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TL: ALT
Chapter 68 – Day 13 of Exploration
When I woke up in the morning, Jennifer and Hel were preparing a shoiko as they talked.
“Good morning. What are you doing?”
“Good morning! The hut isn’t being built at all, so I was wondering if you could go to the military base and ask them what’s going on…”
“Good morning. If you have crocodile skin, crocodile meat, and some magic stones, it will be easier to negotiate. I’ve made a necklace and a bracelet of charms with a monster’s teeth. Makyo, aren’t you going to make staffs?”
“I’m not going to make any staff for a while. I don’t want to get into trouble. Besides, it will take a while to build the hut, so it’s probably better to wait patiently.”
When I said that, Hel looked at me and said, “Well, that’s true.
“You’re going to train with the slime at the entrance, right? Since we’re here, I thought I’d talk to Jennifer about the trading hut and the surrounding area.”
“You see, Hel-san is an elf criminal slave, so it would be better to hide her face as much as possible. That’s why I think it would be better if either Makyo-san or I accompanied her…”
As they said this, they both looked up at me. Is there a reason why they want me to go to the training facility?
“What? Oh, did your underwear rip? If there’s something only women need, I think Jennifer would be better to go than me. Hmm? Is that what you mean?”
“Ah, no!”
“What then? There’s still flour, right? Cloth for a coat? There’s no hurry to get a coat for the marsh.”
“Hmm, I see. Actually, Makyo, that spirit you hate showed up last night.”
“Oh, is that what happened? That’s a big problem!”
“No, it’s one of the animal spirits I use, and it’s supposed to let me know when something strange happens around here, but it seems like something happened.”
“What happened?”
“That’s why I wanted you to go to the training facility and ask Makyo.”
“Do I have to be the one to do it?”
“You’re the fastest. Especially if something happens, you know the most about the demon land and can handle it, right?”
“I’m not proud of it, but I have a bad personality, so there’s a possibility that I’ll get into a fight with the people at the training facility.”
Jennifer knows herself well.
“The other two aren’t really suitable either.”
Chel is a demon, and Sylvia might be upset if something happened in East Kenya.
“I see, I understand. Anyway, I think I should go to the training facility and see how things are going.”
“That’s right! Actually, I could let the animal spirits guide you.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
I strapped the crocodile skin and meat to the shoiko and stuffed the necklace of charms and magic stones into a leather bag and hung it around my waist.
I took the two of them to the stream at the entrance. Here, Hel would face the slime and test her magic. Jennifer would stand guard to make sure she didn’t die.
“Well then, I’m off! I’ll be back this afternoon, so ask Chel to make me some lunch. You can take the day off from exploring today.”
“No, I don’t think we were able to do that, so I’ll just leave the leftovers alone.”
I think I understand.
“Well then, I’m off! See you later!”
“See you later!”
The two said goodbye to me, and I jumped over the stream.
In the forest, the sleeping flowers I planted the other day are starting to wilt a bit. I’ll have to feed them some monster meat later.
“No, I think I’d better tell the forest manager about this. It’s a lot of trouble if the demonic land side has to do everything.”
Everything has a good balance. As a noble, my responsibilities increase, so I have to stay away from responsibilities outside of my territory as much as possible. My capacity is already full with the demonic land.
First of all, the vegetation and the types of monsters and animals are completely different in the demonic land than in other regions. Even the forest near where I’m running now has a completely different ecosystem from the demonic land. There’s also a sweet smell that I’ve never smelled before in the demonic land.
“What is this smell?”
It’s a slightly strange smell, so I decided to proceed with caution.
After walking for a while, the smell became stronger and stronger.
I could tell that the monsters around me were excited by the smell and became more and more agitated.
I could also hear the sound of women’s voices and water splashing. There were people bathing in this forest using a strong-smelling soap. Were they foolish adventurers or military trainees?
“Training to make all the forest monsters your enemies is a bit reckless, isn’t it?”
The Wild Bear breathed heavily and growled. I guess it thought I was one of the people taking a bath.
I grabbed the Wild Bear by its head and pinned it to the ground. It struggled a bit, but the monsters outside still don’t have the persistence to kill. I guess it is getting tired.
“Good boy, good boy.”
I shoved a piece of crocodile meat into the Wild Bear’s mouth.
“The Wild Bear is out now!”
I petted the tame Wild Bear and loudly informed the others who were bathing.
After waiting for the unmistakable sound of metal armor being put on, I took the Wild Bear to the source of the smell.
“Hello~!”
“It’s the Margrave! Don’t scare us like that!”
Sasha had been promoted from the royal capital’s guide to the overseer of the demonic land. In addition to Sasha, who was wearing only an inner garment, there were about six female soldiers in strange outfits, wearing nothing but iron armor, with wet hair and drawn swords. It seems that as soon as they realized that I was the Margrave, they relaxed their guard, but I wonder if they’ll be okay.
“Sasha, it smells amazing.”
“Smell? Oh, I ordered some of the latest soap from the capital. How does it smell?”
“The monsters and animals in the forest are showing their hostility. How did you come up with such a training idea? Look, the Wild Bear’s nose is also itchy.”
The Wild Bear I’m holding by the scruff of his neck is holding his nose with his hand. It’s so skillful.
“The monster is hostile!”
“Yes, if you could, please hide the soap as soon as possible. And while I’m letting the Wild Bear go, it would be a big help if you could stop wearing that suggestive and sexual outfit.”
Sasha looked at her comrades’ outfits and saluted, “Yes, sir.”
I took as much time as I could to separate Wild Bear from the female soldiers.
“I’m sorry. I’m going to give them a good talking to, so please let them go for the day.”
I don’t think it understood what I was saying, but it seemed to get the message, and after sniffing my entire body, the Wild Bear disappeared into the depths of the forest.
“I’m sorry. We were bathing in the pond.”
When I returned to Sasha and the others, she was apologizing.
“It’s better to use strong-smelling things in the training facility as much as possible. Otherwise, the monsters will be able to find out where you are.”
“I understand. So why did you come out of the demonic land today?”
She asked me as we walked towards the training facility. The female soldiers surrounded me and kept watch, but it was actually them who were being targeted.
“Oh, I had a little too much crocodile meat and skin, so I was wondering if I could trade it for something.”
“Trade? That might be a little difficult right now…”
“Is there anything going on?”
“Most of the soldiers have gone to East Kenya.”
“Another civil war?”
“Well, something like that. After the Margrave, the new Lord of East Kenya returned from his appointment ceremony in the royal capital and betrayed the merchant guild that had financed him.”
“What do you mean, betrayed them? Is that even possible?”
“The civil war led to a change in the guards, and there was an increase in robbery and corruption. As a result, the king sent an army to restore public order, and it seems that betrayal was the only option.”
“Well then, I want the army to be sent to the demonic land as well. There’s so much to do, and the exploration is not progressing.”
“I don’t think that’s possible. Even if the public order deteriorates, the demonic land won’t change much, and there aren’t any soldiers who want to go there anyway.”
“What about that? As usual, it’s not very popular. And what about that old fruit seller who tried to force me to sell him my territory?”
“Zamurai is hiding in the orchards of East Kenya. There are a lot of orchards in East Kenya, and the army is busy with other things right now.”
“If you don’t kill the head of the merchant’s guild, the new lord will be assassinated.”
“The problem is that a large number of elf slaves have come into the country instead of the life of the Lord of East Kenya.”
“Is that so? Haven’t there always been adventuring elves in this land?”
“Think of it as a large group of criminals who, unlike adventurers, you don’t know their backgrounds or abilities, coming into the country.”
Are there many criminal slaves among the elven slaves?
“We have sent many soldiers from the training facility to reinforce the border fortress. We’re also working with the Adventurers’ Guild to test the skills of the elven slaves.”
“It must be hard when the lord changes.”
“Yes, it can be quite intense, but this is still on the low side.”
“Is that so? Then it’ll be a big problem if I die.”
“That won’t happen. I think it’ll be enough if I can get back to the capital.”
Sasha was calm.
“Is the captain in East Kenya, too?”
“Yes, he’s gone. I’ll take care of the affairs of the demonic land. The trade goods are crocodile meat and skin, right?”
“That’s right. It would be helpful if you could exchange them for some food or clothes. Just to be sure, you don’t have any spellbooks for time magic, do you?”
“No, we don’t.”
After that, we walked on for a while, heading toward the training facility. On the way, we were attacked by monsters like Green Tigers and Poison Spiders, but I kicked them out and chased them away.
There were very few people at the training ground. Normally, one would hear the sound of soldiers working in the fields or swords clashing, but there was none of that.
“Is this okay?”
“Yes, thank you.”
I tied the sack of flour and the cloth for the coat that Sasha had prepared for me to the shoiko.
“By the way, was there an incident at the training facility last night?”
“Last night? Nothing special.”
Sasha had also asked the female soldiers standing behind her, but everything seemed to be fine as usual.
“Did something happen?”
“No, someone from my territory said that something might have happened in the surrounding area, so I was curious. Maybe there was an incident or an accident in East Kenya.”
“I see. Either the new lord has been killed, or the Zamurai family has collapsed; either way, anything can happen in East Kenya now.”
“I see. I understand.”
Perhaps it will collapse of its own accord.
“More importantly, is the Margrave hiring fortune tellers or spies?”
“No, just someone with a good sense of intuition.”
Sasha didn’t seem convinced.
“Anyway, it looks like it’ll take a while until the trading post is ready.”
“Yes, I’m sorry, but please wait.”
“I will wait patiently. Be careful of the smell when you go into the forest. Give my regards to the captain.”
“Yes, sir!”
Sasha and the others saluted and saw me off.
I returned to the demonic land before noon and reported to Hel and the others.
“I see. Is eastern Kenya in a state of unrest?”
“There is a possibility that the pursuers are coming from the Elven country disguised as slaves to look for Hel-san.”
Jennifer predicted.
“Do you think a runaway criminal slave is worth that much?”
“Isn’t it possible it’s because of Hel?”
“There aren’t any elves that are obsessed with me.”
“What about your ex-husband?”
When I asked Hel, she said with a half-smile, “My husband had an affair because he was fed up with me.”
“Well, if the elves come to the demonic land, it will be no problem if we hit them with this swarm of slime. But the fact that the elven criminal slaves are in East Kenya means that poisonings and magic-related incidents will increase, and there will also be damage to the mental pollution of important people.”
“Is it that dangerous?”
“Yes, many of the criminal Elf slaves will do anything for their research. I was one of them, so I know exactly how they are. It looks like we won’t be able to build the trading post for now.”
“I’ve already told Sasha, so we’ll just have to wait patiently.”
I went back to the cave for lunch and told Chel and Sylvia about East Kenya.
I thought Sylvia would be worried about the people of East Kenya, but it seems that’s not the case.
“T-t-they’re smarter than the nobles think, and if the army comes from the royal capital, I don’t think it will be so bad.”
“More importantly, don’t you think we could sell things like magic-sealing bracelets and branding irons? We can just look at Hel’s tattoos to see the magic circles. Hel, tell us about other things elves might not like.”
Chel smiled with an evil look on her face.
“I see. Well, if we make tools to use against elves and things to hold them back, we can sell them in East Kenya. Then earrings would be more effective than bracelets. Because elves with drooping ears are looked down upon.”
Hel and Chel had begun to plot.
“The church won’t approve of this!”
Jennifer scolded.
“D-don’t worry, there aren’t that many churches in East Kenya. B-b-but we need to make more accessories!”
According to Sylvia, the vampire clan didn’t like the church.
“Makyo-san! As the Margrave, please say something!”
“I don’t see anything wrong with it. They say that other people’s misfortunes taste like honey, and you’ve got to make money when you can. Anyway, we’ll have to take care of other people’s territories when we have time. Let’s eat and then start exploring!”
“Okay!”
“Roger that.”
“A-a-alright!”
Jennifer let out a loud sigh.
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