Being afraid of bugs was a trait you could find anywhere.
Even Alon himself didn’t particularly like bugs.
In his previous world, just seeing a cockroach would immediately make his mind jump to I’m screwed.
To that extent, having insect phobia wasn’t strange, but Kylrus acting like this was extremely fresh and fascinating.
Fundamentally, this was a fantasy world.
Unless a place was immaculately well maintained, bugs would pop out anywhere.
In other words, compared to the modern world Alon had originally lived in, it was quite hard to find people who were afraid of bugs.
Since even nobles traveled by carriage and road travel was the norm, they might find bugs annoying, but there usually weren’t any who were scared of them.
Anyway, Alon looked down at Kylrus, who had fainted the moment Blackie turned into a spider, and found it extremely fascinating, and on the other hand, a little funny.
It was funny, but...
‘Was it really necessary to go that far?’
While stroking Blackie, who was sulking while stuck in the form of a cat, Alon looked straight ahead.
Before them stood a gigantic True Dragon.
A True Dragon so massive that it made you gasp just by comparing it to the one Alon usually fought for training.
Alon lifted his gaze toward the sky.
When he craned his neck upward at what felt like more than 70 degrees, Kylrus was standing atop the True Dragon’s head, so high that it was hard to see properly.
Kylrus was saying something.
Naturally, Alon couldn’t hear a thing.
He was simply too far away.
Alon could only guess from the way his mouth was moving.
“Hey, I can’t hear you, could you come down a bit?”
Fortunately, it seemed the other side could hear Alon’s words, as the True Dragon’s body, which had towered endlessly into the sky, shrank slightly.
Really slightly.
Thanks to that, Alon only had to crane his neck at 69 degrees instead of 70 to see Kylrus.
Kylrus seemed to say something again.
“Come down a bit more. I still can’t hear you at all.”
When Alon spoke once more, the previously silent Kylrus reduced the True Dragon’s size.
Even so, Alon still had to look up.
Probably around 60 degrees.
“I can hear you from here—”
As Alon stared at Kylrus in disbelief for a moment,
“Blackie, let’s go back in for a bit.”
[Meow—]
Alon promptly pushed Blackie back in.
Only then did the size of the True Dragon created by Kylrus gradually shrink, finally becoming small enough to converse with properly.
“......Aren’t you coming down?”
“We can converse just fine from here.”
As if the earlier episode of foaming at the mouth and fainting had never happened, Kylrus once again wore his cool expression.
However, the moment Alon placed his hand on his chest where Blackie was, he watched Kylrus instantly shoot upward.
Leaving behind the brief thought that this must be what they call a manchild or something, Alon said,
“......Let’s talk.”
He soon stopped fooling around and began a conversation with Kylrus.
“I’ll say this first, but my knowledge might not be that helpful.”
“Why is that?”
“I dealt with True Dragons, not Shadow Dragons.”
Still keeping his distance while riding atop the True Dragon’s head, Kylrus continued.
“However, taking that into account, let’s talk. First, True Dragons can freely change their outward appearance. But as you said, they can’t absorb something and use its power.”
“......Then does that mean this is a trait of Shadow Dragons?”
“If I had to guess, that’s probably the case............ is what I’d like to say, but............”
“Is there a problem?”
At Alon’s question, Kylrus pondered for a moment, then continued.
“Basically, Shadow Dragons grow by constantly consuming something.”
Alon nodded.
He had heard that exact explanation from Kylrus back when Blackie had devoured Rakrakkamur.
“But I’ve never heard of a Shadow Dragon that uses the abilities of what it consumes.”
“Then does that mean Blackie is special?”
“If I had to make one inference, it’s probably an ability gained through growth.”
“An ability gained through growth?”
“Basically, as True Dragons grow, they gain one unique ability along with increased strength. And the same should apply to Shadow Dragons.”
Kylrus’s explanation continued.
“The ability gained is also matched to the compatibility with its partner.”
“Is it the same for Shadow Dragons?”
“Yes. And based on that fact, if we make an inference.”
“Then Blackie’s ability is related to me?”
“It’s only an inference. But if that’s the case, it does explain why that thing can go beyond transforming into divine-blood and even use their abilities.”
As Alon nodded at those words,
“But still.”
“What is it?”
“Couldn’t you come down a bit?”
He pointed out that Kylrus was still floating at a distance.
“I will come down.”
“......When?”
“After you leave.”
At that answer, Alon made a face as if he’d lost all words.
Soon after leaving the space, Alon—
“Ah, you’re out, Marquis?”
“Yes.”
“So, how was it?”
At Penia’s question, Alon thought briefly, then said,
“He’s not cool. He’s just pretending to be cool.”
“??”
***
The next day.
Alexion, Penia, Evan, and Sili gathered in the office to discuss what they had postponed the day before.
“So at this point, the first thing we need to resolve is that shantytown?”
“Yes, that’s correct. The other issues can be handled somehow, but that part is a bit complicated.”
At Alexion’s nodding reply, Alon pondered.
‘We need citizens.’
Fundamentally, citizens were essential to forming a kingdom.
To begin with, a kingdom’s operations ran on taxes, and the number of citizens could be said to represent the kingdom’s prosperity.
Furthermore, from Alon’s standpoint of needing to gather faith, the more citizens, the better.
Of course, at first he had been momentarily dazed by just how many there were.
“I have one question.”
While Alon was thinking, Evan, who had been quietly listening, spoke up.
“What is it?”
“This is just my personal thought, but wouldn’t it be fine to just leave the shantytown alone without doing anything?”
“......Just leave it?”
“Yes. Well, strictly speaking, Marquis doesn’t really have any reason to do something for them, does he?”
“Hmm~”
In some ways, Evan’s words were reasonable.
No matter how wealthy Alon was, he didn’t have enough wealth to provide lodging and food for every single person standing outside the territory right now.
The treasures piled up under him weren’t enough to casually spend that kind of massive sum.
“That is true. But if we leave it like that, various problems will arise, won’t they?”
“Is that so?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Public security will clearly worsen, and before long, it’ll turn into a slum.”
Large shantytowns like that are easy for the underworld to infiltrate.
At Penia’s added explanation, Alexion also agreed.
“That’s correct. If that happens, merchants will no longer come here of their own accord. One of the reasons merchants started coming here in the first place was because it was safe from bandits.”
“And if we drive them out to prevent a decline in public security, it’ll be a loss for the Marquis.”
“......It’s hard to reach a clear conclusion.”
As Alon muttered to himself after hearing Alexion and Penia’s opinions, Sili, who had been silent until now, interjected.
“May I offer an opinion?”
“Do you have a good idea?”
At that, Sili thought for a moment, then answered.
“For now, I think we can move about half of the people here to the Divine Land.”
“......To the Divine Land?”
“Yes. People are gathering there too, but there’s still plenty of room.”
“That would certainly give us much more leeway in thinking of countermeasures, but I wonder if moving people will be easy.............”
Penia murmured in a worried voice.
However, Sili looked confident.
“Don’t worry about that!”
“...Don’t worry?”
“Yes. If you give me about a week, I’ll make it so they move on their own.”
She said with a smile.
At that smile, the others fell silent for a moment.
The four glanced at one another.
But soon, Penia cleared her throat and asked,
“Well….. if we assume we send about half…. what about the other half?”
“Well..”
“Hmm— if it’s reduced by half, I have a good idea.”
“A good idea?”
“Yes.”
Alexion also cleared his throat.
“Since the current territory size can’t accommodate them all anyway, I think we should expand the territory and hire them as laborers.”
“As laborers?”
“Yes. That way, we naturally secure the workforce needed for expansion and provide them with financial assistance.”
“So we let them settle by using them as labor while also providing monetary support.”
“That’s correct.”
“However, if we spend resources like that, it seems we could burn through everything before long......?”
At Alon’s point, Alexion let out a soft chuckle.
“Don’t worry. There’s a way to recover it all.”
“A way to recover it?”
“Yes. First, we build many inns during the expansion. The Marquis’s territory is already so packed that merchants don’t even have places to stay.”
“And we recoup the spent costs through those inns?”
“Exactly. Moreover, if we build inns and increase employment, we’ll be able to clear out the shantytown comfortably without much resistance. Other nobles would simply bulldoze it, but image management is important for the Marquis, isn’t it? Besides that—”
As Alexion laid out a plan that used the workforce very rationally,
And efficiently recovered the marquisate’s resources, Alon was once again reminded of what kind of person he was.
‘Even if he’s like this now, he was once someone who had a tight grip on the slums of Raksas...............?’
Reconfirming Alexion’s competence(?), Alon unconsciously nodded.
“However, there is one problem.”
“A problem?”
“Yes. We’ll need materials to expand immediately, but at this point, it’s not easy to procure construction materials. A lot has been happening recently, hasn’t it?”
“......Indeed.”
Alexion added.
It was only natural that materials would be hard to obtain at this time.
“Anyway, to get materials, we’ll have to secure them ourselves or bring them in, but current material prices are honestly absurd.....”
“For now, let’s ask for help here and there.”
“I’ll also do my best to put out feelers.”
“If there’s someone willing to sell a large amount of materials, it might be good to meet them directly and talk.”
“You mean negotiations. I’ll make arrangements for that as well.”
After adjusting a few final details, Alon said,
“Then, let’s end it here.”
And with that, the meeting concluded.
***
Tun, the head of a merchant guild that ran the trading company known as Singing Coin, had recently been dealing with a troublesome problem.
Rather than being his alone, it was an issue for the entire company.
Namely, the sudden increase in bandits.
Not long ago, there had been a bandit-subjugation boom, and the bandits of the Allied Kingdom Alliance had been wiped out.
But after some time passed, as if it were a lie, the bandits had increased again.
And such bandits were an extremely troublesome presence for merchants.
Just today, he had nearly been robbed by bandits, so Tun entered a tavern with a weary sigh.
“Hm?”
He realized that the atmosphere in the place was unusual.
Looking closely, the mercenaries and others seemed the same as usual.
The difference lay in the area where merchants were gathered together.
As Tun approached,
“Tun, you’re here?”
Someone greeted him familiarly.
Tun had no trouble guessing who had called his name.
“Malgam?”
“It’s been a while.”
“You were here?”
“Yes. I was on my way back after stopping by Findel.”
At the words of Malgam, a middle-aged man who also ran a fairly large merchant guild called Golden Emperor, Tun nodded and naturally joined him.
“But what’s with this atmosphere?”
“Ah, this?”
“Yes.”
Malgam cleared his throat and glanced around before speaking.
“Don’t be shocked when you hear this. A chance has come.”
“......A chance?”
“Yes. A once-in-a-lifetime chance to get in with Marquis Palatio.....!”
He whispered to Tun.
….Words whose meaning had been strangely distorted among merchants, in a way subtly different from Alon’s intentions(?).
