I jotted down the initials and favorability ratings of the council members in my notebook. While I was doing that, Elias opened his mouth without a flicker of change in his expression.
"Now, we don't have much time, so let's skip any further pleasantries and get straight to the point."
"..."
His own will to cut others off was clearly visible.
"There's been one story making national headlines recently. Do you know what it is?"
"The insect problem."
"Of course, that's a topic. But there's another."
One council member frowned and clasped his hands together.
"I'm not sure. Please enlighten us."
"Do you recall the charity magic event hosted by Lord Nikolaus two weeks ago?"
At Elias's gesture, an aide produced a photo of a baby taken while waiting in line at the time.
"There was an infant suffering from an unexplained skin disease. Its entire body looked as if it would fester and burst at any moment. I bring this up to illustrate the severity of the situation."
Elias displayed a newspaper article from that time as reference material.
"Until now, insects have not been a target of our vigilance. Insects were considered too weak to contain mana, and even if they were lucky enough to possess it, they could only hold a minuscule amount."
The council members nodded.
So far, the reaction was favorable.
Elias was speaking within the bounds of common sense.
"But look. Insects, which until now weren't even worth guarding against, have transferred mana and contaminated humans. And not at a negligible level, but at a level fatal to the elderly and weak. I believe we all agree on the seriousness of the problem."
"That is correct."
The Vice-Chairman answered.
He was the highest authority present.
The Chairman of the Federal Council, who is also the nation's Prime Minister, was not attending this briefing.
Come to think of it, the Chief of the Public Safety Headquarters wasn't here either; instead, the Director of the Magical Public Safety Finance Office, a rank below, was seated.
"Good. Look at the data. This is the result of injecting mosquito venom into skin. You can see it exhibits the same pattern as the skin disease patient from Mephen."
"We are aware, Duke Elias. There hasn't been a newspaper in the past week that didn't cover this."
"Yes. The data I present next is the result of crossbreeding mosquitoes from the Mephen region, categorized into three groups. In the worst-case scenario, we found that some offspring could inflict five times the damage of the current contaminated mosquitoes."
"This has also been reported in the media."
The Vice-Chairman of the Federal Council nodded.
Elias stared silently at the Vice-Chairman for a long moment, then grinned.
"If you all know, then there's no need for lengthy explanations. I heard the news before it was reported and urged the Public Safety Headquarters and the Council to take action."
"Yes, we are aware of that point. Let's be sure to mention that…"
Elias stretched out his hand without even looking that way.
"I would appreciate it if you would allow me to finish speaking."
"No, right now that's…"
"I urged action! But the Public Safety Headquarters simply returned my external mail? I understand. There might have been explosives. But shouldn't you have established a contact channel to be reached for the safety of the citizens?"
A mage from the Public Safety Headquarters rose from his seat.
"That is something we can answer…"
"Ah, of course! I understand. Seeing that you all attended the emergency meeting convened by the Prime Minister must mean you have the will to improve. Obviously, I know. I understand fully, so there's no need for explanations."
"No, what are you talking about all by yourself…!"
"Duke Elias, please participate with decorum."
"If I seemed undignified, I sincerely apologize. Anyway…"
He asked for a chance to finish speaking, yet he was the one cutting others off.
If it were Nana or Leo, that attitude would be front-page news in real-time.
I watched his composed expression and let out a hollow laugh.
"Returning to the main point, I state once again here. For the safety of the citizens, purify the inside of the barrier once a week. We must not give contaminated bugs time to grow."
Elias finished speaking and looked around the seats.
Someone from the back row nodded and asked.
"Once a week… What does Lord Nikolaus think of this?"
Can't you tell by his presence here?
Of course, that's not a real question about his opinion.
I answered calmly, unfazed by his words.
"I share the same opinion."
"Huh…"
"What are you asking? It's a proposal drafted after discussions with Lord Nikolaus in the first place."
Elias shrugged his shoulders as he answered.
Then, a council member stood up.
"Federal Councilor Henning Berend."
"Yes, go ahead."
"First, to clarify any potential misunderstanding from the Duke's remarks for the citizens watching the broadcast. According to the data, mosquitoes inflicting over five times the damage accounted for only 8% of the third-generation mosquitoes. Shall we look at the numbers? Four. Just four."
"..."
Elias pursed his lips as if to whistle, then laughed.
His face looked like he had a lot to say but was holding back.
Perhaps gaining confidence because we didn't challenge that statement, the councilor now raised his voice louder.
"Duke Elias, do you know how much regional purification costs?"
"100,000 per instance."
"That's for the lower grade. For medium and high grades, more funds are invested. While we fully sympathize with Duke Elias's concerns, any solution must be feasible. Cleaning all 21 restricted zones once a week is not a realistic method."
The councilor gently drew out his words as if admonishing a disobedient child.
A worse signal than just raising his voice.
For his side, of course.
It meant arrogance had set in, and he felt very at ease with this situation.
Elias beamed a bright smile and opened his mouth.
"Fifteen lower grade, five medium grade, one high grade, correct?"
"That is correct."
"Good. Then let's assume fairly that there are seven each of lower, medium, and high grade. No objections?"
I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Look at him setting the trap.
"Why insist on…"
"For calculation convenience. Anyway, do you agree or not?"
"If you wish to calculate it that way."
The councilor nodded.
There was no reason to disagree.
With fewer lower-grade and more high-grade, the budget would be higher, making the cost issue seem more severe to the public.
The councilor crossed his arms and waited for Elias's answer.
"The labor costs allocated for medium and high grades are 500,000 pell and 1,000,000 pell respectively. Then the total labor cost would be 700,000 for lower, 3.5 million for medium, and 7 million for high grade. That sums to 11.2 million."
About 1.12 billion won in Korean currency.
Multiply that by 52 weeks.
That's 58.24 billion won per year.
"58.24 million pell per year. That seems a reasonable amount to spend for citizen safety."
"It's not an insignificant sum. We must not overlook that barrier maintenance costs are also involved."
"That side is about 1.8 billion pell. A total of 2.38 billion pell… That seems like money we should definitely spend."
About 238 billion.
But if we combine the newly calculated standard labor costs and barrier maintenance costs, it comes to about 1.16 trillion won.
They must already know, having received the proposal.
Even if they hadn't read the proposal, it's fine.
Just calculating barrier suitability with common sense yields a roughly similar figure.
Such a stark difference arises because the existing maintenance cost of 180 billion was a severely lowballed figure for barrier suitability.
Since they shamelessly lowballed 1 trillion to 180 billion, they could easily make a fuss at this stage too.
Sure enough, even though the total annual national expenditure wasn't an unreasonable scale, several senators shook their heads with subtle smiles as if finding it absurd.
Disbelieving, hollow laughs could be heard.
"Huh, really…"
"How can you speak so easily…"
"Duke Elias, there is no such thing as an amount we 'must' spend. Budgets must be adjusted according to circumstances. We cannot dig up money that doesn't exist. Should we borrow foreign currency for this problem? Our Empire?"
Unfazed by that reaction, Elias smiled smoothly.
"If necessary, then of course we should."
"..."
"He has no sense of reality."
"Really, what does he intend…"
Early in the novel, the parliament passes a 2 trillion won supplementary budget bill to increase standing military forces.
They say that, but the main use ends up being the salaries of the Imperial and Royal Army brass.
It means the budget goes into the pockets of federal councilors and nobles who hold positions in each military branch.
The more sensitively they treat the insect problem, the less funds available for the budget bill they plan to push soon, causing a hitch in their plans.
Moreover, the field concerning Pleroma crime is one where, once the budget is raised, it's difficult to reduce it again.
From their perspective, they needed to try to stamp out raising the issue from the very beginning.
To dismiss Elias's demand, which sides with the citizens, from the outset as 'nonsense' and 'unrealistic,' thereby reducing the subsequent flood of public demands and criticism.
From the start, they agreed to the meeting intending to make Elias a buffer for the topic, hence they are deliberately treating him as if he lacks a sense of reality, even over about 58 billion won in purification costs.
Of course, the fact that the properly calculated cost isn't 58 billion but exceeds 1 trillion also played a part.
Amid the stream of rude remarks, one of the youngest-looking councilors chided Elias in a mocking voice.
"If Your Grace wishes to engage in politics like that, you should first develop a sense of reality."
"..."
At those words, Elias's face, which had shown little expression while enduring the criticism, hardened in an instant.
*Crack— Thud—!*
A breaking sound came from the crutch he was leaning on. He threw the crutch from his right arm to the floor and leaned on the intact crutch.
An aide was seen urgently contacting somewhere.
'...He touched a nerve.'
He never said he wanted to engage in politics, so bringing up those words... was most likely exploiting knowledge of Elias's situation.
The fact that Elias's mana overwhelms the current Emperor naturally leads to the conclusion that even if Elias tried to involve himself in state affairs like ordinary imperial family members, the Emperor wouldn't allow it.
There are even a few distant imperial family councilors present here right now.
As long as the Emperor is watching with open eyes, Elias cannot be entrusted with anything beyond a position far below his family's name, even his own abilities, no matter what he tries to do. No one in politics in this country is unaware of that.
'Knowing all that, saying such things must be hoping he loses his temper.'
That would make it easier to paint the desired picture.
'He shouldn't lose control here.'
I watched Elias's cold face and sank into thought.
The councilor who had grated on his nerves earlier stood up, facing Elias who was maintaining silence.
As if he had something serious to say, he erased his earlier mockery, put on a serious face, and glanced at the broadcast cameras.
"I understand what you want to say. I fully comprehend. From the standpoint of working for the citizens, our concerns might be even greater than Your Grace's."
"Is that so?"
"..."
"W-well…"
"...If this problem were truly a fatal issue, and if our resources were infinite, then we would not spare the budget, as Duke Elias says."
The councilor walked forward and magically displayed data in the center of the conference hall.
"Look at the Imperial investigation data. The number of mosquito individuals investigated in Mephen over the past week is about 1,000, which is by no means a large number."
For the entire region, it's not that many.
But that's not the important point.
That person is now trying to obscure the essence and erase the severity of the situation.
I quietly opened my mouth in place of Elias, who had fallen silent.
"Let's note that all 1,000 individuals are contaminated mosquitoes."
"...Of course... that is true. However, most exist inside the barriers, and individuals without the ability to transmit contamination accounted for a full half. It is premature to ruin daily life in fear."
"That means a full half *do* have contamination transmission ability."
At my subtly laughter-tinged tone, he frowned slightly.
"Thinking that way, of course the problem seems big, Lord Nikolaus. But that's not actually the case. Because 75% of the offspring generation died. Even when the most aggressive mosquitoes were crossbred, a full 90% of the offspring died."
"The same story as the research results I reported."
"Correct. Are Duke Elias and Lord Nikolaus, knowing these figures, still saying we should pay 58 million pell annually in purification costs?"
Now comes the real thing.
He's seriously obfuscating the point.
'Should I keep pushing forward?'
Elias probably has personal feelings toward that person now, so it's uncertain if he can respond calmly.
We can't mess up here, so it might be better for me to step forward fully around now.
I glanced briefly at Elias's face.
'...No, not necessary.'
Seeing his unusually calm, settled expression gave me confidence.
No need to steal his chance to pay back in kind.
Quietly calling to him, Elias looked down at me.
"Go ahead."
I gestured with my chin toward the councilor for Elias.
—-----------
T/N:
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