“It’s a simple misunderstanding. Renner-sama is not that type of person.”

Climb was certain.

Those tears were not lies. That girl called Renner was selfless and kind. He, whose life was saved by her, knew this for a fact.

But his words did not reach the prince. He showed a bitter smile and walked away from Climb, with Marquis Raeven following behind him.

Climb muttered in the empty hallway.

“Renner-sama is the most benevolent person in the world. My existence is proof. If…”

He swallowed those last words. Even so, they continued in his heart.

If Renner-sama ruled the Kingdom, it would become a great nation that stood by its people.

Of course, considering the line of succession, it was an impossible wish.

Regardless, Climb could not give it up.

Lower Fire Month (9th Month), Day 3, 8:11

At last, Climb arrived in front of the room in the palace that he frequented the most often.

Having checked his surroundings several times over, he boldly turned the doorknob.

Not knocking was absurd, but this was what his master wished for. She refused to listen no matter how much Climb opposed it.

In the end, Climb was the one who relented. It couldn’t be helped that a girl’s tears put him at a disadvantage. Although with that said, he managed to establish a few conditions. No matter what she said, he could not enter without knocking in the presence of the King.

It was also true that entering without knocking was a source of great stress for Climb. Needless to say, every time he opened the door, Climb felt that there was no way that something like this would be permitted.

As he was about to fling the door open, his hands stopped at the sound of a heated discussion that was flowing through the small crack.

He heard two voices, both female.

The reason he stopped was because one of the voices sounded so absorbed in the discussion that it failed to notice Climb’s presence, albeit he was outside of the room. He did not want to throw cold water over their enthusiasm. Climb stood still and focused his ears on the voices in the room. Although he felt guilty about eavesdropping, he would feel even more guilty if he interrupted such a heated talk.

“—say it before? Humans only focus on the profits that are in front of them.”

“Mmmm…”

“…Renner, your plan about harvesting different crops on rotation… although I don’t really think that would improve the yield… how long would people have to wait for the results to show?”

“By my calculations, at the least, it should take around six years.”

“Then what’s the projected loss of profits for those six years when we cultivate different crops?”

“It depends on the crop… but if we’re at a hundred now then we’ll be around eighty percent. So we may have a twenty percent loss.  But after six years we’ll be looking at a steady thirty percent increase in harvest. If we cultivate pastures and put us on track to raise more livestock then we can expect even more.”

“…If it was just that last part then everyone would jump on it. But will people agree to the constant twenty percent hit for those six years?”

“…The Kingdom loans out the twenty percent without interest or collateral, set up a method of payment when people start to turn a profit. If the harvest doesn’t improve… don’t collect and if the harvest does increase, according to the plan, people will be able to pay everything back in four years.

“It would be difficult.”

“Why?”

“I told you. People only care about profits that are in front of them — there’s more who prefer stability. Even if you can guarantee a thirty percent increase after six years, there’s obviously going to be people who are hesitant.”

“I… don’t understand. The results from the field I tested were favorable…”

“Even if the test goes well it still isn’t absolute.”

“…Well I didn’t test it under every possible condition, so I guess it isn’t. Accounting for every geological feature of the land or climates would require a large scale experiment.”

“Then it’s going to be hard. Even not knowing if the future thirty percent increase is the maximum or an average is going to kill your argument. This means you have to be able to promise a significant profit along with profits in the short term.”

“What if we provide the twenty percent free of charge for those six years?”

“The rival nobility faction will be happy since the King will be losing power.”

“But if we can secure as much goods as we give after six years, the national power will see an increase…”

“Then the rival nobility’s power will increase as well while the King’s power falls by twenty percent. The nobles in the King’s faction will never agree to it.”

“Then we ask the merchants and…”

“You’re talking about the Great Merchants right? They have their own conflicts. Carelessly lending their strength to the King’s faction can affect their ability to conduct business properly with the other faction.”

“This is too hard… Lakyus.”

“…You can’t get much advance work done so your policies end up with a ton of weak spots. Well… I can understand that two massive factions make it incredibly difficult. …How about working just on the issues in the palace?”

“I don’t think my brothers will allow it.”

“Ah, those idi… people who left their honor in their mother’s womb just for you.”

“We don’t even share the same mother.”

“My, so from the King’s side then. Anyways, to think that even the royal family isn’t close, so frustrating…”

As the room became quiet, she realized that the discussion was finished.

“Ah, it’s okay to come in now. Right, Renner?”

“What?”

That voice made Climb’s heart thump loudly in his chest. He was astonished that she already knew he was here and at the same time, felt that it was to be expected. Climb slowly opened the door.

“—Excuse me.”

A familiar sight entered Climb’s eyes.

Luxurious but not gaudy— in the room, two blond ladies sat around a table by the windowsill.

One of them was obviously the master of the room, Renner.