What did he want to do?
Ian fell into deep thought.
He had been in this world for six years now, yet he had truly never considered that question before.
Unable to come up with an answer for the moment, Ian asked Yamato instead, "Why bring this up all of a sudden?"
"Because aside from training, Ian, you don't seem interested in anything else!"
Yamato pursed her lips and sniffed. "Those fireworks were so beautiful just now, but you didn't seem to like them at all!"
The look in her eyes as she watched Ian was a little strange.
Was that... pity?
Ian's mouth twitched. Was this girl pitying him?
"What about you? What do you want to do when you grow up?"
Ian asked.
"I want to become stronger than Dad!"
Yamato said seriously, "Then I'll become the new captain of the Beasts Pirates! Dad said that if I do that, I'll be able to do anything I want!"
Ian was not surprised.
He could naturally tell that Teacher Kai truly regarded Yamato as his successor.
Of course, it was hard to say when that succession would happen.
Teacher Kai had never planned to entrust his dream to anyone.
"What about you, Ian!"
The girl leaned close to Ian, standing on tiptoe until her nose nearly touched his face. When Ian lowered his head, he could see the stars in her eyes.
Damn it, how could someone have stars in her eyes? Was she Queen Shokuhou or something?
"What does Ian want to do?"
Ian pressed a hand to Yamato's face and pushed her away, frowning slightly.
What exactly did he want?
Power?
He was already the King of Wano Country and a high-ranking member of the Beasts Pirates. There probably were not many people in this world with more power than him.
Wealth?
Wano Country produced Seastone in abundance. The wealth earned from that alone would surely be astronomical.
Women?
Ian glanced down at Yamato—no!
As the King of Wano Country, even if he wanted to gather every beautiful woman in the country, it would not be difficult.
But none of those three things seemed capable of satisfying him.
Then, only strength remained.
He had always pursued strength. His obsession with growing stronger had never slackened for even a moment.
Yet although he possessed strength, he did not like fighting. He even wanted to avoid dangerous enemies.
What he sought seemed to be more than strength alone.
A flash of inspiration suddenly crossed Ian's mind, and he almost blurted it out instinctively. "Peace of mind."
"Peace of mind?"
Yamato tilted her head.
Ian's eyes gradually lit up. "That's right. Peace of mind."
Because he knew this world was dangerous, he instinctively felt uneasy.
Because he felt uneasy, he wanted peace of mind.
He knew the Beasts Pirates were a thoroughly villainous organization, yet he was still willing to stay because they were powerful enough to make him feel secure.
He knew he was too weak to face this dangerous world, so he ignored everything else and never relaxed in his pursuit of strength.
He knew powerful enemies would bring him danger, so he instinctively did not want to face them.
It was that simple.
All he wanted was a sense of peace of mind.
Then what was true peace of mind?
The greatest strength?
The highest authority?
The greatest wealth?
They seemed to be none of those things, yet also all of them.
But now he understood.
He understood the name of what he had unconsciously pursued all these years.
Ian's lips slowly curled upward. "What I want is a world that can give me peace of mind."
Stronger than anyone! More authority than anyone! More wealth than anyone! With no enemies left in the world—this was peace of mind.
Yamato blinked, not quite understanding.
But still.
"The world? That sounds amazing! Yeah! Since that's what you want to do, Ian, then I'll definitely help you!"
Yamato grinned, revealing her little white teeth, with two front teeth missing. The tips of new white teeth were already emerging from the gaps.
"Isn't that obvious?"
Ian burst into laughter.
I can't accomplish something like that alone.
Two days later.
Flower Capital, Shogun's Castle.
Ian flipped through a stack of documents Fukurokuju had delivered.
The army under his command and the Beasts Pirates had already occupied all of Wano Country. At the very least, every town was under their control.
After all, this country was not that large.
Before him, Fukurokuju respectfully gave his report directly. "The samurai in every region have stirred up disturbances of varying scale in response to our arrival."
"However, with the assistance of the Beasts Pirates, those disturbances were easily suppressed. Aside from a small number of diehards, officials at every level across the regions have already sworn allegiance to you."
"There is only one strange matter."
"Strange?"
Ian looked up.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Fukurokuju nodded. "Kuri indeed had no organized military due to the Kozuki Family's poverty. The armies of Udon, Kibi, and Ringo were already completely wiped out by us before, so taking over those regions was simple. The strange part is Hakumai. Although its Daimyo, Shimotsuki Yasuie, was captured by you, the army in that region should still have remained intact."
"Yet during our occupation of Hakumai, we encountered no resistance whatsoever. It was as though all the samurai in that region had vanished."
He said seriously, "I suspect they have gone into hiding. Perhaps they are preparing to rescue Shimotsuki Yasuie."
That made a lot of sense.
Ian remembered something.
Port of Stealth had previously been seized by a group of samurai, who seemed to have sent someone out to sea.
Afterward, those samurai had vanished.
Were they Shimotsuki Yasuie's samurai?
Ian thought for a moment, then said, "Then announce it to the whole country. Shimotsuki Yasuie will be publicly executed tomorrow."
Fukurokuju's expression turned excited, and he immediately bowed low. "As expected of His Majesty Ian! That way, those people will no longer be able to stay hidden."
"Those people don't matter much."
Ian was not particularly concerned about the samurai under Shimotsuki Yasuie. As he had said before, Wano Country's truly threatening enemies had already been eliminated.
He raised the stack of documents in his hand. "What interests me more is that the samurai of each region occupy over half of the local land?"
Fukurokuju was somewhat puzzled. "It has always been so."
Only?
What did His Majesty mean? Did he think it was too little?
Wano Country operated under a feudal system.
The Shogun nominally ruled the entire country as the greater state, while the regional Daimyo pledged loyalty to the Shogun as lesser states.
The Daimyo in turn had their retainers, who were granted territories throughout their domains and were lesser states in comparison to the Daimyo.
And those retainers often had various samurai families under them, who counted as their own lesser states.
Whether in authority or land, Wano Country had always been divided and granted layer by layer like this.
Given that only samurai could hold power, Ian even felt that the samurai occupying just over half the nation's land showed restraint.
Wano Country had been stable for nearly a thousand years, and throughout that millennium, the ruling class had barely changed at all!
After nearly a thousand years of land annexation, the nobility had somehow not taken all of Wano Country's land. Ian could only say that the samurai had been merciful.
Even so, the samurai class, which made up only a few percent of the total population, occupied most of the country's land. Most of Wano Country's people were their tenant farmers.
"Then from now on, samurai will no longer be needed."
Ian said, "Issue an order. Call it... the Sword Abolishment Order. Ban samurai from carrying weapons, revoke all samurai privileges, abolish the title of samurai, and reclaim the land held by samurai in every region outside the Flower Capital as state property. Within the Flower Capital, the government will offer to buy land from anyone willing to sell. Those unwilling to sell will have their land tax increased."
Land is the most precious wealth? That way of thinking should have become outdated.
In the future, the people of Wano Country would surely say, "The Land of Samurai—our country being called that was a long time ago. Twenty years ago, during the expansion of the Beasts Pirates—"
Perhaps a silver-haired samurai wielding a wooden sword would even appear.
"..."
Fukurokuju's expression changed drastically.
Although the samurai class of Wano Country had indeed suffered devastating losses in the previous battle, the remaining samurai were still no weak force.
Moreover, they were the foundation of the government's rule.
Without samurai at the local level, how would government orders be carried out?
Policies were not something that could be implemented just because someone at the top shouted a few words. Without people below actually running around to execute them, how could it work?
"Also, the administration of every region will report directly to the central government. Let the civil officials handle it themselves. As for those samurai who have lost their land, give them two choices: join the military, or become local government officials. The government will pay them salaries."
Your Majesty, wasn't this far too bold?
He had just stripped those people of their privileges, and now he wanted to employ them?
Fukurokuju swallowed.
But he also knew there was no other choice. Where else could they find a group of local officials? Could they expect farmers who had spent their entire lives tilling fields to do it?
Besides, after losing even their swords, what waves could those samurai possibly stir up against His Majesty Ian and the Beasts Pirates?
Only the bureaucrats would suffer. His Majesty Ian merely opened his mouth, giving no consideration whatsoever to the reasonableness or feasibility of his policies. It could be called utterly willful. Yet they would be the ones responsible for implementing them. Who knew how much hair they would have left afterward?
"Yes."
Fukurokuju nodded respectfully.
He knew that from this point onward, Wano Country would completely lose its fangs.
The former Land of Samurai would cease to exist.
"Lastly,"
Ian thought for a moment. "Don't you think there are rather too many farmers renting land to cultivate?"
"Eh?"
Fukurokuju looked up in astonishment.
"First, terminate the tenancy contracts of some farmers." Ian said. "Make them leave the land."
"But, Your Majesty,"
Fukurokuju could not help but speak up in protest this time. "If farmers lose their land, no one knows how many people will die."
Wano Country was a thoroughgoing agricultural society. Land was the root of all wealth.
"Aren't factories being built around the country every month? And there are also the mines in Udon."
Ian said, "Those places welcome them."
Fukurokuju lowered his head. "Yes."
Even more brutal than Orochi.
Everyone in Wano Country knew it.
The workers in the factories and mines controlled by the Beasts Pirates were no different from slaves.
Was this what it meant to be a disciple taught by Lord Kaido?
Before you continue