Dungeon Defense (WN)

“Hmm…….”

Laura flipped a page. She would always make an audible hum like this whenever she read.

I thought it was a weird habit, so I pointed it out once, but Laura answered by telling me that she was making herself understand by making that noise. Surprisingly, this genius girl isn’t able to understand a book after reading it once. This was like a technique of sorts.

“Lord, books filled with republican ideals have been getting published from free cities.”

“Is that so? Well, I assume that many intellectuals have been oppressed until now.”

Republicanism wasn’t an unfamiliar concept in this world. It simply didn’t have the conditions to thrive.

“It would be nice if the thinkers of the world continued to present arguments that support republicanism. That would help the continent fall into further chaos.”

“But……it is hard to say that there is only a single type of republic.”

Laura twirled her side bang.

“Hmm?”

“Look. This author is saying this.”

Laura held her book open for me to read. The following was written where she was pointing with her slender finger:

「People must be careful not to confuse a republican constitutional system with a democratic constitutional system.」

「First, nations and city-states are distinguished by who has governmental power. Therefore, nations and city-states where one person, an alliance of people, or everyone that makes up the civil society has the power are referred to as a monarchy, an aristocracy, and a democracy, in that order.」

「Second, nations and city-states can also be distinguished by the way they are ruled regardless of whoever is in power.」

「It is through this method of rule that we can distinguish whether a nation is republican or absolutistic. ━Republicanism refers to the method that divides legislative power and executive power. On the other hand, the executive power carries out legislative power on its own in absolutism.」

「Thus, the methods of democracy are inevitably absolutistic.」

“……Huuh?”

I unconsciously let a noise slip out from between my lips. What kind of original bullshit is this?

I received the book from Laura and flipped to the next page. Sentences that were written in Habsburgian, which was infamous for being dirty to read, continued on in the next pages.

「For example, let us say that one person does not agree in terms of policies, laws, etc. In a democracy, everyone would ignore that one person and decide the policies, thus everyone that is not actually everyone makes the decisions. This leads to the justification of executive power.」

「Therefore, every society that is trying to pursue republicanism must choose a representative political institution instead of a direct democracy. If they do not, then the people who make laws will also become the ones who execute them, and the nation’s power will become nothing more than another private possession.」

「All democracies have no other choice but to follow the aforementioned process.」

「No, democracy makes a representative political institution impossible. This is because everyone would be trying to become the owner of the nation.」

「On the other hand, as monarchies and aristocracies follow Leader Elizabeth’s statement of, “I am nothing more than the highest servant of the nation”, so ruling in this way is at least possible according to the mentality of the representative political institution. 」

「We declare. The fewer people there are controlling the nation’s power, in other words, the bigger the power of the nation’s representative, the closer a nation will be brought to republicanism on the contrary.」

「It is for this reason that aristocracies struggle to reach republicanism more than monarchies and it is only possible in democracies through violent revolutions…….」

“……Whaaaat?”

I let out another involuntary sound.

It was so convincing that it was scary. What is this? It’s terrifying. They even included what Elizabeth said like a tiny tidbit. It was apparent that this book was written with some sort of ulterior motive.

「……Is the way normal citizens are ruled not the most important thing to them compared to things like whether the nation is a monarchy or a democracy? Regardless of whether they are a monarchy or an aristocracy, the people will only suffer if that nation is despotic and has no representative. The same can be said in a democracy as well.」

「On the other hand, if a nation has representation, in other words, if the nation is faithfully carrying out the intention of the people, then the people would not care whether the nation is a monarchy, an aristocracy, or a democracy.」

「Therefore, people often make the mistake of thinking that a republic is the same as a democracy when they are far off from being able to even coexist. A nation must have representation if it wishes to establish a republic, and a monarchy is the most appropriate method of rule in order to establish a representative political institution.」

「However, while the monarch is referred to as the king or emperor in an ‘absolutistic monarchy’, our monarch is called leader or president in our ‘republican monarchy’. By doing so, the two have a minor, but decisive difference.」

“Wow…….”

What wonderful nonsense.

I was completely baffled. I turned to look at Laura and saw that she had an amused smile on her face.

“How is it, Lord?”

“I was moved. I see that humans are capable of becoming such logical dogs of authority. Amazing. However, it is sad that they do not realize the words they are saying is no different from a dog’s panting.”

What’s the difference between a scammer and an instigator?

Scammers know better than anyone else when they’re committing scams. They don’t scam themselves. However, instigators instigate others and themselves at the same time.

I am talking logically, I am not being deceitful, I am dignified with myself, I am right……. The moment you deceive yourself like this is the moment you become a mere instigator. Basically, second-rate. Even as a villain, you would be nothing more than a henchman.

What would happen if you genuinely believe that there is something right in the world?

You wouldn’t be able to lie about it. The moment a scammer isn’t able to scam is the moment when they gain a weakness. The result is simple after this. You’ll end up being used and eaten by other scammers who don’t believe your belief is right…….

Scammers must always be the ones doing the scam, they must not become the scammed.

The same goes for when you’re the target. What do you intend to do by scamming yourself? Regardless of any logical rhetoric or emotional rhetoric, you’d just be unsightly.

“The fact that they think a nation’s power will not become privatized, regardless of whether it is a republic or a democracy, is already foolish. People will always try to find things for themselves. That is their nature.”

I took out some herbs and put them in my pipe. I felt a dreadful fragrance fill my lungs.

“There is nothing to reproach or lament about. Think about it. We consider our lives as our own. But how could life be ours? We were simply given birth to by someone else.”

Hoo, I breathed out a cloud of smoke.

“This is why everyone goes around trying to find what’s theirs. Some people claim their own face as their own, some claim their lovers, some claim works of art, some claim wealth, and some claim beautiful ideals…….”

Jack appeared in a corner of my mind, but I ignored it.

Seeing him in my dreams was already more than enough.

“The bastards who don’t have anything scrape together whatever sundries they can with their arms before disappearing shortly after. Authority is the biggest sundry among sundries. It is the biggest sundry in the world.”

People can die because of the words you say.

If you decide on a policy, then hundreds of thousands of people will latch on to it and make it a reality.

“Do you understand, Laura? Their viewpoint is wrong from the very beginning. The problem is not whether authority becomes privatized or not. Authority itself has already been privatized and is something that must be privatized. The specks of dust that try to make it their own like a bunch of ghouls are the politicians.”

Therefore, republicanism puts its focal point on making authority as common as possible.

What can they do to make authority into something useless?

“For example, creating auditing institutions is one method. Make the institutions keep an eye on each other. Authority must be divided as much as possible so that it cannot be monopolized. In this regard, democracy is slightly more suited for a republic.”

It is as the author of this book said. In a democracy, everyone tries to become the owner.

In the end, a political system where no one is on top is created.

“Furthermore, you have to assign an office term for each institution head. Allowing someone to serve as the head for their entire lives after being appointed would be ridiculous. At that point, it would be weird if someone didn’t try to make the authority theirs. 10 years would be too long. 5 years as well.”

“But, Your Lordship.”

Laura quietly listened to me speak before tilting her head.

“There is no way the world would reach a perfect balance. Wouldn’t one of the institutes end up obtaining more authority than the others?”

“That is correct. This would be nothing more than a stopgap.”

The smoke slowly billowed up to the ceiling.

“That is why the authority itself must disappear.”

“…….”

“An easy solution would be to simply kill them all. Well, Laura, there is no reason for us to ‘suddenly’ become republicans, right? Everything I have said until now is if we become republicans.”

I adore privatized authority. You could say that I love it.

If you have authority, then you can order someone to die in your stead. Even now, the monsters on the upper floors are dying against the adventurer parties. If you have authority, then you can make your subordinates do what you want.

“Therefore, our goal is simple. We must make the powers that are stronger than us and hostile to us disappear.”

“What a simple and easy solution.”

Laura laughed.

“Your Lordship is right. Thinking about how to turn authority into a form that is peaceful and eternal is someone else’s problem.”

Laura stood up and approached my side. She wrapped her arms around my neck and brought her face close to mine. There was no reason for either of us to initiate as we shared a light kiss.

“But, Lord, would that not make things too hopeless?”

“There is hope. It simply is not hope meant for us.”

“I heard that Queen Henriette de Brittany is building an empire in Frankia.”

I slid my fingers between Laura’s hair. It was soft and pleasant to the touch.

“It is time to get revenge for 3 years ago. Do you not think it is about time?”

“Your Lordship was completely destroyed. You would only break again if you fight her.”

“Mm, you are right. If I go out on my own, then I would end up recreating what happened on Saint Denis Plains.”

I kissed Laura’s white forehead.

“However, I have a self-proclaimed genius military lady on my side.”

“Oh?”

She casually raised a brow.

“Are you telling this young lady to face the strongest human monarch on the continent and the strongest Demon Lord in the demon world at the same time?”

“To be honest, I did not like the fact that the two of them have been living. Fortunately, I have made Paimon indebted to me recently, so we should make use of this.

Laura chuckled lightly.

“Very well, then. This young lady is Your Lordship’s sword. No matter which ruler may be your enemy, I will slit their throat and give you their head.”

On the fifth month of that year, a meeting was held in Niflheim.

I, Dantalian, who was only Rank 71, had called for a meeting.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. I will honestly admit that this chapter took a lot longer than it should have to translate. This chapter was probably the first time in a long time that I really had to take my time to finish. Such a lot of political rhetoric. I just sort of felt frustrated with this chapter.

Welp, rant aside, I hope everyone is having a good April. I found out there’s actually an April Fools chapter that the author did while they were releasing this and it’s at the end of this segment. If I didn’t have to delay chapters because of family stuff, then I might have been able to time it perfectly. Oh well.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.

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