Mages Are Infrastructure

The four of us had harvested a considerable amount of rapeseed.

Turning it into a competition had probably yielded more than doing it normally would have.

With the sun beating down from overhead, it was good that we finished before noon.

The sun wasn't doing any favors for the women's skin either.

Princess Yupe in particular was probably worried about sunburn.

"My back is killing me. It was fun, but doing it every day might be tough."

"You get used to it. It's all about experience. Besides, if you have even one mage who can use wind magic, you could harvest everything in a single day."

"I wish you hadn't told me that. I was feeling good about all the hard work."

Princess Yupe pouted.

People tended to focus on mages' combat abilities, but every type of magic brought enormous benefits to everyday life.

They could substitute for heavy labor particularly well, and it was said that a single mid-tier mage or above could establish an area's infrastructure by themselves.

For a settlement as small as a village, they could handle everything except food production.

And if they hunted edible monsters, even that could be managed.

… In that sense, Alexia alone could support all of us without any of us lifting a finger.

But doing that would surely make Alexia angry, and it would be boring besides.

Also, everyone working together earned more.

Stacks of rapeseed piled higher than a person were being carted away one after another.

Rapeseed, where nothing went to waste, was practically a treasure in and of itself.

Just as I'd felt when seeing the burning stone mine, there was something good about primary industry.

Growing or mining something valuable and selling it was a job that would never disappear.

You could even call it resource rights.

I wouldn't mind having a piece of something like that.

But whatever you wanted to do, you needed seed money first, so for now it was back to earning what I could.

"First, we separate the seeds from the rest. The seeds go into rapeseed oil, as I showed you. The rest gets processed into preserved food, or dried and used as medicine. The press cake left over becomes livestock feed or field fertilizer, and that's the whole cycle."

"This has been a valuable experience. The oil refined here supports not just the Royal Capital, but the entire kingdom."

"That's right. As long as we have this, I think Luido will be just fine. We're looking forward to your potatoes too, Yohane-san."

… The real reason I'd requested increased production was mainly for the war against the Church of the Sun God, but I kept that to myself.

Hearing that wouldn't make anyone feel good.

"As a small thanks for your help, please take this."

"This is… an assortment? Thank you very much."

"They're our pride and joy, so feel free to spread the word. Should warm your pockets too, Yohane-san."

"Haha. Well, I suppose so."

As part of the arrangement with Queen Tianis, I received a portion of Luido's tax revenue as compensation for serving as acting lord.

It had been significantly increased thanks to the growth I'd helped achieve, from what had previously been a pittance relative to the territory's size.

So the more Luido prospered, the more money came my way.

In other words, if the rapeseed field expansion succeeded, that alone would mean a boost in income.

Easy money, essentially.

If support was needed, I'd negotiate with the kingdom on their behalf, and I was doing what was necessary as acting lord.

Of course, eventually a proper noble would be appointed as lord, so it would only last until then.

The small crate contained various goods.

Mainly rapeseed products and oil.

There were also several jars of honey.

These would make fine souvenirs for Queen Tianis and Lady Anatia.

"So you're leaving Luido already. You're welcome to stay as long as you'd like."

"I appreciate the offer, but there's work to do. The fact that you accepted the rapeseed expansion has taken a huge load off my shoulders, though. I'm counting on you for next year's yield."

"Leave it to us. This is a good deal for Luido too."

I shook hands with the representative and we headed back to the house.

I set the crate down by the front door and took out our luggage.

After making sure we hadn't forgotten anything, we were ready.

"Hey, how are we getting back, anyway?"

"On foot? That'd be fine for us, but tough on Princess Yupe."

"My legs would get all thick. Though they'd probably give out before that."

Princess Yupe showed off her legs.

"They sure would," Azu replied half-heartedly.

"I wouldn't make you walk. Even I'd rather not do that. So I called for a pickup."

I pulled out a stone, a magic tool.

It was one-way only, but it could transmit your voice to the recipient.

Handy for times like these.

I'd used it to ask Alexia and the others, who were holding down the fort, to come with a carriage.

I'd told them to arrive around the time the sun reached its peak, so they should be here any minute.

"Ah, isn't that it?"

"There they are."

A remarkably lavish and sturdy-looking carriage was heading our way.

A familiar, powerfully built donkey was pulling it. No question about it. That was our carriage.

"That's a nice carriage. Must have cost a fortune?"

"Well, a fair bit."

I deflected with a vague smile.

Through various circumstances, it had been gifted to us by Emperor Kelves and Duke Grabahl of the Empire, and its value was probably more than I could ever afford on my own.

We had another carriage that had recently come back into our possession, and that one would have done fine too, but with Princess Yupe along, they must have chosen this one.

The driver was Finn.

She reined in the mules out front and hopped down from the driver's seat.

"Good work babysitting the princess."

"Hey. You know I can hear you, right?"

"Oh, you're here. Following along all the way out here… royalty sure are an eccentric bunch."

"The castle has most things, but not everything. In my case, my movements were restricted and it was boring."

"Hmm. Whatever, I don't really care."

Finn gave Princess Yupe a casual ribbing, then turned to me.

"It's not just about the sister, you know. You don't have to let the younger one push you around either. You've done more than enough for them. Royals only ever think about using people for their own convenience. You'd be smart to put some distance between you. And when someone in power decides you're in the way, they'll just send you off somewhere dangerous. That's how it always ends."

"Coming from you, that's hard to argue with…"

"I didn't spend all that time in the underworld for nothing. I've seen plenty of people get used up and thrown away. And every time, it was someone like you. The kind whose kindness gets exploited."

I understood what Finn was getting at.

Being directly attached to royalty was a double-edged sword.

While you had their favor, things were fine, but the moment you became inconvenient, it was a straight drop to the bottom.

I knew some of the nobility already resented our position.

But Queen Tianis, Lady Anatia, and now Princess Yupe. I didn't believe any of them were so heartless.

I wouldn't deny that some of that was wishful thinking, though.

"Thanks for worrying about me."

"I-it's not like that… You're just the only employer who'd put up with me, so I need you to live a long life. That's all."

Finn turned away with a huff.

"I won't deny that royalty and nobility can be ruthless, but you don't need to worry about that. You're the only one Tianis can really turn to in a crisis besides Anatia. Before she became queen, she was just a child with low succession rights and practically no backing. She can't risk using people whose ulterior motives are written all over their faces. What you should actually worry about is assassination attempts from nobles who want to drag her off the throne."

"That's already been dealt with. After a few attempts, they gave up and stopped coming."

"Oh? Not bad. For what it's worth, I don't have anyone backing me either."

Finn casually dropped a bombshell.

That was the first I'd heard of it.

"You didn't ask. It wasn't a big deal anyway. The third-rate can only afford third-rate help. I consider it part of the job, so don't worry about extra charges."

"If anything, that makes me worry more…"

"Don't tell those two about it. It'll cause a huge uproar. I'll handle it."

"Sooner rather than later, please. I've retired from the assassination business myself. But seriously, as long as I'm around, you'll be fine. Azu and Alexia are here too. Now come on, get in. We're heading to the Royal Capital."

"True enough. Standing around in the sun is going to burn my skin. Oh, it's spacious inside. And cool, too."

"The interior is magically expanded for comfort."

Inside, Orleans and Alexia were waiting.

It seemed they'd all come to pick us up.