Chapter 14: Agriculture Is The Cornerstone Of The Country

[6]

Yuri and Teres, who moved to the balcony of the lord’s building, soared into the sky. Since they left the room, the hands of the two have remained connected. Teres said it was a “date,” so she wouldn’t let it go.

When jumping out above the dome-shaped [purification barrier] that covers the building of the lord’s building, a foul odor begins to attack the sense of smell of Yuri. However, she could hardly feel it when gained a little more altitude.

“There is a lot of wind … Thanks to that, the smell doesn’t come at this height.”

“I asked “Enclaise” to get rid of the scent from the city as much as possible, and I asked them to use the magic of [Wind Manipulation] to create the wind.”

“Is that so? Yuri is smart.”

“But it’s not very effective, though …”

“…… the wall?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Yuri responds to Teres’ words by nodding. Nildea, a key city, is a “fortified city” with a barrier surrounding the entire circumference of the city. This barrier may be intended to prevent the invasion of monsters, but its presence is a nuisance and prevents most of the wind, so the efficiency of removing bad odors is not very good.

she had thought several times that she should break the wall. But based on the opinion of Suiren that “if the barrier is suddenly lost, the citizens may feel uneasy”, and she has not put it into reality.

“What about walls in a new city?”

“I’m not going to build it. Instead, I’ll use a river to surround the entire city with waterways.”

“Waterway… the monsters will still come over.”

“Surprisingly, it doesn’t seem to be the case.”

After the occupation of the city, according to the information collected by Nadeshiko, at least the monsters that appear in the vicinity of Nildea will never “enter the river”. In this world, it seems that people who live by subjugation of monsters are called “sweeper”, but at the facility called “Sweeper Guild” to which this scavenger belongs, first of all, newcomers who have just registered in the guild are “accustomed” to always fight on the side of the river until they got used to hunt monster.” Needless to say, the reason is that you can escape the difficulty by jumping into the river when it becomes dangerous. Of course, it doesn’t make sense to drown because of that, so the guild of sweepers recommends leather armor to beginners over metal armor.

“It’s not a river but a water way, is the monster still can’t cross it?”

“We won’t know until we give it a try, but it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t work.”

“… Barrier?”

“Yes, You’re right.”

When Yuri stroked her head after saying so, Teres accepted it without resistance, even though she had a slightly complicated expression.

Barriers that require rare materials for deployment and maintenance, such as [purification barriers], are difficult to operate on a large scale due to their cost. If it is about [boundary barrier] that creates a barrier that only the object permitted by the caster can pass through, it’s no problem even if it is operated in a large size because it does not use a large amount of material originally.

If she asks the child of “Kobai”  who is good at barrier art, the [boundary barrier] will be strong enough to withstand even the full-scale attack of the dragon Ladra Gruff several times. At least the monsters that appear around here are unlikely to penetrate it. Although the barrier alone was enough to prevent monsters, she decided to surround the entire city with waterways because she thought the existence of waterways would ease the anxiety of the residents. Conversely, it doesn’t matter if the waterway doesn’t actually have any effect of blocking monsters, as long as it can be a relief of the resident’s heart.

“Is that the new city?”

“I saw it for the first time, but I think so.”

Yuri nods after looking down at the direction Teres points and thinking a little.

A circular section has been completed, which seems to have already completed only the “base” part of the city, about 4 to 5 km north of Nildea, which is now a key city under Yuri’s feet.  The new city and Nildea are connected by a river that runs through each city. Yuri has instructed the new city to be built “upstream of the river” from Nildea, so the river may be flowing from north to south. Also, the new city seemed to be built much wider than Nildea. It seems that the “waterway” that surrounds the city has already been prepared, but the water has not yet been filled there, and it looks like a so-called “empty moat”.

“It’s amazing that it’s already completed, even though it’s only a waterway …”

Involuntarily, Yuri murmured by herself while making a little smile.

It was a week ago that Yuri ordered the construction of a new city. So, in the past week, they have completed a waterway that covers the entire city. Moreover, it seems that the new city is being developed from “waterways”, and even though only the base part is completed, the whole picture of “city division” can be seen through a bird’s-eye view.

“Because the construction of the city was  entrusted by Yuri, ‘Kikyou’ was pretty enthusiastic.”

“Is that so?”

“Everyone’s tension is about 50% more than usual, and honestly it’s annoying.”

“Oh, yeah…?”

Teres muttered so disgustingly.

Teres is a girl with asocial type and her everyday tension is pretty low. On the other hand, Kikyo is “Underground race (Draven)” which is known as a cheerful race, so if she was touched with 50% more tension than usual, it seems to be tough.

“Yuri. Do you make railroad tracks?”

“… What?”

In response to that word, she took a closer look at the new city. Certainly, as Teres says, it can be seen that inside the new city, something like a “railroad” is laid in a part of the “waterway”. Of course, neither ” electric train” nor “train” existed in the game of “Atros Online”, which was set in the world of the Middle Ages like a fantasy RPG. On the other hand, it was possible to lay a track facility called “railroad” in the city that the guild occupied.

In other words, this railroad is for operating the “carriage railroad”. The carriage railroad has overwhelmingly less shaking than a normal carriage, so it is excellent in riding comfort. In addition, the movement becomes very light, and the transportation capacity can be considerably larger than that of a normal carriage. Apparently, in the new city, the two transportation types,  “water transportation by using waterways” and “railroad carriages” will be used as “feet” to carry cargo with the citizens. To put it the other way around, Kikyo thought that the city itself could be expanded beyond Nildea as long as the “feet” were properly prepared.

(… I wonder if it’s overkill)

While holding the forehead lightly, Yuri couldn’t help thinking so.

The horse-drawn carriage railroad certainly originated in the early 19th century, so she feels that the children of Kikyo are trying to bring “modern” technology to this world beyond the “modern age”.

“I have to submit the process control chart (Gantt chart) to Kikyo later …”

Is it because of the memory of being engaged in the construction industry that Yuri muttered almost unconsciously?

By the way, Yuri herself is not aware of it, but since “Gantt chart” is a newer technology of the 20th century, she may say something strange.

“… Nildea is dirty”

The “City of Nildea” and “New City” spread out below. For a while, Teres, who was comparing the two plots, muttered as if she was amazed.

“Yeah …”

Yuri had no choice but to agree on this.

Teres says “dirty” here does not mean “unsanitary”. No, the city of Nildea is actually unsanitary because of the stench problem. Instead, Teres says that the structure of the city is “dirty.”

As can be seen from the height, there is no such thing as a “main street” in the city of Nildea. Whether you enter from the east gate or the west gate, in order to reach the central part of the city, you have to make many turns to reach the half-width streets that are clearly not suitable for carriages. If someone who is familiar with the structure of the city does not guide you, there is no doubt that you will get lost first.

(Somehow, I feel like doing ghost leg lottery)

Yuri secretly thinks that while tracing the street structure of the road with her eyes. There are many junctions and Y-junctions on the streets of Nildea, and there are also many dead-end streets. Extremely inefficient as an urban structure ……. she was just wondering how terrible it would be to build it at will.

“Yuri. What’s that?”

Teres asks while pointing at a corner of the city of Nildea that spreads under her feet.

No, it’s not strictly inside the city, but a little outside. It appears to be a section along a river that runs through the city from north to south, outside the barrier that surrounds Nildea.

“That is … maybe it’s a field.”

“… Why is the field outside, not inside the city?”

“Maybe there wasn’t enough space to create a field in the city.”

The city of Nildea has a fairly large population for its size. Of course, if the population is large, it will be necessary to have a field with an area that can support it. In a city with a barrier around it, there is a limit to the permissible space (capacity). Therefore, the former lord probably ordered the farmers to “create a field outside the city.” That way, the space in the city will not be overwhelmed. However, that is —.

“Is’t that dangerous for farmers?”

“It’s dangerous …”

Teres’s question was a straightforward one.

The barrier is to prevent the threat of monsters. Therefore, if you build a field outside the barrier, you will naturally be attacked by monsters as much as they want. With this, people engaged in farm work will definitely be next to danger. Also, even if they were safe, the demons would mercilessly destroy the crops. It seems that the safety and livelihood of farmers are sacrificed for the health of the city.

By the way, it seems that the agricultural land is only in the north and south outside the city of Nildea, but this is probably because it is inconvenient if it is not along the river because it is necessary to obtain the water for growing crops from the river. In the city of Nildea, people should be allowed to pass only from two places, “East Gate” and “West Gate”, so farmers walked a considerable distance after leaving either gate. Going to their own field is their living. Every day, the hard work around here seems to be sober and painful.

“I … I want to be kind to the farmers.”

The expression of Teres who said that was a little sad.

Teres has a hobby of “eating while walking” and has the nature of “eating any delicious food”. From her point of view, the farmers who produce “delicious ingredients” are the objects of favor and respect, and I would like them to be rewarded.

“Well, then I’ll take responsibility and make the farmers in my country happy.”

“… Hmm. Thank you, Yuri. I’m looking forward to it.”

For Yuri, the wish of her beloved bride is also her own wish.

If Teres wants it. It is also interesting to aim for a country that is very friendly to farmers.