13 (51)

The capital, Lebledna, was rapidly becoming active. Before Louis’s eyes, a picturesque map had been drawn. It was information only he could see, invisible to anyone else. The red area, which was commonly classified as the red-light district or brothel district and had belonged to Marquis Fred Vesk until recently, was turning green.

Marquis Vesk’s mansion, barely drawn at the edge of the map, was painted black. That was because Louis had issued a full blockade order. Now, the only inactive part of the capital was about one-fifth of it, the area held by Phillipeu James. If he took over even that district, the capital would, in effect, be completely his.

‘First, I need to be able to control the capital perfectly. Only then will other cities be possible.’

A method to naturally keep his ears open, at least as far as the underworld and the streets, had been created. The one who would play that role was Omer. When Louis expanded it into a larger map, a new world opened before him. The Eron Duchy was laid bare before his eyes. After Marquis Vesk’s grim rumors were delivered to each region by carrier pigeon, his infamy as a usurper was actually being replaced at a rapid pace.

In a few days, the capital would completely enter a state of rising satisfaction, and after several months passed, support in each region opposing him would also continue to rise.

The meaningful point to watch was the region ruled by House Boarne, and the effect of the letter he had sent before the incident with Vesk, saying he would forgive House Boarne if they completely surrendered and opened their hearts to him. Right after he had ascended the throne, an ominous red light had surged so fiercely that he nearly had to wage war against House Boarne again, but now that light was fading.

Soon, there might be a response to the demand in the letter. In other words, that person might personally come to the capital. They did not really have a choice. Since House Boarne’s army and troops had suffered damage close to annihilation at the Rhine River, even if the regions ruled by House Boarne resisted his rule, the only military force they could use to rebel against him was, at best, citizen militia.

In any case, once the unique building he was currently preparing, the Great Colosseum, was completed, the capital’s dissatisfaction would be completely resolved, and it would instead rebound from its low point. Considering that high satisfaction added an additional production rate to all production activities, it might not take long to recover from the damage of the civil war and restore the country that Orpendius had been gnawing away at all this time.

Marquis Vesk had possessed so much that even as nearly a week passed since the incident, all of his property had still not been confiscated. At least he was confessing one by one to the things he had hidden away. It seemed he truly did not want to be dragged to the Papal Court. Louis had not yet sent news of this to the Papal Court. Even if he reported it, the Holy Knight Order would not come immediately anyway. The Holy Knight Order was currently dispatched to the north. They might even be in the middle of a war. If he sent word, at most, an investigation team would come.

Moreover, he had not even begun to grasp what kind of man Duke Rose Christopher was. He was planning to speak directly with Vesk soon, but for now, he was not particularly inclined. There was a mountain of work to do. Because of the country that had been left crushed all this time, there were more than one or two starving cities displayed on the map window.

It was on a completely different level from when he had only managed the cities belonging to House Pontina. Even with the unique building called the Hanging Gardens and the event-like golden-age buff from the Pope’s visit overlapping, the food shortage showed no sign of being easily solved. On top of that, the golden-age buff had now ended. Wheat production had instead decreased. One encouraging point was that the aqueduct created by the Archmage Euclid was gradually activating the northern region.

Since Euclid was constructing the aqueduct, he was currently not visiting the capital. Euclid’s Aqueduct, which had been a free unique structure, was producing an enormous quantity of bananas. Once this month passed, Pantalist would finally obtain bananas that had soared to +6 per district. The taste was one thing, but starving citizens would not be in a position to be picky about that.

Even after distributing a certain amount to House Parse, House Orsini, and House Kaban, who had helped him occupy Pantalist, the remainder alone would be enough to feed the capital well. Even so, when looking at the Eron Duchy as a whole, he still needed a method to increase food.

Because of the war, of course, and because he had built aqueducts several times, and because there had been almost no national funds left by Orpendius, the money he had was secretly flowing out at an incredible speed. It was about time he thought of business opportunities as well. That was why his expectations for the Great Colosseum were quietly high. The Colosseum would solve satisfaction, but he also thought it would be a tremendous business opportunity in itself.

He knew the idea of a colosseum had spread like bamboo shoots after rain to other countries, but because of pressure from the Papal Court, no one was yet operating an arena on this scale. Because of this incident, the favor the Papal Court held toward him would be greatly cut away, but they were not going to feed him immediately. What he could gain from maintaining a close relationship with the Papal Court was a large number of high-quality priests. The rites they performed, medical treatment, and potions were all good things that would do no harm to a country.

However, such things were good only when they developed together as the country developed to a certain degree. Right now, with even food running short and food prices rising, where would the citizens have the money to pay for rites, medical care, and potions? This was precisely the point he was considering.

If he had been continuing to run the Pontina territory, this would have been the point when culture began to bloom. But because he had overthrown Orpendius and obtained the country, the comfortable level he once had was instead wavering again now. Well, even so, there was a solution. He still had more than 100,000 unused points left, and he also had the additional points he had gained from this incident.

The time had come to think once again about that very old dilemma: ‘Food or money?’ If he decided on a direction, he could solve the problem by intensively unlocking special buildings and traits related to that field. But that did not mean he could pour everything into it as he had done in the past.

Now, balance could be considered important. No matter how much he focused on internal administration, if someone attacked and destroyed it or took it away, it would become a ridiculous act of having worked for someone else. He currently saw that someone as probably Duke Rose Christopher, who had supposedly been targeting the Eron Duchy for a long time.

“By the way, the king is putting up a huge building right now, right?”

“The Colosseum? That one. I heard it is an arena where slaves fight each other while holding swords. Poinwell, did you not visit the Pontina territory?”

“Do not even get me started. It was incredibly fun.”

“Really?”

When Louis turned off the information window all at once, he saw the girl, who looked happy, perhaps because she was full. Maria was still talking to Louis without pause. At that moment, Bud Norman appeared from behind. He cleared his throat a couple of times and said to Louis.

“Captain Jaco. There is someone who wants to see you.”

Maria raised her gaze, looked at Bud Norman, and smiled brightly.

“You have fixed your stutter a lot.”

“Huh? Ah… thank you.”

Louis said.

“Who is it?”

“A mage.”

“Understood. Maria. I have work to do, so I will be going now.”

“Yes! Mister.”

Louis rose from his seat and wrapped the hood he had been half-wearing around himself again. It was because if his face was revealed, it would draw attention. When he left the noisy tavern, which seemed so packed with people there was no room to step, buildings mixed with stone and wood stretched before his eyes.

In the past, thugs would have gone around collecting protection money at this hour, but not now. There seemed to be far more people overall, and women wearing revealing clothes, men walking around choosing those women, and boys and girls soliciting customers all made the streets lively.

Glowing lamps hung here and there around the shops. The sunset sky rapidly darkened, and it was a little chilly. Thinking that many stars would rise tonight, Louis moved his feet. Behind him, Bud Norman said, “That mage is Sir Euclid.”

“That is sooner than expected.”

“It seems he came because of something other than the aqueduct. Someone from the Empire arrived around the same time as well.”

“The Empire.”

“Yes. They do not appear to be people trying to meet Your Highness. It seems they came to see Sir Euclid, and entered the castle while they were at it.”

A rough picture formed in Louis’s mind. It was still only a guess, but if he asked Minister Richard, the experienced man would add flesh to it and advise him. The road gradually widened, and a space appeared where huge avenues connected one after another.

The carriage waiting in one place recognized Louis and politely greeted him. Louis roughly nodded and climbed into the carriage. Bud Norman followed him in, and from the front came a “Giddy up!” Then the carriage slowly began running along the road densely paved with stone.

The carriage entered behind the castle, and when Louis got out, two sturdy royal guards saluted him. Louis received the salute and walked inside. Minister Richard, with white hair and a white beard, was waiting with a smile. Louis handed him the hood and began walking.

“Tell me about Sir Euclid and the envoy from the Empire.”

“It seems they came to win over Sir Euclid.”

“Hm?”

“Rumors are spreading among the public that the Empire has begun to seriously accept Magitech. Are you aware of it?”

“I am aware, but…”

“It seems the envoys have already seen the aqueduct Sir Euclid created. It appears they want to take Sir Euclid to the Empire no matter what it takes. The amount they have already offered Sir Euclid has far exceeded the amount Your Highness is supporting him with.”

“Is that so…? What did Sir Euclid say?”

“There has been no answer yet.”

The one who had opened Pandora’s box was not Euclid, but Louis himself. He had known this would happen, and that an intellectual shock would follow at tremendous speed. If Euclid went over to the Empire’s side, that would be regrettable in its own way. However, Louis had no justification to forcibly keep an archmage called a sage.

If Euclid said he would leave, that would be the end of it. However, that did not mean it would simply lead to a loss. That was because a special resource was essential to the foundation of Magitech. Black Water. If other countries developed through Magitech, it meant the demand for Black Water would increase by that much.

Magitech would become extremely important in the future. Even if it was the Empire, a ruler with no interest in Magitech would fall behind the times. However, Magitech would not bloom just because one had interest. Black Water had to accompany it. Black Water was a lump of money in itself. Simply selling Black Water alone would generate astonishing profits.