"How did you know all this?"

"I... Just thought about it & it all adds up. Am I wrong?"

"No, you are not wrong. It's just I am surprised. You were never interested in this stuff & now suddenly out of nowhere could guess it right."

James had no answer to that. He had no memories prior to him waking up in that bad a month ago & his actions would definitely deviate from Leonhart cause they were not same.

"Well, Let's leave that aside & tell me what we should do?"

"You want me to tell you what our future actions should be?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because, my Son, you started all this."

"I am sorry..."

"I am joking." said the Duke with a smile. "It's just I want to hear your opinion on this matter. What should we do about this situation?"

"Just my words, nothing more, right?"

Heinrich nodded, saying nothing. In reality, he didn't need any suggestion from him or any type of help, but after seeing his recent behavior & accurate assessment of the situation; he was intrigued to know his son's analysis on how to handle these matters.

"Ok, so, I need a paper & a pen?" asked James, sitting down on the chair before the duke.

"Here you go."

Then finally, the inner genius hidden inside James started doing its work.

"Tell me how big is the duchy's army."

"Probably 70,000 men currently stationed all around our region & if we ever need more, we can call for arms from other lords."

"So, how many in total?"

"100,000."

"Wow... That's really too much." exclaimed James. These numbers were really mind-boggling to hear. But also back in his world, countries maintained millions of soldiers, so it was understandable.

"Have you ever seen the map? Our region is enormous. To maintain peace & stability, we need them." said the duke with a proud smile on his face.

"Yeah. So onto the next question, Is this army capable of fight the combined army of the other 3?"

"What do you mean by combined? And why do you think they would think about attacking us? We protect this empire. They depend on us."

"That's where you are wrong."

The other three states, depending on Esper duchy, were just true on paper. In reality, there was never been one instance of them protecting anything was recorded. This empire mostly was at peace except insignificant problems here & there, but that didn't require an army of that size. This duchy had always been bleeding money on maintaining army & those guys used that as an excuse to profit themselves.

No one knows when or why these weird laws were implemented, but nobody ever asked questions or thought about breaking them. These laws were flat out, damaging the duchy from inside. Young people from all over the region were mostly chosen as soldiers to serve, so few people left to do farming. From the few, many migrated to other states for better work & living.

Thus the food shortages appear & then they imported food, but for how long. They were spending too much but not earning back. Others never depended on them. They could have a massive army on their own & could cakewalk any war without their support. The truth was the Esper's were dependent on other states for everything & would easily collapse without them.

"Excuse me, but mind explaining how I am wrong?"

"Yes Sure, but first tell me what's the use of that vast army, which is doing nothing?"

"For protecting this empire." replied Heinrich, as if it was the most obvious answer. They were doing the same job for generation & no one questioned it, so why should he?

"From whom?"

"From enemies."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"And where is that enemy?"

"Are you mocking me?" asked the Duke in a serious tone. His son, who was as worthless as everyone spoke, was countering his every answer. Just what did he think of himself?

"I am not mocking you. I am just pointing out the flaws in how this ludicrous empire works." said James without averting his gaze from the paper. He had dealt with many clients with over sized ego & this duke was also one of them. And the solution to this was to appear confident in what you are doing.

Heinrich just looked at Leon, who was scribing something on the paper with the same indifferent gaze as before. This guy who never knew how to spell the word empire was talking about the flaws. He knew what the positives & negatives of the inner working, but never asked questions, as it was useless at that time. But now it seemed it was necessary to know.

"Tell me then."

"Sure, but when was the first major war where this army was used?"

"Probably 70 years ago when we defeated the Salvadors."

"And most of the soldiers who fought in that war are now retired, right?"

"Yes."

"So this duchy is maintaining a totally useless army which has never fought a war or has done none significant work ever. Right?"

"Who do you think you are calling useless?" asked the man with blonde hair with an angered tone, but Loen seemed unfazed.

"The army."

"We maintain & pay them because they would lay down their life when needed. They will fight for us, die for us. They are never useless. Each & every one of them is far more useful than you."

"You are right. I am far more useless than them. But tell me what that army has achieved in past 70 years except bleeding money & profiting others. What that army of yours has achieved except massive debts or ruining this duchy?" asked James with the same nonchalant expression as the duke.

He may be a person who hated presenting something to others or convincing others, but in no way couldn't if needed. He had seized billion dollar deals all over the world just by talking with executives. His pursuing skill, logical reasoning & confidence was unmatched in the entire company. That's how James become the youngest technical advisor in just 4 years.

He knew Heinrich was a proud man who took pride in his massive army. But if left alone, it would throughly crush him. It was time for him to realise what that army of his was doing. It was time for him to wake up & ask questions.

Heinrich's mouth was hung open after hearing the words of Leon. Each & every word was correct. This army was doing more harm than any good. They really were bleeding money by supporting the soldiers who were doing nothing.

Seeing the dumbfounded expression of duke James spoke again.

"So I am asking you again, is this duchy maintaining an useless army which has done none significant work at all? Right?"

"What do you...?"

"Yes or No."

"Yes." replied the Duke in a defeated tone. For this solid reasoning, there was no argument anyone could pose. They really were getting debt instead of profits.

"Now let's get back to food shortages. Why do you think we are having food shortages?"

"Cause there are more soldiers in our region than people who could do farming." Replied the duke with a sigh. He was not an idiot who couldn't figure out simplest things.

"Bingo." said James, snapping his finger & pointing out to the duke. He liked the people who could understand the situation, and Henrich did the job.

"What?"

"Nothing, let's go to economic issue. Why aren't we earning enough?"

"Cause we are selling most of our stuff to Arlets & they are paying less."

"Kind of right, but not right."

"How?"

"Hein... I mean, father, how do you think economy works?"

"I don't know. You should ask your mother. She handles all that."

"Yeah but... Ok fine. So economy is the state of a country or region in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services and the supply of money. In short, how much we are producing & how much our people are consuming. And the reason we are slow at it because we are producing nothing, but people have to consume to live, right?"

"Yes."

"So we are selling most of our stuff to Arlet's & they are manufacturing various things out of it and then they are selling that back to us. Correct?"

Heinrich nodded, saying nothing.

"So, their economy is moving because of the production & consumption. They are buying from us at a cheap rate and selling back to us at a high cost. Thus the profit. They have money because they are earning profits & their economy is going up. That's why they are the richest. They know how to make money."

"Where are you going with all this?" asked the Duke. His son was talking things beyond his grasp. When did he become so knowledgeable about economy?

"I am telling you all this so we can solve these problems. We have to become self sufficient. We have everything needed for becoming self reliant, but we are not. If we don't want a civil war, then it's the only way."

"And what's the way?"

"Demolish the army, increase farming, open industries." said James in a single breath which was too fast for the duke to catch.

"What?"

"First, we have to lower the amount of soldiers active in the region, teach them how to do farming & then open various industries from which we can produce goods for our people to consume. Thus we get food grown in our own region, economy kept rolling & when needed we can call all of them back to fight or protect. Simple."

The duke just blinked a couple of time with his mouth open wide. His brain was not completely processing the information, his son just spoke up. Was it that simple to do?

"So by doing all this we can become self-reliant & even if they broke all the deals, we could live on our own."

Everything Leon just said was accurate. They were depended on others for literally everything & were facing many hurdles, throughout the years & the prices were also increasing day by day. It was just not possible to keep up. And now his son's theory was conclusive from every angle. If they wanted to be self-sufficient, then they had to be self-sufficient.

"Exactly." said James, nodding his head.

"How did those idiots weren't able to figure out this simple fact?" said Heinrich, leaning back on his throne & massaging his forehead. He had asked his advisors countless times about how to solve this issue. But never once they could answer correctly, like how Leon was able to. They only said it was done by forefathers for the greater good, but no good was ever evident.

"Cause we humans are driven by greed & self-righteousness. We don't see danger until it's too late & then we lost everything in the blink of an eye." said James with a faint smile, looking towards the window where the rays of the setting sun were reflecting upon.