Way?

　There's no road in front of me, but there will be a road after I go through it.

"A frightening amount of ingenuity is being sent to Campbell Street at the moment. They've been sent to open up the road.
Opening up?
'We're cutting down the trees, pulling out the weeds, removing stones of all sizes, and leveling the earth to make the roads passable for big wagons and carriages. We've already infiltrated my men, and we've got confirmation.

　As usual, Selmet is working fast.

　Well, it's good to make a road.
　The question is, where does that road connect to where?

Can I ask you again?
Campbell Street and the Mithril mine.
..........

　Well, that's how you got here.

　The reason why the village of Lax is thriving now is because of the Mithril Mine.
　The reason why LUX Village is so prosperous is because the mithril mined from the mine always passes through LUX Village to reach the whole country.

　The village of LUX is the main artery of the mithril distribution route.
　That's why it's so crowded with people, and even a smithy was built to process mithril.

　The benefits of these facilities are immeasurable.

　That's because there is no single pathway for mithril except through the village of Lax.

We've been reaping the benefits of all this for so long. I can't sleep with my feet in the Mithril mine.
''If that one path is lost, the loss to the village will be incalculable!

　Droyer says in a panicked tone.
　Selmet, the one who came to report back, is still keeping his cool....

''There will be two mithril transport routes, and even with simple calculations, the inflow will be half that amount. Of course, the Campbell Street route will be backed up by the Chamber of Commerce, so they'll try to divert the mithril stock that way in one way or another.
'You have no idea how much of a burden it is just to compete with them!　The development of Lax Village will stop!

　The more we both talk to each other, the more anxious we become and the more hectic our tone becomes.

　I've said it myself, but when people like the Chamber of Commerce who don't want to fight directly with their own hands, that's when they already have an idea of how to win.

　This must be the plan.

　Did they pull in those who have been eyeing Lax Village for a long time to cooperate and make the most of it?

　It must have been possible to achieve this with major construction work, such as opening a road, and investment from the Chamber of Commerce.
　Otherwise, Campbell Street would have started construction long ago on its own.

　People would be less likely to notice us if the Chamber of Commerce recruited people at a remote location and sent them directly to us.

　A craving for Mithril and a grudge against Lux Village.

　It's a big project caused by those who share these two obsessions.

''I wonder how well the construction work is progressing?
'They're moving forward pretty quickly and it looks like it's going to open soon. I thought there was little hope of a setback. On the contrary, it may already be completed.

　Then maybe the fact that the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce directly rode in this time was a kind of declaration of victory.
''Your superiority has already crumbled.'' ''You'd be better off following us from now on without any losses.......

''We can't stay like this!　Chief!　Let's go sabotage the construction now!　With my earth magic, I can make a mess of a road in a heartbeat!

　Droyer's words are more extreme than I expected.
　As expected of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King's Army.

"Wait. "Wait and settle down.
But!
Well, you're going to have to listen to me very carefully from now on.

　To begin with, I've always thought that the current great prosperity of Lax Village was somewhat unnatural.
　Everything is built on mithril.

　If the mithril mine were to disappear again, all industrial commerce would collapse and Lax Village would revert back to its original cold village.
　This was something the village had already experienced at least once.

　There was no guarantee that this village would not experience the same kind of difficulties in the future.
　No, we should be prepared for it to come one day.

　I think it's my job as the village chief to prepare for that day by coming up with various plans.

　I told Droyer and the others that I was prepared for that day.

If we stand the chance of losing the Mithril mine, and we panic and try to sabotage others, wouldn't we say that this is an unseemly act of obsession with wealth?
Uh....?
The kind of people who are jealous of other people's possessions and try to snatch them and take them away if that doesn't work, aren't they like the guys in the Chamber of Commerce and Campbell Street?
''Yes, maybe...?''

　I can understand Droyer's difficulty in convincing me.

　It's true that I don't want to live an unseemly life, but it's also not a good idea to be too graceful.
　It's not a righteous world to give away your profits to the filthy people.

　I don't want to just sit back and let them beat me up all the time, either.

　The bottom line is that we must be noble if we are to survive.
　And with that philosophy in mind, let's take a look at what we can do.

　...First of all, the new transportation route that is about to extend from Campbell Street.

What exactly is that route?
I will explain!

　Selmet deftly brought out a map of the area.

'According to the transmissions from the colleagues we're having infiltrated the scene, it's going to look something like this.

　He ran the pen with ink and wrote on the map.
The point marked 'Campbell Street' and the point marked 'Mithril Mine' were connected by a single line.

''Isn't this...?

　Isn't that a long way off?

　I thought the two points would be connected by a straight line of the shortest distance, but they were more of a large curve.

　This would be more than twice the distance of a straight line.

'Campbell Street is farther away than Lax Village for a simple distance, and the terrain is even more intricate. There are small mountainous areas in the vicinity, and thanks to this, there are aspects that prevent monsters and others from entering the area...''

　If you think about the route that connects the Mithril mine, it's a complete obstacle.
　You're making a big turn because you're bypassing this.

'And just because we bypassed the mountainous terrain doesn't mean we're completely spared from the effects. The road continues to go downhill and uphill. It's even harder than it looks on the map. Not to mention the fact that it is expected to be quite difficult to go pulling a large load of mithril....

　The traditional LUX village route is almost a straight line, and as I've actually walked it myself, it's almost flat from start to finish.
　There are plazas along the way where you can get off to rest, making it a much easier route.

The newly opened Campbell Street route sounds tougher than that.
You'll probably need extra clogs and manpower for transport, and that will certainly increase the transport time. Besides, I'm sure this area will be covered in snow in the winter.

　It was riddled with problems.

　In the first place, Campbell Street couldn't get on board with such a delicious mithril transport despite its geographic proximity.

　And there was no reason for it.

　The reason was that no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't find an efficient transportation route.
　It only highlights the inefficiencies that cannot be overlooked.

　Campbell Street must have tried many times before, but failed to find an efficient route.
　I could see that very clearly.

''That's why this time we were able to push through with the Chamber of Commerce's large capital.... But it's only a formality, and it's far from being practical...?
'That's a relief...!'

　Droyer lets out a breath of relief.

　Indeed, this kind of disappointment is too inadequate to be a free competition partner.
　Even if this route was put into practice, no one would choose it and Lux Village's transportation route would be safe.

''Nah, what a loss to worry about!　I guess we can't let those people scare us after all!
'Not at all!　I'm relieved to report it myself and explain it myself, feeling uneasy!

　Both Droyer and Selmet were completely relieved, but I was the only one who was struck by a sense of inexplicable uncertainty.

　This time, that trade association is involved in this road construction.
　Even if the organization that controlled the commerce of the human race couldn't have noticed this level of failure?

　It didn't make sense that the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce had come all the way down here to be proud of his victory.
　It was an unpleasant impression, but he didn't feel that he was that stupid either.

''Well I shouldn't be too optimistic.

　Something should be done about it.