| Author: Kataoka Naotaro | Original Source: Syosetu |
| Translator: Ankydon | English Source: Re:Library |
The Principality of Niza. Located to the northwest of the empire, it’s a country mostly populated by dwarves. It’s surrounded by the forest and mountains, the weapons and armor produced here are considered first-class and the country owns its wealth to it.
The mountains produce many kinds of ores. They have abundant mithril deposits as well as gold, silver, and copper mines. Due to that, it became the only country capable of working with orichalcum.
In case a calamity befalls the principality, the whole world will feel the shockwave. And if something threatens to cut off the supply of the best weapons and armor, the Hideta Empire won’t let that happen so easily.
I’ve made quite a bit of preparation before my departure. After all, there is a shortage of food in that country. To handle that, I’ve gathered the food harvested in Kurumfar, which was then purchased by the empire. The food will then be delivered as a show of support. It’s not like the food will magically appear once the problem is dealt with. They need at least a year’s worth of food to make it through.
With all that food in my infinite storage, I’ve departed. At first, I only thought to bring Gon, Ferris, and Irimo with me, but Mei and Luara insisted on tagging along.
In Mei’s case, with her father being a dwarf, she wanted to visit his hometown and learn the dwarves’ crafting techniques. I’ve decided to bring her over once I set up a teleportation formation on the other side. As for Luara, I’ve allowed her to tag along. If it comes to use fighting the deers, Ferris and I won’t be able to handle all of them, it’s preferable to have someone else capable of combat. We’ll have Luara hunt monsters to level up as we go.
First of all, we had to cross the forest lying between us and the Principality of Niza. There is also a giant valley separating us, but with Irimo it should pose no problem to us.
Turned out, reaching the valley wasn’t that hard. The harpies led by Jeneha cleared out most of the monsters in the forest, it almost seemed we went out for a picnic.
When we arrived at the valley, Gon and I jumped on Irimo while Ferris carried Luara over. We were attacked by some flying chickens along the way, by those are now resting in my infinite storage. Apparently, its name is Scary Bird. They use team strategies to hunt their prey. However, there was still a giant gap between them and the harpies in that regard.
Once on the other side. the scenery changed completely. A plant called Leak Feather could be seen all over the place. It looks like a small white flower, but the needles covering its leaves and stem contain potent paralytic poison. It’s often called 「Forest Trap」by the adventurers.
I should be okay since I have the resistance, but let’s put a barrier just in case. After a while, we bumped into a group of Curse Charole. As a matter of course, it was a great joy to hunt them down.
After three days of travel, we’ve finally crossed the forest and reached the fields.
「Uwa, that’s terrible」
「Indeed. It’s worse than I imagined」
「Uh, horrible」
More deers than I bothered to count were devouring the crops everywhere. Hundreds of them.
「Ah! Stop that now!」
「Enough!」
Looking towards the direction of the screams, I saw a family of dwarves trying to drive off the deers from their field. Man and woman were about the hight of a junior school student. A smaller dwarf, their daughter I assume, run around the fence surrounding the field screaming.
「Don’t eat! Don’t eat!」
「Enough is enough!」
The father-looking junior high school student took his ax and tried to enter the fence. Then, an adult-looking dwarf appeared and strangled the ax-dwarf.
「How about you stop!? They are the servants of the gods!」
「Screw the gods! It’s our crops they are eating!」
「Killing a deer is punishable by death in this country! Stop it right this moment!」
「Who cares!? There is only death awaiting us without these crops! Instead of dying of hunger I might as well be killed!」
Throwing off the assailant, the junior high school student dwarf went inside and attacked and swung his ax at a deer’s back. Having felt the pain, the deer jumped away and stared closely at the dwarf. 1
After a few seconds, the deer jumped over the fence with supernatural agility and gave a dwarf one last look before disappearing.
「What have you done, Gamihi?!」
「Don’t care! I did what had to be done!」
「Gamihi…..」
The junior high school student dwarf cried. I took a lunchbox as well as a part of Kurumfar food from my relief fund and headed towards the family.
「You can eat this if you don’t mind」
「!!!You!?…..An adventurer? A can’t accept your charity……」2
「It’s fine. We have too much anyway. By the way, am I correct to assume we are in the Principality of Niza?」
「……Yeah, you are. The Principality of Niza. But you are out of luck. This country has no food to spare. No inn will serve you a meal」
「I’ve heard the rumors. We are fine on that front. We have food for days. Can you please give me the direction to the royal palace?」
「Follow that road until you see a big city. The royal palace won’t be hard to spot」
「Thank you very much. Would you take this food as payment for your help?」
「…..Are you sure?」
「Of course」
「…..Sorry. You have my gratitude」
The dwarf named Gamihi, immediately led us into his hut the moment he thanked us.
「Thank you a lot. How can I possibly repay you?」
「Don’t mind」
「Are you an adventurer? Can you drive away those deers?」
「Don’t be rude, Jani!」
「Is that damage that serious?」
According to my information, the deer’s population inflated about two years ago. Later they started raiding villages and eating the crops. The Principality of Niza is a tiny country. Moreover, as it’s a mountainous country, it barely produces enough food to sustain itself. To conclude, the damage was immeasurable.
The country managed to hold on the first year due to its emergency food stores, but that option wasn’t available in the second year. The country failed to provide for all of its people despite the assistance of other countries. The country somehow made it through the winter, but the food essentially ran out two weeks ago. That’s why the Dwarf King requested the assistance of the Hideta Empire.
After I left about a week’s worth of food with the family, I headed towards the royal palace. On our way, we encountered deers and the signs of their devastation many times.
「I wonder how many deers there are」
「Hard to tell. It’s a blessing they don’t attack anyone」
「However, when there is nothing to eat anymore…..」
「They might just attack a person」
「We have to stop them before that happens」
It didn’t take us long to enter the city and reach the royal palace. The smoke was rising from buildings all around us. Most likely the workshops. There were all kinds of armor and weapon stores, though most of them were closed.
When I introduced myself to the guards, they almost jumped in joy and many soldiers came out to greet me with great enthusiasm. We soon arrived in a large room. Judging by the excessive decor, this room definitely belonged to royalty. After a while, the prime minister, Yuri, appeared to greet us.
「I appreciate you arriving so fast. I’ve been looking forward to Marquis’ arrival. You’ll meet the king tomorrow. Take it easy for today」
「Excuse me……I’ve brought the relief supplies from the empire」
「I’m most grateful! I wish to accept them immediately is it’s possible」
「This place might be a bit too small」
「Very well, follow me」
He guided me towards a spacious basement. Very dim, very creepy basement.
「This is the place where we store our food. As you can probably see, there is nothing here we can call “food” any longer. Your assistance came when we needed it the most」
I’ve begun the extraction of food from my infinite storage. The prime minister’s eyes went round at first, but, eventually, there was a wide smile on his face.
「T-This much food will help us last for months. Marquis Versam, we are truly truly grateful」
The prime minister tightly gripped my hand and arranged for the guards to sort through the vast amounts of food.
「Tonight, you shall enjoy the specialties of our country to your heart’s content」
At night, the dishes were brought into our quarters. As expected of a mountainous country, the dishes were mostly based on vegetables. For now, we decided to just take a bite.
「……Queer」
「Can’t quite find the word to describe it」
「It’s bad, just bad」
「Not tasty……」
It tastes like one bite is enough. How should I put it? None of the bitterness was removed. Maybe they weren’t processed at all.
Immediately, I’ve brought everyone back to our mansion. Only Ferris was left behind. She has a perfect skillset to let me know of any sudden visitors.
What followed next was a delightful meal prepared by Rico and Peris. Then I supplied decided Irimo with several carrots as well as a lunchbox to deliver Ferris on the other side.
I’ve told Rico about my plans to stay in the royal palace for a while. Everything went without a hitch, yet my heart was not at peace. I just want to deal with this problem as soon as possible and come back to her side again.
I’ve brought the carrots to Irimo in the stables.
「That’s a lifesaver. The food there is rather unpleasant」
Perhaps a dwarf’s sense of taste is different from ours.
The quarters given to us had three whole bedrooms with two beds in each of them. Apparently, one of them is for royalty while the others are for guards and servants. The biggest room was mine, the other two Ferris’ and Luara’s respectively. Gon occupied the sofa in the reception room.
I looked at my side and saw no one. Perhaps It’s a good idea to bring Rico or Mei along during the night.
