Blue Advisory!

Facing Wijel, I handed him the pouch I was holding.

“Since everything in the Forest of the Demon Dragon was said to grow quickly, why don’t we try growing this too?”

“What is this?”

“It’s a medicinal herb called chili.”

That was a lie.

“Hmm… A medicinal herb? Since it’s not a species that originally grew in the Forest of the Demon Dragon, I’m not sure how well it will take root… moreover, the storage state seems rather aged, doesn’t it?”

“Out of all those seeds, if even one grows well, that’s enough. So its condition doesn’t matter.”

Though Wijel seemed baffled by such a request, he soon straightened his broad body and gestured around. Then some women of the Sain Tribe approached, received the chili seeds handed by Wijel, and withdrew.

“It takes about a month for an ordinary herb to grow.”

That was an unbelievably fast growth rate. Which explained how they had survived by digging up and eating the roots of trees in the Forest of the Demon Dragon…

“If it grows well, it’ll be a month. But which part do you need?”

“Both the leaves and the fruit, I’d say.”

If my guess was correct, I intended to try making pickled chili leaves. I had just come back from confirming the taste of soy sauce with Riin. Moreover, if I added chili to the pickling…?

It might be quite a plausible solution to the fragrance problem.

“From the look on Lord’s face, it seems this must succeed.”

Apparently, my expression had given something away. I felt a bit awkward but trusted he would do well and changed the subject.

“But, isn’t it inconvenient to live in the forest without any proper buildings?”

“We plan to dig out caves under large boulders and live there. We are used to that.”

I told him that as royalty, that wouldn’t do, and added:

“If you just tell me the shape you want, I can provide you with at least a house. Don’t refuse. Now that you’ve become my domain’s people, think of the lord’s dignity too.”

“Ksshisihi, is that so?”

Because of his four fangs, Wijel’s laugh came out strangely. Surprisingly, though, his pronunciation wasn’t slurred.

After thinking deeply for a while, Wijel drew something on the ground with his claw. But no matter how I looked at it, it was in the shape of a “pyramid.”

“Would such a building be possible?”

“…It’s possible, but is it practical…?”

“Hooh… Then could you divide it into multiple layers and allow me to live at the very top?”

When I asked for clarification, it turned out Wijel wanted a pyramid-shaped “apartment.” It wasn’t a concept of this world—it was peculiar.

Still, as a king, he wanted to live at the top, while the lower layers would house his subordinates by rank. When I pointed out that would leave a lot of unnecessary space, he argued that only the outer appearance mattered.

Honestly, it wasn’t impossible. Since each block of the pyramid would serve as a house, I could use the inside however I pleased.

“A workshop, storage, a research lab… even a bunker, maybe?”

Imagining a bunker guarded by the fearsome Sain Tribe outside, I thought it wasn’t a bad idea. After all, there was no telling when the Demonic Tribe might invade. So, after seriously considering it, I said:

“Let’s try it. But the inside of the building should be left empty so I can use it. Is that acceptable?”

“Ksshisihi, of course it is!”

Clasping his massive, rough hand, I had once again added to my workload.

But since work had to follow order, I explained I would first complete the castle I’d live in, then build this structure. Wijel said it didn’t matter how I did it and added that a huge building wasn’t needed—just one for ten levels of people, precisely ten floors.

It wasn’t something that could be built right away. Still, I figured it would be useful someday.

After finishing listening to the Sain Tribe’s inconveniences, I moved to continue construction of the outer wall.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Lord?”

At Hare’s appearance, I recalled that she had returned fairly quickly and asked:

“Good to see you. How did your errand go?”

I was referring to her trip to the Forest of the Demon Dragon, and she showed me a fist-sized stone she pulled from the bag slung over her shoulder.

At first glance, it looked like nothing special, but upon closer inspection, I felt mana within it. Because I could use mana, I could sense the faint impression. Watching my expression, Hare grinned.

“As expected, Lord feels it too, right? This tremendous amount of mana!”

“…May I be honest?”

“Yes!”

“I don’t know. Tremendous or not…”

I could only say I felt mana…

Knowing my serious expression meant as much, Hare’s mood suddenly deflated in disappointment. Her emotional swings were really something.

“But… with a stone like this, is time acceleration really possible? It’s hard to believe…”

“In a small, limited space, it’s possible. Want me to show you?”

Knowing nothing of magic, I only nodded. As Hare walked ahead, she told me to follow, and I asked:

“Do you even know where we’re going?”

“The lord’s manor?”

“Wrong. Just follow me.”

Then I took the lead, asking how she had spent her time in the forest. She began speaking with a cheerful face.

“First, I wandered around to find Lord Demon Dragon. Then on the second day in the forest, I was able to meet him. That day, he was eating an ogre he had torn apart, and when he saw me, he offered me some… ssup.”

She smacked her lips. I was sure that’s what it was. An ogre… that huge creature. Come to think of it, I’d never eaten its meat. Even now, in one corner of the manor yard, they were busily processing monster remains.

I even saw a dead ogre hung upside down to drain its blood.

Hare, following my gaze, asked:

“Could I get some meat later?”

“…Take as much as you want. Most of the townsfolk are already taking meat from there.”

“Heeeh… Ogre meat… ssup…”

I myself had given up on eating that meat. I’d be grateful if others took as much as they wanted. Even the maids sometimes took orc meat.

They said it tasted good roasted…?

Honestly, I’d tried it but didn’t think much of it. Even that day…

“Just thinking of it makes my stomach turn…”

Anyway, since the wine cellar was nearby, I set that as our destination. Hare asked me slyly:

“You’re not planning to spoil the meat, are you?”

“Why would I spoil good meat when we’re short on food?”

“Then?”

“I’m thinking of making liquor.”

“Liquor… Lord, you know how to brew too?”

“I don’t enjoy it, but I don’t dislike it. Moreover, what do you think is the greatest weakness of our domain?”

“Hmm… I don’t know. Heeeh…”

Maybe she wasn’t even trying to think? I wondered, then said:

“The fact that we have so many herbs they rot away. In other regions, these medicinal plants are priceless and scarce, but in our domain, they overflow. Even now, we’re constantly expanding the warehouses… and this is after telling the people to take some for themselves. In other domains, they’d foam at the mouth with envy, but for us, it’s an overabundance.”

“So that’s why you’re making liquor?”

“Exactly. I’m preparing to brew liquor using herbs.”

She looked intrigued. And realizing that liquor-making required time acceleration magic, Hare grabbed my hand and pulled me as if asking where to go next.

I wondered why she was being so hasty, but later learned it was because she really wanted to taste the liquor made with herbs.

“Quite a large cask, isn’t it?”

She commented while looking at the oak barrel. The faint aroma and bubbling sound of fermenting alcohol were pleasant.

“Once it’s matured for some time and the ‘pop pop’ sound stops, I’ll open it and drain the fermented liquid. Then I’ll either process it further or put it back into an oak barrel for secondary aging.”

“What’s the difference?”

“If I process it further, the liquor will become stronger. The alcohol content will increase. But since I don’t know how to perform ‘distillation,’ I’ll need an external technician for that.”

If I could master distillation, I could produce many different products.

So after liquor, my next idea was perfume.

In this era, there weren’t many items with distinctive scents. Even when I was granted the viscountcy, the only such item I received was a “sachet.” That said everything.

So I thought of making “perfume.” But the problem was, this also required advanced distillation. No—more accurately, it was impossible without distillation.

In this world, people seemed to use distillation only for alcohol. Once perfume entered the market, various scented goods would appear. But I intended to use “herbal scents” from Ingrad.

Because there were herbs that gave refreshingly pleasant aromas. If I used them to make perfume…

I was certain it would be very popular. There were many steps to take before that, but as the saying went, a journey of a thousand li begins with a single step. It was time to put in the effort.

“Could you cast time acceleration magic here first?”

“For this warehouse, about five magic stones will be needed. They’ll need to be replaced once a month, and it takes about a week to recharge them.”

Thinking of them as “mana batteries,” I asked her to install them. Hare placed the stones at the points of a pentagram and began chanting.

Then, with a gesture in the air, lines spread across the floor, and dazzling patterns shone.

Even I could feel the energy—it was mana. Realizing this beautiful diagram was a “magic circle,” I admired it. Then suddenly, the light faded, leaving everything quiet as if nothing had happened.

“Is it already finished?”

“Yes. But once any living being enters the magic circle, it will stop. The designated living beings are beastkin and humans. The acceleration is tenfold.”

“…You can really accelerate time by tenfold?”

“I was able to obtain good-quality magic stones.”

Seeing Hare’s radiant smile, I briefly thought of the Demon Dragon, but then decided to stop.

As I stepped back a few paces, I noticed the air within the area seemed filled with a faint mist.

“Time acceleration?”

“Yes. For now it’s tenfold, but with better magic stones, it could go up to a hundredfold.”

“Who said that?”

“Lord Demon Dragon did.”

I wondered just what her relationship with the Demon Dragon was. But I decided to stop thinking about it. After roughly estimating what tenfold acceleration meant, I said:

“By tomorrow morning, the liquor will be ready.”

“But if you’re aging liquor, aren’t you going to control the temperature too?”

“Ah, could I trouble you to…?”

“I’ll do it.”

Sensing my intention, Hare again placed another magic stone and activated her spell.

At the time, I didn’t realize it. But later, when I learned just how high-level the spell “time acceleration” was, I began to wonder seriously—

What exactly was Hare’s true identity?