Chapter 269
Chapter 269
"Big brother Zeke!"
A brown-skinned girl with twin braids ran toward Zeke.
She threw herself into Zeke's arms.
Simon, who hurriedly followed behind, sweated profusely with an uncomfortable look.
"Y-Your Majesty. Y-You must maintain your dignity."
The girl in Zeke's arms was Vivian Cusco, the last bloodline of the Cusco Kingdom.
Zeke patted Vivian's shoulder and welcomed her warmly.
"It's been a while, Lady Vivian."
Previously, Zeke had rescued Vivian when she was held hostage by Don Juan and protected her from falling into the rebels' hands.
Afterward, with Zeke's help, Simon absorbed all of Mekein Cartel forces and drove out the rebels, allowing her to reclaim her throne and become queen.
Now fourteen years old, Vivian followed Zeke like an older brother who had saved her when she was young.
Seeing Simon's uncomfortable expression, Zeke nodded as if to say it was fine.
Carrying the clinging Vivian, Zeke conversed with Simon.
"It's been a while, Simon."
"I've been focused on kingdom affairs. I heard occasional news through Kei, but seeing you in person, you've made even more progress since then."
Simon sensed the aura emanating from Zeke and realized he had grown several levels stronger.
Zeke answered with just a smile, then led Simon and Vivian inside the camp.
Senior personnel were seated at a temporary round table conference room.
"Kei! Boris!"
Vivian, who had been clinging to Zeke, ran to Kei and Boris.
Boris knew Vivian because he had been in charge of organizing the cartel under Simon, and Kei had also spent quite some time with her as queen while staying in the Cusco Kingdom.
Kei also welcomed Vivian warmly.
"Lady Vivian, how did you come all the way here? Did you whine to Simon again?"
Vivian shook her head and said.
"No! I came because I wanted to see with my own eyes since this island will become a very important place for our kingdom."
Though Vivian appeared even younger than her age, she was very intelligent and perceptive.
When Simon cleared out the cartel and rebels and restored her throne, everyone thought Simon would serve as regent instead of the young Vivian.
However, breaking everyone's expectations, Vivian quickly demonstrated her insight as queen and stabilized the kingdom.
Even Kei was impressed by her intelligence.
Once again impressed by Vivian's sharp words, Kei nodded with a smile.
Zeke sat down and introduced Nerissa to Vivian.
"Lady Vivian, this is Nerissa, representative of the fishermen who will become new citizens of the Cusco Kingdom."
Vivian turned her head and looked at Nerissa with curiosity.
Her expression, which had been like an innocent child's, changed instantly.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Vivian Cusco. I am the Queen of the Cusco Kingdom."
Surprised by Vivian's sudden change, Nerissa stammered and bowed her head.
"M-my name is... no, I am Nerissa. Y-yes, I used to be called Peter Pan... no, I was!"
Seeing Nerissa's nervousness, Vivian smiled and said.
"Nice to meet you, Nerissa. The Cusco Kingdom welcomes you all. As Queen of Cusco, I swear to protect the fishermen and defend their rights as citizens of the kingdom."
At Vivian's words, Nerissa smiled brightly and said.
"I look forward to working with you!"
After the two finished their greetings, Zeke sat down and conducted the meeting.
"With the elimination of Qiongqi, one of the Four fiends commanding the monsters of the Southern Archipelago, we can consider the threats to this island mostly resolved."
Zeke pointed to the islands of the Southern Archipelago drawn on the map spread on the round table.
"This archipelago is quite extensive. In terms of area alone, it's comparable to the Dorta Republic. First, we'll focus development on the three largest islands in the archipelago."
Zeke pointed to the middle one of the three islands.
"And we'll build a trading hub city here. Since ships passing through the Death Sea must pass through here, visitors will increase explosively each year."
Everyone nodded at Zeke's words.
He moved his finger to point at the island on the left.
"This area will be designated as the fishermen residential district, and we plan to build various facilities for fishermen who are persecuted on the continent to live stably."
Not just Nerissa's village, but fishermen were scattered across islands throughout the South Sea.
Many of them were captured by pirates and sold as slaves or killed for no reason.
Zeke planned to support as many of these fishermen as possible to relocate and settle on this island.
Then Zeke pointed to the last island.
"This is the island where we are now."
Zeke raised his head and said.
"This island will be developed into a mine."
Others tilted their heads at those words.
Kei said to Zeke.
"Boss, are there enough resources to develop the entire island into a mine?"
At those words, Zeke pulled out a black ore from his pocket.
The others couldn't identify what the dark ore was.
But Kei, being a mage, recognized it and was startled.
"D-don't tell me this is black ore?"
She was so surprised that she spoke in her usual manner rather than formal speech.
When the words ‘black ore’ were spoken, only then did the others become shocked as well.
Simon asked Zeke in disbelief.
"Sir Zeke, are you saying black ore is buried here?"
Zeke nodded.
"After having the dwarves investigate, they say the deposits are estimated to be the largest among currently known black ore mines."
Everyone's jaws dropped at his words.
Black ore, a rare mineral, was even more precious than the highest grade magic stones.
With a mine containing such black ore, its added value was beyond imagination.
Zeke spoke again.
"I plan to bring more dwarves than we currently have and have them relocate here. And we'll build a military factory along with the mine to produce weapons."
Then Boris spoke with a worried expression.
"Boss, building a military factory is a different matter entirely. It could become an international issue."
Zeke nodded at those words.
"Good point, Boris. That's why I have something to ask of Her Majesty today."
At Zeke's words, Vivian spoke with the face of a queen rather than her usual little sister demeanor.
"Speak, Sir Zeke."
"Please grant me a title in the Kingdom of Cusco. And if you designate this land as territory of the Kingdom of Cusco, we can avoid the sensitive issues Boris mentioned."
Boris's jaw dropped at Zeke's words.
Currently, this place was Zeke's private territory that he had received from Kali.
But since Zeke belonged to the Dreker family, strictly speaking, it could also be considered territory belonging to the Drekers.
However, if Zeke received a title from Vivian and changed this territory to Cusco Kingdom territory, the families and empires in the Central Continent would have no grounds for intervention.
Although it could be seen as using the Kingdom of Cusco, Vivian smiled and approached Zeke.
Then she placed her hand on Zeke's shoulder and said.
"I, Queen Vivian Cusco of Cusco, hereby grant Sir Zeke Dreker the title of Duke."
Vivian granted Zeke the title of Duke in an informal ceremony.
Zeke kissed the back of Vivian's hand accordingly and said.
"I swear loyalty to Your Majesty and the kingdom."
Vivian smiled and said to that.
"We'll do it this way since it's urgent, and when you come to the palace next time, I'll formally bestow the duke title."
Zeke nodded at Vivian's words.
Although informal, Zeke had received a title nonetheless.
He became a Duke of the Kingdom of Cusco, and the Southern Archipelago became ducal territory belonging to the kingdom.
Zeke delegated authority for developing the archipelago to Kei.
The defense of the archipelago was established mainly with Nerissa, the young mermen unit, and former Syndicate personnel.
Moreover, garrison troops to be sent soon from the Kingdom of Cusco were scheduled to stay in the archipelago to strengthen security.
Zeke looked at those gathered at the round table and said.
"Though this island is empty now, in a few years it will become an important bridgehead connecting the Central and Southern Continents. Your strength is needed for this. Please join forces for our new foundation."
Those gathered at the round table listened to Zeke's words with admiration and became filled with enthusiasm.
It seemed the newly acquired Charisma ability was subtly influencing Zeke's words and actions.
'I wasn't confident speaking in front of others, but I'm getting help from unexpected places.'
Zeke smiled inwardly with satisfaction.
After the meeting was completely over, Zeke called Simon separately.
He served Simon tea and said.
"Simon, there's one concerning part from the report you submitted recently."
"Which part do you mean?"
"The part about cultists gradually expanding their influence in the Southern Continent."
Simon furrowed his brow and squirmed at those words.
"As written in the report, those cultists are quickly filling the void left by the Cartel in the Southern Continent."
"What do you mean they're filling the Cartel's void?"
"You know well that the Southern Continent's economy mostly revolves around soma farms."
Zeke nodded at Simon's words.
Simon continued his explanation.
"The cultists are attacking Cartels established throughout the region, liberating villages, burning down soma farms, and planting coffee trees in their place."
"Coffee trees."
Zeke furrowed his brow at these unexpected words.
While interrogating Dario, the boss of the Nostra family, he had discovered that Abyss's base was located in a coffee-producing region.
So he had Shadia, the Salmak assassin, investigate this, and surprisingly, she found that the traces extended not only to the southern Central Continent but all the way to the Southern Continent.
In this situation, when he learned through Simon's report that the cultists' influence was gradually growing in the south, something felt strange.
Zeke asked Simon.
"What do they do with the coffee trees?"
"Literally, they plant coffee trees and let the villagers grow them. They're letting them make money by producing and selling coffee instead of soma."
Zeke tilted his head at those words.
"Isn't that... a good thing?"
Simon nodded as well.
"The act itself is good. In fact, some villages have become more prosperous than before after the Cartel farms disappeared and they started growing coffee trees. However..."
Simon trailed off before continuing his explanation.
"The problem is that after winning the villagers' favor this way, the cultists gradually infiltrate and turn the entire village into a cell organization."
Zeke's expression changed at Simon's words.
"So the villagers are being assimilated into the cult."
"Yes. They start by helping establish coffee tree farms, then provide food and lend money, cleverly making people dependent on them."
It was a vile method of using welfare while pretending to have good intentions toward those in need.
Zeke frowned and asked Simon.
"What do they want to get from the villagers by doing this?"
Simon paused briefly before slowly speaking.
"They take the children."
"What?"
Zeke wore a blank expression for a moment at Simon's words.
Then he suddenly emanated a terrifying killing intent.
KUGUUUUUU!
Energy poured out of him enough to shake the entire tent before slowly being contained.
Zeke barely suppressed his anger and said.
"...So they revitalize the villages and then convince the parents to take their children?"
Simon nodded and answered.
"Yes. The problem is that the villagers are already so assimilated that they're actually resisting the kingdom's attempts to stop this."
It was typical fanatic behavior.
The southerners who had suffered under the Cartel inevitably had gaps in their hearts.
Those bastards must have cleverly exploited that to brainwash them.
Zeke gritted his teeth.
"Have you found out where they're taking the children?"
Simon slowly opened his mouth at those words.
"We've detected them being taken to Black Market City in the lawless zone."