Lananon: Rusty's daughter and Draim's granddaughter. A dragon.
Miyo: A little girl maid from Village Four (Sun Castle). Currently performing work similar to a secretary for Magistrate Ifuls.
The summer harvest had begun.
We pushed through the work all at once, utilizing everyone available in the village as well as those who had come from the other villages to assist.
Oh? I noticed the children were helping out as well. That was a significant help. I made sure to tell them to listen to whatever Guronde said.
Hiichiro, Gral, and Lananon were working separately, it seemed. Ah, they were harvesting daikon with Draim. I left them to it.
The Civil Official Girls took charge of checking the types and quantities of the harvest. Anything that required processing was transported to the various processing plants. Everyone was incredibly efficient; they had done this three times a year for a while now. I had to work hard to make sure I wasn't outdone.
Once the harvest was finished, I would need to till the fields for the autumn planting, but before that, we held a small banquet to reward everyone’s hard work. I felt particularly grateful to those who had traveled from the other villages to help.
The centerpiece was a barbecue featuring premium cuts of meat along with freshly harvested vegetables. I told everyone not to hold back. I intended to keep grilling, so I wanted them to keep eating.
"Draim, is the simmered daikon ready?" I asked.
It looked perfect—everything from the chamfering to the score-cutting was masterfully done.
"Hm? Ah, Lananon."
I explained that chamfering meant rounding off the corners of the vegetables after cutting them so they wouldn't fall apart while simmering. Score-cutting involved making small incisions to help the flavor soak in more easily.
"Are you interested in cooking?" I asked her. "If so, you should ask Ann and the others about it."
She told me she wanted to learn Draim’s specific style.
"I see. Well, you can ask him about it later. Yes, definitely later."
I said that because if she asked him now, Draim’s tears of joy would likely fall right into the food.
Later, I wielded the hoe of my Universal Farming Tool to till the fields. Time always seemed to fly whenever I used it. Or perhaps my tilling speed had simply increased? No, conceit was a dangerous thing. I decided to attribute it to the Tool’s performance improving. The Universal Farming Tool seemed quite proud of itself. Once I was finished, I planned to give it a thorough polishing. Even though the dirt vanished whenever I put it away, I wanted to show my gratitude through my actions.
If you headed north from Shashato City, you would eventually hit the Iron Forest, and beyond that lay the mountains where Draim’s Nest was located. Despite the harsh environment, there was a road leading north from the city. It was a solid road, though it clearly hadn't been maintained for years. I wondered what it had been for. Was it built specifically to reach Draim’s Nest?
As it turned out, the answer was no.
"It appears there was once a large city north of Shashato City," Miyo reported.
Miyo had been working hard in Shashato City, and now that the short-distance Teleportation Gates were installed, I saw her much more often.
"When I say 'large,' it was apparently smaller than the current Shashato City," she continued. "It's located about five days' travel north of the city, inside the forest just before the Iron Forest. An adventurer team discovered the ruins a few months ago."
"Is that so?"
"The discovering team held the primary exploration rights, but the monsters and magic beasts living there were so strong they decided to sell those rights instead."
"I didn't know you could sell things like that."
"Oh, yes. Magistrate Ifuls of Shashato City bought them. Well, I was the one who suggested it to him, actually."
"Try not to be too hard on him," I cautioned.
"I work enough for him that I’m entitled to make a few requests," she replied. "Besides, I have no intention of letting him waste money. This is a legitimate business opportunity."
"How so?"
"The city to the north was called Shatto City. It’s an ancient religious city that existed even before Shashato City was founded."
"A religious city?"
"Yes, it’s full of religious structures. It seems the people there worshipped the Gate Guardian Dragons."
That was a pity. It was a shame to see such a place fall into ruin.
"To be fair, it was destroyed about twenty-five hundred years ago."
Twenty-five hundred years. That was a staggering amount of time. I wondered if the role of Gate Guardian Dragon had existed for that long.
Wait... twenty-five hundred years? That sounded familiar. Ah, that matched the timeline of when The Boxes were dropped. I wondered if they knew anything about it.
"I had the same thought, so I asked them," Miyo said. "It turns out they were likely in transit to that very city when they fell."
What a strange coincidence. Or perhaps not—they would have naturally been flying over the forest on their way there.
"However, since they fell before arriving, they don't have much actual information about the place."
"I suppose that makes sense."
"Next, I asked Draim-sama, since he is the current Gate Guardian Dragon, but it was before his time. He didn't know anything. I even asked Dos-sama and Giral-sama, but they both said the city was already gone by the time they were born."
"I see."
Then how did Miyo know this was a business opportunity? Where did she get the information about it being a religious city that worshipped dragons if even Dos and Draim didn't know?
"Lady Versa knew," Miyo explained. "She says it was destroyed by someone, which means there’s a high probability that treasure and property remain untouched."
Lady Versa, Progenitor-san’s wife. Of course she would know.
"Do we know who destroyed it?"
"Lady Versa is a shut-in by nature, so she isn't very well-versed in historical details like that."
It couldn't be helped. Besides, if it happened twenty-five hundred years ago, it probably didn't matter who did it.
"Exactly. And that brings me to my point, Village Head."
"What is it?"
"Would you like to investigate it? I’m prepared to let you keep any treasures found during the search."
"All of them?"
"Yes."
"Then how do you intend to make a profit?"
"If the Village Head handles the investigation, the local monsters and magic beasts will be cleared out in the process. Once the area is safe, there are plenty of ways to monetize it. My first plan is to lease the site to Ire’s filming crew. They’ve been having trouble filming in inhabited cities, so I want to give them a dedicated location where they can do whatever they want."
I see—a dedicated movie set.
"Since it’s already a ruin, they can remodel it however they like. We would need to connect it via Teleportation Gate, but since it would create jobs, it’s a project Shashato City would be happy to support."
Miyo clearly saw the potential in the film industry.
"I watched a movie in Village Five," she said. "That kind of entertainment is a guaranteed money-maker, and the demand will only grow. It’s a safe investment."
Tiselle had written something very similar in her last letter. I wondered if Miyo had been the one to suggest it to her.
"Actually, it was the other way around. Tiselle-sama was the one who told me I should go see a movie."
That made sense.
"So," Miyo asked, "what is your answer to the request?"
Under normal circumstances, I might have agreed immediately, but I decided to handle things differently today.
"I'll give you an answer after I've consulted with my wives. Give me until tomorrow."
"Understood. I'll look forward to hearing your decision."
Of course, Miyo had already laid the groundwork with them, so I knew none of my wives would actually object. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of persuasion she had used. I’d have to get her to tell me the secret later.