Chapter 189

Chapter 189

Life Work

And so the ant war ended in this way.

There was no serious damage to the citizens. Instead, there were holes everywhere in the town of Ashtaroth.

These were holes dug by the ant army, but we had a hard time filling them.

I had instructed Gottlieb the dwarf to fill the holes, but the next day he suggested that we put the holes to good use.

"Good use?"

"I found a hot spring source right next to a hole the ants dug. I want to dig it up and bring it to the surface and build a public bathhouse.

That is not a bad idea. Something like the great Roman baths.

I don't know about Rome, but it would be a great place for the people to relax.

Very well, then. I'll secure the funds so you can dig up the hot springs.

Gottlieb walked away with a certainly. I then wondered how I could convince Eve.

As Lord Treasurer, Eve had to stare at the account books day after day.

The ant attack had caused only minor human casualties, but the damage to the town had been enormous. We had to spend money for restorations.

There were also a large number of refugees from Ismailia. And it was not just a matter of feeding them.

And so I apologetically consulted with my finance maid, but she surprisingly gave me permission.

There were several reasons for this, but the first one was that this was being done along the way.

If there was a hot spring right next to a hole, it would be cheaper than digging one from scratch.

It would also be a way to comfort the soldiers who had been injured in the battle.

For these reasons, Eve gave us permission to build a public bathhouse, but it was not for free.

Eve knew that I had taken a hot spring bath with Hijikata Toshizo in the Ismalia underground. She said it wasn't fair and insisted that I must bathe with her as well.

Public baths separate men and women.

I said, in my attempt to refuse, but Gottlieb the dwarf, made an unnecessary remark.

We've set aside a space for family baths. Besides, there will be no men's or women's baths before it is opened to the public. And so you can both take the first bath."

Eve pumped her fist in the air. But I

"You really shouldnt do unnecessary things like that.

I reprimanded him.

Gottlieb said,

"But thats what old men do. We are such creatures."

He grumbled and continued the construction.

The restoration of the city and the construction of the public baths were the sole domain of the dwarven engineers.

And I lost the will to complain after seeing how hard they were working.

Besides, Eve's words must have been a joke. She was not Jeanne, so she would soon forget such a childish promise.

Jeanne, it's unusual for you to get a gift. You always spend all of your allowance on food.

Don't underestimate me. I give gifts once in a while too. It's my way of showing my appreciation.

I can't believe this is coming from the saint who ate all my food the other day when we went out to eat.

That was just a coincidence. I even prepared the money to pay for the book today.

She then took out a bag of gold coins from her pocket. It was quite a lot.

At first I thought about refusing, but then I thought that refusing here would be to disregard her sentiment.

And so I went around the store and decided to allow her to buy one book for me.

Now, what should I buy?

When it came to buying books, I suddenly got excited.

I'm a book-loving Demon King. I read at least one book a day, and I'm an addict of the printed word.

Jeanne probably never imagined what would happen if she brought such a Demon King to a bookstore.

Perhaps because it was my first time in this bookstore, I spent an hour looking at the shelves of books. I browsed for so long that Jeanne began to yawn.

What I soon discovered was that this bookstore had an amazing selection of books.

The bookstore had everything from novels to technical books to military books, however, the small store was also filled with my favorite books of all time.

It was as if I was looking at my own bookshelf.

I was looking at the shelves with fascination, but Jeanne seemed to be getting bored. I would have to find a book before she starts complaining.

And so I picked up a random book. I flipped through it, and since it happened to have a cover that I liked, I bought it.

When purchasing it, Jeanne happily pulled out her purse and asked, What book is that?

I answered.

It's a self-published book.

Self-published?

A book written by an individual without the help of a publisher or book dealer.

Do you enjoy reading such books?

I don't know about that yet, but this book looks interesting. First of all, I like the binding.

I lightly grasped the handsomely bound book.

Upon seeing this, Jeanne said, thats good. But she didnt seem to understand why I was happy.

Well, it was a feeling of elation that only a book lover could understand.

I hoped that I could share it with Jeanne someday. It was with such thoughts that I went back to the castle and read the book.

It was quite an interesting book, and I read it until dinner time, and then I suddenly remembered something.

"Well, I could publish my own book.

I had been exclusively a reader, but now had dreams of publishing. And so after dinner, I picked up my pen.

This was to make a manuscript copy of a certain book. It would all be done by hand. It would become a sort of ritual after I finished my duties, and it would be my lifes work.

The Legendary Rebuilding of a World by a Realist Demon King