Third Outer World Story Series: Pumpkin Sorcerer - Chapter 72

Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter

“First of all, let me introduce myself. I am the First Prince of the Senko Country… no, I should probably say former prince under the prevailing circumstances… Well, anyway, my name is Saku Senko.”

“Wow, Prince… Prince?”

At the name the young man announced, Pumpkin unconsciously turned to Kozo and Count Kunuki.

They both affirmed with a nod of the head in response to Pumpkin’s behavior.

Huh, a prince… he’s a prince…

“Excuse me. I forgot that I have something urgent to do so…”

“Your excuse is far too late now.”

“Hmm, I wonder what will happen to the tax rate and the Spalpkins.”

“Ugh… you won’t let me escape. But this is guaranteed to be a messy affair! Please pass such responsibilities on to those who are more devoted to the prince! I am not doing it!”

“You! You dare to say you won’t accept a request from the prince!!”

“Calm down, commander.”

“And even with the prince’s commander here, I can only envision the worst-case scenario of having a discussion in a place like this!?”

“Heh, heh, heh, heh, just give it up.”

“Give it up. There is no alternative for us.”

“Sob sob…”

Pumpkin endeavored to flee when he realized that the prince was involved, but apparently, the option of not getting involved was already sealed once he entered this room. 

Damn you… prick!

“Now, do you mind if we proceed?”

“No problem.”

“Ugh…”

I swear this is a far more complicated situation than the Entdragon thing…

But I suppose I’ll just have to listen to it… And now that it’s come to this…

“Well, you said your name is Pumpkin, right? How well-versed do you know about this country?”

“Oh, I only know the name of the country and the capital city. I’m a countryman.”

“I understand. Then let me start from the beginning.”

And so began the prince’s explanation of Senko Country.

“First off, this country, Senko Country, roughly speaking, has a hierarchical system with a king at the top, aristocrats from duke to baron under the king, followed by commoners below that. The aristocrats are obligated to eliminate threats such as magical beasts and bandits in exchange for receiving taxes from the commoners.”

“Hmm.”

After all these years, Senko Country has a rather solid class system.

Sorry… about my disrespect. I’ll apologize later, so please forgive me now. I can hardly comprehend the etiquette and manners of a person with the status of a village chief.

“The present king’s name is Akito Senko. Except for the fact that he is a bit of a sensualist, having many concubines and mistresses instead of a regular wife, as well as having many half-siblings, I would say that he is a fine king and a decent father, even without any favoritism due to his relatives.”

“Well, I suppose I can kind of understand that.”

The sensualist aspect was about Rio, and the fact that he ruled well was somewhat understandable from the way things were going in the Kunuki territory.

“Now, here’s the thing.”

“…”

The prince’s demeanor shifted, causing Pumpkin to straighten up his posture.

“It happened about a week ago. My half-brother, the Fourth Prince Ray Senko, staged a coup d’etat, seized my father, my half-brothers, and their wives who were in the castle at the time, and proclaimed himself the next king.”

“Hmm.”

“And at the same time, the aristocrats who have joined Ray have risen in arms to remove by force all those who refused his demands.”

What can I say, it is also… yeah. Depending on the forces over here, it could be pretty tight, or it could be deadlocked.

Also, the fact that the Prince is here means that Count Kunuki must have refused to join their side. Probably.

Ah, but I might at least inquire about what Ray’s demand is.

And when Pumpkin asked him about it…

“Ray’s demand, huh? Truth be told, the first time I heard about it, it made me want to lament momentarily that someone so foolish as to make such a demand was half my blood.”

He then tossed Pumpkin a piece of parchment.

Apparently, this was what the demand was written on.

“Let’s see…”

After reading it, and feeling that something unbelievable had crossed his eyes, Pumpkin re-read it for confirmation, paused for a moment to recognize it as fact, and then blurted out.

“That’s stupid…”

“I agree.”

Everyone nodded their heads back and forth in agreement with his mutterings.

There was a lot of jumbled information about the demands, so here was the summary.

1, Turn in the royal families that are in hiding. (including illegitimate offspring like Rio)

2. Give away your daughters and wives as hostages. (obviously for sexual purposes as well)

3. Raise the tax more than 10 times. (According to a quick mental calculation, ordinary people will definitely starve to death if the tax is raised more than 5 times the current rate)

4, Build a new palace and send out manpower. (without wages or transportation costs, of course)

5. Offer tribute to honor the new king. (they are demanding an amount that would ordinarily make it difficult to manage the territory)

6. If you defy me, I will destroy you. (no explanation needed)

Other than that, there were a lot of other details and ridiculous demands.

At any rate, I still don’t understand the first point. If the present king and the first three princes are still living, that would unquestionably be an issue, at least from the perspective of the opposing party.

However… the others… especially after point number 3… yeah. For now, I wonder if it would be permissible to launch a [Resonance Spell?Atomic Pumpkin] into the capital? 

“I hope you’re not going to do that… because that would be collateral damage to the current king.”

“If that thing is shot in the middle of the country, the country will collapse.”

“Oh, did I just say that out loud?”

Apparently, the demands were so absurd that Pumpkin unintentionally let loose a monologue along with his magic power.

“Well, that’s the reason. After escaping from the hands of that moron, I, together with Tsuyoshi, the captain of the Imperial Guard, came to the Kunuki territory, relying on my old acquaintance, Count Kunuki, in order to oppose that moron. Needless to say, the other lords who were not originally cooperating with that moron are all on our side.”

“I see.”

What can I say… yeah. This is an elaborate suicide, isn’t it?