A Messenger from the Great Country of Deprosia
As the humans trained, it started to get warmer, as if their pa.s.sion was tangible.
I said so to Eve, but she just laughed.
"Master. It is less their pa.s.sion and more that summer is approaching."
"Ah, right. So this world has seasons as well then."
There were worlds and regions that did not have four seasons, so I had not thought much about it. But it was apparently almost summer.
Well, that also meant that the produce from the farms outside of the castle would be entering the markets. And so I asked Eve to bring some to me.
She brought a melon.
Eve cut the melon in half and removed the seeds before pouring som condensed milk over it.
It looked very sweet.
And she must have chilled it with ice magic, because it was very cool.
And delicious.
"Eve, you are brilliant in the handling of food."
"And you are brilliant at flattery."
"It is not flattery. It is the truth."
"Hearing that is enough of a reward for my efforts."
"However, it is also thanks to these farms that we are able to eat well every day."
"The fruit of the farmer"s labor."
"I would like to increase their output even more."
"I think that is a wonderful idea."
"Does this world have double-cropping?"
"Double-cropping. Is that where two kinds of crops our planted in the same field so that the soil does not become impoverished?"
"That is exactly what it is."
"Then yes, we do."
"Then what about the Norfolk four-course system?"
"I have not heard of that."
"Then we should experiment at a new farm."
I suggested.
This Norfolk four-course system was a farming system from another world.
Apparently, it began in a place called Norfolk in England.
It was an advanced version of the double-crop method, where the fields were split into four areas and wheat, turnips, barley and clover were planted in them by rotation.
Eve looked confused when I told her this.
"The wheat can be used for bread and the turnips can be eaten. But clovers are not edible."
"For humans, anyway."
"What do you mean?"
"They will be fed to the livestock."
"I see. So you will give them to the cows, sheep and pigs."
"Exactly. The meat will be much fatter when it enters the market."
"Very good, Master. We should test this at once."
And so Eve made a contract with a farmer and began to test this method.
As we used special formulas to speed up the growth of plants, it would not take as long to see the results.
We would have some reliable data within a matter of months.
If the data was in our favor, then this style of farming would be adopted by all of the farmers.
And that would lead to increased taxes.
Not only I, but Eve was also very much looking forward to it.
"Do you like turnips, Master? I love them myself. Ah, I wish I could make you my turnip soup sooner."
I told her that I looked forward to it. But then something happened that would force our attention elsewhere.
A goblin messenger flew into the room with a pale face.
"What is? Tell me, goblin."
"Demon King, I have important news! A messenger has come from Deprosia!"
"Well, that is important."
I said as if it were not important at all. And then told him to bring the messenger to me.
Eve began to whisper once the goblin had gone.
"The Kingdom of Deprosia is a great country to the west. I do not have a good feeling about what they could want."
"While it may not be good news, we must hear it nonetheless."
Bad news was best heard as soon as possible.
"In any case, make preparations to entertain this messenger."
"Certainly. What level of "entertainment" would be best?"
"Indeed. Let us go with B."
"Understood."
I had ranking system for entertaining guests. Rank B was an ordinary level.
Rank A involved the services of succubuses.
Rank S was reserved for state guests and would involve the entire city.
Deprosia was a great country, but it did not seem wise to appear subordinate from the beginning.
I had to discover what it was that they wanted first.
If they were hostile, then I would send the messenger straight back to them.
If they just wanted to observe, then perhaps I could cajole them with the succubuses.
"Now, what could the king of Deprosia be thinking?"
I muttered as I changed my clothes and headed to the audience hall.
The messenger was already there, waiting.
A young knight.
This would be easy, I thought.
These young men were all the more susceptible to the charms of succubuses.
But it started to seem less necessary.
This was because Deprosia were not our enemies. They wanted cooperation.
Or so the young knight explained.
"Were you aware of the Necromancer who lives in the western lands, who captures the people to be used for evil experiments?"
My momentary silence came from indecision over whether or not I should tell him about our victory over Sharltar.
But there really was no need to keep that hidden.
Besides, he would probably think that I was the same kind of man as Demon King Eligos if I lied about what happened.
And so I told him.
"Yes, we killed that Necromancer. Is that a problem?"
"It is not a problem at all. That man was formerly a palace sorcerer. He killed his own comrades when defecting to that Demon King Eligos"s side. You did well to kill him."
The knight gave a bow.
He had all the modestly you would not expect of a knight from a great kingdom.
But it spoke well of his character.
He was perhaps the kind of man who wouldn"t be susceptible to a succubus.
As I considered this, the knight went straight to the point.
"Our king was going to destroy Sharltar, but learned that the Demon King Ashtaroth had already done so. His Majesty was overjoyed by this, but his anger has not completely settled. He now wants to be rid of Eligos as well, as he was the one who was controlling Sharltar."
Eve seemed to sigh with relief upon hearing this.
In any case, we were clearly not to be enemies with the Kingdom of Deprosia.
"And so here is our request. His Majesty wishes that you fight with us in battle against the army of Eligos."
"…My army?"
"You are Demon King who boasts a thriving army. Eligos will be no match for us with your involvement."
"While that is likely true…"
Only a third-rate king would readily nod at this point.
After all, what if the king of Deprosia was only trying to weaken mine and Eligos"s armies? Just as I had once done with Sabnac and Count Ismalia?
I would be the laughing stock of the entire world to fall for that.
Still, you could not easily reject the request of a great kingdom.
And so I decided to make a compromise.
I humbly explained to him of my troubles.
"While my army has indeed seen growth, we are still very weak. I do not think we would fare well against Eligos"s host. However, if the knights of Deprosia would attack his lands from the west, we might be able to prevail. As we could attack the enemy castle while he is distracted."
I a.s.sumed this proposition would be rejected immediately, but that did not happen.
"Very well. Of course, that will mean that we will take the western regions for our own."
"That is fine. I just want the castle and materials."
And with that, it was decided that we would help the army of Deprosia.
There was no written doc.u.mentation for this alliance and it was only a verbal promise. However, the young knight swore on his honor that things would be carried out as we discussed.
And I had a feeling that I could trust him.