Chapter 68 (1/2)
During the few days when the new soldiers and servants were getting used to the castle, nothing much of note happened.
The soldiers were surprised at the War Tribe warriors camping out in the central courtyard, but didn't raise much of a fuss.
Just in the one in a million chance, I asked Leid if he would help with the training of the new soldiers, but of course he refused.
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With everything at the castle settling down, it became time to set off for Senpu Village.
The people coming along with me this time are: Irudo to handle the actual negotiations, Claura as my adviser, Ted and three soldiers as escorts and luggage porters, and of course Leiha.
Sedam, the other adventurers, and the dark elf sisters were needed for the castle's defense and the soldiers' training, so they stayed behind.
Furthermore.
”If it ever comes to it, it is my mission to cut off your head.”
So declared Leid with a serious face. If this line had been spoken by a pretty female swordswoman then I would have called it tsundere, but this was Leid and he meant it 100%.
However, being under watch by the War Tribe would be terrible for appearances so I objected with all I had. He eventually agreed to go along as a normal warrior, wearing normal armor. What a relief that he's not completely inflexible after all.
”That's Margils-sama's luggage, so don't you dare to handle it roughly!”
”Understood, Aniki!”
”And that's Claura-san's luggage! Handle it more carefully!”
”Sorry about that, Aniki.”
The three who are following(?) Ted as 'Aniki' are the youngsters that we had conscripted in our visit to Village of the Pond. As they were originally carpenters, they have both stamina and willpower, so they've been able to properly keep up with Jiruk's training. At the moment, they are still serving out their punishment for the crime of attempted violence against me, but if they continue working seriously like this, then I'm thinking of officially hiring them and giving them a proper salary.
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We used the road newly opened up by the Forest Giants to get through the forest east of Jiiteias Castle.
Although the laying of the flagstones was still incomplete, the road itself was already more than good enough to travel on.
After leaving the forest, we went north a bit to find the road connecting Yuule Village to Senpu Village, only after which could we resume going east. Indeed it was a pretty large detour.
Going by this route, it would take 5 to 6 days to reach Senpu Village. The new trade route would be able to shorten that by 3 whole days.
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”Sakko! Grab that part and pull~”
”Got it~”
”Aniki, I've finished gathering the firewood!”
When you get used to journeys that take several days, it becomes nothing more than a fight against boredom.
But then again, the only reason why I'm thinking that is because I don't have to help out at all with setting up camp and preparing food, so I feel extremely bad about it.
As I watch the three youngsters doing all the prep work under Ted's instructions, I understand that it's faster and more efficient without my help, so I guess there's no helping it.
Thinking about it from the other side, if we didn't have the minimum number of personnel — these 4 — then Irudo and Claura and I would have had to do all that work and carry all the luggage by ourselves.
That would be kind of pathetic for the lord of a castle…… alright, let's just leave this to them then.
And of course Leid would not even eat with us, much less help with setting up camp.
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In order to use our time effectively, I decided to do a bit of reviewing.
”Irudo, I want you to tell me something.”
”Yes, of course. What do you want to know?”
”It's about the city of Filsand, to the east of Senpu Village. What kind of city is it?”
Indeed, it's the city even further east of Senpu Village that I'm thinking of extending the Jiiteias Castle trade route to.
From a simple introduction that I had peviously heard from Sedam, it's a metropolis belonging to Feldi [New Kingdom of the East] that thrives on maritime trade.
”Let me see. It is apparently a metropolis that is thriving on maritime trade. If I remember right, it is connected by ocean to countries even further east than Feldi itself, Ran Balt, and also Shulendal.”
”That sounds like quite something indeed……”
”Indeed it is. However, its routes towards Ran Balt and Shulendal both pa.s.s through territory under the rule of the Dragon Empire, so apparently the costs are extremely high.”
”The dragon people again…… Incidentally, is there any trade going on between Senpu Village and Filsand?”
”Barely…… is probably the most apt descriptor. In the first place, it's rare for dwarves to trade with humans. But of course, there might be other reasons that I'm not aware of.”
If there are, then I need to investigate those reasons.
If it's just something simple like monsters being in the way and making pa.s.sage difficult, then it can be easily resolved.
The construction itself can also be handled somehow with the dwarves' cooperation and my wizardry.
”Now I have a 'what if' question. What if there is a road that cuts straight across the middle of the continent, connecting Filsand to Senpu Village, then to Jiiteias Castle? What would happen then?”
After explaining to this point, Irudo catches onto what I'm thinking. He looks at me with a start, then nods deeply.
”That…… would be an extremely effective route. Currently, there are some caravans and merchants heading to Filsand through the Plains of Twilight. However, most of them suffer great losses due to attacks by undead or bandits. If a safe route is established that leads right to Jiiteias Castle……”
The normally overly calm Irudo gulps audibly.
”...... It would bring an absurd amount of profit.”
Umu umu. With Irudo's stamp of approval, I feel a lot more confident about my plan.
”It is a plan feasible only due to Margils' beyond common sense wizardry. However……”
Having joined our conversation halfway through, Claura crosses her arms and adds her own input.
”I do not know the full details, but apparently Filsand, being the large city it is, also has its share of problems. The first is that the duke who controls it has a bad relations.h.i.+p with the Feldian king. And also, that city is under frequent attacks by barbaric tribes. At least, those are the rumors that I've heard.”