Black Gold (7)

Count Geforce of the Demon Realm had arrived at the Demon King’s castle with a large quantity of goods secured from the Black Gold Merchant Company.

His goal was to deliver these to the Demon King he served and gain the authority to petition the Demon God. After waiting in the antechamber with a trembling heart, the moment finally came for him to enter the audience chamber at the Demon King’s summons.

“I greet the Great Demon King, Your Majesty!”

In the Demon Continent, where power rules all, one of the three reigning Demon Kings sat at the apex. She looked down at the Count prostrating himself at her feet with an arrogant, bored gaze and spoke.

“You sought an audience with me. For what reason? If it is for a trivial matter, I shall not forgive you…”

Count Geforce felt the thorns hidden within that beautiful voice, but he confidently lifted the box he had brought so the Demon King could see it clearly. The Demon King used her magic power to pull the box into her hand.

“What is this?”

“It is a foodstuff called ‘Black Gold’ that has recently been causing a stir across the world, Your Majesty.”

“Have you wasted my precious time for… a mere trifle like this?”

At that moment, Geforce felt a crushing pressure of magic power as if his heart were about to burst. He thought of death, but realizing he would surely die if he didn’t act, he shouted with all his might.

“I do not regret dying, but… it would be a bitter sorrow to die without seeing Your Majesty’s face filled with joy!!”

Thinking these words were quite unexpected, the Demon King stopped the pressure she was exerting on Geforce and opened the box. As she inspected the contents, she let out a sharp intake of breath.

‘Is this… Nama Chocolate (ganache)?’

She was a Hero who had once been summoned from another world and used, only to betray the god who called her and entrust herself to the Demon God.

Naturally, she knew all about chocolate. For a long time, she had searched for a way back to Earth, but having found no answer, she had resigned herself to a life of weary boredom.

With slightly trembling hands, the Demon King picked up a piece of chocolate and smelled it. It was as if fireworks were going off in her head.

‘How beautiful is this scent…?’

Recalling memories of the home she had forgotten, the Demon King immediately put the chocolate into her mouth. In that instant, she closed her eyes as the fantastic harmony of flavor and aroma filled her mouth, surrendering herself to a torrent of emotion.

Geforce, watching her cautiously, felt a surge of certainty.

‘The gamble paid off.’

Geforce had been sure. If she was the woman who had once been a Hero of the human world, she might know this fantastic taste. If something that never existed on this continent suddenly appeared, one could suspect a ‘Hero’ or a human summoned from another world. The intersection of these two possibilities had granted Geforce this opportunity.

When the Demon King opened her eyes and looked down at him, he hurriedly lowered his head. However, the Demon King asked a question rather than a reprimand.

“Did you call it Black Gold? How did you obtain this?”

“There are ships manned by beastkin called the ‘Black Gold Merchant Company’ traveling to port cities all over the world. I was able to purchase it there.”

“Is that so… and their base of operations?”

“It is known to be a strictly guarded secret. We have mobilized several demons capable of flight to track them, but… approaching them is difficult, and following them long-term is proving to be a challenge.”

“Beastkin? Do you mean those things on the mainland?”

“No, Your Majesty. They were whale beastkin. They claimed it was ‘Black Gold’ bestowed by a ‘Divine Messenger’.”

Geforce poured out all the information he knew, and upon hearing this, the Demon King made a decision.

“I must go to the human world. I’ll have to speed up this tedious war a bit…”

The Demon King, who had been in a state of near-seclusion due to boredom, began to stir.

While the world was busy preparing for rapid changes, I had to go out for field work to oversee the expansion of the Sky Bridge. The main issue was exactly how much to expand the scale of the bridge.

Furthermore, as a significant number of people began to settle below the rest stops, four makeshift villages had formed. I was once again contemplating whether or not to install defensive walls for these areas.

“Linda, if we install walls, the Ho-in Tribe might end up living as wanderers again. They are exceptional warriors. In the long run, they are people we should keep close to the Lord’s castle.”

“But I believe it’s necessary. Regarding the fortification work you’re planning, My Lord, I think it wouldn’t be bad to handle the Sky Bridge as a priority.”

Linda argued that since I intended to build a fortress, we should prioritize the defense of the Sky Bridge first.

She wasn’t wrong. It was a road that allowed a straight line of travel from the outside directly to the Lord’s manor.

Moreover, having reached the Fourth Rest Stop, we had already expanded the width of the Sky Bridge from two lanes to six. This made the movement of goods much easier, but Linda strongly pointed out that an enemy charging from the outside could also use this wide road. Thus, she proposed turning the rest stops into a type of hub city and fortress.

It wasn’t a bad proposal. I had already set out on a month-long excursion with a firm resolve anyway.

However, the part I was worried about was the construction period.

Building a fortress while constructing a road? Honestly, doing that felt inefficient. I had proposed finishing the road expansion first and then only fortifying the First Rest Stop. But Linda’s thoughts were different.

“I think it’s better to connect and defend the area closest to the domain with several fortresses. That way, we can block monster intrusions into the interior of the fortress and expand the living area for the immigrants accordingly.”

“Did you say the population migrating here to escape the war has been increasing lately?”

I had received news that nearly 10,000 people had migrated within a single month. However, the places they settled were not near the Lord’s castle but near each rest stop. This was because they chose areas from which they could leave for other domains at any time, given the high probability of our domain becoming close to the battlefield.

They had found their own way. But it seemed Linda wanted to embrace them.

Honestly, it wasn’t a wrong approach. It is desirable to build fortresses and maintain strict defenses to ensure safety, but the question was whether they would actually move inside the fortress as Linda hoped.

“If we want to draw the picture Linda is thinking of, it would be more appropriate to fortify using the Third Rest Stop as a boundary. That’s a location that takes a full day by carriage from the First Rest Stop.”

“That would be good, but I’m saying it’s inefficient because the range becomes too wide.”

“That’s not wrong either, but if the enemy is thinking of a blitzkrieg, they would have to face us in an exhausted state at that point or take a day’s rest.”

“If we think of a blitzkrieg, it would be best to turn all four locations—where the heart can be reached in the shortest distance—into fortresses. But aren’t you wishing for a short construction period, My Lord?”

“The maximum duration I’m considering is two months.”

Linda fell into thought. I brought up a few more points to her.

“First, I plan to fortify one rest stop. Then, I’m thinking of connecting two or up to four fortresses to it. I don’t intend for the size of the fortresses to be very large. A scale capable of stationing about 1,000 troops should be sufficient.”

Linda contemplated my words. Then, she pulled out a simple map and began connecting several dots centered on the Third Rest Stop.

She then asked me.

“Are there any other locations you would like to add here? Or please consider any locations you’d like to change.”

She handed me the map. As I checked the locations where Linda was planning the placement, I thought she was quite impressive.

“You’re planning to build fortress cities in the form of hubs here and here, right?”

“It’s certain that a large population will flow in at this rate. I thought it would be good to use them and help them settle in various such locations.”

“Are the fortress walls… all going to be connected?”

“I’m trying to maintain the forests here and here as a sort of buffer zone, similar to the wall surrounding our domain.”

The locations Linda pointed out were the front and back of the fortress. Having forests creates difficulties in moving siege engines and various supplies in many ways.

I certainly agreed, and Linda had also drawn paths that could lead to the Ingrad Domain from other domains besides the Hameureun Barony via the fortress city.

“All this construction… well, I can say it’s good. But how long of a timeframe did you have in mind when you came up with this?”

“I thought that if you put in the effort, My Lord, it might be possible in about three years at most.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘Three years at most… If we set a tight schedule, we could complete it in about half a year. But did she set it at three years because she had to account for the incoming population?’

Ultimately, I asked for Linda’s reasoning, and as her words matched my expectations, I mentioned one thing she hadn’t realized.

“With what kind of outcome in the war between Atoon and our country did you propose this?”

“Ah… I was short-sighted.”

Linda apologized, saying she had been over-excited, but looking at the current war situation, there were signs it would last quite a long time.

This was because unless the duel between ‘Masters’—who are called one-man armies—is settled, the war will continue to drag on sluggishly.

Furthermore, I was checking the changes in the world through the Information Guild I hired solely for intelligence gathering via Idlen’s introduction, so I shared the information I obtained with Linda.

“There is news that the demon forces are rapidly increasing at the boundary between Atoon and the Mirkas Federation, which can be called the front line. High-ranking nobles have appeared in large numbers, and because of information openly leaked by a few loose-lipped demons, the morale of the troops guarding that area is said to be hitting rock bottom.”

“What kind of rumor is it…?”

“They say the Corrupted Hero… she is on the move.”

Linda was visibly startled. No, this was information that anyone in the Central Continent would be shocked by. Moreover, it was a Demon King. I had called her the ‘Corrupted Hero’ to make the impact slightly less shocking, but the fear of the Demon King seemed so pervasive that such an effect couldn’t even be expected.

“Do you know how the Kingdom and the Alliance… no, the Alliance and the Imperial Army are responding?”

“They say the Terakan Empire is dispatching five of the Six Great Knight Orders and the elite of the noble armies. However, I hear they aren’t listening very well. Also, I heard that several of the Empire’s Masters have already headed to the front via teleportation.”

Despite this, the look on Linda’s face didn’t seem to ease easily. Thinking that the Demon King must be truly terrifying, I asked if there was a serious reason—perhaps she was thinking of something else—and Linda said something interesting.

“I think the time has come for you to step forward a bit more actively, My Lord.”

“In what way?”

“By utilizing the harbor.”

“The harbor…?”

It was unexpected. As I listened to Linda’s subsequent explanation, I couldn’t help but be a bit surprised by the plausible story. Furthermore, if we did this, I felt we might be able to get permission for several things I was worried about through negotiations.

“Thank you, Linda. That sounds like it will be a big help. For now, we’ll postpone the fortification work. Road expansion is essential for moving supplies… We’ll expand it up to an eight-lane road. Let’s get to it.”

“Yes!”