Ch.166166. What Happened in the Hometown (2)

The news of Hydra having offspring was certainly joyous enough to make me happy, but to be swayed by each and every emotion like this… I’m actually quite busy at the moment.

No, putting that aside, just because I made a contract with animal friends doesn’t mean I can concern myself with all their family matters.

If they want to live with their families, I just need to give permission, and in fact, Lancelot has already made several contracts to bring his family here.

Of course, I could easily grant permission to raise three offspring, but if all three were to grow into adults, that would be a different story.

I can’t just let an uncontrolled intermediate-rank beast roam free, especially a Hydra—one of the few intermediate beasts with weapons effective against higher-rank creatures—within the estate.

Still, the current situation isn’t bad.

“You can handle their education yourself, right?”

[[[Grrrr….!!]]]

Though her intellectual capacity as a sentient being may be lower, she’s not stupid enough to lack judgment.

Also, because of the spiritual connection between us that allows us to sense each other’s emotions.

The moment Hydra heard my words, she caught on to why I said them and nodded in affirmation.

And thanks to that, I was somewhat reassured and immediately returned to questioning Enerval about the real purpose of my return to this territory.

“Lord Enerval.”

“Yes, your command?”

“There’s something I’d like to entrust to you.”

“….What might that be?”

“There’s a knight who is my colleague and your successor. An impressive fellow who awakened his Aura independently.”

“….That is impressive indeed.”

While Aura is commonly believed to be connected to the physical body, with most people thinking it’s awakened through physical training….

In fact, when you think about it, Aura is closer to a type of magical power that enhances the physical properties of its subject. No, it is magical power with such properties.

Because of this, Aura awakeners have bodies that are enhanced beyond conventional physical laws, and weapons coated in Aura can easily cut through steel.

Furthermore, Aura pushes various bodily functions to their limits while also granting awakeners high magical resistance that ordinary humans can rarely possess.

Reflexes fast enough to react to a bullet and durability to survive being hit by one are just bonuses.

However, contrary to the common perception of it being purely physical power, Aura surprisingly has little direct connection to the body.

It’s just that the stronger the body, the more efficient the enhancement by Aura becomes, making it seem like physical training is directly related, but in reality, Aura training exists in a separate domain from physical training.

This is proven by cases where veteran mercenaries who’ve spent their entire lives on battlefields fail to awaken Aura even at 60, while a jobless person who’s been lazing around at home can suddenly awaken it overnight.

And as for the specific method of awakening this Aura ability…. I honestly don’t know much about it myself.

Awakening Aura means entering the privileged class of this world, so even if methods exist to induce awakening, they’re only shared among a small circle of nobles.

However, there are inevitably some experience-based common beliefs, such as the higher probability of awakening during intense combat.

And in that sense, Sir Lancelot the Rabbit Knight, who awakened his Aura independently, could be a good disciple for Sir Enerval Gatrang, a knight of the Frank Kingdom.

“Awakening Aura independently… means he lacks experience, I presume.”

“That’s right. Sir Lancelot aspires to be a knight, but he’s inevitably lacking as a true knight.”

An Aura awakener whose military prowess is recognized and whose status is officially acknowledged by the state or titled nobility—a single-promotion noble.

This is generally what a knight means in the legal realm of the Frank Kingdom, but the social meaning of a knight is somewhat different.

In this world where the foundation of noble status comes from military power, a knight’s personal combat ability is certainly important, but equally important are mercenary skills and tactics for handling troops as both a fighter and a noble.

Therefore, to conclude, the image that comes to mind when thinking of a knight in this world is that of a “general who is close to a war machine.”

While they may have a specialty weapon, they must basically be proficient with almost all weapons, and even in unarmed combat like wrestling or boxing.

It’s fundamental to be able to deflect enemy attacks using armor effectively or to respond quickly with reflexes that surpass superhuman levels.

Additionally, since most “knights,” except perhaps the lowest ranks, must function as commanders, they need to be skilled in boosting troop morale, exercising leadership, and managing logistics and tactics.

“Various ‘education’ will be necessary, I see.”

“Yes, so I’m asking… no, ordering you. Teach that fellow to be a proper knight. Can you do it?”

“Of course. Leave it to me.”

Though his pure warrior strength is average, in terms of tactics and mercenary skills, he’s a veteran knight whom even I seek advice from.

Sir Enerval Gatrang bowed his head to me, declaring his commitment to raising Lancelot into a proper knight.

※ ※ ※

[I look forward to your guidance, Master!]

“Very well. Take your stance!”

[Yes!]

And so, having temporarily separated from Lancelot, I moved to the small “Nature’s Hut” I had created during my previous visit to the estate, intending to make some simple plans.

Specifically, plans regarding how to use the island I had purchased for a considerable sum.

For example, the first thing that comes to mind is to simply use the island as a residential area for inhabitants, which might seem like wasting its excellent location between the Elf Kingdom and the Western Continent, but….

In truth, while it’s said to have a good location, it’s actually in a very ambiguous position, so if I don’t want to overthink and stress about it, this approach would be best.

If all else fails, it wouldn’t be bad to just build a villa and use it as a getaway when I’m bored.

But rather than choosing such obvious options, I wanted to properly develop the island into a real territory, despite having purchased it impulsively.

In that case, the most realistic and promising option available to me would be to turn the island into a tourist destination, but… there’s one flaw in this plan.

Would there really be any reason for haughty elves or human nobles to specifically visit this island for tourism?

If they want a seaside retreat, they can go to the southern part of the Western Continent.

Unlike in modern times, natural environments in this era aren’t considered tourism resources unless they’re truly exceptional, and this island’s natural environment can’t surpass that threshold.

Moreover, it has no unique local products or special creatures.

Despite its relatively good location, there were reasons why it remained ownerless for so long.

And because of this, I came to realize one thing.

If I truly wanted to turn the island into a tourist destination, there was no other way but to completely overhaul it, and having realized this fact, I decided to faithfully follow that method.

In other words, I decided to tear down and rebuild the entire island to recreate the jungles of the southern New Continent.

Despite elves typically establishing colonies worldwide and setting up bases to secure maritime hegemony, they surprisingly don’t have colonies in the New Continent.

Or more precisely, even if they establish colonies, they collapse under the harsh environment of the New Continent.

The New Continent, which is essentially a vast land without an owner, is coveted by all maritime powers worldwide, but its environment is on a completely different level from the fragile races of the Old Continent, making settlement impossible.

The primitive jungle that kills even elves, who are accustomed to nature, within a day due to magical overdose as one ventures deeper is one thing, but it seems strange that they can’t settle in the abundant environment of the north….

Considering that there are well over 10 demigods still active in the northern New Continent, it could be argued that the north is even more dangerous than the south in some respects.

Anyway, because the New Continent is hardly a familiar environment for elves or humans for these reasons, I was able to recall these facts and simultaneously come up with a very good idea.

It’s obvious that if I recreate the environment of the completely unknown New Continent, especially the south known for its many sights and splendor, tourists will flock to it.

The money that could be earned in this process is one thing, but more important is my will.

At the point where I could create a Fantasy Dragon King theme park, I felt an insane desire to try it, regardless of practicality.

But apart from weighing all these plans and choosing an option, there was one concern I needed to address first….

‘Let’s prepare a warp gate.’

That was, naturally, installing a warp gate for easy travel between the estate and the island beyond.