Esther de Baronia - Chapter 4.2

In the castle of Esther de Baronia, which had been in uproar until last night, has somewhat calmed down as the day went on.

This is partly due to the sudden change in environment around the castle and the sudden appearance of people from all over the country around the outer walls, but more importantly to the loss of fields and everything else, which causes everyone to scramble for food.

However, thanks to the King’s quick action in opening and distributing the food stores, and the direct action of the seventeenth pillars of Baronia in maintaining order, there were no major incidents and peace prevailed.

Outside the castle there are still some problems, but it will be settled in a short time.

The construction of temporary dwellings, albeit very simple, is proceeding at a rapid pace, and the military is intervening between rivalrous tribes to keep the cold war at bay.

The women and children have been evacuated to homes and lodgings below the castle until the houses are completed, so there have been no major complaints.

The men who are left behind are eager to get out of their refugee camps and the demons who have been living in special environments such as water and volcanoes are eager to return.

This will take time, but it will be resolved.

The country was struck by an unprecedented horror. But the fact that it was put down in less than a day was a great success.

No inhabitants intend to start a riot against Esther de Baronia.

Life is too convenient for them and they don’t want to return. There is more than enough food, clothing and shelters, and plenty of work. And when a problem arises, as it did earlier, there are people who take the initiative to deal with it.

The people have become so used to being able to live without fear of their surroundings that they are not so impudent as to bare their fangs at the country.

Who can give free materials and food to all the people without asking for any profit or return?

The taxes will not be raised until things settle down, but rather lower them slightly. How can they criticise this?

In fact, the game’s specifications allow you to store food in the pantry indefinitely because it doesn’t expire, and the maximum amount of food you can store is increased by paying for it, so you don’t have to throw away rotten food as everyone thinks.

There is no such thing as an RTS where the food you acquire disappears with time.

It’s a basic game, but in real life it’s quite a cheat.

“That’s the situation for the moment.”

“I see. I’m glad the people don’t hate me because I want them to live out their days in peace.”

“Yes. That’s why we work so hard, for the king and for the country.”

When the sun rises, two figures remain motionless in the throne room of Esther de Baronia. Although it was originally a decorative room, it had a sad sight to find only two people in the vast room.

Sitting on his purple-black throne, which is disproportionate to the space of the silvery-white walls and floor, Karon looks over his neatly arranged papers.

He got a report about the accomplished quests, but he wants to know what they did to accomplish it, so he read through the report that he forced Rushka to compile for him.

He was afraid that he would not be able to read the writing of the demons, but he’s relieved to find that this is not the case.

The documents are divided into three sections: the cause of the disturbance in the city, the solution, and the aftermath, and he reads the part he wanted to read the most, the solution, with his eyes wide like saucers.

Apparently, all the commotion in the city and outside had died down after the meal, and those who didn’t make it through were torn to pieces by the Baronian army and laid bare by the fountain in the center of the castle for all to see.

“Isn’t this too much?

Or rather, Karon fears that it is bad for hygiene and education. His brows crease as he looks away from the radical report and at Ruschka, who is kneeling close to the throne several steps higher than the others. She shakes her head quietly and replies, “This is as good as it gets.”

“Unlike humans, we demons are highly capable of regenerating, so many people don’t learn anything if we’re not strict enough. So if you beat them up and expose them to the public, we, the Baronian army, will understand how harsh we can be on problem children.”

And as usual, Rushka nods to Karon with a smile which is far too beautiful that made it hard to believe she had made such a disturbing remark.

It’s not the weapons or technology that makes the demons special, it’s their biology and innate skills. The essence of the game is not to use tricks, but to use one’s own specialities to overrun.

He wonders how it was possible to tear a man to pieces, no matter how violent he was born, but gradually he comes to understand that the root of the problem is not comparable to a human being.

It seems that no matter how he looks at it, it is not something that can be equated with human beings, and Karon can feel the weight of responsibility on his back, how difficult it is for civilians who are not mercenaries or soldiers to hold it together.

“I understand. How far have the refugees settled down outside the castle?”

“Currently, in addition to the construction forces of Kobold and Gigas, volunteer carpenters are gathering to start construction. We still don’t have enough houses, so for the time being, we’re going to have three households packed together. It’s a good opportunity for them to learn to work together even if they don’t have much in common.”

When Karon sees that Rushka is far more competent than he had given her credit for, he gives her his compliments.

“That’s a very good idea. Don’t you think you are better qualified than I am?”

“It is a great honour to hear you say so, but it was the king’s calm judgment that gave me the idea.”

“I’m embarrassed that i couldn’t think of what to do to deal with it. I don’t have that much talent myself.”

He holds back the urge to tell her she’s lying, and just replies, “I see.” He also swallowed the words, “Why do you have to praise her so much?”

He starts to look over the next report, trying to keep his tone firm.

In order to avoid being lambasted for showing his disgusting behavior last night, Karon somehow managed to create a fake king’s image to face Ruschka.

It’s hard to breathe, as if he’s being forced to be a king worthy of his allegiance, but it’s only for his own reasons, and it’s worse that he hasn’t adapted to the demon’s daily life that has unexpectedly befallen him.

He reprimands himself for his gloomy feelings and raises his face.

The wondering eyes of Rushka pierce him, but he deceives her by proceeding with the agenda.

“How far have you got with your investigations into Veios and Mylko?”

“Yes. We have found volcanoes, lakes, rivers, deserts and all the soil we need. We are working to secure the environment for the demons as a priority, and we expect to have it under control by tomorrow at the earliest. Fortunately, they’re all in close proximity to each other, so immigration shouldn’t be too difficult.

“Anything else?”

“We have discovered a small country 40km to the east, and Mylko’s servants are carrying out an internal survey. He says he’ll send his people there to report back as soon as he’s done.”

The demon’s environment is in sight, but apparently another problem has appeared instead.

“The country, or ……”

He mutters tiredly as he raises his body from his knees and slumps against the backrest.

There is a civilization. Human civilization.

He doesn’t know the extent of the civilization, but if it is powerful enough to defeat the demons, then the country itself and Karon himself are in danger.

He would like to investigate how many other countries there are, but he will stop the search because it seems impossible to handle even if there is an amount of information that cannot be processed.

If there are no reports of any action in the country, he can assume that they are probably wondering what to do about it.

He orders Veios scouting party to pull out, because if they poke and prod and snakes come out, they might get a headache as well as a stomachache.

“That’s the last of it. I’m relieved that we’re going to be able to sort things out for the time being, even if it means more trouble. ……?　What is this?”

Karon’s brows wrinkle as he checks the title of the last report before looking it over. On it, the words “Audience Petition!” was colourfully painted on the page in a lively handwriting.

When he glances at Rushka to see what the joke is, he sees her usual expressionless face but with the aura of a demon on her back.

He desperately endures nausea due to the discomfort in his stomach and looks at Rushka’s face with great fear that she might have been offended by his excited remarks, but he can’t see clearly because she’s faced down.

“This is a petition from the seventeenth pillars. We have not been able to see you as often as we would like due to our constant travels, and we would like to have an audience with you now that we have gathered together.”

He feels there is a lot of burden and power in his words, but he decides not to respond carelessly.

Having once been taught that great people should never apologise, Karon, who is at his wits’ end, straightened up so as not to offend any more.

It is unusual for such a petition to come from the commanders of an army, but Karon cannot think of anything else.

All that came to mind was the image of himself cowering in the middle of a crowd of 17 rare monsters of rank 8 or above.

If he was found out to be an idiot, he would lose his head immediately.

He can’t stand it. He is not ready for it and it’s the last thing he wants to do. He needs a reason to say no, but he can’t think of one.

The horrible atmosphere coming from Rushka is preventing him from thinking about it.

“…… Tell them I’ll come and see them one of these days.”

He can barely move his mouth.

He decides that it would be much better for him to go to the meeting than to have them all there.

He is ready to withdraw, but it seems unlikely that he will succeed.

It’s hard to find time to breathe when he’s been hurt.

The only thing he can do is to dream about the day when he will return to the small room that he misses so much and live carefully so that the demons will not see him as an enemy.

Defensive instincts can be said to be excessive.That’s certainly how caution against demons should be.

It can’t be helped that the government has just discovered that it is putting off its vigilance against other countries.

But when will they realise that?

The highest national level can reduce the skill effect of the black robe, reduce the incidence of internal problems such as rebellion and conflict by 100 percent, and increase the incidence of external problems by 50%

It is very similar to the game, but it is not the same as the game, because the game does not necessarily apply to it.