Summit

I took a stroll through town during the day.

Just a quick break. A casual walk.

"Grandma, please give me this."

"Yes, that’s one million en."

"Yes, here you go!"

A kind old woman and a lively boy’s voice drifted over.

At a stall with various trinkets laid out, the boy handed a hundred-en coin to the woman and took his purchase.

"Hey."

I approached the shop and spoke to the two.

"Oh, it’s the lord!"

"Hello! Lord!"

They both smiled at me, warm and bright.

I glanced between their hands—coins exchanged, goods received—back and forth.

"Money’s actually being used now, huh?"

"Yes, Your Lordship. We’re using the money you made."

"It’s amazing, Lord. Just buying small things now? Having money on hand makes it so much easier. Thank you, Lord."

Nice to have when making a big purchase, isn’t it?

The old woman pulled out a single bill. Ten thousand en.

Never thought paper would turn into money like this.

"Was there no currency before the Demon God went wild?"

"Come on. Anyone can copy paper money, can't they?"

Forgery, is it?

"But the lord's money—f-f-f-f"

The old woman grabbed both ends of the thousand-credit bill and pulled hard.

Huffing and puffing, face crimson, she tugged hard.

The bill, which looked just like plain paper, didn’t tear—nor did it stretch.

Still a perfect rectangle.

— Phew. See? Things that can’t be broken like this… if you try copying them, you’ll figure it out right away.

That's just how it is.

"Who knew the lord could make something like this? Really something else."

"Yeah! Dad and Mom both said the lord’s amazing too!"

"Lord, please keep looking after us from now on."

"Please do!"

"Ah."

Watching them wave goodbye, I turned and resumed my stroll.

☆

In the reception hall of the lord’s manor, I met with Madway, who had come to visit.

"What’s up today? You don’t usually come all the way here."

Madway oversees Akito town.

At first, I was the mayor of that town, but after becoming lord over four towns, I handed the mayoral role over to Madway.

That’s why he’s been swamped lately.

If nothing unusual had happened, he wouldn’t have come all this way.

"Actually, Akito-san, we found that monkey’s nest again."

"Monkey… Schreiviju?"

"Yeah. We all went after it, took it down, and turned everyone back into humans."

"Ah, good. That’s good."

We need more people to develop the town, and one way to increase that number is by defeating Schreiviju.

Seems like a good thing, no problems at all... yet Madway’s face is grim.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s the numbers.”

“Numbers? The number of people who turned back from apes?”

Madway nods, serious as hell.

"...How many?"

"Four hundred."

"...Four hundred?!"

That’s a shock.

Akit’s town only has a few dozen residents.

The facilities, the supplies—everything’s built for that few.

Suddenly adding four hundred people? It’d break everything.

“At first, there were only a few. But no matter how many we killed, more kept coming out... we just kept killing them..."

"Yeah."

It clicks.

Schreiviju—the monkey—looks fierce, but it’s ridiculously weak. Maybe as weak as a kindergartener.

If they keep showing up this weak, we’ll be wiping out whole armies and turning into a human flood.

“Turned out to be four hundred.”

“Is that right.”

“We’re past the point of handling this ourselves. We’ll need Akito to come in and do some real work.”

“Makes sense.”

Now I get why Madway came here.

“Alright, let’s go.”

I gripped DORECA and stood up.

If that’s the case, we’ve got no choice.

“Master.”

Yuria stepped into the room.

Completely settled into her role as my secretary.

“What is it?”

“Valerya’s arrived from Kazan.”

“Valerya from Kazan. Ah, the one we gave five hundred Pshiny to before.”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“It’s something urgent. Something only you can handle.”

“Only me?”

Yuria nodded.

I thought about it.

Since Yuria came, a few things have happened—her administrative skills are becoming clearer.

If Yuria says she can’t manage without me, and insists on me personally, then that’s probably how it is.

Meeting with envoys from another town—diplomacy, so we have to do it properly.

But Madway’s matter is also quite urgent.

I hesitated.

“Send Risha and Mira instead.”

“Both of them?”

“Yeah.”

Yuria nodded, pulling out a card.

Slave Card (Normal).

A card that lets you create a Normal-rank DORECA subcard—my own DORECA’s subcard.

“Both of them have one too.”

“Right.”

That’s true.

I turned toward Madway.

“So. Find Risha and Mira. Bring them along.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded. Should I explain the slave card thing? I thought for a moment.

"Alright, I'll trust what you say, Akito-sama."

Madway stood up and walked out of the lord's manor.

Guess I'm trusted now.

"Good, take me to Valeria."

"Yes."

Guided by Yuria, we left the manor and cut through the town.

The town was bustling, but oddly restless.

Eventually, we reached the town's entrance.

There was Valeria.

She bowed her head the moment she saw me.

"Long time no see, Akito-sama."

"Yeah. What happened after that?"

"Thanks to you, Akito-sama, the town is rebuilding."

"That's good. So, what's this?"

I turned to look at the basket beside Valeria.

A cage. Carried by someone. With a person inside.

Someone’s in there?

"This is my lord, the chief of Kazan, Martha."

"Huh?"

"Martha wishes to request an audience with Lord Akito, the lord of Rebec."

I blinked, staring back and forth between Valeria and the cage.

The town's elder had come to visit.

Yuria nodded in reply.

Yeah. Definitely not something I can let someone else handle.