Chapter 55: The Road Passes Through
“Well then, what’s this about funds procurement?”
I was still a bit shell-shocked from having suddenly become a feudal lord with responsibility over 3 villages. But I gathered myself back together and turned towards Irudo.
I’m now inquiring about the fourth item on the list that he and Sedam had made of pending issues I need to address.
“So far, all of our funds had been coming from Margils-sama’s own pocket, but we can’t continue doing that indefinitely.”
“Hmm, that’s true.”
“Even if we start collecting taxes from our villages and the caravans that use our roads, the total would not amount to much. We need to create a source of revenue.”
Inside my Infinity Bag is enough to comfortably feed everyone here at the castle for 10 to 20 years, but I get Irudo’s point.
After all, if an organization cannot earn enough to sustain its own operating costs, then it cannot be called healthy by any standards.
“Fortunately, I have friendly relations with Senpu Village. How about let’s make a trade route connecting that place, Jiiteias Castle, and Lelis?”
“I see. Making this castle the relay stop between Senpu Village and Lelis, huh.”
Isn’t Yuule Village currently serving that role?
I nod while recalling the large map that I had hung up in my study in the tower.
“If we do so, at least 5 or 6 caravans would come by the castle, allowing us to earn quite a bit from passage toll and lodging fees.”
“If it’s you saying so, then I’m sure it will be like that. Let’s move towards that direction, then.”
“Thank you very much. Aside from this, actually, I had something that I wanted to consult with Margils-sama on.”
“Nn, speak.”
His question turned out to be whether I had any spells at my disposal that could be of help in regards to the construction of the trade route.
“U—n, I don’t think there are any such convenient spells……”
“Is that so? I apologize for asking for something impossible. In this case, then it seems we have no other choice but to again rely on Margils-sama for the funds…… We are going to need an enormous amount of laborers and materials, so……”
“I don’t mind. Actually, no, wait a second……”
‘Laborers’ made the connection for me.
“No worries. I have the perfect spell for this. Labor costs is something that we won’t have to worry about. Hmm, no, we’d still need people to do detailed work as well as the actual architectural designing.”
“Is that so! As expected of Margils-sama. Things like the designing we can commission the dwarves to do, so there’s no problem.”
And thus, because of this discussion, Irudo promptly headed towards Senpu Village to make the negotiations. Of course, besides we trade route, we’d also need help with the restoration of the mountain path.
I have confidence that he would get great results for me. For his escort, I assigned all of Sedam’s party members, so there are no worries on that end.
♥♦♣♠
Without Irudo present, there is no point in me visiting the villages by myself, as I cannot do the necessary coordinating by myself.
Which is why I went to White Sword Castle to hand over the former magic soldier trainees in the meantime.
The running of the castle I left to Mora, and the security I left to the 4 dark elf sisters.
On the day of departure, the 10 kids all gathered in the central courtyard, and there were a lot of tears and hugs as the 3 who are staying and the 7 who are leaving said their farewells.
I was worried that there would be a lot of suppressed crying on the road to White Sword Castle, but my fears turned out to be unfounded. These are kids who had managed to live through the terrible conditions of that place. By the time the majestic appearance of White Sword Castle came into view, all of them were already back to their normal selves.
When I was making the journey from Lelis to Jiiteias Castle, I had already sent a messenger to White Sword Castle explaining everything, so the reception of the young boys went smoothly.
They are apparently going to be assigned miscellaneous tasks and also given basic training for the next 5 years. Those who turn out to have the aptitude would then be accepted as knight trainees.
♥♦♣♠
“I am deeply thankful for accepting my request. If any issues come up, please contact me immediately.”
“It’s been a long while since we last had young ones joining us, so we’re the ones who are thankful. We of the Carbanera Knight Order will take responsibility and look after them.”
It feels like it’s been ages since I last saw the Grand Cross. He’s smiling like a good-natured old man at the children, all of whom are petrified from nerves. But still, the color of his face is bad.
“That aside, it seems that your health has taken a turn for the worse……”
“Fufu. I heard that you have the power to heal illnesses, don’t you.”
So he already knows about me saving the Council Chairman from being poisoned. Poison and illness are separate things…… but well, it’s true that I can heal illnesses too.
“Unfortunately though, this is merely old age. I probably only have about a year left.”
“I’m still not going to be Arnogia-dono’s backer, though.”
“What a pity.”
While we were having that sort of conversation—
“Wizard-dono!!”
“It’s been a while!”
“Th-, thank you for making the trip here.”
The siblings Gillion and Lioria, as well as Arnogia, all came in.
“Wizard-dono, I have an earnest request to make!”
“Please listen to our request!”
“Y-, you two, no need to be that rushed……”
These three are getting along a lot better since last time, aren’t they? And the Grand Cross too, there’s quite a bit more warmth in his eyes when he looks at them, even with Gillion there.
The request from these three turned out to be “please summon the same ogres as last time for us to train against.”
It is true that the Carbanera Knight Order is going to have to get a lot stronger to fight properly against the Shadow Demons.
“I don’t mind, of course. Wait, rather than that……”
My [Create Ogre Platoon] creates 6 ogres that continue to exist for 3 days.
So, I offered to come to White Sword Castle once every two weeks to resummon ogres for training use. They immediately accepted happily.
Then they got worried for me, asking if it was alright for me to be away from Jiiteias that frequently. When I explained that I can use [Teleport] when I am alone, which is a spell that enables me to instantaneously travel to any place I am familiar with, I got three very different responses:
“It seems that there’s no point at all in worrying about Wizard-dono.”
“I wouldn’t have minded coming out to greet you though……”
“Do you have a spell that can make it quick and easy for me to become the strongest?”
That last one, oi.
♥♦♣♠
“De—yah!”
“Gyau!?”
Since I'm here, they also had me sit in on their training. And to my surprise, it seems that both Gillion and Lioria have gotten strong enough to defeat an ogre 1 on 1. Last time, Lioria was already able to beat an unarmed ogre, so her opponent this time was armed. Gillion’s was unarmed, but he had gotten markedly better than before.
No surprise, they were both completely exhausted afterwards. But at this rate, the day when they are capable of facing off against 2 at the same time might not be that far off.
“Platoon 1, switch to defense! Platoon 2, circle around from the right, then attack!”
“ “Ohh!” ”
Unfortunately, Arnogia’s combat strength hasn’t changed much from last time. His ability as a commander, however, has been making smooth progress. With 10 knights, he is able to go toe-to-toe with 2 ogres, which is very impressive when compared with how it went last time.
“Ohh, well done indeed.”
I expressed my honest praise along with applause.
If there is ever a ‘next time,’ I would be able to trust them with my back.
♥♦♣♠
The night I returned to Jiiteias Castle.
The cleaning and repair work of the castle has been completely finished, and everybody is resting inside their respective rooms. Irudo’s group is scheduled to return two days later.
I am currently deep in thought sitting here in the study. The room is illuminated by the [Light] spell that I had attached to the ceiling earlier.
What can I do to earn funds?
Just like what Irudo had said, if we can establish a trade route to Senpu Village, then it would indeed generate a certain amount of revenue.
However, what we stand to earn is at most only what Yuule Village is currently earning. That might possibly be enough for Jiiteias Castle in its current state, but if I am to continue gathering allies and expanding the scale of my operations, then I’m no longer so sure.
While I sip at my cup of cooled-down Shil tea, my mind races on.
The fastest way is probably me creating some magic item and selling it.
Healing Potions, Antidote Potions, magic arms and armor, or perhaps even the aforementioned golems.
I have yet to see one of this world’s magic items. It other words, they are that rare. Consumables that lose effect after a single use, such as potions and scrolls, are apparently being produced by the Magician’s Guild in small numbers.
The production of and ownership over those so-called magic swords and magic armors are limited solely to royalty, great nobles, and people on the level of being called heroes or great magicians.
With that in mind, if I make potions and sell them, I would be able to earn a lot.
However, there are two problems with this idea: 1) it takes me 3 days to make a single potion, and 2) I would be stealing the Magician Guild’s profit.
(T/N: And he’s not worried about stealing Yuule’s profit?)
I suppose there is also the option of crafting a very small number of super powerful items beyond what the Magician’s Guild can make, and then selling them to extremely wealthy people.
“But that’s no good. I become nothing more than a magic item craftsman.”
The idea seemed good at first, but had to be scrapped almost immediately. More like, if the method still needs me in the end, then it misses the point.
Leiha is currently on standby in the neighboring room per my order, so I can freely talk to myself (it was only later that I learned that the single wall separating the rooms did almost nothing in the way of soundproofing).
Hmmm……
My current self is like a businessman who has the funds to start up a venture business but has no prospect of making it profitable.
“...... My hip hurts……”
I turn my upper body without standing up. What comes into my line of sight is the ‘Continent of Sedia, Central Area’ map that I had hung on that wall.
The name ‘Jiiteias Castle,’ as well as the villages that are part of my ‘domain,’ are all properly marked on there.
When I look at it like this, my castle looks like it’s situated quite close to the middle of this Central Area……
“A trade route reaching up to Senpu Village would be……”
On the map, the lines representing highways radiating from Lelis towards Shulendal and Reind’Dal and Ran Bolt look all connected, like an aorta.
(T/N: Countries to the north, east, and south.)
One of those lines stops at Yuule Village.
I tentatively tried penciling in the Lelis ⇔ Jiiteias Castle ⇔ Senpu Village trade route that we are about to build.
“...... This line, wouldn’t it become something amazing if it reached all the way here?”
Mentally, I continued extending the line that had stopped at Senpu Village eastward, through the mountain range in that location…… until it reached the metropolis marked with large letters as ‘Filsand.’
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