Gratz: One of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Kingdom. A member of the Minotaur race.
Ronana: Gratz's wife. A member of the Minotaur race.
Frau: Official name, Fraurem. Beezel's daughter.
Fracia: Official name, Fraciabell. The daughter of the Village Head and Frau.
Yuri: The Demon King's daughter.
I sliced a slit into a round bun, stuffed it with a bit of shredded cabbage and a croquette, and drizzled it with sauce. Done: one croquette burger. Zabuton ate it immediately.
Next, I sliced into another round bun, packed it with yakisoba, scattered some pickled ginger on top, and finished it with a swirl of mayonnaise. Done: one yakisoba burger. Giral ate that one immediately.
During the picnic the other day, I hadn't had the time to prepare croquettes or yakisoba, so I couldn't make these. It had been weighing on my mind, so I decided to give it a shot today. Both Zabuton and Giral seemed to take quite a liking to them. I was glad they enjoyed them, but I really wished they would stop eating the burgers the very second I finished them. It completely drained my sense of accomplishment. I wanted to see them all stacked up and think, Look at that, I managed to make quite a few... Fine, whatever. Go ahead and eat. Just don't eat every single one. There were probably others who would want a taste—like the Demon King, who couldn't make it to the picnic.
The Demon King was in a noticeably good mood today. It was likely because the issues surrounding the short-distance teleportation gates had finally been sorted out.
It turned out that several merchant companies had been operating behind the scenes, inciting resistance in the villages along the route. Their scheme was to use smooth talk to manipulate village heads and residents into opposing the gates; once the project stalled, they planned to offer to "persuade" the villagers in exchange for a piece of the teleportation gate business. It was a nasty trick—letting the installation proceed and then sabotaging the operation. Or perhaps they simply hadn't been able to organize their opposition in time for the construction phase. Regardless, Beezel reported with a satisfied expression that the Dalfon Company in the Royal Capital had exposed the plot, crushed the conspirators, and finally brought the short-distance teleportation gates into full-scale operation.
As an investor in the gates myself, I welcomed their formal launch. This would make traveling to and from the Royal Capital much easier. If the mood struck me, I could go see Urza and the others in an instant. That was a significant improvement.
However, while I was celebrating the news, a bit of a problem had also cropped up. It concerned Gratz, who had been commuting to the Royal Capital from the Village of the Great Tree by way of Village Five and the short-distance gates. During the trial period, the wait times to pass through the gates were essentially zero. His commute consisted of the time spent traveling from the mansion to the Great Tree Dungeon, moving through the dungeon, and then the trip from Yoko's Mansion—which sat atop the small mountain where the village's gate was located—down to the base of the mountain in Village Five, where the short-distance gate was stationed. By my estimation, it took about an hour.
However, now that the gates were in full operation, formal procedures and inspections were required at every checkpoint, creating significant wait times. His commute time had spiked. It now took about two and a half hours, which was brutal. A round trip meant five hours of travel.
Ronana told Gratz that he didn’t need to come home every single day, but Gratz insisted that the Village of the Great Tree was his home. He even went so far as to declare that if he couldn’t see Ronana's face daily, he would resign from the military. As a result, Beezel had been forced to resume picking him up and dropping him off using teleportation magic. Healing the exhausted Beezel’s spirit had become the recent primary duty for Frau and Fracia.
It was a bit much to leave Beezel in such a state, so I was looking for solutions. First, I suggested they prepare a room for Gratz and Ronana in Yoko’s Mansion so they could stay overnight there. Ronana would travel from Yoko’s Mansion to the Village of the Great Tree for her work, while Gratz would head from the mansion to the Royal Capital. It put a burden on Ronana, but she was the one who requested the arrangement. Furthermore, to shorten Gratz's travel time even slightly, I was trying to secure a giant horse capable of carrying a Minotaur. I was currently in the stage of requesting this from Michael-san of the Goroun Company, so it would still be a while before we actually got one. This was about as much as I could do. I just had to hope the Demon King and his officials would work hard to create a system where military personnel received priority passage through the gates.
... Frau looked like she had something she wanted to say to Beezel. I was sorry, but she had to hold it in. It was still in the planning stages.
The very first proposal for a solution was the installation of a direct teleportation gate from the Village of the Great Tree Dungeon to the Royal Capital. Unfortunately, that still required a great deal of research from Lu, so we weren't making that public until there was a clear prospect of success. It would be cruel to give everyone false hope. The only ones who knew were me, Lu, Tia, Frau, Ann, and Zabuton. Oh, and since they were right there during the discussion, Kuro and Yuki probably knew too. I was personally looking forward to the opening of the direct gate, if only to separate Beezel from Fracia, who he was currently stuck to like glue.
Despite Gratz's personal woes, the general public received the full operation of the short-distance teleportation gates with open arms. After all, a journey that previously took thirty days by carriage could now be completed in a few hours. Beyond just traveling merchants, people who had never set foot outside their own towns were using them for a bit of sightseeing. While the Royal Capital, Shashato City, and Village Five were seeing a surge in tourists, the anticipated shortage of inns never materialized. It seemed people preferred to just go home rather than stay the night. This was likely because the usage fees for the gates had been waived. I heard the owners of the inns currently being built across the land were looking quite worried. I had also given the order to build several inns in Village Five... but I was told it wouldn't be an issue.
One day. Yuri, Frau, and the Civil Official Girls were gathered in the mansion hall, all dressed up in gowns. Yuri snapped her fingers. Frau followed suit and snapped hers. The Civil Official Girls snapped theirs in turn. Then, they began to move while continuing the rhythm. ? It wasn't a graceful way to walk; it was the swaggering stride of a street tough. As I was wondering what on earth was going on, Yuri and the others burst into song and dance. Seriously, what was this? Wait, I did recognize it. It was a musical. What I didn't understand was why they were practicing it here. I turned to Ann, who was watching the display with me, and asked. "Lady Yuri and the others are going to see the festival in the Royal Capital soon, aren't they?" Ah, that was right. Thanks to the teleportation gates, the capital was now effectively next door. Yuri had invited the Civil Official Girls to see the festivities, and I had given my permission. Most of them hadn't left the village since they first arrived. "I am told that this is a performance they intend to give there," Ann explained. Had someone requested they perform at the festival? "No. Apparently, it is so they won't be looked down upon by the other graduates of the Noble Academy." ............ Just when I thought I had finally grown accustomed to this world, it reminded me I still had a long way to go. There were many things I simply couldn't understand.
By the way, I was also invited to the festival in the capital, but I politely declined. Since I had spent that private time with Rusty recently, a bit of a queue had formed among my other wives. Today was Lu's turn. I wonder where I should take her—and these croquette and yakisoba burgers.