episode_0009

“Princess, wouldn’t you like to go out and have fun today?”

Caria looked at me in surprise upon hearing my words. I smiled warmly at her. As a devoted reader of the novel, I understood Caria’s circumstances well. A woman who had never been loved by anyone, unable to create a single joyful and memorable experience throughout her life.

“You want to go out? Where to?”

“Of course, to the amusement park! How about it? Won’t you come with me? You’ve been working so hard all this time.”

The Crimson Legion currently had no tasks at hand. Apart from periodically patrolling the valleys near the Raco Mountains, which were close to cliffs, to suppress monsters from swarming the trade routes, there was nothing else for them to do. This lack of activity was due to their greatest adversary, Sultan Saladin, monopolizing the profits from the trading city of Dagamba in the western continent. He was said to be accumulating wealth there and using it to stabilize the empire, resulting in an unprecedented peace between the two continents.

Thanks to this, Caria didn’t have much to do.

Recalling Caria’s tearful situation in the novel, I decided to spend as much time as possible playing with her whenever we could.

“Yes! That sounds great! Let’s go! I’ve never been to an amusement park before.”

“Haha! If the one in charge of Elond Territory’s military forces says so, then let’s go! Come on!”

I took Caria and headed towards the amusement park, crossing through the city streets.

The inner city of Elond was bustling with an incredible number of people. They were individuals who had suffered under the looting of nobles from various regions and had flocked here in search of employment.

“My Lord! Lord Lendor!”

“Hail to the great Lord!”

As I passed by, the citizens waved their hands towards me. I also waved back at them as we continued on our way and finally arrived at the amusement park. There was an incredibly long line, but Caria and I had a free pass.

“Come on! Let’s try this ride!”

I suggested trying sledding. At the ski resort, which had slopes for beginners, intermediate riders, and advanced riders, many people were sledding. Although they also provided skis and snowboards, sledding was the most popular since not everyone knew how to use the other equipment.

“This, this is my first time!!”

Sledding down the steep slope, we slid smoothly. The cool wind hit our cheeks, and I screamed. Of course, Karia, who had experienced more daring acrobatic flights on a dragon, didn’t scream or make any noise, but she seemed very happy just to play with me.

“Let’s go to the ice rink this time! Haha!”

We also went skating and enjoyed various snacks sold by vendors in the amusement park. Most of the vendors were locals from the Rimnakal Plains, accompanied by their loyal troops.

“Oh, come on in quickly!”

They were selling delicious stewed meat dishes, skillfully removing any gamey or unpleasant odors from reindeer or mountain goats. Since not many people approached the Rako Mountains, they could supply plenty of mountain goat meat to the visitors.

The vendors were very popular, but Karia and I had another free pass.

Eating delicious food, skating, and sledding.

The two of us had such a joyful day.

“It’s so much fun! It’s been a while!”

I looked at Karia, who was laughing brightly and shouting, with a flawless face. In the novel, she was the character responsible for the darkest and most depraved parts in “The Fall of the Ailam Empire.” To see her radiant smile like that made me feel proud.

Feeling good, I decided to make a grand gesture.

“I’m in a great mood!!! Hey, vendors!! I’ll pay for everything!! Give everyone here grilled meat for free!!”

“Really?? Unbelievable!!”

“Hail the great Lord Randor!!!!”

The people cheered and flocked near the vendors.

The poorly fed peasants hurriedly fed their children meat, and the children shed tears of gratitude while eating. Observing their shabby appearance and emaciated bodies, I furrowed my brow.

“Daddy! Daddy! Look at this! It’s meat!!”

Amidst that, a family caught my eye. Their thin daughter enthusiastically waved grilled meat to her father. Trembling, he laughed in response.

“Yes, yes! Our daughter. It must be delicious! Hurry up and eat!”

“Here, Daddy’s portion!”

“Yes, thank you. Our daughter.”

There was nothing unusual, except for one thing. His tattered clothing caught my attention. I approached him.

“Hey.”

“L-Lord Landoir!”

“Why… Why is your clothing like this?”

He was wearing a very worn-out coat. It had so many holes that it was difficult to see any insulation properties. As a result, he trembled in the cold climate of the Eldond domain.

He lowered his head as if ashamed.

“I am… I am a peasant from the Felings Duchy in the Western Plains. I couldn’t afford a new coat because of the high taxes…”

I looked around.

Most of the people rejoiced upon coming to the land of dreams and hope, the Eldond domain, but many of them were in a similar situation as the man before me.

They shivered in the cold due to their shabby coats.

I clenched my fist at the sight.

“Take off my coat.”

“What? No, I couldn’t dare!!!”

“Don’t worry. I can get a new one. And… it won’t be long before everyone here gets warm and luxurious coats.”

I said that with a serious expression.

“What? Are you talking about a loan?”

“Yes. Establish banks in the Portu Commercial City and here in the Eldond domain.”

My words caught Karl Hansen’s attention. How… how could he smile so wickedly?

“Are you suggesting usury? Hehehe! You certainly have a good sense for money!”

“The usurious moneylenders are unbearable!! Impoverished farmers from all over the country are flocking here. I’ve spent all my money just to come this far, without a penny left!! If those people want to settle here, they should have a basic settlement fee, shouldn’t they?!”

“Oh, that’s great!!! If we strip away everything they earned by charging them 50% interest!… Ahh!! Why would you do that?!”

50% interest, are they insane? I couldn’t help but grip Karl Hansen’s head and let out a chilling voice.

“You foolish bastard. Never charge high interest rates. Charge less than 1%. No matter how high, never go above 1%. I’ll be monitoring regularly. If I find you charging even 1% higher, you’ll die that day.”

“What?! Less than 1%!! Isn’t that just giving away money for free?!!!”

“That’s exactly it. Right now, there are a tremendous number of people who have come seeking jobs in the Elond territory and the Portu commercial city. We need to release money to those people.”

“Why the hell would we give our hard-earned money to those bastards?!”

“That’s how people will start businesses!! Settle down!! If you want to strip them away quickly, charge high interest rates. But if you want to strip them away for a long time, you need to settle them immediately, don’t you?!”

Karl Hansen’s eyes widened at my words.

“You can see that far ahead?”

Yes, Randor was… a selfish bastard who only cared about short-term gains. I admit that.

“You have that kind of vision. Anyway!! Do banking. Isn’t that your specialty?”

In the original novel, Karl Hansen was a renowned usurer in the capital. There was no one like him when it came to lending and borrowing money. That’s why he caught Randor’s attention and was chosen as his right-hand man. It meant that he had an exceptional sense of handling money.

“Well… I understand. I’ll release money at a very low interest rate.”

“Yes. Do it that way. So that the farmers can settle. And one more thing. Are there still a lot of farmers flocking from all over?”

At my words, Karl Hansen let out a deep sigh.

“It’s increasing more and more. They’re coming up blindly. Just blindly. Beyond the population capacity of Eldond Province and the Porto Commercial District. This is serious. If we can’t create new accommodation space within three months, slums will be formed.”

“We can’t let it happen like that. We need to think about utilizing the remaining workforce.”

I started pondering, clutching my head. And it didn’t take long for me to come up with one solution.

“Hey, Karl.”

“Yes, Lord Lendor.”

“Aren’t most of the people coming farmers?”

“They are, my lord. Most of them are people with strong backs from working in agriculture.”

“Then let’s put them to work. Farming.”

“Farming? But we’re saying there’s no space to accommodate those people, so why suggest farming?”

I chuckled and pointed to the map hanging in the room.

“Eldond Province has already grown big enough. They don’t have the capacity to create additional living spaces. So what should we do?”

I pointed to the vast plain on the other side of the Rako Mountains.

“The vast territory that Sultan Saladin generously offered me, telling me to build roads as I please. It’s a huge expanse.”

It was a golden prairie.

Naturally, 99% of the land was empty.

“You want to send the remaining farmers there to cultivate the land?”

“Yes! Isn’t it a great idea?”

“Oh, my goodness! Lord Lendor, haven’t you heard? Most of the western continent’s plains are not suitable for farming! It’s different from the eastern continent!”

“But the Golden Prairie is different from Eldond Province. The location near the Rako Mountains may be similar, but it’s very mild and warm here. It’s not as cold. It receives regular rainfall, and the soil has enough nutrients for grass to grow. Wouldn’t it be a suitable climate for crops to grow?”

After hearing my words, Karl Hanson stared intently at the Golden Prairie on the map and then shrugged his shoulders.

“Well… that might be true. But neither you nor I are experts in farming, right? We should ask the professionals.”

“That’s right. And those experts are overflowing in Eldond Province now.”

“We can ask them!”

I immediately selected several experienced farmers with extensive agricultural knowledge from the massive number of peasants gathered in the Elon Territory and sent them to the Golden Meadow. I instructed them to conduct a detailed soil survey and determine the feasibility of cultivating crops. They returned to me after conducting a meticulous investigation for nearly a week.

“The climate and soil conditions are suitable for crop cultivation.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Despite being near the Laco Mountains, unlike the western continent, the climate there remains consistently mild. Moreover, according to the merchants from the western continent, such weather persists throughout the year. It is an optimal climate for farming, my lord. However… there is one issue.”

“What is it?”

The farmers brought me samples of the soil and grass from the Golden Meadow.

“The soil lacks nutrients.”

“Ah!…”

“The soil does not contain sufficient nutrients even for robust weeds to grow sparsely. If we sow seeds under these conditions, it will lead to poor harvests. We need an enormous amount of fertilizer to adequately supply the vast land.”

Only then did I realize why Sultan Saladin was not reluctant to give me the Golden Meadow. It was because the land, which was only called the Golden Meadow in name, had little actual value.

Well…

While watching the sunset on this vast meadow, I could understand why it came to be known as the Golden Meadow, but that was about it.

It was an ambiguous land with no value beyond observing the sunset.

“The peasants will continue to flock here. We need to create a new living environment for them. It would be great if we could utilize their farming skills as well.”

However, I was in a position where I had to make use of the remaining space in the Golden Meadow somehow.

According to the farmers, apart from the lack of nutrients, all other conditions were perfect for farming.

“Fertilizer. If only we had fertilizer.”

As I murmured to myself, I suddenly opened my eyes wide and raised my head.

“That’s it! That’s it!!!!!!!!!!!!”

If Adran is a being recognized for their unwavering sense of justice and unparalleled administrative abilities, then Selene, with her exceptional beauty and sharp intellect, was a presence firmly grasping the empire’s technological advancement and control over the mausoleum.

“If I ask Selene, she might be able to create a technology for mass production of fertilizers!”

A problem arose, and a being capable of solving it appeared.

I immediately asked Karia to let me ride the guardian dragon and fly to the capital.

The guardian dragon was indeed fast.

In just half a day, I was able to fly from the Elond territory to the capital, and thanks to that, as soon as I arrived in the capital, I had to vomit loudly.