I am back – Chapter 161

The interior of the Royal Palace is surprisingly modest compared to its appearance.

The Gothic architectural style, with its white color and spiky towers reaching towards the sky, seems to hold back the grim atmosphere usually associated with Gothic designs thanks to its bright tones.

Truth be told, if we only consider the appearance and vibe, it looks like something out of one of those magical castles you see at the start of huge American movie productions, but inside, it doesn’t shine with the brilliant gold you often find in cartoons.

Of course, it’s not merely a rugged stone building. The inside is neat. It’s so tidy that you would never think of it as ‘medieval’; in fact, it seems almost impeccable.

However, there were hardly any decorations that should have graced the interior.

Sure, there were some magical light sources and maybe a painting or two that might be found hanging on the walls, but there were almost no furnishings to adorn those light sources.

Some walls even appeared bare, as if large paintings that had long been displayed had been removed, leaving only the whiteness of where the frames used to hang.

It looked as if a debt collector had come and stolen all the valuables.

And to be honest, there wasn’t much difference. Rather than having gone into debt, you could assume that whatever could be sold off to raise funds had been sold.

It’s possible to endure through war, but there’s a limit to such endurance. If you squeeze the people too hard, public order becomes unstable, and more importantly, you can’t expect starving folks to fight properly.

Besides, there’s compensation for warriors and the injured. Even if there’s a justified reason for war, such as to ensure human survival, you can’t just keep waging wars without any compensation. Soldiers need to know that there will be at least minimal rewards when they get hurt or killed to motivate them to stay and fight.

And the place that has to shoulder all that financial burden the most is the royal family.

Anything precious enough to be in the treasury was sold off. Even rare plates and cups that had been bought for royal use were sold off down to the bare minimum, causing quite a hassle among the kitchen staff whenever guests came over for a meal.

“Don’t worry too much. The national treasury is slowly being refilled again. Of course, there’s still a lot that needs to be addressed, but in a few years, this place will at least resemble a ‘Royal Palace’ again.”

Perhaps sensing that I was looking around, His Majesty the King turned to me and spoke.

If the war was truly going so unfavorably for humanity, the kingdom wouldn’t be able to hold on by selling assets this way. If that were the case, they would’ve rather conscripted everything. Otherwise, the kingdom would inevitably face destruction.

But the kingdom had me.

I sneak into enemy territory, blow up critical supply lines, and hold back the oncoming forces.

Just the existence of a ‘Hero’ was enough to shift the tides of battle.

Moreover, it wasn’t just me; my companions were no ordinary folks either.

With our ‘Hero Party,’ the kingdom had confidence that we wouldn’t fall. The battlefield quickly stabilized, allowing us to gradually restore production capabilities in the rear.

However, because of that, the kingdom could not find a pretext to conscript other people’s assets.

Even in such circumstances, a merchant remains a merchant. If they don’t sell their goods, they will starve, which would clearly have a devastating impact on the entire kingdom after the war.

Thus, the royal family had to bear enormous expenses by itself. To minimize the debts to be repaid after the war and to build the justification that they had endured alongside the entire kingdom without collapsing during the conflict, they opted for a life of simplicity.

And that brings us to now. A castle devoid of any ‘decorations’. Well, it’s not like there are dignitaries from other countries visiting at the moment, with the only ones present being elves at best, so it isn’t anything to be embarrassed about.

“The princess is on a tour outside the castle. The reconstruction of the buildings has just begun. We’ll be using the intact castle parts, but…”

In reality, most parts of the castle are probably far from being in good condition.

“Now then.”

Perhaps he decided to hold back on the small talk; His Majesty turned away.

This place was the audience room.

Originally, it was a place where numerous people would line up waiting to meet His Majesty, but not now.

It was nighttime, and more than that, it was due to my condition.

“First of all, I want to express my gratitude on behalf of the kingdom.”

His Majesty bowed deeply to me with a serious expression.

“Thanks to Captain LeSuvia, I could hold onto the reward money meant for you. With that, you won’t have to leave empty-handed when you return.”

‘Captain LeSuvia’ refers to Kalia. Although she hadn’t operated as the leader of the knights while being part of the Hero Party, she still retained that title.

A massive amount of war compensation.

Since even regular soldiers received grades for participating in the war, it was only natural that the money also came to me, being a hero.

However…

“…”

I tried to say something, but Kalia subtly moved her hand in my direction. Seeing that, I decided to stay silent.

If that mass of compensation were to be spent on post-war recovery… I had that thought, but it seemed the other members of the Hero Party were equally unwilling to back down on this.

They simply wanted to reward me for coming across from another world to help this one.

“It’s only right that I was honored to do what I did.”

Thus, I bowed my head and spoke.

“Hmm.”

His Majesty straightened with a satisfied look, smiling gently at me.

“…”

“…”

And then a brief silence ensued.

“I apologize for this, truly.”

His Majesty chuckled as he spoke.

“Truthfully, it’s been a war the whole time I’ve known you, hasn’t it? I haven’t had the chance to speak with you beyond merely greeting you when we meet, so I was a bit at a loss for what to say. I’ve put you in an uncomfortable position as a guest.”

“Not at all.”

In fact, I was unsure about what I should say to His Majesty either.

It’s not like I hadn’t exchanged human conversation. But usually, our dialogues only began after we exchanged stories about battlefield situations.

With that middle part missing, transitioning into a conversation proved quite challenging.

It was still just exchanging formalities rather than progressing any deeper.

Moreover, it had been months since we last saw each other. If they were close friends, that gap wouldn’t matter, but I certainly wasn’t on a best friend basis with His Majesty. In fact, I had far more casual conversations with Princess Dana than with him. Not that we had many long conversations; we were both so busy.

“So… hmm.”

As His Majesty was trying to find a topic, his gaze turned to my older sister standing a bit behind me.

My sister met the gaze of the large man with a thick beard and flinched.

However, it seemed that His Majesty didn’t see it quite right.

“Is this your… lover?”

He asked with a slightly puzzled expression.

It was understandable. This world hardly discusses homosexuality. Pia has mentioned seeing a few rather suspicious characters in the convent, but that hardly means it’s viewed as “normal.” Perhaps it’s even seen as more unusual than where I come from.

But still, in His Majesty’s mind, I was a man.

Even if I was currently in female form, it wouldn’t be strange if I had a lover prior to this.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

I quickly answered.

My sister had her head bowed low.

It seemed she found it quite awkward to have a conversation with someone in a place like this.

… Well, it was a shocking meeting for her with a king all of a sudden.

I would be surprised too if I suddenly met a president when visiting another country.

“I see. It’s a pleasure to meet you. The kingdom owes much to your lover. I apologize for having kept them for five years without permission. I’ll make sure to offer appropriate compensation for that.”

“T-thank you…”

My sister seemed to grasp hold of her collar tightly, reaching out her hand.

“…Hmm.”

His Majesty laughed awkwardly, as if in trouble.

The kingdom’s leadership knows that I came from another world. They also know that there is no king in the land I come from.

Thus, His Majesty would understand my sister’s reaction to some extent.

“Well then, it’s late, so let’s take a good rest. We’ll resume our conversations during the day,”

His Majesty’s words made my sister exhale a long breath.