Chapter 93

The number of applicants hoping to serve the Brutois family numbered in the hundreds, and many of them were children of nobility.

I would blacklist the ridiculous ones and strictly order them never to approach me again.

Amidst this, two interesting men appeared.

One was named Udo Silves, the second son of a fallen baron's family.

It seems he has been disowned by his family, the Silves, but I think he is competent as a mage, and most importantly, his personality is intriguing, so I decided to employ him.

His attributes are Earth at the Special grade and Water at the Lower grade, and he claims his specialty is digging holes.

The other is Ben Azukas, the sixth son of a knight's family.

The Azukas family governs a small territory within the Brutozels March and has served the Brutozels March family for generations.

Since Ben is the sixth son, he naturally could not remain in the family and became an adventurer, and now works as a staff member at the Adventurers' Guild.

While I have hired other military and civil officials, I leave the military appointments to Federer and the civil appointments to Clara and Peron.

Due to the sudden ennoblement and the turmoil over the territory, I hastily appointed Peron as the steward to oversee the civil officials.

This means that the farmlands of Bruto Island will be fully entrusted to the slaves, but this was already in the plan, so it's just an acceleration of the schedule.

However, the acceleration was too sudden, and the slaves are also confused, so I have asked Clara to follow up on this.

In March, a report reached the capital that the Bossum Empire's army, which had been attacking the western Beldez fortress, had withdrawn.

In this battle, the Holy Bandam Kingdom lost 30,000 soldiers, while the Bossum Empire lost 20,000 soldiers.

With a total of 50,000 casualties, this battle left a significant mark on both countries.

However, when the Bossum Empire withdrew, General Sevan pursued them and captured 4,000 prisoners.

While the Bossum Empire might be considered to have the upper hand in terms of casualties, the Holy Bandam Kingdom naturally declared victory.

However, even if it is nominally a victory, the loss of 30,000 soldiers is taken very seriously.

In such cases, someone must take responsibility, and usually, the person in command of the army is made to commit seppuku.

In this battle, it would be either General Sevan, who led the Black Army, or Duke Brennan, the Governor of the West.

While General Sevan, a single general, would normally be made to commit seppuku, Duke Brennan, a heavyweight of the noble faction, has the crime of damaging an imperial-level magic item, and the minimum condition to erase this crime was to gain territory from the Bossum Empire, which he failed to do. Therefore, it is believed that Duke Brennan will be the one to commit seppuku.

I am actively developing the Brutois region, but to do so, I first needed to establish a capital.

Expanding the existing village would be fine, but it would not align with my plans, so I decided to build a new town.

Before I talk about where to build the new town, let me explain the characteristics of the Brutois region.

The Brutois region is an island on land, surrounded by a great forest, a lake, the Rune Mountains, and the Felk Mountains.

The northern Rune Mountains are a series of thousands of meters high, making them difficult to cross, and to the south is a lake, beyond which is a vast forest that stretches from the western Felk Mountains to the eastern sea, blocking human passage.

The lake adjacent to the great forest is home to many aquatic monsters, so the only way for people to reach inhabited areas from the Brutois region is to cross the western Felk Mountains.

Moreover, this only route is very treacherous.

The Felk Mountains, which are over a thousand meters high, have paths that are barely passable, and no merchants cross the Felk Mountains, leading to a constant shortage of supplies, and the people who have moved to the new settlement are struggling.

Despite these conditions, the region has many plains and is, in a sense, a land ripe for development.

I decided to establish the capital on the lakeshore.

It is located west of the central part of the Brutois region, surrounded by the great forest on all sides except the north.

Another priority is to build a safe mountain pass through the western Felk Mountains to ensure a lifeline between the Brutois region and the Brutozels March.

While the Brutois region is not as vast as the Brutozels March, it is still a large area, and building the capital too far east would create a significant distance from the Brutozels March.

Therefore, my father thought that if a new capital were to be established, it should be near the Felk Mountains, which border the Brutozels March, and he preferred a location near the lake.

When he heard my plan, he was surprised and suggested reconsidering.

I wonder why he suggested reconsidering a location he thought was good; that's a surprise for later.

So, I am currently in the Brutois region, preparing the site for the new capital.

The monsters living in the lake and the great forest near the site are being relocated to the dungeon I manage, where I have provided them with living spaces.

By the way, I moved my dungeon from the Sejaka mine to a location near the new capital in the Rune Mountains.

What? Can dungeons be moved?

Normally, it's impossible, but I'm not normal; I'm a demigod and very skilled in space-time magic.

So, I spatially transferred the entire dungeon to my territory.

It was challenging to find a place with similar conditions to where the dungeon was, such as underground water veins, but I managed to swap the spaces, so both the old and new locations are stable.

I also built a quadruple-layered wall to take advantage of the terrain, not just for monster defense.

With such walls, I believe the residents can live in peace.

Even if I don't want monsters to get close, the residents will feel more secure if they can see the protection.

Returning to the topic, after building the walls, I will construct the castle in the best spot to view the lake.

This castle is more like a palace, but since the sturdy walls will repel any invaders, it's fine if the castle is more like a palace, and I have also set up defensive barriers.

The castle is also a place for politics, but in case of an emergency, it can be a place to hold out, so I have equipped it with large storage facilities underground to stockpile supplies.

I put the storage underground for aesthetic reasons and to prevent enemies from burning or poisoning the food supplies.

Additionally, I have taken measures to stop the passage of time in the underground storage to prevent the decay of supplies.

Outside the walls surrounding the castle, there is a residential area for my vassals, and beyond the second layer of walls, there are residential, commercial, and industrial areas for the general public, and beyond the third layer of walls, there are farmlands, with the fourth layer of walls at the outermost perimeter.

It has become quite large, including the outermost wall, but that's just a quirk.

I handled the castle and the vassals' residential area, but I will leave the city planning to Peron and Udo and focus on the road construction.

"I'm not surprised!"

Peron, you don't have to cry so much.

"Sir, you are a genius... no, a prodigy as rumored. To build something like this in just one day..."

Udo, I am a god, a demigod, to be precise.

"More importantly, I want the temple of the Magic God to be simple yet solemn. I am who I am today thanks to the Magic God. Also, please improve the transportation to the temple. I'll leave the rest to you and Udo."

"Understood."

"I understand! Leave everything to Udo Silves!"

"Good enthusiasm, but don't make mistakes."

"Got it, sir!"

Where are you from?

Udo has the ability, but his responses are too casual, so I have him under the more reliable Peron.

However, I can't really talk, and I don't dislike this kind of vibe.

"He has a strong character, but please do your best."

Peron was imagining the difficulties ahead and was hanging his head.

Udo, with his Special grade Earth attribute, is skilled in civil engineering and construction.

His magic power exceeds 500, on par with an elf, but it's impossible for him to build a city alone, so I have assigned the mages and magicians I hired to work under him, along with the craftsmen arranged by His Majesty and my father.

Peron will manage Udo and the others and oversee the city construction.

Despite the large-scale development, it hasn't required much manpower so far.

This is because I have been handling much of the construction, but to ensure economic benefits, His Majesty and my father have advised me to hold back a bit.

While I want to say, "I don't know about that!" economic revitalization is important.

Therefore, His Majesty and my father have said they will arrange personnel for the city construction at the expense of the royal family and the Brutozels March family.

This is also to create a fait accompli of the royal family and my family, the Brutozels March family, supporting the Brutois family, as a royal marriage is planned.

My next task is to build a fortress on the Felk Mountains while improving the road.

This is not only to monitor and eliminate the monsters on the Felk Mountains but also to station a unit for maintaining security, including anti-bandit measures.

The road improvement is a duty of a ruler, and it is crucial for economic revitalization, especially in areas without the threat of monsters.