With the future of a Isekai kingdom in your hand, what would you do?

[Bristlecone]

You killed the Isekai king in self-defense...
But no one will feel sorry for him.
The kingdom is filled with corruption, food is scarce, and slavery kills hundreds of people daily.
...
There is a legitimate heir to the throne, but he is only 12 years old...
Now, what would you do?

1. Take the empty throne for yourself. Neighboring kingdoms (and their respective Isekai heroes) will see you as a threat.
2. Leave it in the hands of the legitimate heir. You've known him for two weeks and he seems like a good boy.
3. Build a Ruling Senate with a select group of senior nobles.
4. Summon all the chiefs of all the villages, towns and cities, and have them vote for a new ruler within a new system of government. This will be the trigger that will bring chaos and war to the entire world.

 

[Cipiteca396]

Let there be fire.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

There is such a thing called regency.

 

[Anon_Y_Mousse]

1. Take the throne, i'm quite sure they will call a crusade against the demon king on me if I do this.
2. Carolus Rex took the throne at 15 years old and did pretty good, so this is more plausible than you may otherwise think. If he's good as in 'nice guy' that's a definite no no. Good as in 'tyrant who is willing to make a lot of reforms' would be the one Im looking for.
3. Probably the best to maintain the status quo and keeping the kingdom from imploding.
4. Yeah, this world isn't ready for democracy, this will just fail even without the world war part.

So my choice is 2 if conditions are fulfilled, 3 otherwise. Then I flee to another country and live under a false identity.

 

[GreenHexagon]

5. Be the legitimate heirs regent until he is of proper ruling age.

Well technically its 2 with modifications.

 

[Cipiteca396]

1. You killed a King. Even if the locals call you hero and liberator, the other nations will call you kingslayer, and their heroes will call you murderer. There's no downside, except that you presumably now have to rule a kingdom.
2. The prince, even if he's kind, even if he's wise and strong, is only a child. He'll be assassinated by corrupt nobles in no time. This is 1 with extra steps, as you'd have to become his bodyguard/advisor. Or you can just fuck off, which is an option 1 doesn't give you.
3. I AM THE SENATE! Wait, no. I messed up my line. This is a decent option, but it will probably still lead to a civil war eventually. The nobles you spurned will try to take power, or the nobles you put in power will eliminate the competition. The corruption will claim everything, in the end. This is the Best option if you plan on leaving... But only because you can pretend it wasn't your fault when everything goes up in flames.
4. This is the only way to cleanse the corruption. But it requires you to become the villain, effectively. Despite claiming to be democratic, you'll be the one playing the 'Hero'. Assuming you got a good cheat, this means you'll be enforcing democracy on the world. If you didn't, then you'll be advancing your role from 'Hero' to 'Martyr' pretty quickly. Things will change. Probably for the better, considering everything is already so shit. But it won't be pretty.

 

[Aoibh]

Watch Netflix and hope it sorts itself out.

 

[NotaNuffian]

You are not a hero, but an assassin who sucks at the job so bad that you have your face known. To me the options are all shit when you lack the power to crush all oppositions.

One thing is certain, power play means that the king is not the one with absolute power. We all like to believe that the king holds everything, but watching CGPGrey's topic and listening to the podcast, you will understand that power is the key to everything and physical prowess like being a hero only attributes to that much. A king is nothing but a manager, who might not even have the last say in things. Oftentimes in corruption, it is one small group doing the oppressing, not just one person (unless that person is the Plutonian) because you need might to do the suppression (aka killing off anyone who dares to stand up against you) as well as wealth (buying yourself favors), they become your stick and carrot to keep the lambs in place.

No. 1 sucks when you cannot bulldoze any and everyone who will try and kill you for the "greater good", ranging from peolle wanting to use you as a stepping stone to hypocrites and the worst, blind believers.

No. 2 has two possibilities:
A. That kid is faking and you might need to commit another regicide.
B. That kid is real and you might need to do a Jehovah Witness and visit every nobles to see if they want to be shorter by a head. *Fun fact, you WILL need to visit the nobles and do a bit of bloodwashing for all options.
C. You really want to have the nobles who probably influence the king to be in the senate? Do you want to die so badly?
D. Democracy is not real.

 

[ThrillingHuman]

I just flee and let the country decide their own shit. I killed the king in self-defence therefore I feel no moral obligation to do anything about the consequences. I believe that the people of the country will somehow come to a conclusion that will stabilise the situation even without my intervention.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

You killed the Isekai king in self-defense...
But no one will feel sorry for him.
The kingdom is filled with corruption, food is scarce, and slavery kills hundreds of people daily.
...
There is a legitimate heir to the throne, but he is only 12 years old...
Now, what would you do?

1. Take the empty throne for yourself. Neighboring kingdoms (and their respective Isekai heroes) will see you as a threat.
2. Leave it in the hands of the legitimate heir. You've known him for two weeks and he seems like a good boy.
3. Build a Ruling Senate with a select group of senior nobles.
4. Summon all the chiefs of all the villages, towns and cities, and have them vote for a new ruler within a new system of government. This will be the trigger that will bring chaos and war to the entire world.

Listen man, I would be the worst dictator. I'm talking Kim Jong Un level brainwashing.

 

[_oinkchan]

You killed the Isekai king in self-defense...
But no one will feel sorry for him.
The kingdom is filled with corruption, food is scarce, and slavery kills hundreds of people daily.
...
There is a legitimate heir to the throne, but he is only 12 years old...
Now, what would you do?

1. Take the empty throne for yourself. Neighboring kingdoms (and their respective Isekai heroes) will see you as a threat.
2. Leave it in the hands of the legitimate heir. You've known him for two weeks and he seems like a good boy.
3. Build a Ruling Senate with a select group of senior nobles.
4. Summon all the chiefs of all the villages, towns and cities, and have them vote for a new ruler within a new system of government. This will be the trigger that will bring chaos and war to the entire world.

I'll take the throne and teach the prince until he comes of age. After I have deemed him worthy, he will be King. During my period of rule, I will make the kingdom the strongest and try my best in creating an advanced kingdom and if possible then try to unite all the countries and spread peace.

If I have to kill isekai heroes, it's easy. Most isekai heroes are dumbfucks or simply emo, all I have to do is send someone to seduce and kill them, if needed I will kill them personally since they are not to be underestimated.

I will spread modern values and speed up the renaissance process. Maybe even make the country democratic etc. Like royalty will exist but they don't have hand in developing the kingdom, ofc they can stand for elections.

If they win, they become president.

The other thing, I will spread rumors that I am the incarnation of God. I will make people in my kingdom worship me. When a lie is repeated a thousand times, it becomes the truth.

 

[Anon_Y_Mousse]

If I have to kill isekai heroes, it's easy. Most isekai heroes are dumbfucks or simply emo, all I have to do is send someone to seduce and kill them, if needed I will kill them personally since they are not to be underestimated.

Well, you're relying too much on assuming that they are all horny teenagers. What if one is a genius like Light Yagami or have already gone through a redemption arc that toughened them up.

I will spread modern values and speed up the renaissance process. Maybe even make the country democratic etc. Like royalty will exist but they don't have hand in developing the kingdom, ofc they can stand for elections.

The problem with speedy developments would be the opposition, there would be a lot of traditionalists that refuse to let go of the old ways. Not all peasants want to shank the nobles that rule over them, I don't want to accidentally bring real life politics into this, but I'm sure you know some real life examples of this. Change comes at a gradual pace and a shift of values doesn't just happen over the course of a few years. It will be possible though if there has already been at least one example of a successful democracy in the isekai world, but judging by OP's post, there was not. Of course you can go the tyrant route... but then you'd be a demon king.

The other thing, I will spread rumors that I am the incarnation of God. I will make people in my kingdom worship me. When a lie is repeated a thousand times, it becomes the truth.

This one is actually a pretty good idea, religion is a very powerful tool especially in a medieval time... just make sure to read over their religious texts to make sure your claim can actually hold true. Or you can just say you were chosen by god and not the church/kingdom.

Well, I'm overthinking this, aren't I?

 

[BackWoodsJ_ACK]

Let the Prince rule while under the watch of his mother (if she political savvy). As killing the king was in self defense, I have no obligation to take over their country. It'll give me a headache before anything.

 

[BenJepheneT]

"well kid, here's something to learn about life."

"I know you watched me gore your father dearest with the blunt end of an iron mace, but-"

"-I am a fair man, so in order to make up for the lost fatherhood for the next six years of your life, I'll tell you this."

"there aren't many things in life you can run away from"

"but responsibility ain't one of them"

"good luuuuuuuuuck~"

 

[Deleted member 45782]

Take over the throne. Kid may be too young; often when kid is young they are controlled by people around them who can be corrupt. The king was able to rule with corruption so he probably had some support from the nobles, so leaving the senate to fix the mess isn't going to fix the mess at all - they either become warlords and kingdom just decay into chaos or they ignore things until it gets worse and have to do a bloodbath between nobility. 4. Sounds good if they can handle it but the kingdom went from a monarchy (type where king rules with power) to sudden democracy. It takes time to adjust so propelling the kingdom into it suddenly may cause chaos. Esp whenever type of government changes to different government type.

As for other kingdoms noticing you, well if you killed the king even if in self defense, everyone knows about it now. Just how long will you be able hide your face. Some kingdoms may be eager to ally with you now cause they have for have grudges with previous king but see you as possible winds of change. Maybe with the throne you can get some bodyguards in case.

1. Take the throne or
2. Run away and be forever on the run. When the kid comes of age, he may try revenge his dad. Even if he didn't like the old fellow, the public may force him to capture you for offing their government's head.

 

[Leti]

5. Kill everyone else in the Kingdom. Why stop with the King?

 

[Mephi]

Man, assuming leadership in reality is already crazy enough. If we're talking about an isekai... presumably with magic...

Are there kingdom-wide magics that need to be upheld? Or, worse, is this a Fisher King situation? Do we have to deal with gods? Are the royalties of the kingdom divinely appointed? Are you in trouble with literal gods? If not, are they still jerks to let this super corrupt king last so long? Are there non-human subjects of this kingdom, and how do they fit into the scheme of things? I mean, hells, we might have a only-follow-the-strong noble warrior situation on our hands. Why do nobles and royalty even hold power? If they have a literal divine/magical bloodline, and all natural sorcerers... yeah, that changes things.

 

[Vnator]

By the looks of things, I might end up taking over as regent for the prince while making sure he grows up just and moral, while taking out the trash in the background via exposing/framing corrupt nobles. Or just do what Olga of Kiev did: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olga_of_Kiev#Drevlian_Uprising

 

[CupcakeNinja]

5. Kill everyone else in the Kingdom. Why stop with the King?

No man. Kill the men, bed the women. Well, kill the fat and ugly women

 

[FoxxieFox]

Summon the [Demon Lord] and make them do all the work.