Jobless Reincarnation: The King with a Mental Problem

One year later

[Charlie Trevor's Residence]

It was that rare monthly holiday time again, but the Shadow King, eager to go home, didn't rush into the house to hug Little Aisha. Instead, he hid in the shadows and spied on her.

What are you spying on?

Naturally, he was spying on Aisha practicing the Guga sword technique.

After Lilia recovered, she took advantage of her free time to pick up her sword again, following the martial arts manual left by the king.

As for little Aisha standing to the side...

I peeked for a long time before I could finally confirm that she wasn't pretending to be sweet; she was just playing around with a toy sword...

And even though she's almost three years old, she still keeps babbling and cooing to me.

Actually, this is not a big problem, because even if she just gurgles, I can tell what she means from her actions, expressions and tone of voice.

But the last time I saw Little Norren, she was already helping Senis with errands!

I am still somewhat jealous of other people's children...

This shouldn't be happening...

Why is this happening?

I clearly remember Aisha being the real genius...

"Mother."

"What's wrong?"

"Gurga is hungry."

As she spoke, Xia Aixia rubbed her round little belly and made a cute face.

Lilia sighed and went to find some food for little Aisha.

Just as I was about to go over and rub Aisha's little belly, Aisha suddenly changed her appearance!

She tossed the toy sword aside, struck a strange pose, and began her cringey, childish speech.

"Hmph! The time has finally come for true Shadow-level powerhouses to train!"

Ugh?

Little Aisha took out a heavier-looking practice sword from the toy box and began practicing the Sword God Style...

Although the pose is somewhat cute, it is actually quite standard.

And it wasn't just sword practice; every now and then, he would point a sword finger in one direction and unleash a shockwave.

what?

How come she knows Kitakami-ryu?

Hearing Lilia's footsteps approaching, she immediately stopped what she was doing, slung her sword behind her back, and gave a disdainful, melancholy smile.

"Destruction~ Death~ Sweeping across the eight wastelands~ I am the strongest in this world of shadows~~~"

But when Lilia got close, she immediately threw down her sword and started hopping around again to take the cake from Lilia's hand.

Could it be...?

Who would have thought that Aisha would also become a Shadow-level user!

The Shadow Lord, hiding in the shadows, couldn't help but let out a soft hum.

Since that's the case, I certainly wouldn't be so tactless as to expose her now. I'll wait until Aisha is older and has a greater sense of shame. Then I'll imitate her behavior today, performing that set of Guga sword techniques and lines in front of her.

What needs to be done now is to memorize her appearance deeply.

Kuhehe~~~

[After a short period of time]

After forcibly maintaining my composure, I pushed open the door and returned home openly and legitimately.

In the distance, little Aisha was nestled on the sofa, leaning against Lilia's legs in a chaise longue position, one hand supporting her head, the other scooping cake from the sofa with a spoon, one little foot swinging rhythmically...

So elegant, so incredibly elegant!

And it really seems too comfortable...

When Aisha saw me return, she immediately climbed up from the sofa, her little feet bare, and pounced on me with a gurgling sound. The King of Shadows grabbed her and, in an instant... pulled her into his arms.

Aisha rubbed her little face against my chest.

"Guga misses her dad."

"Daddy misses Aishah too."

"......real?"

After a brief moment of excitement, Xia Aisha's expression turned somewhat sad.

She's probably complaining that I only come back once in a long while...

"Really... Daddy really misses Ayatsu."

As the Shadow King spoke, he lifted Aisha even higher, buried his face in Aisha's chest, and rubbed against her, mimicking her earlier actions.

She was amused by the king's shameless behavior, but still maintained a haughty expression.

"Hmph, Guga forgives you..."

[After a short period of time]

After having dinner with Lilia and Aisha, I played with Aisha for a while.

Incidentally, he secretly left behind some martial arts manuals belonging to those with the strength of a Shadow.

Actually, I really want to see Xia Aixia every day, but I'm under a lot of pressure here.

While discussing business with Boss Long, I also isolated various still-active cells, shared the data and experimental samples with him, and then we parted ways. And we probably won't see each other for quite some time to come.

He was going to deliver the items to the God of Skill so he could begin studying them in secret, while outwardly he was also responsible for attracting the attention of the God of Humanity.

My progress is naturally a bit behind...

I took refuge directly under the magic sphere of the Great Transfer, competing with the magic sphere in the air for magic power to delay the Great Transfer.

I've tried stealing magic power together with Alucard before, but the effect was actually worse when we were combined. This is because our ability to absorb magic power was too strong, which actually increased the range and speed at which the magic power surged in...

Oh......

hehe......

The area where I resided was placed under guard.

No one, except for important figures, may approach.

Basically, only Per's familiars are responsible for delivering things to me and exchanging information.

only......

Shaoluosi went there once...

He looked exhausted and said something to me.

Most of them are political.

In my previous life, I didn't care much about politics. It was only after hearing some of his stories that I roughly understood why he was so mentally exhausted.

Because there are many things that I haven't even thought about in detail.

The area of ​​Fituia Territory, and the range of the magical disaster, are both too large.

Many small countries are not as large as the territory of Fituia.

Organizing an evacuation takes time to issue orders, to mobilize the masses, and to gather the crowd.

How to evacuate, and where to evacuate to—just the evacuation plan alone required half a day of discussion with other lords and the king.

On the other hand, the required logistics and supplies are also astronomical. If food supplies are insufficient, a large number of homeless and starving people will become refugees and bandits.

Although Asura is a major grain producer, precisely because of this, most of its food is sold to other countries for money. Its grain reserves are only sufficient to cope with some extreme weather events, and are often even smuggled out of the country.

In short, the current grain reserves are far from sufficient, so the grain export business must be stopped for at least a long time to save up the grain to feed the population.

This has resulted in soaring grain prices.

Now, a year has passed, and not only has the price of grain risen in the Kingdom of Asura, but the price of grain in the three magical kingdoms, which are unsuitable for grain production, has skyrocketed.

Moreover, many nobles in the royal city were mostly fools, and after receiving the news, they made all sorts of comments.

For example, those in charge of the military worry that if their country suddenly mobilizes a large number of people and tightens food export trade, it might be seen as a signal of war, which would affect national security.

This concern is not without merit. The Kingdom of Asura is the largest human nation in the world, and its every move will affect the nerves of other countries, especially the three major magic nations that are only separated by the Crimson Dragon Mountain Range.

It might lead them to believe that the Kingdom of Asura is in trouble, and that they can start a war and take the opportunity to occupy the territory of Fituia.

Therefore, both the Kingdom of Asura and the Ankylosaurus issued a gag order. Although many people knew about this matter, not many people actually knew the details.

While it will still have some impact, the current impact is somewhat comical.

The three great magical kingdoms were quite happy.

Perhaps believing that the Kingdom of Asura was finally willing to annex them, they surrendered when the Asura army besieged the city. This way, they became one family and wouldn't have to suffer the hardship of buying food from the Kingdom of Asura anymore...

After the military issues are resolved, the next issue is finance...

For a considerable period of time, the territory of Fituya will be unable to collect taxes. If the disaster is too widespread, the cost of governance will be very high for a long time afterward. If other territories and the capital city also begin to take action, there will be a fiscal deficit for the next few years.

Many nobles and royalty who rely on taxes for their livelihood will be poor for a long time.

They were naturally not very happy.

Ugh......

To be honest, I don't really understand...

Wealth is ultimately just resources. At present, the resources of the Kingdom of Asura are clearly sufficient to deal with this disaster. The cost of living is actually very low, but those rich people are always eyeing what they have.

Ugh......

Capital...

Fortunately, Pell's reputation and the king's reasonableness led to the issuance of a strict order; it's just unclear to what extent it will be enforced...

Then came the idiot's remarks.

They suggested pretending nothing had happened and then secretly evacuating the nobles and their property.

hehe......

Under normal circumstances, this would be a reasonable choice to...abandon morality.

Just like that famous British TV series.

This choice has some merit from a national security perspective.

Because if we disregard morality, knowing this news in advance is really not good news for the leaders.

If it's a sudden event, then it's a natural disaster. After the disaster is over, everyone just needs to find a scapegoat to kill and then work hard to carry out the restoration work.

If we had known in advance, and if we hadn't handled it properly, it would have been a sign of incompetence on the part of the leader, a man-made disaster!

This was both a lifeline and the beginning of chaos...

The problem is, even Per, whose status is equal to the king's, has spoken out, and the king has given the order. Can we continue to cower in fear? Going against the leader is truly foolish...

The smart person's approach is much more sophisticated.

They knew that money itself did not produce any value; population was the most valuable asset. Although a large population was a burden in the short term, if planned properly, it could increase the productivity of their territory and create more wealth.

Therefore, these people are quite serious about accepting refugees and have made many plans.

However, creating the king's perspective and Grandpa Twisted Mustache's perspective is quite difficult...

I still remember the forlorn look on Grandpa Tall Beard's face when we were chatting.

"Your Majesty?"

He was generally a wise ruler, so I was loyal to him, loyal to Asura...

But Asura was never his alone.

If this were a small, centralized country, he could forcefully push for a retreat with a single decree.

Unfortunately, Asura was not.

Asura is too vast, and the speed of information transmission is limited; the power of a government also has its limits. That's why we, the four great noble families, are needed...

The king had to balance the four noble families, appease those fools who treated commoners as "moving property," and guard against neighboring countries taking advantage of the situation.

All the king could do was maneuver among the various factions, trying to piece together a solution that everyone could accept.

Even if the Boreas family and the territory of Fetoia still exist after this disaster, they will certainly be severely weakened.

Me too......

In this way, the three other powerful noble families, whose influence has grown significantly, might disrupt the balance of power...

While it might not lead to a complete falling out, the royal family's life will become even more difficult...

He probably needed someone to help him vent, but unfortunately, orc girls and the like could only help him with his physical needs. He had few people to confide in about his emotional distress, which is why he came to me...

Grandpa with the curled mustache and I talked on and on for a very long time.

It is said that the king even knelt down before Per in private, hoping that Per could do his best to develop anti-summoning magic to help everyone overcome this crisis.

How did he know about this?

This must be quite embarrassing for royalty, right?

Does he have a good relationship with the king?

I remember that in the original work he survived the Great Transfer, but it seems that he was executed later for some reason?

It's something like political infighting...

What was the King thinking back then? And Grandpa with the curled mustache...?

As a king, shouldn't protecting his supporters be as simple as saying a few words?

Is it because they no longer have any use, or for some other reason?

Ugh......

I'm really not good at this kind of political analysis...

This king is only good at what he is good at, which is not to play chess on someone else's chessboard or against his opponent, but to directly overturn the chessboard by force.

Therefore, I have already spoken to Per, and I will do everything in my power to save his life...

At that time, Grandpa Tall Beard also embarrassingly told me his true thoughts.

That's an overly naive and irresponsible idea...

Deep down, he actually hoped he didn't want to know about this impending disaster...

He hoped a hero would secretly handle everything, and that the void in the sky would simply disappear...

Then everyone just needs to do nothing, and everything proceeds as usual...

This is incredibly irresponsible of a leader...

I immediately cursed him back, giving him a thorough dressing-down.

What's done is done; it's something that can't be avoided. If you say you can't do it and do nothing, then you'll do even less, change nothing, and nothing will end...

Everyone understands the principle, and I know he has been working very hard to do so.

But he... also said some things that I had never even considered...

"I gave orders to prioritize the supply of food, medicine, and transportation."

Do you know what this means? It means that the merchants' property must be confiscated.

Those who have spent their entire lives honestly doing business will hate me to the core.

If the land is not requisitioned, the relocation plan is just a piece of paper.

No matter what choice you make, it will ruin the lives of some people.

Did you know that in the coming period of time, there will definitely be elderly people dying on the road?

Their families might think – if we hadn’t left, would he have lived two more years?

Even if you and Lord Ankylosaurus really manage to stop the magical disaster, do you think those who buried their parents on the way would be grateful?

Even if it is ultimately proven that this measure is necessary...

They will only hate us.

"You hate me, you hate the king, and you hate me too."

I don't care whether they hate me or not. Anyway, I'm using the name of the Holy Sword Jax, and it has nothing to do with Trevor Grellatt and his family.

What saddens me is that I am still not strong enough...

Even though we were just trying to avoid the worst-case scenario, we still ended up hurting some people and causing some sad stories.

If I were truly a god, the kind of god who could resolve this magical calamity with a wave of my hand, then I wouldn't need...

But unfortunately, I cannot do it...

All I can do is study teleportation and summoning magic with all my might, try my best to help Per, and then work together to develop an anti-summoning spell.

My summoning magic has improved at a rapid pace. It seems that I am more proficient in summoning magic than in earth magic.

Perhaps, like Emiya Shirou, my summoning magic is also a derivative of Reality Marble.

After all, my usual attack method is to summon things from my own bounded field.

only......

Although progress is rapid, we are still far from being able to help Per...

I used to live down there, which was more like a research lab than a place to live. Every day I was surrounded by all sorts of messy data, and when I woke up I would continue researching. It was truly a thoroughly enjoyable kind of overtime work...

The pressure on me is immense, but fortunately, after I can absorb Alucard's magic power, I can have him temporarily take my place for a while. I can take a short break while Alucard naturally recovers his magic power.

This short holiday is naturally meant to be used to replenish Aisha's energy.

Lying in bed at night, holding little Aisha in my arms, even if she misbehaves and drools all over me, I will still fall asleep with a smile...