CH 97

Chapter 97 – Expanding Dreams And Ruthless Reality

“Oh, Yoshua and the Jou-chan, are you guys going out?”

“We’ll go scouting to the kingdom and will be back in four or five days.”

Riding in a motorized with a side-wheel cart, I headed down the ramp to Casemaian.

Construction on the plains was progressing at a frightening pace, and the zoning and building of residential and commercial districts had already begun. Both Myrril and I scurry around as we slow down. When I first heard about them, I imagined they would be little more than open-air buildings, but they were all solid, permanent structures of varying construction, some made of wood, some of stone, and some of concrete.

The concrete buildings are placed at the crossroads, which is the center of each section, probably with the idea of making it an offensive and defensive base in case of an invasion.

When the idea of doing business came up, I released all the silver and copper coins that I had stored in storage. The amount was really 3 barrels (360 liters, I don’t know how much it was). At first, I used the kingdom’s currency, but it was the currency of a failed state anyway. Maybe we could mint them and make Casemaian coins.

“Wow… I feel like I’ve wandered into a strange town.”

“What are you talking about? Look on your own shoulders. Aren’t all of these your creations?”

“Ours, right?”

A barbed-wire fence was set up around the perimeter. It is meant to protect the inhabitants first and foremost, rather than to allow intruders from the outside in. The outer moat is crawling with dangerous creatures.

“Oh, well, Myrril, I thought you said it was a rain dragon.”

“You mean that big aquatic magic beast?”

“Yes, that’s right. When I appraise it, it looks like a troublesome creature.”

According to the information that came out, it speaks human language, kills people for fun, uses transformation techniques, and spits poison when it gets angry. I don’t know if this is true or not, but if it is, it is a complete monster.

It is said that an aquatic serpentine magical beast grows for hundreds of years to become a rain dragon and after another few hundred years grows to become a giant flying dragon. Stop it. I can’t even joke about such a thing swarming around the outer moat.

I slightly regret using them for disposing of the corpses of imperial soldiers. I think I might have given them a taste for human flesh.

“That’s a little too late for that. But I heard that Mizuchi and the others are monsters from the East. Why is it here?”

“I don’t know. That was not in the appraisal, so you’ll have to ask Heimann-jiisan.”

“If it understands human language, why don’t you ask him?”

“Maybe so, but I wouldn’t want to come in contact with a monster that spits poison or eats for fun…”

As we drove through the Urals, we came to the southern edge of the plain, the only entrance and exit outside the Dark Forest.

At the side of the bridge, a werewolf girl named Meifa-chan stood with her back straightened, her face completely matured. Behind her, a small werewolf troop of her subordinates was lined up like a guard of honor.

The M4 carbines they carried on their shoulders were mass-produced for small Beastman because they had been proven effective in test operations by the winged tribe. From now on, the M4 will probably be the main weapon, and the M1903 will be treated as a reserve weapon.

“Salute to His Majesty the Demon King!”

“”””Ha!””””

I raise my hand in response to their expression of the utmost respect.

“I’m leaving. Take care of things for me, Meifa!”

“Yes, I’m at your service!”

Perhaps happy to be praised, she suddenly breaks into a childish smile. The werewolf troop is also wagging their tails, which is adorable.

“What’s with your face, Joshua? Are you still the Demon King?”

“I’m not like that. I think it’s a good country when the children look happy.”

“Umu, you’re right. The Demon Kingdom is a good country!”

“I want to have children when things settle down.”

“Gefuhh!”

Perhaps caught off guard, Myrril began to choke violently. She turned bright red, writhing in agony, but she didn’t seem to be refusing it, so we’ll think about it together some other time.

Oh, but first, marriage. I wonder if people over here have weddings. It seems her parents are dead, but I’ll have to talk to her sister, Minell. And honeymoon… I don’t know where to go.

As for the new house… I don’t think Casemaian has the idea of a private home yet. I was thinking of building a sort of apartment complex for singles in the residential area we are building now, but I’d like to put small single-family homes with yards alongside those and have families live in those and support childcare and such. Maybe turn the church into a daycare center. There should be shopping malls and parks and stuff. Oh yeah, and build schools, education is important and…

Yeah, my dreams are expanding.

“Myrril, don’t you have a dream?”

“W-what is it suddenly?”

Her face is still red. She started biting and chewing, and her moist eyes were swimming. How cute!

“Dream. If you have a dream of peace and happiness, it will motivate you, won’t it? If you have such a dream, I want to make it come true for both of us.”

“Hmm… even if you ask me suddenly, I can’t come up with anything. In the first place, just to live peacefully with your fellow countrymen is a dream that I thought was unattainable.”

“That is true. There is no need to hurry; we will find it slowly from now on.”

“You, um…. w-what else you want to do other have had a… c-c-c-c-child?”

Myrril-san, you’re clucking too much and look like a chicken, though. Dream, huh? A dream…

“Yes, I want to be an adventurer.”

“Huh?”

“I want to register with the Adventurer’s Guild and form a party with Myrril. I want to hunt magical beasts with swords and magic, raise my level, and become a legendary S or SS rank.”

When I saw the Nojaloli-neesan tilting her head, I immediately became anxious.

“W-wait Myrril. There is an Adventurers’ Guild… isn’t there?”

“I’ve never heard of it. At least, there is no such thing in the kingdom, is there?”

…No way. I’ve been dreaming about it for a long time, but my dream was already shattered before I even started.

Author Notes:

Yoshua: “T-there’s still a chance in the empire!”

Rinko: “I know how you feel, but I’ve never heard of adventurers at all. In the empire, hunting monsters is a part of military service.”

Yoshua: “I-if it’s in the tribal union territories…”

Misnell: “Since they are a collection of small, independently governed territories, there is no organization itself that straddles the boundaries between each territory.”

Yoshua “No!”

At that moment, a ray of light came from old man Heimann!

(To be continued!)