Donation of property.

　That was Raimondo's plan...or rather, it was not a plan at all.
　It was a shocking plan to recruit relatively wealthy members of the Lossies clan to donate their property to the government.

　Did Raimondo persuade them to do so?
　Or whether he had originally intended to help in a national crisis, I don't know.

　But.........
　It was true that the nobles of the Rosais clan sold off the cash assets they had, and the luxuries they had, and donated them to the government.

　And..........
　This time, other nobles, mainly the As clan, saw this and donated their property to the government.

　Then the wealthy commoners of the Romalian kingdom also donated a portion of their wealth to the government, as if they were a part of the trend, if the nobility would donate it.

　Thus, I have enough money to build a fleet....
　I couldn't get it together.






　'Ial, how much money will you need?'
　20,000 Tarrant to go.

　20,000 tarangs.
　Considering that our nation's national budget is 10,000 tarrant, it's huge.

　Or rather.....
　The 10,000 tarrant, which was already stored in the national treasury, has been exhausted.
　A large part of the national budget has been poured into the war effort.

　We have already raised 10,000 Taranto by raising taxes in the form of loans from the people.
　And.....
　He scraped up 10,000 tarrant from Cilician merchants, an interest-free loan.

　The nobles and wealthy commoners have donated more than 10,000 tarangs.

　In total, they have already spent more than 50,000 tarangs for the war effort.
　And another 20,000 tarangs on top of that?

　That's a laughable amount of money.

　''.........The ships to be built are only supposed to make up for a hundred and fifty ships. Why would you need that much?
　"Your Majesty, prices have been rising....
　I see.

　Supplies are needed for the war.
　Large quantities of supplies - iron, cloth, and wheat - are brought on ships to Trisichellia and disappear from the Kingdom of Romalia.

　Then there will be a shortage of goods.

　Meanwhile I was using gold, silver, copper and other precious metals to build ships and buy food.

　The precious metals I had collected through tax increases, debts, and donations.
　All at once, they were circulating on the market...
　It will gather back to me and be released again.

　If they keep doing that, it's only natural for prices to rise.

　'But how do you collect 20,000 Tarrant?　....there's no way out of this, okay?

　We've already raised taxes. We can't do any more.
　The next step was to borrow money. We can't borrow any more and the merchants don't have the money to lend.

　It's no longer forbidden...
　He also did what any nation would do: he did what any nation would do: he asked for donations.

　I'm running out of ideas.
　There's nothing more we can do.

　I got to borrow money from a foreign country. What better way to do it than to borrow money from a foreign country?
　...I suppose you're right.

　Me and Ial sighed.
　Since this war started, me, Ial and Raimondo have been raking in the money anyway.

　There's a war going on in Trisichellia in the form of armed forces and armed competition, but...
　It can be said that here at home, there is a war going on in the form of how much money we can raise for the war.

　'I'll send a letter to Ains.
　Can I borrow it?
　I'm going to have to deal with this. If you don't lend me the money then it's time to move on.







　"Your Majesty, Almus. We have a grudge against Pofenia. And we have a longstanding relationship with Sir Ains.

　A Cilician living in Cilicia, called to the palace.
　In other words, the representative of the foreign merchant says matter-of-factly.

　Somehow, he sounds like he's going to lend me something....

　But our only concern is that the Kingdom of Romalia will return the money in good faith. That is our only concern, sir.
　Well you'll just have to give me credit for that.

　Then the merchant smiled.

　''From what I've found out, Your Majesty has never taken down a debt before. ........I'm willing to believe you. But as expected, it is impossible for us to finance more than 20,000 tarrant. We can only lend you up to 5,000 Tarrant.

　Five thousand Tarrant.
　That's a quarter of our target.

　But ...　
　I'm still grateful.

　Thank you. I'll pay you back.
　I'd appreciate it if you didn't. And I wish you good luck with your work.

　The merchant said and bowed his head.





　''Fifteen thousand tarrant left....''
　Do you want to raise... taxes?
　...and your people will starve?

　People are starving to death.
　That's not what I want to happen.

　No matter how much debt we incur...
　As long as the people live, we can pay them back someday.

　There is no future for a country that strangles the goose that lays the golden eggs.

　''So, but... Your Majesty, there's nothing more you can do!　I have no choice but to make peace...
　There will be no peace. If you ask for peace at this stage, it will be seen that our country doesn't have the money to make peace. I don't know what you want from me.

　We need to get something out of Pofenia to begin with.
　Compensation, even land.

　Unless we win something, we have no hope of paying off the debt.
　........so much for cycling.

　I didn't think it would cost this much money.

　When we start racking our brains we're going to be in trouble.

　"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, there is a letter of this nature from Lord Ains...

　Raimondo comes over and hands me a letter.
　I open it and check it inside.

　It is.....
　It had a last minute plan written on it that could get us out of our current situation.

　But this.....

　Your Majesty, may I see it?
　Yeah, look at that.

　I showed the letter to both Raimondo and Ial.
　Their faces became grim as they read it.

　''That Cilician....how dare he do this to Your Majesty...''
　It's out of the blue.

　They both give me a stern look.

　As for me.....
　I don't blame Ains.

　Of course, I don't have a good feeling about it, and I'm not at peace with it either, but....
　If you ask me whether I can come up with a solution other than this, I certainly can't.

　In fact, I'd say that the country itself has dried up, and I'm glad you came up with it.
　I want to praise you.

　That negotiation with Emperor Xerxes must not have been easy either.

　I understand Ains' efforts.

　But.....

　Don!

　I slam my fist down hard on the desk.　
　The desk cracked.

　Ial and Raimondo's faces grew stronger.

　'Shit!　What a great king!

　I'm disgusted that I can't think of any more measures to take, any more measures that I should take.
　I'm disgusted with my incompetence, which I hadn't even thought of until Ains told me.
　And.........
　I'm annoyed at my own selfishness that I can't help but...hate it when the people are forced to make so many sacrifices.

　I grit my teeth and squeeze out my voice.

　'Get the paper. I'll get in touch with Ains.
　That means....
　I trust him with all my powers and the fate of the nation. There is no other option.

　Ial and Raimondo looked at each other.

　'Are you sure?'
　Lady Julia and Marcus...
　It's getting thin. It's better to make a decision now. The sooner you make a decision, the better. I'll let you two know.


　And a month later ...
　We'll take the 15,000 Tarrant.
　I got the target amount of 20,000 tarangs, including the 5,000 tarangs from the merchants.



　And when everything was settled and the situation was no longer reversible, I called Yulia and Marcus.

　I'm not sure if they sensed my mood or not, but they have tense looks on their faces.

　''What's wrong, Alms?''
　Father?

　The two of you looked worried.
　He says in a low, cold voice.

　'First of all I apologize. I made a decision on my own that was important to both of you. This time it's a report for that. It turned out to be an after-the-fact report. I'm sorry.

　And.....
　I'm trying to stifle my emotions and...

　'What I am about to tell you is my command and decision to mother and son as father, and to my vassals as king. It will not be reversed. Everything is already decided.