|| TL: miyakriko ||
In the eastern edge of the Kingdom of Klondike lies the village of Mirmoos, where the village chief’s house is located.
“So, I want to connect a canal,”
Adonis said seriously, but the village chief Bellwood looked at him with disdainful eyes as if he was crazy.
“Are you out of your mind?”
“No, I’m serious. According to the story I heard from you last time, this village has been suffering from water shortage regularly.”
“That’s true, Prince. It’s not as bad as in the Draglake area, but this village has been plagued by water shortage since ancient times. There’s not much water source, and even if you flow water through magic, it will soon dry up. Where are you going to find water for the canal?”
Adonis chuckled at the village chief’s attitude, as if he didn’t understand such things. Grant, who was behind him, was about to attack him, but Scosia held him back.
“As for the water… we have a water source drawn from an underground vein in the base we created in Draglake. According to our investigation, it’s enough to not have any problems for several hundred years. So, I want to use this water to create a canal and I came to ask for permission.”
“Water source in Draglake? I don’t know if you’ve been exiled and gone mad, Prince, but do you expect me to believe such nonsense? And you think I’ll approve something that won’t be completed in my lifetime…”
“You, how dare you speak to Prince Adonis like that!”
Grant was angry, but Adonis calmly appeased him with a smile.
“Calm down. I expected to be told that. So… I’m sorry to say this after the fact, but we’ve already installed the canal to the village.”
“What?!”
As the village chief made an expression that seemed to say “what a idiotic thing” the villagers rushed in with a different expression.
“U-um, Chief! There’s a waterway from the east! A female magician who claims to be Prince Adonis’s subordinate created it in an instant!”
“That’s ridiculous! It takes ten years to maintain even a waterway, let alone a canal, to the extent that water can flow through that distance!”
With those words, the village chief ignored Adonis and went outside.
“That guy… does he know that Prince Adonis has been exiled and his attitude towards royalty is not good?”
Grant said, and Scosia sighed in disbelief.
“It’s not much different from you. Well, he’s certainly rude, but Adonis is too tolerant.”
“I no longer consider myself a prince, so I don’t care. Well, shall we go see how Tiamat is doing with her work?”
Adonis and the others headed east to where the villagers were gathering and raising joyful voices.\
“Amazing!! It’s really water!”
“It’s so beautiful and refreshing!”
“I’ve never tasted such delicious water before!”
There was a small canal, wide enough for small boats to pass each other, which had been carved out of the earth. The canal was filled with clear blue water, and at its end, a small pond had formed.
Some of the villagers even jumped into the pond, but the village chief stood by in disbelief.
“As I said before, I had this canal constructed. Of course, the water is free for all the people of Mirmoos village to use. Eventually, I hope to establish a base here where people and goods can come and go,”
“This is ridiculous… I can’t believe it,” the village chief said.
“Even if you say that, we’ve already built it, and the villagers seem to be enjoying it,”
“I’ll take responsibility for this matter!”
the village chief declared before quickly returning to his home.
“What was that all about?”
Grant sighed, no longer angry.
“It can’t be helped. If I were in his shoes, I’d be surprised too. I understand that he needs time to calm down,”
“Oh, Taretto.”
As they spoke, Taretto, a woman with dark brown hair, silver-rimmed glasses, and a maid’s outfit that she always wore even though no one forced her to, arrived at the pond and stood next to Adonis. She raised her voice and shouted
“Listen up, villagers! This canal and this water were brought here by Prince Adonis, who knew about the village’s water shortage. Don’t forget to show your gratitude and respect!”
Her voice was so loud that even Adonis had never heard anything like it before, and as a result, villagers began to gather around him.
“Oh, thank you so much! I heard from Taretto that you came to save the frontier, right!?”
“Oh, benevolent prince… I never expected you to solve the water shortage problem so quickly… Taretto was right!”
“We would love to cooperate with your grand plan to revitalize the frontier!”
“Um…”
Adonis was at a loss for words with the mysterious enthusiasm of the villagers, and Taretto whispered in his ear.
“We were able to keep the public opinion under control during your short absence… but from now on, it’s up to you.”
With only those words, Taretto stepped back. The sudden change in demeanor was so drastic that even Grant and the others were surprised.
“I see… so the villagers were incited by the idea that the prince came here to save the frontier, not that he was exiled here. Certainly, the resource-poor border regions are neglected in our country, so everyone must have had some thoughts about it. You are much more of a strategist than I thought, my lady.”
Despite Scosia’s words, Taretto did not answer.
“Adonis-sama. I have some business to attend to, so I will leave for now.”
“Okay. Thank you for taking care of things while I was away, Taretto. But, ahaha… what a dilemma.”
Adonis chuckled, unsure of how to respond to the villagers’ enthusiasm, and before he knew it, the whole village had begun preparing for a party.
Among them, anyone who noticed Taretto disappear like a shadow and head towards the village chief’s house was none other than Tiamat, who had vanished into the water of the canal. No one else had noticed.
☆☆☆
“This is insane… Insane! I need to contact the prince of Verano immediately.”
The village chief, who had returned home, rushed into his room and locked the door before removing the tattered blanket on the table. There was a device made of crystal and machinery, and he frantically started it up.
“This is insane… If they seriously start developing this land… my position…”
The land of Draglake had long been used by the Klondike royal family as a place to secretly dispose of humans and corpses that they wanted to get rid of. Only the king and those close to him, as well as the village chief from generation to generation, knew about this.
That was why the village chief thought that even that prince would soon be killed by the “shadow of the king” that would surely come. That’s why he could afford to be bold, even if his opponent was a member of the royal family.
“I don’t know what kind of trick he used, but the power to build that canal in an instant from a water source… will undoubtedly be a hindrance to Prince Verano !”
The village chief had been promised a huge fortune in exchange for the secret of the royal family. If he finished his term as promised, he could live a life like a noble in the capital.
That’s why he had been doing dirty work like assassination and corpse disposal that he didn’t want to do.
And the person who could be called his immediate superior was Prince Verano.
“If I don’t tell him about this…!”
The moment the village chief’s emergency magic communication device, given to him by Verano , connected to the distant royal castle –
He felt a presence behind him. He turned around trembling and there Taretto, standing with a long concealed blade hanging loosely from both sleeves of her maid uniform.
“What… are you planning to tell him?”
TN: ultimate maid-san has entered the chat
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