Volume 2 - CH 13.1

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

Chapter 12: Let’s Create a Beloved Dungeon, Part 1

「How are you doing?」

「Ah, papa!」

They were in a simple room made out of light brown bricks. When Sofia saw Aur, she immediately jumped into his arms in an impressive display of love for her parent.

「Not bad. At least her attention span is much better than the princess’s.」

But mostly she did that to escape from the lecture in the middle of which she was right now.

「Who is this princess?」

「He’s talking about Yunis.」

Aur answered instead of the man.

Even though he was way in his seventies and only white hair remained on his head, this man who was straight like a sword was Sofia’s personal educator, who imparted onto her the knowledge of the world that surrounded them.

He was also a skilled politician whose skills at diplomacy might have even rivaled those of Melizand and Aur himself.

「Oh, but forgive my disrespect. Maybe I should title the young lady as Demon Princess?」

「Personally I don’t mind, but it gives me some bad vibes, so I think it would be better not to do it.」

He was the individual who has supported Wolfe’s country throughout the years.

His name is Toscan. He is the former Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Grandiera. When he retired a few years back, Aur approached him and offered him a job as a personal educator for his children.

「Hey, papa. Right now everyone helps fix the Dungeon, but what about Yunismama? Can’t she help them with their work?」

On Sofia’s palm, an image of people carrying large pieces of rock was reflected. These rocks were the parts of what Uzermart called a pyramid. Quite astoundingly, they did not used magic to transport them, but managed to make do with manpower alone, using ropes to pull them and logs places under them as rollers.

It was a tremendous and admirable effort, but quite useless at the same time. With his magic, Aur could even make the stones float in the air, or create golems to carry them.

「They are well aware that this is inefficient, but if not for this, then they wouldn’t have anything else to do.」

Reading Aur’s expression, Toscan offered an explanation.

「Isn’t there anything else for them to do?」

「About that, this country is not that wide to begin with, so I don’t know how the Emperor managed to take care of it with so little fields to maintain.」

「Take a look at the map of this country.」

Toscan gradually expanded the map as Aur looked at Sofia’s somewhat frustrated expression.

「There is practically nothing here, here, here and here, here is the desert, a river runs roughly through the middle… and then there is this field right here.」

Sofia explains while pointing at various points around the map. In other words, about ninety percent of the country’s space was barren desert. And the only ten percent that was suited for habitation was all cramped in the vicinity of the river.

「I see, so basically it’s like one big dragon vein.」

Aur said so after taking in the country’s topography.

「Magic power dissolves in the water. All of it that melts from the snow of the northern lands and travels through the river, where the land absorbs most of it, acting like a kind of insulator. Then, covered by the sand and having nowhere else to go, the magical power moistens the soil and enriches it, making the terrains near the river an ideal spots for farming purposes.」

The he moved his finger and pointed to the place where they were now, the center of the pyramid.

「Then, all that power arrives here in this pyramid, powering up this Heat Core, the source of Uzermart’s power.」

There were some differences, but what he was doing here was similar to Aur’s tactics. If there was any major difference, it would have to be that he did not used the Dungeon Core, but instead this whole pyramid with her complex structure. It trapped the energy inside of it and made it circulate slowly while allowing for releasing any excess amounts of it back into the atmosphere.

Compared to the Dungeon Core, it was a rather primitive method. But the fact remained that it was probably build hundreds, if not thousands of years ago, and yet it still worked. Aur couldn’t help but to wonder what was the civilization that made it like.

「So Uzermart monopolized such wealth of magic all to himself?」

Sofia nodded at that question.

「Those who do not live near the river… those who live out in the desert are poor and hungry with pretty much nothing to eat, forced to live in extreme conditions while trying to make ends meet.」

The image of Tatsuki eating their food like there was no tomorrow appeared in Aur’s mind. Sofia must’ve been thinking exactly the same.

「So that’s why you gave them that job?」

「That’s right.」

The pyramid… Yunis’ attack that cleaved it in two must’ve seriously damaged it, which was evident by looking at Sofia who still looked like a ten year old girl. According to her words, the pyramid was now in a “dead” state as a Dungeon, and capturing it for their own gains was impossible.

The pyramid was extremely useful, both as a magical energy storage and a fortress, so it made sense to hurry with its restoration. And making all of the citizens work together towards that goal served as an additional uniting factor.

It was a good choice through and through, so Aur nodded approvingly.

「Papa…」

Sofia then gently grabs Aur’s sleeve and looks up at him.

「Having work is good, but there is not enough food to distribute to everyone equally. But this time, we can create many more fields thanks to elder sister Tatsuki’s tsunami thing.」

Now that Aur thought about it, such a thing really was possible. Except….

What she pulled off in the first battle with Uzermart’s forces was a powerful move, transporting so much of seawater into the desert. But the price of that stunt of hers was quite high. The amount of food she needed to consume to regain all of her lost strength was truly terrifying, even for someone called the Demon Lord. If they were to repeat that on a regular basis, it would’ve brought them to financial ruin sooner rather than later.

「So, I was thinking whether we could share some of our food with…」

「No, we can’t.」

Sofia rounded her eyes when she heard Aur declared such a thing without batting an eye. He was very fond of her, and she knew that. That is why she was not expecting that he will refuse him.

「But, why?」

「Because I am the Demon Lord.」

He told her in a strict tone.

「Of course, we can afford it and we could’ve done it if we wanted to and we are responsible for our people, but think about it. If we help them once, they would learn to depend on us, and not on their own strengths. Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you?」

He says that while looking his daughter right in the eyes.

She understood her father’s words, but she found it difficult to accept.

「Even so… I think this is wrong. If we can afford it, both countries should be helping one another.」

Listening to her words, Toscan closed his eyes and nodded twice.

「Listen, Sofia. No matter what you’ll do, you’ll always need to balance human resources and the amount of food needed to sustain those. But if you fail to do that, you’ll only generate losses instead of gains.」

Sofia could offer nothing to the people in the first place. No governmental control, no trusted officials, no institutions. Under such circumstances, functioning the same way as Aur’s country was impossible.

But investment was another matter entirely.

As long as he knows that it will be profitable in the future, Aur could invest in this New Continent. But he was surprised nonetheless. To think that a small conversation with her would give him such an idea.

「You know, given enough time, I think the young lady here will grow into quite a fearsome politician…」

Toscan muttered that to himself as he was gazing into the distance.