Chapter 99: Arrival at the Great Demon Forest part3
「So, Ria—do you like it?」
「Of course, Alan. I think we can make this work. Have you named the city yet?」
「If you’re fine with it, I’d like to call it Ares.」
「Ares—perfect for the future world’s capital.」
This planet is called Ares. No city yet bore the planetary name. In the Human Galactic Empire, a world’s capital city often shared its name. If the planet’s name were Ares, the capital should be Ares—that was my thinking.
「There’s a lot more I want you to see here: a church, a Commerce Guild hall, warehouses, a glassworks, even a foundry. We’ve got ranches and a food-processing plant too.」
「Alan, we can’t see everything today. The sun will set. Better to start bringing everyone into Ares.」
「All right—let’s do that.」
We returned to the main gate and began bringing people in by their assigned lots. It wasn’t first-come-first-served, but novelty breeds excitement—cheers rose as they vied to be first through. Since lots were assigned by group, we left any fine-tuning to them.
「Everyone looks so happy.」
「They came all the way out here; I couldn’t afford to half-prepare. I’m relieved things went as planned.」
「It’s far grander than they expected, no doubt.」
Elna spoke, sounding impressed.
「We haven’t even put windows in the buildings yet.」
「With no monster threat inside, windows can wait. Besides, every street is paved with stone. I’ve never seen a city this… futuristic.」
Elna, like Ria, seemed satisfied. We set watches at the gate and key points, as we would for a camp at night—but here it was also about controlling flows of people. There are places you don’t want casual traffic. The Satellite squads divided the work neatly; Dhalsim’s squad would control access to the palace tier.
Food was being hauled into the warehouse districts. Ares is broad, so we’d sit warehouse clusters in multiple wards. We have enough for now, but provisioning needs a swift, permanent solution.
Day-to-day meals would be handled by rationing food and fuel; each group would cook for themselves.
「We’ll pay the artisans monthly. The children’s school will start at once—and provide meals. Settlers will receive food in kind. Besides manning the mills and the food plant, we have day-labor ready: felling fuelwood, loading and unloading warehouses, and digging canals. Once the markets start functioning, life should feel like a normal city. I’d say that in a month, the people should be settled without issue.」
We assigned Iris’s task lists to the group of officials led by Roberto. It looked complex overall, but each role was clearly scoped. No big issues anticipated.
「Roberto, have you finished selecting the household staff?」
「Yes—the selection of those who would attend upon Cleria-sama is of the utmost importance. We’re choosing only those with clear, trusted backgrounds.」
Ria would one day be enthroned as queen here. The royal guards would handle close protection, but if we were to maintain a residence, we needed carefully chosen maids and cooks; I’d entrusted Roberto with that.
「I’ve staffed them with people connected to House Ludwik. Some are from other noble houses, but all are trustworthy Starveek folk. To serve Cleria-sama, our future queen, will be everyone’s joy.」
As a city expense, a royal household is a necessary cost.
「Outwardly, of course, they will be retainers of House Corinth.」
「There’s no palace yet—only storehouses and the guard barracks.」
「What do you mean—there’s a splendid Guest Palace.」
True. For appearances, we could use the Guest Palace. It’s on the lowest tier inside the inner moat, so it’s less secure than the guard barracks, but with no visitors expected, it will do.
「Then I’ll leave it to you. Still, we should set a room for Ria in the guard barracks for now; it’s easier to defend, and we can’t say the city is completely secure yet. I’ll set up my room in the guard barracks, too. Use the Guest Palace as you see fit. Keep a few rooms free for visitors.」
「Of course. Only those strictly necessary will live there—including Cleria-sama’s staff. As for yourself, Alan-sama, you should stay at the Guest Palace—though until the wedding, perhaps a separate building would be more…」
Roberto trailed off, mumbling. Party members or not, living too close together—me with Ria and Elna—isn’t ideal. We’d all be tense. Moving into a city is a good chance to rethink our living spaces.
「All right, Roberto. After this, let’s talk food production.」
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
After two weeks, life in Ares was running smoothly as planned. So long as they stayed behind the moats, people could live their lives. The nearby fields and coppices were enclosed by canals. Residual monsters had been hunted out within the moated zones by troops under Serena and Sharon, making the interior—fields and woods included—safe for daily life.
「Being here, you forget you’re in the Great Demon Forest.」
So said Ria. Everyone had already settled into Ares-life.
That morning, we were hearing reports from department heads in the Assembly. For now we only had firewood for fuel, and little good iron ore. Our blast furnace lay idle, but copper refining was underway, and metalworking was focused on water piping. We’d begun running mains from the springheads to buildings, making daily life easier.
But water wasn’t the only topic.
「Let us lay out the conditions necessary to take a kingdom.」
「Lord Leister, if you would.」
Cleria’s call was met with a sober nod.
「I trust you all know the Kingdom of Belta is in the grip of the prime minister’s faction.」
「I do not know King Amado personally, but at twenty-one he should be fully capable of discharging a king’s duties.」
Cleria put the question to Leister.
「His Majesty Amado is but a puppet. It has been thus since I fell into Prime Minister Burke’s trap three years ago.」
「A king dancing to a subject’s tune! Hard to credit.」
Dhalsim objected; even for a foreign realm, as royal guard, he bristled at contempt for royal authority.
Leister shook his head.
「His Majesty came to the throne young—in his early teens. After the late king died of illness, no other royals remained.」
「Strange indeed. Leaving heirs is the duty of a royal house.」
As Cleria explained, royal families took concubines if need be; nobles competed to offer them. A sole heir apparent was highly irregular.
「The chief royals were murdered by Burke—his poisons leave no trace. At the time I failed to grasp the full picture. Even where I noticed inconsistencies, I closed my eyes to them.」
「But if the king and you, the prime minister, had joined hands, you could have crushed Marquis Burke.」
Dhalsim pressed. Noble or not, he could not abide contempt for the crown.
「The man is devilishly good at hiding his heart. In court he was seen as belonging to my faction. Shamefully, I saw him as a loyal ally. He wore a gentle face in public. He used that to spring the trap. He inherited the prime minister position smoothly because he was the number two of my faction at the time.」
「How sly.」
Roberto murmured; Leister agreed.
「Precisely. At the time, as prime minister, I focused on two main tasks and left domestic matters to Burke, who served as Lord Protector. The first was to find a suitable bride for His Majesty Amado from a neighboring realm.」
Here Leister looked at Cleria.
「Surely you don’t mean Cleria-sama might have wed the King of Belta?」
Elna’s blurting drew a stir from the Starveek contingent.
「Cleria-sama and His Majesty Amado are second cousins. The tie is close but not too close; their ages aligned. As a strong candidate, I quietly sounded out Starveek’s king.」
「So that’s why the prime minister of a neighboring country sent me a tea service as a gift…」
Ria looked stunned.
「Indeed. I wished to foster warmth toward Belta. In fact, we had a tentative yes—when Cleria-sama came of age.」
「Father never told me—but thinking back, he never seemed troubled about my marriage prospects…」
Seeing Cleria’s reaction, the royal guards fell thoughtful. They must have had inklings about her prospective matches; a neighboring king would present few obstacles and be widely celebrated.
「A marriage knot between Houses Starvine and Bertie would have delighted both peoples. Both realms had their reasons and needed a powerful ally.」
「So Alois was already an issue for the Starveek Kingdom when Cleria-sama was a child?」
Roberto pressed, pained.
「No. I heard of the founding of the Alois Kingdom through Burke’s agents, but I myself did not grasp it at the time. The immediate issue was the Cecilio Kingdom. I focused on both the royal marriage and our response to Cecilio.」
「I heard that Prince Rouge of Cecilio espoused militarism and vowed to invade Belta upon his accession.」
Deciding this was good timing, I told everyone what I heard from Erwin.
At that, Leister—who had been so calm even when he revealed Ria’s marriage talks—visibly flinched.
The story from manga and novel took different approach since the Capital Arc.