第６９０堀：古の国 (Part1)
### Chapter 690: The Ancient Kingdom
**Side: Yuki**
"If we involve Litea, it actually makes entering the country more difficult. It's a small nation that boasts a history rivaling the great powers, and they had some sort of agenda when they established villages for elves all across this continent..."
I pushed the memory of the divorced couple I’d met yesterday to the back of my mind, summarizing the information I had gathered so far while riding in the car toward the High Elf kingdom.
"Hey, Yuki. Isn't it an act of aggression for the High Elf kingdom to decide on their own to establish villages within other countries' territories?"
That question came from Ria. Naturally, she was accompanying me as my guard.
As I pondered how to explain it, Rurua, who was also joining us on this trip, began to provide the answer.
"No, that’s the behind-the-scenes reality. For a country, an increase in developed territory is a welcome thing. It serves as a catalyst for gathering taxes and people from other areas. The towns and villages that already exist in these nations are basically over capacity, after all."
"Over capacity?"
"Exactly as it sounds. They exceed the scale that the town or village can actually support. This is knowledge I learned from the books you gave me, Master. In this continent, where dangers like monsters and bandits are rampant, human living spheres are limited. Because of that, efforts to increase food production have been difficult to manage. Therefore, when someone offers to build a village, they rarely refuse. Well, unless they are asked to provide funding or deploy soldiers, that is."
"So, they can't give money or people, but they're okay with volunteers building a village at their own risk?"
"Yes. And as people gather in the newly formed village and the population grows, fields are cultivated, and eventually, they seek the protection of the state. If they pay taxes at that point, the country and the local lord gain increased revenue without any initial investment. And... if the village fails, it serves as a way to reduce the mouths to feed in the main towns and creates new employment opportunities."
"..."
The ugly side of politics. Well, it’s not limited to politics, of course. If someone leaves, someone else has to fill the void. That’s all there is to it.
Incidentally, Rurua was accompanying us to the High Elf kingdom as a proxy for Alstaire. However, since the Elder had mentioned the possibility of them hardening their stance, she would be coming along as my wife for the time being. If anything happened, she would simply switch jobs to "Envoy of Litea." It’s incredibly convenient having a wife like her.
"Anyway, cutting through the heavy talk—these are elves, a race gifted in magic. For any nation, it’s a stroke of luck if they can earn their favor and keep them close. That’s why they wouldn't have been against the idea of building those villages."
"Ah..."
Everyone nodded in understanding once I added that. It’s unlikely that the settlers from the High Elf kingdom would serve the nation they immigrated to, but their descendants—the second and third generations—would eventually venture out. Many, like Eris, are active in nations like Weed.
A concrete example would be Charl, the older sister of Shera from Gartz; she is an elf. In other words, her mother was an elf. Well, that might be an exception—a case where an elf became a member of the royal family as one of the concubines. Other than that, elves often serve nations as court mages or in other magical professions.
Moreover, since it was the High Elf kingdom that requested the village development, the nations at the time likely accepted it with joy, hoping to forge some kind of connection.
"But Rurua and Alstaire have never been to the High Elf kingdom, right?"
"Yes. We have exchanged letters, but we never had the occasion to visit in person. If I may offer an excuse, we simply didn't have the time back then..."
That’s true. When Rurua was the Saintess, Litea was on the verge of internal conflict, and she wouldn't have had the luxury of visiting small nations.
"Eris hasn't been there either. *Sigh*, thinking about it is a waste of time. That reminds me, Eris—are Kagura and the others doing alright?"
Right. At the mixed-gender bath the day before yesterday, perhaps because it was their first time, Kagura and the others had gotten too excited in the open-air bath with the young Vilia and the others. As a result, they had collapsed from heat exhaustion and a chill. Vilia and the others had collapsed as well, but since they worked in Weed, they could just take a break. It wasn't so simple for Kagura and her group, who were accompanying us.
They seemed fine before we departed, but it’s common for one's condition to worsen again while on the road. Besides, Kagura and the others were guests entrusted to us by Haiden. Kagura, in particular, was the type to push herself until she collapsed, so I had to keep an eye on her.
But this time... well, the cause was their own rowdiness in the bath. Regardless, I needed to check on their condition.
"Err, I tried contacting them, but they said there are no problems. Rather, they're sleeping."
Rurua had checked on them via a call to Eris, and it seemed they were doing fine. At first, they had been surprised by the car and excited by the unknown experience, but people get used to things. Once they get used to it, it’s just boring. Especially in a car, where space is limited and there’s little to do, and if you do something wrong, you get motion sickness. So, sleeping wasn't a bad way to pass the time.
"Besides, we treated them thoroughly."
"That's true."
Rurua, the pinnacle of Weed’s medical field, had treated them. There was no way their condition would have lingering effects. If it were reckless, Rurua would have stopped them from the start.
And so, we arrived without any of the trouble we faced when we went to Eris’s hometown. Actually, since we didn't have to stop to slay monsters, we were even faster. If Kagura and the others hadn't been motion-sick, I would have liked to have them fight to gain experience.
Motion sickness—a rite of passage for everyone, I suppose. The main reason they were sleeping was because they were feeling ill.
"Uuu... I'm sorry, Yuki."
"I'm sorry..."
"My apologies."
"We got too carried away..."
"I'm sorry, Yuki-san."
The five of them apologized profusely.
"No, I lacked consideration as well. I took it for granted that because they were fine with carriages, they would be fine with this."
I should have given them motion sickness medicine. Fortunately, they didn't vomit while sleeping and there was no risk of suffocation, but I’ll have to be careful with things like tourist buses in the future, or it could turn into a disaster.
"For now, you're fine to walk, right?"
"Yes!"
As expected, we didn't drive the car directly into the High Elf kingdom, which had almost no diplomatic relations with us. It was obvious that we would be met with suspicion.
"Still, when you ride in a car, the neighboring countries feel so close."
"Well, yeah. The speed is several times faster."
There is practically no such thing as immigration control or border management on this continent. In fact, there isn't the budget or manpower to build walls all along the borders. Unlike Earth, this world is inhabited by countless monsters that would gobble people up in an instant. I’ve never heard of a country with a civilization level comparable to medieval Europe that had the budget to line their borders with walls. Even the Great Wall of China only covered a portion of the border.
That kind of strict border management only became common in modern times.
Therefore, we didn't get caught up in any immigration checks; driving the car, we could slip into a country as easily as if we were in the EU. Well, the roads were poorly maintained, so we couldn't drive at the same speeds as on Earth, and whenever we saw a carriage, we would pull over to the side and wait for it to pass.
Still, being able to travel while remaining in the car is a wonderful thing. Thanks to the creation of the nation of Weed, transport by vehicle has finally begun.