Kamisama Shop de Cheat no Kaori

Chapter 92. The Economic Free City-State In The Wilderness

Let’s summarize what’s been decided.

First, King Pilatus II. He’s sentenced to death. Well, that’s obvious.

But it seems Paul Mormore will be publicly executed before the King. The reason is propaganda. Rebuilding the country will take time. The public’s dissatisfaction will begin to accumulate immediately. They need to release this pressure gradually. Killing the King right away would leave no follow-up.

Another reason is that they’re drafting simple laws during this time.

They’ll use the existing laws but make changes that will be well-received by the public.

One such change is the review of the judicial system, and the King will be judged in a trial, at least in name.

It’s a farce with a predetermined outcome, but it can distract the public’s dissatisfaction during the trial period, said Blow Soar, the “Minister of Reconstruction.”

He said, “I can’t die until I’ve made this country better.” Thinking about it, he might be a pitiful guy.

Another decision is the abolition of almost all nobles.

Originally, this country was formed by a mercenary group that attacked a party in power. The titles copied from other countries were given as rewards to the key members of the former mercenary group. Thus, no nobles were fulfilling their duties, only useless people devouring the national treasury as pensions.

Later, titles like barons and viscounts were given based on money, recommendations, and achievements. There was no sense of noblesse oblige.

They were complete parasites, gathering private soldiers and extracting money as national soldiers.

In this scenario, the former Baron Retter accumulated both money and achievements to become a baron. However, he died suddenly after organizing and circulating the privileges he received or bought. The current young Baron Rettersucceeded him.

The previous baron, foreseeing his death from illness, entrusted the current Baron Retter to his confidant, Blow Soar, before passing away.

Blow, to repay the favor, devoted himself to the Retter family, expanding their influence. The commercial scale once swelled to five or ten times that of the Veliero Company.

However, there were responsibilities as a noble. They ended up being burdened with national issues, causing their expenditures to become immense.

Thus, the current Baron Retter, though young, supported by Blow, became the kingdom’s economic noble. No other noble found this amusing. But they couldn’t do more than harass the baron, a novice thug.

Fundamentally, the nobles in this country lacked the “territory” that they were supposed to be granted.

Naturally, this is a city-state, so there’s no land to grant. (At most, they get a mansion in the noble district.) Instead, they’re granted various “privileges.”

The “Creepy Baron’s many privileges” I felt were due to these circumstances. Moreover, without effectively using these privileges, even nobles would wither away. This resulted in a distorted political system.

Under the previous king, some mercenary know-how still worked. There were also a few excellent brains.

But with time, they vanished, and under the rule of the current pig king, even the decency of his subordinates stopped functioning.

Now, the main topic.

This country will no longer be a monarchy (details later). Naturally, they wanted to abolish all nobles. But there arose unavoidable circumstances.

Firstly, they had publicly declared Baron Retter as a major figure in the coup.

The public perceives the new person acknowledged by someone with a title, = Cherina, so they might not understand if the baron loses his nobility, argued Blow.

Additionally, Baron Retter needed a role, but they couldn’t find a suitable one other than a noble.

There was also another viscount, unknown to me, who excelled in politics and was considered essential for the nation. However, his political skills equated to corruption.

Yet, a skilled corrupt politician can be truly influential. Blow stressed that their cunning and intelligence were essential for the country. Bachar opposed but eventually agreed under Blow’s persuasion.

Thus, Baron Retter was promoted to Count Retter. The unknown viscount was demoted to Baron but retained noble status to incorporate him.

However, without a monarchy and land to grant, they decided to provide the nobles with a monopoly-like position in trade, besides their pensions.

They would monopolize specific trades.

Though an extraordinary privilege, they believed the public wouldn’t understand it immediately.

As mentioned, this kingdom will no longer be a monarchy. Abolishing the monarchy was decided. Blow and Bachar opposed but finally conceded to Cherina’s will.

Cherina proposed the concept of an “Economic Free City-State.”

Originally, it might have been what Blow aimed for, but it didn’t include abolishing the monarchy. Hence, the conflict. The shift to a non-monarchy was prompted by my careless remark.

“How about holding an election and deciding a president?”

Based on my vague knowledge, Blow refined the system.

I had to explain at length, nearly crying.

… I really said something unnecessary.

As a result, within half a year to a year, they would hold a presidential election, with the president appointing ministers. Sorry about that.

However, Cherina was satisfied.

Until the election, Cherina would be the provisional government representative, with Bachar as deputy.

“What about the country’s name?” asked Blow.

“It won’t be Pilatus, that’s for sure,” said Bachar.

“How about letting the president decide?”

“No, announcing the name would be good news for the public. Considering the delayed election, it’s better to decide now to ease their stress,” Cherina’s suggestion was promptly dismissed by Blow.

“Hmm… Then, Cherina or Veliero would work?”

“Using the same name as the company is problematic,” instantly rejected Cargo, the head of Veliero Company.

“Then Cherina?”

“No way. I’m not running for office.”

“What?!”

This led to another dispute. But ultimately, no one could convince Cherina.

“Well… we have six months. We’ll manage to persuade her…” Blow sighed.

“Yes… How about Red Chain?”

“That’s a bit…”

Cherina frowned.

“Then how about Iron Chain? This is a port town. Iron Chain would be a good symbol,” suggested Bachar.

After a moment of thought, Blow spoke.

“Not bad, but it sounds more like a slogan than a country name. It doesn’t feel independent.”

Indeed.

“… Akira,” Cherina called my name.

“What?”

“How do you pronounce Iron Chain in your country’s language?”

An unexpected question. Thanks to the mysterious translation, “Iron Chain” sounded strange. Since it wasn’t a secret, I pronounced it in “Japanese.”

“Tessa.”

“Hmm…”

“Tessa… is it?”

“Hmm… Tessa. A crisp sound.”

Everyone nodded.

“It’s good, isn’t it?”

“Yes. It’s decided.”

Hey, can we decide that easily?!

“Then… this country’s name is…”

Economic Free City-State Tessa.

Thus, a new country was born at the farthest western frontier.

… I know nothing about this.