Chapter 166: Inroad (3) (1/2)

…The Floating Island’s Inn. In that restaurant thousands of meters above the sky, which was nothing more than a resting place for the Named, Rohakan was reading the hard-earned report from Deculein.

──[Statistics made up of facts: The continent’s path forward.]──

The continent is entering an era of upheaval. The frontier is no longer an extinct place that ‘stays there.’ Rather, it will come before our eyes as time goes on. In addition to the cracks in the Empire, new challenges appear from outside the continent.

Therefore, I would like to present a whole new theory of controlling external risks. This theory completely excludes the element of luck and is based only on practical observations. I hope you will study, understand and accept this to benefit your generation.

───────

Explanation of Collision Values ​​page 157, Monster Wave Calculation Formula Based on Collision Values ​​page 53. A total of 210 pages of formulas served to make Rohakan’s head dizzy.

“Hmm…”

“Is it difficult for you to understand too?”

The woman opposite Rohakan suddenly asked the question.

“…I don’t know.”

Red pigtails and typical fighter attire: Ganesha. Adventurers who weren’t wizards weren’t allowed to enter the Floating Island, but her adventure group used an unofficial route.

“I can do the calculation. But I don’t know if I’ve grown so old that my brain has hardened, but I can’t understand the logic of the derivation of this collision value. Deculein, this guy has become a scholar in no time.”

“…Huh? Is that all you have to say? It was very hard to find it~, so please, read it properly. It’s not just anyone who can acquire this. It’s so popular and controversial.”

Ganesha narrowed her eyes, prompting Rohakan to clear his throat.

“Ahem. What can I do if I can’t read it?”

“I mean~, it cost 300,000 Elnes to get it from the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“Who told you to get that, huh?”

“…Did you forget you told me to bring it?”

“Forget it. Just take what we agreed upon.”

Rohakan handed Ganesha a prosthetic hand. Ganesha lifted the artificial arm, then nodded after a moment.

“…Made by Arlos, that’s right. Thank you, old man.”

Ganesha’s tone grew serious. Then Rohakan pointed to the kid next to her, who was asleep on the table. Carlos: the boy, not yet ten years old, was missing one of his arms.

“What happened to that kid?”

“A lot~.”

Ganesha avoided the answer; Rohakan didn’t ask anymore.

“Can I read it?”

That cute voice belonged to Lia as she pointed at the paper in Rohakan’s hand.

“…Of course. Read it.”

Rohakan smiled kindly and handed it to her.

“Thank you!”

Lia’s eyes practically emitted lasers as she scanned the paper. Ganesha and Rohakan watched with delight, and dessert came out just in time.

“…?”

At that moment, Lia’s concentration broke as fragrantly sweet desserts were placed atop the table.

“…!”

The scent of one object resembling macarons shook her.

“…”

She stretched out her hand blankly as if possessed, gabbed the macaron, and slowly put it into her mouth.

“Oh…”

Seeing the child melt away, Rohakan smiled.

“Was it a good read?”

“Oh!”

Then she came back to her senses. Lia nodded.

“What do you think?”

“That… Professor Deculein is smart. Can’t we believe it?”

Of course, the calculation itself was difficult to understand, but there was a hardcore trigger in the main quest. An unexpected event in which countless demons descended south from Annihilation. Anyway, even if it wasn’t that, now that the main quest would soon arrive, the stronger the defenses, the better.

She didn’t know Deculein could help in this way.

“Haha. Is that so?”

After giving a short answer, Rohakan stared at Lia a little while longer.

“… You look alike.”

“Eh?”

Ganesha responded for Lia.

“Do you mean Deculein’s ex-fiancée or something? She’s heard it a lot already. I think she will hear it a lot more in the future.”

“…Haha.”

Rohakan rummaged through his pockets with a silent smile instead of responding.

“Take this.”

He produced a scroll.

“What you want is in the North, so go there. I’ll open the way.”

“!”

Lia’s eyes widened at Rohakan’s words.

「Main Quest: Inroad」

Finally, it was the beginning of the full-fledged script.

* * *

I started developing the northern border. The design plan and scale were more than any knight’s order, but there was no need to airlift materials. The coniferous forest in the North was of acceptable quality. The skeleton was erected in one day. The construction provided by competent wizards, such as Epherene, Drent, and Ihelm’s Division, was more efficient than the labor of a thousand workers.

“This should be enough.”

However, my Psychokinesis was dedicated only to the construction of the mansion. I didn’t want to stay in the same building as the prisoners for even a single day.

“Wow…”

Epherene, Allen, Drent, and the thirteen men of Ihelm’s division looked up at the mansion in amazement. All five stories had been built in harmony with the northern forest using aesthetic sense. Even I was satisfied with it.

“Whoa, this is crazy. How did you build this in one day?”

Ihelm was amazed. I opened the front door without a word and led the wizards inside.

“It’s empty inside… well, we can fill it. More importantly, Deculein.”

Ihelm kept talking to me. It was growing annoying.

“Some rumors are going around these days. Big money earned in stocks, beating Her Majesty, and even more strange rumors.”

I stared at Ihelm. He smiled as if he were familiar with it.

“Deculein, you… I heard you know which family tried to poison Her Majesty.”

“…”

In this world line, the crime of that day remained as an attempted poisoning. Of course, even that would be a mortal sin enough to destroy a noble family. So, immediately after the match with Sophien, it grew pretty noisy in the Imperial Palace.

“Ihelm, get out of here.”

“Hey, hey. Can’t you build a house for me too? Or would you like me to stay here? I can pay rent.”

“…Go before I kill you-“

“Gosh, I’m going, I’m going~. You’re too sensitive. It looks like there are a lot of rooms, but what’s the problem? Hey. Let’s go!”

Ihelm took his group and left. On the other hand, my pupils Epherene, Drent, and Allen looked up at me with eager anticipation. Epherene was the one to lead the charge.

“Um… Professor. Should we just go too…?”

“You stay here on the first floor.”

“Awesome… I mean. Yes~! I’ll bring the luggage~.”

The three of them ran back while I moved out to the porch to look around Reccordak. In terms of Man of Great Wealth, this area wasn’t the worst. On the contrary, it occasionally produced golden shards. It was probably the best place to use as a base camp if the Annihilation expedition began.

“…It would be better to build the facility first.”

Right now, the top priority was construction, transforming this damn prison to have minimalistic self-sufficiency and developing it so that it could become Julie’s base. It was fully doable.

* * *

[Stocks that Even the Eye of a Fool Can Recognize, Volume 1]

Julie was studying in the office, scribing diligent notes in the book she bought.

“…The first rule of stocks, never lose money.”

It was because she was quite disappointed with herself, who had been ignorant of financial techniques, as she watched the Reccordak taken over by Deculein in an instant and saw the dramatic changes as soon as he arrived.

“The second rule, never forget the first rule.”

Knights should stay away from wealth; maybe she was too caught up in that old-fashioned view. She needed money to protect her comrades and to maintain order.

“This is hard… never lose money.”

A knight should not pursue money, but it wasn’t right to neglect it too much. Even if it was a late realization, she was glad it wasn’t too late. Julie, taking notes, slowly raised her head. Reylie was reading a book on the couch.

“Reylie.”

“Yes?”

She looked this way. Julie pondered a little and shook her head.

“…Nothing.”

“What? Oh, are you studying stocks?”