Eh…

“The kingdom grants each noble house a great deal of autonomy. Or rather, the truth is that the royal family’s power has weakened so much that they can no longer rein in the powerful nobles.”

As Nadja said, the royal authority had effectively declined in the kingdom.

The great nobles developed their lands however they pleased, resulting in regional cities that were even more splendid than the royal capital.

Because the right of taxation also lay with the lords, the crown couldn’t even track how much tax was being evaded.

The very structure of the kingdom had already become badly frayed.

Conflicts among the nobles were constant.

Even now, they were still fighting under some vague pretext about who was the king’s greatest loyal retainer.

“So in this case… the problem is that Duke Conrad’s position is simply too strong, correct?”

“Yeah. My family… House Conrad imposes heavy taxes and forced conscription, which is why we command one of the largest armies in the kingdom. Because of that, we can wage war whenever we like without even needing the king’s approval.”

House Conrad itself had expanded by exactly those means.

That was why we absolutely could not allow the ducal house to interfere with this village.

The desert had seen repeated failures in cultivation and greening, so there were no soldiers stationed here at all.

For now, I believed there was little risk of being discovered…

But if it were ever revealed that I was sheltering people from Conrad territory in Tree Village, then without a doubt—no, with absolute certainty—the duke would fabricate some excuse and send troops to seize the village as his own.

“That’s why I don’t want us to get too deeply involved with the refugee camps. Of course, I do want to help, so providing them with food isn’t a problem…”

Right now, provoking House Conrad would be a terrible mistake.

Even though Tree Village’s population was growing, its scale was still so small that Conrad’s forces could crush us without effort.

“So for now, I was thinking we should have them live further north, in a place where they couldn’t return to Conrad territory even if they wanted to. Do you have any good ideas, Simurg-san?”

These refugees had only come to the desert because they wanted to escape heavy taxes.

So my plan was to provide them with a place where they could live comfortably in the desert.

In exchange, they would promise not to form ties with House Conrad, and live at a distance to avoid harboring ill intentions.

After all, the original desert dwellers like Shekuri-san were very different in culture and customs from these newcomers, former citizens of the kingdom.

To prevent friction, I hoped we could create some separation between them—but realistically, that was difficult.

If only I could extend the Sanctuary near them somehow—

“There is… well, a solution of sorts.”

“—Eh, really!?”

I hadn’t expected there to actually be a workable solution, so I was the one surprised.

But Simurg-san, folding his winged arms and closing his eyes, only let out a low groan.

It seemed he was troubled.

“I’ve been meaning to mention it for some time, but I’ve put it off because it’s troublesome. If we resolved this matter, the separation issue would be solved. However…”

Uncharacteristically, Simurg spoke with hesitation.

Was this really something he disliked so much?

All I could do was wait silently for his words.

With a long sigh, Simurg continued, looking weary.

“In truth, an acquaintance of mine, another Divine Beast, has been bombarding me with telepathic messages insisting on coming to Tree Village.”

Eh!?

Another Divine Beast!?

“And incidentally, I dislike that one, so I’ve been completely ignoring it!”

With a proud sweep of his wings, Simurg declared this with confidence.

E-ehhh…