Chapter 166: Inroad (3)
…The Floating Island’s Inn. In that restaurant thousands of meters above the sky, which was nothing more than a resting place for the Named, Rohakan was reading the hard-earned report from Deculein.
──[Statistics made up of facts: The continent’s path forward.]──
The continent is entering an era of upheaval. The frontier is no longer an extinct place that ‘stays there.’ Rather, it will come before our eyes as time goes on. In addition to the cracks in the Empire, new challenges appear from outside the continent.
Therefore, I would like to present a whole new theory of controlling external risks. This theory completely excludes the element of luck and is based only on practical observations. I hope you will study, understand and accept this to benefit your generation.
───────
Explanation of Collision Values page 157, Monster Wave Calculation Formula Based on Collision Values page 53. A total of 210 pages of formulas served to make Rohakan’s head dizzy.
“Hmm…”
“Is it difficult for you to understand too?”
The woman opposite Rohakan suddenly asked the question.
“…I don’t know.”
Red pigtails and typical fighter attire: Ganesha. Adventurers who weren’t wizards weren’t allowed to enter the Floating Island, but her adventure group used an unofficial route.
“I can do the calculation. But I don’t know if I’ve grown so old that my brain has hardened, but I can’t understand the logic of the derivation of this collision value. Deculein, this guy has become a scholar in no time.”
“…Huh? Is that all you have to say? It was very hard to find it~, so please, read it properly. It’s not just anyone who can acquire this. It’s so popular and controversial.”
Ganesha narrowed her eyes, prompting Rohakan to clear his throat.
“Ahem. What can I do if I can’t read it?”
“I mean~, it cost 300,000 Elnes to get it from the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“Who told you to get that, huh?”
“…Did you forget you told me to bring it?”
“Forget it. Just take what we agreed upon.”
Rohakan handed Ganesha a prosthetic hand. Ganesha lifted the artificial arm, then nodded after a moment.
“…Made by Arlos, that’s right. Thank you, old man.”
Ganesha’s tone grew serious. Then Rohakan pointed to the kid next to her, who was asleep on the table. Carlos: the boy, not yet ten years old, was missing one of his arms.
“What happened to that kid?”
“A lot~.”
Ganesha avoided the answer; Rohakan didn’t ask anymore.
“Can I read it?”
That cute voice belonged to Lia as she pointed at the paper in Rohakan’s hand.
“…Of course. Read it.”
Rohakan smiled kindly and handed it to her.
“Thank you!”
Lia’s eyes practically emitted lasers as she scanned the paper. Ganesha and Rohakan watched with delight, and dessert came out just in time.
“…?”
At that moment, Lia’s concentration broke as fragrantly sweet desserts were placed atop the table.
“…!”
The scent of one object resembling macarons shook her.
“…”
She stretched out her hand blankly as if possessed, gabbed the macaron, and slowly put it into her mouth.
“Oh…”
Seeing the child melt away, Rohakan smiled.
“Was it a good read?”
“Oh!”
Then she came back to her senses. Lia nodded.
“What do you think?”
“That… Professor Deculein is smart. Can’t we believe it?”
Of course, the calculation itself was difficult to understand, but there was a hardcore trigger in the main quest. An unexpected event in which countless demons descended south from Annihilation. Anyway, even if it wasn’t that, now that the main quest would soon arrive, the stronger the defenses, the better.
She didn’t know Deculein could help in this way.
“Haha. Is that so?”
After giving a short answer, Rohakan stared at Lia a little while longer.
“… You look alike.”
“Eh?”
Ganesha responded for Lia.
“Do you mean Deculein’s ex-fiancée or something? She’s heard it a lot already. I think she will hear it a lot more in the future.”
“…Haha.”
Rohakan rummaged through his pockets with a silent smile instead of responding.
“Take this.”
He produced a scroll.
“What you want is in the North, so go there. I’ll open the way.”
“!”
Lia’s eyes widened at Rohakan’s words.
「Main Quest: Inroad」
Finally, it was the beginning of the full-fledged script.
* * *
I started developing the northern border. The design plan and scale were more than any knight’s order, but there was no need to airlift materials. The coniferous forest in the North was of acceptable quality. The skeleton was erected in one day. The construction provided by competent wizards, such as Epherene, Drent, and Ihelm’s Division, was more efficient than the labor of a thousand workers.
“This should be enough.”
However, my Psychokinesis was dedicated only to the construction of the mansion. I didn’t want to stay in the same building as the prisoners for even a single day.
“Wow…”
Epherene, Allen, Drent, and the thirteen men of Ihelm’s division looked up at the mansion in amazement. All five stories had been built in harmony with the northern forest using aesthetic sense. Even I was satisfied with it.
“Whoa, this is crazy. How did you build this in one day?”
Ihelm was amazed. I opened the front door without a word and led the wizards inside.
“It’s empty inside… well, we can fill it. More importantly, Deculein.”
Ihelm kept talking to me. It was growing annoying.
“Some rumors are going around these days. Big money earned in stocks, beating Her Majesty, and even more strange rumors.”
I stared at Ihelm. He smiled as if he were familiar with it.
“Deculein, you… I heard you know which family tried to poison Her Majesty.”
“…”
In this world line, the crime of that day remained as an attempted poisoning. Of course, even that would be a mortal sin enough to destroy a noble family. So, immediately after the match with Sophien, it grew pretty noisy in the Imperial Palace.
“Ihelm, get out of here.”
“Hey, hey. Can’t you build a house for me too? Or would you like me to stay here? I can pay rent.”
“…Go before I kill you-“
“Gosh, I’m going, I’m going~. You’re too sensitive. It looks like there are a lot of rooms, but what’s the problem? Hey. Let’s go!”
Ihelm took his group and left. On the other hand, my pupils Epherene, Drent, and Allen looked up at me with eager anticipation. Epherene was the one to lead the charge.
“Um… Professor. Should we just go too…?”
“You stay here on the first floor.”
“Awesome… I mean. Yes~! I’ll bring the luggage~.”
The three of them ran back while I moved out to the porch to look around Reccordak. In terms of Man of Great Wealth, this area wasn’t the worst. On the contrary, it occasionally produced golden shards. It was probably the best place to use as a base camp if the Annihilation expedition began.
“…It would be better to build the facility first.”
Right now, the top priority was construction, transforming this damn prison to have minimalistic self-sufficiency and developing it so that it could become Julie’s base. It was fully doable.
* * *
[Stocks that Even the Eye of a Fool Can Recognize, Volume 1]
Julie was studying in the office, scribing diligent notes in the book she bought.
“…The first rule of stocks, never lose money.”
It was because she was quite disappointed with herself, who had been ignorant of financial techniques, as she watched the Reccordak taken over by Deculein in an instant and saw the dramatic changes as soon as he arrived.
“The second rule, never forget the first rule.”
Knights should stay away from wealth; maybe she was too caught up in that old-fashioned view. She needed money to protect her comrades and to maintain order.
“This is hard… never lose money.”
A knight should not pursue money, but it wasn’t right to neglect it too much. Even if it was a late realization, she was glad it wasn’t too late. Julie, taking notes, slowly raised her head. Reylie was reading a book on the couch.
“Reylie.”
“Yes?”
She looked this way. Julie pondered a little and shook her head.
“…Nothing.”
“What? Oh, are you studying stocks?”
Reylie closed her book and shuffled over. She looked at Julie’s notebook on the desk and smiled.
[Don’t Lose Money: Basic Quote Analysis. The basics of stock trading are to use people’s psychology…]
“You’ve studied hard. You work hard in everything, our knight.”
“…”
She was proud of those words, but Julie looked at her watch without expression. It was 9 am. Soon it would be time to start Deculein’s discourse.
“But don’t bother with stocks if you can. More people lose. Deculein is the weird one. How did he earn 400 million Elnes? Or is it 500 million Elnes?”
“I know. That’s why I plan to study hard and start with a small amount.”
“…Really? Then, well…”
Reylie nodded lightly. Then, Julie stood.
“It’ll be time soon. Let’s go.”
“Hmm? Are you going?”
Deculein’s discourse. In other words, it was time to gather all the people involved in Reccordak, preach her will, and give orders. For now, Deculein didn’t seem to want to change the big picture of Reccordak, and he recognized Julie’s status, but she didn’t have to attend the discourse like an ordinary knight.
Julie was a Freyden with a 49% stake, after all.
“There is no need to be stubborn. And, if he gives orders that are too absurd, I am the only one who can stop him.”
“…Indeed. That’s right. Okay, well. Let’s go.”
Julie left with Reylie.
Stomp, stomp—
As they were walking down the shabby hallways of Reccordak, a thought flashed in Reylie’s head.
Clap!
She clapped Julie’s shoulder.
“Oh, right! Do you know that, our knight?“
“I don’t know what it is.”
“No, not long ago, there was an attempt to poison Her Majesty, right?”
“…Yes.”
Julie nodded. After the attempted assassination, the Imperial family had been overturned.
“But, Her Majesty, while playing Go with Deculein, she said Deculein knows the inside story…!”
Reylie’s expression stiffened in horror.
“…Really?”
“Yes. That’s what I’m saying. So now the imperial palace is in an uproar. If that crime is revealed, and if it is the work of an imperial nobleman… wow. Just imagine.”
Reylie trembled as Julie pondered, and together they reached the training grounds of Reccordak. Among the knights, guards, wardens, and wizards of the Imperial Palace, Deculein was already on the podium.
“Nice to meet you. I will not give an introduction or speech. As the owner of Reccordak, I first issue duties and orders.”
Deculein spoke as if giving a lecture.
“The steady task this winter is to thin out the area. We will advance into the Annihilation area and exterminate the monsters in advance. The first goal is to kill as many monsters as possible before the wave begins.”
There was no amplification magic, but his voice reached through the entirety of Reccordak, and his unique charisma dominated.
“For this mission, four knights and one wizard will team up, and you can mobilize as many prisoners as you want.”
Then someone tapped Julie’s arm. She turned around to see Gwen. Julie nodded to Gwen, who mouthed, ‘long time no see.’ At that moment-
“Who is chatting now?”
Deculein’s cold voice fell over them. Gwen coughed, and Julie bowed her head without saying a word.
“…Also, once a week, the entire army of Reccordak will advance and destroy the beasts’ environment.”
Deculein looked around the knights’ faces for a moment. Gwen, Raphael, Syrio, and the knights of the Imperial Palace were loyal to Deculein. There were a lot of people to lead.
──But.
“I’ll leave it to the knight Deya.”
Deculein chose Julie. He knew that her talent was the most outstanding when it came to commanding battles. At that moment, everyone turned to Julie, and she silently nodded and accepted the responsibility. Reylie, who was right next to her, whispered in admiration.
“Oh, my… you two, the distinction between public and private is really strict, isn’t it?”
“…”
Julie clenched her fists.
* * *
Reccordak daily life, the third day. My job here was simple. In the cold morning, I practiced magic, and when I consumed enough mana, I did some writing in the mansion. Also, when I had free time, I went outside to make maps or enjoy hunting. My three assistants took care of the other chores, so it wasn’t that different from life on the continent.
“Values Pursued by This Era”
“The Magic of Statistics”
“Magic Economy”
“Theory of Economics”
In this cold winter, for some reason, it was easy to write. Someone said that one of the reasons why there were so many great writers in Russia was the harsh temperatures. I think I could tell the origin of the author’s principle to some extent. The days were so harsh, and they had nothing to do but write.
“…What is all this, Professor?”
Epherene, who came to the library to borrow a book early in the morning, pointed to the manuscripts on the desk.
“Read it. It will only help your empty common sense.”
“What? No…”
Epherene’s expression darkened.
“It’s not empty. Why do you always talk as if you’re looking down on me…?”
“You say stupid when it’s stupid. What would I say other than the word ‘stupid?’ If you don’t want to be told that you’re stupid, study hard.”
“Gosh. How many times have you said I’m stupid? I’m leaving.”
While saying that, she picked up the manuscripts.
“…And, the screening process starts tomorrow, so I volunteered.”
I looked at her and nodded.
“Just don’t die.”
“…Oh, all right. I won’t die.”
“Even if you lose all your limbs, you can live with prosthetics.”
“What… yeah, yeah. I will come back alive~. Thank you for your concern.”
Epherene pouted as she walked out.
“…”
The library became quiet and peaceful again. I suddenly looked out the window. In the training ground below it, Julie was training swordsmanship with Gwen, clashing swords and mana.
Clank— Clank— Clank—!
Friction between mana and metal. Just as the embers and sparks rose, Gwen suddenly looked up.
-Huh? Julie. Look there. Your ex-fiancé is over there.
That damn woman.
─…
Julie looked up at me. At that moment, our eyes met, but I clenched my jaw. I contorted my face and pulled the curtains down.
“…Tsk.”
I leaned back in the chair and took up my pen. Strangely, my heart was aching. But if I didn’t express it, no one would know. It would also feel better soon. In the first place, Deculein was cold-blooded…
* * *
…At the same time.
“Huh.”
Epherene was in the resting room on the first floor of Reccordak, her mouth gaping. The cause was the book borrowed from Deculein, The Magic of Statistics. The concepts contained in this book stimulated Epherene’s neurons and synapses.
“This… is revolutionary.”
The combination of statistics and magic. Epherene instinctively felt it. Interpreting magic with statistics, that was, predicting the damage and size of magic through probability.
“I-I want to learn this.”
Epherene hastily pulled out a pen, drawing attention as she began to move loudly. She attracted the attention of a few wizards who came to support the mission.
“…Hey? Professor Deculein’s assistant, Epherene, right?”
“Yes? Oh, yes.”
“What is that?”
“Yes? Oh. That’s-“
“What are you reading? Can I read it together with you?”
“…Yes? I still didn’t-“
“Huh? Did Professor Deculein write this?”
“Yes? Oh, yes, but-“
“Oh? Let me read one line too. One line only.”
“…Yes?”
Starting with one or two wizards from the Ihelm division, the battle wizards dispatched from Freyden, and several knights and executives attracted by curiosity… almost all the high-level personnel who were standing on the first floor flocked to her, and the kind-hearted Epherene couldn’t help but agree.
“Yes, yes. Then together…”
She read the Principles of Deculein with them.