Volume 2 Chapter 1 Royalty, Every Country Has Its Struggles
"This isn't even close to being over!"
In the northern part of Jewel City Lapis, there's a palace.
In one of its rooms, Princess Lucia was screaming.
At 14, she's short, with a flat body, and a very young face.
She's got the kind of look that would make a lolicon rejoice, and even though she's young, she's working hard, making her quite popular with the people.
Her lively efforts, taking over for her sick father, bring a sense of peace to the palace.
And there are plenty who might be waking up to their inner lolicon too.
If you ask if that's okay, well, it's already not okay, so there's no problem.
In front of Princess Lucia, there's a mountain of paperwork.
So many adventurers... Also, because it's easy to find rare minerals here, high-rank adventurers are flocking in.
And then there's Ramella, a 'blacksmith' from the hero community, whose 'failed creations' carry significant meaning.
Because of this, for adventurers who want to upgrade their gear, this country has its charms.
"We can't prepare this many inns like this~!"
Since it's a place worth picking gear for, some might stay long-term, and high-rank adventurers, they've got money and they'll pay to stay in nice places.
So, the paperwork for construction ends up on Lucia's desk, but buildings don't just pop up like that.
That's the situation.
If it's not done first, people will get upset, but 'blacksmiths' and the like, they're not exactly experts in construction.
"Mmmph... What am I supposed to do..."
"Your Highness, there's someone hoping for an audience..."
"How can I meet with anyone when I've got this much paperwork? Huff!"
"That's... Lady Ellie, the one who leads the hero community's 'merchants'..."
"Huh, the hero community?"
Ellie, the head merchant of the hero community.
She's a black-haired beauty who rocks a pantsuit, the calmest and most expressionless one in the group.
Lately, she's been tangled up in financial mishaps and filthy curses, making you want to say, 'You're more of a banker than a merchant,' but she insists she's still a merchant.
"Please let me into the reception room. I'll be there shortly."
"Understood."
The female knight bowed and left the room.
"This country shouldn't have any debts with the Luster Report. What could be going on..."
Lucia is a hard worker and a highly trusted princess among her people.
She looks super cute, and the hero community thinks well of her, so nobody sees her as 'scary.'
But Rangella, whom she met again at the world conference, was pretty intimidating.
"Let's go!"
So Lucia stopped sorting papers... more like checking and stamping to 'create documents' and headed to the reception room.
When she opened the door and walked in, Ellie was sitting in the lower seat.
She know she's 18, 4 years older than Lucia, but her incredibly seductive figure is clear even in that suit.
"Ms. Ellie! Long time no see!"
"It has been a while, Your Highness Lucia."
Saying that, Ellie stood up and opened her arms wide to invite Lucia in.
"Whoa!"
Lucia happily jumped into Ellie's embrace.
Ellie gently hugged her back...
"Ahhh~♡"
She had the happiest look on her face.
This is clearly some lolicon stuff.
After hugging for about ten seconds, they pulled away, and Lucia took the higher seat.
"So, Ms. Ellie, what brings you here today?"
"I heard you were having issues with construction, so I brought an item to solve that."
"Huh?"
"It's a large magic tool set up outside, and using it, you can build high-quality 3-story structures in just half a day."
"You can't be serious about construction!?"
"Well, it's just something my master made for fun, so this is what we got."
"Huh? But isn't it a magic tool? Isn't Mr. Horace a golem master?"
"Magic tools and golems are sorta similar. It's just that magic tools don't change based on the user, while golems' performance depends on the handler."
"?"
"In short, a golem master is someone who takes out some 'key parts' from a magic tool and moves them around themselves."
"Oh! I didn't know that!"
Paaah!
She flashes a sparkling smile.
Ellie felt like she'd seen that smile somewhere before, probably on Rangella when she was dealing with Horace.
With Rangella, you'd see a sunflower field around her, but with Lucia, it'd be a clear blue sky.
What on earth is she talking about?
"So, Mr. Horace made a golem and put some parts in it to turn it into a magic tool, right?"
"Yeah. You can't expect the same operational ability as the creator. So, I'm making it usable even with just coins inserted."
"Coins..."
Earlier, Ellie mentioned a 'large magic tool.'
That kind of item would need a lot of coins, so the weather's been acting up because of that, I guess.
"Of course, I'll cover some of the costs. How about 10,000 gold coins?"
"That's like one-tenth of our national budget! Please don't just pull that kind of money out!"
"This sort of deposit... well, it's only natural to support the Dragonstone Kingdom with this amount. We are its citizens, after all."
"You said deposit just now! I heard you! I'll take it without hesitation!"
"Alright."
Saying 'alright' to the princess like that is too casual, but that's how it is in the hero community.
"Besides, it's also a test. I've made sure it's safe, but you won't know until you try it out."
"Understood. I'll discuss it with the architect in the castle and give it a go."
"Then, I'm..."
"Hey, you're leaving already?"
"I've refilled my ingredients."
"For what?"
"It's a secret. See you later."
Ellie said that, her face blank, then bowed and left the room.
Lucia tilted her head, but it didn't change the fact that she had a lot of work.
Right away, she called the architect and other workers, giving orders to test the magic tools.
...No need to say she was stunned and amazed by how powerful it was.
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