Translator: âHakouâ Editor: âWeasalopesâ
The head of the blacksmith guild, who was in dire need of materials, had been complaining about the lack of materials from now and then.
No matter how hard the engineers and craftsmen worked, without materials, the repair and construction of Knights could not advance.
The number of Knights in the Kingdom had been greatly reduced.
The shortage of resources was the biggest problem they faced in their efforts to rebuild their forces.
ãStart mobilizing the knight order. Iâd better show the black smith guild whatâs there. And for the arrangement of the transportation unitã¼ã
ãPlease wait a minuteã
The Prime Minister began to give orders in rapid succession in a state of excitement, but a stout man stopped him mid-sentence.
ãThere is also something I would like to inform you in regard to this matterã
This man is the head of the ãImperial Storeã, a large merchant with a big store in the royal capital.
He is a merchant of the kingdom, but as his name suggests, he mainly trades with the Empire.
ãWhat is it?ã
The Prime Minister replied with an irritated tone.
He has been using the Imperial Store as a source of information on the inner workings of the Empire.
The news of the great cave-in in the south of Awoke had also come from the Imperial Store.
ãFrom what weâve heard, the Empire is already aware of this matterã
The Prime Minister frowned deeply and turned his face to the knight commander.
ãCan you send out a Knight immediately? The ones that are quick on his legs. Iâd like to get ahead of them at all costs and claim that we found it firstã
Now that they have signed a truce, they canât use force to resolve disputes.
The place where the golems are located is an uncharted land that belongs to no nation. The key to negotiations will be whether or not they can assert the legal rights of prior occupation.
But the stout man shook his chin and shook his face from side to side.
ãThis is a valuable piece of information that I just gotã
He said this as if itâs a very important piece of information to make a fortune. It was a way to get the Prime Minister indebted to him in his mental ledger.
ãSeveral Knights have already marched out of Landbarn. They are expected to have reached the great hole by nowã
The Prime Minister groaned. The words âI canât give upâ were clearly written all over his face.
The head clerk continued to speak as if to put a final nail in the coffin.
ãAnd they were led by the Grim Reaperã
After a moment of silence, the Prime Minister squeezed out his voice.
ãThe Grim Reaper, you say?ã
It felt like cold water had been splashed on his feverish thoughts.
The water was so cold that the expectations the Prime Minister had built in his mind made a loud noise as it cracked right in the middle.
ãDamn it!ã
Curses burst out of his mouth.
If that man comes into the area with his Knight, the kingdom Knights will not be able to drive him out.
Even if they were to put pressure on him by surrounding him, he wouldnât even be bothered by it.
ãThis will be toughã
The face of the Knight commander standing beside him was also grim.
Even if a B-class Knight flicked the trigger to scare him, it would be of no use.
Instead, there was a fear that he would swing his death scythe at them under the guise of self-protection.
ãWe wonât be able to intimidate them without sending in several A-class Knights. And even if we do that, I still donât know how effective it isã
The Prime Minister drops back in his seat while groaning like a threatened dog.
ãEven though weâre in the middle of a truce, we canât pull a large force out from our defense. We canât show any opening to the Empireã
The sound of teeth chattering leaked out along with those words, reaching the ears of those around him.
ãDamn it!ã
The sound of the Prime Minister and the sound of the desk being hit.
The Kingdom had given up on dispatching Knights to the great hole after agonizing over it.
***
The next morning.
Midtown is located in the southeast from the royal capital square.
There is a high-class apartment complex there. A young and beautiful woman appeared at the window of one of the rooms there.
ãOh myã
She noticed something as she opened the curtain. She let out a voice that contained surprise.
Her gaze landed on a small flower pot by the window. There was a single bud peeking out of it.
The sprout had not opened yet and its waist was bent deeply. It had a little bit of soil on its back.
ãâ¦â¦ã
It was the Explosive onee-san, still in her pajamas. She is staring at the bud in silence.
(It came out. The Ambrosia bud)
She had planted a few seeds thinking that one of them might grow.
However, there was no change even after a certain amount of time, and she had more than half given up. But now, the buds have popped up on the surface of the earth.
(Iâm glad it sprouted. But as expected I have to keep this one a secret)
The materials she handed over to Professor Termano. Naturally, that included seeds.
Some of them were used to make elixirs. The rest went to the professor who specializes in medicinal herbs.
And now, they are being grown under strict control.
(I-It canât be helped now, can it? I planted this one when I was still experimenting on it)
The voice in her heart is a little shaking.
She felt guilty that she hadnât handed over everything. But thatâs not all.
(I wonder how they would react if they knew that I still had the seeds and had planted them without permission)
She thinks about her teacher, Termano, who is a potionologist. And then she thought of another professor who specializes in herbal medicine.
He is a stocky, quiet man of age. His palms, trained by working in the fields, are as thick as the vertical fists of Explosive onee-san.
He was known to be gentle with plants, but extremely strict with students.
(Thereâs no way I can tell that professor about this at this late)
Explosive onee-san shook her head which still got bed hair on it.
He would definitely be furious. If he got his hand on this flowerpot, he might even break it with his palm.
(Uwaaâ¦)
Shiver runs down her spine at the scene that she can easily imagine.
(But thatâs to be expected)
Now that I think about it, I just buried it in the ground and poured water on it.
The legendary fruit, Ambrosia. The way I handled its seeds was not so proper, if I do say so myself.
(This one is a present, a present for myself)
So she said to herself and calmed herself down.
(No one should know about this Ambrosia sprout)
Exploding onee-san made up her mind right at this moment. Then she put her face close to the flower pot by the window and sighed heavily.
(I want to see it, the flower of Ambrosia)
She then rested her chin on her crossed hands and gently looked at the sprout.
***
The stage moves further west from midtown, crossing the main street to the north of downtown.
A partially three-story building with a garden on the roof.
At the edge of a pond in the garden, three spirit beasts were gathering.
ãThank you for the foodã
A turtle about 20 centimeters long stretched out its neck. It had a forest and ruins on top of its shell.
He grabbed an acorn that was placed in front of him and crunched it with his strong jaws. It then turned its head upward and swallowed it down.
ãDelicious!ã
The turtle squints, expressing his honest thought.
The dung beetle, which brought the acorn, watches the scene with delight.
ãEvery fruit of this forest tastes just as good as any other. The manager must be skillfulã
The caterpillar and the dung beetle looked at each other and nodded.
Tauroâs family members, Imosuke and Dangorou, as well as his tenant, Zaratan, were getting along very well.
ãThis forest garden is better than the forest spiritã
They share the same opinion in this matter.
Zaratan, a powerful spirit beast of the water attribute, had broken through the wards and invaded. The caution against it was already gone.
Speaking of which, Imosuke was now without his eye patch, and Dangorou was without his chestnut burr. This is because it is time for the spirit beasts to have their break.
ãWonât you become part of his kin?ã
Imosukeâs question made Zaratanâs expression darken.
(Iâm happy that they invite me, butâ¦)
It canât take the step forward even now.
It had no complaints about the person who owned the forest garden. In fact, the management of the pond is completely entrusted to it.
(Trust)
He wants to live up to it as much as he can.
If that is the case, becoming his family member would be more suitable. It would allow them to talk to each other without having Imosuke relay it.
But, Zaratan thought.
(Being left behind when theyâre gone will be painful)
The land owner, who was just a human, will die long before the long-lived Zaratan.
The human magician that he used to carry on his back. He couldnât help but be reminded of his existence.
Seeing that he was having trouble answering, Imosuke changed the subject.
About the disposal of nuts and fallen leaves in the pond. Now that it is autumn, the amount of fallen leaves is rapidly increasing.
ãâ¦Shall I summon some shrimp and crabs?ã
To those words, Dangorou replied, asking him to summon a big and cool one.
Zaratan looks at the two as if looking at his grandchildren. He then began to think about what to summon.