Blacksmithing Is Child’s Play for a Dark Mage - Chapter 111

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 111
Take an example.
The Harundel Marquess, who owns the Harundel Marquessate in the Balantma Empire.
Is simultaneously the Count of Tatabong in the neighboring Ttabong Kingdom, and therefore also owns the Tatabong Earldom.
This sort of thing is possible.
What manner of absurdity is this!
One person holding nobility in two nations? Then which side would he take if the two went to war?
You might think.
But it’s entirely possible in reality.
Medieval Europe in my past life on Earth was exactly like this.
The English king owned lands in France, which sparked the Hundred Years’ War. A domain isn’t determined by borders—it follows bloodline and contract instead.
Which is why.
In this war, Tay was able to acquire no fewer than nine domains.
All the territories he’d conquered in succession from the Gehenna Earldom—he could claim every last one of them, as promised.
Nine domains for a mere baron!
Most ambitious nobles would think like this at such a point.
I’ll gorge myself on it all and die content!!
But Tay’s mind worked differently.
As a person from twenty-first century Earth…… honestly, scattered territories like that are completely awful!!!
Spread the map out and it’s just pockmarks. One dot here. Another there. Yet another over yonder. It’s like scattering sesame seeds across a continent!
With territories disconnected from each other, logistics fragment separately, administration splinters separately, defense scatters separately—the management costs multiply ninefold while synergy drops to zero.
So.
Tay was considering territorial exchanges.
Better to swap domains near the Maker Barony for the others, including this Gehenna Earldom.
Of course, it wouldn’t be easy.
A lord who traditionally views his region as his spiritual homeland and root wouldn’t agree to an exchange.
There were plenty of proud sorts who’d draw swords at the mere suggestion of surrendering ancestral lands.
But ambitious ones?
They’d do it.
Besides, if Tay took a loss on the deal and offered generous terms, they’d absolutely agree. What merchant refuses profit when offered more than market value?
The reason for going to such lengths to exchange?
Tay himself wanted to play city builder!
With connected domains, he’d lay down roads! Aqueducts and sewers! All that infrastructure sprawling across—yes, that’s exactly what he’d do!
Roads laid through scattered lands just get cut off where they hit someone else’s territory.
Try installing aqueducts when the water source is in another lord’s domain and the whole thing becomes useless.
But if the domains were joined as one piece?
Spread out the road network. Connect the water systems. Goods would circulate. People would move. Money would flow!
The days of merely marveling at ancient ruins’ plumbing were over.
Now came his turn to build it himself. This was the true passion of a lord from twenty-first century Earth. The beginning of real-world city-building game!
Ah! How could he possibly restrain himself!
Any man who could would be no man at all!
Of course, the Gehenna Earldom was something of a shame to part with, being a crucial crossroads.
The junction connecting north and south. Sitting back and collecting tolls from passing traffic—a lucrative cash machine.
So unlike the other domains where he’d take a loss on exchange, he’d decided to resell this one at a premium.
Because it was prime real estate, it would actually fetch more. Put a markup on it and lords would line up bidding against each other.
And if worst came to worst?
He could sell all the other domains, but keep this one and manage it alone.
It was irritating that the domains wouldn’t connect, but since this one was a money tree, it was worth keeping. One doesn’t sell buildings that generate steady rental income!
“Master! Your expression has turned rather unsavory just now! I’d wager you’re calculating finances! Aha ha ha!”
The familiar spirit perched on his shoulder saw right through him.
“It’s not unsavory—it’s strategy. Strategy.”
-The contractor appears to be hatching some scheme again, I see.
“When have I ever plotted something sinister? Really now…… to slander me like this……”
In any case, after chatting with both his dependent and his familiar, he made his way back to the Gehenna Earldom.
And from there, he began preparing to return to his original domain.
The Maker Barony.
It had been nearly two years since he’d left.
At last, he was going home.
* * *
Forced march.
A journey that would normally take two months, Tay’s army covered in a single month.
It was possible, after all. The Undead didn’t need sleep!
Walking day and night without pause. The living could rest in carriages, of course. But an army that needed no camp preparations, no meals, no rest moved at an entirely different speed.
And so, after one month.
Tay finally returned to the Maker Barony.
It had been nearly two years since he’d departed.
And waiting before the lord’s castle were Rant and Kael.
“What Black Magic texts did you bring back, my lord?”
“…… That’s your first thing to say after two years?”
Rant skipped all pleasantries and went straight to hunting for Black Magic texts. His hunger for such knowledge remained unchanged even after two years.
“My lord. I’m relieved you’ve returned safely.”
At least Kael offered a proper greeting. Dark circles still shadowed her eyes, but relief showed plainly in her expression.
They made their reunion brief, then moved straight to his office for a report.
To state the conclusion plainly:
The Domain was running smoothly without any problems.
Coin flowed well. The people were content. The Bone Spear remained an impossible-to-produce bestseller due to constant demand. The population continued to grow steadily.
The territory had actually flourished despite two years without its lord. One might almost wonder if the lord’s absence was the secret to prosperity.
They’d also expanded the cultivated farmland, she reported.
However.
Here, Kael carefully raised one concern.
“The farming efficiency in the newly cleared lands… has not been particularly good.”
Since the land had been wasteland, crop yields were disappointing.
Water could be supplied in abundance, of course. They had the Water-Creating Mage Tool.
But wasteland is wasteland for a reason.
Water alone doesn’t make crops thrive. Without nutrients in the soil itself, pouring water over it just creates damp wasteland!
“Ah. We need to supply fertilizer, then.”
Tay folded his arms and sank into thought.
‘Is there any way to manage the Nitrogen Fixation Method?’
The Nitrogen Fixation Method.
That legendary technique from Earth in his past life that had supposedly saved humanity from starvation. A method to capture nitrogen from the air and turn it into fertilizer—literally the magic of making bread from air.
‘Ah, air becomes bread!’
What a magnificent technique it was!
But.
Tay was a liberal arts man, not a scientist.
He only vaguely remembered the name Haber-Bosch Process, but he had no idea whatsoever how it actually worked or the principles behind it.
How could Tay, who was a Hunter in his past life, possibly know? A Hunter was someone who fought monsters, not a chemistry researcher!
‘Come to think of it, I heard somewhere that if you just throw Lightning Magic at bare ground, you can crudely mimic the Nitrogen Fixation Method.’
Something about lightning fixing nitrogen in the air somehow. Hence the old saying about bumper harvests in rice paddies struck by lightning.
‘Hiring mages to cast Lightning Magic… it’s expensive. Too much.’
Hire mages just to throw lightning at fields? The hourly labor cost would far exceed the value of crops the field could ever produce. It would be a catastrophically unprofitable farming method.
‘The only real answer is to mass-produce fertilizer using Decay Black Magic.’
Decompose corpses and organic matter through Black Magic and convert them to compost.
It was a conclusion fitting for a Black Mage—and deeply practical.
While others used decay magic to curse, he would use it for farming.
Environmentally conscious (?) agricultural application of Black Magic. This was true Black Magic advancement!
‘Wait. Could I do this with the Crazy Craftsman ability?’
The Crazy Craftsman.
The ability to turn imagination into physical objects.
It had some side effects, but… there was nothing to be done about that.
‘Well. All right. After I finish with the merit rewards, I’ll start making a Nitrogen Fixation Method device. And come to think of it, there’s also the salt fields I need to build….’
After entertaining such scattered thoughts for a moment,
Tay immediately bestowed generous rewards upon both of them.
“You’ve both worked hard.”
For two years of maintaining the Domain, gold and treasures were bestowed without reservation. It was how you treated a diligent employee—with genuine bonuses. This was the custom of the Maker Barony.
And he issued additional orders to Kael.
“Keep increasing the number of administrators. Get to at least two hundred, like I mentioned before.”
The current number of administrators had grown to one hundred twenty.
More than double the fifty-six from two years ago. But Tay’s territory had expanded even faster, so the target remained two hundred.
“Yes, my lord.”
Kael answered cleanly.
It was then that Tay suddenly broached a new subject with Kael.
“Kael. I’m going to give you a choice between two options.”
“…Yes?”
“Do you want to keep working here? Or would you like to become the Governor of Gehenna Subordinate Territory instead of me? Well, actually, it’s my land now, so… would you like to become the Governor of Gehenna Subordinate Territory?”
Governor.
A position where one ruled an entire Subordinate Territory in place of its Lord.
For a former slave turned administrator, it was a monumentally life-altering offer beyond anything she could have dared to dream of.
Kael went rigid.
Her mind had simply shut down.
That always composed and efficient Kael stood frozen, her mouth hanging half-open.
You could almost hear the abacus beads clattering down inside her head.
“To… to make such an offer to me…! I’m deeply honored!”
Kael, barely managing to reboot herself, cried out in a trembling voice.
“So. What’ll it be?”
Kael deliberated.
Governor. One rank below the Lord, ten thousand ranks above the common people. The effective ruler of a Subordinate Territory.
But.
“…I’ll stay here, if you please.”
Kael’s decision was to remain.
The administrative position at the main seat was already an extraordinarily important post, and more than that, her calculation was that the Lord’s side represented the most secure position of all.
It was a thoroughly pragmatic choice worthy of a practical talent.
“Is that so? Understood.”
Tay nodded readily.
“As for Gehenna Subordinate Territory, I’ll have to give that some thought. In any case, keep up the good work as you have been.”
The selection of a Governor remained unresolved. Since there were also territorial exchange plans in the works, it was something that could be arranged gradually.
“And Rant.”
“What is it, my Lord?”
Rant, who had been standing to the side with his arms crossed and listening, turned his head.
Tay regarded Rant for a moment, then asked casually, as if tossing out the words.
“When did you become a 4th Class?”
A Black Mage Is Too Easy a Blacksmith
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Automaton G
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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