Territory Pioneering 1
"…I see. So, one way or another, you're going to be a slave or a baron."
Gonzalez nodded after I finished speaking.
No one had touched the drinks set out on the table. The atmosphere has been tense ever since the invasion of the lolis. Honestly, I've been holding off from being the first one to take a drink. The delicious smell is still tickling my nose. I want to try a taste.
"Yes."
"The Lord seems to have put you in an awkward position."
"T-That's, umm…y-yes, it's all my fault."
The lolibitch was acting like her usual self.
But I don't blame her. In fact, it's thanks to her that I, while still being a middle-aged busamen, have the chance at forming my own harem. I should just face this challenge head-on in order to reach my dream.
Just like Gonzalez and his Loli Land, I too have an opportunity to reach the promised land. It was right there in front of me. Seeing my dream become reality gave me the motivation I needed to push forward.
"Fifty gold sounds like an unreasonable amount for anyone to earn from the Radius Grasslands."
"That may be so but I won't give up."
"Oh? It's never simple with you, is it? Well, I'd be lying if I said I'm not interested."
Gon-chan finally reached out for his glass before drinking it all in one gulp.
Yes, I can finally try it.
I reached out for my glass and followed Gonzalez in drinking it all in one big gulp. It was a delicious alcohol that gave me a pleasant burn in my throat as it went down. The taste reminded me of whiskey.
"…you can handle your drink well."
"Yeah, well."
"Once everything is settled here we should go out for a proper drink."
"Sounds good to me."
"Well, whatever happens, if you do end up becoming a slave, the Twilight Company will be sure to purchase you. Whatever the price."
"W-Wait, y-you can't do that! Someone else is already buying him!"
"That's too bad. I missed out on such a good chance."
Gonzalez pretended to act dismayed as Ester-chan seriously objected to him jokingly say he would buy me. Ester-chan was so blinded by her obsession that she didn't realize he was pretending.
"By any chance, are you…interested in men?"
"Oi, oi, give me a break. I had nothing but pure thoughts in mind when I said I'd buy Tanaka. There may be some men in our clan that feel that way, but I'm only interested in women."
"…really? Then it's fine."
Are there really people like that in his clan?
I decided at that moment that I'd never join.
My love is only meant for girls.
"There's one thing I'd like to ask if that's okay with you."
"What is it?"
"If possible, can you tell me just how large the Twilight Company is…?"
"In total? There are about four hundred active members, but some of them have people that work for them and there are others that aren't openly involved with our clan. The number is probably a little higher than that but it's impossible for me to give you a hard number."
"I see."
Four hundred.
A potential strong ally.
"Thank you. Now, I'll just get straight to the point."
"Sure. How do you think I can help you?"
"Gonzalez, I need to borrow the help of roughly half of the Twilight Company. I will give them the title of knights within my territory. I can't offer much, but I will pay them for their service."
"You want us to form an order of knights?"
"Yes. For two hundred people I can pay one hundred gold coins for a month of their service."
"Oi, oi, don't you need to be saving money right now?"
Gon-chan was surprised but he didn't seem to doubt me.
"I know you don't trust the nobility, and I realize just how impossible this all may sound, but I still ask for your cooperation."
My last desperate appeal to him as I was getting closer to the edge.
If I can't gain his support now, the chances of me ending up as a slave will skyrocket.
"I can offer you most of the gold in advance."
"Are you serious?"
"Gold won't matter to me if I become a slave."
"T-That's true."
One gold coin is worth one hundred silver and I will need to earn fifty gold coins per month from my territory. I've been able to determine that one silver coin is worth around ten thousand yen, which means I need to earn a monthly income of five hundred thousand yen. I won't know if this is an impossible amount until I start earning money, but as of right now, it seems unreachable.
"My plan is territory pioneering."
"Are you seriously planning on building a town from scratch?"
"I'm not sure if I could build a town in such a short time, but I do plan on building certain facilities that people can use to generate the income I need. I need people to help me build these facilities, and, of course, I'll be directly involved with the work myself."
"…."
Gonzalez was weighing the pros and cons of offering me his men.
His decision will affect the lives of hundreds of people. It's not one he can make lightly.
"Is it really just pioneering? You don't need protection from the neighbouring country?"
"Yes, it's just pioneering. Ester-san's father helped end the conflict between the two countries and I am also acquainted with the Pussy lord that rules over the territory that directly borders my own. There should be no issue of any conflict with the neighbouring lords."
"…I see."
"So, will you lend me your men?"
What's he going to do?
Ah, you're making my heart race, Gon-chan.
"…."
"Even a hundred people, no, I could even make fifty work."
I hoped reducing the number would get him to acquiesce.
As long as it's above thirty people….
"…fine."
"Really?"
"Yes. For one month, I will lend a company of my men to you, Baron Tanaka. I feel like we all owe you at least that much. Without you, most of them wouldn't even be alive."
"Thank you very much."
Gonzalez really is a nice guy.
He’s such a reliable macho man.
I rummaged through my pouch until I found my bag of gold.
"Here is the advance I promised you. Please, take it."
It's half of all of my gold.
I'll need the other half in order to get things started.
"Keep it."
"Eh…?"
"We have plenty of savings as it is. It won't make a difference to us if you hold onto it for another month."
"But I promised it to you…."
"Asking for the full payment up front is a bit much, don't you agree? And what would I even do with all of that money if you gave it to me now? Besides, you'll need whatever you can get to ensure you don't fall into slavery after the first month."
"If it were behind you Gonzalez, I feel like I could walk forward confidently, even with my eyes closed."
"Gaaaa!?"
A strange cry erupted from Gonzalez when I told him my honest feelings.
Just like earlier when the lolis invaded, he started scratching the side of his head out of embarrassment.
"Seriously, how can you say something like that with a straight face!"
A comforting smile spread across his face.
He picked up a liquor bottle and filled both of our glasses with the same amber liquid as before.
Ah, the smell is delicious.
"Let's have a drink to our partnership!"
"Thank you."
"I-I'll drink too."
Ester-chan picked up her glass in a panic.
"Let's pray for Tanaka's success! Cheers!"
"Cheers."
"Cheers!"
The three of us raised our glasses and gulped down the liquor in one shot.
Drinking with friends like this is the best. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time.
The day after receiving Gonzalez's support.
Ester-chan spent the night in the castle before leaving early in the morning to travel to Kalis. She needed to go through the official procedures to get my order of knights established.
I offered to fly her back since I'm faster, but she declined after saying she knew I would be busy with other matters.
I was disappointed at the lost opportunity to molest the lolibitch, but my heart took a big hit by the kindness she showed by declining my offer even though I know she wanted to accept. Recently, I've noticed that I keep getting tricked into thinking the lolibitch is a good woman.
I'll be in trouble if this keeps happening.
I'll end up betraying Allen.
But, if I were to be honest with myself, I want to rub all over Ester-chan's soft body.
Gonzalez told me he'd need a couple days to get everything ready. Informing his clan, gathering supplies, etc. I'm surprised that he can get everything ready in such a short time.
I told him to send his people to Radius Grasslands when they're ready and left a note with him of all the materials I had already paid for and where to pick them up.
Having finished everything up in Tricklis, I flew the hour or so back to my territory.
"Here we are…."
I flew down from the sky and landed on the hill I was on last night.
I looked over the territory given to me by the King.
Underneath the light of the sun, the strange glow I observed last night had nearly disappeared. It would've been easy to miss if I didn't already know it was there. But, I could still tell it was there and once the sun goes down I'm sure it will become apparent once more.
That's good.
That means I can continue my work as planned.
"…first, I should level off most of this land."
I need to make the land ready for construction. Most of the land is currently covered in chunks of meat and blood. I called in dozens of fireballs lined up along one side of the field. A low hum filled the meadow.
Each one was around ten metres in diameter.
"All right."
This is my fireball bulldoze strategy.
"Careful…careful…."
I slowly moved the fireballs forward in a line, burning away the rotting flesh and the vegetation that had soaked in the blood. Both are flammable enough so they quickly burned away and turned to ash.
I was careful to watch the height of the fireballs as they moved forward.
I didn't want to do any damage to the fertile ground. I learned my lesson when I burned the long-haired man and drill-chan and held the power of my fireballs in check.
When they reached the end I did a little spot checking and made sure the edges of the meadow were also clear.
"This feels strangely satisfying."
I enjoyed the feeling of burning all of my problems away and, within an hour, I was finished.
After removing the remains of the fallen soldiers and clearing away most of the vegetation I was left with a uniformly flat meadow. I won't need to worry about levelling off the ground itself. It actually reminds me of when I'd see empty plots of land for sale. The only real difference is the lack of concrete barriers blocking off entry to the lot.
Soon after I had finished bulldozing the land, I noticed an important fact.
"…the glow has disappeared."
What happened?
"…."
Did my fireballs burn it away?
That can't be the reason.
Then what happened?
That soothing glow was my best chance of making fifty gold a month.
I'd be in trouble if it were gone.
"…."
What has changed since I summoned the fireballs? The blood and meat are gone as well as the grass. I don't know if either was the source of the glow, but the former is unlikely to emit any type of light. My best bet is the grass.
I flew down from my place on the hill and landed in an untouched pass of grass just outside my territory. I crouched down and observed some of the plants growing there.
"…is this a purple gromwell?"
I picked some of the glowing vegetation that had purple leaves.
There were patches of these purple flowers growing throughout the grass.
"…."
Then I was reminded of Edita Sense's book "Poverty and Me."
Pessari Grass (formerly called Purple Gromwell) is able to accumulate trace amounts of mana.
The plant has a strange ability to absorb mana through its roots. Sensei believed that the abnormal purple colouring comes from the mana stored within the plant. I attempted to extract this stored mana during my exam at the academy.
The strange glow most likely comes from this ability acting in reverse. During the battle, these plants must have taken in a continuous stream of mana from me repeatedly using my recovery magic, overloading the plant’s ability to store that mana and resulting in the glow.
"…."
So the source of the glow was the pessari grass that had been essentially baked in the mana given off by my recovery magic.
"What did I do?"
I burned all of it away.
There's nothing left but ash now.
If I just remain calm, there's a clear solution to this problem.
"That grass is growing everywhere."
Outside the borders of my territory, I could see patches of the purple plant growing as far as I could see.
I only bothered bulldozing the parts of my land that are within the Penny Empire. There are still patches of the glowing grass on my land that lies within the Pussy Republic. I should have an easy enough time negotiating with Drill-chan over that land.
Actually, it's rather fortuitous. This led to my discovery that this purple gromwell will emit a soothing light when it absorbs an excessive amount of mana. I haven't tested it yet but that light must have a positive effect on your health. And it was mana from recovery magic that it absorbed, it's possible it could also have minor healing qualities to it.