Chapter 97

―――A week has passed quickly since the new city of “Ulysess” opened to the public, and today is the 9th day of the winter month.

Since the first day of this month, when Yuri and all of <Kikyou> were enjoying a vacation in the “Tourist Resort Section”, it seems that many of the other members of the “Yuri Empire” had been working to exterminate the demons, and within three days, the demons that had returned this month had disappeared from the land.

So Yuri announced the completion of the ‘extermination’ of the country in a ‘broadcast’ that she made four days ago.

This is a kind of guarantee from the government that there will be no more demons encountered this month, as far as the traffic between the cities and villages in the Yuri Empire is concerned.

In the country, there is no danger of encountering bandits as well as demons.

This is because as soon as a bandit stops by any city or village in the country to replenish food and supplies, he or she will be caught by the magic of spatial understanding that Yuri maintains, and his or her presence will be completely exposed.

In response to Yuri’s orders, someone from the Yuri Empire immediately went to take down the bandits and round them up. ―――After repeating this process several times, perhaps some rumor had spread, and no more bandits came from outside the country.

So, except for a few days right after the moon changed and until the ‘extermination completion’ was announced, the trade routes connecting the cities and villages in the Yuri Empire could be traveled safely by carriage or on foot, without even needing to hire an escort at any time.

As a result, merchants wagons have been actively traveling around the country, and more recently, the number of people traveling on foot has surprisingly increased.

Apparently, for the people living in this world, being able to freely explore and sightsee outside the city, which had always been recognized as the domain of demons, has become a very fresh and attractive experience.

At the same time, the number of people moving to the new city of Ulysses has increased rapidly.

This is because the outflow of refugees from the kingdoms that have already collapsed has begun.

The current population of Ulysses is about 70 people.

You might think it’s only 70 people, but when you consider that the number has increased in just a few days, even this number doesn’t seem ridiculous.

Anyway, for Ulysses, which started with a population of zero, an increase in the number of people is not a bad thing. It doesn’t matter if they’re refugees, we’ll welcome them as long as they come.

Although the population is still small, the “Labyrinth Dungeon Area” of Ulysses is very crowded.

In particular, within the past week, the number of stores selling armor, medicine, and elixirs has increased dramatically.

It seems that some of the merchant associations of the Holy Land of Nimun have started to open up ‘state-of-the-art stores’ in the “Labyrinth Dungeon Area” of Ulysses for technological development.

Every day in Ulysses, explorers dive into the labyrinth and fight demons.

There is no other place in the world where armor is so heavily used, and armor sold in this city is often sent to a store for maintenance within a few days.

So when you sell armor in Ulysses, not only do you make a profit at the time of sale, but you also get the benefit of taking care of the maintenance afterward.

Of course, the profits from maintenance orders are not that great. Although small, the ability to secure a stable and continuous income seems to be quite attractive to merchants.

If you sell an inferior product, you will immediately receive complaints, and if you sell a good product, you will hear directly from the customers who request maintenance about their experiences with the product and what they liked about it.

For the craftsmen who develop and manufacture armor, Ulysses is a city where they can learn a lot and find their work rewarding.

Many craftsmen say, “By selling armor, we’re fighting alongside the explorers”. In this city, the closeness between the creator and the user of armor has been well received by the craftsmen.

A few days ago, we also started broadcasting the explorer exploration of the [Labyrinth Dungeon].

This made it possible for people living in the cities and villages of the Yuri Empire and the Holy Land of Nimun to project the broadcast of any party currently exploring the Labyrinth into their field of vision 24 hours a day, and enjoy the tense images of them carefully advancing through the underground labyrinth and fighting the threat of demons in real-time.

In a world where entertainment was scarce, this was very well received.

In the cities of the Yuri Empire and the Holy Land of Nimun, citizens everywhere began to talk about the explorers incessantly, and promising explorers became celebrities and even began to receive patrons from wealthy and noble families.

The explorers are always aware of the fact that they are being watched by the citizens of both countries, so they don’t commit any brutal acts in the [Labyrinth Dungeon].

Everyone behaves like a gentleman in the labyrinth, never attacking other explorers, and even taking the initiative to lend a helping hand when they encounter other explorers in danger.

Also, explorers who are popular with the audience tend to act like gentlemen even on the ground, perhaps because they are afraid of being disillusioned.

Because of this, despite being a ‘city of ruffians’, Ulysses maintained an incredibly good state of security.

―――To be honest, Yuri hadn’t expected this either.

Even when the number of patrolmen was reduced to a minimum, there was no sign of any deterioration in security.

In the city of Ulysses, when citizens raise their voices for help, the ‘help’ comes rushing out of nowhere, so there is no way for security to deteriorate.

“You’re in a good mood, Princess.”

“Yes. It’s always nice to see one’s city being recognized.”

Yuri responded with a smile to the call from Nuo of <Shirayuri> today’s “love duty”.

According to this morning’s report from former kingdom scouts, many of whom are now working for the Explorers Guild in Ulysses. It is said that Ulysses has such a high level of security that it is safe for a woman to walk alone in the middle of the night.

This is probably because there are people who will come to your aid if you raise a cry for help―――in other words, explorer-seekers who are always active in the city of Ulysses, regardless of the time of day.

After all, there is no day or night in the [Labyrinth Dungeon]. It’s always dark in the sense that no sunlight reaches it, and it’s always bright because the walls of the labyrinth emit a faint phosphorescence.

Since it is possible to dive into the labyrinth at any time of the day, many explorers have lost their sense of day and night. ―――This may sound like a bad thing, but it also means that the ‘righteous’ who protect public safety is always active regardless of the time, whether it is late at night or early in the morning.

The explorers are carrying weapons, and their level of skill has grown in no small way by fighting demons. In a city where such opponents are immediately rushing in from all directions, there is no way anyone can do anything wrong.

(……oh?)

When Yuri finished reading the report from the former secret agents of the kingdom, she noticed that another document had arrived along with it.

The document was signed with the title of “Guildmaster of the Ulysses Explorers Guild”.

In other words―――this document seems to have been written by Sofia.

This morning, a former secret agent of the kingdom came to deliver a report to the palace in Yuritania, and he probably submitted the document that Sophia had given him along with it.

“Hmm, that’s quite an interesting idea.”

Yuri was half unconsciously letting out her thoughts as she looked over the document from Sofia, the ‘proposal’ for the development of the city Ulysses.

“… How can I help you, Princess?”

“Nuo, you might want to read this, too.”

Yuri handed the document to Nuo, who asked quizzically.

The ‘proposal’ from Sofia was, in short, “Why don’t we develop Ulysses as an “Insomnia City” in the future?”

Magical streetlights would be placed throughout the city to keep the lights on at all times, the merchant associations that have stores in Ulysses would be asked to operate 24 hours a day, and the nearly state-run food stalls would begin operating late at night on a rotating basis.

Sofia thought it would be interesting to develop the city of Ulysses into a ‘sleepless city’ suitable for the 24/7 activity of explorer seekers.

“This is quite a unique proposal.”

“Do you think so too?”

“Yes, considering that the current Ulysses is maintaining such a good security condition that it seems unusual, I think it will be possible to operate as an “Insomnia City””

“You’re right.”

Yuri nodded deeply in response to Nuo’s words.

There were two things that Yuri found ‘convenient’ when she read the proposal from Sofia, one was that the security situation in Ulysses was good, as Nuo just said.

It’s especially wonderful that Yuri and her friends, who are the rulers of the city, have not done anything but have maintained a good level of security through ‘self-governance’.

This means that even if Ulysses were to become an “Insomnia City”, there would be no need to increase patrols during the late-night and early morning hours.

It is also convenient that the population of Ulysses is still only 70 people.

If the city is made into an “Insomnia City”, people will be active at night and noise will be generated.

If this happens, there will naturally be complaints from those who have decided to sleep at night. It would not be difficult to get the consent of the city’s 70 inhabitants at present.

As long as we can get the consent of the current residents, we can simply notify the refugees who wish to come to live in Ulysses in advance that our city is noisy even at night, so please be prepared.

If the refugees can’t agree to that, they should be accepted in the surrounding villages, not in the city of Ulysses.

(I’d like to see a convenience store anyway.)

If we’re going to be a city that never sleeps 24 hours a day, we need convenience stores.

Somehow, Yuri thought so―――Whenever there are many brightly lit stores scattered throughout the city, women walking along the streets at night feel somewhat safe.

Yuri, who had once been a modern person, understood this well enough.

(―――Maybe we should try a state-run one.)

There is still a surplus of human resources・・・・in the underground of Yuritania.

I hadn’t thought of any particular use for them, and they were just sitting around. It might be a good idea to use them to make Sofia’s proposal a reality.