episode_0219

“Oh, oh! This is the wyvern I only heard about!”

As I led the people and approached the zombie wyvern outside the castle walls, one of those who was trying to purchase the territory let out an exclamation of admiration.

I was amazed at the sight of a zombie wyvern with a huge gray body.

Sharp teeth, a body that seems to be full of muscles, leather that doesn’t even look like it could be scratched with an ordinary knife, and wings that allow large bodies to fly with ease. As I looked at all of those things, I kept bursting into exclamations of admiration.

At the same time, he did not show even the slightest fear, which seemed to be because a piece of cloth with my pattern engraved on it was wrapped around the body of the zombie wyvern.

Even, one of the people that Count Arth directly mentioned, Baron Comnity, fearlessly approached the zombie wyvern and stroked its skin. Then, as if spreading a sagas, he asked others, “How does it feel?”

“Are we really going on this ride?”

“It takes a lot of time to travel by land.”

I don’t know if it was because of the saga rather than the saga of the Comity Barons, but the barons who wanted to purchase the territory looked at the zombie wyvern as if they were very excited.

However, unlike those people, the alchemists who were accustomed to zombie wyverns were just going about their jobs calmly. They hung all the luggage they had brought on the zombie wyvern’s body.

I thought the amount seemed a bit large, but the alchemists’ work was finished before I could say anything. When the senior school member told me that I could leave now, I nodded and got on the zombie wyvern.

I distributed the people appropriately and had them ride on the three zombie wyverns, and after confirming that everyone was in their seats, I moved the zombie wyverns.

The zombie wyvern, which was flapping its huge wings, looked a little tired, perhaps because of the extra weight and people, but when I injected it with black magic, it quickly soared into the sky.

“Ugh!”

As the zombie wyvern flew up into the sky in an instant, some of the barons were seen screaming and flopping down on the zombie wyvern’s back.

But that was short-lived. As soon as stable flight began at a certain altitude and a uniform speed, the Barons began to regain their composure one by one on the zombie wyvern. Some were still afraid, but some were intoxicated by the scenery that could only be seen high in the sky.

“It’s so amazing.”

“There are not many people who can experience flying, so it can’t be helped.”

The princess, who was riding the same zombie wyvern as me and looking at the barons together, reacted as if she was wondering if this was such an amazing thing.

Considering that when I first experienced flying, I was so immersed in alchemy that I had no particular inspiration, it was quite surprising even by the princess’s standards. Of course, I couldn’t understand it.

However, while I was smiling awkwardly and telling the barons that their reaction was normal, the princess turned her gaze to me as if she remembered something.

“Then, how about flying from Logy Skeleton to Zombie Wyvern? If that were the case, wouldn’t there be more demand since it wasn’t just for the purpose of transportation?”

“I’m thinking about that method, but I can’t implement it right now because I can’t properly run a business with just three zombie wyverns. I asked the mercenaries to search for wyverns, but I haven’t heard any news since they usually live on distant cliffs or high mountain ranges.”

“Ah… … . It’s a pity.”

He shook his head when the princess said that he received a small amount of shares for coming up with a good business item, and that she tried to use that to ask for more alchemy budget.

From beginning to end, I really felt like I should say that I was someone who started with alchemy and ended with alchemy. I thought that if the princess died, it might be because of an accident that occurred during an alchemy experiment.

That thought became stronger as I saw him immediately take out portable alchemy tools as soon as the conversation ended.

Anyway, the flight with the alchemists who were into alchemy even while flying and the barons who were still admiring the zombie wyvern ended after five and a half days, a little longer than usual. This was because the flight speed was slower than usual because there were more luggage and people.

“This is the central city of the Viscounty of Steel… … !”

However, the barons, who did not know that it took longer than usual, reacted with amazement once again when they saw the appearance of my city.

As the zombie wyvern slowly lowered its altitude and the city became more visible, the barons’ reactions became more diverse. I kept hearing voices of admiration as I looked at things like the large roads that run through the city and the buses that run there.

Those exclamations died down only after the zombie wyvern landed softly in the garden of my mansion. However, some people were still expressing their admiration by saying things like it was a beautiful garden and other things, as if they were interested in the garden.

Of course, the princess, who did not really understand the admiring barons, did not pay them the slightest attention and walked down from the zombie wyvern’s back with light steps.

“Viscount Steel, we will go straight to the Magic Tower.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for your research.”

“Don’t worry. It will show the power of our school of alchemy, which brings us one step closer to the truth of the world. I couldn’t do the capital’s magic tower because I didn’t have enough tools, but I think it’s possible here.”

The princess burst into laughter with a confident look and immediately headed to the Magic Tower accompanied by the alchemists.

As he was a very helpful person to me, as a service, I gave instructions to move the luggage the princess brought to the magic tower using the skeleton, and then turned my attention to the barons who were looking at me with bright eyes.

They seemed to realize that it was time for me to talk to them about the estate for sale.

“Let’s go in. First of all, there are some people who need to be called separately, so please wait a moment.”

After calling the butler skeleton to guide the barons, he called the barons who were still staying in the city. The three barons, including Mitsird, who were recommended by Count Carbon.

With skeletons spread throughout the city and the hive mind able to manage them all in real time, summoning three barons at once was a simple matter. Since they even sent a skeletal horse, it was clear that they would come within ten minutes.

And, after gathering those who wanted to purchase the estate, I immediately called Amy as well. Since the mercenaries had been ordered to investigate the current status of Viscounty Tar, the purpose was to receive the results.

The research may not be complete, as the round trip to the capital did not take very long, but the brief information was sufficient. I was planning on taking the barons for a walk anyway.

Anyway, after gathering everyone I needed to sell the estate, I headed straight to the reception room where people were waiting.

The moment I was about to climb the stairs of the mansion to go to the living room, I felt a familiar presence.

“Andrew!”

“Oh, you arrived quickly? You called me a little while ago.”

“I saw zombie wyverns flying around earlier and was coming to the mansion.”

The owner of the familiar sight was Amy. Even though I called only recently, I thought they came quickly, but the reason was that they happened to be nearby.

I don’t know if it was because I was seeing Amy for the first time in 10 days, but I felt very happy to see her. It seemed like the same thing happened to Amy, as she gently hugged me and clung to me.

“Here, what you asked for. Although the area near the end of the territory has not yet been completely surveyed, we have compiled and organized the maps we have for each city or village.”

“Thank you. I already needed a map.”

I was very happy to see the map that Amy gave me. Even so, I was planning to split the territory and sell it, and for that, a map was an essential item.

“Oh, and I have something to show you later, so call me when you’re done.”

“Something to show you?”

“Huh, it’s a secret for now. You’ll be really surprised when you see it later, right?”

Amy, who snorted that she could look forward to it, left immediately, as if she had no intention of showing it off in advance.

I felt disappointed for a moment when I saw that, but I couldn’t catch Amy because I could feel someone waiting for me in the living room.

Putting my regrets aside, I entered the drawing room and a total of eleven barons turned their gazes towards me. Perhaps because it was the moment when the territory was being traded, an intense desire could be felt in the barons’ gazes. Only the gaze of Baron Enes, who would help with the transaction, was calm.

“Now, let’s talk about territory.”

I sat down at the head table in the living room, unfolded the map I had received from Amy, and began to talk about the territory. The barons also listened intently to what I had to say, as if it was better to get straight to the point rather than talking about various useless things.

First, I drew lines based on the unfolded map and the materials that Amy had handed over along with the map. Since I was planning to sell it in several pieces, I had to cut it to an appropriate size.

“First of all, the territory I am trying to sell is shown on this map, and this territory is like this… … . We will divide it into five parts and sell it. Is there anyone who is not satisfied with this size? Please note that it was cut considering not only the size but also the number of residents living in the territory, so I am not saying that any particular piece is a particularly good place.”

“… … .”

Just as Baron Enes said that there were many people who were desperate to own a fiefdom the size of a fist, there was not a single person who gave up the idea of purchasing the fiefdom even though it had become small.

I shrugged my shoulders at that and folded up the map.

“It looks like everyone has no intention of giving up on purchasing, so buy the product right now… … . No, shall we go see the estate first?”

Regardless of the size of the territory, the barons seemed to think that all they had to do was purchase the territory, so it seemed pointless to talk about it here.

It was thought that it would be quicker to let them see the territory in person right away and decide how much they could pay for it.

In the end, I had to take off again on a zombie wyvern, leading the barons who had been sitting in the living room for less than thirty minutes.

Then, I took off on a zombie wyvern and toured the entire territory that was Viscounty Tar with the barons. Starting with cities that were the size of a self-governing territory, we carefully toured small villages that looked like villages before they became cities.

“How, were there territories you wanted?”

“I like all of them, so I don’t know which one to choose.”

The barons who returned to the mansion after checking out the characteristics and conditions of cities and villages with me still did not give up their desire for territory.

After looking at the barons who wanted to buy the land at an immediate price, I turned my attention to Baron Enes. Baron Enes, who caught my gaze, got up from his seat and came to my side, as if he had been waiting.

“As you all know, I am Baron Enes who will mediate the territory transaction at the request of Viscount Steele. First of all, I think everyone should have a fair opportunity as everyone wants to purchase territory. Is there anyone who has a different opinion?”

“… … .”

“It looks like you are not there. In that case, we would like to proceed with this territory transaction in the form of an auction.”

The faces of several barons frowned slightly at the mention of an auction, but soon returned to their original state. They seemed to think that an opportunity would come back to them as they sold the territory in five parts instead of one lump.

“Do I have to pay right away?”

“Since you all came bare-chested, you can of course pay the fee later. However, you should keep in mind that the starting point for ownership to be officially transferred is after all payments have been made. If the payment cannot be made, the auction for the relevant land may be re-run.”

Baron Enes began to conduct an auction with ten barons, showing off the appearance of a person in charge of mediation.

They started going through each of the five divided territories and auctioning them off.

“The first is the northernmost territory. Although it is the smallest in area, the population is… … .”

Baron Enes continued the auction by explaining details about the estate.

As a result, the five estates were sold to new owners at a price that was three times higher than I expected.