"Ten billion North African francs."
Sankara held up one finger and answered.
"T-ten billion!?"
The moment he heard the amount, Lucide began to stammer.
He could scarcely believe his ears. He blinked again and again, opened and closed his mouth, and only after a long while did he hesitantly ask for confirmation:
"R-really, Mr. President?"
"Of course."
Sankara answered firmly, then added:
"At least ten billion North African francs. If that isn't enough, I'll add more."
Just as Sankara himself had said-
"The children are this country's future."
From the moment he received the ten billion rubles until now, every bit of money he had spent had been related to the children.
"..."
After receiving Sankara's firm answer, especially after hearing the words "if that isn't enough, I'll add more," Lucide fell completely silent.
Sankara did not know what exactly Lucide was thinking at that moment.
But he saw Lucide's loyalty on the system's data panel instantly rise from its original 68 to 81.
At the sight, the way Sankara looked at Lucide changed!
He had thought Lucide was the same sort as the already executed Makru Shengdido and his ilk, just as greedy and lustful.
The only difference was that Makru Shengdido and his ilk had been traitors with loyalty below 50, while Lucide at least had a loyalty of 68.
Yet now, Lucide, greedy, lustful, and every inch an old-style bureaucrat.
His loyalty had actually soared because Sankara planned to provide ten billion North African francs to vaccinate children for free and provide better care for pregnant women!?
This...
For a moment, Sankara did not know what words could describe how he felt.
The autumn wind swept past the white clouds, lifted the thick curtains, and rushed into the office, rousing the silent Lucide with the scent of earth and fallen leaves.
Coming back to his senses, Lucide suddenly thought of a crucial question and immediately asked:
"The government probably can't come up with ten billion North African francs right now, can it?"
"The finances were already tight, and with you improving benefits and compensation for soldiers, officials, police officers, and teachers, they'll be even tighter."
"So where are you planning to get these ten billion North African francs?"
As a high-ranking government official, though not part of its inner circle, Lucide had heard a little about the government's financial situation.
Even the word "tight" was Lucide's way of sparing Sankara's dignity. In truth, he thought "collapse" and "bankruptcy" might be more appropriate.
You aren't just making empty promises to me, are you?
The thought suddenly surfaced in Lucide's mind, and at that same moment, in Sankara's view, his loyalty dropped from 81 to 80.
Originally, Sankara had not intended to tell Lucide where the money had come from, just as he had not told Compaoré, the minister of finance.
Because at first, his loyalty had only been 68.
By the system's assessment, he was only barely trustworthy. Any lower, and he would fall among those who might betray him.
And although the source of the money was not a particularly important secret, it was not something just anyone could know.
Most importantly!
Every day they could delay the Fourth French Republic finding out would give the Republic of Burkina another day to develop in peace.
But now, Lucide's loyalty had reached 80, placing him among those who could be trusted absolutely.
So Sankara no longer intended to hide it from him and said directly:
"Our own experts were fortunate enough to discover uranium deposits beneath our own land."
"Using these uranium deposits and priority purchasing rights as collateral, I secured an interest-free loan of ten billion rubles from the Soviet Union. Repayment starts in ten years, with one-tenth of the total loan repaid each year."
"The ten billion North African francs I'm giving you comes from that."
Lucide, who had been wondering whether Sankara was making empty promises, instantly widened his eyes when he heard this.
"How much?!"
"An interest-free loan of ten billion rubles!"
He hurriedly began counting on his fingers:
"Ten billion rubles, at the current exchange rate, is eleven billion US dollars. The exchange rate between US dollars and North African francs is one to a hundred, which means..."
"You have one trillion one hundred billion North African francs now, Mr. President?!"
"Gulp-" Lucide could not help swallowing, his body trembling slightly, perhaps from excitement, or perhaps from surprise.
His formerly dull eyes instantly became the brightest stars in the night sky, and the corners of his smiling mouth kept rising.
Before Sankara could say anything, Lucide continued excitedly:
"Rest assured, Mr. President. The day after tomorrow-no, tomorrow! Before work ends tomorrow, I'll have a detailed proposal on your desk!"
At that moment, in Sankara's view, his loyalty not only returned to 81 but continued climbing to 84.
"Good. I'm sure the proposal you come up with will satisfy me, the country, and the children!"
Sankara smiled and nodded, then looked at the pile of documents Lucide had been clutching to his chest. Recalling Lucide's initial reaction, he asked curiously:
"Did you bring all those documents to my office because there's something you wanted to tell me?"
"Uh..."
Lucide, still brimming with excitement, instantly froze in embarrassment. He hemmed and hawed for a long time, then scratched the back of his head sheepishly and chuckled:
"Aren't you planning to raise the salaries of soldiers, officials, police officers, and teachers, Mr. President?"
"I know a little about the government's current finances, and I knew the government certainly couldn't come up with that money."
"And when you sent for me at a time like this, saying it was something very important, I thought you were planning to cut our Ministry of Health's budget and use that money to plug the hole in the payroll."
"These documents were what I planned to use to tell you about our difficulties and ask you to cut our budget a little less. But now it seems I was overthinking things."
"..."
This time, it was Sankara who froze as he looked at the honest, simple smile on Lucide's face.
Ever since he had come to this world, especially after coming to the small country of the Republic of Burkina.
He had always had a sense of superiority.
He had believed that he alone was the savior who could save them, and everyone else only needed to follow behind him.
But now it seemed.
Apart from those great powers with their deep foundations, these small countries with no presence whatsoever in the international community actually had people who loved them deeply, too.
These people, too, were working to save their own country!
Perhaps I should change this attitude of mine, or sooner or later I'll pay dearly for it!
Sankara silently told himself.