Development costs a lot of money.
Especially, the more hostile the environment of the place to be developed is to humans, the more difficult it is, the more exponentially the funds required to maintain it will increase.
'All things are the same in the world.'
The abandoned land is no different.
Wherever you go, the land is barren and harsh.
The Demon King's castle, Chavin de Huantar, due to its dry and cold highland climate, can only grow a few specific crops like potatoes; growing anything else is simply impossible.
Even the areas of each Star Master?
They are harsh, to say the least.
The Second Star area, the Swamp of Decay, is full of toxic elements.
The Third Star area, the Eternal Volcano, has lava and volcanic ash spewing 24/7 like the first snowfall.
The Fourth Star area, the Dune of Chaos? Half of the year is a harsh rainy season where no sunlight can be seen, and the other half is a cruel desert with no water in sight, alternating between the two, a damnable environment.
That's why up until now, no Star Master even dreamed of trying to cultivate other areas.
Because it would cost too much.
Too many people would be needed.
And there was no energy to back it up.
He had to dedicate everything to farming right in front of him to not starve to death this year.
Truly, he couldn't even dream of trying.
That was the reality.
'Rather than developing that place, it would probably be much more successful to drastically alter my face like Cha Eunwoo.'
Literally impossible.
....Or so he thought.
"So, Lord? These two papers... are they proof of a promise to receive 100 kilograms of gold bars from both the Archbishop and the King?"
Zephyros asked, his voice slightly trembling.
Yeah.
It's hard to believe, right?
The fact that 200 gold bars were acquired in just one day, the fact that such a massive amount of funds were secured, must be hard to grasp.
Well, honestly... I feel the same way.
Kim Jangcheol shrugged as he looked around the shabby inn room where his group had gathered.
"It just happened."
"......"
"So, to summarize what we've gotten so far, we have the King's blank check that can be used without limit in the royal capital, and a hefty sum of gold bars that can be used as emergency funds for later."
"........"
"Oh, and the moved King made another promise while holding my hand and crying."
"......What else?"
"He promised to send a Combat Engineering Battalion?"
"Combat engineering... battalion?"
"Yeah."
"What kind of unit is that?"
"Engineers. Literally digging, building bridges, and constructing buildings."
"Are they going to send that kind of unit to us?"
"Yep. If I want it."
"The King?"
"Yeah. While crying."
"......."
Zephyros closed his mouth.
Then he thought quietly.
Could it be... that the King is trying to confess to our Lord, in a way?
".......Lord?"
"Hmm?"
"Is this alright?"
"Huh? What is?"
"Well, I mean... did the King look at you with affectionate eyes? Or maybe... did he stare at you and his face turned slightly red... did that happen?"
"He did that."
" ....."
"Why?"
"......."
That's dangerous.
It's not an ordinary thing.
Zephyros barely stopped his pupils from shaking. Then, after a moment, he managed to clear his throat and spoke.
"Lord?"
"Uh-huh."
"You need to be careful with the King."
"Oh, I'm being careful enough."
"Really be cautious, keep your distance, and avoid him."
"He didn't seem very strong though."
"He might not be strong in that sense. But in other ways, he might be incredibly dangerous."
"It's okay. If it comes to it, we'll just overturn him."
"Do you think... that would be possible?"
"Of course. From what I gathered, this kingdom only has one Swordmaster as the Captain of the Royal Guard? If one of Asurat, Baal, or Sirgi steps in, we can probably subdue him."
"That's not the kind of danger I'm talking about."
"Huh? Then what is it?"
" ... Never mind."
"Huh? Answer me."
"....Well, I just thought... maybe the King has... feelings for our Lord, like some kind of hidden agenda?"
"......"
"....Sorry."
"Wow, you thought that? Our Zephyros, you really have no biases, huh?"
"........"
"By the way, you're not writing this down in the Demon King's Record, are you?"
"........"
"No? Right?"
"........"
"Hey."
"Sorry, again."
"........"
Kim Jangcheol closed his mouth. Then, he suddenly thought, "How unfair is this?"
At that moment.
-But, is it really a good thing that the King is sending the engineering battalion to us?
The question written by Artanis filled the air.
Kim Jangcheol nodded.
"Yes. It's a good thing."
-Why?
"Because it means we can start painting a new big picture."
-A big picture?
"Yes. With this, I can push forward with something I couldn't even dream of trying before."
-What is it?
"The full-scale development and opening of the abandoned land."
-......
Artanis's fingers froze.
Zephyros, who was writing down the Demon King's Records, had his pupils shake.
Baal, who had been thoughtlessly listening to the conversation, had drool dripping from the corner of his mouth in a dazed expression.
-........What?
The question Artanis finally managed to come up with.
A faint smile appeared on Kim Jangcheol's lips.
"As I said, this is the opportunity. The King, unusually, is providing such overwhelming support. The chance to receive unlimited funding and professional help like this... it's rare, very rare."
-So... you're really going to properly develop the abandoned land?
"Yes."
-But... will it work?
"Is there any reason it shouldn't?"
-........
At Kim Jangcheol's counter-question, Artanis's fingers paused once again. Yes, now that he thought about it, there was nothing wrong with Kim Jangcheol's words.
There was no reason not to develop the abandoned land.
That reason never existed in the first place.
It was just that they couldn't do it, so they didn't.
They just thought it was impossible.
So, they simply gave up on it.
That was the whole reason.
But, if the possibility of success in development was showing?
Was there really any reason not to do it?
"That's right. So, now's the time to really try it. If we succeed, the gains will be massive."
-Gains? What kind of gains?
Artanis had no idea.
The thought of developing the abandoned land, which he had always considered eternally desolate, was already beyond his imagination.
But beyond that, the gains?
Kim Jangcheol continued his words.
"For example, if we remove the toxins from the Swamp of Decay in the second Star area, we could start growing rice. In the Demon King's castle, Chavin de Huantar, we could grow potatoes, corn, pumpkins, and beans... and in the Swamp of Decay, we could produce rice."
-Even that alone would significantly improve the food situation.
"Exactly. But it doesn't end there."
-It doesn't... end?
"We'll open it up. The abandoned land, to humans."
-To humans?
"Yes."
-But... will that work?
"There's no reason it wouldn't."
-......
"Of course, just because we open it up doesn't mean humans will rush in and flood the land. There will be long-standing biases and prejudices. But—"
Kim Jangcheol's lips curled into a confident smile.
"Just by opening it up, people's perceptions of us will start to change, bit by bit. Oh, those guys weren't as dangerous as we thought. Actually, the abandoned land has a lot to see if you go there, something like that."
-And then?
"Thanks to that, we can trade. We can deal. We can develop tourism products. The more we do, the more the economy of the abandoned land will stabilize. There won't be any worry about starving just because one or two years of farming fails."
-........
Artanis, Zephyros, and Baal, all of them were speechless. They probably hadn't even imagined such a thing.
'Besides... by just adopting this opening policy, the risk of everyone being wiped out by Aged Kimchi will decrease too.'
Simply by opening up.
We're not dangerous.
We don't bite.
We want to participate in normal international relations too.
So, we also seek coexistence.
Peace, peace.
...It's like declaring that to the world.
At that moment.
"Um, Lord?"
Zephyros carefully raised his hand.
"I understand what you mean, Lord. But there are two problems in actually carrying this out."
"Problems? What kind?"
"First, there's the issue of the Lord's identity as the one fulfilling the King's mission. Will you reveal that you're the Demon King?"
"Eh? Of course not."
"Then...."
"Great Explorer Kim Jangcheol, who cleared the fog of ignorance and desolation that hung over the abandoned land, and drew a dramatic peace agreement with Demon King Credos!"
"......."
"...Is that fine?"
"...Sounds good."
"Right?"
"Yes. But there's another issue..."
"Oh, is it the promise made with the Archbishop?"
"Yes, Lord. Didn't you promise the Archbishop that you wouldn't accept the King's mission and would escape halfway?"
"I did make that promise. But—"
"But what?"
"I made the promise, I agreed to receive the gold bars, but there was nothing in the contract about a penalty fee."
"... What?"
"I said, there's no penalty fee mentioned."
"......"
"So, after I get the gold bars, I can just wipe my hands clean."
"......"
Wow, you *&^%$.
Zephyros almost blurted out a curse.
But Kim Jangcheol didn't care in the least about the inner criticisms being hurled at him at 160 km/h like a two-seam fastball.
"Anyway, so now we're going to be busy. In ten days, we're having the Inauguration and leaving for the royal capital, so before that, we need to prepare seeds for next season's farming, emergency food, and all the materials needed for development."
"Eh? How will we... do that?"
"Storm shopping."
Kim Jangcheol grinned while waving the blank check he received from the King.
And from that moment on.
The group literally swept through every market in the royal capital. The happiness index of market vendors peaked as they were swept up in the random, reckless buying spree.
Then, about ten days later.
....Crash!
The statue of the Heavenly Angel, who had been desperately analyzing Kim Jangcheol's palm for ten days, finally opened its eyes as it sensed the ominous results.
The reason for its existence.
It remembered the goal of eliminating the Demon King.
[T/L: I am not getting any support from webnovel platform, so please support me and read ahead chapters on my ko-fi page "RevengerScans" : https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]