7th Time Loop 3
The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!
by Touko Amekawa
art by Hinoki Kino
2023
7th Time Loop follows the adventures of Rishe, a girl who has repeatedly died at 20 and then returned to a pivotal moment at age 15. In her first six lives, she's become a merchant, an apothecary, a maid, and a soldier, and each time she's died in a war started by the tyrant Arnold Hein. Now in her seventh life, Rishe has become Arnold's fiance, years before he starts his deadly war, and to her surprise, he seems like a compassionate leader, not a brutal conqueror. She hopes that by marrying him, she can intervene to prevent him from starting the war.
In the previous volume, Rishe briefly met Arnold's scheming younger brother, and decided to try to reconnect with the merchant company she traveled with in her first life. She wants them as allies, but they've never met her, so she has to convince them.
Now, at the start of volume 3, Rishe studies some of the details of how Arnold has ruled, and plots to impress her old boss. She thinks the easiest way would be to provide luxuries for him to sell to aristocrats, but reading some recent history convinces her to try something else. It seems Arnold's been building a welfare state! After the last war, the hinterlands were depopulated, food was expensive, and the country had too many unemployed former soldiers. Arnold bought food at a premium and sold it at a loss - the farm subsidies attracted veterans to farming and supported the rural population, and the food aid helped the kingdom's poor get enough to eat. It's kind of shocking to me to see an extended example and defense of social democracy in a fantasy comic!
Rishe's plan involves more welfare capitalism. Basically she wants to implement the post-WWII consensus on corporate governance (prior to the rise of leveraged buyouts in the 1980s) - sell an affordable product, pay a living wage, and your own business practices will grow your customer base. Rishe recreates a nail polish she previously invented as an apothecary. She offers it to the merchants on the condition they sell it cheap and hire currently-unemployed people to make it. The merchant captain starts out all swaggering bravado, but eventually sees the profit potential in Rishe's proposal, and anachronistic welfare politics prevail.
The rest of the volume involves a lengthy plot about Arnold's younger brother kidnapping Rishe. Rishe is waaay more competent than he was prepared for though. She easily escapes and trounces his many guards. She also realizes he was trying to provoke a fight with Arnold. Rishe hopes that by repairing the brothers' relationship, she can help prevent a future where Arnold becomes a tyrant.
In the previous volume, Rishe briefly met Arnold's scheming younger brother, and decided to try to reconnect with the merchant company she traveled with in her first life. She wants them as allies, but they've never met her, so she has to convince them.
Now, at the start of volume 3, Rishe studies some of the details of how Arnold has ruled, and plots to impress her old boss. She thinks the easiest way would be to provide luxuries for him to sell to aristocrats, but reading some recent history convinces her to try something else. It seems Arnold's been building a welfare state! After the last war, the hinterlands were depopulated, food was expensive, and the country had too many unemployed former soldiers. Arnold bought food at a premium and sold it at a loss - the farm subsidies attracted veterans to farming and supported the rural population, and the food aid helped the kingdom's poor get enough to eat. It's kind of shocking to me to see an extended example and defense of social democracy in a fantasy comic!
Rishe's plan involves more welfare capitalism. Basically she wants to implement the post-WWII consensus on corporate governance (prior to the rise of leveraged buyouts in the 1980s) - sell an affordable product, pay a living wage, and your own business practices will grow your customer base. Rishe recreates a nail polish she previously invented as an apothecary. She offers it to the merchants on the condition they sell it cheap and hire currently-unemployed people to make it. The merchant captain starts out all swaggering bravado, but eventually sees the profit potential in Rishe's proposal, and anachronistic welfare politics prevail.
The rest of the volume involves a lengthy plot about Arnold's younger brother kidnapping Rishe. Rishe is waaay more competent than he was prepared for though. She easily escapes and trounces his many guards. She also realizes he was trying to provoke a fight with Arnold. Rishe hopes that by repairing the brothers' relationship, she can help prevent a future where Arnold becomes a tyrant.
No comments:
Post a Comment