“Mastery”

Sugaru gave birth to a new Queen Vespoid and we entrusted the Teur Grasslands to her. Without giving additional experience points or conducting training, if it's a ☆1, that level is sufficient.

While giving various potions to infantry ants and engineer ants, they are mass-produced and released throughout the grasslands. During the cooldown of [Birth], Sugaru has the ants summoned to maintain the situation. The plan is to withdraw once the new queen's rule is established.

If the boss area is treated as a separate field, the difficulty will not change as long as Rare is in this hall. There are no noticeable posts about it on social media so far, just warnings from beginners who have been wiped out.

"But wouldn't changing the dungeon specifications without any change in difficulty create suspicion?"

Temporarily changing the difficulty during dungeon transformation might add some realism. Sugaru went out to the grasslands.

"…Alright, players who have posted on the forum are already reacting. As expected, it instantly became ☆5. That confirms that only the boss area is treated separately."

The results were immediately apparent. Currently, Teur Grasslands is highly popular. Quick responses are good. Additionally, contacting Blanc, Sugaru informed her of the possibility of changing difficulty and requested permission to take Dias out of the Lord's mansion.

The attention on Erntal is also high. Due to the recent presence of a "wandering boss", it has become popular as well. It seems that when a wandering boss appears, the difficulty temporarily increases to ☆4, and it can be known immediately. Even if it's known immediately, if they're not in some town, the teleport list can't be seen, and there's nothing to be done inside the dungeon.

Regarding the unusually strong players, Dias reported that they were individuals wearing armor made from Adama-something. Since it exists in the continent's veins, it was known that someone would find it someday. It's earlier than expected, but it's unavoidable.

If the confirmed Adamant equipment is still in small numbers, there's no need to go that far. Updating Adamants can wait until the players' standard equipment becomes Adamant equipment.

"…Does Erntal have a dedicated thread? I'm a bit envious… Oh, there's one for La Colinne too. I guess it became too much to handle in the general thread.

There's also the old Hiers capital. No one has come yet, but… It seems the lowered difficulty is known."

Despite having no internal information, a thread has been created for the old Hiers capital. From a glance, it's already mentioned that the difficulty has been alleviated, and concurrently, a calamity has appeared in Teur Grasslands, leading to the conclusion that the absence of calamity has lowered the difficulty.

However, fearing the unknown calamity's return, players who are still hesitating to attack haven't appeared yet.

"It's a matter of time. If we keep it at ☆4 for a few days and observe, someone will come.

Now, Erntal while Dias is on a walk… The difficulty hasn't changed after all. In that case, it's possible to turn other people's dungeons into farms."

I waited for a while while checking the forum for updates just in case, but there were no reports of any significant change in difficulty.

If I leave it alone for too long, Dias might encounter players. I'll contact Dias and instruct him to return before he's found.

If Dias is discovered by players, it would ruin the excitement of having him appear as a wandering boss whose actions can be predicted due to the change in difficulty. It's supposed to be a new topic of discussion.

Creating a secret boss that cannot be predicted in terms of difficulty is fine, but it would be better to do it elsewhere.

There's no point in having both predictable and unpredictable bosses appear in the same dungeon. The player base they appeal to is different for both types.

Erntal's dedicated thread only checks for the latest posts. However, when I went back and looked at the posts from the previous day, an interesting fact came to light.

"It was Wayne and the others who were defeated by Erntal's wandering boss! So, these guys have the equipment of Adama-something. That part's not explicitly stated on the forum, though."

Wayne aside, the accompanying Gi1gamesh and MentaList are top-tier players. It's not surprising even if they obtained the latest items.

However, when it comes to mining and blacksmithing, the Shape Kingdom is renowned. If Adama-something is circulating, it's likely they have it in that country.

Wayne and his group don't have particularly close ties with the Shape Kingdom. Where could they have obtained it?

The Yoroizaka they defeated left behind a massive Adamant chunk, but that was collected by Rare. Currently, it should be used as material for equipment for monstersin the forge of the Liebe Great Forest.

The drop items of Adamants scattered throughout the capital are also the same. Undead and Adamants collect them themselves and send them to the Great Forest. Since all the residents of the capital have been turned into Undead, the portion collected by the residents should be similar.

"I see, if players were collecting them, it would be impossible to retrieve. So, was it during that time in the capital?"

It's surprising that they had the leisure to do such things amid the chaos.

For Rare, Wayne, as a player, had an image of being smart but narrow-minded, sticking to a straight path once convinced, so this was a bit unexpected. Perhaps Wayne was a player who could adapt flexibly.

Rare recalled that time a bit.

What the defeat brought to Rare was not just the determination to seek strength without arrogance.

It was also the acquisition of a large amount of Adamant chunks.

It was an oversight that by respawning the Adams, an infinite supply of Adamant chunks could be obtained.

However, like experience points, drop items don't appear in battles between factions of the same side. Even for races that leave corpses, they disappear immediately without leaving a corpse.

But defeating Adamants, even ordinary ones, is not easy, and even if Rare were to throw them at players like Wayne, it would be difficult to snatch the drop items before they were collected.

While it's possible to obtain the same amount again if Rare dies, it's the most unlikely choice.

"When I have time, maybe I'll have a war with Lyra… and mutually return the spoils as a condition or something."

Anyway, everything that needed confirmation has been completed.

The handover of the grasslands is also done, and Rare staying here any longer would interfere with business.

For now, she decided to go to the city to check on Kerry and the others.

"Is the land acquisition going smoothly?"

"Yes, Boss. We've secured all the prime locations along the main street, and also the warehouse district.

Negotiations are tough in the craftsman district since mentioning the Lord doesn't make them nod their heads easily.

I was planning to go around the residential district after this…"

Only Kerry was present in the Lord's mansion. The other three are probably out negotiating in the city.

Despite only half a day passing since then, achieving this much is remarkable.

Yoroizaka-san was left with Sugaru in the boss room of Teur Grasslands.

Sugaru needs to take command in place of her until the egg-laying of the Queen Vespoid in Teur is done, and Yoroizaka-san is too large and would be a hindrance in the Lord's mansion.

"Don't push too hard with the residential district. The Lord is already under control anyway.

And then, arrange for the former owners of the already purchased prime land and the warehouse district to be called to the Lord's mansion.

Utilize them as subordinates and let them continue their lives as before. Otherwise, it will stand out.

As for the craftsman district… is Remy handling it? Then, because it's troublesome, let's just Subordinate them all."

Let's redevelop the city's craftsman district as a production base. The forge in the Liebe Great Forest is ultimately nothing more than a temporary makeshift structure built in the forest. By using skills to force Adamant chunk processing, it is somehow being done, but using appropriate facilities would likely produce higher-quality items.

Furthermore, by referencing the facilities in this city, it should be possible to update the hypothetical forges in the Great Forest and other workshops.

From now on, the Liebe Great Forest will be used for trial development, and the craftsman district of this Rifure city will be used for mass production.

Once the calamity separates from the Teur Grasslands, players will return to this city again. In fact, the difficulty has already reverted to ☆1 since Rare left.

Now is the time to produce equipment and items for beginners and prepare for the surge in demand.

For skilled craftsmen, mass-produce Adamant equipment. This way, not only can they earn experience points and boost their strength, but they can also earn gold coins on the side.

"When players move, it means that even if we don't impact circulation in the form of smuggling, players' assets will move with them.

If the Old Hiers Kingdom becomes popular among players, gold coins will gather from all over the continent along with the players.

This will increase the market size, and with a larger market, more gold coins will flow in.

While NPC movement methods are limited, the instantaneous movement of players will make up for that."

The destination of this asset movement is the economic disparity between nations.

Moreover, since the Old Hiers Kingdom no longer exists as a nation, leaders of other countries won't notice the disparity. At most, they might suspect that players are hoarding gold coins somewhere.

In this continent, the same currency is used in all countries. And that currency is gold coins.

In other words, the economy of this continent operates on the gold standard, and if there is only one type of currency, there is no exchange rate. It's surprising that there is enough gold available to be used as the base currency for the entire continent, but it's a magical world, so that's acceptable. It might be worth only as much as silver in the real world.

In any case, the economic power of each country is directly related to the number of gold coins it holds.

Unbeknownst to the players, these gold coins are in their inventories, and if they are transferred, there is no way for NPCs to know about them – they are gathered here in Old Hiers.

Since no country has its own currency, it is impossible to buy back the gold coins.

So far, with no conflicts and limited trade, some economic disparity was acceptable. It's unclear how each country or city collects taxes, but perhaps some countries didn't use gold coins much.

However, with the explosive increase in inter-state exchanges due to players, it won't be like that in the future. Economically weaker countries will lose their voice, and they will need to sell everything domestically to survive.

"Well, I don't expect it to get to that point anytime soon."

If players and assets gather in the Old Hiers, probably the key city for circulation will be Rifure.

Immediately order the Lord to construct a second outer wall and plan the city's expansion. This way, they can increase the land and shops for clever players to rent out, and NPCs attracted by the liveliness will increase as well.

If they manage residence and business through registration, residence permits, etc., it would be possible to collect slightly more taxes from players.

"It might be a good idea to send someone from Kerry's group to the foot of that volcano. Let's use the Rock Golems there as slaves for the materials of the city's outer wall."

This way, they might be able to shorten the construction period. If the materials move on their own, it would save a lot of trouble.

"In that case, let's leave it to Marion. Dealing with rocks should be more comfortable than dealing with humans, and that girl, who is good at [Ice Magic], should be more than enough even alone."

"And then, let's use the redevelopment as an excuse to make residents registration based. Create a registry for all residents so that players and residents can be identified immediately.

It will require a vast amount of clerical work… Well, if we [Subordinate] suitable residents, increase their INT a bit, and let them work as office workers, it should be fine."

"I'll take care of that."

An unfamiliar male voice is heard, and it turns out it's the Lord.

"Yeah, if it's about the city, you're better suited. Uh…"

"Albert. Viscount Albert Zebach, Your Majesty."

"Wow, that's a cool name! Huh? The surname isn't Rifure though."

"Yes, originally, our family were noble dressmakers in the capital. When the lord ruling this land was overthrown, my grandfather, who exposed his corruption, was ennobled, replacing the Viscount of Rifure and ruling this land."

Such a system, but it doesn't seem like knowledge that would be useful anywhere. It's a very trivial matter.

If Albert thinks so, he'll leave it to him in detail, and also instruct him to proceed with the city expansion plan.

He'll call Marion and have a meeting about securing materials. Albert's Subordination is inconvenient because of the standard Noble Human skill. Along with obtaining skills such as [Summon Summoner] for Kerry and Marion for movement, she also taught various things to Albert.

"Well, then, I'll leave the rest to you. I'll return to the Liebe Great Forest for now. Since I've done what I came for."