So emptiness is a big but sandy beast.

Mister Taro, what is going on here all of a sudden?

If you defeat the sand beast in me and the party I belong to, it will disappear. Emptiness also disappeared, which means it must be a sand beast.

'There aren't many sand beasts like that, but they're not entirely absent. There are named sand beasts all over the world, you see.

It's not easy to defeat, though. Even Emptiness wouldn't have been defeated if it wasn't for Taro-san's plan.

'If you two hadn't helped me, I wouldn't have been able to throw all the containers into the mouth of emptiness on my own.

No, in our case, a good hunter can take over. So you are a change agent, aren't you, Mister Taro?

He's a bit of a specialty, though.

But, to think, aren't they more valuable than a battle-hardened 'change agent' and the like?

'It would be His Majesty's fault for not having Mr. Tallow by his side until it turned out. Though even if it turns out, it's possible that you won't understand its value.

'I'd like to think that my brother isn't that stupid either. Big Brother was too superior to be conspicuous, but that doesn't mean he's incompetent either.

''But I don't want to work for that His Majesty. I'd rather stay with Lalabelle and Mew. No matter how young and handsome they are. Men are simple creatures who would rather have a beautiful woman.

"Mister Taro .......me and Mew.......

'So my criteria for judging beauty and ugliness are quite the opposite of those in this world. The king is pleased with me, and I can't be pleased when a beautiful woman appears at a banquet of rewards. Now, shall we go and report back?

Before that, how much more Eidoluks did you gain when you defeated Emptiness?

"Uh ... geez!　What is this?





　Having successfully defeated Emptiness, we decided to return to Shipland to report back.
　I wish I had the emptiness's corpse as proof, but the problem with my speciality is that it disappears completely when I defeat it.
　If I left the corpse unattended, it would be fine in the scenario that it was eaten by another sand beast.
　Even if the other side doesn't believe me, I'm not sure if that's a choice.

　The reward for defeating the emptiness was so great that it seemed so.

''The current balance, two thousand five hundred and fifty-five thousand five hundred and sixty-three hundred and twenty-two Eidolcs.

'Does that mean you're getting paid more for being named?　Have you heard of Mew?

It's true that there are many rewards to be gained from killing a named one. Even the Sand Scorpion, who was just starting out with a name, was worth over 100 million dollars. But that's too much. As expected, the reward for killing the Sand Scorpion, which had become so large, was around 500 million dollars. The name of the sand giant lizard is partly because the materials don't make much money, though. It's the same with the Sandworm's name on it that materials are hard to make money from, so I think that's a bit much.

　So it's inherently impossible for the reward for defeating a single emptiness to be more than 200 billion Eidolcs?

''Is it because of my special skills or something?''

I think it's more due to the properties of sandworms.

　According to Mew, sandworms are very bad eaters and often leave a large number of undigested items in their bodies.

''They must have attacked the Trest and the rest of the Oasis, so it's very likely that this includes the proceeds from the sale of the various things they swallowed there.

　Come to think of it, Emptiness fought against Baron Trest's army, hunter volunteers, etc. before fighting us.
　So the precious metals that the Baron Trest family took with them when they left the oasis, as well as the hunters' equipment, were left behind in Emptiness's body, and they too were turned into Eidolk?

'Does that make sense? The Baron Trest family might ask me to return them, though.''

'I think it will be fine. The profit from the sand beast belongs to the one who defeated it. That's the rule of this world.

　For example, if someone's jewels were swallowed up when they were attacked by a sand beast, does the right to possess them belong to the person who defeated the sand beast?
　That the person whose jewels have been taken by the sand beast has no right to it himself or his family.

　When the sand beast attacked and swallowed the jewels, the owner of the jewels themselves couldn't be alive, and the sand beast would basically expel those things that were not nourishing.
　So the families of Baron Trest's family would have no choice but to look for the desert around the oasis that the emptiness would have ejected.

　In this case, though, they would never find it because it had been eidolcified.

''Let's just assume that the lack of corpses has been eaten by sand great lizards and sandworms?

''Since it's such a huge corpse, it's normal for the surrounding sand beasts to quickly gather around it and clean it up. We're going to go back to Shipland to report back to the Shipland, and I'm sure the Viscount Shipland's people won't find anything even if they search for the corpse in limbo.

　Come to think of it, I've always wondered.
　Why is there so much sand in the desert?
　Since people, towns, and ships are regularly attacked by sand beasts, shouldn't there be more of them left behind?

　The answer is that the sand beasts will eat up and digest anything and everything except metal, jewelry, and divine coins.

'The dung of a large sand beast becomes food for a small sand beast. In the end, sand beasts as big as insects make it into sand.

All in the sand?

That's why our world is full of deserts, isn't it?

Desertification.....

　The more active the sand beasts become, the more this world will be filled with desert?
　I think I'm beginning to understand why the 'Changers' keep being summoned.

''Two thousand years ago, there were a bit more areas outside of the desert. I've seen a report from a researcher who says that it has decreased by about ten percent and has become a desert. I've heard that the number of oases is the status quo, though, because when some of them die off, new ones spring up again from somewhere else.

'Is this another reason for that king to be in a strange hurry?　Anyway, let's go back to Shipland.

　As usual, we didn't get the Emptiness material and divine coins, but we did get a lot of Eidolcs that we can shop for all we want in the 'Internet Shopping', so it's good.
　In order to report on the defeat of Emptiness, we hurriedly sent the ship to Shipland.



I checked to be sure, but I still couldn't see Emptiness. We acknowledge that you have defeated Emptiness.

That's good to hear.



　In this world, it seems that sometimes my special skills can create a disadvantage instead.
　It was good that I returned to Shipland after defeating Emptiness, but there were people who doubted the success of defeating Emptiness because there was no corpse of Emptiness.
　They weren't wrong either.
　It's for the extremely legitimate reason that we should bring back even a portion of the corpse, but it can't be helped since it will disappear once we defeat the sand beast.
　However, I couldn't tell them about my specialties, and the head of the Garcia Trading Company trusted me, but I had to send a scouting party between Trest and Shipland to check it out in order to show proof to those who were not convinced.

　There was no way that such a huge sand beast could hide itself, and if they couldn't find it after looking for it, it would be proof that emptiness had been defeated.

　In fact, it's still a weak piece of evidence, but the point is, as long as the oasis is not attacked by emptiness, it's all that matters, and that's why we stayed in Shipland for about a week after that, killing sand beasts outside.

''We will pay you for your services.

Are you sure?　Some people might rebel because there are no carcasses.

''Because it wouldn't matter if Shipland wasn't attacked by Emptiness. Lord Changer, I'm sure you have defeated the Emptiness, but for some reason the body of the Emptiness was not left behind. Isn't that the difference?

....

　That's the Lord of the Great Chamber of Commerce.
　Perceptive.
　I remained silent, but this might not have been good.
　The other side became silent because I admitted it was true.
　If it was different, I would have refuted it.
　If it had been different, I would have refuted it, because they might have taken it as.

'And then there's Trest, which is now only a water source...'

Go ahead, I'll take it. I've been thinking about it, and I think it's best if we don't have any sort of base of operations.

　Because if I put down roots in Trest, I might get caught up in a conflict between the Bart Kingdom and Shipland.
　My survival will be exposed one day anyway, but it would be safer to stay away from Shipland, which the Bart Kingdom will be after at that time.

　Besides, nobility is not in my nature.
　I've been a commoner since I was born.

''I think it would be better if we incorporated into Shipland's territory. We can re-settle and develop the fledgling lords and if the Baat Kingdom invades Shipland, we'll feel safer if we have a single refuge in the area.

　Mister Mew, you could be Trest's personal wizard.

''I'm an outcast halfway through my life because of my brother, but since meeting Lord Taro, I've come to think that this life is more wonderful. And I'm sure the lords wouldn't like such an ugly lord.

''That's right. The moment the oasis that was cast off to the island withered away, we, the princess of the Bart Kingdom and the noble daughter of the Bart Kingdom, died. With Taro-san, we don't have to feel bad about our mindless snide remarks. The three of us can travel from place to place as we please, killing sand beasts and trading with each other.

We don't need the status of a princess and a nobleman's daughter anymore," said the Lord of the Garcia Trading Company. We don't need the status of princess and noblewoman anymore. No, in fact, they are already a hindrance to us.

'I don't want to be responsible for others anymore. The three of us will live our lives as we please. I don't know what the future holds for us, though.

　Lalabelle and Miu seem to agree with me.
　There's no point in getting an oasis that only has a water source, considering the hassle of developing it.
　The head of the Garcia Trading Company seemed to think that the oasis was worth it since Lalabelle and Mew was born, but such a thing would be a burden to us instead.

'If we stay, it's about that king. If we stay, it could be used as an excuse to invade Shipland. It would be better for us not to be here.

Okay..... By the way, about the trade.

I'll bring you the good stuff on a regular basis.

Very well. Well, have a good trip.

　The head of the Garcia Trading Company and I shook hands, and after receiving the reward for defeating emptiness, we were to leave Shipland.
　But.........

''Huh?　Is it a medium-sized ship?

''I have a new ship that's just right. This ship is equipped with the latest type of magic power, so even a single person can control it. The magic consumption will increase a bit, but with the amount of magic power the three of you have, it won't be a problem.

　The head of the Garcia Chamber of Commerce prepared a medium-sized ship with a new type of power instead of the small ship they used to defeat the void.

''A ship of this size will be more convenient for you to travel on.

I'm sorry about this.

'If you bring in a load like white sugar, I'll get my money back in one go.

　So it's an investment in preparation for future transactions.
　As expected of the head of a large trading company, he doesn't spare the expense necessary for a large business deal.

The three of you are inexperienced sailors. I don't think we should travel too far for a while.

You want to get some experience at the bottom of the boat?

'Master Mew is right. From Trest, it's about a week's boat ride further west. It's said to be the oldest oasis in this world.......I don't know if it's true or not. They say that there are many excavations of ancient heritage sites that escaped desertification, and even more dungeons.

A dungeon...

　Is this the kind of thing where there are lots of monsters and treasures?
　Just like the video games I played when I was a kid.

''That oasis is called 'Old Town,' and of course they haven't sent a vassal or even a greeting messenger to the Baat Kingdom. They've taken the liberty of calling the territory the Bart Kingdom territory, so they're quite wary and hostile.

　Shipland, and Old Town.
　In this vicinity alone, two city-state level oases are resisting the strengthening of the Baat Kingdom's control?
　That king's 'strengthening of Bart's kingdom's control' as he calls it seems to be a rather difficult policy.

''There is one more small oasis between Trest and Old Town, but you can find the location of the rest of the oasis on this map.

　As expected, the head of the Garcia Trading Company had a map of the entire Kingdom of Baat.
　Probably, he had drawn this map after hearing about it from the shipowners and others with whom he had dealings.

　In addition, although the Bart Kingdom was supposed to be his territory, he had only made a map of about half of the land west of Shipland.
　When you know only half of the self-proclaimed territory, you can understand how difficult it would be for the Bart Kingdom to unify its territory.
　In his only defense, he had heard from Baron Stein that the other countries were actually similar.
　So it's hard to keep track of the entire desert world.

''I'm sorry for what is precious.''

'Lord Changer, you understand how grateful I am for this map.

I suppose it's obvious, but...

　This is especially true of those who belong to the state.
　Furthermore, it would be superfluous for military personnel and the like.
　Or rather, if the king doesn't understand this and is trying to unify the territory, I can't help but laugh at him.

''As expected of that king, he understands. There are just a certain number of royalty and nobles who don't understand it.''

Isn't that a bad idea?

''Normally, Lalabelle-sama is right, and it's the nobles who get that kind of education...''

　Because even with advanced education, there are people who inevitably fall out of line.
　Somehow even those people end up in positions appropriate to their status, though, and it's not uncommon for those organizations to go crazy.

'These things should only be used by those who see the value in them. Well, have a good trip.

I'm sorry. Thanks for your help.

I'll get you some more of the good stuff.

'I'm sorry to hear that you're having a tough time rebuilding Trest.

　We headed southwest in our new medium-sized ship.
　We were told that it was a region filled with independent lords who had not yet accepted the rule of the Baat Kingdom.
　We set sail in the hope that we would be able to live happily here without being seen by the Kingdom of Baat.

　Our journey is just beginning.