CH 212

Something is suffocating me… what in the world…….?

I thought that my eyes should be open but everything was still pitch black. Even if it was midnight now, it wouldn’t be so dark. It is impossible that I can’t see the light of the moon and the stars.

But it’s definitely pitch black right now… Or rather, it’s not just dark, I feel like my face is wrapped in something soft. I reach for the thing that surrounds my face, thinking I’ll move it just a little.

“Ah… mnn…”

“Hmm?”

I heard a feminine voice of some kind. And what I touched was very soft. It’s a sensation that makes me want to touch it all the time.

“Flora….”

“Mm…”

As I gently touched that soft and comfortable thing, my head was held tightly and wrapped up more and more in that softness. It smells so good. I don’t know how to say it… I feel relieved… I want to be surrounded like this all the time…

“Fufu, you look like a baby, Flora.”

“Mm~…”

I was being hugged tightly and had my head stroked just before it would start being painful. This is… Alexandra’s scent… that’s what it is. It’s Alexandra.

“Alexandra… I love you. I love you so much.”

“My! To say something like that in your sleep… I’m embarrassed,” Alexandra said.

…………?

Huh……? Is this a dream? If it’s not a dream, is this…?

“-!? Alexandra!?” I cried.

“Yes?” Alexandra said.

Huh!? I got a reply even though it was a dream!?

Gabah! There was a faint sound and when I lifted my face out of the softness…

“Alexandra?” I asked again.

“Yes,” Alexandra said.

I was on Alexandra’s chest. When I look up at her face, Alexandra is looking at me with a gentle smile. Even though I was just saying “Alexandra” over and over again like an idiot, she answered me without getting tired of it.

“Um…?”

What in the world…….? Why am I being hugged by Alexandra? I wake up desperately trying to remember.

“Ah~! Hold up! Alexandra! What are you doing!? Running wild is forbidden, isn’t it?! Floto! Me next!”

“Uu–…” I gasped.

I’m squeezed from behind! And someone grabs me by the neck and pulls me away. It’s not like I’m being strangled to death, but I wonder if she can’t handle people a little gentler.

“This time, please let me pamper you with my breasts!”

“…………”

It’s hard… unlike Alexandra’s fluffy and soft breasts, Mikoto’s breasts are hard and small. I can firmly feel the bones underneath. But this isn’t bad either. Above all, it smells a bit like sweet milk. Any man would be happy to be surrounded by Alexandra’s maternal big breasts. But like this… Mikoto’s small breasts are also precious.

“… ah, wait!”

And while I thought that, my head finally cleared.

“Ahn! Geeze! Floto, you should be more gentle!” Mikoto regretfully said as I pulled away.

But now that I’m fully awake, I can’t do that anymore.

“What in the hell are you doing!?” I asked.

“Because Alexandra was spoiling you with her breasts like a baby, Floto… I wanted to spoil you too,” Mikoto said.

Nope, no way.

“What I meant is, don’t say that~~~!!!” I yelled.

That’s the thing. Even though I was half asleep until a while ago, I was wrapped in Alexandra’s breasts and spoiled by her… I ended up saying I love her! No, it’s true that I love her, and it’s fine, but to say it like that… too embarrassing!

“Miss Flora, if you don’t get ready for the morning, you’ll be late,” Katharina said.

Calm! Calm down, Katharina! That just adds to my embarrassment!

But I can’t say that either. As Katharina said, I have to go to my morning routine already. I headed off to start my day as if I was fleeing from this situation.

After finishing my morning routine and breakfast, I relax a little. When I calm down, I remember the events of the morning again and feel like I’m writhing in embarrassment. It makes me wonder if this is exactly what fainting in agony feels like.

At that time in the morning, both Claudia and Louisa were already awake. Both of them are always up early in the morning. Louisa worked on farms and ranches, so it’s not unusual for her to be up early in the morning. Claudia is also a knight, so mornings are also early for her. And as I promised before, recently I’ve been training Claudia after my daily routine is over.

Claudia’s strength is that of a woman, so she’s no match for a man, but that’s why she’s a swordsman who’s light on her feet. If her opponent is a monster, she struggles against the hardier ones, so she can’t win against them without heavier armor. However, even if she wears a little armor against humans, if she can accurately attack weak points and thinly armored areas, her power will be sufficient.

She has good swordsmanship and memory, so if she keeps training like this, she’ll probably grow into a pretty skilled warrior. Also, if possible, I would like to teach her about Boosts, but unfortunately, I don’t know much about Boosts. What I usually use is a uniquely developed Buff Magic that is different from the Boosts used by the knights. I can’t teach her how to boost.

Anyway, I have to go to Danzij today. Why is everyone trying to let me manage their territory?

In my image, I imagined something like a mutual aid organization where free cities cooperate with each other. Despite that, Visvy and Lubek gave me the right to manage the territory and the city, so you could say that the Caanza Alliance is actually a merger despite the name.

Caanburg, Cien, and Floren were originally our territories and not free cities. For the initial establishment, I thought it would be better to list the names of as many cities as possible, so I just put the names of our three towns in for the time being, but that might have been a bad idea.

As far as I’m concerned, I’ll leave the city management to each free city, and let Caanza just open a branch and do business. If there is a problem, we will work together within the Alliance to solve it. I wanted it to look like that… I wanted to take it, but for some reason, it seems like I have to manage both the territories and the cities within them.

Well, negotiations with Danzij have not started yet. Some may not want to surrender their seats of power, like the Lubek Council. In that case, it would be possible to participate in the alliance in a different form, such as the negotiations that would be constantly ongoing, or their citizen assemblies continuing to govern as it is.

Congress may still rule and join the Alliance. There was a time when I thought that’s how it would work…

“Aaah! Thank you very much! But we would be so grateful if Sir Floto von Caan would govern this city!”

“No… uh…” I said.

I’m currently participating in Danzij’s Council. I got on a boat in the morning and came to Danzij, which is further east than Lubek. As soon as I arrived, I received a warm welcome and was passed through Danzij into their Council House, whereupon I found they had already dissolved their authority and the governing body to hand them over to Caanza Trading Firm, instead.

“Wait a minute,” I said. “Everyone, are you okay with handing over your sovereignty to someone like Caanza? You don’t even know how we’ll rule. Besides, once we have power, do you think we’ll give it up so easily?”

Ordinary people are greedy. Once he has rights and powers, he is reluctant to let them go. It’s like getting the right to freely order the city by joining its Council. In fact, if you go too far, it will be like the old Lubek Council, but there will be many people who do similar things, even if they don’t go that far.

Congressional bills that make their personal firms or associate companies profitable or advantageous, or bring donations or slush funds to other companies to get their own advantage. How can those who have taken such profits relinquish those rights without any ulterior motives?

“The Danzij Council was run on a rotating, or rather, an endlessly cyclical basis… each company or union had a representative,” a council member said. “But we were all just merchants and the union members were craftsmen, so it was a burden. To begin with, if we ruled with no knowledge or experience in governance, it would not go well… so if you, Sir Caan, would take over with all your experience and achievements in governance, we all unanimously concluded it would be for the best.”

“Aah! Thanks to you, Sir Caan, I can finally concentrate on my business!”

“In all honesty, I couldn’t be absent on days when there was a Council meeting, and I was in trouble because I didn’t have a lot of freedom about the schedule of business talks and arrivals and departures of ships!”

“Yeah, thank goodness for this!

…………. I see, it seems that the members of the Councils here were merchants and craftsmen through and through. To put it bluntly, I also have the same opinion as these Danzij councilors.

The management and control of the territory are troublesome and there is little to gain. In feudal societies, it would have played an important role in local government. In addition, having a large territory and a large population, the tax revenue that came from there was a big income.

But I and the members of Danzij’s Council think differently. The economy is the most important factor in the society of the future. Of course, there is still economic activity even now. And the center of it all is the crops and agriculture. Most of the population grows some kind of crops, pays tribute to them as taxes, and the Lord receives income to manage the territory.

But as the economy grows, things change. Rather than managing the territory directly by themselves, it would be much less burdensome and easier to make money by letting the governing body handle the management so they can focus on their businesses.

Of course, it is bad for the Lord to manage the territory poorly. For example, if they promote policies that hinder the development of commerce and industry, or decide on a system that will only give advantages or disadvantages to specific traders or companies, but unless they start causing problems, the merchants and craftsmen will not go out of their way to govern themselves and leave it to a third party.

Even Japanese companies leave the politics to the national government and local government units, so they don’t try to govern themselves. Of course, they create economic groups and decide on policies that are too advantageous to them, and hold discussions and negotiations with the governing body so that disadvantageous decisions are not carried out. But there will be no companies that would rule the area instead of the national government or municipality.

I would have been happy entrusting the management of the free city to the existing governing body, in this case, the Danzij Council, and just doing business myself. If Caanza could advance and do business normally without being particularly disadvantaged, it was only intended to do business in a way that would be mutually beneficial.

And yet it never occurred to me that Councils would do the opposite of what I had in mind. The councilors here felt that it was a burden to participate in their governing body and run the city. Therefore, following the example of Visvy and Lubek, they will throw all the control over to the Caanza Alliance and concentrate on their private businesses. They’re doing the opposite of what I wanted…

“By the way, Sir Caan, do you know Koenigsvelg?” a council member asked.

“… Of course, I know it,” I said.

…… Wait a minute. I have only a bad feeling about this. I don’t want to hear this trend. If it’s my misunderstanding, it’s just a funny story. But… if by any chance… it’s as I imagined, I can’t laugh.

I beg you, please be my misunderstanding! Don’t think too much of me! Please let me be wrong!

“Ooh!” the council member said. “Is that so?! Actually, Koenigsvelg is also a free city.”

I know that already! It’s further east of Danzij and it’s a free city! I know that! I don’t need to hear that. And I don’t want to hear about it!

“Koenigsvelg also wants to join the Caanza Alliance, so we have received a request for Danzij’s Council to act as an intermediary,” the council member continued. “I’m sorry to ask this of you, Sir Caan, but we would like to discuss this joining with Koenigsvelg as well. We’re in the same industry and have a lot of connections…”

Of course, of course. I’m sure he’s got a good point. He may be right, but I’m not associated with Danzij or Koenigsvelg. Danzij calls out to me through the connection to Lubek, and Koenigsvelg calls out to me through the connection with Danzij

It’s crazy! I want to go west, but for some reason, I’m being pulled eastward!

Of course, it’s important to keep friends with Danzij and Koenigsvelg in the Hulk Sea Trade. It would be necessary. But why should I rule over it!? This is ridiculous no matter how you look at it! The Caanza League is going in a weird direction. It’s not what I thought!

“If you don’t mind, would it be possible for you to attend the Koenigsvelg Council today? If you’re leaving from here in Danzij, Koenigsvelg is right around the corner… ah! If you’re tired, we can try at a later date… so what do you think?”

There’s no way I can refuse that… in the first place, even for me, going back to this place, no, going even further is a hassle. Anyway, it would be quicker to go there today. However…….

“Haa… I understand… let’s head there today…” I said.

“Thank you! We’ll get the word out that you’ll be arriving soon!”

In the end, it will end up like this…