Isekai Nonbiri Nouka - Chapter 918

The Village Five New Road.

It refers to the new route being planned between Village Five and the city of Shashaato. Although the two locations are connected by a teleportation gate, congestion has become a growing issue, prompting the need for an alternative overland route.

The project has been underway for quite some time, and parts of the road are already complete. However, until recently, certain sections of the route had not yet been finalized.

Personally, I thought you could just draw a straight line and build a road along it—but alas, the world is not so conveniently flat.

The land has its ups and downs, and terrain elevation matters.

Flat lands are actually hard to find.

And since this road will be used by horse-drawn wagons, we have to consider width, slope, and accessibility.

As a result, the road twists and turns in ways that may seem inefficient but are actually necessary to maintain manageable slopes and avoid steep places.

Hmm?

That’s not the only consideration?

We also need access to water along the way?

Ah, right—horses need watering stations.

And not just that, huh? What’s more important is rest stops?

Even once the Village Five New Road is complete, it’s a considerable distance, so travelers will need to make at least one or two overnight stops.

Rest stops don’t just provide shelter—they ensure safety and comfort. Without proper accommodations, nobody’s going to bother using the road, no matter how efficient it is.

I see.

If the goal is to ease teleportation gate congestion, the road needs to be genuinely viable.

That said, won’t we need staff at those rest stops?

Apparently, arrangements have already been made by reaching out to the nearby elven villages.

I see.

That’s great.

Youko’s secretarial team really is top-notch.

As for why parts of the route weren’t decided until recently—it’s because one particular section runs through extremely difficult terrain, and they were debating whether to detour around it or push straight through.

I ultimately made the decision to push through, which locked in the route.

That tricky stretch?

AFT handled it like a champ.

-0-

I made my way to the auction hall prepared in the Demon King’s Kingdom’s royal capital.

I was there to check the items being put up for auction.

Originally, the auction items were decided before the merchant caravans set out on their rounds to various regions.

These caravans travel around to let people know what kinds of items will be available at the auction and to attract participants.

However, once the caravans start moving from place to place...

「The truth is, I’ve been having some financial trouble. If there’s going to be an auction, I’d really like to put something up for sale...」

It seems that nobles and merchants in various regions often ask to have their items included.

Really, it happens quite often.

The number of items has doubled compared to before the caravans departed.

It’s a lot of work just to look through them all.

-0-

Then there was Prada, the one who had called me here.

She told me there were some items among the increased number of auction goods that she wanted me to buy.

Most of them were based on her personal tastes, but she claimed some of them were genuinely beneficial for me.

I was relieved it wasn’t some kind of trouble.

I couldn’t afford to waste money, but if something was useful, I would bid on it properly.

「I’m not sure if it’ll be useful, but I do think it’s valuable」

...Isn’t that the same thing?

「It’s a difference in nuance」

Nuance, huh...

Well, whatever.

So, the payment for your services will be me bidding on the things you personally want, right?

「As expected of village chief! So rich!」

Hahaha.

I’m not going to buy everything, so choose carefully.

「I’ll narrow it down to twenty items!」

Three.

「That’s not fair! I worked so hard this past year!」

You already got paid properly for that.

「I’ll pick things that will benefit the village, so let me go up to ten. Please?」

Trying to act cute won’t work.

「Then how about a spending limit instead of item count? I’ll handle the bidding myself」

...That might be better. Since this is an auction, we won’t know the final prices in advance.

Setting a cap by amount makes more sense.

「Yes! So, how much will you allow?」

Let’s see...

Some of the items up for auction come with suggested purchase prices or minimum bid amounts.

Compared to previous auctions, the digits are one or two places higher.

Since this one is more thoroughly prepared, I suppose it can handle high-priced items.

Based on that...

How about one hundred gold coins?

「More than enough! I’ll win those bids for sure!」

Prada was so delighted she jumped.

Maybe I gave her too large a budget.

Still, Michael-san from the Goroun Company and the village’s civil servant girls had asked me to spend around a thousand gold coins at this auction.

That’s because we needed to get some of the gold we’ve stockpiled in the village circulating again.

Even though we earned it through proper trade, thanks to the AFT, I still wanted to make sure we spent it on things that had real value.

...

Well, not to brag, but I think I have pretty low material desires.

I usually just make what I need myself.

Spending a full thousand gold coins might be out of the question.

With that in mind, I asked Daga, Gulf, and Reginleif, who were accompanying me as guards, to let me know if they saw anything they wanted.

「Thank you very much」

「However, we must remain focused on our duty as guards」

「Your sentiment is enough」

They gently turned me down.

W-Well, I guess I’ll just have to count on Prada’s recommended items.

-0-

「The first item I’d like to recommend to you, Village Chief, is this」

Prada presented the item she had in mind.

It was a massive crystal pillar, twice my height.

Impressive and beautiful, but...

What is this?

What am I supposed to do with it?

Put it in the garden as decoration?

「That would be fine too, but... this crystal pillar contains an artificial lifeform」

An artificial lifeform?

...Like Belle and Gou, the Mercuries?

Now that I think about it, Gou was also in a crystal when I first met him.

Is it like that?

「I’m not entirely sure, but probably something like that. Ah, but the one inside this isn’t a Royal Guardian (Mercury), it’s a Kingdom Warrior (Jupiter)」

Jupiter?

So it’s a Jupiter type?

Related to the Mercury type?

TN: Type instead of race since they are artificially built and more like AI than living creatures. They can’t be considered as race, right? Or am I being racist?

No, wait—more importantly, is it alive?

「Probably. It seems to be in a dormant state right now」

Then I’ll bid on it and show it to Belle and the others.

They might know them.

「However, it can’t be activated in its current state」

That may be true, but Belle and the others might be able to figure something out.

They can... right?

「I’m not sure. But please take a look at that item over there」

Prada pointed toward something... what is that?

A broken grandfather clock?

There’s no clock face.

It looks like a machine made of gears, but its purpose is unclear.

「This is also related to the Jupiter」

...Meaning?

「With this, it might be possible to awaken it and communicate」

Oh!

How convenient!

「The convenience doesn’t stop there」

?

「Please look over there as well」

This one I understand.

It’s a life-sized doll.

I’m not sure what it’s made of, but judging by how worn and dirty it is, it must be ancient.

It has a real sense of age.

The face... unfortunately, is badly damaged.

It’s hard to tell the gender from the build, but the clothing suggests it’s female.

It has four arms.

Three of them are broken off partway.

The legs are long... though one of them is bent out of shape.

So this old doll—

Does it mean this is the body of the Jupiter inside the crystal?

「I don’t know if it’s her original body or not」

I see.

Got it.

I’ll add these three to the list of items to bid on.

The prices aren’t too high either... actually, they’re cheap.

Unless some wealthy eccentric shows up, I should be able to win them for sure.

So, earlier you mentioned this Jupiter might not be useful?

Even if she’s not like Miyo, if she can do administrative work, she’d be a big help, right?

「We won’t know her personality or capabilities until she’s awakened」

That’s true.

「But with you leading the Mercuries, Village Chief, I believe you’ll be able to handle her」

That’s why you considered it as beneficial.

「Yes. Ah, I still have more items to recommend. Though, like these, it’s questionable whether they’ll be useful」

But they might be beneficial?

Show me.

「With pleasure」

-0-

By the way.

One of the auction items was a Mereokan egg.

I almost jumped at it, but remembered just in time.

Mereokan eggs look almost identical to Net Turtle eggs.

I had seen them at the Mereo breeding grounds.

This one looks exactly like the egg they showed me back then.

I can’t tell the difference.

Well, I can just add it to the list of potential bids.

Whichever egg it turns out to be, I can just bring it to the Mereo breeding facility.

-0-

AN: The actual auction will take place a little later.

●Character and Race Reminder

Prada – An ancient devil. Also known as the Art Collecting Devil.

Mereokan – A chameleon-type demon beast. Nicknamed Mereo.

Net Turtle – A land-dwelling demon turtle that lives symbiotically in Mereo’s habitat.