CH 182

The next day, after finishing the test fires of the cannons and inspecting Cien, I headed to a new pioneering village in the morning. If you return to Caanburg by boat, it will take a long detour and take up extra time. I will go up the mountain road, heading to Hexennacht overland instead.

If I load too many people in 1 carriage, it will be too heavy and our speed will slow down, so this time we will ride in 3 carriages. Or rather, how long will my parents and Gabriella plan to hang around with us? Even if Gabriella has yet to return to Carruzan and Manor Lingerburg is not yet ready for habitation, does it mean that my parents don’t have to work?

“What a strange road,” Mikoto whispered as she looked out of the carriage.

“Strange? What of it?” I asked.

I couldn’t miss it. I think it’s a pretty good road for this era where the carriages shake even if you aren’t going at full speed…

“That mountain road,” Mikoto replied. “It twists and turns, doesn’t it?”

“Ahh……” I said.

Apparently, Mikoto is referring to the zigzag of the road. Certainly, you can see the road ahead winding back and forth over and over again on the mountain face. If you try to build a highway that crosses a big mountain range like Hexennacht, it will inevitably end up like that. However, the Demon Country does not have a highway that crosses the Hexennacht mountain range. Mikoto may have never seen such a road to cross a steep mountain.

“If you go straight toward the summit when trying to climb a steep mountain, the angle will be too sharp and difficult to keep going, won’t it?” I said.

“Hmmn…” Mikoto grunts in reply.

I’m not sure if she understood or not. The only thing I do know is that she doesn’t seem very interested even though she asked first.

The zigzag fold has been seen all over the world since ancient times. If you try to go straight to the top of the mountain, the slope will be too steep. If the slope is too steep, it will be difficult to go up, and even a horse-drawn carriage may not be able to pull a vehicle the whole way up. And the downhill becomes a steep descent where you can’t hope to brake and slow yourself down. Therefore, make the road uphill as gently as possible, twisting and turning along the mountain surface as many times as possible.

Those who live in Japan, a mountainous country, will know well that such mountain trails still exist today. 1 Is there not much of these in the Demon Country? Or did Mikoto simply not know? If there are no high mountains other than Hexennacht in the Demon Country, there may be no such wisdom and knowledge.

I didn’t give any advice on this zigzag fold, it was created by the architects and craftsmen themselves when the proposal to build this mountain pass was cleared. The wisdom of life that develops naturally everywhere is not so different in this world and on earth.

We run on the highway over Hexennacht, cross the mountain peak, and go down to Caanburg. At the foot of Hexennacht, there are roads in four directions. The first, of course, is this road up to the Hexennacht mountain range. And then there’s the road from Caanburg to Hexennacht. The other is the road from the foot of Hexennacht, which I just ran on a few days ago, toward the Dierbe River. And finally, what we are heading for today is the highway that stretches to the west. If you follow this road, you will reach the pioneering village.

You can reach the pioneering village even if you run on the highway that extends west from Caanburg, but there is also a highway that leads from the pioneering village to the Hexennacht mountain range. At the moment, if you want to go somewhere along the road from the pioneering village, you have to either go directly to Caanburg or go to the foot of Hexennacht.

Once the development of the pioneering village is completed, it might be a good idea to build a town at the foot of the Hexennacht mountain range. East to the Dierbe River. West to the pioneering Village. Crossing Hexennacht to Cien in the north and Caanburg in the south. If we build a town at the foot of Hexennacht, it will become a key transportation hub.

There is only one problem: it’s not too far from Caanburg to Cien over Hexennacht. It can be reached in less than a day by horse-drawn carriage. The question is whether there will be a demand for building a town so close to other settlements.

Well, if you can travel in a day, it’s only possible if you don’t have a lot of luggage like us and fly at high speed. There may also be demand for an overnight stay at the foot before crossing the mountain range. In addition, if there is some kind of accident or disaster, having a town at the foot of the mountain will help us a lot.

For example, being attacked by a monster on the way, or a carriage being broken, or a horse being unwell… monsters rarely appear around here, and even if they do, they aren’t very strong…

It can’t be helped if I’m thinking by myself. It might be a good idea to talk to everyone again before the pioneering village calms down. By the way, on the Cien side, the mountain road is not too far from the town, or rather, various facilities continue from the foot of the mountain to the sea, so there is no need to build towns and villages on the Cien side.

While I was thinking about such things, I began to see an open area at the end of the highway and a large river.

We left in carriages early in the morning, so we arrived at the pioneering village in the early afternoon, around 3 o’clock before lunch. Today is the opening of the pioneering village and the settlers have arrived, so it is crowded with many people.

“Welcome, we’re glad to have you, Sir Floto,” a middle-aged man said.

“Reiner, good to see you hard at work,” I replied.

As soon as I got off the carriage, Reiner called out to me and approached. He would be the mayor of this pioneering village.

When everyone got off the carriages, Reiner guided us around the pioneering village. This village is built on the east bank of the river. The reason is simple: it functions as a front line in the event of an invasion, or to explore the activities of the Kingdom of Frasia to the west. For that, it was built mainly on the east side of the river to stop the Frasian army by using the river as a shield.

In the future, I would like to build various things on the west bank and secure that side, but first I want to prioritize stopping the enemies crossing this river without worry.

“About this Welzel River…” I said. “The Dierbe River is better, but it’s still a fine waterway, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is…” Reiner replied.

The river that flows to the west of the pioneering village is known as the Welzel River, which flows toward the north. Avoiding the Demon Country and Hexennacht, it turns west and flows into the Hermann Sea.

The sea on the east side of the Demon Country’s peninsula is called the Hulk Sea, and the sea on the west side is called the Hermann Sea. Until now, the Kingdom of Ploiss has focused on the Hulk Sea trade. But my ambition is not to take control of the Hulk Sea Trade.

Certainly, the Hulk Sea trade has been very profitable in the past. I never deny it, nor do I think it’s necessary to do so. However, the Hulk Sea has a fatal weakness: the Hulk Sea is equivalent to the Mediterranean Sea.

When you hear the word Mediterranean in Japan, you probably think of a place in the south of Europe where the Italian peninsula is located. It’s not a mistake, but the oceanographic Mediterranean doesn’t just refer to the Mediterranean Sea south of Europe.

The Hulk Sea is landlocked, as is the Mediterranean Sea in Europe. Regardless of the detailed definition, a land mass that projects from a larger land mass and is surrounded by sea is called a peninsula. Conversely, the sea surrounded by land is called the Mediterranean Sea.

According to the geography I learned from Mikoto, the Hulk Sea has no other route to the outside then going through the strait between the peninsula of the Demon Country and the peninsula to the north of the Hermann Sea. In other words, no matter how far you go east across the Hulk Sea, you’ll end up in a dead end running aground, and even if you conquer the Hulk Sea, you won’t be able to reach the ocean.

The only way to reach the ocean is through the strait north of the Demon Country, which is difficult in the current situation of the Kingdom of Ploiss. At the moment, each city and merchant in the Kingdom of Ploiss are making profits from the Hulk Sea Trade, but there is no future growth there.

In comparison, if you go down the Welzel River, you can reach the Hermann Sea. From the Hermann Sea, if you head further west, you can reach the ocean. It’s still only vague information, but it’s probably correct because the sea is all connected somewhere. If you can’t get out to the east, it would be strange if the west wasn’t connected to the outside waters.

I have no intention of denying the Hulk Sea Trade. It is necessary to continue to make profits from the Hulk Sea Trade, and if we do not conquer the Hulk Sea, other coastal nations will grab our profits. No, it would be the worse if the profits were just stolen, but it would be the worst if the sea was blockaded and we couldn’t leave it. So I’m not going to take Hulk Sea lightly.

However, if you only win the Hulk Sea and rest on your laurels thereafter, you will be left behind moving forward. Faster, before other nations move, out into the Hermann Sea and out into the oceans to dominate world trade. If possible, establish a route to the tropics and get what you want from the tropics through trade.

However, there are also problems. First of all, this Welzel river passes through the territory of the Kingdom of Frasia on the way. You have to pass through other countries before you reach the Hermann Sea. Moreover, the territory of the Kingdom of Frasia is a territory that was taken away from the Kingdom of Ploiss in the past.

The Demon Country has long been hostile to humanity as a common enemy. The Frasian territories that border the Demon Country were said to have been stolen from Ploiss half-under threat of violence.

Originally, the territory south of the large Hexennacht mountain range was entirely Ploissian territory. However, in that scenario, only Ploiss would border the Demon Country. For many years, anti-Demon Country security was covered solely by the Kingdom of Ploiss.

Therefore, the government called on each country to cooperate in dealing with the demons, the common enemy of mankind. At that time, the Kingdom of Frasia brought up the territorial transfer from Ploiss. Cede the Plossian territory to Frasia until Frasia, too, borders the Demon Country. As a result, Frasia also bordered the Demon Country, and the two kingdoms cooperated with border security.

It may have been the right political decision at the time. I can’t judge it, but in my personal opinion, I think it was a stupid thing to do. Until the cession was made, the whole Werzel River Basin was Ploissian territory, and the Kingdom of Hollant was surrounded by Ploissian territory as well. For that reason, the Kingdom of Hollant was friendly to the Kingdom of Ploiss, and had a very deep relationship with each other.

Now, however, vast sums of territory, including places unrelated to the original purpose of border security, have been ceded to the Kingdom of Frasia, and the Kingdom of Hollant is now surrounded by Frasia, and has leaned towards pro-Frasia sentiments. For Ploiss to make rapid progress in the future, it must go out into the ocean. It would be unavoidable to say that the territorial transfer and the great concession to the Kingdom of Frasia and abandoning all our ocean-bound footholds was a foolish act.

“Now then, Sir Floto, let’s begin with greetings from the Lord,” Reiner said.

“Yes,” I said.

I don’t have time to take a slow look at it now. First of all, everyone is waiting if we declare the opening of the village and start a grand party. After seeing the river for a little while, we headed to the place where everyone was waiting for the public opening event.

For the time being, the pioneering village has been completed to the extent that the first settlers can live in it. Of course, it is still far from being completed, and it will be further developed in the future. But today is the opening day of the village. It goes without saying that the reason is, of course, the vacation afforded to me by the school. If I miss it during this long vacation, it will be almost half a year before the next long vacation. This is why I have to do so many things during this long vacation.

“Hello, everyone,” I said. “I am Floto von Caan, the Lord of Caan Territory. Thanks to your efforts, this new pioneering village will be opened today. There is still much more to be developed, but today we are now open to the public. Let us celebrate this occasion!”

When my greeting ended, there was a loud crackling of applause. Here are the workers and craftsmen who worked in the land reclamation, and those who will live in this village as the first settlers. There are never many of them. Compared to a large town, it would be at the level of a very small village.

Still, everyone was smiling at the eye-catching location where this new village was built. There are still great developments ahead. But today, I don’t think it’s bad for us to bang the drums, have fun, and make a whole lot of merry.

“Moving on,” I said, “Mayor Reiner will name this village!”

In the midst of the applause and cheers, Reiner replaced me on the stage. And so he proclaimed,

“I hereby christen this new village Floren! It’s still a small village, but it will soon become a big town in the Kingdom of Ploiss. By then, this name will be known throughout the nation!”

“Wha…!?” I sputtered.

The loud applause, the cheers of “Wow!”, and “Kyaa!” kept on coming despite my confusion. In such a situation, I caught Reiner as he came down from the stage.

“Wait, Reiner…” I said. “Where did you get the idea for Floren…?”

“Of course, I based it on your name, Lady Flora,” Reiner said.

Just as I thought! He answered as if he’d been planning this the entire time! Until now, I had never even heard of the name of this pioneering village. Even though the Lord here is Floto, the people involved naturally know my original name, Flora. Knowing that the name of the new village is Floren, it seems like I named it after myself.

You might think I’m a narcissist to name a new village after myself. We made a big announcement in front of so many people. I can’t do anything about what’s already happened now… am I going to have to live with people thinking I’m a pitiful person who puts her own name on a pioneering village…?