Chapter 71

The evening party in the duchy is over, and today is the third day of the autumn moon.

It’s been half a year since Yuri and the others came to this other world.

Well, no matter how fast it is, it’s just that a year is actually short.

At the same time as the moon changed, the demons revived all at once, so as usual, the ‘extermination’ by everyone in the Yuri Empire is currently active.

Even for those who have already reached the 200 level of their occupation (class), hunting demons can raise the level of their vocation, which seems to be a great motivator.

In addition, the land of the Yuri Empire has expanded considerably from the beginning, and the Holy Land of Nimun, with which we have an alliance, welcomes the suppression of demons, so from this time on, we plan to carry out the ‘extermination’ over a fairly wide area.

As a result, a variety of foodstuffs obtained from a wide variety of demons will be distributed to the food stalls. It will be a long time before the bustle of the stalls diminishes.

With the moon changing, the world’s climate has completely changed from summer to autumn.

―――However, since the cities of Yuritania are wrapped in [Temperature Control Wards], the seasonal change has little effect on them.

It is said that the children of the <Koubai> lowered the temperature setting of the wards to produce a sense of season. Many people are still wearing short sleeves, so it seems that not many citizens are concerned about it.

“How are the slaves that were kidnapped from the duchy?”

“So far, there has been no particular problem.”

Yuri asked this in her office, where she was spending the morning as usual. Lullaby, from <Nadeshiko>, who is today “love duty” and escort, answered immediately.

Yesterday, Yuri kidnapped as many as 2,633 people from the duchy.

Among them, 2,529 were ‘slaves’ in Dellane, the capital of the duchy. The purpose of the kidnapping was to inflict a heavy blow on the economy of the principality by taking away the slaves who were being abused as labor, but needless to say, the motive behind the kidnapping was Yuri’s self-satisfaction.

I have no intention of calling slavery itself evil, but I don’t like the fact that someone else is abusing women in front of Yuri’s eyes.

―――So she takes them. That’s all it was to Yuri.

The method of kidnapping was simple. [Spatial Grasp] that was cast on the duchy’s capital, Dellane, was still intact, so she used it to mark all of the slaves in the city, and then used a compulsory summoning type of spatial magic to transfer all of them to Yuritania.

So I didn’t pay even one additional beth to the slavers.

In fact, when I kidnapped all the slaves, I also marked and stole all the valuable items in the slave’s store. I probably could have gotten back the 200,000 Beth that Yuri handed over to the slaver that day.

By the way, the remaining 104 were those who worked in the cathedrals of the duchy, including Priest Conrad.

I brought him here after they had agreed in advance, so strictly speaking, it may be a mistake to say ‘kidnapped’.

Since Pope Altorius had excommunicated Duke Drapon, the monarch of the principality, they had no reason to stay in the cathedral of the principality any longer.

So, taking advantage of this, Yuri recruited them to the Yuri Empire.

In the Yuri Empire, there are plans to build a new city.

The plan is to build a “Resort City” using the “lake” that Yuri created with the magic of the [Star Fall・Meteor Strike].

If we build a city, we will naturally have to build a religious facility like a cathedral in the new city. To be honest, we are grateful to be able to secure clergy who will work for us now.

Of course, if Yuri, one of the main gods, directly invited them, there was no way that all 104, including High Priest Conrad, could say no.

“As of yesterday evening, it was completed successfully, and 488 slaves under the age of thirty were admitted to the orphanage last night.”

Perhaps because there are only 160 days in a year in this world, 30 years old is generally the standard age of adulthood.

In this world, 30 years old is about 14 years old in the sense of the former Japanese Yuri. It may seem too young to be considered an adult, but that seems to be the norm in this world.

I can’t let a man and woman who haven’t even reached adulthood work yet. So Yuri had asked the children of <Kikyou> yesterday to quickly prepare a building in the city of Yuritania that could be used as an orphanage.

It is a very large building, capable of housing up to 800 people. Even so, it would take less than a day to build with all twenty-four <Kikyou> members in operation.

In fact, I think the most extraordinary cheats in this world are the children of <Kikyou>, rather than Yuri.

As for the management of the orphanage, it has been agreed that for the time being, it will be left to the High Priest Conrad and the other people who worked at the Principality Cathedral.

It will be a long time before the construction of the resort city is completed. In the meantime, it would be a relief if we could entrust the management of the orphanage and the children to a clergyman whose character we could trust.

Normally, it would be logical to send the children back to their parents, but… Remembering the conversation we had with the slave trader in the principality, it seems that the enslaved children were sold to the slave trader by their parents themselves.

If that’s the case, even if they were returned to their parents, they would probably be treated roughly or sold again. So Yuri decided that it would be more appropriate to put them in an orphanage and support them in the country.

“What about people over 30?”

“We welcomed 2,041 of the adult slaves as citizens of Yuritania and provided them with a room in the housing complex. Also, as instructed by Yuri-sama, we will be providing living expenses for four months from this month.”

As for the adult slaves, they will be welcomed as ordinary citizens of Yuritania. Fortunately, thanks to the fact that the city of Yuritania had been built one size larger than Nildea, there were still enough buildings left to move thousands.

Of course, they will not be treated as slaves in the future. It doesn’t matter how much they are sold to slave dealers, it doesn’t matter in the Yuri Empire.

Yuri hopes that they will find a job in the city of Yuritania, live as citizens of Yuritania, and enjoy happiness. ――Those who have experienced unreasonable misfortunes should have a rewarding future.

“I wish there were enough jobs in Yuritania for two thousand people.”

“The economy in Yuritania is in good shape, so there should be no problem. In particular, male slaves are well-trained, so there is plenty of demand for their services. As for the women, I think they will be able to find work within a year.”

Those who were slaves will be paid a living allowance for four months or the next year. From next year on, we’re going to take some taxes from the citizens of Yuritania, but they’ll be exempted from this as long as they’re receiving a living allowance.

Ideally, all of them will be able to find jobs in Yuritania in the next four months.

Lullaby is easily convinced that they will be fine. From Yuri’s point of view, it seems unlikely that 2,000 jobs will be available.

(Well, at worst, if they can’t find jobs, they can earn money in the Labyrinth.)

The Yuri Empire also has plans to build a [Labyrinth Dungeon].

It will be a place where you can hunt demons without the risk of losing your life, and I’m sure it will be completed by the end of the year, so it may serve as a last resort for those who can’t find a job.

Even if they don’t lose their lives, there is still a risk of pain. So I’m going to make the “Labyrinth” a place where it’s easy to make a good amount of money.

According to Lydina, occupation (class) will be implemented in this world in the future. The Labyrinth, which can also be used to increase levels, should not be so bad as a workplace.

―――When Yuri is thinking about this,

The door of the office was knocked gently.

“Excuse me, Yuri-sama.”

Yuri called out, “Come in,” to the door. The one who came in was Colar, the deputy captain of <Water Lily>.

“What’s the matter, Colar?”

“Yuri-sama, I just received an oracle from Lydina, the God of Healing, and she wants to talk to Yuri-sama a little bit if possible.”

“Oh… It’s rare for Lydina to call me.”

Yuri visits the garden every three to four days.

So I’ll see Lydina again in a few days, if not called. Knowing that, if you go out of your way to call Yuri through an oracle, you must have something to say to Yuri without waiting for a few days.

“All right. Thank you for telling me, Colar.”

“No, I’m glad I could be of help.”

In response to Yuri’s words, Coral left the room.

As she sat on her desk chair, she thought.

(… I wonder if she didn’t like what I did in the duchy.)

I’m not sure if it was the kidnapping of a large number of slaves or the heavy snowfall in the principality.

If there is a high possibility of being scolded, it is probably the latter.