“I have returned!”
I quickly finished the construction and secured a place here to work as the Lord. I also created a castle wall, so the protection of the forest is complete.
The Adventurer’s Guild hasn’t moved yet, but I’ve already told them about the Dungeon, and they’ve replied that they’ll move here as soon as possible.
“Oh. How was it?”
“It was quite fruitful!”
“I see. I’ll give the survivors some sake.”
“I am grateful!”
Some of them were emitting an aura of seasoned warriors, while others were trembling and rejoicing at their survival. Yes, it seems I pushed them quite hard.
“How did it compare to the petition?”
“It was as the petition stated. Well, some of the Monsters seemed to have moved, and we only found traces of them.”
“I see. No false petitions then.”
I didn’t think there would be, but it was completely zero. Local nobles are useful.
“We captured those who begged for their lives and didn’t seem harmful, but shall we dispose of them?”
“Harmful, you say… by normal standards? Or by your standards?”
“They’re the type who would shut up if surrounded by about three Knights.”
Then it’s normal standards.
“Those guys will become slaves. They can cultivate the Farmland.”
I have planned farmland. Well, I need to prepare houses and living environments before they can cultivate the Farmland.
“Understood. By the way, what about that facility over there?”
“It’s a training ground.”
“I thought so! Wonderful!”
“The Knights Order’s station, training ground, bathhouse, and dormitory are complete. I made them according to the number of people before departure, but…”
Not everyone came back safely.
“The number of people has decreased by about half.”
“I see.”
There were even guys in the Knights Order who were just names and didn’t even show their faces properly. I forcibly dragged them out to dispatch them, so I expected casualties.
“There were fewer casualties than I thought! Excellent results! I’ll give you a reward later.”
“I am grateful for your kind words!”
Not only Beatrice, but the two warriors must have been active as well.
“”Then the sake!””
“Ah, okay.”
The two warriors want sake. Ah, Beatrice too? Understood.
It’s ordinary sake, but it’s not from this era. I have quite a lot, but there’s still a limit, so I can’t release a large amount… well, about one barrel per person is fine.
I’ve told them the recipe, so the people at the base might make it someday!
“Also, among the captured Thieves, there were some who were confirmed to be connected to nobles.”
“Ah. I thought there would be some.”
“They’re flowing in from the neighboring territory. I thoroughly crushed them, including their hideouts.”
I can’t read their purpose.
“What do they want to do?”
“Their goal is probably to cut off land or plunder goods…”
“Should I impose tariffs? Well, I don’t have to go that far. I can just crush them if they pop up again.”
Honestly, this isn’t such a fertile and rich land. Even if they use people as Thieves, there’s a limit to the income.
I don’t know if they desperately want to mess with me or if they simply want to release people, but it’s unsettling… I don’t know if they’ll use the same methods, but I’ll just move after confirming full-scale hostile actions.
“Honestly, I don’t have the余裕 to reach out to others.”
“If you order me, I will crush them?”
“No can do.”
If the surrounding territories become unstable, it will eventually strangle me. It could cause a recession or war.
“I need to solidify the foundation first.”
“Then may I take care of them for a while?”
“Them? The Knights?”
“Yes. I’ve already eliminated those who don’t seem useful.”
“So the ones left are problem-free?”
“I can’t say for sure because I don’t know what their blood relations are like, but the ones who remain are either problem-free or have good luck.”
“I see. Well, I’ll leave it to you. First, get them used to the Forest behind.”
“Understood.”
It’s a vast Forest where D-rank and C-rank Monsters appear. I also want them to be able to rescue Adventurers who have been stranded. Somehow, the Knights here specialize in combat against people and don’t have much experience fighting Monsters. Anyway, they need training.
“Also, collect Magic Stones. They’re necessary to maintain the Barrier and Dungeon.”
“Barrier and Dungeon, you say. Understood.”
“Yeah.”
Unlike the base, this isn’t a place where Magical Power overflows from the ground, so Magic Stones are needed to maintain the Barrier and the newly created Dungeon.
The operational efficiency is quite good, and the Magic Stone that became the Magic Core is large and has a large capacity, so it won’t be a problem right away.
But this is necessary. “The Magic Stones we offered are maintaining the town” will become a source of pride.
“By the way, can I try the Dungeon too?”
“You can. Just don’t go to the beginner level alone.”
“Thank you!”
Beatrice can handle the super-beginner level and the farming area alone, but the beginner level is designed so that it cannot be cleared alone.
This is because the Unified Space Force has a nature that wants to thoroughly teach the importance of group action. Therefore, it is possible to make it impossible to clear such training grounds alone.
I don’t care about the Adventurers as long as they drop money, but the Knights who are in charge of maintaining public order must have the concept of group action. Once they get used to fighting Monsters to some extent in the Forest, I’ll divide them into teams and have them attack the Dungeon.
“After that, stores and houses… I hope it goes well.”
Heinz and Fiorina, who had prepared their stores, had to move early. The buildings in the Town of Solva will remain, but they will also move because the Adventurer’s Guild is moving here.
I plan to continue the store as it is. Even though I will become the Lord, it is good for the people at the base to have a way to earn foreign currency. Those two also need to work and earn money little by little, or they will never escape from slavery.
“Can that many people really come?”
“Because Unicorn Horns can be obtained. People will definitely come.”
Unicorn Horns are said to be effective against all diseases and poisons. In reality, it is a material used to make medicine that is effective against all diseases and poisons, but it is a high-priced and popular product.
Especially in this country, unlike the other side, the royal nobles and upper nobles such as Lords tend to fight, so the value of medicine seems to be high.
It is truly an item for making a fortune.
With this technology, it seems that it is not possible to control which Monsters appear. It seems that it is only possible to prevent the Monsters from increasing too much so that floods do not occur, or to stop the occurrence of traps that take people’s lives.
However, I am managing the Dungeon using the technology of the Unified Space Force. Of course, I can make Unicorns appear whenever I want, and I can even make other Monsters appear.
Thanks to this, it is possible to prevent one party from monopolizing the Dungeon, and conversely, it is possible to make more Unicorns appear at first to guide people.
Adventurers who are blinded by greed should stay in town as long as possible and drop money.
“Also, I’m going to kick out the homeless, orphans, and street dwellers.”
“Is that really okay?”
“Solva will take them in. And if they’re outside the wall, they’re allowed to camp.”
As a result of aiming for a fortune, they run out of money and become impoverished. That’s within expectations.
I may prepare capsule hotels to temporarily accommodate people who come from outside, but that’s different from inns and houses for long-term stays.
More than anything, people without money don’t know what they’ll do. If they’re Adventurers who carry weapons and can use magic, I don’t know what kind of damage they’ll cause.
Of course, people who have fallen into poverty won’t be able to do much, but there’s a good chance that the victims will be weaker women and children.
That’s why I’m creating a system from the beginning to kick out such people outside the Barrier. There may be opposition if it’s introduced halfway through, but there will be fewer problems if it’s introduced from the beginning.
“But when I look at it like this, it’s quite wide. I think the base over there is wider.”
“I built the wall at the edge of the Barrier. The width, well, it looks wide because there’s nothing there. Of course, the base is wider.”
The area planned for the street is already paved with blocks, so simple zoning is possible. The rest depends on whether people live there or not. Land sales have already started at the Lord’s residence here… or rather, the castle.
Those who work at the castle are living in the dormitory, but some of them have already bought land to secure a house. I’m also creating a family register.
Also, we’re selling off the massive amount of lumber that came out when we secured the base. Teams of carpenters have come to help from the former Nielson Territory capital, the Town of Solva, and surrounding towns. We’re selling the lumber cheaply to those who bought land, so the carpenters are swamped.
Houses go up surprisingly fast, huh? There aren’t any earthquake resistance standards, so I’m a little worried, but I guess it’ll be alright.
As the town expands significantly, the most prominent area is along the outer wall, in a different direction from the… forest. It’s the agricultural district.
Former Thieves, former Knights, former nobles, and their families are all energetically working with hoes. We’ve put the former Thieves with farming backgrounds in charge, and they seem more alive than when they were Thieving.
Also, there are some guys mixed in who messed with the Support Drones during the preparation phase of this town. I’ll forgive you if you just felt like playing a prank, but you can’t try to steal them. Drones have self-defense functions, you know?
“What will you have them grow?”
“Wheat, potatoes, grapes, and, well, seasonal vegetables.”
The main thing I want them to produce is alcohol. The guys at the base drink quite a bit. But if I have the base guys make it, they’ll neglect other things. We don’t have that much leeway since there are so few of us.
That’s why I’m having a large number of slaves grow it here, where we have more personnel to spare. Of course, I’ll have craftsmen make the alcohol, so I plan to either hire dedicated people or bring in slaves with the knowledge.
“There’s a mountain of things to do… things to make them do.”
It’s Ore who thinks about what needs to be done, but it’s the people of this territory who do it. I used Oath Magic on Jake, who was surprisingly understanding and quick on the uptake, to make him swear loyalty.
For the time being, I’ll put Barbatos at the very top, install Jake as Magistrate, and start managing the territory anew.
As for Ore, I’m mainly dealing with the nobles of this territory who keep coming to greet me. Well, most of them are just coming to complain about paying their noble pensions.
I’m not paying money to guys who aren’t working. I tell them to work and I’ll pay them, and I have Jake assign them jobs.
Well, I’m having the people from families with connections to Thieves arrested as soon as they announce their names, though.
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I am applying for Kakuyomu Con 10.
I hear rumors that following the work and ☆ reviews are related to the ranking, so I want them. Please.