Volume 8 Chapter 5 (1/2)

It was the next morning after the welcoming party for Tiro.

Rorono had already began her work on Tiro's equipment, and Aura had gone to her orchard to take care of the apple trees.

Meanwhile, Kuina, Ruhe, and Tiro resumed raising Tiro's level.

As for me, I was staring at my Demon Lord book in astonishment.

”I don't have enough DP…”

I found out that my calculations were off.

Due to Avalon's further growth as well as Marcho's dungeon, my DP income had skyrocketed. And thanks to that, I was able to buy two [Maelstroms] for the Darkness Dragons.

Darkness Dragons were B rank monsters, meaning each was worth a staggering 1,200 DP, and two [Maelstroms] for them was 240,000DP. That definitely was a lot, but it was well worth it.

I had spent almost none of my DP until recently, so between that and the tons of DP I earned during our Marcho rescue campaign, I had thought I would have well over 130,000DP after I bought the second [Maelstrom] for the Darkness Dragons.

That remaining DP would have been enough to buy a [Maelstrom] for the monster unlocked when I made Tiro: the Abyss Howl.

However…

”I thought I had enough, but I had to spend DP and remodel because my dungeon proper has become too crowded.”

I added a new dungeon floor, and filled it with three dungeon room right away. One of those rooms was an expensive [Mine] room.

Furthermore, I added an additional Dwarf Smith to finish the construction of infrastructures in Avalon and also of the churches in other cities. I also added two High Elves to help Aura—who had been devoting most of her time tending to the two golden apple trees—and the other High Elves tend to the issue of environmental pollution brought about by the increase of population in Avalon.

Given those expenditures and maintaining enough DP for [Floor Swaps]…

”Yeah, I can't buy a [Maelstrom] now. Alright, here's the plan. I'll think of a way to gain a whole lot more of DP. And then, alongside that, I 'll buy one, and just one, Abyss Howl to test it out.”

Considering the nature of [Maelstroms] where it made a monster once each day, the sooner I make one, the better. Despite the upfront cost, it was definitely better to save up DP to buy a [Maelstrom] than to buy one Abyss Howl at a time.

Until recently, there was always an impending battle on the horizon, so I didn't have much luxury to save up. However, now that it seemed like the next battle wouldn't be until I became fully independent in half a year's time, saving up DP and buying [Maelstroms] were the more preferable choice than immediate war potential.

Moreover, thinking up of a way to increase my DP income was something I should do anyways, even if I didn't aim to buy a [Maelstrom].

As for how, there were broadly two approaches that might or might not overlap one another. The first was simply to increase the time humans spent in Avalon. The other one was to raise the quality of their emotions.

The quickest of my options at the moment was to hold worship meetings daily. On certain days, worship meetings were able to increase my DP income by almost 10%.

As tempting as that was, however, that required Ruhe to be part of the ceremony here in Avalon even though ceremonies in the major cities of the Axela kingdom also had to be held in order to get new followers and make them eventually make a pilgrimage toward Avalon.

In other words, it was a short-term solution at best.

”Then, I have to think up of a new attraction that will entice people. Hopefully, one that will increase both the number of humans in the city and the quality of emotions we can get. I guess there's only that then…”

By lowering the taxes in Avalon, it became a lucrative place for merchants.

Even if I was to leave them alone now, I had no doubt they would think up of new and fascinating attractions they could profit from. In their effort to better their lives, they were turning Avalon into a more and more charming city.

And a market where extravagant items from all over the world was gathered and sold for cheap would always be crowded.

As such, all sorts of business had opened shop here. One could taste all sorts of food in the restaurants in our city. Thanks to the high number of audiences they get here, a famous traveling theater company had even decided to permanently stay.

Well, almost all sorts.

There was one that Avalon still didn't have. Due to certain reasons back then, I didn't allow for such a thing to be built here. Now should be fine though.

”Alright, I should go find some collaborators. My and my monsters' efforts alone will likely be not enough. Not without any significant difficulties, anyway. If we do this right, my DP income might skyrocket in one go.”

◇

Conanna was the one I had most trust in among the humans. He had been with us since the beginning. He had even made Avalon be the headquarters of his firm.

At the moment, I was heading to that headquarters.

I was unaware that their headquarters, which was located in the outskirts of Avalon, was such a splendid building that it could rival even my estate.

”Welcome, Procell-sama.”

”It seems business is doing great as ever, if this fine building is any indication.”

”It's all thanks to you and this city. It was quite the gamble moving our headquarters here, I must admit, but it was definitely the correct choice. As for this building, it costs to maintain and has no direct use, but it makes us seem successful and that alone is enough to make the deals made here progress easier.”

He greeted me so with a cheerful smile.

Black tea was served to me, along with tea-cake.

It goes without saying that the black tea was of the highest quality. Also, the tea-cake served had the Arnold symbol in it, signifying it was from the bakery that even nobility and royalty favored.

It was the grandest of welcomes.

”At any rate, what might I be able to do for you today, Procell-sama?”

”I am thinking of adding a new public facility here in Avalon and I would like it if you participated in this endeavor.”

”Ohh. That smells of profit, doesn't it? What do you have in mind, exactly?”

It was one of the very few things Avalon was lacking.

”I want to open a public casino. I will handle its construction and, if you are willing, I'd like you to take care of its management as well as personnel recruitment. Of course, I'll have a few conditions.”

Conanna smiled so widely upon hearing me.

It was a pretty big deal for me to say I was building a casino. The insane profit to be had, for one.

”But Procell-sama, out of all our proposals, the building of casinos was the one thing you had always rejected. What changed?”

”Avalon was still in an unstable state back then, so I had severe reluctance about building one. However, today, I consider this city to finally be stable and safe. I think it's about time.”

In Avalon, before merchants could build their shops where they could freely do business, they needed to file an application first.

Normally, I approved these applications without much hassle. The one exception was when the business was going to be a casino. Now, there did exist some kind of gambling dens in the back alleys of Avalon because I turned a blind eye to individuals and small shops doing petty gambling, but none that could be recognized as casinos.

As for why I did not approve of any planned casinos, I had certain reasons, the first being that it was a threat to public order. Especially so back then when most of Avalon's population were ill-tempered and ill-mannered adventurers. If these adventurers lost, there was a risk they would turn to crime. If rumors that said Avalon was not a safe place were to spread, people would be wary and thus be less likely to visit.

However, things were different now.