Various Circumstances (1)

It did not take very long for her to taste all the food I had brought.

She wore a generally satisfied expression, and the sight of her picking up and eating chocolates from time to time while we conversed was quite impressive.

“So, thou art asking me to create items like this?”

“That is correct. As for those cases, we can prepare them ourselves, so if you would just engrave the magic circles, we will be satisfied.”

“It is not a difficult proposal, but it is troublesome. Therefore… I shall visit in a week. At that time, ensure thou preparest as much of the food from today as possible. Ah, and the fish-shaped bread I ate before was delicious. Since thou saidst the fillings can be varied, I wish to taste those as well.”

“I understand. Thank you.”

I thought it was a relief. Preparing the food was not very difficult. Considering the effort and money spent, even if I had to prepare a mountain of food, it was a profitable deal.

Furthermore, it was a week away. Preparing the ammo cases by then would not be difficult. Thanks to that, the artisans would have to suffer a bit, but I had gained cooperation quite easily.

Afterward, I was able to tour the dragon’s lair until it was time to return with Hare, and it was a truly wondrous place. First, there was a separate space where she could live in a human body, and a space for her to live in her dragon state. To be honest, it was a terrifyingly large space, to the extent that I wondered just how big the dragon’s true form was.

Regardless of all that, on the way back, I looked at what I had received as a gift and asked Hare.

“What is this used for?”

It was a stone the size of a human head, and Hare smiled as she spoke to me.

“I think you can consider it a magic tool that transforms a regular forest to be like the Forest of the Demon Dragon.”

“….Excuse me?”

“If you bury it in the ground, the soil fertility rises, and if you place it somewhere, the mana concentration of the area increases. Generally, I know it is used by burying it in the ground.”

“Does that mean the Forest of the Demon Dragon has things like this buried all over it?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Pardon?”

I was puzzled, so Hare gave an explanation.

“You can think of it as happening just by the Demon Dragon living there. Literally, dragons sometimes stay in one place for a long time. It is when they sleep, and at that time, they are said to release the mana they were holding into the world. In the process, the area gains a high concentration of mana like the Forest of the Demon Dragon, and its life force develops abnormally.”

“Hmm… then what principle is this?”

I asked while thrusting forward the object I was holding in my arms, and Hare told me an unexpected story.

“I think you can think of it as what is commonly called a legendary mana stone.”

“….It seems I have received something quite incredible…?”

“She probably gave it to you because of the various things you did recently to cultivate the Forest of the Demon Dragon.”

“As in, ‘don’t touch it anymore’?”

“Most likely, right?”

The Demon Dragon was grateful enough to give an item instead of saying unpleasant things for the sake of her pride. So, after some thought, I recalled the site next to Rad Harbor and spoke.

“How much range do you think the effect will cover if I plant this in the ground?”

“Hmm, wouldn’t at least Ing City be able to receive a certain correction?”

Hare also seemed to be speaking based on a rough hunch. If so, there was no need to hesitate. I thought that if it was the size of Ing City, I could at least plant a huge number of Bread Trees and use them for various purposes. Furthermore, I had already obtained permission to fell a certain amount of the giant trees in the Forest of the Demon Dragon.

However, a condition was attached that trees must be replanted in the spots where they were cut, but I planned to be the first to do so under such conditions. I heard that those giant trees take less than ten years to grow.

It was an unbelievably short growth period, but since everything grew rapidly in the Forest of the Demon Dragon, I felt absurdly resigned to just accepting it as the norm.

Afterward, I called Demina and moved with Hare to search for a location to plant the mana stone I received from the dragon. Certainly, the land near the coast flanking Ing City and Rad City seemed appropriate.

This was because it was flanked by coastal cliffs and was close to the cities, making it easy to transport anything planted there, and many trees had already been felled, so not much additional work was required.

“The timber from here mostly went to the blacksmith’s side, right?”

“It seems so. Recently, there has been talk that timber is very scarce.”

Indeed, looking around, so many trees had been cut that one would think timber was in short supply. Furthermore, I could even see beastkin working even now.

As I approached them, they saw me and bowed politely to greet me.

“Where does that timber go after being felled?”

At my question, one of the bear beastkin answered.

“Part of it goes to Ing City, and another part heads to the shipyard in Rad City.”

“…A shipyard?”

Was there a shipyard that even I didn’t know about?

I tilted my head in wonder, and the bear beastkin spoke.

“It is a woodworking shop that produces very small wooden boats. I understand they set up the workshop because there are many fishermen who need fishing boats.”

“Ah, I see… A shipyard… It would be good to have a shipyard, wouldn’t it?”

“Most likely. With small wooden boats, there is great difficulty in going out to the deep sea.”

I said I understood, and after recalling a few things, I moved my steps to an appropriate location. Then, I asked Demina to pull out a large tree stump, threw the mana stone in, and covered it layer by layer using Construction magic.

“It will serve for theft prevention and location confirmation.”

Hare looked at me with an absurd expression, but regardless, I was able to plant the mana stone received from the dragon.

I could not know what kind of effect it would show, but returning to the Lord’s castle, I thought it would be good if it could show even half the effect of the Forest of the Demon Dragon, and I began to set a schedule with the intention of formally proceeding with the plantation work there.

Generally, I planned to handle it by employing beastkin, but I intended to have humans handle the planting and management of crops.

Afterward, through a meeting, I was able to set several schedules, and the days were passing by busily.

Branne de Ischtein—now a person who had become difficult to call a Count—stood before the lords of the seven domains who had decided to join her.

“I express my gratitude to you all for accepting my proposal.”

“On the contrary, we are only grateful that we could join in such a great resolution.”

“That is right. What has the treatment we have received for a long time been like?”

Everyone gathered here was a victim of a single incident. The point was that all their parents had suffered untimely accidents.

There was one noble who was the only one not joining them here, but Branne respected their will.

“The reason I have called you all is for one reason.”

“May we know what it is?”

“It is a story regarding Baron Hameureun.”

“He is a traitor!”

At the words of a noble who immediately rebelled, Branne raised her hand to silence the nobles and then spoke.

“There is a story they conveyed to me.”

The nobles looked at Branne in silence, and Branne began to explain the circumstances to them.

“First, they are currently conducting a large business targeting the Empire. Surely there is no one who does not know of the Hameureun Shop?”

“….You mean the one that is popular in the Empire these days?”

When a few people pretended to know, Branne said that was correct and continued her answer.

“There is a noble who has formed a certain agreement with Baron Hameureun. It is ‘him’ whom you all know, and it is said that the Hameureun Shop actually belongs to ‘him’.”

“Hoo!”

Everyone wore surprised expressions. So Branne spoke to the nobles.

“First, he said he would stand on the side of the Empire and do business while providing funds to our side, and he conveyed his deep regret that he and his people also wish to participate but are unable to do so. Therefore, I have called you all to clear up the misunderstanding.”

“Hmm… still, to drop out because of business right before a major event.. He is no different from a bat!”

Looking at the incensed noble, Branne spoke.

“I did not lack such thoughts myself. However, how much money do you calculate can be earned in a day in your domain?”

“At the very least, I can earn 300 large gold coins!”

It was by no means a small amount. Even the other nobles looked at that noble with envious gazes. However, Branne became curious about what kind of expressions they would make once they heard the story she was about to tell now.

“As the Hameureun Shop began to gain word of mouth, it is said that daily sales recently exceeded 1,000 large gold coins.”

The nobles were surprised. However, the Viscount who said he earned 300 opened his mouth.

“Putting in that much effort to earn a mere thousand gold coins, how much could he possibly help us?”

“It is not ‘mere.’ What I mentioned is the profit earned from a single store. Currently, the Hameureun Shop possesses over 30 stores within the Empire.”

“Gasp!”

Only then did the nobles, who were startled and doing the calculations, begin to wear pale expressions.

“A large portion of that is going to ‘him,’ but it seems Hameureun is also taking a significant amount. And I mentioned this because he conveyed that he would support us with 80% of that.”

“Eighty percent…. A tremendous amount of funds… will be circulating?”

“That is so. Therefore, I plan to use that money to bring in war supplies from the Atoon Kingdom and the Mirkas Federation.”

The nobles’ faces brightened; war was a monster that devoured money. The story that funds were circulating meant that they would have that much leeway.

It meant Baron Hameureun was doing a great job. However, at that moment, the nobles became more curious about ‘him’ who was collaborating with them rather than Baron Hameureun.

Furthermore, in Branne’s case, it was a situation where she was known to have a somewhat established relationship with ‘him.’ It was unknown how deeply involved she was, but the nobles also knew that one of the reasons Branne made such a big resolution lay with ‘him.’

But at this moment, there was a noble who scratched the itchy spot.

She was the eldest daughter of House Josephine, a woman who had succeeded to the rank of Viscount because there was no son in House Josephine of that generation.

“I have something I am curious about. Branne, what is your relationship with the master of Ingrad? I have been very curious for a while, but there are only rampant rumors… Rather than staying curious like this, I want to know what kind of relationship it is.”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because there are words that he is an incredible person. Perhaps because I am also a woman… if he is a great man, I feel like I want to take a shot at him.”

For a moment, Branne’s expression stiffened slightly, and there was no noble in this place who would fail to catch that. However, Tilda Josephine looked directly at such a Branne and was waiting for an answer.

“I… think he is not in a special relationship with me yet. However… if I were to have a partner, I think I would wish for it to be him.”

The face of Branne, who had finished speaking, was as red-ripe as a persimmon, but Tilda Josephine, looking at such a Branne, was able to smile upon realizing the fact that there was still an opportunity.