Episode 92: Base Completion
“It’s developed quite a bit, hasn’t it?”
I stood beside Grandma Hotaru, gazing down at the castle town. The base, nestled close to the mountains, was heavily blanketed in snow due to the winter season, but I could still see children playing.
It was hard to believe this was the same place as when it was just barren land. So many buildings had sprung up. Well, even now, they were mostly concentrated in one area, with large empty spaces around them.
“Yes, it’s all thanks to His Majesty,” she said.
“Thanks to me, you say? I’d say it’s more the Support Drones’ achievement.”
“But aren’t they under your command, Your Majesty?”
“…Well, yes, but still.”
This was the site of the Former Highland Principality. Now, I had turned it into a base, absorbing one of the villages isolated in the forest and providing a place for people to live.
The castle, which was actually a Magical Power charging facility and power plant. A production and recycling factory for building materials, a dismantling and processing plant for food.
With these at the center, there were residential areas for the villagers, agricultural zones, areas for Mother Fruno and Mother Vegino to roam, and even a combat training ground.
We’d picked up some orphans, and some of the warriors had brought back husbands and wives from outside, so the population had increased slightly.
The base didn’t need any more facilities for now. The construction of the walls marking the Barrier’s boundary was complete, so the number of Support Drones in operation had decreased considerably.
“It’s about time we turned our eyes outward,” she said.
“Outward?”
“Yes. There are things that are hard to come by through trade, and it would be impolite to rely on Your Majesty for everything.”
“We’re still mostly bartering, after all.”
As the Lord, I could move things around quite a bit. So, I didn’t need much money to procure supplies.
Of course, it wouldn’t be good to just give handouts, so I accepted items that could only be obtained in the forest in return… but, frankly, the items were underwhelming. As the Lord, I wanted things that could be used within the domain.
The things that could be obtained in the Black Forest were either too precious to use openly, or low-value items that were needed in large quantities.
But since I had relocated the capital, a vast forest also stretched behind it. Firewood could be obtained here, so I inevitably focused on acquiring valuable items.
Heinz and Fiorina were working hard at their shop to earn foreign currency. But their shop was aimed at Adventurers challenging the forest and Dungeons. It wasn’t a place where they could earn a lot of money.
I did buy up Potions, but since there was a dedicated alchemist in the domain’s castle, I couldn’t spend too much money on them. It wasn’t good to just hand out money without a reason.
“The other day, Yuzuki found a strange Dungeon. If we can manage it well, it could be very interesting.”
“A strange Dungeon?”
“Yes. It’s an ‘Ocean’ Dungeon.”
“Ocean? That’s amazing!”
I could freely create Dungeons, but I couldn’t completely control what was inside.
The Dungeon Core itself used the surrounding terrain to generate the Dungeon, so the only Dungeons that could be created around here were those based on the surrounding environment: [Mountain], [Forest], [Wasteland], [Plains], [Cave].
That also applied to naturally generated Dungeons, but sometimes there were Dungeons that ignored those rules.
A [Snow Mountain] Dungeon might appear on a tropical island, or a [Savanna] Dungeon might appear in a city surrounded by glaciers.
This was probably a similar case. Some people theorized that it was due to the memories left in the land, but it hadn’t been clarified. It was a mysterious phenomenon.
“Ocean, huh? I have underwater equipment, so it might be worth exploring.”
“However, it is a Dungeon in the Black Forest, so it seems to be quite difficult. Yuzuki confirmed the interior and retreated immediately after fighting a few Monsters.”
“What did Houryuu say?”
“He said that if it meant more places to get salt, then he was all for it.”
“Salt farms take up a lot of space. I’d prefer to get it from a Dungeon if possible.”
No matter how much land I had, it wasn’t infinite. Besides, once a salt farm was built, it couldn’t be used for anything else, so I wanted to avoid it as much as possible.
“More than that, the fish Monsters she brought back tasted amazing…”
“I haven’t eaten any, though?”
“My apologies.”
Grandma Hotaru and the Onmitsu cat beastkin loved fish.
There was a place where rock salt could be obtained, and it was a high priority among the trade goods from the capital, so I wasn’t worried about salt. So, the goal must be fish.
“Well, whatever. Let’s move to secure it.”
“Understood.”
“Well, if it’s an Ocean Dungeon, it’ll be underwater. Can everyone swim?”
“How should I know? We’ve never even tried swimming.”
Ah, that’s right, they’ve never even swam before. In my village, and in the villages near the Black Forest, you never knew what was lurking in the rivers and lakes, so you’d never go into the water.
And if you asked if they’d swim in the river in the village, they’d definitely say no. It was used for daily life, so they’d get angry. Plus, it was just dirty.
“It’s cold, so let’s make a Heated Pool.”
“A ‘pool’? What is that?”
“It’s a place to train for activities on and in the water. I’ll make a shallow area for the children to use, too.”
“If it’s a place for training, then the more the better.”
I turned my gaze back to the base. Yeah, there was still plenty of space. I could make a Heated Pool for training, with all sorts of gimmicks.
“I’ll use a blueprint and have the Support Drones make it. Sorry, but I have to leave for a while.”
“Where are you going?”
“It’s that time of year when I have to go home. I have to go see my family.”
“Understood. Please take your time.”
“I’ll be back before you know it, though.”
Now that I’ve unlocked Spatial Jump, moving around is instantaneous.