Chapter 240

“You want to build a trade route connecting the Yuri Empire's Hourai with the cities of Harakio and Scion in our badlands?”

―――At the reception room in the governor's office of the Republic of Aneka.

In spite of the sudden visit, Governor Fleur agreed to meet with Yuri without a single unpleasant face. When Yuri made a suggestion, she revealed her surprise.

She nodded in response to the parroted back question.

“Yes. I think I'll leave it to the children of the Yuri Empire to try it out on a trial basis if that's okay with you? Of course, our country will bear all the costs.”

“There's no reason to refuse, but… Is it possible? Building a trade route in a bad place is probably a lot harder than you think, right?”

Governor Fleur agreed to Yuri's offer, but said it with some concern.

The Yuri Empire and the Republic of Aneka share a border, and the closest cities to this border are the cities of Hourai in the Yuri Empire, and the cities of Harakio or Scion in the Republic of Aneka.

This time, Yuri wanted to entrust the children of the <Red Rose>, <Yellow Rose>, and <Blue Rose> to build a new trade route connecting these cities that did not exist until now.

“To be honest, I don't know if it's possible. But that's why I'd like to give it a try to the children of Yuri Empire.”

“Hmm…? It sounds like you have a good chance of success.”

“Yes, I'm reasonably confident.”

When you say it's difficult to build a trade route on a bad road, you're talking about the normal way. The children of the three troops bearing the name “Rose” are all skilled in spirit magic and sorcery, and they make full use of their abilities when building trade routes.

If they use their full power, they can even change the geology of the area where the trade route is to be built, so Yuri was hoping that it would go better than expected.

“The laying of the trade route will cost a lot of money. If the Yuri Empire is willing to pay for it, it will only benefit our country.

So, of course, we won't refuse, but… weren't you planning to use the dragon to trade with the cities of Harakio and Scion?”

“Of course, we will do that too. But it's better to be able to transport them by land, isn't it?”

It's a shame for Yuri that no trade routes are connecting the two countries, even though they share a border with the Republic of Aneka.

Having more than one means of transporting goods between two countries would also contribute to stability in trade.

“…Well, yes. I'll be sure to notify everyone that we're allowing the forces of the Yuri Empire to freely enter and leave our badlands, and to work on laying down trade routes.”

“Thank you, that's very helpful… Well, there's a good chance that the laying will fail, so I hope you don't expect much in the way of results.”

“Fufu. Unfortunately, I've already got my hopes up. Good luck with that.”

Governor Fleur say and smiled at her.

If that's what you want, of course, Yuri can't deny it.

With the permission to build a trade route, Yuri asked the children of the three units named “Rose” to build a trade route between the cities of Hourai and Harakio, and Hourai and Scion through the guild chat.

The fact that they were entrusted with laying out a trade route that spanned the nation was proof that Yuri was satisfied with the results they had achieved. Primula, Henruda, and Mizar, the three captains of the three units, all agreed to Yuri's request.

Yuri's confidence is the greatest source of energy for the children of the Yuri Empire.

The construction of the trade route connecting the Shinto City of Hourai with the badlands cities of Harakio and Scion proceeded at a rapid pace and was roughly completed in just one week.

―――This is quite a feat.

Unlike the previous route routes that the three units had taken, where the trade route was built on a well-trodden path, this time the work was to build a new path where there was no path.

Also, while the land on the Yuri Empire side is an ordinary highland grassland, the land on the Republic of Aneka side is steep, desolate, and bad. The construction of a trade route between lands with unstable environments must have entailed hardships and challenges beyond Yuri's imagination.

Despite this, it took only one week to build.

Even Yuri was surprised by this achievement.

She had expected that the road itself would have a reasonable chance of success. She had expected it to take at least a month at the earliest.

As a test of durability, Yuri had summoned all 133 of the mud wolves she had been using so far and had driven them back and forth along the hastily constructed trade route. Even so, there were no problems with the road surface.

Despite the name “wolf,” the mud wolf actually has a physique similar to that of a boar. Its body is more than two times larger than that of a normal boar, and it has a larger torso, so it probably weighs 150 to 200 kilograms each.

They also have the leg power to run at a high speed, so if 133 mud wolves run at once, it would put a lot of stress on the road surface. Even so, the fact that they don't cause any problems is quite impressive.

“Princess. If you don't mind, I'd like to leave the finishing touches on the trade route to <Kikyou>.”

“Eh?”

Yuri nodded her head in satisfaction after confirming that the trade route was ready.

Suddenly, Primula, the captain of the <Red Rose>, said something like that to Yuri.

To be honest―――it was an unexpected suggestion.

“…Why is that? If you're going to build a trade route with your own hands, wouldn't it be more prideful to complete it without relying on <Kikyou>?”

“I'd like to do that, of course… But there is a limit to the amount of knowledge and skill that can be put into building a road.

I am sure that this trade route will be well used by the people of the Republic of Aneka. If it is regarded as an excellent trade route by the people of both countries, it will also lead to the reputation of the Yuri Empire. To complete the road, which is both aesthetically pleasing and suitable for horse-drawn carriages, it would be best to rely on the expert hands of <Kikyou>.”

In other words, they would rather rely on experts to complete it as a higher quality trade route than to complete it by themselves.

They would prefer to complete it with their own hands… In order to raise the reputation of the Yuri Empire, it was very pleasing to see that they were more concerned about the national interest than their own needs.

“All right, I'll talk to Meteora, <Kikyou> captain.

In return, I will keep in mind the devotion of your three troops.”

“Thank you, Princess. It's the best reward we can give you.”

Primula bowed deeply in response to Yuri's words.

In reality, it was Yuri who was touched by their concern.