National Defense Council (2)
“All r-right then, let us begin the meeting. First, we’ll start with a report on the kingdom’s economic situation.”
For now, the meeting was resumed. No one wanted to think about the spy’s future. Mutters of “we didn’t hear anything” and “this has nothing to do with us” cropped up one after another, but despite that, the meeting moved on.
The first topic was the report on the kingdom’s economic condition.
The contents covered almost everything, from land reclamation and this year’s planting status to commerce and production.
However, starting this year, something called GDP had been introduced.
The Kingdom of Arland was not a capitalist state. There was no stock market. Therefore, based on several calculation methods provided by Alicetia, Gilbert had modified them to fit the kingdom’s circumstances. What Arland called GDP was something of its own, distinct from Earth’s version.
It was an extremely excellent system. Being able to objectively see, in numerical form, how much the kingdom had developed was so wonderful that even Gilbert was delighted.
That said, the bureaucrats who actually compiled the figures were completely burned out from overwork, and on top of that, they were trembling in fear at the fact that this would be done every year.
“Last year, we achieved a growth rate of approximately 34 percent. This year, we expect it to be around 25 percent.
The reason the growth rate is lower is that last year, people from the slums, whose lives had been on the brink, were able to obtain stable employment. This year, the cause is that the slums have almost completely disappeared.
Um… is this considered high?”
Everyone looked toward Alicetia’s clone. The one who had provided the model for this calculation method was Alicetia, and it had already been explained that it was knowledge from another world.
The fact that the country had grown by 34 percent in a single year was something utterly abnormal, but they had no standard by which to evaluate it. After all, this was the first time they had ever measured it.
The reason such explosive growth had been possible was the existence of the slums.
The people there lived lives where they could barely survive from day to day, or failed to and starved to death.
However, Alicetia Parade had given them stable jobs and pushed them all the way from the impoverished class up into the middle class.
As a result, they gained the leeway to buy many things. The economy of the Kingdom of Arland, which had been steeped in stagnation and was on the verge of collapsing from the bottom up, had been forcibly revived through the enormous funds and technology provided by Alicetia.
“No, no, this isn’t good enough. We need to let the merchants earn more and make them richer. Aim for an annual growth rate of 60 percent.”
No one answered those words. An atmosphere of “what more do you expect us to do?” filled the room.
“Umm, Princess. We really are working quite hard, so please show some mercy.”
Wiping the sweat streaming down his face nonstop with a handkerchief in the corner of the chamber was Ponpoko.
He had been selected as a member of the National Defense Council starting this year.
The reason was that he was the de facto top figure of the Viceroy Merchant Union. Alicetia did not involve herself in day-to-day management, so Ponpoko acted as her proxy and oversaw the federation. Because of that, he had been chosen as a council member.
It was extremely rare for a merchant to become a member of the National Defense Council. Merchants, by nature, pursued profit. As such, there were very few merchants whom the councilors could confidently say would absolutely keep secrets. And among those, merchants competent enough to be made council members were even rarer. No matter how trustworthy, a merchant from a small trading house could not be made a council member.
In that respect, Ponpoko was reliable. He managed the finances of the Viceroy’s house and served as acting chairman of the Viceroy Merchant Union. In other words, Ponpoko could be called the Viceroy’s house’s number two.
That said, at heart, he was a common man. The trading company Ponpoko had once managed had been one of the largest in the kingdom, holding monopolies on goods like sugar.
However, it had weak ties to the nobility. The Ponpoko Company had grown large by doing business with commoners. Of course, it wasn’t rare for him to meet great nobles either, that was how successful he had been.
Still, becoming a member of the National Defense Council and meeting all of its members at once was something he had never experienced before. It was only natural that he would fall into a state of extreme tension.
“It’s fine, we can still push it.”
“That’s impossible.”
“If it were truly impossible, you wouldn’t even be able to complain. All of Prime Minister Volken’s subordinates are working in silence with dead eyes.”
“Sniff… sniff…”
Ponpoko quietly began to cry.
“A-ahem. Well then. Next, let us discuss the labor force issue.”
Feeling too sorry for him, the chairperson forcibly changed the topic. Attendants distributed documents.
“At present, the Kingdom of Arland is facing a serious labor shortage.”
“We should have reduced the number of farmers through farmland consolidation, yet it hasn’t improved at all.”
“I expected strong backlash from farmland consolidation, but there was barely any resistance.”
Making large-scale agriculture the standard through farmland consolidation was a kingdom policy. By doing so, they would increase farmers’ income while redirecting surplus labor into industry and infrastructure development.
And it worked. Naturally, concerns were raised that farmers giving up their land would resist. In reality, some did protest, but far fewer than expected.
Most farmers understood that even if they relinquished their farmland, their lives would not collapse. More precisely, it was trust in the royal family.
Furthermore, while farmland expropriation was an order, proper compensation was paid, and merchants immediately flocked to offer the next jobs. If quitting farming did not mean becoming poorer, they decided to follow the kingdom’s policy.
Through consolidation, fields that had once required hundreds of people to maintain would now be handled by roughly ten. Under normal circumstances, that would be impossible. However, Alicetia had recreated Earth’s agricultural machinery as magic tools, and with agricultural machines produced by the Viceroy Merchant Union, as well as small golems for light labor, it was more than sufficient.
All surplus farmers had an abundance of work waiting for them in industry and infrastructure development, so none were left at loose ends.
Normally, consolidating farmland and shifting from manual industry to machine industry, in other words, an industrial revolution, was a dangerous approach that risked producing large numbers of unemployed people. But Alicetia had created a situation where labor was insufficient rather than excessive by having the kingdom carry out massive public works projects.
Incidentally, the funds for these public works all came from Alicetia, so both the kingdom and the nobility were all smiles. No one lost anything.
If anyone had complaints, it was merchants and workshop owners, but their complaints were about the overwhelming increase in work, which also meant increased profits. They could only tear up and had no way to complain to Alicetia. Even if they did, they would just be told, “So you preferred how things were before?”
Compared to fearfully watching the kingdom collapse from the bottom up day by day, being worked to death was better. At least it gave them hope that tomorrow would be better.
“How about immigration?”
“It’s increasing compared to previous years. It will likely continue to rise, and we have the capacity to accept them.
It’s frustrating to admit it, but the central perception used to be that the Kingdom of Arland would eventually kneel to the Empire. However, after our victory in the war against the Granzur Empire, Arland has gained the reputation of a kingdom that will never bow.
Thanks to that, it seems other races who had hesitated to move here are now heading toward Arland.”
“The Empire’s internal strife is only worsening. Imperial citizens will never come to Arland even if it kills them, but they won’t have the spare capacity to stop the movement of other races either. There won’t be any interference.”
“Other central countries seem to be flooded with imperial citizens turned refugees, though.”
“Hahaha, that’s laughable. If they came here, we’d dote on them.”
“Human supremacists are utterly useless. If the center is in chaos, now is the perfect opportunity! While they’re confused, we should prosper even further.”
“““Long live the kingdom!”””
The nobles conducted the meeting in high spirits. The tense, cornered atmosphere from earlier meetings had been completely swept away.
Having hope for tomorrow was vital for people to live. With hope, they gained the energy to overcome hardship. It wasn’t like they were turning their eyes away from the reality of being worked nearly to death. Probably.
However, the problem wasn’t solved.
“That may be so, but the labor shortage is still an issue.”
Ponpoko timidly raised his hand and spoke.
(I know I’m out of my depth here. But I have to do something!)
Ponpoko was firmly convinced he was a common man, but objectively speaking, there were few merchants who had risen as high as he had. After all, he was the de facto top of the Viceroy Merchant Union, which could lift the kingdom’s economy with one hand.
“But still… people don’t increase that easily. Though there are some races with explosive population growth.”
“There was a strange race whose birthrate rises when their fur gets better.”
“““Are you talking about us beastkin?”””
Some beastkin nobles stood up. Their coats were magnificent.
Population growth in the beastkin territories was the highest in the kingdom. Of course, the entire kingdom was experiencing unprecedented prosperity, accelerating population growth everywhere. Signs of a baby boom were already appearing, but only the beastkin territories had fully entered one.
The reasons were the economic boom and the magic comb Alicetia had released. Anyone could obtain magnificent fur by using it, and for beastkin, whose fur was an extremely important factor, it had an overwhelmingly positive effect.
For beastkin, fur was that important. Even with an ugly face or body, good fur alone was enough to make them popular.
By providing an environment where that could be easily obtained, it led from a marriage rush straight into a baby boom.
“Well, even if they’re born now, it’ll be a long time before they can be used as labor. Let’s leave the beastkin alone.”
“The simplest idea would be immigration, but…”
“What should we do…”
It was difficult to think of a way to secure labor immediately.
“What about making even greater use of golems?”
At one noble’s suggestion, the two Alicetia clones, who had been sprawled out playing pretty kitty, bristled and stood up.
“If you do that, the labor force will be saturated all at once and unemployment will overflow. Normally speaking, using golems is cheaper than hiring people.”
“… We shouldn’t give merchants unnecessary ideas. That was thoughtless.”
“I don’t oppose transitioning in the future, but that’s something to think about on a hundred-year scale.”
Rapid technological advancement increased labor efficiency, but at the same time, it stole jobs from people. Alicetia judged that introducing golem technology into production activities was premature. Some use had been permitted in agriculture and mining, but no diversion beyond that was allowed.
Incidentally, it was used freely in the underground dock, so it would be easy if they wanted to, ignoring the chaos that would follow, of course.
“Increasing immigration… how about going to pick them up ourselves?”
“No matter what the central powers think, it wouldn’t hurt or itch… but they would definitely interfere.”
Gilbert answered with his arms crossed.
“How about using local organizations?”
“We’re disliked in the center. Who would possibly help us?”
Gilbert fell into thought at those words.
“But isn’t there the National Fluffers Alliance? There’s a good chance they’d lend us a hand.”
At one noble’s words, the chamber fell silent. The Alicetia clones (cats) rolled left and right, purring loudly.
“I don’t have prejudice against kemomimi lovers, but… aren’t they terrorists?”
In the center of the continent, kemomimi lovers were classified as terrorists. They advocated slave liberation, attacked slave traders, assaulted slave transport units, and incited unrest under the banner of freeing slaves. As a result, in some countries, simply being a kemomimi lover was punished as severely as treason.
“They’re certainly terrorists, but their aggression is likely a backlash against the central region’s excessive human supremacism.
In fact, there’s supposedly a branch in our country as well, but I’ve never heard of them causing any incidents here.”
“They really are strangely quiet.”
“Does our country even have a branch? I’ve never heard anything about it.”
“They’re secretive by nature because of their ideology. However! Isn’t there someone here who can be said to definitely be a member?”
At those words, everyone’s gaze turned to the two cats rolling around left and right.
““What is it?””
“Princess, aren’t you a kemomimi lover?”
“I don’t deny that both my main body and my clones are kemomimi lovers.”
“What about the rumor that you’re affiliated with the Arland Kingdom branch?”
“……”
The two cats froze like ornaments. They had no intention of answering.
Gilbert sighed, then pulled a pudding from the storage bag at his waist.
“Alice, can you see this?”
““M-mmm, pudding!””
“That’s right, pudding. This is pudding from Shishido Confectionery. We’ve already confirmed that your main body never shares this with clones.
It’s my snack, but if you answer honestly, I’ll specially give you two each.”
““Grrr…””
“Being loyal to the main body won’t get you anything in return, you know?”
How cruel. No matter how much they served, the finest sweets were monopolized by the main body.
““Fine. It’s not prohibited anyway. Yes, I am registered with the National Fluffers Alliance, Kingdom of Arland Branch.
Member number 7024, Dark Side faction, seat 125.””
(((That’s an absurd number of members! And what’s the Dark Side faction?!)))
Everyone present was stunned by the unexpectedly large branch and the unfamiliar term “Dark Side faction.”
“So you’re pretty low-ranking.”
“In this industry, there’s always someone above you. I’m just a rookie.”
Should it be called deep karma, or profound depth? There were plenty of kemomimi lovers ranked higher than Alicetia.
Thanks to the development of the magic comb, she held a position higher than her actual ability, but originally, with Alicetia’s fluff-power, she would be even lower. In the Arland branch, she was around the lower-upper tier.
That said, Alicetia herself didn’t know that within the industry she was considered a promising newcomer, a super-star rookie with great expectations for the future.
That ill-fitting position was also a reflection of those expectations.
“How deep. By the way, what exactly is the Dark Side faction?”
“To explain that, I need to explain the Light Side and the Dark Side.”
The Light Side of kemomimi lovers aimed to improve fluff-power through asceticism and training by placing oneself in harsh environments.
In contrast, the Dark Side faction aimed to increase fluff-power by living faithfully to one’s desires and yearning for light from within the darkness. The two factions were not opposed, just different ways of thinking. They were all kemomimi lovers.
Alicetia lived faithfully to her desires, so she belonged to the Dark Side faction.
“I see… I don’t get it. Do any of you understand?”
Gilbert asked the councilors.
But the councilors were just as puzzled.
“I kind of do… but also don’t.”
“Only vaguely. I’m not a kemomimi lover.”
“Princess! You are someone who should belong to the Light Side! Falling to the darkness is far too soon!”
““Absurd. I live faithfully to my desires!””
It seemed there was one Light Side kemomimi lover mixed in among the councilors. He was immediately shut down by the Alicetia clone (cat).
“And is the result of living faithfully to your desires that appearance?!”
“Indeed. By becoming fluffy myself, I shall gain even greater power.”
“That’s unfair!”
“Mufuu. You should fall to the Dark Side as well.”
The Alicetia clone (cat) was scheming to drag the Light Side kemomimi lover into the darkness. Incidentally, since the factions were not enemies, kemomimi lovers who moved back and forth between them were not uncommon. Yesterday’s Light Side was today’s Dark Side, and vice versa.
“Faction disputes don’t matter. Well, maybe they do, but take that elsewhere.
What I want to know is this: can we borrow the power of the National Fluffers Alliance? Can you use your influence to ask the headquarters to help us?”
“Impossible.”
“Indeed, that would be difficult.”
Both the Alicetia clone and the Light Side councilor answered.
“Why?”
“The National Fluffers Alliance headquarters was destroyed by the Imperial State thirty-four years ago. At present, the National Fluffers Alliance has no headquarters.”
What do you think about this chapter?
