Chapter 34

Well, it's been a while since the first meeting with Gazel and him formally recognizing us as a nation. We worked up a few agreements with him and his nation. Just the usual stuff nothing fancy. We can worry about that later, right now we need to put our focus on domestic issues before worrying about foreign ones. 

Which is what we were trying to do. Luckily, this was kind of easy since all of our current monster residents are named and are very loyal to us and will follow whatever rules and laws we put in place. There's so much to come up with but as long as we cover broadly we can iron out the small details later. 

I remember a funny conversation with Rimuru with a major misunderstanding.

/\\//\\//\

"Alright, Artoria, what now?". Rimuru asked me after we discussed some more rules other than the three he gave to the goblins at first that still somehow are being followed. I know they're very loyal to us, but to still follow the rules he said at the beginning is kind of crazy. 

I hope this doesn't turn into some kind of cult of personality. 

"Well, Rimuru, we should talk about our future justice system or at least the kind of punishments we should give out for crime and whatnot.".

"What do you have in mind?".

"Well, I think it's obvious to say that our punishments should be vary depending on the race of a person. Either more severe or more lenient.".

Rimuru looked at me a little weirdly after I said that. I don't know why though.

"You seem a little confused."

"Can you elaborate? I just want to make sure it's not what I'm thinking."

"Okay? I don't know why it seems so complex, but let me give an example. Let's say we sentence a human to 35 years in a cell or something. For an average human that's a large percentage of their lifespan. Now, if we give the same punishment to an elf, for example, that's nothing for them since they live for so long. In this case, a 200-year sentence in a cell is better so the punishment actually means something. Do you get it now?".

"Oh, I thought you meant something else. You kinda scared me a little bit. If that's what you mean then what you say makes sense.".

"What were you thinking of then?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Alright, well we still have some stuff to cover."

/\\//\\//\

It was only after we finished talking that I realized what he was thinking, 

Right now, I was making my way to the cave where Veldora was sealed while carrying my sword and lance. Gazel came by and dropped off Vesta, who was a man who changed for the better. He immediately pledged to serve us and apologized for his behavior back in Dwargon. Gazel left after that, which I'm pretty sure wasn't exactly approved by his executives since he was in a little rush. Eh, not my problem.

Then there was Gabiru and his "hype crew" as I call them as well as his sister and some others she brought with them. Turns out he was still exiled by his father, Abiru after he was named by Rimuru, but what attracted them wasn't Rimuru, but me. Turns out that he told his father and sister as well as the other lizardman that I was a dragon and they wanted to follow me or something.

Well, I wasn't one to deny them so I accepted them, which caused me to have to name them. It was fine with me, I mean, magicules were no problem for me. I could regenerate them very fast and easily. 

I kept Gabiru's name the same and named his sister Souka, but that was all I could remember about the names given to the lizardman, so I had to give them names I came up with. Needless to say, many of the lizardmen except Gabiru and Souka have some more "western" or American names. It would sound kind of weird, but it is what it is. 

So now I have a group of Dragonewts under my command. All that is left is to come up with a name for them. I'll probably just keep the name the same. "Hiryuu" isn't too bad. I don't know what it means, but I do know that it was an aircraft carrier that was sunk in World War 2. Hmm, maybe I should change it, I don't want something that is known for losing.

As I got to the entrance to the cave, I could see the doors were open and some of the dragonewts were carrying supplies to the cave for the setup of the lab for Vesta as well as the job tasked to the dragonewts, which was still the same. Cultivate Hipokute Herbs and make some full potions without the help of Rimuru.

I should say, Souka and some of her dragonewts still wanted to work for Souei so I just threw them to him and let him train them. What I want to say is that it looks like Souei is going to be taken from Rimuru unless he does something.

Just kidding. Or am I? 

Walking deeper into the cave, many of the dragonewts stopped to give me their respects, but I told them that they didn't need to do that. What was important here was how many magicules were in this place. I would let Excalibur and Rhongomyniad absorb the magicules of this place so they can sooner evolve into mythological-grade weapons and I get the ultimate skills that come with them. 

I don't know much about ultimate skills, but I do know that it doesn't really work like that. I'm not going to question how it works though. That being that reincarnated me here said it would work like that so I'll assume they found some way to do it. Now that I think about it, wouldn't the choices I picked have some kind of conflict somehow? I'll just stop thinking about it. I'll just chalk it up to that being's power and stuff somehow was able to correct whatever and make it synergize or something like that. Trying to question the thoughts of a being like that is way above my pay grade. 

Anyway, getting back to where I was, I found a spot that was good. It was close to where the dragonewts were in case something should happen and the magicule density was good as well. I didn't want to just leave them there, so I went with another classic. I stabbed Excalibur and Rhongomyniad into a rock to form an "X" shape. 

With that done, I went to where Gabiru was. He was currently rending to some fields getting it ready to grow some Hipokute Herbs, but I just had to make sure he would actually grow those and not anything else. Good thing I had a plan that would work for this situation.

"Hey, Gabiru!", I said loudly to get his attention.

Gabiru dropped what he was doing and came up to me giving me a little salute. "How can I help you Lady Pendragon!", he said in a serious tone.

"I already said this, but you don't need to be so serious and stiff all the time. Relax a little bit. Anyway, I came here to show you this.". I was wearing some comfortable, everyday clothes. Not my armor or outlaw outfit. I reached into my pockets and took out a weed and a Hipokute Herb.

"Alright, Gabiru. You see this right?". I said as I waved the weed and Hipkoute Herb in front of him. One in each of my hands.

Gabiru just nodded at my question.

"Good. Now this is a weed.". I waved the weed in front of him and he just followed it with his eyes. "Make sure you remember what it looks like. If you see this, burn it, take it out, whatever. Just make sure you don't let this grow and spread all over the place. Do you understand?".

He nodded once again, paying close attention to what I was doing.

"And this is a Hipokute Herb.". I did the same thing and waved it in front of him. 'Make sure you grow this. If you see this, nurture it, let it grow, let it spread. This is what we want. Remember, if you do this right, Vesta will have an easier time with his research. Do you understand?"

Once again, he nodded.

"I don't want a nod. I want to heat your voice. Do you understand?".

"Yes, Ma'am!".

'Good. Now I'll get out of here. Oh, and one more thing. You see those weapons over there?". I said pointing to Excalibur and Rhongomyniad.

"Yes."

"Make sure nothing happens to them. Now there is nothing in this cave that can actually destroy them, but there are things that can throw them around and displace them. If that actually does happen, I can easily recover them, but use this as an opportunity to prove yourself. Those weapons mean a lot more than you can fathom. Got it?".

Gabiru gave me another salute and loudly proclaimed, "I wont let you down, Lady Pendragon.".

I just nodded at him and left the cave and went back to the town. 

/\\//\\//\

I know I've said this many times, but these orcs are something else. This place was looking so much better than before. The "skeleton template" was being filled in and these roads were looking very nice. In fact, the cathedral was in the process of being built, and while it was still in construction, it still had this imposing aura around it. Something about Gothic architecture just does it for me. I don't know what is.

As I was observing the cathedral being built, I saw Rimuru coming up to me.

"It's coming along nicely isn't it Rimuru?".

"Yeah, it is. I do have to tell you though. I think there might have been a small misunderstanding about this and I thought I should tell you.".

"What is it?".

"So, I gave the design to Kaijin and he was impressed by the design, so I told them it was to be built for you and well…he understood the religion part, but he took the 'for you' part kind of seriously. What I want to say is that, this is going to be your new home.".

"You serious?". 

"...Yeah.".

I looked back at the construction and it would be a waste to have it demolished after how much effort they already put into it.

"If that's the case, then I might as well make it comfortable for me.".

"How so?"

"I'll tell Kaijin to try to keep the temperature in check. He could use some runes or something to keep it nice and cool. I'm thinking something like a nice 65 or 70 degrees.".

"What! Are you crazy?! Are you trying to kill people with heatstroke or something?!".

"What are you talking about? 70 degrees is a nice, cool temperature."

"No it's not. That is blazing hot!". 

I was thinking where this confusion was coming from until hit me. "What measuring system are you talking about?".

"I'm talking about Celsius.".

"Oh. I'm talking about Fahrenheit.". 

We just stood there in awkward silence while we were both watching the orcs build the cathedral.

"So, nice weather we're having don't you think?". 

"Celsius and metric are better than imperial.". Rimuru just told me ignoring the question I had.

"First of all, when it comes to temperature, Fahrenheit is way better for telling the weather. Celsius should stay in science since it is based on when water boils. I'll admit, that the metric system is way better than the imperial system when it comes to distance and weight. The conversions are easier to do and understand compared to imperial.".

"Alright, we'll measure temperature in imperial and other stuff in metric how about that?".

"Sound fine to me Rimuru. This really isn't a big issue though so it's whatever. Talking about issues, you do know we have to worry about money right? RIght now, we're not really involved in foreign stuff, but eventually, we will be.".

"Could we make our own currency? Something like the yen or the US dollar.".

"Rimuru, I don't want to sound rude, but you do know that's a pretty stupid idea given the position we're in right now, right?".

"What do you mean?".

"Do you even know what kind of currencies those are?".

"Paper money?".

"They're fiat currencies. They have no inherent value and the only thing backing them is the trust people have in the government. Now tell me, what country out there is going to have the slightest trust in us, not counting Dwargon, given that we're a country of monsters and are just recognized by Dawrgon, which is the only reason others will take us somewhat seriously?".

I looked at him and he was a little squeamish. He just put his head down.

"Look Rimuru, we're better off just using the coins from Dwargon, since that's the standard basically every nation uses. Unless you're trying to compete with Dwargon economically, don't bother. That being said, most of the money we'll make will come from trading and exporting our products. Especially those potions full potions.".

"Isn't that the only thing we have to export though?".

"Think, Rimuru. What else do we have that could help Dwargon? Think about the environment and geography of Dwargon. What could they buy from us that will benefit them greatly?".

I could see Rimuru thinking and also the moment he reached an epiphany. "Our food! The farms we have are making a lot more food than normal! We can export and sell food to Dwargon since they are underground and are a mountainous region and they probably don't have much agriculture.".

'Good, Rimuru, but you're also forgetting one thing. What is something dwarfs are known for besides blacksmithing?"

"Drinking? Wait…you don't mean?"

I just let out a small grin. "Yes, Rimuru. We can sell alcohol. Besides the potions, I think this will be one of our main sellers. They're used to beer and wine, but when I introduce them to some of the stuff I've already made, they'll start wanting more. I even have some stuff that will cater to the rich.".

"You're not talking about that stuff you made in your house right? The alcohol that was like 95% ABV?".

I looked at him like he was crazy. "Are you serious? That was something personal. You're crazy if you think I'll sell that outside.".

"Oh, okay. I thought you would actually sell that.".

"That will be a Pendragon exclusive. It will only be sold in this town and nowhere else.".

"Wait what?".