Paper-wrapped hamburger steak.
Ideally, I would have used aluminum foil, but since that didn't exist here, we wrapped them in washi. The residents of Village One had worked tirelessly to develop a specific type of washi that wouldn't soak up too much of the meat's juices. Thanks to their efforts, we were able to serve a truly delicious meal.
These paper-wrapped steaks were especially popular with the children. They enjoyed the flavor, of course, but there was something about the mystery of the wrapper that they seemed to love.
When the dish appeared at dinner, the children broke into cheers. The High Ogre maids who had prepared the meal beamed at the reception. Even among the adults, not a single person had a complaint.
However, an incident occurred.
When you open a paper-wrapped steak, the steam inside can be quite intense. Even if it isn't hot enough to cause a burn, it can certainly give you a start. Worried about this, Raimeiren had reached over and torn open Hiichiro’s wrapper for him.
"Where exactly is the 'incident' in that?" Dos asked. He hadn't been at the table because he was busy with a game of mahjong.
"Apparently, he wanted to tear it open himself," I explained.
Currently, Hiichiro was holed up in his room, sulking. Raimeiren was standing right outside his door, apologizing profusely, while Gral watched from the side with a worried expression.
"Wouldn't it be easiest just to make him a new one?" Dos suggested.
That probably would have worked, but we couldn't do it.
"There is no need to feed a child who sulks over something so trivial," Hakuren had declared.
Certainly, Raimeiren was at fault for opening it without asking, but Hiichiro surely knew that she had acted out of kindness. Even so, he remained in a foul mood.
I wondered why.
"Is it possible he's just jealous because his mother is focusing so much on the child in her womb?"
The suggestion came from Isree, Urza's friend. Her insight gave me pause. Because Raimeiren did so much of the heavy lifting when it came to childcare, it was easy to forget that Hakuren was Hiichiro's mother. Hakuren still looked after him, of course, but the amount of time she spent with him had naturally decreased since she became pregnant.
Was this my cue to step in as a father?
I made a move to get up, but Dos stopped me, telling me to stay out of it. It was a bit hurtful that he didn't trust me to handle it. I felt I was reasonably popular with the kids... or was that not the issue?
Ah, it looked like Hakuren had headed toward Hiichiro’s room herself. I decided to leave it to her.
In the end, she managed to fix his mood. As a result, dinner the following night was also paper-wrapped hamburger steak. That specialty paper was quite precious, but I suppose it was worth it.
"Village Head, I have a few things to discuss concerning Village Five."
As Yoko spoke, I shifted into work mode, though I stayed firmly planted in the kotatsu. Her concerns involved the paper production currently underway in Village Five. We had brought in experts from Village One to start the industry there, but the output hadn't been increasing as expected.
Upon investigation, they discovered that Village Five simply wasn't the right environment for it. Papermaking required a massive amount of clean water, and the supply there was insufficient.
"I see," I said. "So, what’s the plan?"
Yoko wanted Village Five to step back from direct production. Instead, she proposed teaching the techniques to the surrounding villages and having them handle the labor. She was asking for my permission to move forward.
I didn't mind granting it, but I had one condition.
"A condition? I already intend to maintain a monopoly on purchasing whatever they produce," Yoko said.
"A monopoly? You're going to buy all of it?"
"I believe it’s a necessary step to stabilize the market price."
Well, that made sense. I just hoped she would buy it at a fair price.
"That will depend on the quality," she replied firmly. "If I pamper them, they’ll never master the craft. So, what was your condition?"
"Right. Reforestation," I said. "Papermaking requires wood as well as water. I want it to be a rule that for every tree they cut down, they have to plant a new one."
"Ah, the 'environmental destruction' you're always talking about. It seems to me that we could cut down trees forever without running out, but..."
"That might be true for weeds, but trees take a long time to grow. I don't want us handing out technology only to end up with a bunch of barren, bald mountains."
"I suppose that’s a fair concern. Very well. I’ll proceed with that condition in place."
I left the details to her. As Yoko departed, the kittens that had been hiding inside the kotatsu poked their heads out. Ariel, Haniel, Zeruel, and Samael... The older sister cats were all busy riding on the tiger's back, so these four had the kotatsu all to themselves.
"You can't stay in there forever, though," I told them. "We have to cycle the air once in a while."
As I was ventilating the kotatsu, the Demon King arrived. The kittens immediately flocked to him. I felt a twinge of jealousy.
"Village Head, do you have a moment?"
It seemed the Demon King was here for business as well. To my surprise, Lu joined us. It turned out she and the Demon King had something significant to share.
Lu had successfully completed the teleportation gates.
"That's incredible!" I exclaimed.
"Mass production is still a challenge because of the materials," Lu explained. "But I can provide enough to fulfill the Demon King’s plan."
"The Demon King's plan? How many do you need?"
"I intend to connect the Demon Kingdom's capital and Shashato City," the Demon King announced.
I went quiet for a moment. If those two locations were linked, what would happen? If I recalled correctly, it was a distance that usually took thirty days by carriage. The economic impact would be staggering.
But wait. I had to be sure.
"Are you really going to make the existence of teleportation gates public? Isn't that dangerous?"
I remembered being warned about the gates I owned. People had told me that possessing such power would needlessly threaten other nations.
"The Kingdom has debated this at length," the Demon King assured me. "We’ve concluded that it will be fine."
"Are you sure?"
"The gates Lady Lu created are... unique," he said.
Lu made a slightly sulky face at his words. "The travel distance on my gates is quite short."
"I see. So how does that help?"
"Exactly," the Demon King continued. "To bridge the gap between the capital and Shashato, we will need fourteen sets of gates."
"If we could place them in a straight line, it would only take half that many," Lu added. "But since they're different from the ancient ones, we're calling them short-distance teleportation gates."
So that was why they needed so many.
"Furthermore," the Demon King said, "we won't announce that Lady Lu made them. We’ll claim they were discovered in an archaeological ruin and release them that way. We'll be very specific about the number we 'found' as well."
That seemed like a smart way to handle it. Other nations might be less threatened if they thought the Kingdom was just utilizing limited ancient relics.
"Of course, they probably won't believe our numbers entirely, but it should be enough to obscure Lady Lu's involvement. Now, as for the placement..."
The Demon King produced a map and showed me the sites. They planned to install the gates in the various towns and villages between the capital and Shashato, creating a relay system.
"We will place certain restrictions on their use," he explained. "For starters, using the short-distance gates will be free of charge."
"Free? Is that sustainable?"
"There is a catch. For every gate you use, you are required to spend one night at your destination before using the next one."
"A one-night stay?"
"It’s a measure to protect the local economies of the towns hosting the gates. We don't want travelers simply bypassing them."
It seemed like a bit of a hassle for travelers, but I understood the necessity for the local residents.
"We will have to monitor for price gouging at the inns, of course," the Demon King added. "We’ll dispatch the military to manage security and administration for the gates. If a town lacks enough lodging, the Kingdom will build more."
The Demon King's explanation was incredibly thorough. He had clearly put a lot of thought into this. The one-night rule would be waived for military personnel, and merchants or travelers in a hurry could pay a fee to bypass the wait. The fee would scale based on the size of the carriage and the volume of cargo. This allowed them to regulate the flow of people and goods while generating revenue.
"Safety on the roads will be vastly improved, and the bond between the capital and Shashato will grow much stronger."
It was a massive undertaking, but if the Demon King was taking full responsibility, I didn't see an issue. Still, I wondered why he was telling me all this.
"The truth is, we lack the funds to execute the entire project. I was hoping you might invest."
In exchange for my funding, he offered to let anyone associated with me use the gates freely. I was surprised the national budget couldn't cover it, but apparently, there wasn't enough of a surplus. If they allowed merchants to fund it, those merchants would gain too much influence.
I wasn't sure. I didn't need more money, but I didn't want to throw it away either. What would the benefit be for me? Then I realized: if the capital and Shashato were linked, the effective distance between this village and the capital would be reduced to almost nothing. It would take only a day to get from Village Five to Shashato, and then a series of instant jumps to the capital.
I could visit Urza, Alfred, and Tiselle at the Academy whenever I wanted. That was a huge benefit.
As I was weighing the options, Lu gave me a knowing smile.
"The number of gate sets I actually produced is fifteen," she said.
She pointed to the map.
"What do you think about installing the fifteenth set in Village Five and connecting it directly to Shashato City?"
I didn't need to hear anything else. I called for Yoko, and after an hour-long consultation, I officially decided to invest in the project.