225 Tale of Hardships
"Ah, looks like you're finally willing to listen. Now then, first, where to begin..."
The prime minister fixedly glared at me as he waited.
"Guess I should go straight to the crux of the matter. Which is to say, an intel about a new weapon of war at the empire, correct?"
"What about it! That guy is the biggest most idiotic king this kingdom has ever seen! I had been attending to that shitty bastard's need from a tender age, but I couldn't take it anymore! No! I question my own sanity letting that dregs be king all this time! Why didn't I crush him sooner?! Should've banished and exiled him before it came to this point!"
Due to the sudden appearance of Chimera, the PM seemed to have a nervous breakdown as he rambled from his heart.
No sign of him stopping. He kept insulting the king with dirty words.
"What did the king say back then? It must have been really bad. I mean, if it was enough to shock you to the core like this."
I pretended to sympathize with the PM to fish out more.
But that sympathy became real once I heard his next words.
"Whatever... That guy said whatever to this country's fate! 'Just gotta surrender to the empire and all's gonna be swell', he spewed! He caused nothing but trouble even before becoming king and forced me to wipe his ass every single time! He appointed me as a long term prime minister once he took the throne yes, but that was only because he didn't want to deal with his kingly duty and pushed it all on me! I hail from a noble house that has served this kingdom's kings for many generations. But the man who became king in my generation was a garbage..."
Looks like there's no stopping the PM letting out all his pent-up resentment.
"All he did was stamping documents he never as much as even glanced at. Then he went on a wild merrymaking all day long. Using money he pilfered from national treasury without approval! Do you even have any idea how toilsome it was to balance the sheets because of that unbelievably foolish act?! How would anyone entrust this nation's security to that fool! Forget about our military! Or the empire! He never gave it a damn! That guy even still dared to utter more out of that foul mouth of his! 'I wanna play all day long without a care in the world till my deathbed', he said! Even added, 'You make that happen.'!"
I can understand this PM's hardships after hearing all that, I feel a tinge of guilt.
The PM resumed his heartfelt narration.
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"The agent we lost contact with has a wife and children... he was my subordinate. Always by my side throughout our younger days. We were steadfast friends. I had gone myself to give explanations on his fate as well as condolence money... but I couldn't tell his family the truth since it was a national secret. I had to lie about his death... It was so hard to watch his young children unable to grasp the concept of death. His wife didn't cry at that time somehow. Do you know why? ...'My husband would not tell me about his job, but I just knew that it was a dangerous line of work.' she said. She was gripping her fist not out of sorrow but gripe. She was a strong woman. Thus I splurged with my personal fund and gave them enough to live comfortably for years. That was the only thing I could do. The only thing..."
Oh crap, this PM's personal circumstance is just too much. The other ministers' reactions proved that.
Some looked sorrowful, other looked frustrated.
I don't believe he's just making up stories for sympathy. I could sense deep emotion in his words.
Suddenly, the PM lifted up his face and shouted out loud.
"What should I say in front of his grave!? Our king's words!? To that man who risked his all for this country! Can you believe what that waste of space vomited?! 'You coulda bought me some good wine with that money, what a waste'! To my friend! And my important subordinate! That garbage said that as he drank with women attending to him!"
I'm no longer pining the fault on this PM.
I mean who could have guessed the king turned out to be such a failure of human being.
"That was when I took the matter in my own hands. I scraped together all the balance sheets I had been keeping on me in consideration of all the great kings before and used them as evidence. We opened additional probes and arrested all the nobles who had been misappropriating fund alongside the king one by one... we seized all their assets as well."
The PM must have let out all the pent-up pus he had been holding in. His face looks refreshing with the smile.
But then he turned gloomy again.
"What do you think that shitty bastard said as we were busy cleaning up the trash? 'Man, what's those guys been up to these days anyway? Well whatever. I'm in heaven so long I got booze and women.' he said as he used the money we seized from the trash to play around. He never suspected a thing. It was all just so funny to watch."
The PM laughed with a dark smile on his face. The other ministers next to him are just standing with solemn looks.
So there's only ministers in this audience chamber because there's no noble left. A lot of them must have been expunged.
"After a while, once we finished laying out the groundwork, I invited that guy. To somewhere with a beautiful fountain. A pleasure jaunt if you will. Oh gave me a praise he did, 'Man, you know the stuff for once'. So carefree. There must have not even a speck of idea of him departing to his own confinement. His head has nothing but fooling around inside. It was far too late by the time he realized, and yet what did you think he spouted off at that point?"
After a beat, the PM resumed the finale listlessly.
"That shitstain yelled in anger and confusion, 'Oy! You bastard! What do you think you're doing to me!'"
Once he spoke that, the PM looked like he was all but completely burned out white.