Konjiki no Moji Tsukai - Chapter 241
“…sorry Hiiro, could you repeat it again?”
Although Leowald heard what Hiiro wanted in exchange for appraising the knife, it seems to have rendered him speechless as if it was beyond his expectations and decided to ask again if he was not mistaken for what he had heard.
“Like I said, give me a part of this continent.”
“….it seems I didn’t hear it by mistake, isn’t this talk a little too much for this, Hiiro?”
“Then I’ll use the two loans you had from me, and use that in exchange for this.”
The first one came from the wager they bet at the time before they started the duel. If Hiiro won, he vowed to do one thing for him. And the other one came from healing Leowald after being mortally wounded from their duel.
“…if you consider also Mimiru’s matter, certainly I may have a lot of debts to you, but…”
“Don’t get me wrong Beast King. That is Blue Ribbon’s own personal debt to me. You don’t need to include her matters aside.”
Indeed, that matter was undertook personally by Mimiru herself. Thus, Beast King has only two loans from Hiiro.
“E-even so…. To ask for a piece of land from this continent is…”
“And here I thought you were a magnanimous king, hm?”
“Even under such a request, I don’t have a good grasp about the entirety of this continent, a lot of people are scattered living in this land. I may the one called the King of among our kins, but I do not hope to brandish my power to threaten the lives of my people. More so, taking away their homeland.”
What a splendid statement from a king. Hiiro wanted King Rudolph to learn a thing or two from him. However, Hiiro had also taken this into mind.
“No need to worry about that. The land what I had in mind is actually …. a deserted land.”
“A deserted land…? D-don’t tell me the one where the duel was held, 【Valaru Desert】 ?”
“Ah, that place would be appropriate to my request.”
“Certainly, that place doesn’t have anyone there. Rather, are you fine with such wilderness? There is really nothing in there you know?”
Hiiro knew about that. He had confirmed that there were no vegetation present or any living beings in that place.
“Do I need to repeat it again? That place meets the requirement of my request.”
Leowald narrowed his eyes, he was trying to read Hiiro’s intentions about this. However, he couldn’t in face of Hiiro’s expressionless visage.
“…what in the world are you planning to do with it?”
“I don’t want to answer it in a roundabout way, so I’ll go straight to the point.”
Not only Leowald, Blantha and Yukihito held their breath.
“I will make a 【Paradise】 in that place”
“P-paradise…you say?”
“Yeah”
Hiiro answered Leowald who had an expression as if he wasn’t prepared for that.
“W-wait a minute. Why did you choose in our continent? Rather, why did you want to make such a thing? A-and also, what is this 【Paradise】 you speak of?”
In response to Leowald’s successive inquiries,
“Dear, if you ask your questions to Hiiro-san all at once, he can’t answer you properly.”
At Blantha’s considerate urgence, Leowald retracted his words and made a sigh. He took a deep breath in order to regain his composure.
“I have a lot of questions about this Hiiro, but you will answer them all, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Umu, then first, what is this 【Paradise】 you speak of? ”
“To put it simply, it’s a place where everyone can enjoy. A place where you can live a comfortable life.”
“Everyone? What do you mean by this?”
“Before I answer that, there is a question I’ve been meaning to ask you.”
“….what?”
“What is your opinion about Halves?”
At the mention of Hiiro’s question, Leowald eyebrows moved, making an expression as if he knew where this was going.
“….So that’s what you mean, this 【Paradise】 serves as a place for the halves to live peacefully and safely, correct?”
“A little bit close, but not exactly.”
“Ha?”
“Not only the halves. It’s also a place for those people who have been rejected by the world and lost their way in life.”
“…so criminals in short?”
“Hey Beast King, don’t put such dangerous fellows in that place. Although if they are looking to be reformed, they may be allowed to live in that place or so I heard.”
“Hm? You heard? Hiiro, this is not your idea?”
After that, Hiiro taught the founder of that place, Liliyn. According to her, it was her dream of building 【A place where everyone can enjoy】, so she set out to travel and gradually found comrades who are of the same mind with her dream. But she couldn’t the suitable land to start her dream.
Hiiro who wanted that dream to come true intended to do something about it. So when he arrived at the place of the duel, he informed Liliyn and gave her approval on it.
According to her, it was an ideal place considering the size of the land and the environment. However, this was the Gabranth’s continent.
Liliyn couldn’t establish the 【Paradise】 because she was an 『Evila』. Then, Hiiro recalled about the debts Leowald owed to Hiiro, and decided to use that as a means to transfer the rights of that land.
“Fumu, for 《Red Rose》 to plan of such things…I’m impressed”
“Regarding the location, though the Gabranth continent is quite vast, in terms of distance between here and there, it would be very suitable without affecting anyone’s daily lives.”
“…why did you choose our continent?”
“Well, to be honest, that’s the answer we arrived after eliminating the other alternatives.”
“Alternatives?”
“First of all the Humas continent is narrow. We may find it difficult to find a big land over there because there are a lot of villages scattered everywhere. Furthermore, I don’t think any human beings would accept this proposal over there. At least in their current situation.”
Especially the close aides of King Rudolph who truly hated the heretics. It would endanger the people they were going to shelter, not to mention the halves, thus there was no room for negotiation.
“If you say it like that, then the Evila continent is far wider in comparison. And surely there would be no scattered villages that will hamper in establishing the place over there. You can also establish 【Paradise】 over there too, am I wrong?”
“In terms of the land, yes. Environment however, no.”
“Environment?”
“As you may know, the environment in Evila is quite tough to live in. Sometimes it’s mid-winter, and then the next day a fierce heat follows. It’s similar to how the extreme weather in the mountains change. And then there’s also the monsters. It is considerably difficult to find a suitable place with Rank A or higher monsters roaming around. “
It seemed Liliyn tried to search one in the past, but in the end failed to do so.
“And in comparison with 【Valaru Desert】, there are no monsters living in that place, and the land is very large. The problem however is how to pioneer it so that people can live there, but we can do something about that. It was originally a place inhabited by people after all.”
“I very well understand your point, however, you do know that the ones who made that crater are the Evila’s right?”
Hiiro heard that the crater was made by the hands of the Predecessor Demon Lord Avoros.
“And to add more to that, 《Red Rose》 is an 『Evila』, a lot of problems would likely arose if she was allowed to make such a place.”
“It is for that reason, that’s why we want it there.”
“…what do you mean?”
“In the past, it was certainly destroyed by the 『Evila』. That’s why in order to change the common sense of this present world, we plan to make that land prosper through the 『Evila』. And through that, we could mend the relationship between the beast humans little by little. Or so she said.”
“……”
“We know that the beast humans won’t change their minds so easily about this matter. But think of this place as a bridge between two different races struggling mutually to be hand in hand with each other. Of course, there is a difference in the sense of values between races. But that difference isn’t something we should hide, it is something we should improve.”
Liliyn had once said to him before. That each of the race has their own personality and something they excel at. So if such excellent races showed of with each other mutually improving one another. Wouldn’t that produce a better one of themselves?
“So that’s why you are adamant it should be that place, huh? Fumu.”
Leowald was brooding about it while holding his chins. His glance then turned to Yukihito.
“Yukihito, what is your opinion about that matter?”
“Nyohohoho! It’s an empty dream.”
“I agree.”
“However…”
“Mu?”
“It seems to be an interesting idea. Nyohohoho!”
“….Blantha.”
He then looked at Blantha’s side to get an opinion from her, but her eyes were already shining with glee.
“Certainly, this matter has a lot of problems in hand. But, I want to see this 【Paradise】too”
“Umu, I see.”
“【A place where everyone can enjoy】, was it? If such place really do exists, it would be a place that saves lives. Anyone’s lives! Moreover, the gourmet competition, the magic competition, and the hidden talent portion competition I heard awhile age all looks so fascinating and fun!”
Leowald’s opposite was beaming with a bright smile as she clapped her hands together like a child.
“There are more of that you know. Like the sports contest and the amusement center that is in their planning stage.”
“Wow~, both of them are wonderful events!”
Blantha’s face was the spitting image of Mimiru and Kukulia’s smile. They really were mother and daughters alike.
“Although Blantha may have said this awhile ago, it’s not an easy matter to settle right now. Especially, when the current situation is rather difficult. We have finally tied the with the 『Evila』, but we are on a deadlock with the 『Humas』. Moreover, we also have deal with attacks of 《Matar Deus》 to this country.”
A shadow has cast down on Blantha’s expression, the moment those words were said.
“Don’t get me wrong Beast King. I only said my opinion to the last. Whether it becomes reality or not, you have to speak with Red Loli. I’m just a supporter until the end. Of course, if you give me the rights to land right now, a lot of time will be saved and this problem can be solved quickly. However, even I don’t have to deal with the land right now. I can’t leave the matter with that Template Maou as it is.”
Hiiro’s expression turned irritable as he recalled the memories regarding Avoros.
“Anyway, just keep this matter in mind positively. Let’s use that in exchange for appraising the knife.”
“…sorry about that. Even though I believe you.”
“Don’t worry about it. The current judgement you made is correct as a King’s standpoint. Also please hear the details more from Red Loli who I said awhile ago.”
“Sure. Even I’m a bit interested in this 【Paradise】 you speak of. If there really is a place where everyone can be happy, it’s definitely a good place to have.”
Apparently, informing them about this was the right choice. It wasn’t a matter they could settle from the start after all. Hiiro was impressed for Leowald not easily deciding about it.
As a King, and as a Gabranth, he thought of his people first of all, however there was also a harvest, it turned out he also thought of the other races too in such a similar manner.
(Well, I suppose it’s alright to progress this step by step.)
