Ore wa Mada, Honki o Dashite Inai

Chapter 101

Ancestral Heritage

Translated by Mlzkzr
Edited by Mlzkzr

In one of the living rooms in the mansion, I was relaxing as usual.

But I did not feel at ease from the bottom of my heart.

“Ne,next is this”

“……It’s the salary of next year’s students, right”

“Yes! Here’s the proposed budget.”

“…… What’s the growth rate of the private sector this year?”

“Wewe,we estimate it at 2.4 percent.”

“If so, let’s uniform it at 3% increase”

“Understood”

The reason for this is that Erica, who is sitting at the table next to me and for some reason doing her duties in this mansion, and her aide, Eleni.

Eleni, who was nervous just like a small animal, would present the documents to Erica, who would read them and, in some cases, ask for additional information, and then make a final decision.

It has been seven days today since I met her.

Even today, Erica spends all her time in the Canoe’s mansion like this.

“Uhmm……”

“What, Darling”

I timidly called out to them.

Erica turned around at that and her expression changed drastically.

The dignified expression she had when she was working in her duties has vanished without a trace, and her face became that of a naive young lady with a strong childishness remaining.

I ask, having mixed feelings about her transformation.

“Why are you here again today?”

“That’s because ……”

Erica fidgeted, wriggling her body, and then――

“The wife who goes to Darling’s house, kyaha”

“No, not Kyaha.”

With a complicated expression on my face, I first hit her with a sound argument.

“Isn’t it bad that you’re here? Even if――no, not even if, you’re the queen of Calamba, aren’t you?”

I paraphrased.

In fact, when I see her expression as she faces her political affairs, aside from the time she is squirming and fidgeting at me, I can’t help but naturally withdraw the word “even if”.

Rather, she was a politician who could be described as a “Wise queen” or a “Capable woman”.

She takes her duties much more seriously than I do. Even in the slightest sense, it was too rude of me to continue to say that.

“I’m so happy!”

But right now, she’s facing me…… For better or worse, she’s in a laid-back mode.

She said that to me and gave me a tight embrace.

“Ehehe…… darling just recognized me.”

“No, well……”

“Darling, likes a girl who does her job properly, right”

“That’s ……well……”

Even though I nodded honestly, I didn’t feel a little guilty.

It’s true that it’s good to have a partner who does her job properly.

However, the reason is that the other person is working and I’m skipping ―― it’s something that I can’t really say.

I was a little apologetic about that and I digress.

While being hugged by Erica, I looked toward the pile of papers she had just processed and piled up.

“More than that, I’m surprised. It’s amazing how promptly you make a decision. Isn’t this the kind of thing you usually decide with your aides or ministers?”

“I don’t need that, darling.”

Erica hugged me and kept smiling, but she said that in a firm tone.

It feels like somewhere between being competent and colorblindness*. (TN: iroboke – literal meaning would be ‘a person who’s obsessed in sex’. In this case, it’s like the eyes of someone deeply in love. They can’t see because they’re too in love)

“If the king is doing everything right, it would be more efficient if everything was decided by the king alone. Siracusa, for example, has been holding consultations for every decision they make since having two queens, but they are too inefficient. Because of it, it’s the only one of the five major powers that continues to decline”

“Fumu, I see”

That story, I don’t understand the first half of it.

When the aides and ministers are incompetent or have some ulterior motives, consulting with them will only eat up time and produce nothing.

There are many times when it is better to make a quick decision.

I have experienced that many times.

“I see, how amazing, you are.”

“Really? Ehehe ……”

Erica’s expression turned to love-blind once again, as she lowered her face in embarrassment and looked at me with upturned eyes.

“I’m glad you like this kind of thing Darling. Erica, is going to work harder and harder.”

“No, well……”

I shut my mouth.

I am in no position to stop her from doing her job properly as queen, even in another country, and I thought there was no reason for me to stop her after I listened to what she just said.

Student Salary.

This is the biggest reason why Calamba is a powerful country.

The student salary system, is said to have been started by Rica Calamba, whom Erica follows.

Usually, in rural areas, for example, children are used as labor force as they are.

When they grow up and are able to move, they are generally forced to do farm work that they can do little by little.

A long time ago, I was shocked in many ways when I saw a 6-year-old child alone go through a cow birth.

Because of this, there are few opportunities for children to receive a proper education.

The solution to this problem was the child salary system.

The schools that children go to pay salaries to the children who attend them, rather than paying gratuities to the schools and teachers.

The salary setting is set up so that it is better than making a child work normally.

As a result, fewer children end up in the labor force alone, and the reduction in their number of people has reached the lowest level among the five major countries.

By having them receive education from a young age, they were able to discover the talents of families that would not have been scooped up in other countries.

Furthermore, this system led to parents making children with peace of mind.

These virtuous cycles made Calamba a powerful country.

Erica is doing it right. Hence, I couldn’t stop her.

……

…………

………………

“No, this is not it!”

I accidentally ended up having a one-man quip.

Erica was eh? and looked up at me in surprise.

“What’s wrong, darling?”

“This is normally no good. You, the Queen of Calamba, shouldn’t be here.”

“Why?”

“Why, because this place is Aegina!”

“What, that’s what you meant, huh”

Erica nonchalantly said.

“No, no, it’s just about that”

“Since, the demon king of Comotoria often comes to darling’s place.”

“Ugh!”

I’m at a loss for words, since it hurts when she says it.

From their meeting seven days ago, Kaori has been coming and going ,poof, whenever she wants, then she leaves right in front of Erika’s eyes.

I couldn’t think of any reason why the King of Comotoria is good and the Queen of Calamba is bad.

In the end, I keep my mouth shut in desperation.

“Ka,Kaori is the demon king, so it’s useless to stop her. Erica, on the other hand, is a normal human being, a queen who, if she takes things too far, will have her subjects revolt, right?”

As I said it, I thought, yes, that’s correct.

Kaori is no ordinary king, she is the demon king.

She is such a transcendent creature that I wondered if there was anyone in the world who could stage a coup d’etat against her.

But it’s not the same for Erica.

Yes, this logic makes sense ――

“Then it’s okay darling. Erica, is disguised properly.”

“Eh? Disguised?”

“Yeah! It’s a method devised by Darling and Erica’s ancestors, it makes me very difficult to be discovered.”

“Me and you…… are you talking about Kaori’s father?”

“Yes, yes, the Demon King’s father.”

Erica nodded with a smile.

Our ancestor, Kaori’s father.

He is someone who comes up in a story a little bit every time something happens, and here he is again.

I wonder what kind of person he is. ……

“If that’s the case…… but, what kind of disguise were you wearing?”

I crane my neck and attempt to remember.

I tried to remember how she was dressed when she came over today——but.

“Eh?”

“Eh?”

Erica was dumbfounded.

“What’s wrong?”

“Darling…… could it be… you can see through it?”

“See through it, what do you mean?”

“Hey darling, what does Erica look like now?”

“What, is it, a normal queen, or a princess, wearing an expensive-looking white dress, right? That’s why, you should wear a disguise――”

“Aahn! Darling is amazing as I thought!”

Erica jumped on me again and hugged my neck.

With that momentum, I was pushed down by her.

“Wa,wait a minute. What are you saying about being amazing?”

“Ehehe, Erica, looks normal to you, right?”

“I can see you, or rather, you’re normal—— wait a minute.”

Come now, then I felt my blood drain.

Is this the pattern again? Then I realized it.

“This disguise, was developed by Erica’s ancestors, and was something that can’t be seen through unless one surpasses the power of the caster.”

“……Oh”

“Without the use of a technique, pure power.”

“B,but your magic power is so ――”

“Erica had it done properly by a court magician with the most magic power in Calamba. Darling, it seems like I wasn’t wearing a disguise to you.”

“Ofuu!”

“That means, darling, you have more magic power than that girl! That’s amazing! After all, darling is the best!”

I was like, “Gah!”.

Hearing this story, I look at Erica again.

Indeed, there was that.

Image-wise, she is clothed in something transparent.

It was only when I concentrated that I could see the “transparent” figure.

I secretly put the ring I always carry around in my pocket to my finger and hold down my power.

Then Erica’s appearance changed.

Her figure went from looking like a queen or a princess to a completely different looking, ordinary girl.

I didn’t realize it, but Erica was definitely in disguise.

I had seen through something that a court magician had done…….