Chapter 603 - Demon King’s Plan

Chapter 603 – Demon King’s Plan

Wrapped grilled hamburger.

The ideal wrapper is aluminum foil but since that doesn’t exist here, we can only wrap it using Japanese paper.

The residents of Village One worked hard to develop Japanese paper that doesn’t absorb too much hamburger juice.

Thanks to that, we were able to make delicious wrapped grilled hamburgers.

This wrapped grilled hamburger is especially popular with children.

Not only because of its taste but because it is wrapped too.

When wrapped grilled hamburgers were served at dinner, the children cheered.

Hearing them like that, the oni maids, who cooked those burgers, also smiled.

No adult complains about it too.

However, an incident happened.

Upon opening a wrapped grilled burger, hot steam gushed out. It is hot enough to burn someone who’s not careful enough.

Raimeiren, who got concerned, broke Hiichirou’s hamburger wrapper.

-0-

「So, which part is the incident?」

I answered Dors’, who’s playing mahjong and was not at the dinner that time, question.

「He said he wanted to remove the wrapper himself.」

Currently, Hiichirou is hiding in his room sulking.

Raimeiren is apologizing in front of the room.

Guraru beside her looks anxious too.

「Can’t you just cook a new one?」

Dors’ suggestion would certainly have a positive effect.

But, we can’t do that.

「We shouldn’t feed a child who’s acting like a spoiled brat.」

That’s what Hakuren said.

It is true that it is Raimeiren’s fault for unwrapping it without saying anything first but Hiichirou should understand that Raimeiren doesn’t mean anything bad.

Still, why is sulking this much….

Ah.

「It is normal for a child to get jealous if their mother isn’t taking care of them that much.」

That’s what Ursa’s friend, E3, said.

Since Raimeiren is always taking care of Hiichirou, one might overlook that Hiichirou’s mother is Hakuren.

Hakuren hasn’t been taking care of Hiichirou that much especially when we found out that she’s pregnant.

……

That means it is me, his father, who should take care of this.

Dors, why are you stopping me?

Areh?

To your regret, you don’t trust me that much in cases like this?

I’m pretty popular with children you know……

No, but…..

Ah, Hakuren seems to be heading to Hiichirou’s room.

Let her take care of it.

I’ll leave it all to Hakuren.

-0-

I’ll only say the result, Hiichirou’s okay again.

And the next day’s dinner is wrapped grilled burger again.

The paper used as food wrapper is precious.

-0-

「Village chief, I have to consult you something about Village Five.」

That was Youko. She said that while she’s in the kotatsu but she’s clearly still in work mode.

Youko’s consultation is about paper production in Village Five.

She invited people who could make paper from Village One and started making paper in Village Five….

However, the rate of production of paper didn’t improve.

It seems like Village Five is not a suitable place for paper making. That was the conclusion after investigating the cause.

A lot of clean water is needed to make paper and the water in Village Five is clearly not enough.

I see.

As for what to do with it, Youko thought that we should just pull our hands off the paper production and teach the technology of papermaking to the surrounding villages.

She’s asking for my permission for that plan to start.

I don’t mind giving her a go signal but there are conditions.

「Condition? Are you planning to monopolize all the paper produced?」

Monopolize?

You mean buying all the paper they produced?

「I think it is necessary in order to stabilize the value of paper.」

Well, yeah….buy them as high as you could.

「No, it will still depend on the papers they produced. If we set the bar too low, their skills won’t grow.」

Do as you see fit….

「So, what are the conditions?」

Right.

It’s tree planting.

To make paper, you need clean water and wood to make them, right?

I want to make it a condition to plant trees as much as they cut.

「Is it about the nature’s destruction that village chief has been talking about for a long time….? If you ask me, I think it’s okay to cut trees as much as we want…..」

If we are talking about weeds you are right but it takes time for trees to grow.

You’ll be surprised how many mountains will be bald as soon as you pass that technology.

「Is it? Got it. I’ll add that condition before proceeding.」

I’ll leave it to you.

-0-

When Youko left, the kittens, who had crawled inside the kotatsu, appeared.

Ariel, Haniel, Zeruel, and Samael….

The anenekos are at the back of the tiger so the inside of the kotatsu has become their exclusive place.

However, you can’t just go inside.

You have to breathe fresh air regularly.

When I was pumping fresh air in the kotatsu, the demon king arrived.

Ariel and the others went to the demon king.

Gununununu.

「Village chief, can you spare me a bit of your time?」

The demon king seems to want to talk about work too.

What is it?

Eh?

Loo is joining us?

-0-

Though the topic they want to talk about is a simple one, there’s a surprise.

Loo had completed making teleportation gates.

Isn’t she amazing!?

「Mass production would still be hard because of materials but I can prepare enough to accommodate the demon king’s plan.」

Demon king’s plan?

Enough to accommodate?

「I’m planning to connect Shashaato City to the royal capital using teleportation gates.」

……….

What would happen if the royal capital and Shashaato City were connected via teleportation gates?

If I’m not mistaken, they are 30 days away using a carriage, right?

This is a big economic step, right?

……

Wait wait.

Before that….

Are you going to announce the existence of teleportation gates? Won’t that cause trouble?

You told me many times before when I got some teleportation gates myself to treat them with utmost care.

You even said that other countries will surely not stay still if they found out.

「The demon king’s kingdom had repeatedly made internal discussions about it and we concluded that it will be okay.」

Are you sure?

「The teleportation gates that Loo-dono made are slightly special…..」

Hearing the demon king, Loo sulks a little.

「The teleportation gates I made can only be used for short-distance travel.」

Is that so?

「Yeah. To connect Shashaato City to the royal capital, fourteen pairs of teleportation gates will be needed.」

「If you connect them in a straight line, we can connect the two cities by just using half the number. It is too different from a normal teleportation gate so let’s call it a short-range teleportation gate.」

Short-range teleportation gate huh.

So, you already made that much?

「In addition to that, we would not announce that the short-range teleportation gates were made by Loo-dono. We’ll tell the public that we found them from a ruin. And to answer your question, she already made enough.」

I see.

Then, are you sure this won’t trigger other countries again?

「They won’t believe the total number of gates we got once we announce it but they surely won’t suspect that they were made by Loo-dono. So, about the installation locations….」

The demon king takes out a map and tells us the installation locations.

I see. So, the teleportation gates are to be installed at the villages and cities in between the royal capital and Shashaato City.

「By the way, there are some limitations with the use of these short-range teleportation gates. First will be it is basically free for everyone to use.」

That’s a great policy.

But, is that really okay?

「Of course they have to pay in another way. Every time they use one of the teleportation gates, they are forced to stay one night at the place they arrived.」

One night?

「That is to protect the economy of the cities and villages where the short-range teleportation gates are set up.」

That sounds like a total waste of time. And are those cities and villages in between even cooperate?

「Well, we’ll crack down the place if they unreasonably increase the price of accommodation and others. We will also send troops to manage and guard the short-range teleportation gates. In places where there are few inns, we’ll also build some.」

It seems like they have already considered everything that needs to be considered.

The demon king doesn’t even pause when I ask something.

The restriction on overnight stays won’t be applicable to military personnel and even merchants and travelers that pay for exemption.

If you are in a hurry, you have to pay to move.

Ah, the amount that needs to be paid will depend on the size of the carriage or luggage?

I see, so, you are controlling the movement of people, goods, and money.

「The travel safety will improve significantly and the trade between the royal capital and Shashaato City will deepen.」

It seems like there are significant influences in various aspects and since the demon king himself has no problem with it, there shouldn’t be any problem.

………

Why is he asking me this in the first place?

If he has already decided to do it, shouldn’t it be okay to start already?

-0-

There’s not enough money to fund everything so he’s here to ask me to invest.

As for perks, my people are free to use the teleportation gate.

But if the kingdom itself can’t fund it….

Ah, it’s only because there’s no surplus budget.

If you ask merchants, they’ll surely abuse their privilege and make trouble.

Mou.

I certainly have spare money but this plan doesn’t benefit me at all.

Though I have spare money, that doesn’t mean I’ll just waste it somewhere….

No, if the royal capital and Shashaato City are connected, the distance from the village to the capital will be shortened to one day. It will only need one day of travel from Shashaato City to Village Five after all.

That would make it easier for me to meet Ursa, Alfred, and Tiselle who are attending the school in the royal capital.

Is that the only benefit?

As I was thinking, Loo smiled.

「The number of short-range teleportation gates I made are 15 pairs.」

…..?

Loo points at the map that the demon king put out.

「How about we set up the fifteenth pair to connect Village Five and Shashaato City? 」

……..

I called Youko and after an hour of consultation, I decided to invest in the plan.