Ch.37Enduring the Cold

The autumn faded quickly.

In this northern region with its high latitude, spring and autumn were brief, while the cool summer and brutally cold winter stretched on endlessly. The farmers who completed their harvest before the frost deserved a round of applause.

“In the past, they would have started culling livestock by now, but not anymore.”

“It’s all thanks to Your Highness. If you hadn’t introduced crop rotation, the commoners would be starving by now.”

“That’s right. All thanks to me.”

I made no effort to deny my achievements.

If I acted humble, would praise stickers fall from the sky or something?

I was a precious being worthy of arrogance, the ruler of this Amurtat.

“By the way… has the envoy from Elisia still not arrived?”

“No. I even asked Fahrenheit just in case, but they claim to know nothing about it either.”

“I see…”

When hostility between two nations ran high, it wasn’t uncommon for envoys to meet or exchange letters through neighboring countries for the sake of objectivity.

But Elisia’s complete indifference—not even agreeing to meet in a neutral country—could only be explained as an attempt to deny and bury the incident altogether.

“Information blackout?”

“That must be it. Even the most obtuse person would understand that attempting to harm another monarch’s knight on foreign soil is wrong.”

“The veil of humanity is truly frightening.”

I had long abandoned any expectation that Francesca would behave rationally.

If she were rational, she wouldn’t be cutting off limbs so readily that someone as suspicious as Leopold II would court her.

City of Mercy, indeed. She would have been better off as the director of an orphanage.

This world was not kind enough to let the powerless preach mercy.

“What is the current state of our army?”

“Ten thousand men are ready to march at any time, and the additional six thousand recruits are still in training.”

“I see.”

By the end of this winter, Amurtat would have a standing army of sixteen thousand. For a city of two hundred thousand, that was quite a militaristic ratio.

But with war looming, we needed to maintain a minimum force, so we recruited an additional six thousand men. Their vacant positions would be filled by refugees entering Amurtat to survive the winter.

Even now, refugees were lined up in front of the city gates under construction, while city officials braved the cold to record their names on parchment scrolls.

“I should show some concern for the officials working in this cold weather. Tell the servants to bring them some warm soup.”

“Yes, Your Highness. The officials will be delighted.”

Speaking of warm soup, it reminds me of the packaged oden I used to eat in winter.

I may never eat it again, but at least I can provide that warmth to others.

THUD!

“Huh?”

“Well then, shall we begin the paperwork?”

My aide said this while pushing forward a thick stack of parchments, and I picked up a quill pen with sweaty hands.

My trembling hands… that’s just my imagination, right?

*

Gulp! Gulp!

“Ughh…”

I was drinking alcohol while working on documents.

Because my head hurt.

At this point, it didn’t matter whether my headache was from the alcohol or from the paperwork.

What harm could a little alcohol do when I wouldn’t get cirrhosis or liver disease anyway?

“Your Highness. Here’s additional paperwork.”

“Urgh… just leave it there.”

One might wonder if administrative work decreases in winter when activity levels drop, but generally, that’s not the case.

Although fewer than in autumn, a considerable number of immigrants (read: refugees) still arrive in winter. Having traveled through the cold to reach this city, they would collapse and die without prompt support after their winter march.

Moreover, most winter refugees are in worse condition than autumn refugees, often on the brink of starvation, making them even harder to manage.

Those who struggled through spring and summer faced a different level of desperation compared to those who endured spring, summer, and autumn.

Even now, half the documents concerned refugees, reminding me how cruel this world was to people.

“Damn it… why don’t the refugees ever stop coming? Is there some magical fountain sprouting people?!”

I shouted, spilling wine on the documents.

Even if this is reality and not a game anymore, does it make sense that refugees keep flooding in even as the fifth year draws to a close?

“There’s Fahrenheit.”

“What about it?”

“Fahrenheit is a fully developed nation. In other words, they don’t accept refugees without special reasons. They can supply enough human resources internally.”

“So… people who were rejected by Fahrenheit and those who left Fahrenheit come to Amurtat?”

“That’s one way to put it.”

I could only sigh at my aide’s explanation.

If these refugees came to my country after being rejected elsewhere, the endless stream made sense, but I couldn’t shake that uneasy feeling.

It’s rational to choose the second-best option when the best fails, but from a ruler’s perspective, it was frustrating to be Plan B rather than Plan A.

Of course, some might head straight to Amurtat if they had acquaintances or family here, but no matter how much Amurtat was growing, it was impossible to surpass Fahrenheit, the northern powerhouse.

The difference in scale was too great, and our strength didn’t weaken them, nor did our growth cause their decline.

“Argh! Damn it! I’m not sleeping tonight! Michaela!!! Bring more wine!!!”

Damn it all! Since it’s come to this, I’ll accept every single person and achieve the feat of being the first northern city to reach a population of one million!

Come at me, world! Come at me, paperwork!

*

The world is cruel.

Despite working for a week with the help of alcohol, the paperwork never ended.

“Urrrgh…”

My head hurts. This is definitely because of the alcohol.

“Damn it…”

After gulping down the iced honey water Michaela brought, my headache finally seemed to subside a bit.

Yes, as they say, even rolling in dog dung is better than the afterlife. Isn’t it better to be alive drinking honey water than dying coughing up blood like Won-sul?

“Your Highness. Additional paperwork.”

“ARGH!”

Cancel that. Perhaps it would be better to cough up a bucket of blood and die cleanly.

“Damn it! Why is there so much work even after processing all that?”

I confronted my aide with bloodshot eyes.

This bastard! He must be dumping all the work on me to make his life easier!

“Those were documents about refugee housing and meals. These new ones concern refugee employment, medical support, and the production and transportation of materials for wall construction.”

“Urrrgh…”

Damn it. I never dreamed that what was just an annoying mini-game in the game would become shackles choking me in reality.

It’s fortunate that I’m used to sitting and doing something all day to the point of nausea. Someone who preferred moving around would have gone mad long ago.

“Then, after I process these?”

“Then we’ll have plans for deploying soldiers to guard the walls, wall maintenance, and administrative documents for the isolated city.”

“…”

Damn… the administration… it never ends.

“Come to think of it, isn’t Francesca a rational female monarch?”

“Whether Francesca is rational or not, let’s process the regular documents first before discussing that.”

“Tch.”

Not working, damn it.

I began tackling the documents with trembling hands and bloodshot eyes.

In truth, while the volume was large, most complex matters were sorted out by my aide, making me little more than a machine stamping and signing. But the sheer quantity meant that even just reviewing before approving took considerable time.

Some say giving an aide that much authority is dangerous because they could abuse it midway, and that’s correct.

The moment an administrative official becomes corrupt, the country can falter instantly.

But ultimately, it’s the monarch’s responsibility if their closest aide becomes corrupt, and the monarch holds the power to appoint and dismiss the aide. The aide’s corruption is more a result than a process.

It’s nothing new for an aide, disgusted by the monarch’s negligence and incompetence, to start looking out only for themselves.

“Aide.”

“Yes?”

“I’m watching you.”

“If you’re free enough to watch me, then I’ll bring more documents.”

“Wait. No.”

This isn’t what I meant…