We had Mosra’s permission, but the fuel business still faced several hurdles.
The first problem was that the trees inside the domain were finite.
“If we cut all of these down, the raw material supply will simply run out. That’s a pretty big issue.”
Vargas looked around the area with worried eyes.
Mosra’s domain was quite small.
It was nothing more than the clearing on the back side of Berkal Mountain where the specter had been active.
Roughly the size of a single soccer field.
“What if we expand the domain?”
At my question, Mosra made a gloomy face.
It seemed there was something difficult for it to overcome on its own.
—I was born not long ago as a fairy.
“Ah, is that so?”
—My power is weak, so expanding the domain is hard. There are plenty of beings in the world that can push me out.
“For example?”
—Strong monsters, half-gods, half-demons, and the like could become competitors.
“How many half-pints are around here?”
—There aren’t any. They’re not common beings.
“Then the problem is monsters.”
You got it right!
It had a fiery and aggressive personality, but Mosra’s power was extremely weak.
It could barely handle that small battle axe.
In fact, even that had no effect.
The one that had invaded its domain was a wraith monster.
“If I take care of the monsters, can you expand the domain?”
—O-of course! If you do that, I won’t mind if my domain gets a bit noisy.
“Oh? Really?”
The solution came out surprisingly simple.
Dealing with a few monsters wasn’t that hard.
I immediately began scouring Berkal Mountain from top to bottom.
I was looking for monsters strong enough to pressure Mosra.
But right from the start we ran into a major obstacle.
“Uh… this wasn’t in the plan?”
“Indeed. The very first thing we encounter is the Rock Mountain Keeper.”
Boom! Thud!
A massive pile of rocks was moving its legs.
A wolf-shaped rock monster roughly twenty meters tall and nearly forty meters long.
It was closer to a spirit than a monster.
That was why it didn’t attack us and simply turned away.
—That guy is the trickiest. It keeps pushing me out!
Mosra glared at the Rock Mountain Keeper with a furious expression.
Of course, taking care of the thing was entirely possible.
No matter how hard its body was, it would never withstand my hammer strikes.
It was simply huge, but the problem was that it caused almost no harm to humans.
“Still, isn’t it a bit much to touch a spirit?”
Vargas asked with a reluctant face.
I felt the same.
“Strictly speaking it isn’t a spirit. But it is harmless, that’s true.”
“Right?”
“Plus it’s somewhat helpful. Fierce monsters don’t dare come near.”
“Wouldn’t messing with it unnecessarily get us complaints from the people of the Crawford Duchy?”
“That’s not impossible. There are places that worship the Rock Mountain Keeper like a god.”
But Mosra, who had been listening, jumped in place.
—No, what are you talking about? You said you’d take care of it!
“Hey, hey, wait a second. We don’t want to do this either.”
You can’t always solve everything with violence.
So I decided to try talking with the Rock Mountain Keeper.
But how do you know if it can even communicate?
Just go up and linger in front of it.
“Hey! Look over here. Let’s talk for a second. Friend!”
If the thing had language ability, it would surely show some reaction……
Kwoooong!
“Whoa!”
I tried to start a conversation, but the Rock Mountain Keeper suddenly swung its front paw.
If I hadn’t dodged quickly, I would have been turned into a bloody pulp right there.
The destructive power was enormous.
“I was planning to try persuasion if possible. But this counts as self-defense, right?”
Of course, in Korean society self-defense was practically nonexistent.
That was because the people who judged legal principles knew nothing about real fights.
For example.
Imagine putting a complete amateur as referee in a mixed martial arts match.
The person can’t even tell the fighter’s condition or whether a foul occurred.
How could any proper result come from that?
‘But this is the Crawford Duchy.’
The one who destroyed the Senate and even took the legislative power is me.
Of course such procedures weren’t really necessary.
In the empire as well, you simply interpret the law clearly and that’s it.
If the opponent commits a crime equivalent to attempted murder and there is no proper way to escape the crisis?
Then I should use a similar level of force.
Fairly.
“Shall we play a bit?”
I immediately pulled out the Hector Punisher.
The Rock Mountain Keeper poured even fiercer attacks at me.
It seemed that simply holding a weapon was considered a threat.
“Don’t resent me too much. You started this first.”
If it hadn’t thrown the first punch, the conversation would have gone smoothly.
Tap! Whoooosh!
I leaped toward its upper body and swung the Hector Punisher hard.
I had used every skill against the specter, but there was no need now.
The wraith had no physical body, which was why I used Ruinous Retribution.
The Rock Mountain Keeper had a solid physical form.
Just activating the Beast’s Heart and swinging roughly would be enough.
Craaaaack!
When the hammer head struck, the Rock Mountain Keeper’s head bent down sharply.
The impact must have been huge; it rolled across the ground with dazed eyes.
Ruuuumble!
“Groaaaaah!”
The ground shook as if an earthquake had struck.
I waited a moment for it to regain its senses.
Just in case we could talk.
But the Rock Mountain Keeper only let out roars.
“Gwaaaah! Kuaaaaaah!”
Kwooooom! Boom!
It made such a ruckus that a landslide seemed imminent.
If left like this it might cause damage all the way to the city.
‘That won’t do.’
I spun the Hector Punisher and moved around.
The Rock Mountain Keeper began slinking away.
Originally the goal had been to chase it off moderately like this.
As long as it didn’t act like a monster, coexisting wasn’t impossible.
But the scene just now had been far too dangerous.
I had only approached, and a powerful front-paw attack had come flying.
What if it did the same thing to Daepan Group employees coming to develop Berkal Mountain?
‘Too dangerous.’
The self-defense talk had basically been an excuse.
Such legal principles were only for opponents you could actually talk to.
I made up my mind.
Spirit or whatever, I would just smash it.
“Now, shall I change things up a bit?”
Vrrrrrm!
Extreme Choice ‘Attack Power’ activated.
‘You will enter glass body state.’
Extreme Choice activated.
As expected, nothing was as thrilling as Extreme Choice when it came to smashing something.
Of course Ruinous Retribution had far greater raw power.
Stacking skills could produce transcendent destructive force.
But the feel in the hand was lacking.
It was the same with fishing; that factor was incredibly important.
“Hah!”
Sping—!
When I swung the Hector Punisher, a completely different ripping sound tore through the air.
Along with the sound of tearing air came a massive explosion.
Kwoooooom!
Rock dust scattered in every direction.
It was only one hit, but the effect was undeniable.
The Rock Mountain Keeper’s left shoulder had vanished without a trace.
Naturally the front paw had been smashed along with it, so the creature started hopping on three legs.
Kuaaaah! W-wait a minute!
Then suddenly an unfamiliar voice flowed into my mind.
Shugly and Feltron had been left at the office.
The half-fairy Mosra was trembling far behind us.
It was probably shocked by the transcendent battle.
In any case, there was only one possible speaker right now.
“What? You could talk?”
—Uuuugh! Of course. I am the Rock Mountain Keeper. A kind of spirit that has existed since ancient times. Conveying will is not difficult.
“Then why did you attack out of nowhere?”
—That’s……
The Rock Mountain Keeper hesitated and couldn’t continue.
There had to be a very petty and trivial reason.
—I am the king of this mountain. No one can block my path.
“Who decides that?”
—Naturally it follows the law of the strong.
“Oh? Is that so?”
Then things got easy.
It meant the strong could control everything as they wished.
The superiority here was clearly on our side.
I pointed to the distant mountain on the opposite side and spoke confidently.
“If you want to live, get lost.”
—……Understood.
The domain expansion issue ended with that single sentence.
Mosra flew over excitedly and flapped its hands wildly.
It seemed extremely happy.
Wow! Human! You’re the best!
Boom! Rumble!
For several days loud roars echoed from the back side of Berkal Mountain.
No need to see who was responsible.
It was because the regent had been absent for several days.
Perhaps because of that, the political and civilian circles of the Crawford Duchy were extremely quiet.
The person at the center of the storm had disappeared.
“It seemed like he was going to do something really big, but he just disbanded the Senate and that was it?”
“Yeah. It looked like he would cause a huge stir.”
“What passion would someone from the empire have in a backwater like this.”
“Well, he’s probably just thinking of ways to snatch the gem mine somehow.”
The nobles’ voices were quite negative.
It was understandable.
What would a high-ranking imperial powerholder do in such a remote village?
He would want to take something back, even if it wasn’t a huge sum.
That said, the reaction from the poor class wasn’t good either.
“I’m too busy trying to survive; what does politics have to do with us?”
“Would anything change even if we had expectations from the start?”
“I’m still scared every single day. If the imprisoned elders are released, they’ll take it out on us.”
“It’d be lucky if sparks don’t fly our way for no reason.”
But it didn’t take long for the perceptions of the Crawford Duchy people to change.
It started when countless carriages began entering the city one after another.
An enormous workforce and supplies.
As they passed through the city and headed toward the foot of Berkal Mountain, someone who couldn’t hold back their curiosity spoke up.
“Where exactly are you all coming from?”
The carriage driver answered with a bright face.
“We are from the empire’s Daepan Group. We came to build a logging camp and factory in the Crawford Duchy.”
“Wait, why are you building something like that?”
“Because it makes money. We plan to hire a large number of loggers and factory workers soon. So please apply a lot.”
Kind explanations followed, but everyone wore puzzled expressions.
Job creation was welcome.
But deep distrust was etched into the poor of the Crawford Duchy.
It was common not to get paid even after working.
Moreover, it was frequent for the state to issue mobilization orders.
Still, they had to ask.
What everyone was most curious about was exactly how much they would be paid.
“W-what about the wages?”
“It will probably be set according to the economic conditions of the Crawford Duchy. I can’t give a definite answer, but I can tell you one thing.”
Gulp!
The moment someone swallowed dryly, the Daepan Group employee continued.
“At the very least, you should be able to receive around the average wage of Deliat.”
“……!”
The onlookers’ eyes widened as if they were about to pop out.