Vol 2 Chapter 9 (1/2)
Volume 2 Chapter 9, “The Great Demon Conference, the Kurultai”
—– The Winter Palace, the Study
Butler: “That’s not it Steep the tea ar cubes”
Royal Maidservant: “Y-yes!”
Clerk: “Where should I put the inforricultural tax?”
Butler: “Put everything frooes to the archives room”
Royal Maidservant: “There are applications for the Queen of Winter”
Butler: “Pass the”
Lone Winter King: “You look busy”
Butler: “No shi+t, Young Man”
Lone Winter King: “It looks really terrible”
Butler: “No, no, it’s fine I’m finally of use”
Lone Winter King: “I’m a bit worried”
Butler: “Don’t worry, youngdays when I was a carefree dandy”
Lone Winter King: “I’ a lot”
Butler: “Besides, apart from me, who else is there to handle all of this?”
Lone Winter King: “That’s true”
Secret Service Captain: “Sir, the elite squad has been assembled”
Butler: “Great, prepare Equipment No2 and stand by for further instructions”
Secret Service Captain: “Yes, sir”
Lone Winter King: “Once they’re in the De to be difficult to establish contact”
Butler: “That won’t be a proble one’s cover is theundercover I used to do this a lot in er days, but it still makes my heart flutter”
Lone Winter King: “Well, at least now you won’t go around groping young girls”
Butler: “…?!”
Lone Winter King: “I’m serious”
Butler: “Sigh… That makes me sad…”
Lone Winter King: “Your responsibility is to conduct investigation and look for ways to achieve peace”
Butler: “Understood”
Lone Winter King: “As much as possible, I would like to avoid conflict with the Derants and the soaring growth rates, I have enough on my hands with the Central Continent alone”
Butler: “Yes”
Lone Winter King: “Considering the reactions of the people, it is likely that nothing I say will be enough, but on ree that would really save us”
Butler: “Indeed… The De its own movements The City of the Gate has been taken back by the Demons, but despite the rumours froedlyin the City”
Lone Winter King: “Hmm…”
Butler: “I’m not sure how many of them are still alive, but from what I’ve heard, it’s an i into the Deain, there are many Demons who look exactly like hulance”
Lone Winter King: “Try to get all this information into a report for me”
Butler: “As you order”
Lone Winter King: “This isn’t really an order”
Butler: “It’s e”
Lone Winter King: “I don’t want to hear your jokes right now”
Butler: “Nyohohohohoho”
Lone Winter King: “On a side note…”
Butler: “Yes”
Lone Winter King: “I’ve been thinking recently… What kind of De…?”
Butler: “Hmm”
Lone Winter King: “Hean entire World, he must be sooes with it”
Butler: “Indeed”
—— The Palace of Ice, in an Elegant Small Room
Disciple nobleman: “—So, that’s how it is”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “Great work”
Disciple noble myself at your expense”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “In su situation”
Disciple nobleman: “There are three countries ish to join the Tripartite Econododom of Reeds”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “Hmm…”
Disciple noble to openly voice their desire to join is the Kingdom of the Lake The others would like to join, but they’re afraid of the power of the Church”
Marshal: “As expected, this is an issue of power”
Disciple nobledodoms do that”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “Quite right”
Disciple nobledoht, if those two countries did not surround the kingdo willingness to join us”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “What’s the status with the serfs?”
Disciple nobleman: “Before that, let me tell you about the other landlords”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “Continue”
Disciple nobleman: “Well, the landlords… where was I?”
Scratches head
Disciple nobleman: “Ah… They want to do business with us! There are about twenty-one of the nobility of City-States”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “As expected, many people are interested in trade”
Disciple nobleh inflation, particularly heat It definitely hurts that they can’t sell their produce, but most of all, it hurts that they can’t even move any of their produce”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “What do you mean?”
Disciple nobleoes up or down has a direct and significant impact on the City-States, especially if trade is a old pieces, maybe they can sell it for three, if they can buy it for three, maybe they can sell it for four In this way, they ood”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “Hmm”
Disciple nobleone up, in theory, they should be able to sell for higher prices and hence gain more profit, but because it’s too expensive, they can’t even oods can’t otten to such an extent that the voluone down to just 10 compared to last year”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “So it’s that bad, huh”
Disciple nobleht now, the only place to which it is possible to in trade with the South, goods can start flowing and they can startto do with the production of the goods, as long as the goods aren’t flowing through their cities, they’re losing money constantly”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “That may be so, but it can’t really be helped”
Disciple noble weapons, then the Churchas they aren’t exporting weapons or anything, and if they just say that they’re using us as a transit point for the goods, the Churchunder our u desire of theirs”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “…”
Disciple nobleman: “However, on the one hand, the City noblemen will not oppose the Emancipation of the Serfs For the uildsmen ork in the cities are not serfs, and are unconnected to it for the most part”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “Indeed”
Disciple noble that the Es of the Church of Light are those agricultural conificant sway over The Kingdoe country, but since the Holy Order of the Lake is firmly and officially established there, the news of the Emancipation of the Serfs travelled there quickly and was firmly accepted Froainst us, it is clear that the Queen of the Lake is fir towards us”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “Hmm”
Disciple nobleman: “Well, that’s how I feel”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “This is all very chaotic”
Disciple noble here, it’s much worse over there”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “Is that so?”
Disciple noble about what I’ve just explained to you, it’s really chaotic”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “Hmm”
Disciple nobleman: “On the whole, the nobility everywhere is very afraid”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “Afraid?”
Disciple nobleht The lifestyles of noblemen are sustained by the taxes which are paid to them, but from a more existential point of view, the reason why they are even noblemen is due to the inherent class systeuarantee fro which tells them ‘You have power!’ The serfs, e, ‘I will follow you!’ In this system, even the lower classes are spiritually satisfied with their lot in life and accept it”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “…”
Disciple nobleman: “So what happens when you remove the lowest-class status of the Serfs? In other words, when the bottom of the class system completely disappears? The entire structure of society and their individual fiefdoms will collapse instantly These lords believe it will be iree of unrest which will follow that
“As I’m sure you can see, in the Tripartite Union where the Emancipation of the Serfs has been successfully enacted, the farmers and settlers still pay their taxes as usual Of course, the structure of society has changed to their advantage but it doesn’t mean that the Emancipation of the Serfs is equal to the mass execution of all nobility These nobles aren’t confident that it can be so effectively carried out It’s very tragic”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “That being said…”
Disciple nobleman: “Yes?”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “You come from a noble family, you look like you are fairly rich”
Disciple nobleman: “Yes, of course”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “?”
Disciple nobleh I am a nobleman, I believe in civilisation and culture”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “Culture…”
Disciple noble or other fors wear dresses? Do cats paint? Do cats cos put up operas? The only existences who do that are people with souls, like us This is what it means to be human It may look like it is pointless, but it’s actually very is today so that our legacy can last until tos like culture and civilisation What’s the point of being a nobleman if I don’t believe in this?
“If one does not want to continue being a nobleman, then it is perfectly acceptable to become a merchant or a soldier or whatever It should not be the case that just because you are born into a noble farandance in everything he does,” and I believe all should be given the opportunity”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “…Hahaha”
Disciple nobleman: “What does your Majesty feel?”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “Yes, really How funny”
Disciple nobleman: “What would you have me do?”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “Go to the Kingdom of Red Horses”
Disciple nobleman: “As you wish”
Queen of Ice and Snow: “And of course, ance as you do it”
——- The Kingdom of Metal, the Royal Palace, the Ministry of Defence
Disciple Soldier: “Aaaargghhhhhh?!”
Metal Lieutenant: “What is the matter, Minister for Defence?”
Disciple Soldier: “I’m at my limit!!!”
Metal Lieutenant: “Please calm down, sir”
Disciple Soldier: “I’m a soldier!”
Metal Lieutenant: “I am also a soldier, sir”
Disciple Soldier: “Calm down Calm down”
Metal Lieutenant: “Breathe slowly, sir”
Disciple Soldier inhales and exhales deeply
Metal Lieutenant: “Do you feel better?”
Disciple Soldier: “Arghhhh, look at all those reports”
Metal Lieutenant: “You are too agitated, Minister!”
Disciple Soldier: “This whole Minister for Defence thing was a terrible idea I’ more than the Commander for the Rear Garrison of the Realm”
Metal Lieutenant: “It is completely natural that a soldier who performs well on the field should be promoted”
Disciple Soldier: “But why have I become a Minister!”
Metal Lieutenant: “Well, that’s because the Kingdom of Metal is comprised of military noblemen The entire system is built around these soldiers Anyone above the rank of Seneschal is usually also a dom of Metal is, ‘A soldier is only a soldier in times of war In peace, he must administer the country’”
Disciple Soldier: “Ahhh, I’ve been swindled”
Metal Lieutenant: “Well, let’s face the facts, sir”
Disciple Soldier: “Reportsarescary Reportsarescary”
Metal Lieutenant: “They aren’t that scary, sir”
Disciple Soldier: “If I get the reports wrong, it’ll be my head on the line! The Paladin will stab doo the toilet and cry”
Metal Lieutenant: “What kind of past did this guy have…”
Disciple Soldier: “That’s not what I meant”
Metal Lieutenant: “Well, please calm down, sir Have some tea If the reports are so scary, I’ll read theether, we’ll surely get over that mountain”
Disciple Soldier: “Thank you I was about to crumble…”
Metal Lieutenant: “Well, it’s true that the number of reports we have here could kill someone”
Disciple Soldier: “Ugh”
Metal Lieutenant: “But actually, if we deal with this, just this one report, half of the reports will be solved as well”
Disciple Soldier: “…What kind of issue is that?”
Metal Lieutenant: “Actually, it’s an order fro, what the hell should we do?’”
Disciple Soldier: “Huh? Isn’t it good that the population is increasing?”
Metal Lieutenant: “Well, it’s a good thing As the population increases, our workforce increases and we can produce more food We can also field more soldiers in times of war”
Disciple Soldier: “I-I see”
Metal Lieutenant: “But currently, there are a lot of short-terin with, the reason why there are so rants in this country is because the Tripartite Union is rich in food supplies and also guarantees the E the countries of the Tripartite Union, the Kingdodom of Winter are the ones which are closest to the borders of the Central Continent”
Disciple Soldier: “Indeed”
Metal Lieutenant: “Hoever, the ee serfs, impoverished settlers or other people who often have no assets apart from the clothes on their backs Even if they did have some assets, it would be difficult for them to find jobs and hence they only become a social problem”
Disciple Soldier: “That’s true”
Metal Lieutenant: “Up till noe have been requesting the assistance of the Kingdo with the ihout the area, but this is reaching a limit”
Disciple Soldier: “So what should we do?”
Metal Lieutenant: “That is up to the Minister for Defence”
Disciple Soldier: “Hoho! …Isn’t that me!”
Metal Lieutenant: “The Minister for Defence has the responsibility to defend the people”
Disciple Soldier: “Ughh”
Metal Lieutenant: “Well, apart from that probleotten an issue about the appearance of bandits and rouges Because the settlers come from different countries, their culture and lifestyles may be completely incompatible with the locals, and hence there are s Those coe proportion of this mountain of reports Of course, as the Ministry for Defence, we should focus on dealing with the larger picture
“On the whole, the e deal with banditry and armed violence is to arrest and detain as many as we can, even force compensation—from those who can afford compensation However, these are only punitive measures we can conduct after the incident has taken place, right? As a result, we aren’t actually preventing the proble place at all”
Disciple Soldier: “That’s definitely true”
Metal Lieutenant: “…”
Disciple Soldier: “…”
Metal Lieutenant: “What shall we do?”
Disciple Soldier: “Hmm… The Scholar made us learn many case studies… especially about settlers”
Metal Lieutenant: “…”
Disciple Soldier: (This is definitely troubleso out willy-nilly Above all, if the settlements become a lawless place, it would become a safe haven for criminals and louts and other scary people…”
Metal Lieutenant: “…”
Disciple Soldier: “What about the guilds?”
Metal Lieutenant: “The guilds?”
Disciple Soldier: “Do the uilds not accept apprentices?”
Metal Lieutenant: “Well, I’ll ask around I could probably go the Hall of Guilds… But even so, one guildsman could probably only train five or o anywhere in the world……”
Disciple Soldier: “In that case, contact the workshops and hire some craftsmen to advise on this… I want to expand the workshop networks”
Metal Lieutenant: “The workshops?”
Disciple Soldier: “No, no, that’s not it… Well, for the ti”
Metal Lieutenant: “For the ti?”
Disciple Soldier: “My wish is for them all to become soldiers”
Metal Lieutenant: “Huh?! Soldiers?”
Disciple Soldier: “I uilds have reached their lie settlements are at their limit for settlers They’re broke They have no place to live They have no place to work, they have nothing, they’re completely broke”
Metal Lieutenant: “Yes, that’s correct”
Disciple Soldier: “I’m a soldier, so I think the military is the best”
Metal Lieutenant: “But if that’s the case, we’ll have to pay theht? Not just their salaries, but we’ve also got to fork out money to equip them, to feed them and to house them”
Disciple Soldier: “Well, they can provide for their own upkeep”
Metal Lieutenant: “What?!”
Disciple Soldier: “Like you said, ‘a soldier ht? In that case, we’ll come up with a new class of soldiers, beneath the professional soldiers In times of peace, they will till the lands, so they’ll be half-farmer, half-soldier battalions We’ll set their military service at five years for now If they work for those five years, we’ll give them the appropriate monetary compensation and arable land for their services”
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Explanation
Half-Farmer, Half-Soldier: This refers to the tuntian systeiven parcels of arable land to cultivate in times of peace, and they are allowed to reap whatever they produce from the land for theht It first began in China in the 3rd century BC, but was popularised by Cao Cao during the Three Kingdo the Meiji Restoration Period, the tonden system was used to spread civilisation to Hokkaido
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Metal Lieutenant: “So basically, you’re trying to use the soldiers as farmers”
Disciple Soldier: “Far also helps to keep the body fit Many farmers are thin, but that’s probably to do with malnutrition If we can establish potatoes as the centre of the agricultural econoh to eat”
Metal Lieutenant: “That is a national priority”
Disciple Soldier: “We can allow theether with their wives and kids, and even expand the age limits of the schehbouring the Kingdoet them to build new settlements This could also forood defensive place, with hills and rivers, right? The weather conditions are a bit harsh, so we es which rely on forestry, shepardry, or potato far”
Metal Lieutenant: “And what sort of support e give them? What e do about food and the like?”
Disciple Soldier: “They are soldiers, so naturally the Kingdoet this to co It’s just that it takes about three years for potato plantations to be effectively established”
Metal Lieutenant: “Yeah, that’s a long time”
Disciple Soldier: “Let’sThere are a lot of soldiers who used to be settlers or the sons of settlers in the ht?”
Metal Lieutenant: “Yes I myself am one of them”
Disciple Soldier: “asseet thees of this scheme Also, contact the Holy Order and request for their assistance and expertise I’ve thought about this many times before, but we should really establish a Medical Corp We have to revise the e’re training our Medics and Medical Officers, instead of relying on civilian doctors If we do this, when diseases break out at new settleo all the way back to a large city Patients could also go to settlements from nearby settlements, it could be a very effective system”
Metal Lieutenant: “That’s good It’s best to reduce the nu to the battlefield”
Disciple Soldier: “Also, we have to do so about the road networks”
Metal Lieutenant: “Road networks?”
Disciple Soldier: “The presence of roads can dra speed of soldiers doms like ours, where troops are mainly infantry Better infrastructure also facilitates the transportation of goods and people Right now, I believe we should build new roads between unlinked areas and expand and repave the old roads”
Metal Lieutenant: “Where e get the money?”
Disciple Soldier: “About that, I’dom of Winter to help with that”
Metal Lieutenant: “Huh…?”
Disciple Soldier: “This is not just about the Kingdohways between the Three Kingdoms If we do this, trade will become far more convenient and the movement of our workers will also be easier The wallets of the Kingdom of Metal will certainly be pleased by this, won’t they?”
Metal Lieutenant: “Well, that’s not untrue”
Disciple Soldier: “At the same time, we should also create more metal factories”
Metal Lieutenant: “Metal factories…?”
Disciple Soldier: “Large scale metal workshops If ant to train craftset them to beef up the infrastructure of the national economy and to manufacture weaponry and equipment”
Metal Lieutenant: “I’m sure you know this…”
Disciple Soldier: “What?” Interested
Metal Lieutenant: “But with so to be a lot of work”
Disciple Soldier: “I’ve been swindled?!”
——- The Village of Wintering, the End of Winter, the Diary of the Little Maid Sister
It’s the end of our third winter
We’ve used a lot of spices this winter Spices like nutht back by the Hero from the Demon World, and they’re really useful Hooray for the Hero!!!
The Mistress sees Today, she left with the Hero to the Capital of Winter They were talking about things like trade, commerce, and applications She had to prepare a lot of souvenirs for these people The Mistressof the Deo broke from these souvenirs
Today, I e-filled pie I added a lot of pepper so that it’s got its great peppery taste The Hero seees I sent soe Chief and he seemed to really love it
It’s al
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Explanation
Nut: A sweet spice which is used to rown natively in Indonesia
Saffron: In our world, this spice is native to the Mediterranean Sea It can be used to make dishes like Yellow Saffron Rice
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——– The Demon World, the Banks of Phoenix Lake, Pavilion Street
Wind blows
The Hero: “Ahh, it’s a!”
The Chief Maid: “It’s alress there has been”
The Hero: “That being said… It’s like a city”
The De there, it’s almost like a small city”
The Chief Maid: “Powerful people from the various Tribes, even people froathered here for the Kurultai But apart froathered here, evento offer their services It’s nor the Kurultai, there are even more people there just to offer their services”