Chapter 117: Renovations

Inside the kingdom, the Demon Queen and I went for a hunt. The objective was to use her magic to gather as many monsters as possible in a single place so that I could quickly raise my kill count on all of them.

We also grabbed as many quests as possible. Sadly, there weren't any offering status points like the one with the golden bunny.

Elizabeth: "I think this is all of them..."

Miwen: "Right, just keep them like that..."

This was the fifth time we did that in the newly added zone alone, as I had managed to acquire the spawn rights of the second forest patch an hour prior.

Thankfully, this last one was enough, and I was able to change my focus to remodeling the kingdom and its facilities.

I didn't add any new plots of land to the kingdom since they might bring stronger monsters, instead, I made away with the first forest plot and had the wall move further in that direction. I also did the same to the river, keeping the same design, but allowing for more space within the wall.

I then spent some kingdom points on adding Fruit Trees inside the walls. Truth be told, I wanted to add a second wall to separate the farming areas, but I was going to do that after adding fields as for now there's no point in doing it since there's no one to tend to them.

I mostly chose to go with the fruits I'm already familiar with, such as apples, peaches, and pears. Each mature tree costs me 10 kingdom points, so by adding 15 of each I ended up losing most of what I had earned today. This much was fine though, and I even offered Elizabeth to choose a fruit tree from her world too.

Elizabeth: "Hm... I'm fond of celestial blood fruits..."

That's... certainly a name for a fruit.

The price was also quite nasty, 80 kingdom points for each mature tree.

Elizabeth: "Oh? Five at a time... that's impressive."

Even though I spent 400 kingdom points, Elizabeth can cover that amount by herself in two days, so it's not a big loss.

Miwen: "...These fruits... do they have any special effect?"

Elizabeth: "Special? I wouldn't say so... They are not used in any particular good potion as far as I know, but they are pretty sweet when ripe. Particularly, every time I ate one in the morning, I felt much more energetic for the whole day..."

...Perhaps it's just the rich in a bunch of vitamins.

Either way, while the trees are mature, the fruits are not yet ripe, so it's not worth testing it for myself right now.

In the conditions of the kingdom, we might be able to expect a decent harvest at the very least. The good thing about them is that they reliably provide easy access to food, and whereas 50 trees might not be enough for a big population, I was also planning on offering the other girls some fruits of their homeland too...

it's just that after Elizabeth, I should save a few kingdom points as they might also request something expensive.

Elizabeth: "Hm... still, it's hard to survive on fruits. I suppose there's the rabbits that can be hunted, but is there anything else you're planning?"

Miwen: "...Yeah. I've been in contact with some farmers here and there... I think we can manage a cow or two by ourselves... maybe some chickens..."

The hens might be a bit too much, but the cows shouldn't be too much work. At least not as much as the fields...

In the end, I really need people who can remain inside the kingdom to take care of these things. The girls already have it rough fighting and training all day, so it wouldn't be good to ask any more of them.

Elizabeth: "...Ah, I see... how should I say this... Perhaps... drop the act? It's clear you wouldn't try anything without my permission."

Obviously. But still, provoking a man like that can be dangerous.

Miwen: "...Huh... well, I'm glad you trust me that much, but men can be beasts you know? If you flaunt around them too much they might lose themselves to desire, and end up doing something they wouldn't normally do."

Elizabeth: "Certainly. But if that were to happen, it would have first occurred with the wolf girl, would it not? You have more affection toward her after all."

So Mia talks to her even about such things... their relationship seems to have been progressing quite well.

Well, she's right that I won't really try anything. If I were looking for sex I have plenty of alternatives to satisfy that desire.

I suppose there are less than a dozen people who can pose a challenge to her on Earth, so there was no point arguing about others too...

As such, I ended up accepting it and entered the bath with her.

She seemed to be expecting me to do something, but I just cleaned myself and was about to head out when she grabbed my arm.

Elizabeth: "Isn't it more effective to wash each other's back? I can't reach the extremities of my wings."

Eh? I remember giving this excuse to play with Ellie and Mia, but is there any truth to it?

... It was true that her wing span was a bit bigger than her arms... seeing her struggle with it, I decided to offer a hand at least in that regard.

Elizabeth: "...What you did today, against the elves... I couldn't help but notice that you and the redhead both made your magic slower... was it in order to not kill anyone?"

Miwen: "Not quite. Without knowing the circumstances of the war, I didn't want to have too much impact. There was just one person that I wanted killed, but we never managed to get him."

Elizabeth: "...You're lying... No, that's... half the truth. It's fine to tell me more. I promise not to share, and of course, I won't judge either, I'm a Devil after all."

... I don't think I can trust Elizabeth that much.

But this might be a good test of her loyalty. Let's see how much this spreads and what she does with the information.

Miwen: "I was interested in the power behind the forest's regeneration. It could even go toe to toe with you and Claire. As such, I wanted to make our presence and power known, but I didn't want to aggravate them too much, so I thought that killing one of them might be a bit a step too far."

Elizabeth: "... Is there something you want from them?"

Miwen: "Yes. If there's someone capable of doing that much with an entire forest. I'd like them to tend the fields for me."

Elizabeth: "I see, so... wait, is that it? You want to use that power for farming?"

Miwen: "....? Yeah, it would be a big boost to the kingdom."

We talked a bit more after that, but Elizabeth left the bath quite confused, which I thought was well-deserved since it was the same feeling I had when I entered it with her.

Still, since I had decided to check on that place a few more times, I was eager to see what Elizabeth would do, and in what direction she was trying to take us.