Being afraid of bugs was a trait you could find anywhere.
Even Alon didn't particularly like them.
Back in his old world, the instant he saw a cockroach, the first thing that flashed through his mind was, I'm screwed.
So it wasn't strange for someone to have a fear of insects—but seeing Kylrus act like this was genuinely fresh, and honestly kind of fascinating.
This place was a fantasy world, to begin with.
Unless it was somewhere kept obsessively clean, bugs popped up anywhere.
Meaning it was actually harder to find people who were truly afraid of bugs here than it was back in modern times.
Even nobles traveled by carriage as a matter of course, so they were constantly on the road.
They might find bugs irritating, but you almost never saw anyone outright afraid of them.
Anyway, Alon looked down at Kylrus, who had passed out the moment Blackie turned into a spider, and felt both amused and oddly impressed.
It was funny, but...
'...Does it really have to be that dramatic?'
Alon stroked Blackie, who was stuck to him in the shape of a sulky cat, and looked forward.
In front of them stood a gigantic dragon.
A dragon so massive it made even the dragons Alon always fought for training look small enough to make you gasp.
Alon lifted his gaze toward the sky.
It felt like he had to crank his neck past seventy degrees—
and even then, he could barely make out the very top of the dragon's head.
Kylrus was up there.
Kylrus said something.
Of course, Alon couldn't hear a thing.
He was too far away.
All Alon could do was guess from the way Kylrus's mouth moved.
"Hey, I can't hear you. Can you come down a little?"
Thankfully, it seemed Alon's voice carried to the other side, because the dragon's body—towering like it didn't even know what "sky" meant—shrank a bit.
...Just a bit.
Thanks to that, Alon only had to tilt his head at sixty-nine degrees instead of seventy.
Kylrus seemed to say something again.
"Come down more. I seriously can't hear you."
When Alon said [N O V E L I G H T] it again, Kylrus finally—after a moment of silence—reduced the dragon's size.
...Even so, Alon still had to look up.
Maybe sixty degrees this time.
"Now you can hear—"
Alon stared at Kylrus like he couldn't believe this, then said,
"Blackie, go back in for a bit."
[Kyuu—]
Alon shoved Blackie back in.
Only then did the dragon Kylrus had made start shrinking in earnest, until it finally reached a size where they could actually have a conversation.
"...You're not coming down?"
"We can talk just fine from here."
As if the whole thing with him foaming at the mouth and passing out had never happened, Kylrus wore his usual cool expression again.
But the moment Alon put a hand on his chest—right where Blackie was—Kylrus shot upward like a spring.
Watching that, Alon left himself a brief impression.
'So this is what people mean by... a "man-child"... or whatever.'
Then he stopped messing around and got to the point.
"...Let's talk."
"First, I'll say this. My knowledge might not be that helpful."
"Why?"
"I dealt with dragons, not shadow dragons."
Still perched on the dragon's head and keeping his distance, Kylrus continued.
"But keeping that in mind, let's talk. Dragons can freely change their appearance. However, like you described—absorbing something and using its power—that isn't possible."
"...So this is a shadow dragon trait?"
"I want to say that's probably the case... but..."
"Is there a problem?"
At Alon's question, Kylrus went, "Hmm," like he was thinking something over, then continued.
"By nature, a shadow dragon grows by constantly eating."
Alon nodded.
He'd heard that before from Kylrus, back when Blackie ate Lakrakkamur.
"But I've never even heard of a shadow dragon using the abilities of what it ate."
"Then does that mean Blackie is special?"
"...If I had to form one theory, it's probably an ability it gained as it grew."
"An ability it gained as it grew?"
"Dragons, as they grow, gain not only strength, but a single innate ability. Shadow dragons should be the same."
Kylrus's explanation continued.
"And the ability they gain is shaped to match compatibility with their partner."
"...Shadow dragons too?"
"Yes. And based on that fact, if we make an inference..."
"...Blackie's ability is related to me."
"It's only a theory. But if that's the case, it does explain why it can not only transform into Divine blood, but even use their abilities."
Alon nodded—only to stop.
"But."
"What?"
"...Could you come down a little?"
He pointed out that Kylrus was still keeping distance up there.
"I will."
"...When?"
"After you leave."
At that answer—
Alon made a face like he'd lost all words.
Not long after, Alon exited back out.
"Oh, you're out, Marquis!"
"Yeah."
"So, how was it?"
At Penia's question, Alon hesitated briefly, then left a short impression.
"...He's not cool. He's just acting cool."
The next day.
Alexion, Penia, Evan, and Sili gathered in the office to talk about what they'd put off yesterday.
"...So the first thing we need to resolve at this point is that shantytown?" Alon asked.
"Yes. Other problems can be dealt with one way or another, but that part is complicated."
At Alexion's nod, Alon fell into thought.
'...I need citizens.'
When it came to building a kingdom, citizens were essential.
The kingdom ran on taxes, and the number of citizens was a measure of the kingdom's prosperity.
And from Alon's perspective—since he had to gather faith—the more citizens, the better.
...Of course, at first, the sheer number had stunned him for a moment.
"I have a question," Evan said, who'd been listening quietly while Alon thought.
"What is it?"
"This is just my thought, but... wouldn't it be fine to leave the shantytown alone without doing anything?"
"...Just leave it?"
"Yes. I mean, there's no real reason the Marquis has to do anything for them, is there?"
"Hm."
In some ways, Evan's point was reasonable.
No matter how rich Alon was, he didn't have the resources to provide every person outside his territory with a place to sleep and food to eat.
Even with the treasure piled up under him, it wasn't the kind of wealth you could burn through like that without blinking.
"That's true," Penia said. "But if we leave it like that, a lot of problems will happen."
"Like what?"
"Isn't it obvious? Public order will get worse, and before long it'll turn into a slum."
She added, "A shantytown that big makes it easy for the underworld to hide."
Alexion agreed.
"That's correct. If that happens, merchants will stop coming here on their own. One reason merchants started coming here in the first place was because it was safe from bandits."
"And if we kick them out to prevent public order from getting worse, that'll be a loss for the Marquis," Penia added.
"...It's hard to come to a clean conclusion," Alon muttered.
As Alon wrestled with Alexion and Penia's opinions, Sili—who'd been silent until now—cut in.
"Can I offer an idea?"
"Do you have a good plan?"
Sili looked like she was thinking, then answered.
"First, I think we can move about half of the people here to Divine Land."
"...To Divine Land?"
"Yes. People are gathering in Divine Land too, but there's still plenty of room."
"That would definitely give us breathing room to think of a countermeasure," Penia said in a worried voice. "But... moving people won't be easy..."
But Sili spoke like she had it handled.
"Don't worry about that!"
"...Don't worry?"
"Yes. If you give me about a week, I'll make it so they can move on their own."
She said it with a smile.
At that smile, the others fell silent for a moment.
The four of them exchanged subtle looks.
But then Penia cleared her throat and asked,
"Well... if we assume we send about half... what do we do with the other half?"
"Mm—if it's reduced by half, I have a good idea."
"A good idea?"
"Yes."
Alexion cleared his throat too.
"Either way, with the current size of the territory, we can't take them all in. So we should focus on expanding the territory and hire them as workers."
"...As workers?"
"Yes. That way we naturally secure the labor needed for the expansion, and we help them financially."
"...So we use them as labor, and by providing financial support, we let them settle. That's the idea."
"Exactly."
"But if we start spending resources like that, won't we end up burning through everything before long...?" Alon pointed out.
Alexion let out a quiet laugh.
"Don't worry. There's a way to recover all of it."
"A way to recover it?"
"Yes. First, as we expand, we build a lot of inns. Even now, the Marquis's territory is so packed that merchants don't have places to stay."
"...And we offset the cost we spent through those inns?"
"That's right. And if we build inns and increase hiring, we'll be able to clear out the shantytown easily without much resistance. Other nobles would just bulldoze it, but your image matters, doesn't it? And besides that—"
As Alexion laid out a plan that used labor rationally and recovered the marquis's resources efficiently, Alon was reminded, all over again, of exactly who Alexion was.
'Even if he's like this now... he used to be someone who had Raksas's slums in the palm of his hand....'
Reconfirming Alexion's competence made Alon nod without realizing it.
"However, there is one problem," Alexion said.
"A problem?"
"Yes. For expansion, we need materials, but at the moment, it isn't easy to secure construction materials. With everything that's been happening lately..."
"...True."
It was only natural that materials would be hard to get right now.
"Anyway, to get materials, we'll have to procure them ourselves or bring them in, but prices right now are honestly at a level that doesn't even make sense..."
"First, let's ask for help in a few places."
"I'll also do what I can to secure suppliers."
"And if there's someone willing to sell a lot of materials, it might be good to meet them directly and talk."
"Negotiations, then. I'll arrange that separately."
After adjusting a few detailed points at the end, Alon said,
"Then we'll end it here."
And the meeting concluded.
The merchant lord of the trading company called "Singing Money," a man named "Tun," had been dealing with a headache lately.
It wasn't just his headache—it was a problem for the entire company.
Bandits had suddenly increased.
A bandit suppression craze had swept through once and wiped out the bandits of the Allied Kingdoms, but—
after some time passed, like it was a lie, bandits had grown in number again.
And those bandits were a massive nuisance to merchants.
Even just today, Tun had almost had his goods stolen, so he entered a tavern with a tired sigh—
"...Huh?"
And realized the atmosphere was strange.
If you looked closely, the mood among the mercenaries and everyone else was the same as usual.
The difference was over where the merchants were gathered together.
As Tun approached—
"Tun, you're here?"
Someone spoke to him like they knew him.
Tun didn't have trouble guessing who it was.
"...Malgam?"
"It's been a while."
"You were here?"
"Yes. I'm on my way back after stopping by Fildagreen."
Malgam was a middle-aged man who ran a fairly massive trading company called Golden Hwang.
Tun nodded and naturally took a seat with him.
"But what's with the mood?"
"Ah, you mean right now?"
"Yes."
Malgam cleared his throat and glanced around, then—
"Don't be too surprised. An opportunity has come."
"...An opportunity?"
"Yes. A once-in-a-lifetime chance to get a line to Marquis Palatio...!"
He whispered it to Tun.
...Words that, in a way subtly different from Alon's intent, had become strangely twisted among the merchants, taking on a corrupted meaning.

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