NOVEL WEB Chapter 24 - The Emperor Seeks to Monopolize Potatoes! (3)
✦ Chapter 24 – The Emperor Seeks to Monopolize Potatoes! (3) ✦
「Translator – Creator」
During my childhood, there was a time when I wanted to catch some birds. I would sneak up quietly towards a flock of birds. But before I could even get close, they would all flutter away with a rustle.
That’s exactly how it felt right now.
As I approached, the handmaidens, who had been chatting merrily, scattered like birds, leaving only those trembling in fear. What a pity.
“So, what were the 「Calamity of the Second Age」 and the 「Calamity of the Third Age」like? Could they be compared to me?”
“I… I humbly beg your pardon, Your Majesty….”
Scouty, who seemed quite smart, bowed her head in confusion, her glasses fogging up.
“Speak honestly.”
“… Honestly, I don’t think they compare to Your Majesty. Who is the strongest? East, West, ancient or modern—the debate continues with many people spilling blood over it.”
Suddenly, Scouty adjusted her glasses and began speaking rapidly. It seemed Scouty enjoyed debating about who was stronger and who was weaker. Perhaps it was because she was the daughter of a warrior family.
If this continued, there would be no end to it.
“Ahem, so where is Patricia?”
I decided to change the subject and looked around, asking.
Arnoying murmured.
“Patricia went to get some seed potatoes!”
“I see. Make sure to handle it meticulously. The potatoes planted in the Emperor’s garden will be on my table every day from now on.”
“… Your Majesty will eat potatoes?”
“Shh, Arnoying. Be quiet.”
Scouty lightly nudged Arnoying in the side.
The handmaidens quickly bowed their heads; the atmosphere was awkward in many ways.
“Is there anything inconvenient about living in the palace? If there is, speak now. If it’s something I can solve, I will take care of it.”
“Really? Then I…”
“There is nothing in particular! Thanks to Your Majesty’s wisdom and generosity, we always live well in this palace, without any discomfort!”
Scouty bowed her head flat.
That’s a lie.
It was impossible for people to live without any discomfort. Even I, known as the 「Calamity of the Third Age」, have plenty of inconveniences, so how could the handmaidens not have any?
“Arnoying Murmur, do you really have no discomfort?”
“Gasp! Your Majesty, you know my name?”
Arnoying looked greatly surprised.
She seemed about to raise her head timidly and then, after glancing around, spoke, “… I, uh, want to go home! My younger sibling is about to enroll in the academy, and if that happens, I won’t see them for several more years!”
“Home?”
“Gasp! Your Majesty! I’m sorry! Arnoying is a bit slow and foolish! I’ll make sure to educate her properly, please forgive her!” Scouty was horrified; her face turned as pale as that of a convicted man with the guillotine over his neck. Suddenly, the situation seemed funny to me.
So I waved my hand lightly.
“It’s fine, Scouty. I was the one who asked if there was anything uncomfortable.”
“W-What? Your Majesty knows my name…!? To think that the strongest man of all time remembers my name! I, Scouty, will never forget this day….”
Scouty’s face turned crimson, like a bomb about to explode.
Feeling that prolonging the conversation with the handmaidens would only be a burden to them, I decided to get straight to the point and leave quickly.
“I will instruct the head maid to allow regular vacations for the palace maids. If the potato field is completed successfully, I promise additional reward leave.”
“A vacation! I’ll work hard! Really hard! Let’s hurry and finish the field, Scouty! We need to tell Patricia too!”
“Oh, o-okay. Vacations… hehehe… does that mean I can really go home….”
The handmaidens began working vigorously on the potato field, and soon the sound of hoes tilling the soil and removing stones became more lively as the news spread to other handmaidens.
“Home!”
“If we work hard, we can go home!”
⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆
“Your Majesty, we have a bountiful harvest.”
It seemed I had fallen asleep on the throne.
When I came to my senses, Barbatos’ Dimensia, standing by my side, handed me something. It was a 「Hel Potato」.
“The handmaidens, eager for their upcoming vacations, worked day and night and managed to harvest a significant amount of potatoes in just a few days. What should we do with these?”
“Store them in the warehouse. But do not post any guards.”
“As you wish. However, there is something I’d like to report…”
“What is it?”
“For the past few days, ever since Your Majesty’s decree regarding potatoes, there has been a rumor among the people. They say that the potatoes, which only the emperor can eat, must be exceptionally delicious.”
“……………….”
“There are even handmaidens who secretly steal the potatoes from the imperial garden and boil them. Some take the potatoes home when they go on vacation. How should we punish them?”
“Leave them be. It’s a trivial matter to me.”
“Understood. However, there are also increasing voices of resentment towards Your Majesty. Some call you a wicked emperor for monopolizing the potatoes. Was this all part of Your Majesty’s plan?”
“What are you implying?”
“To save the starving, Your Majesty devised this scheme. I, Dimensia Barbatos, am deeply moved by your willingness to endure infamy to achieve your goal…”
“Barbatos, you’re overthinking it.”
Sssss—!
Holding the potato basket, Dimensia bowed her head.
She slowly retreated into the shadows, her words trailing off.
“No matter how many turn against Your Majesty, I, Dimensia Barbatos, will always stand by Your Majesty’s side. Compared to us elves, the lives of humans are fleetingly short anyway….”
Anyway, using the human tendency to do what they were told not to, I succeeded in spreading the 「Hel Potato」. Honestly, I didn’t expect it to work out this well.
The potential of 「Creation」 was truly remarkable.
I narrowed my eyes and further manipulated the crafting window. There, I saw an item I could create immediately — a 「Workbench」.
「Workbench – A basic furniture item used to create weapons and tools to survive in Hel World」
「Stones: 0/10」
「Branches: 0/10」
「Hel Steel: 0/5」
「Pandemonium: 0/50」
Having the ability to infuse mana into my sword thanks to Somnia’s partner skill, I needed a sturdy weapon. Crafting that 「Workbench」 would allow me to create useful weapons.
The required materials for the 「Workbench」 seemed straightforward. Though 「Hel Steel」 was an unfamiliar term, I found a hint about it in the currently craftable 「Small Furnace」.
「Small Furnace: The most basic furnace used for smelting Hel Steel or performing tasks such as cooking. It has rather low efficiency. Its efficiency can be increased through Hel’s flame affinity.」
「Stones: 0/100」
「Low-Grade Flame Crystal: 0/5」
It seemed I needed to craft this 「Small Furnace」 to make 「Hel Steel」. I was pondering this when Dimensia, who had vanished into the darkness, appeared again.
“Your Majesty, is there something troubling you?”
“I want to obtain some 「Low-Grade Flame Crystals」.”
“It’s what we use to ignite flames in the palace. I’ll ask the maids to procure some.”
“Also, bring me about 100 stones.”
“Pardon? Hmm…very well.”
Dimensia looked at me suspiciously, clearly wondering what I intended to do with these items.
「Stones 100/100」
「Low-Grade Flame Crystal: 5/5」
With the materials acquired, I returned to the Emperor’s chamber.
Though calling it a chamber was an understatement, as it was as large as a small gymnasium; the room was sparingly furnished, containing only a bed and some training equipment. Quite desolate, really.
But now, it would have a 「Small Furnace」 added.
I looked forward to it.
「Estimated Work Time – 12:05:31」
A simple 「Small Furnace」 sure took an enormous amount of time to craft.
“Barkie, it’s your turn.”
━ Barkkk! Barkkk!
The Emperor Wolf Spider, Barkie, popped out from the 「Hel Ball」. Barkie seemed fascinated by the Emperor’s room, wandering around the Emperor’s chamber curiously, showing little interest in the 「Small Furnace」 construction.
“Barkie, craft the furnace. That is the Emperor’s order.”
━ Barkkk! Barkkk!
“Don’t just answer; start crafting.”
━ Barkkk! Barkkk!
Defying the Emperor’s order like this—what a laid-back creature. Maybe it’s because its loyalty is low.
Recently, I discovered that when I put Barkie to work, its loyalty decreased. An hour of work decreased loyalty by 1. The longer the task, the more loyalty it would lose. Currently, Barkie’s loyalty stood at 22.
“This is what I need for times like this.”
「Baked Hel Potato – Increases Hel’s vigor. Loyalty +1」
Through various experiments with potatoes, I found that feeding 「Baked Hel Potatoes」 to Hel creatures increased their loyalty.
Putting Hel creatures to work and feeding them baked potatoes—truly a recipe for infinite labor.
“Eat it.”
━Growl…!
“Not hungry right now, huh?”
Though I felt like force-feeding it, even Hel creatures — being living beings — would not eat 「Baked Hel Potatoes」 unless they were hungry.
‘If I level up more and unlock more recipes with various ingredients, I might be able to increase loyalty more easily. Let’s set 「Hel Bread」 and 「Hel Cake」 as short-term goals.’
The next day had passed by.
And the 「Small Furnace」 was completed; apparently, Barkie had completed it while I was asleep. Barkie, having eaten enough baked potatoes, was now sleeping near my bed.
“You little rascal, you’re cute.”
Now, let’s try making something to increase Barkie’s loyalty using the furnace.
「Hel Bread – Basic bread. Increases Hel’s vigor. Loyalty +5」
「Hel Flour 0/5」
「Hel Potato 0/1」
What exactly is 「Hel Flour」?
I asked Dimensia.
“Your Majesty, 「Hel Flour」 is made from processing 「Hel Wheat」, which can be found very rarely in certain regions. It is said to be worth its weight in gold. Unfortunately, with the current palace budget…”
“Then, can we get wheat seeds?”
“We can try, but it might not be easy because the noisy folks manage the 「Hel Flour」. Are you familiar with the fairy nymphs?”
Nymphs? What’s that? Since it’s a fairy, it might be similar to an elf. They sound similar.
“Since the 「War of Kings」, the nymphs have been shunning the imperial family, so it might be difficult to seek cooperation regarding anything related to 「Hel Wheat」.”
Then, how about 「Hel Steel」?
“My current goal is to create 5 pieces of 「Hel Steel」.”
To make 「Hel Steel」, I needed 「Steel Ingots」, which, fortunately, could be easily obtained from the imperial warehouse.
「Craft 5 pieces of Hel Steel」
「Estimated crafting time – 55:00:00」
“Are you kidding me? You expect me to manually smelt steel for 55 hours?”
It was mentioned that the efficiency of the furnace could be improved through Hel creatures with fire attributes. Looks like there was no other choice but to capture a fire-attuned Hel creature!
“Dimensia, do you know where the flame Hel creatures live?”
“By flame Hel creatures, you mean the beasts that breathe fire. As far as I know, the Amon family in the west has extensive knowledge about them.”
“Amon, one of the Twelve Zodiac Families of the Imperial Capital, like Paimon.”
“Yes. Coincidentally, the lady of the Amon family is entering the palace tomorrow. It might be good for you to have a thorough discussion. She has expressed a desire for a private audience with Your Majesty. I, Dimensia, may have had a hand in arranging this.”
“A noble lady seeking a private audience with me? What’s her business?”
“Oh, just asking for help to get rid of a small stone. Hohohohohoho—”
Calling on a great noble’s lady just to move a stone?
It must be quite the sizable stone.
— End of Chapter —
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Translator’s Notes :-
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