Golden Plains
"Princess. Why don't we go out and have some fun today?"
Karia looked at me in surprise. I gave her a bright smile.
As a devoted reader of the original novel, I knew her situation well. A woman who had never been loved by anyone. A woman who had never once created a joyful or fun memory in her entire life.
"Go out and have fun? Where to?"
"An amusement park, of course! How about it? Shall we go? You've been working far too hard lately."
The Iron Blood Coalition currently had nothing to do. Aside from regularly patrolling the valleys of the Raco Mountains—valleys that were more like cliffs—and eliminating monsters that might threaten the trade routes, there was no work left for them.
Their greatest rival, Sultan Saladin, was monopolizing the profits from the western continent's trade city of Dagamba and was reportedly grinning from ear to ear these days. Using those profits, he had begun stabilizing his empire, bringing an unnaturally peaceful calm between the two continents.
Thanks to that, Karia had very little to do.
Recalling her tearful circumstances from the novel, I resolved to play with her as much as possible while we still could.
"Yes! I like that! Let's go! I've never been to an amusement park before."
"Haha! The person in charge of the military forces of the Elrond territory shouldn't say things like that! Come on, let's go!"
I took Karia and headed across town toward the amusement park.
The streets of Elrond were packed with an enormous number of people. They were refugees who had fled the exploitation of nobles in their homelands and come seeking work.
"Lord! Lord Landor!"
"Long live the great lord!"
As I passed, citizens waved at me. I waved back and continued on. Soon we arrived at the amusement park. There was an incredibly long line, but Karia and I had a free pass.
"Come on, let's try this!"
I suggested we ride the snow sleds. The ski resort had beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses built along the slopes, and countless people were sledding down. Skis and snowboards were also available, but since no one knew how to use them yet, the sleds were by far the most popular.
"I-I've never done anything like this before!"
The sled slid smoothly down the steep slope. A cool wind whipped against our cheeks, and I let out a shout. Of course, Karia—who had experienced far more extreme aerial acrobatics riding the Guardian Dragon—didn't scream, but simply being able to play with me seemed to bring her immense joy.
"Let's head to the skating rink next! Haha!"
We skated. We bought and ate all sorts of snacks from the amusement park stalls. Most of the vendors were natives of the Rimnakal Plains whom the Iron Blood Coalition had brought along.
"Aigoo! Welcome, welcome!"
Accustomed to cooking reindeer and mountain goats in this cold climate, they sold delicious braised meats with all the gamey odors cleanly removed. Since few people approached the Raco Mountains, they were able to catch plenty of goats and supply them to the crowds.
The stalls were extremely popular, but Karia and I once again had a free pass.
We ate delicious food. We skated and sledded.
The two of us spent a thoroughly enjoyable day.
"It's been so long since I've had this much fun!"
I watched Karia with satisfaction as she shouted with a bright, flawless smile. In the novel, she had carried out the terrible and cruel tasks that Landor should have handled—burdens too heavy for a nineteen-year-old—and had grown darker with each passing day.
She was the character who bore the heaviest despair arc in Ailam Empire Has Fallen. Seeing such a person smile so radiantly filled me with a deep sense of fulfillment.
In high spirits, I decided to treat everyone.
"I'm in a great mood! Hey, all you vendors! I'll pay for everything! Give free grilled meat to everyone here!"
"R-really? Oh my goodness!"
"Long live the great Lord Landor!"
The citizens cheered and rushed toward the stalls.
Farmers who had been starving hurried to feed meat to their children. The children ate with tears of gratitude. Seeing them all in ragged clothes and painfully thin, I frowned.
"Daddy! Daddy! Look! It's meat! Meat!"
Just then, one family caught my eye. A painfully thin daughter waved a piece of grilled meat at her father with a cheer. The father trembled and forced a smile.
"Y-yes! My daughter. It must taste wonderful! Go ahead and eat."
"Here, this is for you, Daddy!"
"Thank you, my daughter."
Nothing seemed unusual at first. Then one detail stood out—his clothing. I approached him.
"Hey."
"L-Lord Landor!"
"Your clothes... why are they like this?"
He wore an extremely shabby coat. It was so full of holes that it offered no protection against the cold. He shivered in Elrond's frigid climate.
He lowered his head in embarrassment.
"I'm... I'm a farmer from Duke Pelling's domain in the western plains. After paying such high taxes, I had no money left to buy a proper coat..."
I looked around.
Most people who had come to Elrond—the land of dreams and hope—were overjoyed, yet nearly all of them were in the same situation as this man.
They were shivering because their coats were too worn.
I clenched my fists at the sight.
"I'll give you my coat."
"What? N-no, my lord! I couldn't possibly!"
"Don't worry. I'll just get a new one. And... before long, I'll make sure everyone here has a coat. A warm, high-quality one."
I spoke with a serious expression.
"What? You mean a loan?"
"Yes. Establish banks in both Portu Commercial City and here in Elrond territory."
Karl Hansen's mouth stretched into a wide grin at my words. How could anyone smile so wickedly no matter what?
"You want me to run a usury business? Hehehe! As expected, you have an excellent nose for profit!"
"Usury, my ass! Farmers with no money are pouring in from all over the country. They've spent everything just to get here and have nothing left. If they want to settle here, they need basic settlement funds!"
"Oh, wonderful! We'll charge them fifty percent interest and strip them clean! Aaaagh! Why did you hit me?!"
Fifty percent interest? Was he insane? Unable to hold back, I smacked Karl Hansen on the head and spoke in a chilling voice.
"You idiot. Never charge high interest. Keep it under one percent. No matter what, never go above one percent. I'll inspect regularly. If I find even one percent over, you're dead that day."
"What?! One percent?! That's basically giving the money away for free!"
"Exactly. Right now, Elrond territory and Portu Commercial City are filled with people who came looking for work. We need to give them money."
"Why on earth would we hand out perfectly good money to those people?!"
"So they can start businesses! Settle down! Charging high interest might let us squeeze them dry quickly, but if we want to keep squeezing them for a long time, we have to help them settle first!"
Karl Hansen's eyes widened at my words.
"I didn't realize you could see that far ahead."
Well, the original Landor had been a bastard who only cared about short-term gains. I had to admit that.
"I've developed that kind of perspective. Anyway, start the banking business. It's your specialty, isn't it?"
In the original novel, Karl Hansen had been a famous usurer in the capital. No one was better at lending money and collecting it. That skill alone had caught Landor's eye and earned him a place as a trusted subordinate.
"Well... understood. I'll distribute the funds at very low interest rates."
"Good. Do that—so the farmers can settle. One more thing. Are even more farmers still pouring in from all over?"
Karl Hansen let out a long sigh.
"The numbers keep growing. They come without any plan. Absolutely no plan. They're already exceeding the population capacity of Elrond territory and the Portu commercial district. This is serious. If we don't create new housing within three months at most, we'll have slums forming."
"We can't let that happen. With so much manpower available, we should put it to use."
I held my head and began thinking. Before long, a solution came to me.
"Hey, Karl."
"Yes, Lord Landor."
"Most of the people coming in are farmers, right?"
"Farmers, yes. Most of them have spent their lives working the land."
"Then let's have them farm."
"Farm? But we were just saying there's no space to house them. Why are we talking about farming now?"
I laughed and pointed at the map hanging on the wall.
"Elrond territory has already grown large enough. We don't have the capacity to build more housing. So what should we do?"
I pointed to the vast plains on the other side of the Raco Mountains.
The enormous territory Saladin had generously granted me, telling me to build roads as I pleased.
The Golden Plains.
As expected, ninety-nine percent of the land there was completely empty.
"You want to send the extra farmers there to farm?"
"Yeah! Isn't that a great idea?"
"Good grief, Lord Landor. Didn't you hear me? Most of the plains on the western continent aren't suitable for farming! It's different from the eastern continent!"
"But the Golden Plains are different from the rest of the western continent. They're near the Raco Mountains like Elrond, yet the climate here is very mild and warm. It doesn't get that cold. It rains regularly, and the soil has enough nutrients for grass to grow. Wouldn't that be suitable for crops?"
Karl Hansen stared silently at the Golden Plains on the map for a moment before shrugging.
"Well... maybe. But neither you nor I know anything about farming. We should ask the experts."
"You're right. And right now, Elrond territory is overflowing with those experts."
"Then we should ask them!"
I immediately selected dozens of highly experienced farmers from the massive influx of people in Elrond territory and sent them to the Golden Plains. I told them to investigate the soil quality and determine what crops could be grown there. Following my instructions, they conducted a thorough survey for nearly a week before returning.
"The climate and soil are suitable for growing crops."
"Really?"
"Yes. Unlike the rest of the western continent, the area near the Raco Mountains maintains a very mild climate year-round. According to western merchants, this weather continues throughout the entire year. It's optimal for farming, my lord. However... there is one problem."
"What is it?"
The farmers showed me samples of the soil and grass from the Golden Plains.
"The soil doesn't have much nutrients."
"Ah..."
"Even these hardy weeds grow sparsely because the soil lacks nutrients. If we plant seeds here, we'll get a poor harvest. We'd need an enormous amount of fertilizer to supply that vast land."
Only then did I understand why Sultan Saladin had given me the Golden Plains without hesitation. It was called the Golden Plains, but in truth it held little value.
Well...
Watching the sunset over this vast grassland was certainly a magnificent sight—that was why it was called the Golden Plains—but that was all.
It was an ambiguous land with no value beyond the view of the sunset.
"Farmers will keep coming. We need to create new living spaces. It would be wonderful if they could also do what they're best at—farming."
Still, I had to find a way to make use of this surplus space in the Golden Plains.
And according to the farmers, aside from the lack of nutrients, every other condition was perfect for farming.
"Fertilizer. If only we had fertilizer."
As I muttered this, my eyes suddenly lit up and I raised my head.
"That's it. That's the answer!"
If the Golden Adran was recognized for his unwavering sense of justice and unparalleled administrative ability, then the Graceful Selene was the one who tightly controlled the empire's technological advancement and the Magic Tower with her exceptional beauty and brilliant mind.
"If I ask Selene, she might develop a technology to mass-produce fertilizer!"
A problem had arisen, and someone who could solve it had appeared.
I immediately asked Karia to let me ride the Guardian Dragon to the capital.
The Guardian Dragon was indeed fast.
I reached the capital from Elrond territory in just half a day. The moment I arrived, I had to vomit loudly.