It has been a week since the port development of Prada Village began.
Fortunately, construction is progressing smoothly. Apparently, Mana and Meena’s Unique Magic was used to cut off a part of the opposite shore, widening the mouth connecting the Nadal Sea and Veil Lake.
I heard it’s now wide enough for 20-meter-class ships to pass each other without issue.
Of course, since they forcibly cut off the opposite shore, they still need to properly level the lakebed and reinforce the bank.
In the meantime, I made visits to Feel, Prada Village, Memoria, and Deseo, helping Yuri, Rika, and Hilde with their work.
Even so, in Feel, I’ve only been involved with the moving to the completed Esmeralda Tenchaku Residence and contracting with the Butler’s Guild. In Memoria, it’s been limited to processing the felled Cherry Trees and surrounding patrols.
However, in Deseo, I ran into typical Solemn Nobles.
“What is a mere commoner doing in the glorious Emperor’s Castle?”
“Soldier, dispose of this fool.”
The moment I entered the Emperor’s Castle, I was told this.
First of all, Solemn Nobles have no authority to command Soldiers, nor the right to interfere with civilians entering the Emperor’s Castle.
But to them, their words were absolute, and it was out of the question for a commoner to enter the Emperor’s Castle.
“Oh? Since when did you all gain the ability to command Soldiers?”
“Silence. Even Soldiers are, after all, just commoners. Furthermore, command authority over the Soldier’s Guild has been delegated to me by His Majesty, as I have become the formal fiancée of His Majesty Hildegard.”
“In other words, his orders are equivalent to His Majesty’s orders. Do you intend to defy His Majesty?”
At that moment, the Soldier looked at the Noble with a pitying gaze.
“I see, so you mean you have been sentenced to execution by familial guilt. Is that it?”
“What nonsense are you spouting? Never mind that, quickly dispose of that commoner.”
“I refuse. First of all, His Majesty Hildegard was formally married to a Celestial Noble who was granted the right of succession to the Celestial Throne as an O-Rank Order during the recent Coronation Ceremony of the Celestial Emperor. This means it is impossible for you to become His Majesty Hildegard’s fiancé.”
“W-What did you say!?”
I thought my marriage with Hilde was public knowledge even in Deseo, but did this guy not know?
Or perhaps he has selective hearing, only hearing what is convenient for himself.
“Incidentally, your partner is the Celestial Noble Yamato Mikami Fraydlancia, whom you insulted as a mere commoner. How astonishing, for a Solemn Noble to speak so presumptuously to someone with the right of succession to the Celestial Throne. Ah, I will most certainly report this matter to His Majesty Hildegard as well.”
“W-Wait!”
“I have nothing to do with this!”
“You absolutely do. When he falsely claimed to be Hilde’s fiancé, you also took advantage and looked down on me. As I’ve said before, in the Federation Heavenly Empire, there is no distinction between commoners and nobles. Moreover, Solemn is a defeated nation, isn’t it? So why can you act so imperiously?”
Even though this was communicated when Hilde took office, when suppressing the rebellion, and even when the Federation Heavenly Empire was established, they are acting like this.
I suppose this is an improvement, but if their attitude doesn’t change no matter how many times it’s communicated, then they are unnecessary nobles.
Personally, I believe the family of the man who impersonated Hilde’s fiancé should be destroyed.
“Also, why are you, of all people, impersonating as Hilde’s fiancé? That alone has touched my ire. And you, who accepted it as natural, have no reason to be forgiven by me.”
“W-What is that… what is that Magic Power!?”
“It is truly foolish that you did not know. Celestial Noble Yamato is an Ancient Human, and his level is 95. He also has the merit of having defeated even the Antlion Empress in the previous war, and he has succeeded in subjugating the Orc Emperor and the Slume Lord. A defeated nation’s noble or an Ancient Human who has subjugated Demise Species, which do you think will be prioritized? Even you should be able to understand that with your limited intellect.”
Although the Soldier was harsh, I understood his feelings, so I decided to back him up.
“He probably couldn’t understand because his intellect is limited.”
“Ah, perhaps that is so. In that case, we will take responsibility for imprisoning these individuals.”
“Yes, please do.”
Something like that happened.
Those individuals incurred Hilde’s wrath, leading to the revocation of their titles, confiscation of their property, and their families being reduced to criminal slaves. The man who impersonated the fiancé was executed.
The woman was also made a criminal slave and assigned to reconstruction work in Deseo.
However, Solemn Nobles were far more foolish than I had anticipated.
Even after that, there were still those who said such things.
“The current Celestial Emperor has the makings of a tyrant. How about it? I will cooperate with you, so why not become the next Celestial Emperor? If someone like you becomes Celestial Emperor, the Philia Continent will surely develop further.”
There was also a fool who incited me to rebellion with such words.
Naturally, they were immediately apprehended and handed over to Hilde.
Given the content, Emperor Reinhardt was also informed, and as a result, that individual was sentenced to execution along with their entire family.
It is, of course, a clear case of treason.
Several others who had been ordering Soldiers were also punished with ordered retirement.
However, the fools who impersonated Hilde’s fiancé and the fool who incited me to rebellion were apparently nobles who governed territories, leading to the problem of three territories becoming ownerless.
Hilde had no choice but to govern them as direct territories and dispatched stewards.
However, even with the dispatch of stewards, it’s not guaranteed that the townspeople will obey Hilde, so 30 Soldiers were assigned as guards for each, along with 20 Crafters and 5 Healers to improve sanitation, and Multi-functional Beast Carriages were used for transportation.
Incidentally, the noble youths dispatched as stewards apparently have the possibility of inheriting those territories in the future.
They looked genuinely displeased, as if they were nearing permanent assignment.
On the other hand, due to the effects of the Federation Heavenly Empire’s establishment, all residents of Deseo have apparently completed their Guild registrations.
Delfina mentioned that lately, the stigma against Slum residents has lessened, and the Soldiers’ work has decreased.
However, it has only lessened, and the friction with the Slums has not disappeared yet.
There isn’t much I can do in Deseo.
I could do paperwork, but most of the documents brought to Hilde require final confirmation, so only Hilde can use Supplication Magic Stamping.
Therefore, I often find myself heading to the Multi-functional Beast Carriage, which serves as the temporary Guild headquarters.
The most numerous Guild registrations are for the Trader’s Guild, followed by the Hunter’s Guild and the Butler’s Guild.
Several Slum residents have registered with the Healer’s Guild, but no one from Deseo has registered.
This is only natural, as there’s no point in registering with the Healer’s Guild without the ability to use healing magic.
Similarly, Craft Magic is required for the Crafter’s Guild, so the number of registrants is not high either.
Solemn citizens create things without magic, so they can still do some work even without Craft Magic.
All the butlers and maids residing in Deseo have registered with the Butler’s Guild.
Normally, it takes three years to be promoted from T-rank, but since everyone possessed a certain level of knowledge, they were promoted to the corresponding rank after a minimum of theoretical study.
However, even seasoned veterans were mostly S-rank, and it seems no Butler registered above P-rank.
It seems those who can fight are registering with the Hunter’s Guild, but most are C-rank, with a similar number of I-rank registrants.
Conversely, there are only about 10 B-rank individuals, and only Slum residents are S-rank or above, which is a sorry state.
What’s more, there are many who hunt recklessly, and apparently, some have already lost their lives to monsters.
Whether it’s a pursuit of quick riches or overconfidence in their abilities, the Hunter’s Guild is taking precautions, so in the end, it’s personal responsibility.
The Trader’s Guild has the most members, and the most popular requests are for local peddling within Deseo.
However, due to the high number of applicants compared to the number of requests, not everyone can fulfill them. Furthermore, a small number of individuals have embezzled magic items and sales, so the Trader’s Guild is struggling with how to respond.
There were also those researching “Jōtetsu,” or steel.
It seems steel was accidentally refined during the manufacturing process of Steam Battleships.
However, because it is stronger and more rust-resistant than iron, it is becoming mainstream in Solemn.
Even so, there are variations in quality, so they are currently investigating the mixing ratios.
There is plenty of iron available, and they have also requested cooperation from the Slum residents who registered with the Crafter’s Guild, so I heard the research is progressing smoothly.
Then there’s the Soldier’s Guild. Currently, they are not accepting registrations.
The Guild was originally established as a receptor for the Solemn Army, and since Solemn was a country with good treatment for its soldiers, there was a high number of applicants for registration with the Soldier’s Guild due to that connection.
Of course, not everyone applied, but nearly 30% still wished to register, so it was decided that registrations would be temporarily suspended.
Like the Order’s Guild, the Soldier’s Guild has a one-year training period, but they receive pay even during that period, and after the training ends, they are assigned to their respective departments.
However, the Soldier’s Guild has only a limited number of departments, and individuals who registered from the Libertà Army have been assigned to those departments and executive positions, leaving no room for Deseo residents.
It would be different if they could be dispatched to other towns, but they don’t have that capacity yet, so it’s limited to periodic patrols by Soldiers like Delfina.
Although the Lord has announced and implemented the installation of toilets and the acceptance of outcasts, the work doesn’t progress without Soldiers, so there are many pleas from the Lord requesting the dispatch of Soldiers, making it quite difficult.
However, while patrols in nearby areas are done using Multi-functional Beast Carriages, for distant locations, it requires Delfina’s Traveling, so they can only go about once a week, which is a problem.
With the addition of the Libertà Army, Delfina is quite busy.
There are several individuals who seem capable of evolving into Ancient Soldiers, so perhaps I should give them some combat training.
It’s not guaranteed they can evolve, and I don’t even know if their levels will increase.
