TN: Please read my translations only on my website nyx-translation.com since I never give my permission to any site to host my translations. And if you like my translations, please support this site on Ko-fi, and join our Patreon to read up to 12 chapters ahead for this novel!
Sponsored chapter by Patreon. Enjoy~
TL: ALT
Chapter 170 – Day 1 of Management Life
It had been about five days since I last spoke with the captain. Ten days had passed since Jennifer left the demonic land.
We were busy managing the two central dungeons and training the dwarves. When Jennifer appeared while we were eating breakfast, we just thought, “Oh, she’s back.”
“Jennifer Volkov is back!”
“Welcome back.”
“I’m baking bread, so wait a minute.”
Chel glanced at Jennifer and started preparing the rest of breakfast.
“The bath is ready. A morning bath feels great.”
“P-please teach the dwarves and the dungeon residents the difference between poisonous and medicinal herbs.”
“The number of dungeon residents has increased, and although we have secured food, we may be running out of salt.”
The others explained the situation in the demonic land to Jennifer as well.
“Don’t you have anything else to ask me!?”
Jennifer’s face turned bright red. Even though she wasn’t expecting much, they showed too little interest in her sales pitch about survival techniques.
“So, how did it go?”
I asked her before she could get angry.
“Makyo-san! We did it! They’ve decided to build a town outside the demonic land for trade!”
“Oh, I heard from the captain. The stone will be sourced from the demonic land. Can you help us transport it?”
Jennifer began to tremble. Why?
“Oh, I see. Well done! You’re amazing! You’re great! I’ll praise you!”
I hurriedly praised her, but her face was still red, so maybe it didn’t mean much.
“Also, since I’m opening a new sea route to the southwest, let’s establish a trade route through the demonic land as well!”
Jennifer seemed to have been working on something.
“What? Who are you talking to about opening a sea route?”
“The monsters on the ghost ship. Don’t worry; they were humans in the past, so we can communicate.”
“No way! I don’t want to meet ghosts! I told you to spare me that!”
“You’re not a child, so don’t be afraid of ghost-type monsters. I’ll negotiate with the ghosts. Makyo-san, please secure the trade route to the southwest.”
“You’re giving me more work to do…”
“What’s that supposed to mean? More work is a good thing! It’ll bring in money and help develop the Kingdom of Estinia and the surrounding countries!”
“But we don’t need money in the demonic land. Come on!”
I turned to Chel, who had brought some freshly baked bread.
“Well, yeah. But if a trading town is going to be built, won’t it be necessary?”
“What do you think, Lipa? Are you happy that your homeland, Cliff Garuda, is developing?”
I asked Lipa, who had come to show me a list of food and miscellaneous items that had disappeared from the warehouse while Jennifer was away.
“I…I don’t know. It’s difficult to say.”
“How would you feel if Cliff Garuda honored you?”
Jennifer took the bread and the list and asked Lipa.
“I’ve never been honored before, so I don’t really understand.”
“Look, none of us are living to be praised by someone else. Besides, life in this hellish place won’t get any easier just because someone gives you a title or honor.”
“So, are you saying that the trade route to the southwest won’t open?”
Jennifer asked, devouring the bread as she approached.
“I didn’t say that! I said it’ll be more work and a hassle.”
“Oh, so it’s just complaining?”
“It’s complaining! Think about it! Even if I become a margrave, I’ll still have to work. It won’t be any easier.”
“There’s no point in saying that to me. Tell that to the country!”
Jennifer moved away from me and started eating the stew straight from the pot over the fire. She must have been hungry.
“I-it smells sweet.”
Sylvia approached Jennifer’s backpack.
“People from the demonic land have a good sense of smell. I heard that beekeeping is popular in the mountains near the demonic land, so I bought some honey as a souvenir.”
“What about honey wine?”
Hel asked Jennifer.
“I didn’t buy any! Alcohol is prohibited in the demonic land!”
Everyone laughed at Jennifer, who had caused the most trouble with alcohol.
After we finished breakfast, the dwarves arrived from the training ground.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning!”
“Morning…”
Seeing the dwarves, Jennifer stood up.
“Good morning! I’m Jennifer Volkov. I’m in charge of general affairs in the demonic land. Nice to meet you all!”
She bowed at just the right angle and introduced herself to the dwarves.
“N-n-n-n-nice to meet you.”
“What pressure!”
“…!”
Kahiman quietly suppressed his presence.
“You’re good at managing the warehouse and gathering supplies, so I want you to teach them how to prepare edible wild herbs. Hel, support them.”
“Got it.”
Hel turned to the dwarves.
“Don’t worry. Jennifer is the type of dangerous person who understands things.”
“Hel-san!”
Jennifer was angry, but the dwarves were reassured by Hel’s words.
“Even if she gets angry, just praise her. Tell her her skin is beautiful, or something like that.”
“There must be other good things about her! Don’t give up!”
“She’s from the countryside, and she has a potato-like face, which makes her easy to get along with.”
“Chel-san!”
“Lipa, say something nice about Jennifer, too.”
Jennifer and Lipa, who are fellow wild herb gatherers, often work together.
“When Jennifer-san gets tired, she kills monsters while laughing, so make sure to give her breaks. She’s kind as long as you don’t cross the line.”
“What? Am I laughing?”
Just as I started to realize how dangerous Jennifer could be, the deer-headed demon king came up the slope, making a thudding sound from the swamp.
“Good morning!”
He greeted us with a deep voice that resonated in our stomachs.
“That’s a big monster. Is it one of Sylvia-san’s minions?”
“N-no, he’s the demon king of the dungeon. He’s actually smaller than usual.”
The director said the demon king’s large body was inefficient, so it was reduced to a more appropriate size because it wasn’t useful outside the dungeon. It’s a mystery how that’s possible, but since it’s already been done, there’s nothing more to say.
The current demon king is about the same size as the neighborhood trees.
“Demon king?”
Jennifer looked at Chel, who seemed to be related to the “demon king.”
“He’s one of the original inhabitants of the dungeon. They’re the descendants of people who were persecuted 1,000 years ago in Yggdrasil for having beast disease. They look like monsters, but you can communicate with them. So, don’t smash their heads in.”
Upon hearing Chel’s words, the demon king took a step back from Jennifer.
“I see. My name is Jennifer Volkov…”
The self-introductions started again. The moment your guard is down, she starts introducing herself.
“Well then, Lipa and Hel, show Jennifer around the central dungeon today. You should introduce her to the inhabitants of the demonic land; otherwise, she might beat them to death without realizing it. Katan, Kahiman, and the demon king should come along, too.”
“Okay.”
“Hmm…”
“Got it!”
Saketsu was the only one remaining among the dwarves.
“Saketsu, let’s go to the military base in the desert and attach Ka-Ryu’s eyes.”
Saketsu couldn’t do it with his current skills, so we decided to borrow tools from the military base and learn the technique from the golems.
Ka-Ryu would accompany us, of course. She said she would prefer to have a skeleton as well. “Having just a frame makes it so much easier to control my body,” she said.
“Is it finally time…?”
We only taught Saketsu how to run in the demonic land. He has never left the area around our cave, so he is nervous.
“Please take care of me.”
With that, Ka-Ryu shrank her body and fit into my bag.
“Ma-Makyo, after you send Ka-Ryu and the others to the military base, are you going to explore the southwest?”
Sylvia asked.
“Yeah, I’m more of an explorer than a lord now. I might stay overnight, so I should bring extra furs and water.”
“I-I have a weapon I want you to try…”
“Then you can come too, Sylvia.”
“Sure.”
Sylvia and I began preparing for the southwest exploration.
“Well, I guess I’ll just stay here and eat honey while you guys are gone.”
Everyone glared at Chel with murderous intent.
“Chel, come with us. I’m nervous about having my body modified.”
“Ugh, okay…”
Thankfully, Ka-Ryu helped me out from inside my bag, and everything turned out fine. However, people who play around while others are working tend to become resentful.
“Well, everyone, please take care of everything!”
Jennifer and the others headed for the central dungeon first.
We set off with our camping gear on our backs.
We started heading south through the forest, but Saketsu soon fell behind.
“I’ll run ahead and fend off any monsters or plants, so just focus on running.”
“Yes…”
Saketsu wiped the sweat from his forehead and managed to keep up.
“Are you always this fast?”
Saketsu asked during a break.
“Usually, I’m even faster.”
“Let’s try to get to the point where we can move around on our own.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Saketsu said this and drank some water. His running style now seemed a little different from how he had been practicing around the cave. The path was unpaved and unmarked, so he sometimes lost his footing.
“The golems will protect us. It’s no use staying in that sand anyway. It would be better if they worked as mercenaries for a while.”
Ka-Ryu suggested.
“What about the reward?”
“Magic will do. They have nothing else of value.”
The golems at the military base were soldiers from 1,000 years ago. The country they had protected no longer existed. They were ghosts of a lost nation. Still, they needed something to keep themselves going. Perhaps having a purpose would help them stay focused. That was Ka-Ryu’s suggestion.
“I see.”
“In the same situation, I’d find it easier to negotiate.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
“Don’t worry. All the soldiers need to do is show their strength.”
Ignoring Chel’s completely unconvincing opinion, we continued south.
When we reached the desert after passing through the forest, the sun was already high in the sky.
“You should wrap a cloth around your head to protect yourself from the sun. And watch your step because the sand is hot.”
“It’s harder to run here than in the forest.”
“Yes…”
Saketsu did as he was told, but he seemed to be struggling because his efforts weren’t paying off.
“If you see a Sand Coyote or a Desert Salamander, let me know. I’ll use it to carry Saketsu. He’s reaching his limit.”
Sylvia whispered to me.
“Okay.”
As we started running across the desert, Saketsu suddenly collapsed.
He didn’t get up; instead, he cried in frustration. I examined him and found that his toenail was broken.
It could be healed quickly with healing magic, but his heart wouldn’t be able to keep up.
“Good job. It’ll be okay. We’re almost at the military base.”
I looked around and spotted the shadow of a Sand Coyote on the horizon. I quickly caught it and had Sylvia use it.
The wolf-like monster, which was the same color as the sand, didn’t seem bothered by having the dwarf strapped to its back.
We made our way to the military base, avoiding the sandstorm by staying in the shadows of the sand dunes.
Chel and Sylvia fed Saketsu honey and gave him water. They were surprisingly good at taking care of others. Perhaps it was because they had nearly died many times when they first arrived in the demonic land.
We arrived just after noon.
Despite our sudden arrival, the golems welcomed us.
“We’ve brought a dwarf engineer. Please teach him your tools and techniques. Guard him while you’re at it.”
“Understood.”
Gussenbach, the small golem in charge of the base, replied briefly.
“We’re leaving the demon king candidate here, so please replenish your magic if you run out.”
“My magic is expensive.”
Chel said this while spinning her flaming spear.
The golems hurriedly took her away, saying, “That’s a waste. Go practice your magic in the training grounds.” Perhaps there was a specific place in the dungeon where it was easy to replenish magic.
Ka-Ryu took human form and headed toward the technical golems with Saketsu. There was no need for the Sand Coyote, so we released it.
“Aren’t you staying behind, Feudal Lord-dono?”
“I’m heading west to explore. Do you know anything?”
I asked Gussenbach.
“The west coast is a demonic land. I heard it collapsed soon after the Midgard transfer.” Mountains rose up and blocked the foggy town. It’s dangerous.”
“Everywhere is a demonic land; everywhere is dangerous. I’ll leave the three of them to you.”
Sylvia and I left the three of them at the military base and exited the dungeon.
Without hesitation, we ran westward.
Gradually, the sand hardened, and grass began to grow here and there.
Once we passed that area, the landscape suddenly changed to low-lying shrubland with swirling sand dust.
There were deer monsters with three-pronged boomerang horns and fat, round squirrel monsters. These monsters weren’t in P.J.’s notebook, so perhaps he hadn’t come to the southwest.
Hohoho.
The sound of owls could be heard from somewhere.
The sun disappeared behind the western mountains, and the area became hazy.
We decided to set up camp there for the night.
“I-I feel like we’re being watched.”
“Where?”
Sylvia pointed toward the western mountains.
“I think so too. Let’s not let our guard down. You have a weapon that you want to try out, right?”
“Yeah, this.”
She took a pair of leather gauntlets out of her bag and showed them to me.
“They’re made of Rock Crocodile leather, which hardens when you infuse it with magic.”
She explained fluently, perhaps because she had made them herself.
“Isn’t it armor?”
“I don’t think Makyo needs armor. This is a weapon that increases the power of your backfist.”
“I see…”
As I tested the new weapon, night fell.
If you like my translations, please support me on Ko-Fi and subscribe my Patreon to read up to 12 chapters ahead for this novel!