Ch.45On the Way Back

“By the way, I was a bit surprised that Fahrenheit agreed to the deal.”

The aide spoke with a slightly excited voice.

His excitement was likely due to the parchment in his hand showing this quarter’s profits.

“What’s there to be surprised about? It’s beneficial for them to import our steel, that’s all.”

“Still, it’s surprising that they didn’t just swallow the Earth Core fragment and instead gave it to us.”

“When you think about it, it’s only natural. What would Fahrenheit do with an Earth Core fragment? They can’t feed it to their Earth Core anymore, and with the conflict between Elisia and Amurtat already spreading, they’d be hesitant to sell it to another country.”

Being a major power means that committing the same act carries greater repercussions.

Even if Fahrenheit wanted to snatch the Earth Core fragment made from Francesca, they wouldn’t stoop to such a low act now that the conflict between Elisia and Amurtat had become public knowledge.

Above all, this information had been officially circulated through the Adventurers’ Guild, and if the 20,000 hired adventurers spread rumors while wandering across the continent, Fahrenheit would pay dearly for their greed.

“Besides, we’re not giving them steel for free. They’re paying the full price for it.”

Fahrenheit is famous for having many dungeons within its territory.

There are a few exceptions where monsters can move, breed, and attack humans within the Earth Core’s protection range, and dungeons are one of them.

Typically, dungeons are formed when magical power is extremely concentrated at a single point, such as a dragon’s corpse or an archmage’s remains. Apparently, this changes the very nature of the land, making it something even the Earth Core cannot control.

Other exceptions include plant-type monsters that root themselves in the ground, or mindless creatures like slimes and giant rats that attack any food source they encounter without intelligence. These serve as good experience sources for novice adventurers.

Thanks to this, events like giant rat infestations, slime divisions, or dungeon breaches would frequently occur, raising the blood pressure of any ruler.

“Fahrenheit’s Adventurers’ Guild always suffers from iron shortages. Swords corrode against slimes, maces rust from giant rat blood, and equipment gets lost while fleeing from dungeons.”

“Each individual loss may be insignificant, but… with a population exceeding 10 million… it must be quite a burden.”

“If you include the floating population, the losses would be even greater. Even in Amurtat, there are quite a number of people working in Fahrenheit while their families remain here.”

Despite adventure and travel being extremely dangerous in this world, population movement was still quite active.

Of course, much of this population “movement” was due to grim causes like the destruction of cities or village famines, but the number of people seeking better lives and jobs was certainly not negligible.

“So from now on, we—”

Flash!

“Oh! Your Majesty, the communication orb… it’s glowing!”

“Ah, it seems Ignatz is contacting us. Just a moment…”

I opened the suddenly glowing box and picked up the communication orb, which was shining as if set to maximum brightness, then confirmed Ignatz’s face contained within the orb.

“Ignatz! Do you have something to report?”

[Yes, Your Majesty. I’ve met with Fahrenheit’s escorts as you mentioned. They presented a contract bearing your seal, saying they would protect us all the way to Amurtat.]

“Excellent. Return as quickly as possible. The refugees won’t be able to hold out for long.”

[I’m aware. I’m managing the pace, but given the numbers involved, our arrival might be somewhat delayed.]

“I understand. Is there anything else to report?”

[Well… some of the elderly and sick couldn’t endure the journey and collapsed. It’s only a few hundred people, not enough to be concerned about, but I thought you should know…]

“Well, that was expected. Don’t worry too much about it.”

We couldn’t save everyone, especially those who were old and sick.

When moving such a massive number as 200,000 people, losing just a few hundred was an acceptable sacrifice.

[…That’s all I have to report.]

“Good. I think I know everything I need to. Let’s talk again in a week, or sooner if necessary.”

[Understood. Until then.]

The communication orb lost its light, and I placed it back in its box.

*

Two weeks have passed since the last communication. The lack of contact likely means there’s no reason to contact me.

While I can’t guarantee how faithfully Fahrenheit will fulfill the contract, I decided to boldly enter into it, trusting the reputation they’ve built over the past few centuries.

If there had been any issues with the contract’s fulfillment, Ignatz would certainly have reported to me, so I decided to set aside concerns about Fahrenheit for now.

At the steelyard, it might seem disadvantageous to sell more steel to Fahrenheit’s merchants, but what I increased was the “permitted sales volume,” not reduced prices, so the increase in sales volume essentially meant an increase in profits.

As a result, smaller merchant groups often returned empty-handed, unable to secure steel, but what can I do? Whether on Earth or in this world, weight class is what matters in the end.

“200,000… That should be more than enough to fill our labor shortage.”

Having a population exceeding 400,000 in just the sixth year of summer would be considered a “successful game” even by game standards.

They say population grows exponentially, but if the absolute number is small, that doesn’t mean much.

Moreover, medical technology in this world is quite poor. Adults might endure through sheer willpower, but children die if you look away for a moment, and the elderly fall ill and die from even minor injuries.

Of course, births outnumbering deaths is also characteristic of this world, so the pyramid-shaped population structure that would delight South Korean bureaucrats wasn’t particularly meaningful here. It was simply too common.

The death of a ruler or the fall of a city, while unfortunate, doesn’t matter if it doesn’t affect me personally.

“An incompetent ruler… hah.”

Even among incompetent rulers, there are degrees of incompetence, just as no two people are exactly alike.

Everyone has different standards for incompetence, so it’s impossible to average them out, but being incompetent is different from being oppressive. Simply being aware of one’s incompetence is already a qualification for being a decent ruler.

A fairly common type of ruler—one who doesn’t take much initiative but handles the minimum duties and communicates well with their subjects—is usually enough to prevent a country from collapsing.

In this world, where external invasion is extremely difficult, countries often fall due to internal division. If you can prevent such division from forming, or keep it under control, you can at least maintain the semblance of a country.

However, like Francesca, if you push misguided passion and beliefs to the extreme, displaying both extreme indifference and ideological rigidity, that’s when a country starts to fall apart.

If you have ability like me, it doesn’t really matter. What right do subordinates have to criticize when a ruler wants to run their country as they see fit?

And rulers who are out of touch with reality, immersed in their moral superiority or religious beliefs, ruin their countries as if they’ve received divine instructions.

This is because they see the state not as a collection of citizens but as a group that needs to be imbued with their beliefs, though this perspective isn’t necessarily wrong.

Even I, while agonizing over whether to have a child with my woman Michaela, don’t bat an eye when common people die.

“In the end, what matters is knowing the proper measure.”

There’s a saying about stretching your legs according to your blanket—essentially, know your place. For rulers who don’t necessarily become more intelligent despite living forever, understanding their limitations is the most important virtue.

If a ruler knows what they can and cannot do, and has the will and determination to bear the responsibility for their choices, they deserve to be remembered as a wise or great ruler.

“Hmm… I wonder if I’ll be remembered as a tyrant or a wise ruler…?”

I muttered as I drank my wine. Just as I’m neither a tyrant nor a dark ruler, being a wise ruler doesn’t guarantee being a sage ruler.

As long as I live, I’ll never hear history’s judgment of me.