Dictator From Outer Space

Chapter 283:

The demon incident that occurred in the year 1039 of the continental calendar left an indelible scar on the gloomy Astera, which was already on the brink of war.

It was not just a matter of a few people dying from the demon invasion.

The eastern part of Astera had been staggering since the Bagran War, followed by the revival of Altema and the destruction of the Gram Kingdom and Denova.

It was only natural that they could not withstand the chaos caused by the demons popping out.

The loss of lives was enormous, but the real problem was the collapse of the logistics system.

Altema had smashed Denova and brought down a huge merchant group with it.

In fact, the reason why Zaium and the rest of the Easthart region had left Denova alone was not because they liked the elves.

They knew that if they attacked, hundreds of trade routes would be destroyed, and they had no capacity to cope with that, so they just let it be.

But Altema, being a dragon who did not care about trivial things, attacked Denova fiercely.

The result was the demise of Denova, and the complete breakdown of the logistics network in the eastern continent.

This disaster was magnified by the demon incident.

Thousands of merchants fled, leaving their fortunes behind, and the casualties exceeded one million.

At this point, a large number of refugees began to emerge.

They were nothing but penniless beggars.

Zaium was busy with its own affairs, and there seemed to be no place in the continent that would accept them.

But there was one place, Bagran, that opened its doors.

It was not wide open, but they designated a few places in the old direct territory and Galisto Province to start taking in refugees, which caused a significant issue.

Theyre taking in hundreds of thousands of refugees? Are they serious?

King Vandus seems to be too obsessed with expanding his size. He already swallowed up two countries and has no room left

I admit hes an outstanding person, and I cant help but admire how Bagran has developed so far. But this policy is too risky. How are they going to settle and feed hundreds of thousands of people?

Well, has there ever been anything possible among King Vanduss achievements? He has succeeded in everything that people said was impossible.

That only applies to a reasonable level. How can he handle hundreds of thousands of refugees who are no different from beggars

King Vandus asked Zaium for food supplies for the two border kingdoms just a few months ago. If there was no miracle in those months, this policy will fail.

The pundits all shouted that it was impossible.

There was not no positive trend, but most of them shook their heads.

It was understandable that they slaughtered the demons who attacked Zaiums palace with the power of the Black Knight Order and the Flintlock Corps.

But food was a completely different field of problem.

They wondered if they had enough food for Galisto Province and Tassos Province, let alone taking in refugees.

Bagran ignored such opinions and opened its borders.

The person who oversaw this policy was Arma as always, and she declared that she would mobilize all her resources.

Todays population is equivalent to national power. The more people there are, the better. We can house them, feed them, and keep them alive, so bring them as much as you can.

We wont ask about any crimes you committed before. But once you become a citizen of Bagran, you have to live a life completely free from crime.

She did not just talk big, but she personally took charge of the refugee settlement plan.

The roads and water pipes that were essential for the settlement were laid out, and thousands of temporary houses were built.

This huge project would require an enormous amount of money, but Bagran had nothing to worry about.

Gold nuggets were popping out from the floating continent.

Since so much money was flowing, inflation was a concern, but that was something that Zaium, who had no ability to control prices, would suffer from.

Their confusion would be another opportunity for Leobold, but that was a story for next year or later.

Meanwhile, Margareta, who was receiving Bagrans hospitality, wanted to work in Armas finance department.

Originally, she received a generous treatment as a foreign princess who received regular subsidies even if she just stayed in Bagran.

Leobold judged that her role as the only royal family in Elvrande would be great when he conquered it someday.

But Margareta thought that it was not enough to just stay in Bagran and watch its development.

I need to know what kind of conviction they have, where their policy decisions come from.

The only way to find out was to jump into the field herself.

So Margareta put aside her awkward feelings with Leobold for a while and got a job in Armas finance department, taking on the duties of an administrative officer.

She went to the direct territory near Roseron, and it was no joke.

Large-scale construction was going on everywhere, and thousands of people were gathered, making noises and working.

The piled up materials made a small hill, and carts were running around everywhere, raising dust.

It was a shocking scene for Margareta, who had lived in the quiet palace of Elvrande.

Your Highness

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Is development always this noisy?

The positive thing was that there was no dark look on the faces of the people, even though they looked tired.

She walked around the site and listened to the conversations of the people.

Man, Im sick of this work. It never ends no matter how much I do.

Isnt that a good thing? At least we wont starve when winter comes.

Yeah, where else would we make this kind of money?

Lets have a drink after work today. Theres a pub nearby that just opened.

Sounds good.

Outside, there was a mess of war and demon incidents, but inside Bagran, ordinary workers could finish their work and drink as much as they wanted.

It was not a peace that barely held on.

Every city, including Roseron, was constantly supplied with goods, and the most important food was not scarce, even if it was not abundant.

This meant that there was still room, and all these supplies were used to settle the refugees.

Margareta could be sure that there were hardly any people who fought or shouted loudly, even though there were many people who worked hard on the site.

Despite many difficulties, the refugees will eventually find their place and live in this land.

That meant that Bagrans foundation was getting stronger.

She had not spent much time, but she had seen for herself how much potential the commoners, including the flintlocks, had.

Leobold was gathering that.

Someday, when that explodes, Elvrandes fate will be sealed.

What would the elves do then?

Margareta was diligently wandering around the site to find the answer.

***

The completion of the Aether Origin is delayed. I think we need much more energy than my calculation to fully control time and space.

It was amazing that Armas calculation was wrong.

Well, it was an attempt to analyze and recreate the entire Aether universe and Aether sun, so anything could happen.

When the Aether Origin was completed, Asteras civilization would shine from then on.

But even if it was not completed, there were plenty of ways to use it.

Just like they blocked the demons who attacked Zaiums palace with a counter field.

Leobold looked at the calendar.

Winter is coming soon.

It seems like this winter will be very cold. Ill install the Aether supply pipes before then.

Lets provide it for free for one year as a trial.

Supplying Aether meant sending Aether to each household through connected pipes for heating.

This heating method was a result of analyzing and improving the fire-based magic that magicians commonly used.

It was using Aether as if it were gas.

The efficiency was overwhelming compared to natural gas heating, and more importantly, no toxic gas was generated, so the possibility of users dying was greatly reduced.

In the cold winter, many families died from gas leaking while trying to light a fire. This situation could be seen everywhere in the continent.

Bagran was better because of its low latitude, but Galisto and Tassos regions were famous for being very cold in winter.

Not to mention Zaium above them.

Leobold looked at Elvrande and asked.

Is their temperature similar regardless of latitude?

Its because of Yggdrasill. It looks nice because it has a mild climate all year round, but in fact there are many disadvantages.

The most typical ones were plants and insects.

Living creatures that should d*e in winter survived, so there were jungles and bugs everywhere.

Even the nature-loving elves had given up on clearing them out.

As a result, the land where the Ain race could live in Elvrande was limited.

The elves pretended to love the forest, but it was a different story if it was a jungle that could not be used at all.

Near Medea, there was a huge quarantine work to prevent the expansion of the jungle.

It would be amazing to see the elves who love nature burning down the forest.

That will be revealed someday.

Arma was using Siviri satellites to collect such data.

By the time it was exposed, the elves would have lost their dominance in the continent.

Anyway, the plan to use Aether for living was progressing step by step.

Leobold did not like that a few people with Aether bloodlines monopolized that great energy.

His wish was for everyone to benefit from it.

It would be even better if it became the foundation for space exploration.

By the time of the second Aether revolution, they would gradually enter space.

While Astera was pursuing development like this, Earth was retreating repeatedly.

Arma had been eavesdropping on Altemas conversations with microdrones around her.

Unlike the suspicious elves, the gold dragon had a great pride in her skills and did not put up any barriers.

It would be useless in front of Arma anyway, even if she put up several layers of barriers.

Anyway, the microdrones were diligently recording and delivering Altemas monologues and conversations.

The content was shocking.

Theyre dismantling the legion strike fleet? Why?

To be precise, its 30% of the fleet owned by UN, and this is agreed with the Human Alliance.

Is this disarmament? Those battleships are capable of entering deep space.

Unfortunately, they dont feel the need The UN meeting concluded that Earths resources are more efficient.

Nonsense. They can use Titans gas for thousands of years for all humanity.

Its because of the cost of investing there It seems that its not easy to operate a spaceship with manpower.

By 2048, most of the platforms that navigated space were under Armas control.

The legion strike fleet was no exception, and thanks to that, most of the agents could focus on the battle itself.

But when Arma disappeared, they had to do everything with manpower.

Leobold had considered that point and developed and left behind navigation algorithms, but they seemed to be insufficient.

The maintenance of the spaceship was also a problem.

They decided it would be better to divert the resources that go into producing parts to the Earth reconstruction. The Outsiders, I mean.

The Outsiders were the people who were left out of the 12 mega-cities.

At the end of the Plague invasion, their number was about 800 million, and it seemed impossible to leave them alone.

I understand that. But they didnt give up on space exploration, did they?

Unfortunately, it seems that they will increase the disarmament rate at the next ministerial meeting. They thought it was too early to develop space.

Leobold was disappointed.

They chose to settle on Earth with black metal and ether energy. Thats a bad choice.

It might be efficient for now, but not at all for the future.

It was very easy to feed 2 billion people with the resources in the solar system.

Giving up because the way there was rough was enough to disappoint Leobold.

But he was not angry.

Its a bit strange to say this after I ran away with an artificial intelligence to meet the prophet. Just record it for now and dont report it.

Yes.

This marked the winter of technological development on Earth.

When the long and cold winter ended, spring would come, but it seemed unlikely that flowers would bloom in the situation that humanity faced.

It was a pity, but he had no choice but to watch for now.

For a while, that is.

***

The demon outbreak left shock, fear, and deep scars on Astera.

But it was not entirely negative.

There were some positive factors, albeit few, and that was the distribution of living metal.

Many demons died and left cores, and those cores began to corrode the surrounding metal and create living metal.

This fact was confirmed by Zaium and several kingdoms, and they rejoiced.

We can use that expensive living metal as we please! This is undoubtedly a blessing for the empire!

Emperor Barak tried to subtly claim his achievement, but the bureaucrats and nobles knew the truth.

The emperor had only run away, and Leobold had dealt with all the demons.

Thanks to that, Leobolds reputation in the empire only rose.

He was no longer a simple imperial count.

He proved his tremendous power by killing Pangral Archduke, and now he was in a position where many nobles were wondering how to make connections with him.

Whether he liked it or not, Leobold did not leave Bagran.

That was fine until then.

The emergence of hundreds of thousands of refugees was not a big problem for Emperor Barak.

The important thing is that we can now mass-produce black knights. Make a line right away.

Black knights were frames and drive systems made entirely of living metal.

It was impossible to produce without securing a large amount of living metal, but that was solved, so it seemed like black knights would pop out of the line soon enough.

But there was a problem.

Making frames with living metal was not easy.

No matter which magician or ether engineer came, it was impossible to control the unique deformation phenomenon precisely.

Emperor Barak gathered them and yelled at them.

King Vandus made this more than a year ago! And he imported it hard through Denova! You can use living metal as you please, but the result is just iron? Does this make sense?

They all shrank their necks, but one of the royal magicians plucked up courage and said.

Your Majesty or Your Highness, we are not King Vandus

It was hard to yell at them for not being able to do it because they lacked ability.

He could ask Leobold for help, but Emperor Barak already considered him a future competitor or enemy.

If I get his help again, it will cause a serious problem for my prestige

The nobles of the empire no longer looked up to the emperor.

In various newspapers published in Jerome Road, Leobolds feats were more frequent than the emperors voice.

The main customers of the newspaper, the nobles, were thirsty for information about him.

The content included not only where he went and what orders he gave, but also information about his entire life, including his clothes and meals.

Thanks to that, there was a craze for crustacean cuisine in Zaiums social circles.

They had been thinking of them as monsters and had not touched them until then, but they started eating crabs and shrimps.

In Jerome and other major cities and important territories, restaurants that handled crustaceans sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

This phenomenon did not stop at crustaceans, but extended to all crops produced in Bagran.

As the situation was like this, the empires finances were sucked into Bagran.

And so a new crisis came.

Zaiums finances, talent, and all kinds of raw materials were sucked into the hole called Bagran.

The emperor realized this when he recruited carpenters to repair the palace, but only a few applied.

It was not a matter for the emperor to interfere with, but he had been watching with courtesy, saying that he would tear down and rebuild the palace this time.

Your Highness, it will be difficult to repair for three years at this rate.

Why dont the carpenters apply? Didnt I say I would raise the money if it was a problem?

That is they all went to Bagran. They said they would pay three times as much there

It must be because hes an imperial count that the immigration officials let him get away with it.

It was hard for even the king of Bagran to take out a large number of carpenters who were skilled enough to be mobilized for the palace renovation.

But he had an imperial title and his reputation was so high that the officials had to be careful.

As a result, skilled carpenters and various workers were being sucked into Bagran.

This did not stop at manpower, but applied to a wide range of fields, including raw materials.

Emperor Barak lamented this, but he had to shut his mouth at the word of the minister.

Who can resist the temptation when they offer several times the salary over there

Bagran doesnt use gold coins anymore, do they? They would have offered paper scraps called credits instead.

Credits are so reliable that they are used throughout Bagran, and they have the added benefit of being able to exchange them for gold coins without fees for two years for those from the mainland.

Doesnt that mean they have to pay fees to exchange them for gold coins after two years? And they still accept those paper scraps?

Bagrans exports are so popular that it seems much easier to calculate with credits. In the social circles, they say that you are not a true noble if you cant eat strawberries in winter.

The floating continent strawberries were so popular that even the elves were using airships to carry them away.

Recently, Denova was smashed and they had to smuggle them, but that was another story.

Anyway, credits, which carried their value on their backs, were gaining the aspect of a reserve currency.

Emperor Barak didnt know that far, but it was not a pleasant thing for that kind of paper to come into the empire and circulate.

He was shocked after figuring out the situation related to Bagran.

What is this? All the materials that should circulate in the empire are being sucked into Bagran.

He wondered how much money he had to buy almost unlimitedly to settle the refugees.

The problem was that the supply of materials in the empire was not going well because of that.

Everyone was jumping in because they could get several times more by paying a little more transportation fee and selling it to Bagran.

Emperor Barak felt an unbearable sense of inferiority and anger.

He had barely endured it when the nobles shouted Leobolds name during the demon crisis, but he couldnt do it anymore.

He called in the ministers and gave orders.

Stop all manpower and materials from being exported to Bagran from now on. This is an imperial decree.

A huge rock fell into the lake called Zaium.