That's it for now.

　The palace of the royal city, its courtyard.
　I gave His Majesty the King a round of practice in form only, and then cut it off at the right place.

　To be honest, there is little to teach you.
　It's true that my skills are better than yours, but His Majesty the King is also quite strong, as expected of the royal family of Aegina, who have been wielding swords since they were children.

　Well, my experience in actual combat is clearly lacking, so it's like the so-called 'dojo swordsmanship', and if it were to become a 'kill each other', I'd be weak...well, there's no need to point that out.

　His Majesty the King, who has put away his sword, receives a towel from the maid and wipes the sweat off his upper body, stripping it off.
　I don't even want to see a man naked, but I'll bear it.

　After wiping the sweat off, His Majesty speaks to me in semi-nude, as you might expect.

I'm not sure how good I am, doctor.
Yes.

　I pretended to think about it for a minute.
　I'd asked Mimis beforehand, the bland answer to a situation like this.

'To be honest, I think there's still room for improvement,'
'Haha, you're really honest, doctor. You can frankly say it's not good at all.

　The king was in a pretty good mood.

　According to Mimis, royalty with a decent amount of power, especially the king, shouldn't play the goofy game.
　It is because they are used to that kind of sycophancy.

　However, it's also out of the question to belittle them.
　They have pride in their royalty and pride in their skills.

　At the end of the day, they like it best when you say, "I'm not ready yet, but I have talent.
　That seems to be the most popular response.

　The fact that we have had a proper meeting has paid off and His Majesty is in a good mood.

　Just then, a stranger came running into the garden.
　The man spoke into the king's ear.
　The king's good mood of the previous day was nowhere to be found, and he was so furious that his face turned red.

'f*ck you,'

　The king spits in an extremely vulgar language.
　What happened?
　

'What's going on, Your Majesty?

　His Majesty the King waved his hand, causing the man to step back, and then replied.

'You know that there has been a famine in the Elyth region this year, due to the drought that has struck the region.
So what?

　I honestly didn't know about it, but I'll blur it out and move on with the story.

'I ordered a budget out of the treasury to purchase from merchants and distribute sustenance for the refugees to spend their winters, which apparently went mostly into the pockets of the man who ordered the execution, Baron Basils.
So the people aren't getting any food...?
You say it's a handout.
'Huh...'

　It's okay if it is.
　How does that work?　The question arises.

　This kind of disaster relief has always been a cutthroat one.
　When a disaster is so bad that it turns into a famine, the first thing that happens is that the taxes that should go into the country don't go in.
　Commercial activity around the region will be stagnant in solidarity, so taxes from there will be reduced.

　It's hard for the government to pay for disaster relief when taxes are already down.
　So the budget is always tight.

　But if you cut out the middleman, it's pretty disastrous for the people there.

"What kind of trick did you use, Basilus?

　　　　　★

So I want you to go check out this Bacillus guy.

　When I returned to Pindos, I called Cyrus of the Dreamers into the brothel and told him what His Majesty the King had told me.

'I see,'

　Cyrus's eyes get sharp.
　The people who use disasters to line their pockets are the ones that the Dreamers would kill for the most.

Okay, we'll get to it.
Please.

　　　　　★

Feed?

　A few weeks later, he was in the royal capital again.
　After the training was over, I told the king what the Dreamers had found out.

Yes, cows and pigs...well, mainly the ones we feed to livestock. That's what we were buying.
What do you mean?
'If the money to buy flour for baking bread was applied directly to fodder, you could buy five times as much fodder. It seems that Sir Basyrus bought the fodder, distributed one to the refugees, and put the remaining four in his own pocket.
What?

　The king was furious.
　He drew his sword and slammed it into the ground.

"So you're saying that he distributed livestock feed to the refugees!
I see.
You can't do this!　I'm gonna snatch you up and question you!
I don't think that's possible.
What?

　The king stared at me, his back creeping a bit with considerable anger.

''It seems that a bandit called the Dreamscape Gang got wind of the story, stole Bashirsu's property and offered both his person and the refugees to him. Naturally, the anger of the refugees who were forced to eat the fodder to stave off starvation...''
That group of visionaries.
Yes, sir.
Yeah. Hmm, that's a good one.

　I sighed secretly.
　I only asked them to investigate, but it was too much, and the Dreamers went out of control in a fit of rage and "managed" to get Basils out of the way.

　Well, I was relieved to hear the whole story, so it's okay.

"So, the Dreamers. I'll have to thank them for that.
What?

　I'm surprised.
　The king thanking a bandit?

Well, wait a minute, Your Majesty, that's a very good idea.
Still no luck.

　I knew it.
　His Majesty knows what he's talking about.

Of course, sir. This is not a good idea.
Hmm. That's true. Indeed, kings are an inconvenience.

His Majesty the King sneers to himself.

　Huh.........
　What is this person saying all of a sudden?

　I've seen His Majesty, and he still looks like he's holding back.
　Well that's a bit of a diversion.

"Your Majesty, you haven't been to Pindos for a long time.
"Hmm?
Would you like to go see Daphne?
'Daphne, yes. All right, I'll go disguise myself for a sneak peek. I'll be right with you.
Yes, sir.

　His Majesty calls a nearby maid to change and enters the palace.
　Okay, I've diverted the conversation.........

　His Majesty the King turned back.
　He stands in front of me and grins at me.

'I have an idea. Doctor, how good are you at this?
'What?　No, there's still room for growth--
How's that for a bandit?
It's a ... well, it's a comfortable win.
You're that good. Okay, I've decided.
...for what?

　I had a bad feeling.
　I had a very bad feeling.
　I got a bad, bad, bad feeling.

'I'm going to sneak in and hide my identity, join the Dreamers and fix the world!


　I thought I'd diverted the conversation, but it seems that my guidance has led me in the direction of the day after tomorrow.