Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 473

Since her arrival at the Edina Archipelago, Charlotte spent the most time with Harriet rather than the Demon King.

“If you’re around, she gets restless. Just leave us alone,” Harriet said.

“Oh... really?” Reinhart replied.

“Yeah, so could you just leave us be?”

“Oh... alright. I guess I should do that...”

Charlotte couldn’t keep her composure whenever someone whom she felt guilty toward was around.

So until Charlotte got used to it, Harriet stayed with her, and suggested that I stay away from her.

Even though this place was modest in scale compared to the empire, it was still a nation, so there were many things to take care of.

Charlotte felt the order to take charge of this nation had been rather sudden, but she had to do it because Reinhart had entrusted the task to her.

‘What could someone like me do?’ she often thought. Despite that, if she had to do it, she couldn’t do it half-heartedly.

Reinhart trusted her in his own way, which was why he had entrusted her with something.

So Charlotte spent the whole day listening to Harriet as she laid out all the information: the population size of the Edina Archipelago, the distribution of the islands, the current status of each island, the refugee transport ships that regularly arrived at the main port, Rajak, the status and supply sources of the stored goods, the forward base Port Mokna, and the fact that it was scheduled to be relocated.

Then there were the demons on the streets... Charlotte stared blankly at the orcs and trolls roaming the streets of Rajak.

For the first few days, she had walked around wearing a robe, but now, she walked around without it.

With all these various demons roaring around, Charlotte’s appearance wasn’t that bizarre. In fact, people paid more attention to the scribe Harriet walking beside her than to Charlotte’s form.

“Isn’t it fascinating? Honestly, if you ask me if I’m used to it, I’m not,” Harriet said.

Harriet was also staring wide-eyed at the sight of people and demons mingling on the streets.

“Still, just knowing that this is possible has changed my thinking a lot.”

Harriet said that she had something to show Charlotte, and led her up a hill in Rajak.

“There. Do you see that?”

“Is that... farmland?” asked.

“Yeah.”

The farmland was far enough away that any human being would look the size of a fingertip. But something enormous was out cultivating the farmland.

It was an ogre, doing the work of dozens of people, plowing the fields at an incredibly fast pace, practically pulverizing the land rather than just cultivating it.

“Originally, the vampire mages were the ones who did it, but once the basic cultivation is done, the ogres handle the labor-intensive tasks. It’s helpful, but... um... honestly, they do the work of dozens and need to eat as much as those dozens, so... I wonder if it actually balances out. But it’s fascinating, right?”

“... Yeah.”

“The only reason we can maintain such a large scale is because of the faction among the vampire mages who are masters of botany-related alchemy and magic. Without them, the refugees might have starved to death long ago.”

The one directing the ogre was an old farmer with a hunched back.

As Harriet said, it wasn’t clear whether this was more efficient.

However, they were both living. And they were trying to live together.

Charlotte etched that scene into her mind.

“Honestly, the biggest problem in Edina is food. Since the Gate Incident, the population of Edina has grown too large. We’re somehow managing to stay self-sufficient with the help of the vampire mages and other demons. But that’s all thanks to the Demon King’s... I mean, Reinhart’s power.”

“... I see.”

“That’s why the rule of the Demon King in Edina is absolute. The humans on the islands fear the Demon King, and the demons follow the Demon King absolutely, which is why there’s no conflict between them. If the Demon King disappears, the demons won’t understand why they should continue to live side-by-side with humans, and that sentiment would be even stronger among the humans.”

The Archdemon commanded absolute obedience from the demons, and the humans on the islands feared the Demon King.

This coexistence between the two races seemed perfect on the surface, but it couldn’t exist without the Demon King’s presence.

“In the Dark Land, the Demon King is closer to a god than a king. From what I’ve heard, demons were divided and used to fight among themselves before the Archdemon race appeared and dominated them all.”

“Yeah, I know that.”

An Archdemon, a being closer to a god than a king...

Charlotte quietly observed the unprecedented sight, created by that absolute being.

Charlotte learned a lot from Harriet. How many refugees had arrived on the island so far. How the demons made contact and found their way to this sanctuary. How they used magic to construct their homes and cultivate the land. How the Unified Holy Order was established.

While she had been secluded away in the Spring Palace, consumed by guilt and self-blame, the Demon King had been taking action. Instead of surrendering to despair, he had been working tirelessly to make a difference.

“Wow... He’s really done a lot...”

The Demon King had saved countless people and created a place that seemed impossible.

Charlotte, who had fallen into despair and defeat, was seeing what someone who had not collapsed after failing at everything and still tried to move forward had achieved.

‘Am I allowed to take responsibility for all this? Can someone like me, a defeated and traitorous person, bear the weight of someone else’s shining achievements?’ Charlotte thought.

“Charlotte, he isn’t giving you this task out of consideration for you,” Harriet said to Charlotte with a serious look. “Reinhart has a lot to do.” fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

“...”

“Really. He has so, so much to do.”

“... I suppose so.”

“Reinhart brought you here because he needs you. Not because he felt sorry for you.”

Harriet wasn’t angry.

“If you want to stay a sinner and a traitor, then keep on living like that.”

“...”

“But if you want to live as the regent of Edina, whom Reinhart needs, then that’s what you’ll have to become.”

Charlotte looked up at Harriet.

“Do you want to be someone Reinhart needs?” Harriet asked. “Or do you want to be someone Reinhart, who’s incredibly busy, has to keep worrying about?”

Charlotte’s lips trembled. “Of... Of course I...”

Everyone around Reinhart was someone he needed.

Charlotte knew because she had learned much from Harriet about Riana, Olivia, Airi, and Harriet herself. Everyone had been entrusted with important tasks.

Reinhart had brought Charlotte to this place to entrust her with a very important task as well.

If she wanted to continue to live as a defeated person, she could continue to live in defeat. However, she would become a hindrance, someone Reinhart would have to endlessly worry about.

Harriet patted Charlotte’s shoulder.

“If you understand what I’m saying, then just do it. Don’t overthink it.

“It was the same when we first came here. If you think about too many things, your guilt will stop you in your tracks, and you’ll accomplish nothing. ‘Let’s just take one step forward at a time,’ is what I thought.

“Instead of thinking about how many people might die on the continent, we built houses for those who lost their places to stay. Instead of thinking about who was at fault for this situation, we launched ships to rescue people fleeing from monsters and brought them to this island. Instead of mourning the sheer amount of dead and thinking about what we lost, we expanded the farmland to feed those who had nothing to eat right now.

“If you think about the distant future or think in overly abstract terms, you’ll end up doing nothing because you’re worried about what to do. Instead, do things one at a time. Take one step at a time. And after a week, a month, a year, and two years pass... Look.”

Harriet pointed her finger. She pointed to the land around her. “Before you know it, this is the result.”

“...”

“You can’t say we’ve done everything perfectly, and it’s still incomplete and uncertain, but you also can’t say we haven’t done anything.”

Charlotte looked at Harriet with wide eyes.

She saw the difference in what could be created by someone who stayed still, compared to someone who had taken at least one step every day.

Whether she had the right to be given the responsibility, whether she could be forgiven, whether she was deserving of being given the power to speak about all this beauty... All of that didn’t matter.

If Charlotte didn’t want to do anything, then so be it.

She could spend her day thinking about whether she had the right to do anything, or she could start taking care of her weakened body by feeding it, taking care of her health, and building her strength.

She could use her time to learn one more thing about Edina, and could sit on the throne and start handling one thing at a time.

What reason was there for her not to take that first step?

Harriet’s comforting yet ultimately persuasive words, telling Charlotte she had things to do, made Charlotte give up all of her previous thoughts.

There would be no rights or obligations. There was just something Reinhart had tasked her with, and it was simply a matter of doing that.

So she would take that step. Thinking about whether she had the right to take this step or not was a sin.

Harriet’s warm smile made Charlotte grit her teeth. She felt like crying, because of those who had done so much for her.

For the past two years, Charlotte had cried a lot. She had done nothing else but cry.

Therefore, this time, instead of letting the tears boiling up from deep within her heart flow out, Charlotte gritted her teeth and wiped them away with her sleeve.

Her eyes, red like a demon’s, were swollen.

“Alright. Whatever it is... I’ll try.”

Although her belief that she had done wrong hadn’t changed, she could regain a sense of duty and a sense of responsibility, and she could somehow accomplish something.

***

Harriet had successfully persuaded Charlotte into action.

Instead of sinking into rumination and despair, Charlotte would look forward and take one step at a time.

Reinhart hadn’t forgiven her, but he had brought her to him because he needed her. If she felt guilty, then she had to do what she could to meet that need.

Charlotte spoke a lot with Harriet afterward, and tried to understand the state of Edina by going on an inspection tour.

After getting a general understanding of the Edina Archipelago, Charlotte came to one conclusion.

“Um... Can I be honest with you?” Charlotte asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Reinhart said.

Charlotte shook her head firmly. “This isn’t a nation.”

“... Huh?”

Charlotte’s assessment was harsh.

“This is more like a national-level soup kitchen... or something like that. Calling it a nation feels... a little off...”

Charlotte judged that the Edina Archipelago needed a major overhaul.

“The biggest problem is that, without the demons, the people of Edina would starve to death. It’s good to bring refugees from the continent and provide them with land and houses for free, but the basic level of sustenance can’t be achieved without the help of magic and demons.

“Even though the farmland is being continuously expanded, I heard that mages are involved in that work. There’s a limit to the human resources available. Even now, most of the nation’s manpower is concentrated in the business of food production. However, if the scale continues to expand, then at some point, it will exceed its ability to be able to sustain the population.

“The citizens do not produce things that add value, and this extra value is not collected and stored in the national treasury in the form of taxes then supplied to the citizens or used for national projects when needed. Here, producing food to feed the citizens is the national project. It’s backward. Now, do you see why I said Edina is more like a soup kitchen than a country? You are not running a government or a nation, but a charity. This nation’s sole purpose is to sustain its population, and even that is a struggle.

“Of course, this work isn’t wrong. But as it stands, there’s no plan for when the population grows to an unsustainable level. Farming with magic is just absurd, and having the mermaids supply marine resources as food is no different. A long-term plan for self-sufficiency in terms of food has to be established, one that does not rely on this bizarre situation of using mages to farm.

“The security issue is the same. The size of the refugee residential area has long surpassed the size of the existing Rajak urban area, but the security measures in those areas are limited to just having guards patrol at night. There’s a limit to the number of security forces that can be maintained. That’s why the crime rate in the refugee residential areas is quite high.”

.

.

.

.

Food, security, systems, policies, management of areas outside the capital, and so on...

When Charlotte finished laying out the numerous issues of the Edina Archipelago, Reinhart was left gaping in astonishment.

It looked like he was in charge of the governing of a nation, but in reality, it was more like a charity organization.

Instead of citizens filling the national treasury with taxes, the treasury and the power of the king was used solely for its citizens in a bizarre governance structure. That was the reality of Edina, which the Demon King had built over two years.

After wrapping up what she had to say, Charlotte quietly looked at Reinhart.

“The reason you’ve come this far is because the demons under you are exceptionally capable. However, no matter the situation, such skilled personnel wouldn’t normally be doing this kind of work.”

Edina was only being maintained because exceptionally skilled individuals were engaged in work they wouldn’t normally do, and the citizens of Edina were, at this point, merely dependents.

The reality of Edina was that the state itself couldn’t sustain itself without the Demon King.