Ch.73The Ambitious King (2)

“Is this where the king comes?”

I quickly searched through my knowledge of the original work to recall the king’s background.

Our Starting Village belongs to the Tanyashan Kingdom on the outskirts of the empire.

The current monarch is Beona Tanyashan, a king with quite unique ambitions.

That ambition is specifically to complete a continental map, though why he has such an ambition remains unknown.

It’s just part of the game’s setting.

Anyway, the king is coming here in person, but why?

I don’t need to think too hard about this.

If I connect the king’s ambition to create a continental map with our city’s geopolitical characteristics, the answer becomes clear.

The king wants to use our city as a base to explore the eastern and southern parts of the continent.

From the city’s perspective, this is something to welcome with open arms.

Increased population flow and trade volume benefit any city.

Especially when expanding east and south, our Starting Village would gain an almost monopolistic position, making this an incredible opportunity.

“Then we should prepare to welcome him right away.”

“There’s no time for preparation. I’m opening a dimensional gate right now.”

“Wait a moment. Could you open the dimensional gate somewhere other than the city hall?”

When I told Blanchard the location I had in mind for the gate’s exit, she tilted her head in confusion.

“There? For His Majesty? Are you crazy?”

“I’m not crazy. But first, please transport the mayor and me there.”

Blanchard, still looking doubtful, transported me and the unconscious Bellamy.

The place we moved to was the top of the highest mountain in the city.

Standing here, you can see not only the city but also the horizon in every direction at a glance.

“Eek?! Where are we?!”

Bellamy, who woke up in the late summer sunlight, was terrified.

“What are we doing here when His Majesty is coming?!”

“Don’t worry. I arranged for him to be brought here.”

“What?!”

“It’s no problem at all. I’ll report to him first, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“But still, bringing His Majesty to a mountaintop like this is just… What are you doing now?”

Bellamy asked as she watched me walking around touching tree branches.

“I’m looking for a good tree branch. Mayor, please help me look too.”

“A tree branch…?”

“It’s essential for receiving His Majesty.”

At those words, Bellamy hurriedly began scanning the ground.

“How about this one?”

Shortly after, Bellamy held up a beautifully straight branch of appropriate thickness and length, like a longsword.

“That’s perfect. Excellent.”

At that moment, a dimensional gate opened and Blanchard walked through.

Following her was Beona Tanyashan, the king of Tanyashan.

Beona was dressed rather unusually for a queen.

Her long black hair with a slight purple tint was pulled up tightly, and she wore a wide-brimmed round hat.

Her dark brown clothes made of durable material could be tightened at the waist, sleeves, and knees for better mobility.

Her boots, which came up to her ankles, looked sturdy enough to pass through any swamp without issue.

She looks just like an adventurer—all she needs is a large bag.

In both real life and here, politicians make political statements with their attire.

Unless Beona is crazy, she wouldn’t dress like this without reason, and it must confirm my suspicion.

She intends to use our city as a base for exploring the uncharted territories.

“Is His Majesty not here yet?”

After glancing briefly at Beona, I deliberately asked Blanchard.

“Eeeek?!”

Bellamy gasped as if about to faint again, while Blanchard’s eyes nearly popped out in shock.

“This person right here is His Majesty the King…!”

As Blanchard respectfully indicated Beona with both hands, I looked at her for a moment and tilted my head.

“Is that so? To my eyes, she looks not like a queen but like an experienced adventurer…”

“Aaaah!”

Bellamy’s legs finally gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.

“Hahaha!”

And Beona laughed loudly, her throat visible.

“So you must be the one called Jack.”

With a delayed look of realization, I hurriedly prostrated myself.

“I apologize, Your Majesty! I didn’t recognize you!”

“Aha, how amusing. Yes. So to your eyes, I looked like an experienced adventurer?”

“Y-yes… Your attire and the pioneering spirit flowing from your eyes…”

“Hmm.”

Beona smiled with satisfaction as she looked at me and then around at our surroundings.

“Your manner of speaking and bringing a king to a place like this—you’re certainly not ordinary. Rise.”

As I stood up, Beona first exchanged greetings with Bellamy.

Though still shaken from the earlier shock, Bellamy stood firmly and showed proper respect.

“Well. From what I can see, you seem to have already guessed why I’m here.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What is it?”

“You intend to use our Starting Village as an advance base for continental exploration, don’t you?”

Both Blanchard and Bellamy opened their eyes wide and looked at Beona.

“And why did you bring me here?”

“No matter where you arrived, you would eventually want to come here, so I brought you directly.”

Beona burst into laughter again.

“You are indeed remarkable, as I expected. Good. If you have anything prepared, I’ll see and hear it.”

I cleared my throat and held up the straight branch I had picked up earlier.

“First, down there you can see the Starting Village.”

I pointed with the branch to the Starting Village, surrounded by a circular double palisade.

“The inner city in the center is the original village, and the outer city is the additionally expanded area. As you can see, various facilities including the commercial district are efficiently arranged.”

Unlike the somewhat disorderly inner city, the outer city was neat and symmetrically planned.

Because it was designed that way from the beginning, no matter how many people or carriages enter, they can go anywhere in the city without congestion.

“Everything you see outside the outer city is farmland. The boundary runs from there to there.”

“It’s extremely large compared to the size of the city.”

“Over there is the dock. We conduct waterway trade going upstream, and those small boats behind are all fishing boats.”

“What’s that building by the river? It looks unusual.”

“That’s the livestock shed. The one in front is the cowshed for dairy cows. The long one behind it on both sides is the pigsty.”

“That’s… a pigsty? Why is it so big? How many pigs are you raising?”

“About three thousand.”

Beona fell silent without responding.

The royal officials lined up behind her looked at each other and whispered.

“Well, continue…”

At Beona’s command, I continued explaining the terrain.

The logging site located at the foot of the main hills, Mestopin’s Junkyard beyond where we couldn’t see from here.

Then the broken mountain range and the types of minerals found there.

At this point, Beona and the royal officials were once again taken aback.

The cross-section of the mountain range that Alreina had cut through was clearly visible even from here.

Regarding that, I simply explained that it happened because of Mountain Worm activity.

Adult Mountain Worms are so rare that probably none of the royal palace people had ever seen one.

“Going out the east gate of the city, you can go straight to the central continent. Not far from here is also an intermediate stopover that central slave traders used.”

“I’ve heard about that through the imperial palace. You’ve done a great service.”

“Thank you. And although I haven’t been there yet, if you cross the river past the south gate, you can go directly to the southern uncharted territories that don’t appear on current maps.”

After reporting this, I glanced at Beona’s face.

“Although I haven’t been there yet,” “don’t appear on maps,” “direct to uncharted territories.”

As I expected, Beona looked toward the south I was pointing to with a very serious expression.

I don’t know what lies in the south, obscured by hazy dust and clouds.

In the game, that area was still locked and shrouded in mystery.

Maybe it’s just an empty area from the beginning, or perhaps it’s reserved for an expansion pack.

I have no desire to go there at all.

I just want our city to support the kingdom’s expedition teams as a base. We should only take the profits without having to venture into unknown territories ourselves.

After explaining the terrain, we went to the city hall for a formal discussion.

At first, Beona was puzzled about me coming along, but quickly accepted it after hearing I was the city’s development consultant.

The topic of discussion was, of course, the city’s role in advancing into uncharted territories.

There, I made several proposals to Beona.

First, to establish an expedition headquarters or equivalent organization in our city.

Second, to exempt them from various taxes.

Third, to widely promote that our Starting Village supports exploration of the uncharted territories.

“Hmm, the last one is difficult.”

Beona shook her head.

“You may not know, but to do anything outside the empire’s territory…”

“You need the empire’s permission. So the kingdom shouldn’t take the lead.”

“Then all your proposals become meaningless.”

“We don’t need to do everything in the kingdom’s name. It could just be some reckless, wealthy adventurer gathering comrades willing to risk their lives for exploration.”

Beona’s eyes lit up with interest.

“You mean to set up a civilian guild with a figurehead?”