Chapter 46
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Arthur was burying himself in books, and research day in and day out. He read up on the different houses in his kingdom, their histories, economies and even art preferences. He was making spreadsheet after spreadsheet to condense information better, and so that he would not need to remember that house Oedrik’s third lord’s illegitimate son had an obsession with cats. He got records from the archives dating back to over three hundred years ago and began looking for trends. He seriously thanked the gods above that he took his statistics courses in his previous life seriously.

What he found made him pale. He knew feudal economies weren’t all that great, but this was horrible! The increasing taxes combined with an even barely growing economy would have resulted in a steadily growing income for the crown. Instead, the income of the crown, when one accounted for inflation, was decreasing. Barely, but steadily. What’s more, was that the overall prosperity of the nation was decreasing when divided by its population. Living conditions were stagnant or even going downhill despite the progression of technology. The schooling system, of course only accepted nobles and despite attempts to hide it, Arthur was able to piece together that its quality decreased as corruption grew through time. Military spendings were ever increasing, but the lands they conquered were rarely worth even half the resources spent in acquiring them.

He could also tell objectively which of his ancestors were fools and which did their best to mitigate their situation. His father and great grandfather for example managed to slow down the collapse of the nation to only stagnation through reforms and some clever maneuvering, with one of his ancestors from 150 years ago, Gailas the Conqueror, a man blessed by the spirits, even managing to reverse some of the damage done before him. But, the biggest reason was plain and simple: debt. It was spiraling out of control, the country needing to take up more debt to pay the previous ones off.

By his calculations, even if he managed to double the output of every aspect of the economy in a single day and had it increase by another 1% each year, the country would not be rid of its debts during his reign. Of course, it would make things a lot easier for his successor, but the point stands. The country would take a miracle to stabilize.

He was racking his brain, trying to figure a way out when there was a knock on his door. Sleep deprived and faced with something he was horribly unprepared for, he answered the knock with decorum.

What?!

Arthur heard a deep sigh from the other side. “At least you’re doing your research.”

‘A miracle, huh…’ Arthur quickly rushed to the door and opened it, looking at what he could guess to be Yuuki. She had more tails now and was even more beautiful somehow. That didn’t matter though. “Please, come in.”

His guest did so and conjured a chair to sit on, because all surfaces save for the floor walls and ceiling were covered in papers.

Before she could say anything, Arthur closed the door and looked at her like she was the light at the end of the tunnel. “Please, help me. I looked through records and I have no idea how I’ll have this country stand up on its legs.”

Yuuki conjured a small table in front of herself and a chair on the other side. She then reached through a hole in space and put a steaming cup of coffee on the table.

“You won’t be able to help anyone if you work yourself to death. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

That was very strange for Arthur to hear considering how hard she pushed them all during training.

“During training, I pushed you as far as you could go without damage. No further.”

Arthur blinked a few times before taking a step back.

“No, I am not reading your mind, I am reading your face. Another reason you should get some sleep. Your subconscious actions are harder to mask when you’re tired.”

Arthur frowned before taking a seat and chugging the hot coffee in a single sip and putting the cup down.

“Now, here are the rules: I will not solve your problems for you, I will tell you how to solve them yourself. I will not help directly, I will have other people do so. And lastly, should you, for any reason choose to give up, I will give you a place to stay far away from politics.” Yuuki said, her tone firm.

“Alright then. How do I get the country’s economy out of the red?”

“There are many ways. One would be to invest more heavily in infrastructure, schooling and cut spendings where possible, and wait a few hundred years.” She met Arthur’s tired expression with a slight smirk. “If you wish for something more immediate, I’m afraid there’s no real easy way. By introducing technologies, like the steam engine for example, you would change the world in an unpredictable way, but it would most likely result in the country’s prosperity.”

“How much time would that take?” He asked, not wanting to get his hopes up.

“Around sixty years. Give or take a decade. You would need to wait for the industry to build up properly before you could introduce electricity after that, but it would cut it down to roughly fifty years, forty-five if you’re lucky.”

“Anything faster, by chance?”

“One.” She leaned back in the chair, with a hint of regret that she answered truthfully. There was no going back now. “On another continent, there is a sacred forest that had been laid to ruin by demons a very very long time ago. Deep in the forest is a cave entrance that only those with a pure heart may enter. Inside, there are three trials. If you succeed, you will gain treasure beyond your wildest dreams. If you fail, you will die alone as your name will be struck from history as if you never were… or so’s the legend. The treasure itself is a powerful artifact created by the goddess of light. Her church will most likely be willing to pay an excessive amount of coin to receive it, enough to buy your country back from debt collectors.”

“Where is it?” He asked without skipping a beat.

“I’ll tell you once you’re ready.” She said with concern on her face.

“Since when do you care so much?” He yelled as he slammed his fists on the table.

“Around a week ago. I realized I don’t have to be a tool. I am my own person and I wish to enjoy my life. And I do not want those I care about to be hurt.” She answered calmly, ignoring his anger.

He sighed, deflating. “I'm sorry.”

“It’s alright. For now, you should get some shuteye, I'll come by again soon.” She waved her hand and the many papers organized themselves into neat stacks. As he moved to fall into his newly available bed, Yuuki talked once more. “Oh, before I forget, your mother and I are dating now, so… I have no idea how this works, I thought I’d let you know.”

Arthur blinked many times before she had a confused smile on his face. “I’m happy for you. Uhmmm… take care of her?” He really didn't know what to say. This came out of the blue.

Yuuki nodded before disappearing. ‘Was she glowing? Nah, probably my imagination. She did get taller though.’ Arthur decided he needed sleep. A lot of it. Now that he thought about it, the coffee tasted a bit strange. Also, he hadn’t felt any more awake from it, but instead felt more and more tired by the second. With those thoughts, he collapsed face first into his pillow as he fell asleep.

 

I'm no economist (just a potato), but I think I left things vague enough that it should't be too stupid and nonsensical. Lemme know if I should change some things! Also, it still ended with sleep. Dread it, run from it, sleep arrives all the same. Speaking of which, I have some sheep to count. Byeee!

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