Castle Town Planning
I have defeated Demon King Sabnac and taken his lands.
His castle was destroyed, as I only wanted his people, but there was one problem.
The sudden increase in population meant that there was not enough s.p.a.ce in the castle town.
There were currently tents pitched in the town square, similar to a refugee camp, but this could not continue for long.
They needed to be put in houses and put to work.
This could be done by expanding the town.
But that would require a lot of materials.
Eve interjected here.
"Do you not think it would be better to use our materials for the strengthening of the castle and army?"
"That would be the proper thing to do, yes. But I want to focus on the town first."
"…Certainly."
"You don"t seem to agree at all."
"Preposterous."
"It"s written all over that pretty face. You want me to use the materials for the army."
Eve"s eyebrows narrowed, then she said honestly:
"Your army is much smaller after that fight. Its expansion should take priority."
"I understand that, but I believe the welfare of these people is more important. The people must be strong for a country to be strong. And only then can I maintain a strong army."
"While that is not wrong…"
"It will be easier to hire mercenaries with more immigrants as well. Monsters are the central core of the army, but I want to add mercenaries to that core as well."
"You mean to hire human soldiers?!"
"I do, yes."
"Humans are treacherous."
"Oh? I have heard that the other Demon Kings hire human soldiers as well."
"But that is part of a strategy. They are stationed near the front with a command group behind them, ready to kill them if they show signs of treachery. Your army is not strong enough to do the same."
"Well then, we will have to gain the trust of the mercenaries then. I think creating a comfortable city to live in would be an efficient way of doing that."
"I suppose it might…"
Eve was still far from convinced, and so I felt like I had to show her the real thing.
The sight of demons, monsters, humans, and demi-humans coexisting and being productive.
And so I used the remaining materials to make stones and trees.
Anything else we needed was bought from merchants with the gold and silver in the treasury.
We began building as soon as we had the materials, but here too, I decided to do things differently.
Most castle towns here had winding roads.
These twisting roads and alleys were clearly not very efficient.
They were much like a maze, and they were built like this for a reason.
It was so they could buy time during an invasion, and make it easier to stop enemies from reaching the castle.
It wasn"t just here, but a method I"ve seen used in other worlds too.
Many castle towns in j.a.pan also had narrow roads that were hard to navigate.
The castle lords may have needed such defenses, but I had a different perspective.
The economic development of the town was far more important.
And so the new central town would be planned as a grid, making transport and distribution easier.
When I told Eve of these plans, she was again hesitant, but ultimately agreed with my view.
No, she even praised it.