On our way to a store that handled weapons, we stopped by a p.a.w.nshop and turned the gems I made using [Creation] into money.
The gold coins were heavy and therefore consume an intense amount of magic power. In that regard, creating the jewels was the better choice.
I was making gunpowder and various rare metals which couldn’t be easily procured without [Creation] daily so I wanted to conserve as much MP as I could.
After I got the gold coins, I listened in on the conversations between the nearby people of this town but I then found a popular equipment shop.
As a testament to its popularity, the shop was pretty big.
Inside, around fifty humans known as adventurers were intently looking for equipment.
From swords to spears to bows. From clothes to armor to footwear. Those seemed to roughly be the store’s main products. The ma.s.s-produced cheap products and the high-quality ones made by craftsmen were each lined up in their own corners.
“Oto-san, Oto-san, there’s a huge amount of weapons here.”
“Quality is more important than quant.i.ty, master. I’m a little bit disappointed.”
“I don’t really know these weapons well. I mean, I like the bow and all but… ever since I met that little one, a bow just can’t satisfy me anymore.”
Each of my girls expressed their own reactions.
Elder Dwarf and I then went to the corner where the finest items were lined up while Kuina and Ancient Elf visited the corner where the shoes were.
Elder Dwarf picked up the most expensive sword. The material used on it was an alloy made of iron and a little bit of mithril. This was a scheme done so that the cost of production would be reduced.
“Pitiful.”
Her face became grim as she murmured so.
“I pity the materials that were used like this as I pity the person that will wield this weapon. This is isn’t a sword; it’s just a sc.r.a.p of iron.”
She looked at it with terrifyingly cold eyes.
Meanwhile, the surrounding people were astir; Elder Dwarf, the silver-haired prep.u.b.escent beauty that didn’t belong in this place, gathered their attention. With a remark like that though, it was unavoidable.
And a few moments later, a giant of a man came from the inside of the store.
He had skin as dark as the night and a body trained through and through.
“You! You the one that dared to suggest my sword’s rubbish!?”
His footsteps were loud and heavy as he trotted towards us.
“Just when I thought it was a first-cla.s.s adventurer dissing my sword, here I see no one but a little girl! But I won’t let anyone take a p.i.s.s at any of my work, not even a brat like you!”
The man bellowed a nerve-wracking speech.
It was so loud the men that tried to pick up the girls earlier would hesitate.
However, Elder Dwarf didn’t move an inch.
Even though she looked like a silver-haired beauty in the first half of her teens, she was, in fact, a powerful S rank monster. An ordinary human wouldn’t make her feel threatened, not even one tiny bit.
“Take a p.i.s.s? I’m merely stating the facts. The fire in the furnace wasn’t hot enough; the materials aren’t distributed properly; the alloy has been struck far too heavily making the sword brittle; the weight’s uneven; and then there’s its shape which is suited neither for slashing nor bashing. Now, selling this sword, that would be taking a major p.i.s.s at anyone.”
Instead of backing down, she rained in criticism after criticism on him and he winced.
“Like you know how to forge one. Cut it ou–”
“This is how a real sword should be.”
She threw the slender blade that hung from her back to the large man.
The sword was her insurance in case she ever ran out of bullets.
“What the, this sword… what the, this is made of mithril. There’s other metals mixed in in the alloy but it’s not for bringing down the cost of production but rather to strengthen the alloy. Furthermore, the skill it takes to make the grip firm and the blade smooth… such a sword, it has to be made by Yappaluna, the legendary blacksmith of the royal capital.”
“I’m the one that made that sword.”
“There’s no way a brat could–”
“I made it.”
Those short words had so much intensity in them, it allowed the man no reb.u.t.tal and brought him into silence.
She then retrieved her sword, put it back into its sheath, and turned around to face me.
“Master, let’s go. I’ve seen all there is to see.”
She said so as she pulled my hand.
The large man didn’t say anything further. Did he feel some sort of reverence towards someone of exceptional skill comparable to a master blacksmith?
The surrounding people were still observing us as we left. I then thought of something good: with this many people giving us attention, it was a great opportunity to advertise.
“Everyone, a week from now, we will be building a city to be located between this one and the dungeon in the east. There will of course be a shop selling the weapons made by this girl so please do come.”
The noise the surrounding humans made grew louder.
Adventurers, in order to survive, were always starving to have powerful weapons after all.
Our advertis.e.m.e.nt here did enough impact and the news of our town would probably be spread by word of mouth.
…although, of course, it would depend on the events to follow whether or not my dungeon would actually be built there.
With our task done, we left soon after.
By the way, we were later scolded by Kuina and Ancient Elf for leaving the both of them behind.
◇
After we exited the commercial area, we then paid the agricultural area a visit and it was tremendously vast. Despite that, however, the poverty of the farmers could be immediately perceived.
With dreams within their hearts, an awful lot of humans had dared their fortunes and came to grand cities like this one, only to find that there wasn’t any plot of land left to farm. And so, they scrambled for jobs in the city. The humans that knew no other skill but farm work needed to have either luck, connections, or outstanding talent in order to secure employment. The ones unlucky enough to have none of those rented land from some great landlord and cultivated some crops.
Indeed, life was harsh. Even so, they were no longer able to leave this city and return to their home villages for they had already tasted the city life and no other place could satisfy them now.
Ancient Elf was observing the field that spread all around us. She was examining the condition of the land using her abilities.
“How is it? How’s the land? I would be rather troubled if the land’s still in a somewhat good condition.”
“The land’s location and geology are just fine but it’s so exhausted, I just want to go and heal it.”
Based on Ancient Elf’s a.n.a.lysis, the land itself was good but it seemed like the overuse of the land in order to raise the amount of crops harvested to impossible heights, the planting of the same plant over and over again, all the flooding, and various other problems had occurred.
“What would happen if crops are planted on this land again?”
“If a lot of fertilizers are used, I think that maybe it just might yield some harvest but yeah, it’ll be hard. If the farmers continue to push the land, its condition will become much harsher. If possible, I would like the land be left unused for next two years or so.”
“Is it possible for you to grow the same crops planted here in the dungeon we’re gonna build?”
“Of course, with an abundant harvest to boot.”
The crops were just about ready to be harvested so I could have taken a few of them with me to my new town but I preferred to be safe than sorry. And so, I bought some seeds from a farmer that worked on the field at a rather high price.
“After you’ve prepared the farmlands, I want you to accelerate the growth of these seeds until just before it’s ready to be harvested.”
“Alright but what for?”
“Rather than promoting the immigration to a so-called fertile land, wouldn’t it be better if we just showed them?”
Humans believed most what they could see.
By the way, I intended to collect 10% of the farmers’ harvest as compensation for the house and lot I was going to offer them. The house and lot would be free of charge until they could make a harvest and in case of a crop failure, the fee would be lowered.
These rates were already exceptional. I could also offer it for free but then that would be too suspicious.
The farmers would live out their life as usual but for those that were too attached to the city life, I would explain to them that it was alright to occasionally go back and forth between my city and this one. If I did that, their decision to move would be an easier one. The ability to travel between cities within a day was monumental.
After touring the city briefly, the four of us went to a play, ate at various restaurants, and simply just enjoyed ourselves.
It was quite fun. The girls also found it fun and insisted on coming back. I then therefore decided that I should create opportunities to have fun like this on a regular basis.
But there were still work left for us to do today so I thought that we should head out of the city soon.
“Oto-san, that bird…”
“It’s Stolas’s monster, isn’t it?”
The blue bird flew to us and then perched itself on my shoulder.
It was the monster [Wind] Demon Lord Stolas used to send me letters. This little one had memorized the magic power flowing within me so it could deliver the letters to me even when I was outside.
I then opened the letter tied to its leg.
…Interesting, I thought, they were finally able to show themselves.
“Oto-san, what’s up?”
“Well,”
According to the letter I got from Stolas, one of the new Demon lords had approached her and suggested an alliance. The purpose of the said alliance was to suppress the [Creation] Demon Lord Procell, or in other words, me.
They thought that no Demon Lord by themselves could defeat me. They were also afraid that I would declare [War] on one of them so they allied with each other to crush me before I even could. It was a sound train of thought.
It seemed like Stolas had rejected their offer but she had also written that I should be careful.
By the end of the letter though, I wasn’t able to help myself from letting out a laugh.
<>
I was thankful of her news about the other Demon Lord’s coalition and their intention to attack me. I thought that I must properly thank her the next time we meet.
“We have to hurry on building our city.”
There wasn’t much time left; I needed to quickly advance my preparations.
I had gathered from our inspection of this town that it would be exceedingly desirable to build a dungeon nearby. Should the [Time] Demon lord accept my proposal, I would then be able to start building my dungeon.
And so, we were off to pay him a visit. I was both afraid and excited on meeting with him.