Chapter 124
Unfortunately, 'Magitech Armor,' one of the newly unlocked branches of the Empire's tech tree...
'I'll put it off until later.'
I wasn't in a position to invest points in it right away.
I wanted to invest all ten points I'd just received immediately, but...
a hippo that needed point investment right away was sitting there with its mouth wide open.
[ All the stats of the executioner races whose pacts have been resolved rise by one tier. ]
[ All the executioner races have sworn allegiance to the Empire. ]
[ They will not betray it and will do their utmost for the Empire. ]
The messages were still appearing, as though telling me that I would walk nothing but a flower-lined path from now on...
[ The Academy's construction speed increases exponentially. ]
[ An Empire with all five pacts resolved develops at a rate on an entirely different level from before. ]
[ The Empire's growth rate increases by 10%. ]
[ The Empire's atmosphere becomes even livelier and more positive. ]
[ As a result, eccentric figures hidden throughout the continent will visit the Empire. ]
Looking closely, there were an awful lot of messages suggesting that sudden events were likely to occur.
Whether I would turn these sudden events into opportunities or simply treat them as things that passed me by...
was entirely a matter of my own ability.
[ Will you invest all the points you received in 'Academy Basic Lectures'? ]
[ If you invest all 10 points in 'Academy Basic Lectures,' the time required to learn the basic curriculum will become extremely short. ]
[ 10 points have been invested in 'Academy Basic Lectures.' ]
[ The Academy cadets' speed of learning the basic curriculum increases exponentially. They will not forget the fundamentals. Their foundations will become exceptionally solid. ]
I boldly invested all the points I had received as a reward in the Academy.
There was also a way to start with the advanced curriculum and invest in specialized fields,
but I judged that it would not be too late to deal with that later.
'They need to have the basics first. Once those who have built a solid foundation start dividing into specialized fields on their own... if I meddle with the specialized fields while there's nothing in place yet, things will get tangled.'
The Academy was a place that taught a wide variety of fields, not one that delved deeply into a single field.
Of course, an additional graduate-school route would eventually be created for that purpose.
But with the Academy not yet complete, even that was nothing more than a pie-in-the-sky idea.
'Investing in the basic lectures affects the professors, too, in the end.'
[ Because 10 points have been invested in 'Academy Basic Lectures,' the professors who teach the basic lectures also gain an overwhelming understanding of how to pass on basic knowledge. ]
[ This effect is active only when both the cadet and professor belong to the Empire. If either one's affiliation changes, this effect disappears immediately. ]
Moreover, investing in the basic lectures caused even more Academy-related branches to appear in the tech tree.
It seemed to be a benefit of being able to conduct classes on the assumption that, 'Surely they know at least this much, right?'
That being said, I would leave Academy-related matters there for now.
"Since the furnace itself has to be built in the Empire, I suppose it will inevitably take longer before we can see the furnace."
"No. Rather, we are satisfied and grateful simply to be able to see flames like these."
I shifted my gaze to the yokai, which were still blazing fiercely and spewing out various by-products.
We had only begun obtaining the by-products of the yokai called wicked things yesterday.
Yet in just one day, the yokai had stopped simply dying in the flames and were now dying through a systematic process instead.
It made me wonder whether this was what it would look like if the slaughtering of pigs or cows had been automated.
Kieeeeeek!
Even at this very moment, the yokai were diligently spewing out by-products.
'This situation reminds me of a mob farm.'
Of everything the yokai spewed out when they died, I had thought their inner cores would be the most difficult to process.
Perhaps because they were burned together with the gods' corpses, the evil energy was purified on its own.
[ You have found an inner core of a wicked thing. ]
[ An inner core of a wicked thing only takes effect after undergoing a complicated purification process. ]
[ Consuming it immediately will inflict damage resulting in death. ]
[ The divine power emitted by the corpses of the artificial gods instantly purifies the inner cores of wicked things. ]
[ Consuming them without a separate procedure will cause no problems whatsoever. ]
[ Consuming them maximizes the individual's potential. ]
[ Your field of vision broadens, and your physical abilities rise by one tier. ]
"So, does this mean that the Kingdom of Mazerin could have monopolized this under normal circumstances?"
Judging by the timing, it seemed that the Academy would be built first, after which exchanges with the Eastern Continent would begin.
During those exchanges, they would uncover the darkness within the Kingdom of Taewon, capture the wicked things, and so on.
'If the Empire gradually grew weaker while the Kingdom of Mazerin kept reaching one absurdly high point after another... then it really wouldn't have taken long for the Kingdom of Mazerin to replace the Empire.'
The Academy itself was originally supposed to be built in Mazerin, too.
I thought that if I had possessed this body even a little later, I would have had to assume the worst-case scenario.
Anyway.
"In that case, I suppose all that's left now... is to wait."
Once the situation seemed more or less settled, I decided to head straight back to the Empire.
There was nothing more to deal with regarding the Eastern Continent.
The royal palace of the Kingdom of Taewon, which had pretended to be the continent's hegemon, had vanished,
and the allied countries that had followed it had disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.
All that remained was for Cheongryu Kingdom and the countries around it to sort things out themselves.
"As for the Eastern Continent, Cheongryu Kingdom, which usually pays close attention to its neighboring countries, can manage it."
"...Are you granting us permission to manage the continent?"
"Whether I grant permission or not, it is naturally something you ought to do."
My conversation with Ryu Hyeon, the king of Cheongryu Kingdom, was extremely brief.
In fact, it would be more accurate to call it an order than a conversation.
'It makes sense to have Cheongryu manage the Eastern Continent while the Empire simply receives reports. Managing an entire continent across the sea would be absurdly difficult.'
It would not be difficult for the Empire to intervene in the Eastern Continent and adjust everything one matter at a time to suit its preferences.
However, with no way of knowing when demonification might erupt, continually dispersing our troops was not something I welcomed.
Even so.
'Given that we don't know much about the Eastern Continent's ecosystem, it makes no sense for the Empire to manage the entire continent. We should simply watch from above.'
The Eastern Continent could be said to be in a situation where the tiger had disappeared.
Not only the tiger itself, but even the wolves that had followed it had been wiped out entirely.
In other words, the Eastern Continent had entered an era of chaos on a scale that had never existed before in its history.
And we were supposed to step into that and have the Empire coordinate everything one matter at a time? That was absurd.
'Rather than deliberately seize control of a continent in chaos, it would be better to intervene after everything is over.'
That did not mean we could wash our hands of it completely, since then we would lose any justification for intervening.
By providing various forms of support through Cheongryu, we could involve ourselves at just the right level.
"Please take good care of the Eastern Continent."
"...I will never disappoint you!"
With that, I obtained the king of Cheongryu's oath of loyalty.
"It took longer to handle the construction afterward than it did to clear out the Eastern Continent's riffraff."
"I want to travel around the Eastern Continent with Your Highness later!"
"You have a talent for putting things nicely, Arveda."
"Heehee!"
We returned to the Empire.
+++++
While the Empire was quickly handling matters on the Eastern Continent,
the Western Continent was extremely busy in its own way.
"Once the Academy is complete, is it right to hire the professors first?"
"Are we hiring only professors? I heard instructors will be hired, too!"
"I came after hearing that there would be a large-scale hiring examination! What should I do?"
It was all because of Bellos Academy, the educational institution the Empire was ambitiously unveiling.
I heard they were building an Academy nearly as large as an ordinary royal palace.
At first, people thought it was absurd, but...
"...For this to actually become reality."
"Th-they're giants. Giants... They're really giants."
"There are beastmen, too!"
"This is insane... The Empire really is another world."
"The scale is on an entirely different level."
"Heh heh."
The scale was enough to leave some people's jaws hanging open when they saw it.
The Empire had actually created an educational institution on an absurd scale.
It occurred to me that, given its size, there had naturally been no choice but to recruit talent on a continental scale.
"It's large enough that I could believe it was a kingdom rather than a royal palace."
"They say it's considered small for now because it will only accept first-years...."
"It will be quite a sight once every grade is filled."
Under the Empire's ideology that talented people would be selected regardless of their status,
people continued streaming into the Empire with dreams in their hearts,
and under ordinary circumstances, the sudden influx of people might have caused incidents.
"From now on, anyone who violates the Empire's order will be regarded as opposing the Empire and punished."
"As this is an order issued by the Empire's Little Sun, there will be no exceptions."
Everyone behaved quietly at the knights' sharp warnings.
The Empire was not the kind of place to say it would kill someone merely for falling out of favor, even as a joke.
'If the Empire says it will kill you, it really will.'
'If you want to live a long life, you absolutely need to bow your head and keep yourself low.'
'I can't die before entering the Academy.'
While everyone was doing their best to enter Bellos Academy,
at the same time, the Crown Prince surveyed the Academy's situation and suddenly had a thought.
'But if the Empire built it, then doesn't it get to decide who gets accepted, too?'
Mirne's admission to the Academy.
Couldn't I just turn Mirne down for no reason?
'That could be fun.'
I'll try it right away.