Chapter 548: Golden…
For now, I’ll keep my ears open while holding onto hope. I had thought of everything other than rice as mere luxuries, so this was quite an eye-opener. If I’m going to meddle, I need to consider the desires of the people living here.
With that in mind, I decided to create two types of watermelon: one sweet and one not-so-sweet. It would be good if the latter could be oval-shaped or have a whitish hue to make them distinguishable.
I heard that date palms have already been planted. They serve as food, but they also act as a windbreak to prevent sand from burying the water. While I don’t have to worry about sand with Baylis around, it’s not wise to rely solely on him for protection.
“By the way, it seems Shulm is planning to acquire another country,” Haulon said while munching on a watermelon.
“Another one?”
What was the first one again?
Ah, right. Something about the former citizens being oppressed… But that was more about the small countries in Nakahara, and I think I heard that Shulm was getting involved there.
“Yes. This time, he’s backing a country that’s started claiming a mine that has never been part of its territory. The claim itself was likely thought up by Shulm,” Haulon continued.
“That sounds pretty forced, doesn’t it?”
“Just a pretext. The reasons for lending a hand are getting more dubious, but we all know that Shulm just wants to conquer Nakahara,” Haulon shrugged.
“He’s dropped the pretense and isn’t even trying to hide it anymore,” Retze said while sipping his coffee.
“That’s reckless!”
“Records can be rewritten as long as you win. Besides, there are hardly any literate people who can read those records anyway,” Haulon added, noting the low literacy rate.
“This is complicated for me. The country that’s caught Shulm’s eye has someone who knows about En’s [Storage],” I said.
“Is that the place where that incident with the farmers happened?”
That was the group of thugs that Shiva had taken down.
In that case, I think they should just crumble. They had taken Shiva and Baku hostage and had been beating up Dinoss, so I doubt the ones giving the orders are anything decent. No, by my standards, there are probably fewer decent countries than not.
Every country has something I don’t want to ally with. But I want to eliminate the dangers to those close to me and ensure the distribution of food and other necessities.
That said, a country with the financial power to chase after us across the sea means that the country Shulm is looking to absorb is likely quite large.
“Exactly. But if information reaches Shulm, it’ll be troublesome,” Dinoss said, crossing his arms and frowning.
“Shulm occasionally has people with [Storage], but there aren’t any around right now,” Haulon said, sounding somewhat sympathetic yet indifferent toward Dinoss.
Is Haulon being a bit harsh on Dinoss? Or is it just my imagination?
“It seems that when Shulm annexes a territory, he often takes care of the royal family and the heads of the temple,” Retze hesitated to say.
I hope that those who know about En don’t mention it.
“If anything comes up, I’ll help,” Chris offered brightly, though with a hint of concern.
“Me too! Me too!”
Dean, a fan of Dinoss, was all fired up like an eager dog.
“I heard that Amedeo and the others have entered that country that’s been making trouble. I couldn’t find out if Rosa is with that group, though,” Retze spoke up again.
“Speaking of which, it seems that Rosa’s allies are busy transporting weapons and supplies to that country below Shulm on the map,”
Lady Rosa might be giving up piracy to engage in land battles.
I wonder if Rosa and Lady Rosa would look alike if they stood side by side without makeup.
“Let’s get ready for a direct confrontation,” Karn muttered.
“We can’t do anything unless we deal with the Hero first, right? As long as the flames don’t reach us, I don’t care,” Dinoss said, noting that Rosa seems likely to cling to those with [Storage] in her quest for the King’s Branch.
“I should increase the number of Spirits I have gathering information. It’ll be troublesome if puppets show up,” Haulon said, looking gloomy.
I recently learned that relying on Spirits is quite challenging, or rather, it usually is. Especially when it comes to giving the same command for an extended period, they tend to get bored, making it difficult to keep the Spirits bound when they want to be free.
“Oh, speaking of which,”
“What is it?”
Retze turned to me, curious.
“The livestock that Dinoss left behind is acting quite strange. Is it alright if I keep taking care of them?”
They had come to a hidden place targeting En, who has [Storage].
In the end, Dinoss and Shiva chose to return to being Adventurers, using their names and achievements to protect their family. They have connections in the Guild, and they thought that an environment without anyone other than family wouldn’t be good for the children.
So, I brought the livestock that had been left behind when moving to Kanum back to my [House].
“Huh?”
Dinoss looked at me with a blank expression.
“What do you mean by acting strange?”
Haulon whispered.
“Our goats and pigs?”
“Yeah.”
I’ve grown attached to them, and they’ve been quite helpful, but since they’ve become useful, I need to inform their original owner, Dinoss.
“I thought I had already left them there, so you can do whatever you want, but—”
“If you do whatever you want, they’ll act even stranger!”
Haulon shouted, cutting off Dinoss’s response.
“Are we going to have golden apples, golden Brussels sprouts, and now golden meat?”
“Hey, Retze, don’t turn them into meat! At least golden eggs—oh wait, the examples were goats and pigs. Golden goat milk…? At least golden wool… Why did Dinoss bring up goats and pigs?!”