**Side: Yuri**
Three days have passed since the report that Retisencia had begun marching on Vagenbach. The battle reportedly occurred yesterday, just across Retisencia’s border, but it ended in a swift rout against the combined forces of the Order’s Guild and the Soldier’s Guild. Around five Demon Race members participated, yet there were no casualties among the Order or the Soldiers.
Initially, the report that each Ancient Class member defeated one Demon Race member didn’t make sense to me, but it turns out Saya, the leader of Lily Wish, was also participating. It seems the marriage ceremony will be held in conjunction with my brother’s coronation, after which they will form a union with Rex and his group.
This defeat will likely reach the Imperial King in about a week. I wonder what he will do next. I cannot understand, nor do I wish to understand, the thoughts of the utterly foolish Imperial Royal Family.
More importantly, I must now focus on the development of the Esmeralda Baronetcy, namely Feel and Prada Village. Feel intends to undergo expansion work, but developing Prada Village takes precedence. The idea of developing Prada Village had been around for a while, but it was abandoned due to Veil Lake’s shallow depth and the narrowness of the river connecting it to the Nadal Sea.
However, if that can be resolved, a large port can be built in Prada Village, and ships could even reach Feel. Therefore, I asked my fiancé, Lord Yamato, and my wife, Flam, to investigate the depth of the Nadal Sea and Veil Lake facing Prada Village. As a result, we discovered that the depth on the Nadal Sea side is approximately 15 meters, and about 5 meters on the Veil Lake side, but it appears that another 5 meters can be secured by dredging the lakebed.
“I think the Nadal Sea side will be fine, but we’ll need to dredge and solidify the lakebed on the Veil Lake side,” Flam said.
“Moreover, since the work will be underwater, we’ll have no choice but to rely on Undine and the Water Dragon Dragonewts. We’ll also need guards, so the budget will be considerable!” Flam exclaimed.
“I believe it’s worth the value,” I replied.
If a port can be built in Prada Village, we can visit Libertà and Alegria without having to go through Retisencia, and trade with Valentia and Solemne will become easier.
“I understand that, but neither I nor Yamato-kun can stay submerged for long periods. Won’t that place a great burden on Flam?” Athena asked.
“That’s where I feel sorry. That’s why I’m thinking of asking my brother to dispatch High Orders of the relevant races,” I replied.
Since the work will be underwater, guards will be needed to protect the workers from aquatic monsters. While no one surpasses Flam, an Ancient Undine, in this regard, it’s too much for her to handle alone, so reinforcements are essential. Feel also has several individuals who fit the criteria, so they will be asked to assist.
“Then there’s the Crafters. Marina is also a Half-Dragonewt Water Dragon, but she’s primarily a seamstress, so it might be difficult,” Athena mused.
“She’s evolved to High Class, so I’d like her help if possible,” I said.
Besides Flam, the only other relevant individual at Wing Crest is Marina, a Fairy-Half Hydragonewt. However, Marina is a Crafter, so she cannot be counted as a guard. She has accumulated some combat experience, so she might be able to handle minor monsters.
“We can ask her. After all, it seems Rebecca will get Sayuri’s permission soon, so she might be able to help then too,” I added.
Indeed. Rebecca, Flam’s sister and also an evolved Ancient Undine, is currently following the instructions of Grandma Sayuri and not hunting. Although she is only 14 years old, she has evolved to Ancient Class, and the side effects are unknown. This is also the first case for Grandma Sayuri, so daily examinations and research are being conducted at the Healer’s Guild Headquarters in Float, along with Raus, who also evolved into an Ancient Ulfy, involving the Grand Healer Masters. The conclusion is expected to take some time, but depending on the results, Rebecca might be able to cooperate.
“I’m also concerned about Rebecca, but Prada Village is our hometown. Not only Rebecca but Raus will cooperate as well,” Flam said.
“Thank you, Flam,” I replied.
It seems no one wishes for their hometown to remain undeveloped. However, I must inform my brother before hiring anyone, and we also need to gather people and materials. Therefore, construction is unlikely to begin until next month at the earliest.
“Development is important, but what about Mylight?” Athena asked.
“Of course, we will also conduct investigations there, especially the culling of Orcs which is a critical issue. We plan to issue requests not only to the Order but also to High Hunters,” I replied.
While the development of Prada Village is a bit further off, the investigation of Mylight can commence as early as tomorrow. Especially with the expected increase in Orcs, requests to High Orders and High Hunters are essential.
“Setting aside High Orders, how many High Hunters are there again?” Athena inquired.
“There are at least 20, but most of them are Raid Leaders. If we’re to issue a special request, it would be to each raid, wouldn’t it?” Yuri pondered.
“That’s the problem. We tend to forget when we’re with Wing Crest, but normally there are only one or two High Hunters per raid. So, if we issue a special request to a High Hunter, it often becomes a request to the entire raid. If it’s only for High Hunters, it essentially becomes an Alliance,” I explained.
“An Alliance would be acceptable, but since we’re going to investigate too, there might be no need for that,” Flam mused.
“Rather, since we’ll be going, won’t that discourage some hunters from accepting the request?” I added.
Prim and Ludia are making ominous predictions, and I cannot deny the possibility. After all, Wing Crest has twelve Ancient Class individuals, including Hilde, who has not yet officially joined. They are capable of individually subjugating not only small settlements but even An or Catastrophe Species. Furthermore, they have flying familiars and summoned beasts like Jade, Fluorite, and Sirius, and all of them have acquired Traveling skills, meaning their range of action is by no means ordinary.
“That may be the case, but the Hunters Guild is constantly informed that the Mylight investigation will resume in the spring. Not accepting requests carelessly would damage our credibility,” Athena stated.
“For hunters, credibility is as important as skill,” I replied.
Indeed, as my elder sister and Mako say. Hunters lacking credibility, even if skilled, cannot receive special requests, and in some cases, even normal requests are denied. While it’s extremely rare for hunters to be refused even normal requests, such hunters are usually ill-behaved and habitual offenders, so they will inevitably be caught by the Ritter’s Guild soon.
“There shouldn’t be any such fools in Feel right now. There are raids focused on training hunters, so I don’t think they’d refuse,” Yamato said.
“Were there such raids?” Athena asked.
“Yeah, Dragon Scale,” Yamato replied.
“Ah, that one,” Athena acknowledged.
The raid called Dragon Scale, which Lord Yamato, Athena, and Ludia are discussing, has a leader who is a Level 53 Hydragonewt. However, most of the hunters belonging to it are C-rank, and there are even I-rank hunters. The leader is over 90 years old and is said to be focusing on nurturing the next generation. The reason they came to Feel was their belief that they needed to train young hunters due to the decrease in hunters caused by Retisencia’s machinations.
“Indeed, we cannot push Dragon Scale too hard. They have a vastly different amount of experience compared to us; we have much to learn from them,” Athena stated.
“I understand that,” Yamato replied.
The leader of Dragon Scale, a male Hydragonewt named Lute, sadly lost all his wives and was unable to have children. Therefore, it is said that he has dedicated his remaining years to training young hunters. In his youth, he entered dungeons in various countries and succeeded in conquering them. That raid suffered near-total casualties during the subjugation of the An Species Tyrannosaurus that appeared in Valentia, leading to its disbandment a few years later. Since then, he has been active as a hunter without forming a raid. However, about ten years ago, after his wives passed away one after another, he moved to Amister and began focusing on training rookie hunters.
“The Hunters Guild also told me that they want Lute-san to prioritize training new hunters,” Athena said.
“In that case, it would be safer for us to go for the Mylight investigation first,” Yamato replied.
“That seems to be the case. However, we don’t know when settlements will form, so continuous investigation will be necessary,” I added.
“Let’s just hope the Queen and Princess aren’t there,” Athena muttered.
This is a headache-inducing matter. It is speculated that some Orcs in Mylight have evolved into An Species due to Retisencia’s use of Demon Crystals. Whether it’s because of that or not, Demise Species Orc Emperors and Orc Empresses have been born. Thus, Mylight currently has an unbelievable number of An and Catastrophe Species Orcs. It is said that Demise Species give birth to An Species, and An Species and Catastrophe Species give birth to Rare Species. Even after the subjugation battles, a considerable number of An and Catastrophe Species have been defeated, and it is thought that they have increased further over the winter, making this a truly troublesome situation.
“If we’re going to conduct a large-scale hunt, we’ll need to mobilize even the Ancient Class,” Athena said.
“Perhaps we could do that once the situation calms down?” Yamato suggested.
“That depends on the investigation results. Mylight is vast, so some level of investigation is necessary even when requesting the Ancient Class,” I replied.
Even if a request is made, if there are no An or Catastrophe Species, it would be an exorbitant expense. While it may be a necessary expense for the safety of Feel, it could easily cost over 10 million El, making it a decision that cannot be made lightly.
“Since both Yamato and I receive public funds, we’ll cover that part,” Athena said.
“We have the development of Prada Village to consider, so we should do at least that,” Yamato added.
Indeed, both my elder sister and Lord Yamato receive public funds as Baronets, though half of mine. Their own Baronetcy is several years away, so they haven’t decided where to build their main residences, and there’s no need to build annexes in Feel or Float. They will eventually need to build them, but not immediately, so that’s also likely several years away. Therefore, they are seriously contemplating how to use the public funds they have been granted.
“It can be troublesome to have too much money,” Athena mused.
“I didn’t know that either. I’ve already saved quite a bit from rewards and such, and now to suddenly be given public funds, I really don’t know what to do with it,” Yamato confessed.
“That’s not an amount that can be easily spent either. Perhaps the best option is to build annexes for the Fleidranthia Heavenly Noble House or the Lapislazurite Heavenly Noble House in Float or Feel?” Prim suggested.
“That’s probably it,” Yamato replied.
Prim’s suggestion seems to be the most sensible. However, no matter where they stay, Alka returns at night, so it would be best to install a Gate Stone with my brother’s permission. It will likely be after the child who will inherit the Baronetcy is born that they will actually start using it.
