After Retirement, Living a Stud Life in Another World - 120

Chapter 120: The Princess as a Prospector

The next day, at the request of the princess, we ventured into the “Forest of Magic.” The members included Clara and her escort party, giving off an adventurous vibe. I joined them.

And there was Gretel, wielding her usual high-quality magical silver axe, accompanying us as a guard.

“Well… I wanted to go to ‘Lilie’ with Lutz today since it’s our day off,” she muttered under her breath, but her face showed contentment. Well, it’s been a while since we went out on a holiday.

In this world, the week follows an eight-day cycle: Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, Earth, Light, and Dark. I designated the Dark Day as the territory’s day off, halting the development work. Of course, I also give a little pay and time off to the war slaves. If you don’t rest and have fun moderately, you won’t be productive at work. It took me until my fifties to realize that.

Although each person doesn’t have much money, the war slaves, numbering close to thirty thousand, all head out to the city with their small change. Entertainment businesses and restaurants owners who are quick-eyed for opportunities have moved from other territories to open shops in Stuttgart. Gretel’s favored dessert cafe, “Lilie,” is one of them. Their strawberry pies taste quite good, but every time I see her devour three in front of me, I can’t help but be taken aback.

“Sorry, I’ll make sure we get back soon for ‘Lilie,’ and it’s on me, of course.”

“Hehe, looking forward to it.”

Well, that doesn’t matter now. That modest, or rather timid, Clara made such a bold statement about benefiting the territory. There must be some calculations behind it. While I can vaguely imagine what she wants to do, the real fun will start when we reach our destination.

Clara occasionally stops and chants briefly, changing direction every now and then, and we just follow along.

Since we’ve ventured quite deeply into the “Forest of Magic,” of course, monsters keep attacking us. But the ones appearing at the outskirts of the forest are mostly low-level creatures. With Gretel’s overwhelming combat power, it feels like a piece of cake. Within an hour of entering the forest, we’ve defeated around fifty creatures, including pig-like orcs, goblins, wolves, and boars on the verge of becoming monsters, yet not a drop of bl00d has touched us. The warriors in Clara’s party are smiling wryly, with no chance to participate in battle.

And then, about an hour further ahead, we see a rocky mountain on the left. Clara, who stops walking, nods significantly.

“Let’s take a break here for now.”

I’m slightly moved seeing the timid princess, who was once so timid, now confidently leading the squad. Her confidence in the magic she wields has made her stronger.

The party’s mages and clerics swiftly prepare tea. It turns out they were Clara’s ladies-in-waiting. But both of them are apparently Class A Wind and Class B Light attribute users… they also have combat abilities to easily handle any assassins. Well, without such attendants, we wouldn’t be able to come to such a scary borderland.

Clara speaks up while sipping hot tea with plenty of sugar in it.

“Lutz, I’m sorry. When you first asked, I inadvertently hid it, but I can use a rare gold attribute magic.”

“A rare magic?”

“Metal… Detection.”

Ah, I see. Even though I had half expected it since Clara invited me to the forest, it’s still surprising to hear.

Many gold attribute magic users specialize in craftsmanship… like the embroidery magic she showed me recently, or potion making, or refining sugar. But I read in books that about one in a few hundred users can feel the presence of metals and explore their locations. It seems Clara is one of those rare skilled users.

“Your Majesty… when my mother, the queen, lost a brooch from the king consort, for some reason, I was able to find it immediately… That’s when I realized I had this ability. If I can use it in the wilderness, I can help the people by finding iron, copper, and gold and silver mines to enrich the country… That’s what I thought, but I didn’t have enough magic power for it. All I could do was explore the size of the royal palace hall.”

She pauses for a moment and takes a deep breath.

“But now… now that I can get power from you, Lutz, I can explore more widely and deeply. If I can find the location of mines, the Baden territory will develop rapidly.”

“But for you to imitate such prospecting…”

“Oh? Managing the Baden territory is like walking a tightrope from my perspective, isn’t it? The aid from the country for the prisoners is only for one year. To continue providing sufficient food, clothing, and shelter to the slaves, and on top of that, even pocket money… To maintain such treatment for thirty thousand people, shouldn’t there be a need for cash income?”

When Clara suddenly took on the demeanor of a ruler and said that, there was nothing more to say. That’s right, even though Gretel’s rapid development is expanding the farmland, only enough harvest to sustain life can be obtained from there. We need an industry that brings in money… but so far, we haven’t found one.

“If possible, I would like to ask for that.”

“I’ll do my best. My detection skill tells me there’s some metal vein in this rocky mountain. I’ll surely find a vein that will be beneficial for your Baden territory, Lutz.”

The timid and fearful woman from just a few days ago seemed to have disappeared, replaced by a determined, dignified princess. In her brown eyes, I found myself momentarily mesmerized.