Chapter 81: 81

Mightiest Melee Magician

Chapter 81

Three days had already passed since Irene had arrived in the Ardell territory.

“I love this place.”

Seemingly sick and tired of the bustling city, Irene announced her love for the quiet countryside of Ardell, enjoying her time reading books and taking short walks through the woods.

Of course,

“Irene! Let’s go to the alchemy hut today!”

“Hmm… Sure.”

Ruina was always next to her.

I was starting to think that Ruina might like Irene more than me, her older brother……

She was so wary of her at the start.

Was I a little jealous?

In any case, other than in the morning, where I did the daily quest and body training, I spent most of my time in ‘secret meetings’ with Chief Baggins.

There was only one topic to discuss in these meetings.

“Young Master. What are you thinking of doing now?”

“……I’ll need to look for things I can do by myself.”

The work that I may be able to do for the territory.

10 thousand gold in prize money, and 32 thousand 4 hundred gold from Monzo.

We were discussing how to spend the total of 42 thousand 4 hundred gold for the betterment of the Ardell territory.

My first idea of ‘monster subjugation’, the plan of hiring mercenaries with the money and using them to subjugate and reclaim the lands around the territory, felt reasonable.

“The monster subjugation method you talked about before will most likely not work due to needing the lord’s permission.”

“Yes. We’ll leave that for now.”

But it would be difficult to carry out for now.

It may be better to attempt this after I graduate from the academy and shed myself of this title of ‘student’.

Then, what could I do right now?

Something small that I could start during my break and wouldn’t need a lot of time.

Something acceptable that wouldn’t worry my father.

The answers to these questions were found in an unexpected but close place.

Right in the middle of a conversation with Irene Prius.

“So, uh, Irene.”

“Yes?”

“I just got a little curious…… but how did you get to Ardell?”

It all started from a simple question.

How could she arrive so fast to the countryside town of Ardell from the capital city of the Raynac empire?

There were no mana train stations in the southern parts of the Radian kingdom.

It took me 10 days from the academy on horseback to this corner of the world.

“How… I got here?”

“Yes.”

However, Irene answered this question nonchalantly.

“It was closer than I expected. It only took me two days to get from Ravirdyne to here.”

“……”

Two days?

I, who set off from within the nation, took 10 days, but Irene took only two from a foreign country?

“How? Did you come by boat?”

“No? Ardell doesn’t have a port.”

“That’s true. Then what—”

“I took the mana train from Ravirdyne to Eight-Lake on the southernmost part of the Empire. And then……”

Irene pointed toward the eastern mountain range that surrounded the Ardell territory like a picture.

“I went over that mountain range from Eight-Lake. And Ardell was right here.”

She walked over the pathless mountain range?

Even though there were no roads there?

Wait.

“What? Then did you cross the border illegally without notice?”

“Hehe. Yeah.”

“……”

Wasn’t she just an illegal alien?

As I questioned her with narrowed eyes, Irene just shrugged her shoulders.

I took a deep sigh before asking again,

“Were you always someone who moved without thinking of the consequences? To come over the uninhabited national border… Haven’t you thought about how dangerous that was?”

I thought I might finally be able to scold her.

“Compared to what you do, I felt it was pretty safe.”

“……”

But I could only keep silent against her counterattack.

Hmm. If you say it like that, I really can’t say anything.

“Fufu. This is how you make an exciting journey.”

Irene just sat there, smiling.

“I want some excitement in life.”

I could really see a reckless part of her.

She even came here without a plan just to see me.

She also crossed the border illegally through a pathless mountain range to get here.

What would she have done if she encountered thugs or monsters?

Well, to be honest, there probably weren’t enough thugs in the world to even scratch her.

In any case, just looking at her face, you would expect her to be calm like a beautiful flower on a pond, but I could definitely see some similarities between us.

Well, at least she wasn’t just a flower on the inside.

While I was thinking, Irene returned her eyes back to her book and said something.

“It’s nice and close…… but why won’t they just make a road?”

* * *

* * *

“……”

“Would there be a problem? I still don’t understand all the problems that affect adults.”

It was just a random question for Irene, but to me, it felt like I was smacked on the back of my head.

Smack!

Like that.

“……I guess. Why won’t they?”

This mountain range that divided the southernmost free state of Raynac, Eight-Lake, and the southernmost town of Ardell.

South Mountain.

Since it didn’t have any particular uses, it didn’t have a name either.

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It was just used as the country border here in the South.

Even though 60% of the mountain range was part of the Ardell territory, it was pretty dangerous, and cultivation of farmland was impossible. There weren’t even any natural metals that could be mined from the mountain, and since it was also crawling with monsters, there was no human presence on the mountain either.

However…

There was a use for this mountain.

“……Irene. How long did it take for you to get to Ardell from Eight-Lake?”

“About a day and a half. But there were no roads, so I got a little lost. If there was stable infrastructure, it wouldn’t have even taken half a day.”

“……”

Infrastructure.

Well, to be more precise, the lack of infrastructure.

This place was very close to Eight-Lake, the nexus of oceanic routes on the Frelian continent.

This was the worth of the South Mountain Range.

If utilized properly, Ardell maybe wouldn’t even have to rely on and be threatened by Monzo.

No.

This would also become the sole pathway to the Raynac Empire in the South, so it wouldn’t be too different to the territory gaining its own strength to stand up on.

“Ah…… Why couldn’t I think of this before?”

As my brain processed my thoughts, a myriad of ideas started to unfold before me.

Freedom from the trade city of Monzo.

The sole pathway to the Empire from the South, Ardell.

We can expand the territory with monster subjugations, and if we made a port to try and compete in the oceanic trades……

“Ruin? Is something wrong? Your expression is—”

“Irene……”

I unconsciously pulled Irene into a hug for providing me with this answer.

But I regained my composure and grabbed both her hands.

“Thank you.”

“……Yes?”

“I think…… I might have found a way.”

Irene tried to move her hands away from my excited grip.

Startled by what I did, I let go.

“Ah! S-sorry.”

“Ehem…… It’s fine. But a way? Is this about the territory you told me before?”

“Yes.”

I looked toward South Mountain as if it was art.

“Thanks to you, I found a way.”

* * *

Eight-Lake.

A gargantuan port city where eight different lakes converged and connected out to the sea.

No, to be clearer about the scale, this city was a nation.

As part of the Raynac Imperial Federation, we could consider it as a neutral state like Altein, the place where the Grand Festival was held, but their characteristics were completely different.

Firstly, there was no king.

Rather than a king, 8 different representatives ruled together.

The 8 wealthiest merchants that held the continent’s commerce in their hands gathered together to create this huge market, and they gained the protection of the Empire.

They literally raked in money.

I guess it could be called a type of mega-corporation.

It was a truly difficult organization to maintain, but just by being a part of the Empire, they could nullify most of their problems.

Money, gold, and food had the greatest worth in this place.

And this mountain was very close to a place like this.

Why did we have to live like this while being only a step away from this land of paradise?

“How is it?”

“……”

I conveyed my thoughts to my father and Chief Baggins, and my father’s expression went deep in thought.

I naturally expected a good reaction from him……

But that didn’t happen.

“It’s impossible.”

“……What?”

“We already tried it before. But all 8 of the representatives of Eight-Lake refused. It was a failure.”

It was something father had thought about before, and he’d even attempted it.

“They refused? Why?”

“The reason was simple. From their point of view, the returns from investing in Ardell aren’t good enough.”

“……”

I could feel my energy draining from my body.

I thought this would be the surest plan of all the plans I thought of until now.

But it was already a failed endeavor……

And just because our ‘returns’ wouldn’t be good enough?

Even though our hope was riding on this?

That was why……

“Young Master. The Lord also knows that this is a great opportunity for us. However…… commerce isn’t something we can pick up just because we want to. Since all 8 representatives refused already, asking them again would just produce the same—”

“No.”

……I couldn’t give up like this.

“It’ll be different from before. No, I’ll make sure it’s different.”

“……Ruin.”

“Ardell has already changed quite a bit from before. It’s small steps, but we’re definitely moving.”

We changed.

Unlike the past where we requested to ‘trade’ without a single coin to our name, we currently had the huge sum of 40 thousand gold that I was investing.

This was the place where I would spend this money ‘as I wished’.

“It’ll also be hard for the 8 representatives to decline my request.”

“……”

Didn’t Ardell have a winner of the Grand Festival now?

“I’m honestly more respected within the Empire than the Kingdom.”

I tried to smile while making the joke, but my father and Chief Baggins, along with everyone else, knew it already.

That behind this joking smile was a steadfast truth stronger than anything else.

“I’ll cross South Mountain, visit Eight-Lake tomorrow, receive their approval, and return.”

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A break.

I didn’t expect to stay home all day and sleep……

But I’m moving around more than I expected.

I think I…… might have some adventurous tendencies.

——

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