[TL: figured I need to donate some idea to kicking some site ass whose are stealing my translations the chp start from here.]
When it was mid-autumn, the daytime temperature also fell, so it felt like time flew by faster somehow. Although the highest temperature was still 25°C, but because the air was dry, it was a very refreshing temperature.
So, on that day, I sat on the chair under the parasol set in the premises of my house, and enjoyed the afternoon.
While holding a glass that contained cola, which might as well be liquid gold from how much I spent, in my hand, I sipped at it with a straw.
Un, drinking Coke in another world has a exceptional taste.
“Kukukuku.” While placing the glass of cola on the side table, a villainous laugh leaked out from my mouth.
But, that couldn’t be helped since I was reading the [Town Data] right now.
[Funds] 466,237,787,000 yen
Before the Kingdom of Sandra attacked, my funds were only about 300 billion. Now, it has become 460 billion.
“Fufufu.” I laughed to myself once more.
With this money, I can buy most of the things, even if they were from the Modern Era.
I can’t stop laughing.
If I keep trading like this, I can achieve one trillion yen quickly. When that happens, the only condition left to change the [Era Setting] to [Modern] would only be having a population of 10,000 people.
However, that was the problem. The current population just exceeded 2,300 people. The population growth in a year did not even reach 200 people. The birth rate of the beastmen was too low.
Before, I have asked each chief about their tribe’s sex life with blushing cheeks. From the story, it seemed like every tribe was doing fine for the time being.
But, could it be because of their nature? The natural conception rate of the beastmen seemed to be quite low. Furthermore, although the birthrate of the Kobold and Goblin tribe were not low, the survival rate of their children was not high.
Well, I was certain that the beastmen were not as fertile as humans so far. No, it might because of their low fertility that they were not seen as a threat to humans. That could have been why they had survived until now.
Now then, I wonder what I should do to achieve a population of 10,000.
Should I wait for the population to increase to 10,000 people steadily? However, if I did so, I wouldn’t know how many decades it would take to change the [Era Setting] to [Modern].
From the beginning, I was from the [Modern] era, but I also want to look at the world of in the [Future]. Even in my previous world, the future was a “world” I had never experienced. When I imagined what fun it could be, I can’t suppress the throb of excitement in my chest.
As expected, I should actively approach the population problem.
That’s right. The next time the Kingdom of Sandra attacks, should we invade back and take away some territory? If it’s like that, we can expand the town and make the humans migrate. With this, a population of 10,000 could be easily achieved.
However, I feel that it would be difficult to harmonize the humans and the beastmen. There were people from the Wolf tribe who were friends with Romatto, but this was only with one particular individual. It can’t be said that tensions with the humans have lessened.
It was indeed troublesome.
(What should I do...)
As I thought about that, sleepiness seized me suddenly. I used to be what others would call a lively person. However, unlike the busy days from my previous world, there was much time to ponder in this world.
(Let’s slowly think about the population after taking a nap.)
I closed the [Town Data] and closed my eyes. My field of vision became dark as my eyelids fell shut.
(That reminds me. I wonder if the Kingdom of Sandra is fighting with the Kingdom of Robutas right now. If the Kingdom of Sandra loses, I wonder what would happen to Elsa?)
Suddenly, a flash of worry stabbed my heart.
(Well, Elsa is a merchant, and since she’s smart, I think she should be okay.)
Anyway, I am quite interested in the results of the war between the two countries, but there was nothing I could do about it. There was a saying that “good things come to those who wait”. As long as the Kingdom of Sandra was safe, the trade would continue.
Thus, I should only do what I can now. So, for the time being, I will entrust myself to this warm sunshine and enjoy this calm siesta.
Then, I felt a hard lump and some pressure on my stomach. When I opened my eyes, I saw Catherine pressing her nose to my belly.
“What is it, Catherine?” I asked while caressing her large head.
Catherine gave a short groan. She probably wanted to go for a walk. Catherine and I had a tacit understanding, and we could generally understand what each other was thinking.
“Oh well, this can’t be helped.” I sighed heavily.
It seems like I need to postpone the siesta.
I got onto Catherine and decided to patrol the town.
“Fujiwarsama!” As I went around the town, the children gathered around when they saw me.
It was a pain to be a popular person. I took out some konpeitou from my chest pockets and handed them to the children.
[TLC: konpeitou is a japanese sugar candy]
Soon, autumn was over, and winter had arrived. Sometimes, the temperature fell to the negative range during midnight till early morning, so it was very cold inside.
One day, I was told that the war with the Kingdom of Robutas was over by some officials from the Kingdom of Sandra who came to trade.
It ended with the victory of the Kingdom of Sandra. Even though it was a very intense war, the Kingdom of Sandra somehow managed to defend their territory.
I think that that was good. For now, the two human countries were able to maintain their stalemate. There could be no better result for us.
Then, the officials told me that they wanted me to increase the amount of traded goods.
Although I should have exported quite a fair amount until now, it seems like they’ve already restrained themselves quite a bit so that other countries wouldn’t know of our existence. But, it seems like their financial budget was currently being pressed so much that they couldn’t do anything else.
Even though they came out victorious in this war, it was just to the point of being able to protect their territory. There was nothing else gained from it, so it could be said that they simply lost their soldiers and fortune in vain.
Therefore, they needed to expand their trading volume.
It was not a bad thing for me. If I had to have a particular concern about it, it would be the existence of this town being made known to other countries. This was something I want to avoid with all my might.
This place was called the town of beastmen. For those humans who disdained the beastmen, none of them would be pleased when that much wealth was being gathered here.
While emphasizing to them to not make this place known, I permitted the increase in the amount of goods being traded.
Then, after some time passed, people from the Kingdom of Sandra came again. However, they did not come with guards this time. The hurried messengers had not come to trade.
“The western feudal lord has betrayed our country.” The messenger reported after I greeted him.
The story was like this. From northwest to southwest, certain areas in the western area betrayed the Kingdom of Sandra and declared that they were under the rule of the Shugurin Dukedom instead. However, because the Kingdom of Sandra was exhausted from the war, they couldn’t do anything about it, and could only appeal to the church regarding this breach. However, they did not seem to have gotten a favorable reply.
This was because the land that the Shugurin Dukedom acquired this time was not taken by war, and the people living on that land declared that they belonged to the Sugurin Dukedom by their own free will.
“The ones who betrayed the kingdom includes the lord of the southwestern territory, Count Sarah Bona. He knows about the origin of [Sugar] and [Spice], so the Shugurin Dukedom would certainly come to make contact.” He explained.
After the messenger warned us, he quickly left.
Contact... If it’s just business, then I won’t care. I will do as I wish here.
In the past, Count Sarah Bona had sent militiamen to attack this town, so he should know how terrifying this place was. I don’t think that he would carelessly attack again.
Perhaps what the messenger from the Kingdom of Sandra wanted to say was to not trade with the Shugurin Dukedom.
But, even after a month had passed, there was still no sign of people from the Shugurin Dukedom coming to this town. Instead, other visitors came from the north. This is what I was waiting for ― new residents of the town.
The first one to appear was the Fish tribe. Like their name suggests, they have the face of fish. It seemed like they had come from the Shugurin Dukedom. They were large in number, easily exceeding 1,000 people.
Rather, I wonder how these fish can live out of water? How did they breathe?
Next were the Bird and Snake tribes. They came from all over the Shugurin Dukedom.
(Another bird tribe?)
While thinking so, I learnt that there were also different types of birds. The Bird tribe in the town had the appearance of hawks, while the newcomers were black like crows.
As for the Snake Tribe, even though they were supposedly snakes, they had two hands and feet. How they evolved into this was certainly a mystery. No, perhaps they had evolved from lizards even if they were currently called snakes.
For the time being, because the number of people who could enter the town was limited, I decided to let them live in the houses in the west. The houses were insufficient, so they needed to make do with simple tents made from cloths and woods for now. Because we could supply as much as firewood as needed, they would not freeze in winter.