The trade with the Iska Kingdom and the Gard Beastkin Nation had begun, however, we lacked a highway that connected us to both countries.
Aside from that, there was also the monster-infested region that they would need to cross to conduct trade so we settled on dispatching people from our place to the Darryl town of the Iska Kingdom and Vir town of the Gard Beastkin Nation once a month from spring to autumn.
"There shouldn't be any problems, with the mobility of the Griffons and Pegasuses. Furthermore, Angels, Dragon-Demons and Mechanoids also need to be familiar with the outside world."
"But isn't it dangerous?"
«And if we are the ones visiting the other side, it may seem like we're being too submissive......»
Teto and Baretta's worries weren't unfounded.
But then, there would be too many risks for the trade party of the other side since there was this monster-infested area they had to cross as well.
"I believe both of you might have already noticed this, but the strength of the monsters in those regions seems to be on the rise."
"The mana stone of the defeated monsters now tastes better than before."
«Certainly, the monsters that were on D-rank on average have risen to C-rank.»
"It's just my hunch, but I think it's due to the recovery of the earth veins."
The mana density underground was still the same as ever.
However, the influence of reviving the earth veins was spreading to the surface, revitalizing the monster inhabitants in the area and pushing them to evolution.
Both nations have been putting in the effort to clear the monster-infested region and creating a stopover to increase the frequency of trade a bit more.
The encounter rate with monsters was already increasing and we were expecting the monsters to increase in strength as the restoration of the «Empty Wilderness» advanced further.
I am also not sure if this was happening due to the revival of the earth veins, but the places that were cleared out of monsters were now covered with vegetation as if to fill in the opened gap, making it difficult for ordinary settlers to make significant progress.
«Understood. We will make adjustments to minimize the symptoms.»
"Yes, please. It would leave a bad taste if anyone included in the trade gets killed in a monster attack."
"And everyone is carrying a scale of Dragon Grandpa, so it's fine!"
Apparently, the lingering scent of mana in the pendant that members of the angel and Dragon-Demon races were wearing, which was made from the discarded scales of Dragon Grandpa, had properties of warding off monsters.
And thus, the surroundings of the «Empty WIlderness» were gradually making strides. But my days remained the same as usual.
Growing seasonal crops, enjoying the changes in the forest, looking over the growth of the mythical beasts, and receiving the blessings of the forests.
"Ohh—! Dragon Grandpa is flying again!"
"I wonder where he is heading this time."
I looked up at the sky and saw the silhouette of Dragon Grandpa passing by, leaving for someplace again.
With the frequent flight of Dragon Grandpa, it has become common news that a dragon was living in this land, serving as a deterrent.
If anything, it really made me envious of how he could go out to so many places on a whim, but seeing how Baretta and the others looked happy with just me in the mansion, maybe it wasn't that bad or so I thought.
Then there was also the case of the mythical beasts who would come to play with me acting all spoiled seeing that I was constantly staying in the «Empty Wilderness».
"Here, the ball. Now go fetch it!"
"Let's go!"
« « «Woof-Woof, Howwwl....» » »
Today, two of the fairy dogs, the Cu Sith, and a Fenrir came over to me to play catch.
They chased the ball that I would throw in an arc together with Teto.
The Cu sith were made up of various dog breeds and were very adorable. The little ones that had come to play today were retriever-like, slightly on the same wavelength as Teto and beagle in spirit, with their fur a mix of white, black, and brown as they wagged their tails happily.
On other days, there would be small mythical beasts like Cat Sith, Al-Miraj, or Ratatosk gathering around me, who I then accidentally feed.
The appearance of a Cat Sith's soft paw, an Al-Miraj cutely twitching its nose and nudging it against me, and the Ratatoskr with their cheek pouch filled with nuts were akin to a refreshing medicine, washing away the tiredness of the day and soothing the spirit.
Speaking of mythical beasts, they also go through molting during seasonal change, and when I brush their fur, it fell off in fluffy clumps. Then I would cleanly wash those clumps and preserve them by turning them into felt fabric.
I also started to give more time to the farms which I had left in the care of the Mechanoids and clay golems, now that I was staying in the «Empty Wilderness» most of the time.
"Majou-sama! The tomatoes and watermelons look delicious-nanodesu! Let's eat them after cooling them!"
"Hmm, good idea. Let's bring them to the others after cooling them in spring water."
We created an arbor using earth magic around one of the numerous nearby water bodies that had formed during a crustal shift. By soaking the vegetables in the cool spring water, they became wonderfully chilled and delicious.
In the evening, Teto and I decided to cook food that day.
The Mechanoids in charge of cooking were looking at us with a slightly forlorn look, but it was something I must do as I didn't want my cooking skills to deteriorate.
Our days passed engaging in activities like that.
"Majou-sama, aren't we going on another trip? Teto wants to go and eat magic stones!"
"Well, let's see. Should we check out the nation further east of the Gard Beastkin Nation, or should we explore the small nations west of the «Empty Wilderness»? Or maybe even the northern Mubad Empire?"
"We can go anywhere by riding on Dragon Grandpa's back!"
"In that case, we can go anywhere, even outside of this continent!"
We discussed our next travel destination.
That being said, we didn't get the chance to leave for the long term as we were devoid of any goal or motivation and we instead continued with our usual activities, like going out on day trips to sell medicines, or visiting bookstores and workshops occasionally using teleportation magic.
We also accompanied the trade caravan and had the chance to meet Selene's children and Margrave Reebel, her husband, as well as Duke Gyunton's family.
Sometimes, we also tested if the trade could occur without any mishap in our absence.
The items traded with the two nations were——
——The horns or antlers shed by elk-type mythical beasts like unicorns and deers. ——Gemstones that came out of a Carbuncle's head ——Handicraft made by angels and Dragon-Demons using the shed fur of mythical beasts. ——Cheese made from the milk of the cow-like mythical beast, Gauren ——Golden fleece from the mythical beast Barometz ——Medicinal herbs processed from fallen branches and leaves of the World Tree ——Materials from monsters defeated from the areas near the «Empty Wilderness».
We were especially careful of the mythical beast materials since a part of them clashed with similar products sold by the great forest of the elves in the southeast of the continent, so we restricted the amount we were selling to avoid their value from dropping.
In exchange for the rare items, we purchased salt, metals like iron, life tools, artworks, liquor, or livestock like chicken, goose, and pig. We also bought mana stones for the demon races to eat.
Aside from giving a part of the profit to the demonic race members who participate in such trade exchanges, I also donated a part of the money I amassed to the five goddess churches of both nations.
And I might be digressing here, but since the Demon-Dragon races members used to live on the metal-scarce floating island, they carefully stocked up their money based on traditional values, and nowadays, there was this fad among the youngsters where they were creating necklaces of coins by drilling holes in silver coins and making accessories out of them to showcase their possession of precious metals.
