Chapter 170

Of all the members of Yuri’s entourage, Sofia is the one she values the most, partly because she has excellent planning and decision-making skills, and partly because she has perfect knowledge of the ‘common sense of this world,’ which Yuri and everyone else in the Yuri Empire only half-understands.

The main reason is―――Sofia has a high level of friendship skills that allows her to develop positive relationships with anyone without fear.

For example, Yuri currently has five concubines, but Sofia is the only one among them who has a friendship with all the children of the Yuri Empire.

As a devout believer, Estoa gets along well with the children of the <Water Lily> and <Shirayuri>, who are also devout believers but has no contact with the other children.

The other three, Lizelia, Roselotte, and Yubel, don’t have any good friends in the Yuri Empire in the first place.

On the other hand, since the day Sofia obtained the position of Yuri’s concubine, she has been actively entering the royal palace of Yuritania and has been making efforts to deepen her friendship with all the children of the Yuri Empire.

In any case, having the title of ‘concubine’ meant that she was the one who was recognized by Yuri. Although the children of the Yuri Empire are cold to outsiders, they are very tolerant and kind to their relatives, so if Sofia tried to get close to them, they would not reject her.

And so, Sofia became friends with all of the 359 girls of the Yuri Empire in a very short time.

In the same way, with the titles of ‘second concubine of the Empress of the Yuri Empire’ and ‘daughter of the Dukes of Theodore,’ there is no way that anyone in the Yuri Empire or the allied countries of the Holy Land of Nimun and the Duchy of Selsia could treat Sofia roughly.

Sofia actively takes advantage of her convenient position and has friendships with nobles, clergy, heads of merchant associations and executives, as well as famous explorers, craftsmen, farmers, and even prostitutes.

Because she can make friends with anyone, she can get information from anyone, and she can rely on anyone for help.

―――Sofia Theodore was truly a monster who deserved to be called the outstanding person of her time.

That’s why she was able to move forward with the ‘food aid to the Kingdom of Rapier’ project that Yuri entrusted to her.

First of all, Sofia talked to Cadain Theodore, the head of the Theodore family, her own family, and got a promise from the duchy to provide food aid as well. She also took this story to the Holy Land of Nimun and approached Pope Altorius when she met him, asking him if he would be interested in joining the Yuri Empire and the Principality of Selsia in supporting the Rapier Kingdom.

Next, Sofia took advantage of her position as the Guildmaster of the Explorers’ Guild and approached some of the most prominent explorer parties. She asked if they would be willing to take on the task of delivering food to the people of the Kingdom of Rapier, who were suffering from food shortages.

Needless to say, it would be a great honor for the explorers to accept the request directly from the guild master, who is in charge of organizing the explorers. In addition to that, the role of delivering food donated by the three countries of the Yuri Empire, the Holy Land of Nimun, and the Principality of Selsia, is undoubtedly a national project.

When an explorer has gained enough power and fame by training themself in the “Labyrinth”, they are always hungry for more honor and praise. There was not a single explorer who refused Sofia’s request.

She also wrote to the heads and executives of the major merchant associations in the three countries, inviting them to a party at the Ulysses Butterfly Hotel, and asked if any of them would accept a one-year loan of a wagon and a guard to be used for food aid to the Kingdom of Rapier.

On the side of the wagons owned by the trade association, there is always a large ‘trade crest’ with the name of the trade association written on it.

If the wagons are to be used for a joint support project among the three countries, the business association will gain a certain amount of honor just by cooperating. ―――Conversely, if they didn’t cooperate, they wouldn’t have to think twice about being outshone in terms of honor by other merchant associations.

It would be a heavy burden if we had to “donate” the wagons, but if we only had to “lend” them for a year, the burden would be tolerable enough. And if the wagons are to be rented out, there is no problem in renting out the men who were in charge of the wagons as well, since there will be a surplus of those men anyway.

The heads and executives of each business association readily agreed on the spot, and it was agreed on the same day that each business association would be lent two wagons and a governor.

―――This is how it happened.

Four days had passed since the day that King Raven, Prince Lexmar, Sofia, and Yuri had discussed at the royal castle in Wankya, the capital of the Kingdom of Rapier, on the 20th day of autumn.

That morning, Yuri was taken aback when he read the document titled “Execution Plan for the Joint Support Project of the Three Countries for the Kingdom of Rapier,” which was handed to her by Sofia, who had visited the Royal Palace in Yuritania.

After all, it was supposed to be a plan for the Yuri Empire to support the Kingdom of Rapier alone, but within four days, it had become a joint project of the three countries that had allied.

In addition, carriages and guards have already been procured, and sufficient escorts have been secured to safely deliver food to the former Kingdom of Hydra, where the threat of demons exists because the extermination has not yet taken place.

The reputation of being impeccable was the very word for this plan.

“Sofia. It was the right decision to leave this to you.”

“Thank you, Master. As for the revised plan, I’m thinking of borrowing prostitutes who have already reached the end of their years of service from Hayes Trading Company and other trading companies that run brothels, and borrowing priests in training from the Temple of the Eight Gods to accompany the food wagons and provide comfort to the villages we visit.”

“Comfort…?”

Yuri was a little surprised by Sofia’s words. In this world, it is not uncommon for village dwellers to live their entire lives without ever leaving their home village, so it certainly seems like a good idea for a group of people from other places to do some comfort work.

Besides, bringing a priest to comfort is a good idea. With Sofia’s friendship with Pope Altorius, it would not be difficult to ask for help from the Temple forces.

“I’m sure the inhabitants of the village would be delighted to have a priest who can use healing magic come to comfort them regularly, along with delivering food… By the way, I wonder why they would want an indentured prostitute to accompany them?”

“A prostitute is good at reading the other person’s subtleties, good at talking and listening. This is especially true for those prostitutes who have been doing it for a long time and are not yet old enough to master it.”

It is also necessary to be able to find out from the residents what kind of problems they are facing and what kind of support they need. Of course, there is also the aspect that hiring a prostitute who is out of season will be less expensive.

“… I’m surprised you thought of that. I’ll leave everything to Sofia, so you can do as you please. If you want, you can use the children of the Yuri Empire and their attendants.”

“Thank you very much. In the course of food aid and consolation projects, we will probably discover the existence of some bandits operating in the former territory of the Kingdom of Hydra.

I feel a little uneasy about leaving it to explorers who grew up in “Labyrinth” to deal with them, so I’m thinking of asking for the help of the people of the Yuri Empire.”

It seems that Sofia had already thought of a way to use the children of the Yuri Empire.

Yuri once again confirmed in her mind that her decision to leave everything to Sofia was correct.

“So, when you visit a city or village for the first time, take one of the followers of <Red Plum> with you. I’m sure the inhabitants of the city or village you’re visiting will be happy to hear that you can ward off demons and control the temperature.

“I see… Thank you very much. I’ll talk to Hotaru-chan about it.”

“Yes.”

Hotaru is the name of the captain of the <Red Plum>.

She can immediately name the captain and has already close enough to call her “-chan”. This is the kind of thing that makes Sofia unique.

“Sofia.”

“Yes, Master.”

“I will reward you with something when we complete the year-long support project. Think about what you’re going to ask me for now.”

“R-Really? Thank you, Master!”

I have to admit that I’m a little concerned about the fact that she still calls Yuri ‘Master’ even though she has the definite position of being the second concubine.

In any case, Yuri was honestly happy to see that Sofia was happy with a big smile on her face.