Volume 3 Chapter 26 If You’re Going To Take The ‘Dacia’
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”I…what am I even saying right now? My lord, I apologize. I shouldn’t have brought up such a foolish question…”
”Let’s drop this topic here. It’s not mutually beneficial.”
”Oh…”
”Buy some souvenirs for Ms. Aliona and Mr. Robert. Offer them as a gift.”
”Oh!”
Natra slipped past him and headed back down the main street.
He could sense her hurrying after him.
To buy some time, he ducked into a nearby edible oil shop.
(Natra and Rufna… If they were my servants, the sex I have with them would just be like playing with a doll. The more I think about it, the more hollow it feels. It’s not rational to dwell on this any further.)
Well, then, it’s settled.
Getting caught up in irrational thoughts and letting it create tension with Natra or Rufna would only be detrimental.
Luckily, Natra, with her natural talent for switching gears, had returned to her usual polite demeanor by the time they were choosing souvenirs inside the shop.
Though, there was an air of restraint about her, even in a situation where she usually teases him.
After discussing it, Natra and he decided to buy edible olive oil for both Aliona and Robert.
Five hundred grams for 18 copper coins.
For Aliona, they got 5 hundred grams.
For Robert, they got a 2-kilogram bottle for professional use.
And for Esther, they bought ten bars of high-quality soap made from olive oil.
It was a rather expensive purchase, but he wasn’t about to be stingy with those who looked after him.
It was a random store, but he felt they had made some good finds.
”Ah, so that’s why there was a request from Guy de Châtillon of Châtillon County.”
As he browsed the dimly lit shop, with bunches of dried herbs hanging from the ceiling, he told Natra about receiving a personal quest from Guy.
Natra nodded in understanding.
As she received a bottle of olive oil from the shopkeeper, Natra made the Guild’s request appear in Kian’s hand.
”I grabbed a copy of the quest from the reception desk before I came here this early morning. Rufna and I are on the same page; there’s no issue. You could take on the quest at the adventurer’s guild in the fortress too, but would you mind stopping by on your way back?”
”Nah, that place gets too crowded, so let’s put a stop to that. It’ll be quicker with less waiting time if I just take on a quest at the East End branch tomorrow morning.”
”Understood. I’ll make sure to submit it to the morning reception girl tomorrow, then. ────We have 2 quests, by the way, one of which is to participate in a sword-fighting competition in 5 days… Once I get back to East End and deliver the souvenirs, it seems I’ll be setting off right away.”
”No, according to Guy, he’s going to send a free witch to ‘The Boar’s Trot Inn’. We’ll use her to open a teleportation gate to Châtillon.”
”Ah, I see. Then we have a bit of time to spare. Let’s prepare some gear for dealing with ghosts in the meantime.”
”Just let me know the cost later. We’ll take it out of the party funds. There’s no need for you or Rufna to pay out of pocket.”
”Sir Kian is too kind. Even if you told me to pay out of my own pocket, I wouldn’t complain.”
”I’m just sticking to the general party rules, is all.”
”…Our lord treats us as ‘companions,’ after all…”
”Natra”
”…was supposed to be a taboo subject, maybe?”
He bought a bottle of olive oil and a braided rope to bind it with on Cobbler Street, then doubled back down the street to pop into a nearby confectionery.
There, he purchased 5 hundred grams of honey cakes──3 copper coins’ worth──as souvenirs for the staff at ‘The Boar’s Trot Inn’.
”Besides the personal request from Guy at the fortress, I also did a body enhancement for Her Excellency Maribel. It’s a technique where she ingests my semen to replace her cells and become a half-Blood Servant.”
”…secretly from that vampire, huh?”
”Right. I haven’t told Owl a single word. I don’t know if he’ll notice when Ramsey returns, but a time bomb of chaos is definitely set to go off.”
”The moment that vampire cursed the princess, we were faced with a choice: either side with the vampire or align ourselves with her. Since we went out of our way to save her from Oswald, abandoning the princess now would mean all our efforts were for nothing. Plus, considering our ambitions in the nobility, a confrontation with him was inevitable sooner or later.”
”And Owl might just be the one to avenge Serena. Personally, I’d prefer him to stay on our side, but everything points toward a showdown with Owl. It’s really frustrating.”
”If Sir Kian commands it, I could take down that vampire in no time. Call it a hunch, but I feel like I gel well with him.”
”We’ll only fight once we’ve secured a situation that guarantees victory. When the time comes, I’m counting on you to fight hard, Natra.”
”You can count on me!”
Natra nodded, holding a small bottle of olive oil and a massive chunk of wafer.
She looked incredibly reliable──like a seasoned swordsman, calm yet determined.
Given Owl’s expertise in surprise attacks and his magician-like abilities, it made sense that Natra would be a great match-up against him.
In fact, if Natra wielded a powerful weapon like the Holy Sword of the Sun, it felt like she could end the battle in a single leap using her Secret Technique.
Suddenly, the image of the handsome young adventurer with blond hair──Rean, ‘Lion’s Companion’──holding his black magic sword flashed in his mind.
But he quickly dismissed the thought, realizing no amount of money would persuade Rean to lend it out.
To borrow that sword, it seemed they’d need something far more valuable: the deep ‘trust’ of Rean and his comrades.
”Oh, right. As a reward for enhancing Her Excellency Maribel, I was promised rights to the land in the northeast of Izerland──everything in Dacia.”
”Dacia, you say? But that place is a vast, untouched plain with a mountain range towering 2 thousand meters above sea level. It seems utterly ridiculous to promise ownership of such a place,”
”Her Excellency is dead serious. If I were to take my first steps as a nobleman, she intends to send Adventurers to Dacia for a large-scale monster hunt. She’s given me some data, apparently the land is fertile and perfect for growing grains and legumes.”
Walking down the street towards the fortress gates, Maribel recounted what she had learned to Natra.
She also showed Natra several test tubes filled with soil from Dacia, which had been given to her as material.
”If Dacia is successfully settled and becomes Izerland’s second granary, Princess Maribel will surely be hailed for her foresight.”
”I agree that’s a wild idea. That plain is swarming with Bloodsucking Kind monsters, and the Dacia Mountains are said to have numerous Griffin nests.”
”That’s not all. Dacia is bordered by the hairy barbarians to the north, and to the east, across the sea, lies the territory of Azrael’s Twelve Divine Generals──the ‘Shakerdoust’ family. Previously, Oswald, who ruled Ramsey, kept the barbarians in check, but he’s been captured after losing his holy sword. The Knight Order is essentially disbanded, and Izerland’s barrier has been breached. The Princess must be expecting Sir Kian to take on the role of a new bulwark.”
”The Shakerdoust family, huh? I trained with a few of them back in the day. They quickly surpassed me in physical skill, though.”
”The Shakerdoust heir?”
”No, those were just disciples from that house. Two of them, I think. Both very talented, as I recall. Not on Sarah’s level, of course. If I were to become the lord of Dacia, would they attack?”
”There’s the sea and the mountain range, so we need to make a town, a street, something alluring enough to not attract trouble. Though, they’re bound to be troublesome. That house is full of skilled warriors.”
”So, shouldn’t we take Dacia? Her Excellency, she recommended the direct-controlled vineyard and the mansion of the ‘Labyrinth of Roses’ too…”
When Kian said this, Natra fell silent for a moment.
After a few seconds, as if gathering her thoughts, she opened her mouth.
”No… I can’t say it shouldn’t be taken. That’s because there are several big advantages to using Dacia as a stepping stone.”
”What kind of advantages?”
Natra dodged a group of men who barreled towards them, then returned to Kian’s side.
”One is that the conditions for secretly raising Bloodsucking Kinds are already in place. As long as we manage the breeding frequency, we can even graze them in the surrounding forests. Milk and nuts── no, I need to confirm with the Subject, Sword-Cain, but if we can breed and train them so that even ordinary people can use them, we can integrate them into citizens’ lives before the population grows and forest grazing becomes impossible.”
”That sounds like an awful lot of work…”
”The second advantage is its location. It sits right in the middle of the northern barbarians, the eastern Azrael, and the southern Izerland fortress. It even has an ice-free port. It would be the perfect location to make it a hub for northern trade.”
”But trading wouldn’t be easy right now. Dacia is like a wild kingdom. You’d either have to curry favor with big merchants or protect a bunch of small ones and develop trade routes.Building roads would require a ton of magicians. Do you really think it’ll be that simple?”
”We need to gather the magicians somehow, but I reckon we can sort out the trade routes pretty quickly. Sir Kian, did you know how Châtillon became such a massive town?”
”Isn’t it because of that solid fortress and the bravery of Renaud’s clan? Merchants flock to Châtillon because they protect us from pirates and monsters.”
”No, it’s not that story. ────Châtillon was once an anonymous fishing village long ago. There were many ports around even before the Franz Kingdom was established, but they were plundered by the Twelve Divine Generals of Azrael as they advanced to the coast. Châtillon remained unharmed because it had suitable mountains to retreat into and a complex coastline that was perfect for defense.”
Natra continued eloquently.
”While other fishing ports fell one by one to Azraelian piracy, Châtillon alone was able to build a solid fortress thanks to its natural defenses. Of course, merchants sought refuge there, and even the Azraelians who were raiding the Franz Kingdom’s coastline, disguised as merchants, visited Châtillon.”
”Were those Azraelians planning to undermine Châtillon from the inside?”
”No. That wouldn’t be reasonable. The Franz Kingdom’s coastline is vast, and the amount of plunder the Azraelians took was enormous. They couldn’t load it all onto ships and take it back, so the Twelve Divine Generals deliberately left Châtillon alone.”
”I see. So the merchants who fled to Châtillon, the Azraelians sold them all the surplus goods they had plundered from the nearby fishing ports.”
”Yes, that’s right. As far as the records show, it was almost being given away──some were practically selling it for half the market price. And with the money they made from the sale, they bought heaps of food and booze for their journey home before fleeing the town. The pirate ships won’t wait, after all, and their transactions were said to be as chaotic as a raging storm. On the other hand, the merchants from Franz were smiling and trading for the items presented by the Azraelians, fully aware that those goods were stained with the blood of their own kind. Sir Kian, the town of Châtillon, rich and glorious, has grown immensely by feeding off the bloodshed and suffering of the surrounding port towns.”
”I see. By the way, what about the home of the Twelve Divine Generals who were behind those pirate acts──?”
”That would be the ancestors of our Nakash family. Thus, the main headquarters of the Nakash family has detailed records of the plundering. My father, Shajar, would proudly talk about our glorious past, recounting our history of raids.”
Natra narrowed her large eyes as if gazing far into the distance.
She turned her sharp profile toward him.
”The same can be said for Dacia. With Oswald’s fall and his formidable knights effectively disbanded, Ramsey is left wide open. The northern barbarians have begun to move in, eyeing the rich grain fields, or so the traveling merchants from the north all say in unison. It’s likely that Lord Owl being sent to Ramsey for ‘inspection’ is just a facade; the real purpose is to fortify against the impending invasion from the north. That vampire has strong personal combat skills, but when facing an army, he needs to efficiently take out their shamans. If Oswald and the Sun’s magic sword were still around, it would be a different story, but with just that vampire, it’s going to be tough… It’s only a matter of time before their defenses fail, and the northern granaries will bear significant losses.”
”If we set up a hidden spot in Dacia to offload the spoils at that time──”
”Just like Châtillon, there’s a high chance we could amass a fortune. The rare furs from the hairy tribes and the seafood from the northern seas can be used in trade with Azrael. Combined with our rich granary regions, we might just become one of the wealthiest nations. Of course, the minimum requirement is to have the military power to repel outsiders and protect our merchants.”
”I see.”
”So, it’s not necessarily a bad idea to take Dacia. We should discuss this thoroughly with Rufna. With our military might, becoming Adventurers is already an easy feat. The key is to gather the right people during our rise, keeping an eye on the future. If we’re taking Dacia, we should establish strong connections with several powerful magicians and excellent monster slayers. Of course, there are plenty of other things we should collect on our journey.”
Natra concluded quietly, then turned forward.
Unnoticed, the two of them had arrived in front of the drawbridge of Izerland Fortress.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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