Maou no Hajimekata Volume 1 Chapter 9 part1

Aur’s current dungeon has three separate floors.

Even if it did have three hierarchies, the third underground floor is not a dungeon.  In each of the dungeon floors a set of stairs and or downward slopes have been built to make it more easy to transverse between each floor. The distance of the first floor from ground level is approximately 10 m. Regarding each of the floors, Aur’s dungeon is approximately 100 m to 120 m deep, furthermore the width of each floor is at least 3 to 4 times the depth, it was a big dungeon.

In order to access the next level of the dungeon there is only one pathway in between each of the hierarchies. A solid door was installed and only some selected people including Aur, has the key to be able to pass through the door with ease. This door has been reinforced with magic, and even if someone of Yunis or Logan’s calibre was to try and destroy the door, the door would only take minor damage and it would take them a long time before they would be able to completely destroy it and get through, it was a stubborn door that boasted its durability.

The beings that live within each of the floors are different, in the first floor there were plenty of monsters and or wild demon beasts that just came in without permission, but in the second floor there was several monsters which Aur made contracts with. Lastly in the third floor, this was a place where Aur and his lovers live in, it was a residential area.

Even deeper in the depths of the third floor was this room with a huge table in the middle of it. This is precisely where Aur and the others were gathered right now.

「Finally, we are going to be invading this town」

Aur spoke with a solemn voice and all the members were paying attention. The people gathered around the table were: Lilu, Yunis, Spina, Ellen and her group of elves.

「Although we have managed to accumulate a considerable war force, just like the last time we tried to forcefully contract the village do not think that this will be easy. Do you guys know the difference between a village and a town?」

「Umm……. There’s more people?」

Lilu answers by reflex. Because the answer she gave was too obvious, Aur refused to make a comment.

「Hmm this is a question about human beings isn’t it……. no, wait a minute. Comparing the difference between a large town and a small village community, the large town will have more people who are armed for battle, furthermore, they may also have tall watch towers filled with archers that are equipped with bows」

Ellen answered and this time Aur gave her a nod.

「It isn’t just a matter of there being more people, they would also have trained their own armies and amassed their own war potential. You are correct in saying this. Is there anything else?」

「When war potential is mentioned, I think that other than soldiers, they may also have adventurers as well? If we are talking about a town, they most definitely have a guild」

Considering Yunis was in the adventurer family business herself, she was able to confidently answer this fact. However, acting like that was not the answer he wished to hear, Aur merely repeated the words “Anything else?”.

「…….Diversity」

Saying a single word, Spina raised her voice.

「Within a town, there is a variety of human beings. Not only do they have human beings that live in the town, there are also: Adventurers, travelling merchants, tourists and government officials」

「That’s right」

Aur nodded slowly.

「In a village, you may say that there is only villagers living there. The village chief’s intentions are the general will of the villagers. If an agreement can take place with the head of the village, then even if the individual feelings of the villagers rejects this agreement, in general the whole village will form an agreed consensus. However, this is different within a town」

Lilu and Ellen who both weren’t human beings didn’t really get the point, but Yunis exclaimed “ahh so that’s the case”.

「If they don’t like the current situation of the town, there are many travellers and merchants that can just simply leave the town. If the people want something, the mayor of the town will make up for it using the tax payed by its citizens. There aren’t many people who want to make the town their permanent residency. If things are forcibly demanded, the town will simply go on a decline, and soon it will fall into ruins. This isn’t very different from just pillaging the village itself」

「Just like we did with the village, isn’t it possible to make a condition so that we will continue to profit from the town?」

「Even in towns, though there may be some amount of people doing hard labour and farm work, the level of their self-sufficiency is nowhere near as high as a village. There isn’t really any mutual benefit. As for the guards it is a similar situation. It is not really plausible to get rid of their guards as the guards provide a form of independence and because of it their town is able to grow, it is part of their developing infrastructure. There aren't many things that we can do in that aspect」

Yunis cast her eyes downwards as she spoke out with a little bit of sadness.

「Then….. Are we just trying to invade them by force and plunder their resources?」

「If such a thing was to be continued, the world would fall to ruins. If it came to that, we wouldn’t gain any profits either」

As if trying to sooth Yunis’s worries, Aur spoke to her in a gentle tone as he replied.

「We only need to arrange it. A “profitable plan for us” that is」

Chapter end