Mom gave me a whole pile of things. To be frank, my mind is a mess right now. I haven’t got the slightest clue as to what I should do. I just took what mom gave me back to my outer court completely stupefied and sat at the dinner table. Nier had finished making dinner. I was the only one at the long dining table, but there were lots of dishes. It looks like Nier cooked everything she could to show off her skills. It goes without saying that I won’t make her cook even if she can. The royal family would look bad if she had to cook herself when she’s the princess. Of course, if her cooking is good, I’ll ask her to make a sumptuous meal every now and then. I honestly can’t praise the food here in humanity’s empire. I can only say that they’re good enough for me to survive off. I can only truly enjoy delicacies when Vyvyan is with me.
Nier stood behind me somewhat nervous. I could see that she was very nervous though. I looked at the dishes on the table. There was a steak. The quality didn’t look bad. It was smothered with soy sauce. There was a small jar on the side. As soon as I opened it, a strong fragrance scattered throughout the room. The meat stew inside was shimmering. On the plate to the other side was a fish fillet. It wasn’t raw though. It looked smoked. On the small shelf to the left were a few grilled meat skewers. What looked like prawns floated in the bowl of soup to the side of the meat skewers. Its fragrant scent filled the room.
These great looking dishes with alluring smells makes me want to dig in.
I swallowed my first bite……
After that, I came to a conclusive decision. And that was, if possible, I want Nier to cook for me for the rest of my life.
“You called for me, onii-sama?”
Half-an-hour later, Freya came to the dining hall and then paused for a moment when she saw Nier standing to the side with her hands on her blissful cheeks, looking like she was going to smile like an idiot. I nodded and replied: “Uhm. Freya, maybe this is very sudden, but I want to ask you a question. Do you know how to manage a city?”
“Manage a city?!” Freya was startled. She then smiled helplessly and said, “Onii-sama, I am not almighty…… My father was a military officer….. I have no experience managing a city… erm… but if you insist, then I can give it a try…… But where are we going to get a city from? Onii-sama, could you have obtained a domain?”
“Erm… you can say that. Mom gave me a city as a wedding gift, and it looks like I’ll be living in that city in the future…… Mom wants to see my management skills……”
I scratched my head and smiled helplessly. I honestly think that Freya is very smart, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she has management skills. But I think Freya will probably quickly find a way to manage a city given how smart she is. Worst case scenario, we’ll manage it together!
“You should personally manage it, shouldn’t you……? That said, knowing how to use people is the most fundamental skill a king should have. I may have never managed a city before, but I can try.” Freya looked at me and made a small bow. She then looked up with a smile and continued, “How can I say ‘no’ when onii-sama trusts me so much? I will find a way to manage the city properly no matter what. But, onii-sama, you need to help me out too.”
“I know.” The table had been tidied up. I spread the map of the city out on the table and Freya leaned over to take a look. She said: “It is a very large city. As a matter of fact, it should be a considered a large city. Onii-sama, what plans do you have for the city? A city’s most important departments are the administration department, residential districts, business districts, factories and the entertainment district.”
“Since when did the entertainment district become one of the most important districts……? To be frank, planning a city isn’t my forte……”
I looked at the map of the city and smiled helplessly. Modern-day cities are much more reasonably planned and good-looking than this. At least I wouldn’t construct a factory right in the centre of the city. Further, these out-dated production methods in the workshops are definitely inappropriate. Assembly line productions are what we need now, and it happens to be next to a lake too, so using water-power is convenient. Let’s build the factories at the lake that’s closest to the city walls then. And it definitely needs to be where there’s downwind!
I don’t think I need to manage any industrial waste emissions, do I? I don’t think sewage water is as bad as it is in the modern-day or produces as much toxic waste liquids. Whatever. If something happens, we might even be able to swim with elven magic. Worse comes to worse, we’ll just make it bone-dry.
The residential districts should be reasonably spread out around the city. The area closest to the city walls will definitely be for commoners while the centre’s highest point would be the centre for administration as well as the residence district of nobles.
I then need to prepare a weaponry warehouse in the city. We need to have ammunition to fight off invaders there.
Next is the business district. I’ll combine the residential areas with the business district then spread out small stores all the way to the vicinity of the people’s residential area, and then place the large stores at the intersection of the streets.
Next are the public bathhouses and wells. Of course, I hate the people in the red-light districts, but Freya insisted on adding those districts.
Freya bluntly said: “Hot water, delicacies and women. A city wouldn’t be stable without these three.”
Seeing how she was so confident, I made room for those sorts of places. I believe that merchants are very clever. If there are such places there then there will be different sorts of stores around it.
“That should be about it. Of course, this is only a prediction for now. As for the details, we will have to see what we have to work with.”
Freya massaged her temple, sighed and continued, “It certainly is a bit difficult. We only made predictions and yet it was so hard. Onii-sama, I think we will be busy next month.”
I guess that’s basically it. We both sighed and sat down. Nier walked up and gently draped my cape over my shoulders. She then whispered in my ear: “Dear, it’s getting late. Let us head to bed so that we can work tomorrow.”
Nier grabbed my left hand and placed it somewhere. My hand got covered with a warm and wet liquid. I turned my head around to look at Nier’s face which was now rosy as she panted softly…… I felt a chill run up my spine, and had an ominous feeling that I was about to be drowned in endless misery and despair……
You’re not letting me rest at all! I am starting to suspect that it’s not the drug’s effect! You’re fine during the day, so why do you always become like this at night?! You’re definitely doing this on purpose! It’s definitely on purpose!!
“I shall not disturb your rest then, onii-sama. Goodnight, onii-sama.”
Freya knew what to do. She bowed and prepared to leave. When she got to the door, she suddenly turned around to look at me and ask in a serious tone: “Onii-sama, I suddenly thought of a problem. Onii-sama, we thought of an ammunition warehouse, as well as the arrangements of the height of the city-walls. But what about our troops?”
I thought about it for a second and then replied with puzzlement: “Troops…… The human and elf armies?”
Freya looked at me with a serious expression and in a serious tone explained: “No. Onii-sama, they are her majesty and her highness’s army, not yours. As the master of a domain, why do you not have your own army? Onii-sama, we need to think about our army before the city is constructed. You will only have the right to speak if you have an army.”
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