There’s a blizzard.

It’s winter after all.

Cold.

Still, I’m harvesting strawberries.

The children said they want to eat strawberries so I’m doing my best to harvest at least a basket full.

The place where I’m harvesting is on the northeast side of the village.

Since the harvest in the regular strawberry field was over, I can only harvest in a certain place in the forest that I made for snacks purposes.

Maa, the problem is returning to the mansion from here.

The shortest route will make me cross the ranch area….

I don’t know how they knew that I harvested strawberries and now, the goats are waiting for me.

They probably plan to startle me to make me drop the strawberries.

The goats like to eat strawberries.

Then, perhaps I should make a detour but….the blizzard is getting stronger.

I should return to the mansion as soon as possible.

However, even under this blizzard, the goats are not backing down.

They are staring at my strawberry basket.

If it is the usual, they should already be evacuating in a barn or even cave.

The kuros who were with me asked me if they should drive them away.

Let me ask you back, do you think the goats will give up?

They won’t.

Looking at them, they’ll definitely attack sporadically.

……

It can’t be helped.

I had one of the kuro carry the basket of strawberries on its back.

When the goats saw it, they immediately fell into despair.

My apologies.

I won’t give you these strawberries since they are for my children.

Now, let’s go back to my mansion.

Hnn?

Ah, come on goats, don’t target me.

The strawberries are over there.

Ou-ouch, don’t, stop, someone, help!

-0-

Reginleif helped me.

Thank you but stop using strong attack magic.

That’s dangerous.

Maa, you might really hit the goats you know.

Eh?

You’re seriously trying to hit them?

But, they all managed to dodge.

……

Don’t be depressed.

And stop swearing revenge.

The goats have good terrain advantage………maybe.

If they don’t, just forgive them.

Now, let’s go back to the mansion.

-0-

On the way, the kuro who was carrying the basket of strawberries accidentally dropped it on the ground.

…..

It’s okay.

It’s my fault for just putting it on your back.

It’s not your fault.

Ah, no need to apologize.

You didn’t do anything wrong.

Now, let’s think of making a basket that the kuros can carry.

That’s what I was thinking while putting all the okay strawberries in the basket.

-0-

Sweet and salty chicken wings flavored with soy sauce-based sauce.

It’s delicious.

Super delicious.

I can eat as many as there are.

However, one can only eat a chicken wing or two.

Thinking of it, the number of chickens that needs to be butchered should be pretty high.

So, unfortunately, we can’t just have chicken wings on our normal meals.

I can only eat this as midnight snack.

Midnight snack……

Yah, maa, that, let’s not talk about it anymore.

Chicken wings.

It’s super delicious.

It goes well with alcohol.

Only me and the oni maids knew about these chicken wings until Youko and the wine slime found the oni maid who’s carrying my chicken wings one time. Kuro, Yuki, and the spiderlings who are on stand-by near my room knew about it too.

Ah, there’s also the phoenix chick Aegis.

Today’s partner for my midnight snack is the phoenix chick Aegis.

I’m in the kotatsu while Aegis is pecking its chicken wings on the kotatsu.

Is it good?

And as usual, it eats dexterously.

Is it normal for a bird to eat birds?

Since they are not of the same species, I think it’s okay.

Chicken wings, delicious.

It was gone in a blink of an eye.

I ate seven while Aegis ate three.

I feel like I want to eat more…..

You still want to eat more too, Aegis?

Alright, I’ll get you more……

…………………..

The oni maid is glaring at me so I can’t.

I’m sorry, Aegis.

Yeah, better luck next time.

Thanks for understanding.

-0-

One day, Yuri, the daughter of the demon king, came when I was relaxing.

「I heard about the plan of my father of connecting the royal capital and Shashaato City using short-range teleportation gates……」

It looks like she’s here to consult me.

What about it?

「I agree with that plan. This will be a good propaganda of the demon king’s kingdom of not using teleportation gates on military affairs but using it for economical purposes.」

Sure it is.

「However, I’m worried about the villages and the cities on the way….」

If you think of the short distance teleportation gates as the highway, each village and city can be considered as accommodation facilities.

If there’s nothing special about it or if they don’t have any specialty, no one’s gonna bother about them.

On the other hand, if they have something special or specialties, travelers might not only be forced-stay for a night but even stay voluntarily for several days.

For that to happen, effort of the villages and cities along the way will be indispensable….

「Until now, those said villages and cities along the way don’t say anything since travelers stay over voluntarily. But once the plan starts to roll, only a few of them can respond. Only a few of them do have special features or specialties.」

Sure it is.

Between the royal capital and Shashaato City, there are ten villages and three cities.

Among those, only two villages and one city can be said to have something special or specialty.

The rest of the villages and cities can only be characterized as places between the royal capital and Shashaato City.

「I have heard of Youko-sama’s plan of spreading paper-making technology but there are probably only one or two villages that are suitable for paper-making. Thus, I would like to recommend other technologies to be taught to other villages….」

Other technologies?

「Like breeding goats, sheep, pigs, cattle, chickens, etc.」

The villages around Village Five are already doing that but it is biased to the east side of Shashaato City.

Maa, it’s not like we’re hiding our breeding techniques and it is also nice to have more food sources.

Youko even wanted to build restaurants in the villages and cities along the way so I think that would help.

However, if we can’t control the breeding number, the price will collapse.

「Leave that area to me. I will be careful to not disadvantage anything and take notes of how those villages would breed.」

Got it.

However, it is unusual for you to talk something like this to me.

「Don’t forget that I’m still an official administrator of the kingdom.」

Demon king’s kingdom’s administrator.

A position similar to an inspector in places with no governors.

I see. So, are you saying that not all those villages and cities have governors?

「Yeah, though it is still a plan and still at the stage of laying groundwork, those villages and cities with no governors that heard the rumors have come to Village Five.」

That must be hard for you.

「Yeah, it’s hard. They can only ask for my help.」

If you don’t induce them to stand up on their own, you’ll be in trouble later.

「That’s right but that’s the only thing they can do for now. What they are doing is still better than forwarding it to the court. There are some places that will not say anything until the situation has already become irreversible.」

That sounds terrible.

What are you going to do in that case?

Shouldn’t they talk about it before anything happened?

「That’s why they came to me. It would be rude of them if they do that….nothing can be done until something happened.」

But, aren’t you a kingdom’s administrator?

「Only an administrator.」

Only?

So you don’t have that much power…..

Not all administrators are fair like Yuri so they can’t be given too much power.

「That’s what it is.」

So, accepting the situation is better than appealing it in court?

Even so, do they really have to go to you in Village Five?

I don’t get why it is better to wait for something to happen than forward it to the court before it happens. Wouldn’t it be better to have the royal capital solve it?

「First of all, given my official position, I can’t seek an audience with my father, the demon king. In addition, there is also a risk of being dismissed. I can’t just forward something to the bureaucrats of the royal capital. It’s like saying I’m incompetent.」

Risk of being dismissed…..since there’s that risk, they can only appeal to you while you wait for something to happen. That’s nonsense.

「I think so too. That’s why I asked Randan-sama to create a situation where I can say my opinion more easily or where they can consult us more……all of these because of positions and faces.」

That sounds really hard.

「It is. Presently, I’ve already said the opinions of the villages and cities along the way about father’s plan in a consultation with Governor Ifrus of Shashaato City. Then, thank you for your support.」

No problem.

After thanking me, Yuri left.

………..

Hnn?

No, wait a minute.

Why did you even tell me those in the first place?

Aren’t you supposed to tell all of these to the demon king and not me?

…..did she just come to inform me?

-0-

Village Chief: I dropped the strawberries once. They might be a little damaged. Sorry.

Children: They’ll be crushed and mixed with milk and sugar so that doesn’t matter.

-0-

Oni maid: Village chief, that’s enough.

Aegis: (Leaves silently)

-0-

Yuri: Father, where’s village chief?

Demon King: I think he’s in the living room.