SWNOVELXO Chapter 3 - Let's Create a Trade Route
Let’s Create a Trade Route
“I’m sorry, Randor.”
In the luxurious carriage heading down to Baron Elrond’s territory, Karia keeps apologizing to me tearfully.
“If I had… if I had spoken up more actively, we could have stayed in the capital.”
“No, Your Highness. Going to Baron Elrond’s territory was entirely my choice.”
At my words, the princess looks at me with an expression asking what I mean.
“I’m going there to construct tunnels. I mean tunnels that will pierce through the Rako Mountains to connect the western and eastern continents. With that, I will create trade routes to make the empire prosperous.”
“Ah, so that’s what it was. Elrond, that’s wonderful.”
Until just before I possessed this body, this squinty-eyed fellow had been plotting with an evil smile, but now he suddenly changed his tune about making the empire prosperous. Princess Karia didn’t seem to detect anything strange about this.
Just how strong was the gaslighting and brainwashing?
It was clear that no matter what I did, she would agree with a smile on her face. While feeling that she was like an easily manageable subordinate, I once again felt pity for Karia’s past that had made her become so dependent.
“Just watch. I will definitely create a world where everyone can smile. For myself, and for you.”
Though it was more like a desperate act to avoid the horrible ending of being drawn and quartered in the plaza, Karia seemed to take it very romantically.
“Randor… I love you. I love you, Randor.”
She becomes overwhelmed with emotion and launches a passionate kiss at me with her tearful face.
And unfortunately, she didn’t stop there.
“Your Highness! Wait! WAIT!!!!”
My pleas fell on deaf ears.
Fortunately, the luxurious royal carriage had enough cushioning to withstand the beast-like sex between the two people without creating any unfortunate incidents that would let outside personnel guess what was happening inside.
During the two weeks heading to Baron Elrond’s territory.
I was taken at least 20 times and had to get off the carriage in an almost zombie-like state.
One word was enough to describe Baron Elrond’s territory.
Ruins.
Eerie buildings that seemed uninhabited for decades stood with only their skeletal frames remaining, proving that humans once lived here. Actually, it made sense. What reason would people have to gather here?
Behind, the frighteningly tall and treacherous peaks of the Rako Mountains loomed, wrapped in snowstorms between them, spewing sharp sounds.
It was as if they were threatening to kill anyone who dared enter.
A place with no benefits but mountains of dangers. That was the true nature of Baron Elrond’s territory.
“We have arrived.”
The generals of the Blood Iron Legion reported respectfully while looking visibly uncomfortable.
It was understandable. Just when they thought they could rest in the capital after winning the war, they had to come to a place not much different from the Limnacal Plains in the north where they had fought, to battle monsters again. Who would like that?
Most soldiers were frowning heavily, though they weren’t openly speaking out due to their loyalty to Karia.
The only ones in the Blood Iron Legion who seemed to be in good spirits were those with distinctly foreign appearances compared to other imperial soldiers – the northern nomads.
“Snow!! Cold!!! We can hear the cries of reindeer and the roars of monsters!! Hahaha!! It reminds me of our destroyed homeland!”
Some were even kissing the ground while shedding tears.
The Limnacal Plains, the stage of the two-year Northern Great Expedition.
The northern nomads who had been living peacefully herding sheep and reindeer there had to lose most of their homeland due to the sudden explosive increase in monsters.
They could no longer live in their ruined homeland, so they hoped to live in the empire in exchange for joining the Blood Iron Legion that had come to exterminate the monsters.
They had achieved great military accomplishments fighting monsters on the frontlines for two years and earned imperial citizenship in return. They were the ones who, impressed by Karia’s strong leadership and military prowess, remained in the Blood Iron Legion until now.
In the original story, they would meet an unfortunate end, dying gloriously while massacring the most citizens during the ugly war that would break out in the capital later.
And these people, none other than them, would become the key figures in the Rako Mountains tunnel construction.
On the first day of arrival, after setting up temporary quarters in the sturdiest remaining ruins, I immediately summoned the leader of the northern nomads.
“I am Tamir Khan. You called for me.”
The man with a tall height of 180cm and fierce eyes asks while looking straight at me. He didn’t view me favorably. His loyalty was directed solely at Karia.
Though his gaze was disrespectful, I had no intention of blaming him for it.
The northern nomads. While the eastern continent was famous for magic and the western continent for sorcery, the northern nomads were the world’s finest spirit users, except for the elves who lived in seclusion in the World Tree Forest.
They were beings specialized in a slightly different field from magic. And these people serving in the Blood Iron Legion were the best of the best who had survived two years of fierce battles.
“Would you take a look at this map?”
I took out a detailed map of the Rako Mountains, one of the many items the Emperor had prepared for me, and handed it to Tamir Khan. I had already marked several points on this map that various adventurers had completed at the cost of their lives.
“I’ve marked nine locations. I’ll be direct. Can you create tunnels through these places?”
The nine points were locations that seemed relatively feasible for tunnel construction even in the treacherous Rako Mountains. The map marked areas with red soil that, though frozen solid, would be easy to dig once thawed, or regions where passages could be created by simply removing a few rocks.
Tamir Khan looked at the map and then quietly placed his hand on the ground, closing his eyes. Though it was an abrupt action, I let him continue.
Tamir Khan was known as the strongest earth spirit user in history.
Asking earth spirits to observe the marked areas on the map was child’s play for him.
After a moment, he opens his eyes.
“Amazing. All nine locations are indeed places that can be tunneled through relatively easily. How did you know about these locations?”
How did I know?
These were the passages that the western continent had created when they started invading the eastern continent. Not long after Randor completely made Karia his own, an incident would occur where the Emperor would fall.
Though an ugly war was about to break out, the unfortunate event would postpone it. The western continent’s army would break through by creating tunnels in the Rako Mountains. Sultan Saladin of the western continent, mad with conquest, would successfully occupy most of the western region of the Ailam Empire through the passages created in the Rako Mountains.
The 9 tunnels that Sultan Saladin had created for invading the Eastern Continent. Simply connecting these tunnels would create a passage that penetrates through both Western and Eastern Continents.
Since this part was heavily emphasized in the novel with detailed location descriptions, I could easily find and mark the 9 locations on the detailed map of the Rako Mountains.
“Can you construct tunnels and create paths there?”
“It’s easy.”
Tamir Khan says with a confident smile as if it’s not difficult at all. I knew very well that this wasn’t an empty boast. The construction capabilities of the Spirit Masters were, well, on a different level.
During the ugly war, when Golden Adran cleverly destroyed one side of the castle wall, they were beings who could gather earth and create a new wall in less than an hour.
“Well, let’s think. There are three reasons why tunnel construction in the Rako Mountains is difficult: it’s hard to bring large equipment to this treacherous region for construction, the severe cold, and the rampaging monsters.”
However, if Spirit Masters do the work, these three disadvantages become practically non-existent.
They can directly manipulate the terrain using spirits, so they don’t need any heavy construction equipment at all.
Cold? These guys are from the Limnacal Plains in the north, where it’s even colder than here. Monsters? The firepower of the Iron Blood Legion present here was enough to destroy all the monsters in the Rako Mountains three times over. They could create the passage without much effort.
“Good. Then go and create tunnels in these 9 locations. How long will it take?”
“If we didn’t know these 9 locations, it would have taken nearly half a year just to find suitable places to dig. But well, since we know the locations, the work is very simple. Three months will be enough to dig through.”
“When digging the tunnels, make them wide enough for 10 carriages to pass through simultaneously.”
Tamir Khan blinks at my words.
“Of course, we can do that if you want. But why do we need such large passages?”
At those words, I stand up from my seat with a slight smile.
Karia inside the temporary quarters, and the generals under her command, and Tamir Khan all focus on my dramatic action.
“For trade between the Western and Eastern Continents, sea routes are the only option, and that journey takes a month by ship. During that month, goods get damaged due to the severe sea moisture. Anyone who has studied even a little knows this fact.”
“Is that so?”
While the imperial generals and Karia were all nobles who had received education and nodded at my words, Tamir Khan was someone from the northern Limnacal Plains who couldn’t even read. He nods his head as if finding it interesting.
“Yes, goods get damaged. The Western Continent has various spices, silk, perfumes, and all sorts of precious specialties that don’t exist in the Eastern Continent. But less than 10% of all these items can be transported via sea routes. Most products from the Western Continent can’t withstand the sea moisture and rot on ships.”
“I see.”
I show the detailed map of the Rako Mountains.
I traced the line connecting the 9 tunnels I had marked.
“If my calculations are correct, the total length of this trade route is about 13km. By carriage, it would take between 30 minutes to an hour to travel. A sea route that takes a month versus a trade route that can be traversed in just 30 minutes if you move quickly. Moreover, since this trade route is in a cold mountainous region, there’s no moisture, so goods won’t spoil. Which route do you think merchants will use?”
“…Wait. Then?”
As if finally understanding my words, Tamir Khan’s eyes widen. I nodded with a smile.
And looking at everyone, I summarized the goal of my Project #1 for Preventing the Empire’s Collapse in one sentence.
“Once we open the trade route, most goods from the Western Continent will be sold to the East through this route. The profits generated during this process will be beyond imagination.”