantle the castles and mansions and sell the materials back in Arland. The glass, brass doorknobs, hinges, iron nails—we’ll strip it all.”
Since it’s secondhand lumber, and the Empire that can’t pay reparations has to cover the dismantling costs, the price is dirt cheap. Even with dwarven engineer labor included. Can’t be helped.
“Princess! The stone used in the castle walls is of excellent quality!”
“Good. Dismantle it and store it in the Treasury. I’ll make Earth Golems with it. Give the orders.”
The Treasury was already filled with vast amounts of soil. I used it to create about fifty ten-meter Earth Golems to handle the dismantling. Perfect—I’d wanted good stone.
We could use it to repair border forts. Captain Albert would be thrilled.
Of course, this dismantling threw the nobles into a panic. Protests came constantly, but I was “resting” and refused audience. The knights turned them away, and if they persisted, they were driven off at sword point.
At the same time, we requisitioned all remaining Imperial army supplies. Their swords and armor were worse than what even Arland’s lowliest soldiers used. Everything was melted into ingots, processed in Master’s Factory.
The engineers were in high spirits, working quickly. By the time I was mostly back to full strength, the Emperor’s faction started yelling from their cells that the trial was invalid.
Their endless demand for retrials grew so loud I had them dragged before the courthouse.
“At last, you admit we were right?”
“Takuto, here. Take this.”
Still acting arrogant, the Emperor trembled back when everyone drew their swords to intimidate him. His followers did the same. Shackled hand and foot, stripped of armor and weapons, they couldn’t fight back. By the way, those shackles were spares made for Father.
When Father got too busy, he’d sometimes leap out a window to escape. Even as king, he was often captured by knights, tied to his chair. But he was practically superhuman—he’d snap ropes and escape again.
Desperate, people begged me to invent a solution.
And so, the magic shackles were born. They scrambled the wearer’s magic, making spellcasting, magic arms, even physical enhancement impossible. Father still often broke them, so we had to make plenty. Recently, they’d started chaining his legs with them too, no gaps allowed.
I think that’s the biggest reason my brother refuses to take the throne, no matter how many times Father offers.
Anyway, back to the point.
“This button, huh?”
Takuto looked at me. I gave him a remote with a single switch and nodded silently.
Without hesitation, he pressed it. At once, explosions tore through the courthouse, collapsing the building. Our barrier kept us safe, while the Imperials fell back in shock.
“No courthouse, no retrial.”
“Y-you fool! That courthouse had a 200-year histo—”
Before he could finish, I kicked the Emperor’s face.
“Shut up. It was scheduled for demolition anyway. The Empire can’t pay reparations, so we’ll seize everything until the amount is met. You don’t get to refuse.”
At my signal, the knights dragged them away. Spoiled brats don’t get to think whining will save them.
All I’d done was bore holes into the courthouse pillars and plant C-4.
Mm, fine work. We can mass-produce this with no problem. Since it’s not magic, detection spells and magic tools can’t sense it.
This world relies on magic, so they’ve got no countermeasures for explosives.
The Emperor, pitifully, returned to his cell. Shock had left him quiet—for now. But he’d start making noise again tomorrow. Then I’d just blow up something else.
“Anyway, I’m bored from resting too much. Let’s tinker with the magic battleship.”
“Hell yeah. Let’s inherit all the ancient wisdom for ourselves!”
The magic battleship floating in the capital’s center was still being analyzed by my clones. It could only be described as magnificent.
The mountain of new technical data would push Arland’s magical technology forward by centuries. A true crystallization of wisdom.
Once we returned home, we planned to dismantle it. Until then, I was free to play with it as much as I liked.
Incidentally, when I mentioned that the specs were too different to make practical use of, Master also agreed to the dismantling. He understood just how valuable the vast amount of data we’d gain from breaking it down would be.
In the Arland Kingdom, the magicians of the Technical Development Bureau were apparently already sitting in seiza, waiting. Seriously, get to work, you guys… ah, who am I kidding. It’s the crystallization of ancient wisdom after all. Their “hurry back soon” pressure was only growing stronger.
And alongside collecting reparations, the other thing we carried out was the liberation of slaves.
First, the slaves I had demanded in the Senate were ordered to be released immediately. We began protecting the non-human slaves held by merchants and nobles in their estates, and tried persuading them.
I’ll say this right at the start: I had no intention of hauling them all back to Arland without question.
Some had found good masters and were satisfied with their lives. Others—though uncertain whether they’d find them—wanted to go back to their homelands rather than migrate to Arland.
And then there were many whose families had been torn apart and wanted to help them. Each slave had different circumstances. Those who didn’t wish to move to Arland were freed, given money and supplies, and allowed to choose their own paths.
“How many of the slaves don’t want to migrate?”
“Let’s see… about thirty percent.”
Alicia answered with a troubled look. Well, Arland offers good conditions, so nobody expected as many as thirty percent to refuse.
Even within that thirty percent, about ten percent were content to stay as they were, and the rest just weren’t ready to migrate to Arland.
They were either returned to their masters or given supplies and sent off on their way. Still, even those who left seemed grateful. If they found themselves with nowhere else to go, they might eventually migrate to Arland after all. Showing generosity here was important.
As for the ones who did choose to migrate, non-human soldiers were assigned to look after them. They didn’t hold the best feelings toward ordinary humans. I myself was viewed more favorably, but they clearly felt uncomfortable with the kingdom’s human knights, so I kept them apart. Once they settled into Arland, those tensions would ease. After all, it wasn’t us who had enslaved them.
“Send them to the capital in groups. By now, my brother should have temporary housing ready.”
“As you command.”
I ordered Alicia to oversee the relocation of the freed slaves. From here on, they’d live in temporary housing in the royal capital.
Right now, the capital was full of expansion and infrastructure projects. Same with the provinces. Arland’s economy was still booming. So much so that labor shortages were becoming critical. It seemed slums had all but vanished throughout the land, and there was no longer any way to secure more workers domestically. Complaints kept pouring in from everywhere.
They were literally scraping through the grassroots to find labor. Naturally, working conditions and benefits were improving. If not, the workers they’d finally secured would just quit and move to other guilds or workshops. They had no choice but to improve things.
Of course, the best conditions were at my place. Guaranteeing one day off per week was a big deal. Normally, it was standard for laborers to have no days off at all. But I’d ordered Ponpoko-san to grant everyone one day off per week, along with paid leave.
Even Mr. Ponpoko pushed back at first, saying it would hurt business. But in practice, performance had improved. Being able to switch on and off, and letting workers recover from fatigue, made holidays essential.
And most importantly—spending. Workers themselves said they were too busy to spend money.
With that spending came a big boom for the housing division of the Viceroy Merchant Union. Running water, toilets, baths, and lighting. To me, these were obvious features. But apart from toilets, baths and lighting were luxuries only nobles had. Lighting was usually just lamps.
We made all of these into magitech devices and began selling houses on par with advanced nations back on Earth. With solid structures and insulation, they were far more comfortable than existing houses.
And they sold like hotcakes. Orders were booked years in advance, and reservations just kept coming. Construction, alongside magitech, became one of the Federation’s biggest money-makers.
“Man, I just can’t stop smiling.”
“Funny, since you look so expressionless while saying that.”
Kazuhito laughed, clutching his stomach. I was in a great mood. My only complaint was being stuck waiting on the sofa.
Incidentally, the sofa was made by Master and the engineers. The engineers built the base, while Master did the decorations. Too fancy and comfortable for something so improvised.
“Would you like a snack?”
“Not until I’m back home.”
Alicia always prepared an afternoon snack at three, but I wouldn’t eat it. It wasn’t over yet. Facing the Empire with firm resolve, I had to endure. I was burning the bridges behind me.
Maybe worried, she even held sweets to my mouth, but with orichalcum willpower I turned my head away in defiance. I couldn’t eat them now, or I’d get all soft. When I stood my ground, Alicia reluctantly put the sweets away in the treasury. That’s right. I’ll eat them once we’re home.
“Pip-pip-pip.”
Bored, I was training the cats I’d brought under my control. When I blew the whistle, they walked in five rows. When I stopped, they froze and tapped the ground with their right front paws.
Empire cats sure were obedient.
“Alice… what are you doing?”
Mai showed up for the first time in a while. She’d been assigned to prepare meals for the Arland army. The muscleheads of Arland’s forces never cooked for themselves—they had a dedicated unit for that.
And if that unit wasn’t around? They’d just throw something together haphazardly and call it food. “Edible” was about the best rating it got.
Naturally, Mai snapped, and ended up as the cook. Though her role was over once we took the capital and reinforcements arrived from the kingdom.
“I’m just making sure the cats don’t revolt.”
“Cats don’t revolt.”
She sighed, crouching to pet one. Hey, don’t mess up the formation. Ah, now the cats were swarming her, demanding pets too.
“Cats in the capital know the lay of the land. They’ve been useful.”
“Hmm.”
Mai kept petting them, still not all that interested.
The cat walked on. A black-and-white mottled one, tail swaying as it went. Every so often, it glanced back to make sure it was being followed.
“To think even cats are under her control…”
“Truly, Her Highness is remarkable.”
Behind the cat walked kingdom soldiers. When Alicetia conquered the capital, slave merchants, fearing their stock would be seized, tried hiding them.
But Alicetia had taken control of the cats. And cats knew where the slaves had been hidden. You couldn’t fool a cat’s eyes. Or rather, nobody had thought to guard against them.
The mottled cat scratched at the door of a house in a corner of the slums.
The soldiers nodded, gave the cat a slice of meat as a reward, and then kicked down the door.
“Kingdom army! Stay where you are!”
“Wh-what?! How did you—?!”
A man who looked like a merchant’s guard reached for his sword, but before he could draw, a soldier thrust a blade into his chest and felled him.
The troops searched the rooms one by one. Inside were non-human slaves.
“We’re the kingdom army. You’ve endured well until now.”
One girl averted her eyes in fear, but the soldier’s face softened from a demonic scowl to a gentle expression. He held a barcode reader-like magic tool to her collar. It shattered the collar, which was bound with enslaving magic. With a snap, the iron-and-leather collar broke apart.
When the beastkin girl realized her collar was gone, she burst into tears.
“This is Squad 149. We’ve secured the target. Beginning transfer.”
The knight leading the squad reported to his superior via magic tool communicator.
“There’s fighting in the neighboring district. Detour and escort them out.”
“Understood.”
The knight finished, stowed the device on his belt, and looked around.
“Man, everybody’s hiding them.”
Slave merchants had handed over only a token few. They all claimed that business was slow or their firms were small. In truth, they had moved slaves into the slums to conceal them.
Sometimes even regular citizens owned slaves, so freeing them often led to fighting. Merchants caught hiding slaves faced severe punishment—heavy fines. Since the government had sanctioned the liberation, there was no leniency. And by the way, those fines didn’t even count toward reparations.
Thus, the capital’s government and noble estates were torn down, and many of the non-human slaves were set free.
What do you think about this chapter?
