Chapter 220: Clearing New Fields
Last night, I stayed in the cabin of the flagship, Beautiful Queen Silhouette.
This ship serves as the flagship and the King General’s seat, so I have a room here, known as the ‘Temporary Harem’.
Though the ship’s limitations mean even the finest cabin isn’t all that spacious, the comfort of the king-sized bed alone lives up to the ‘Harem’ name.
「Louise, you’re already up?」
「Yes…」
Even when we sleep together, by the time I get out of bed, she’s already fully dressed in a snug tunic and has her sword on her belt.
Despite the presence of a soft sofa, she only sits in a hard chair, claiming she can’t jump up quickly enough from the soft one.
Even after becoming my wife, Louise still thinks of herself as my guard knight.
No, maybe that’s not quite it. Judging by her awkward expression, she might just be embarrassed.
She’s so assertive at night, but in the morning, she doesn’t seem to know how to act around me. She gets up early and keeps her composure in her formal attire.
When Louise is like this, it’s sometimes fun to tease her a little, but I’ll pass on that today.
「But compared to Louise…」
「Zzz…」
As I get out of bed, the covers slip off, revealing Ria lying next to me in a rather unseemly position.
「Hey, Ria, wake up.」
「Mm…?」
On second thought, Ria isn’t much use when she’s awake either, so she might as well stay asleep.
「At the very least, put something on. Staying naked all the time is not a good idea.」
「Then Takeru, could you please dress me?」
Ria presses her soft chest against my arm.
The sensation of my arm sinking into her ample bosom is, honestly, quite pleasant.
On any other day, I’d probably give in to the temptation and fall back asleep, but not today.
「I’ve got a mountain of things to do. If you want to keep sleeping, that’s fine, but at least throw on a robe.」
I get up and drape a duvet over Ria.
「Takeru, I’ll help the Saintess-sama dress later.」
「Thanks, that would be great.」
Louise is already washed up, her long hair tied back neatly, looking sharp as ever.
But last night, it was quite the opposite, which makes things amusing.
Once in ‘night mode’ Louise is very assertive, while Ria becomes shy and passive.
After Louise makes the first move, I enjoy my time with her, and then… well, let’s not go there.
Once we step out of the cabin, the ‘night duties’ end, and the ‘day duties’ await. It’s important to switch gears.
Just then, Kaara enters. Behind her, Rara-chan follows, carrying a basin filled with towels for washing up.
Since we can’t have maids on a military ship, it’s usually Kaara and the others who take care of me.
「Nation’s Father, I’ll wipe your face.」
「Thanks.」
Kaara takes a towel from the basin Rara-chan brought and wrings it out before wiping my face.
The warm towel feels nice.
「I’ll prepare your clothes right away.」
「I appreciate it.」
I’m about to appear before the troops. Even though every time I don the uniform, I think it doesn’t quite suit me,
I still need to change into it and wear the shining mithril armor over it.
「It seems you had a good time last night.」
「You say that every time.」
「Hey, hey, does ‘having a good time’ mean you had some pillow talk?」
「Rara-chan, that’s not something you need to worry about yet.」
Ria, after a ‘certain activity’ in the morning, always says it’s proper etiquette to say, ‘It seems you had a good time’ or something like that. She teaches everyone these slightly inaccurate modern customs she picked up from reading some thin books.
「How about it? Every now and then, wouldn’t it be nice to spend time on the ship without going home?」
「Yeah, I suppose…」
Even generals have to squeeze into small cabins, so I feel a bit guilty using this luxurious bed. However, since it’s not just me but my wife using it too, I can’t exactly let anyone else into the bedroom.
「According to your orders, Nation’s Father, the work to clear the potato fields has already begun.」
「I see. Let’s go take a look at that first.」
As I stepped onto the deck, the sky was clear and blue, the perfect weather for field clearing.
※※※
「What are you doing? That’s a pretty weak stance!」
「But there are rocks here, and I can’t get the shovel in…」
「It’s uncharted land; of course, there are rocks! We’re digging to clear them out!」
「Y-Yeah…」
Just outside the town of Avana, we had started clearing fields to plant potatoes. The soldiers of the demon army, not used to farm work and crafting their wooden shovels by hand, were having a hard time.
It wasn’t just the soldiers—even captains and generals were working together to clear the land.
The person shouting at the generals, who had become unsteady in the fieldwork, was the same farmer lady I first met when I came to this island.
No matter where you are in the world, old ladies don’t change.
Whether they’re dealing with soldiers or generals, they pull everyone into their rhythm and make them work.
「Damons, you’re putting in the effort.」
「Yeah, if we don’t take the initiative, the troops won’t work either.」
Damons, the supreme commander of the twenty-thousand-strong demon army, was personally wielding a shovel and hoe, tilling the fields.
Surprisingly, the demons were all quite diligent workers.
「Hey, you over there! Stop moving your mouth and start moving your hands!」
Oh no, now the old lady was coming this way.
「Hey, don’t I know you from somewhere?」
「It’s been a while, oba-chan.」
This was one of those slightly embarrassing moments—the revelation that the knight she once met was actually the hero who saved Antil Island.
I wondered how the old lady would react, but she just muttered, ‘Oh well, I’m busy’ brushed the dirt off her skirt, and quickly moved on to the next field, nearly making me trip in surprise.
「Old ladies sure do their own thing, don’t they?」
「Haha, but she brought us seed potatoes and taught us things we didn’t know, so it’s a big help.」
Damons’ face looked a bit strained, likely from getting yelled at by the old lady. But the fact remains that, at Barland’s request, she and her team brought over seed potatoes, which could also serve as food, working through the night to deliver them.
These old ladies, who have survived this war and continued farming, are indeed tough. Even the strong soldiers of the demon army were overwhelmed by their presence.
「Well, in about four months, we should be able to harvest some potatoes…」
The immediate problem is securing enough food.
The meat from the sea dragon will only last for about ten days.
Since there’s a limit to how much food we can transport from the city of Antil, we’ll have to rely on fishing and hunting for now.
In the port, we’re collecting scrap wood from broken ships and cutting down trees from the surrounding forest to build new boats.
Avana was originally a port town, so that’s not an issue, but seeing the soldiers casting fishing lines at the harbor in an attempt to catch even a few fish made me uneasy.
Can we really feed a population of 20,000 with the current methods?
「Nation’s Father, it seems we’re about to have enough magic power to use teleportation magic again.」
「Should we return to Silesie once?」
When I think about it, I can’t come up with a decent idea.
At this point, I should probably consult with Lyle-sensei.
※※※
「First of all, using teleportation magic to transport food is out of the question.」
We were in the office at the Silesie Royal Castle, where Lyle-sensei had been quietly listening to my story.
「Yes, I know. Kaara’s teleportation magic has weight limits.」
Even if she strains her magic, it’s only possible to transport about ten people’s worth of weight. Using it for food transportation is terribly inefficient.
So, Lyle-sensei spread out a world map on the desk.
「We have the route to the New Continent that Takeru-dono opened. Now that we no longer need to worry about the sea dragon, we can assemble a large fleet. They can depart from the port of Nant in Silesie, make a stopover at Rango Land Island on the Afri Continent, and then proceed to Avana. Anything lacking over there can be replenished this way, though it will take about six months.」
「That’s the problem. That’s why we’re in trouble…」
「In that case, I have something for you. Actually, after listening to Takeru-dono’s story before, I had some items made in advance.」
Lyle-sensei called someone in, and what was brought in were fishing nets.
Cloth and thread are scarce over there, so the fishermen seemed to be using rods. This should be useful.
「I see, if we use nets, we can increase our catch. This weight is light enough for teleportation magic.」
「But these aren’t just any nets. They’re trawl nets.」
Ah, these.
These are the nets that drag behind a boat, sweeping up all the fish in their path.
With my modern knowledge, I don’t have a good impression of trawl nets.
Compared to traditional fishing methods, they boast overwhelming catches, but if overused, they can lead to the depletion of marine resources.
That’s why even in Silesie, we made them, but I hesitated to adopt them.
However, to solve the immediate issue, we have no choice but to use them.
「We don’t have a choice at this point.」
「Also, for hunting, let’s use nets to create enclosure traps. You mentioned resource depletion, right, Takeru-dono? It might not be ideal in the long run, but as an emergency measure, this is what we should do.」
Enclosure traps are tools used to capture wild animals en masse by surrounding them with large nets.
If overused… (You get the idea).
I did mention this, but I also told Lyle-sensei that, for environmental protection, we shouldn’t use them.
Of course, Lyle-sensei had already prepared them as a contingency.
「Next is farming.」
「For that, I’ve already called in Viola, so it should be fine.」
Just then, the door opened, and a girl with blue hair stepped inside.
「Excuse me!」
Viola seemed out of breath, probably rushing over from a nearby experimental farm.
「Sorry for calling you here so suddenly.」
「So, where are the new potatoes?」
「Calm down, Viola. Why don’t you have some tea first?」
It had been a while since I last saw Viola. She seemed unusually excited, but I wanted her to calm down first. I poured her some slightly lukewarm tea from the pot that had been sitting for a while.
「Thank you.」
「Feeling better? Here, these are the potatoes.」
「So, these are the potatoes you’ve mentioned before. They look a bit like the taro you brought back last time, Master.」
「What do you think? Can you tell anything from them?」
Viola gently stroked the potatoes as if they were precious treasures. Being a half-nymph blessed by water spirits and gifted in nurturing plants, she might be able to perceive something in the crops that we couldn’t.
「They look delicious to me.」
「Is that so?」
I almost stumbled at her straightforward comment.
「They seem to be of very high quality. I can use water magic, but I think it’s better not to water these too much.」
「Just by touching them, you can tell that?」
As expected of a half-nymph.
「Takeru-dono, I’m thinking of going to Avana to devise a strategy for the future. Since we have someone handling farming, let’s bring Viola along as well.」
「Of course! I’m happy to be of service, Master!」
「Viola, have you grown a bit taller?」
「Yes, it’s thanks to you, Master.」
She used to be quite shy, but now she speaks more confidently.
Considering there are no nymphs on the New Continent, she might be spared the discrimination that comes with her abilities.
「Alright, we’ll bring Viola along. Sensei, who else should we take?」
「Well, in addition to the person in charge of farming, we should bring a capable administrator for the city’s reconstruction…」
Just then, a silver-haired girl entered through the door Viola had left open.
It was Sherry.
「Oniisama! I heard everything! If you need a capable administrator, I’m your person!」
「You can come along, but will Silesie’s internal affairs be okay without you?」
When it comes to internal affairs, Sherry, known as the shadow minister of finance, is an indispensable figure in Silesie.
I have a feeling it might be problematic for both Lyle-sensei and Sherry to be away simultaneously.
「That’s what Prime Minister Nicola is for. The national finances are stable now, so I can take a six-month vacation on a southern island without any issues. Let’s bring swimsuits too!」
「Um, we’re not going for a vacation…」
「I’m kidding. I’m confident that I can be of help in urban administration. I’ll pack up in thirty seconds, so please take me along!」
With that confident statement, she puffed out her almost non-existent chest, leaving me with no choice but to bring her.
「Alright, we’ll take Sherry, and how about bringing Roll as well?」
「What?」 「What?」
Sherry and Viola spoke in unison from either side.
「What’s wrong? Shouldn’t we bring Roll along?」
「Well, isn’t it a bit strange that you’ve always treated Roll so specially, oniisama? You’re pretty lenient with her, aren’t you?」
「Right? You always keep her close by… I hardly get called to your side at all.」
Sherry and Viola exchanged glances, looking slightly conflicted.
「No, it’s not that I’m being lenient… I don’t think I’m treating anyone differently.」
I just thought it wouldn’t be an issue to bring Roll along since she might be free.
「Indeed, Avana has some caves as well. There might be useful resources there. Considering the situation, it might not be a bad idea to have Roll, the dwarf, search for mineral resources.」
Lyle-sensei came to the rescue with that suggestion.
So, for the Avana reconstruction, the team will be:
– Strategy: Lyle-sensei
– Administration: Sherry
– Farming: Viola
– Mineral Resources: Roll
Everyone seems unusually eager for their roles, so they should be quite helpful.