The night of June 12, 2813 in the Western Continental Calendar


　As soon as she opened the door, Julia frowned involuntarily.
　It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands on a new one.
　The musk, imported from the central continent, was burned into the room as an energizing agent.
　It was obvious what had taken place in this room.
　Count Salzberg was enjoying himself rather lavishly, it seems.
　The Count's hair was a mess, as if to show the intensity of his actions.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a lot more information on this topic in the article.
　The story I'm about to tell you is one that I can't let the servants hear.
　　


　Julia sat down on the sofa as she said this with a sigh, and stared with searching eyes at her husband's expression as he sat in front of her.
　Even in the face of her own wife's cold gaze, the count's face showed no signs of ill will.
　She doesn't feel any anger now either. She is only dumbfounded.　

''Huh. You can't help but enjoy this. How about you?

　While sinking into the sofa in a relaxed manner, Count Salzberg puffs the wine glass in his hand in a breath.
　The color of the wine at the bottom of the glass is red.
　The best grapes from the kingdom of Ernesgura are aged for many years at the right temperature, making it a top quality wine.
　The Count was in such a good mood that he bothered to open this wine, which was kept in a secret reserve.

''To be honest, I can't be as optimistic as you are.

　When the Count's suggestion was silently rejected, he laughed at Yulia's words as she murmured with a frown as if she had bitten down on a bitter worm.
　The Count knows in his hand what his wife is concerned about.

''Really?　I honestly think the future is starting to get interesting, though.

　The Count's face was filled with the margin of a strong man.
　The arrogance of looking down on the weak from afar was in the air.
　It seems that the daytime meeting he had with Mikoshiba Ryoma was very much to his liking.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most of it. It's much more useful than the foolish Queen Lupis lounging around in the capital.　

I know that but you have to be careful about the blades that are too sharp, don't you?

　Julia's words contained the fear that one day that cutting edge would be turned on them.

There's no denying that. But we can always get rid of it. So we should take advantage of them as much as we can... right?

　It's a gaze clouded by desire.
　But its head was playing out a cold calculation.
　The fact that he was able to eliminate the pirates is nothing but proof that Mikoshiba Ryoma has the ability to maintain public safety.
　Even though it is still a magical land where monsters are still roaming around, if the ruler is proven to have the ability to maintain security, people will come to him.
　In other words, the development of the Woltenia Peninsula is possible.
　And the untouched land holds a lot of potential.
　Even though it was someone else's territory, the neighboring Ipylos could be expected to benefit considerably.
　Count Salzberg had already had no intention of eliminating Mikoshiba Ryoma.
　He understood that it was more profitable to use them rather than eliminate them.
　Just by maintaining the security of the peninsula, the Count was able to reduce the amount of military equipment used to counter the monsters that were flowing in from the peninsula.
　Even if it's impossible to eliminate them completely, it's still a significant burden.
　This is a big advantage, along with the expected development of the peninsula in the future.
　With this in mind, there was no reason to eliminate Mikoshiba Ryoma at this stage of the game and bother to cut off this trend.

　Yulia nodded silently at Count Salzberg's words.
　She didn't have enough reason to overturn the advantages the Count said.......　　




　Two months have passed since Mikoshiba Ryo truly defeated the rampaging pirates based in the Woltenia Peninsula.
　It was summer, and under the scorching heat of the sun, a group of about one hundred men were cutting through the trees in the forest, heading south.
　They were divided into three units and working.
　One of them was cutting down the trees and clearing the path to solidify the ground.
　The first is to pave the cut path with stones.
　The last group was the one to guard the perimeter.
　Their actions were quick and nimble.
　They completely understand their individual roles and then divide up the work between them.

Let the chanting begin!　　

"O Mother Nature, thou shalt use thy strong arm to shield thy son from harm, and the Stone Wall rises.

　Following Lyonne's command, more than a dozen soldiers finished chanting and slammed their palms down on the earth.
　It is one of the lower level defensive techniques belonging to the earth system.
　Normally, it's a technique used to block enemy arrows and legal arts, but they didn't use this technique to defend themselves.

''Dig it up!''

　According to the order, the soldiers, who have been strengthened by martial arts, quickly hang a rope on the stone wall that rises up from the ground, about two meters wide and three meters high, and slowly pull it down to the ground.
　The foundation of the wall is about 5 meters high.
　They carefully lay those stone walls, which are nearly 10 centimeters thick, on the ground.　
　When the five rows of stone walls were neatly laid down, they revealed a huge road.

'Good!　We'll take a break here for about an hour. Vigilance squad, take turns resting!

The air in the troops loosened at Lionel's command.



　It must have been about ten days since we began this process.
　There was a straight line of cobblestone paved road in the direction we had come from.
　We had already gone 20 to 30 kilometers in this direction.
　You don't even have to go through the hassle of shaping the stones, and the width and height specifications are the same. All you have to do is line them up.
　On top of that, since it was a low-grade grammar technique, the degree of difficulty in learning it was low and the consumption of the "Prana" was low.
　Considering the time and expense involved in procuring and transporting materials, this was an abnormally high level of efficiency.　　　

''How is the fort going?

　A word was suddenly spoken from behind him and Rionne turned around to see Mike laughing as he stroked his beard.

'That Bolts guy is in charge. That won't be a problem.'

I guess so. Fortunately, we're blessed with good weather and... well, it seems a little too good to be true.

　As he said this, Mike stared at the sun in the sky with annoyance.　
　It had to be sunny or the construction period would be extended, but it was hard to do physical labor under this strong sun.

It's going to take a little over ten days, isn't it?

Yeah. I'm only halfway through, so that's about it.

　Rionne nodded to Mike's question while looking at the road paved with stone walls.
　It's a calculation that this construction project of cutting through the forest and paving with stone walls, which is nearly fifty kilometers in distance, will be completed in twenty or so days.



　If we were to follow the usual procedure for this construction, the number of people alone would be in the thousands.
　It would start with securing the stones, shaping and transporting them.
　It would be far too expensive and time-consuming.
　In fact, a project of the scale that Rionne and his team were currently working on in this world would require years of time and an enormous budget to complete.　
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.　　　

I'm sure the city is almost ready, all we need to do now is to get the elves to work.

Is it going to work?

　Mike gave Rionne a questioning look.

'You know what?　They hate people to the point of being half human.......well, I guess the boy can handle it, can't he?

　After saying that, Rionne turned her gaze to the northern sky and muttered.

''After all, that girl........''

　The small murmur that escaped from Rione's lips never reached Mike's ears.


　For some time to come, Mikoshiba Ryoma would focus on the development of the Woltenia Peninsula.
　Until the day when a new war cloud is brought in from the west...