I Became the Commander in a Trash Game Who Copies Skills-Chapter 173 : Chapter 173

Chapter 173. The Capital Transfer (4)
There are problems in the world whose causes can be known without seeing them directly.
The decrease in the magic stone inventory was one of them.
The reason was simple.
In the first place, most of the supply so far had not been properly mined or imported.
The Emperor had used a sacred relic, that is, ‘Crusty’, to artificially mass-produce magic stones.
Thanks to this, he had prevented several crises in advance and had even restored the damage from the civil war in an instant.
The traces of this were evident in the ledgers.
“The numbers are a bit strange, aren't they?”
Bart said.
He was holding the documents he had received from the factory manager.
I had requisitioned him in exchange for giving him an entry pass to the Imperial Library, and brought him here in my capacity as the Emperor.
It took less than 20 minutes for Bart, who had been trained by being buried in administrative work in a rapidly growing metropolis and had the eyes of a hawk, to point out a few places.
“Here and here. And here. There are periodic large increases in inventory.”
“Wh-what did you say?”
“Quiet. Explain.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. In my opinion, it seems that a large quantity of magic stones has been flowing in from somewhere, separate from the original supply.”
“Th-that is…!”
“The fact that the inventory status s from the warehouse and the factory match, and that there's no particular mention in the imperial audit results, suggests that it's smuggling involving an insider from the imperial family…”
“Stop! Stop!”
The factory manager reached out and snatched the documents.
Well, from his perspective, protecting security was the right thing to do.
After all, it was a supply involving an insider from the imperial family.
I chuckled and patted the bewildered Bart's back.
“You've worked hard.”
Anyway, the decrease in magic stone production was what happened when the Emperor lost the church's sacred relic, ‘Crusty’, to the Ratmen.
The reason I had Bart check the data was because there was a possibility of other corruption overlapping in the meantime.
Because people are more likely to have second thoughts when something goes wrong than when everything is going well.
It meant that one could think, ‘since the inventory is decreasing rapidly anyway, maybe I can take a little?’.
Fortunately, it seemed that hadn't happened.
“So to summarize, there's a problem with the supply?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. The magic stone consumption is unchanged. However, there seems to be a problem with inventory accumulation.”
“Y-Your Majesty. May I ask what this young man's affiliation is? I don't mean to be insubordinate, but I'm just concerned if it's okay for an outsider to handle a confidential document of the imperial family…”
“He is an administrator of Wolfskrig. To be precise, he is the chief administrator who manages the entire administrative office. I have borrowed him for a while in exchange for a considerable price.”
“Wolfskrig, you say, ah…”
“Yes, he is Viscount Ash Wolfskrig's man.”
The manager seemed to understand only then.
A good reaction.
It meant that Wolfskrig's fame had grown, and that Viscount Ash had been imprinted on people as a loyal subject of the empire.
I sent Bart back.
His job here was done.
Although I had brought him along out of necessity for a short time, the work at the library was more important.
The factory manager glanced at Bart's back as he headed for his horse and said.
“A genius is a genius, Your Majesty.”
“…….”
“I had recorded the part supplied by Your Majesty quite naturally, but to think he would point it out right away…. I will be more careful in the future.”
Well, it didn't matter.
I looked back at Bart.
For some reason, his steps seemed light.
Was he enjoying the work of reading through a mountain of books and selecting what was needed?
Come to think of it, even in my school days, there were kids who said they enjoyed studying.
Seeing his eyes sparkle when I handed him the entry pass to the Imperial Library, it seemed Bart was of that kind.
Anyway, while he was gathering all the materials on ancient war history, monarchs, and sacred relics, my job was to safely move the capital.
It was also the reason I had visited the factory complex today.
“Your, Your Majesty. If I may be so bold, the magic stones supplied by the imperial family…”
“The unofficial supply line will be reopened after the capital transfer.”
“Ah, yes. I understand. Then will the factory complex be moved as well?”
“Yes. Prepare for it. I will give you two months.”
“I will obey your command.”
“And there is something to do before that.”
The main purpose of today's visit.
I led the factory manager and moved towards the factory that produced mana tanks.
Moving the capital was not an easy task.
Because we had to safely evacuate the citizens from the plague-ridden capital and lead them safely to Wolfskrig.
There were many obstacles.
The means to deal with the biggest obstacle among them was the mana tank.
As we approached the tank production factory, a dwarf, who seemed to have been contacted in advance, rushed out.
“I greet Your Majesty the Emperor.”
The dwarf bowed his waist.
He was the person in charge of mana tank production.
That's right.
There were also dwarves in the imperial factory.
It wasn't in the game settings, but I knew because the Emperor had told me separately.
‘They are exiles who were kicked out of the holds they originally lived in. There are probably over 50 people assigned to mana tank production alone.’
‘Are there that many exiles?’
‘Why, aren't they extremely strict about competition between holds? They say they were kicked out for sharing something as trivial as a lantern or a handle. They say even personal inventions are no exception.’
There were even exiles who were unjustly kicked out just because of a misunderstanding.
Come to think of it, they were the ones who had kicked out William's uncle, Duke Meister.
From the empire's perspective, it was a welcome influx of high-level talent.
I asked the dwarf in charge of mana tank production.
“How many mana tanks are currently finished and waiting?”
“33.”
“And in production?”
“About 20. Most of them are just waiting for armament and armor.”
“So we can assume there are about 50 with complete power units. Is that correct?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“That's enough.”
The factory manager, who had been listening quietly, tilted his head.
I went inside the factory and explained.
“We will suspend all existing production lines and begin modification work for the time being.”
“By modification, you mean…”
“We need to modify the mana tanks. Into mobile heaters. I've already arranged for someone to discuss the technical aspects with.”
I took out a long-range communication crystal sphere from my bosom.
The recipient was William.
***
The evacuation plan was put into action after a delay of nearly a fortnight from the original week.
In the meantime, time had passed and the month had changed.
It was November.
It was the time when the southern part of the empire passed the rainy season and entered the dry season.
As it was a fundamentally hot and humid region, the moderate level of humidity and the not-too-hot, moderately warm temperatures of winter made the southern region the best resort at this time of year.
Of course, in this era, the people who could enjoy a resort were limited to nobles or wealthy families.
A historian whose name I don't remember had said this.
That in human history, the concept of universal travel had shifted from a means of survival to a form of leisure less than 300 years ago.
I know that the claim itself has faced many counterarguments, but at least in this world, it was true that most travel was an act of survival.
Especially, traveling in winter was close to a life-threatening gamble.
November was the beginning of winter.
Considering the entire empire, the imperial capital, which was slightly skewed to the north from the center, was the time to slowly prepare for winter.
By the way, this winter seemed to be particularly cold.
Last night, sleet had scattered outside the window.
There were many obstacles in leaving the plague-ridden city, but the most difficult to solve among them was the cold.
The plague-ridden streets could be temporarily purified by pouring divine power.
Bears and bandits could be prepared for with guns and swords.
The cold couldn't be dealt with that way.
To solve this, I made a heater.
“Hoho… I never would have thought. A mobile heater modified from a mana tank.”
Archduke Gabir let out a hearty laugh.
He and I—in the form of the Emperor—were looking down at the city from the spire of the south gate.
People were moving.
Over five hundred thousand citizens of the imperial capital.
A long, seemingly endless procession of people, mules, carts, horses, oxen, wagons, and carriages continued along the main thoroughfare of the capital, past the gate, and onto the imperial highway stretching south.
“…….”
Even the most unobservant person would see it.
That an indelible anxiety was melting into the steps of those people.
It was only natural.
If winter travel in this era was a gamble, they were being forced to gamble with their lives.
I had no intention of shirking responsibility.
Instead, I did my best to protect their steps.
s were coming in in real time from the crystal sphere.
[ from the Magic Tower. We can hold on.]
[This is Walter. The priests also have some leeway.]
The main road south of the city had been purified by pouring divine power, and we were blocking the infiltration of the plague by layering miracles and various spells like a passage.
Outside the city gate, the imperial army was waiting, gathering a certain number of people, and then setting off on a journey along the imperial highway under the escort of the imperial army, including the artillery and cavalry.
Most importantly, in this procession of refugees heading south in a single file, mana tanks accompanied them at intervals.
Tanks that had been stripped of almost all their armor and had been extensively modified to convert the powerful energy used for armament and mobility into heat in real time and spread it around.
One of the crystal spheres that had been laid out glowed.
It was the dwarf in charge of mana tank production.
[The thirteenth tank is departing. Forty-four remain.]
There were plenty of tanks.
About 150,000 citizens of the capital had set out on the refugee trail.
The remaining number was 400,000.
At this rate, about thirty tanks would be enough.
It was thanks to the cooperation of the Magic Tower.
By creating a kind of insulation barrier with various spells, they were able to maintain a warm temperature over a fairly wide radius.
Of course, there were voices of concern.
“Is it alright to consume the decisive weapon that Your Majesty has secretly prepared like that?”
The veteran knight Edmund said.
I nodded.
“If we remove the heating equipment and attach the armor plates and armament, we can restore them. And who would look at that and think it's an armored weapon?”
“Hoho, it does look like a self-propelled oxcart.”
“Once we move the factory, we'll start new production. Right now, the people come first.”
We were abandoning the city because of the plague.
The cold encourages illness.
Although it has been revealed in modern times that the cold itself is not the cause of the common cold, it has been studied that there is a significant correlation between the two because the cold weakens the immune system.
As it was, we had set intervals between the refugee groups to prevent mass infection, and the existing infected were completely isolated and sent at the very end.
It would be a headache if infected people started appearing in the middle of a healthy refugee group.
“I heard that the craftsman from Wolfskrig designed the modification of the tank together with the dwarves from the factory.”
“That's right. William, was it.”
“Viscount Ash has many talented people.”
“Not bad. Not as many as the knight order you and I have gathered, though.”
“Hahaha, is that so? Well, yes. You are right.”
Archduke Gabir laughed, his beard twitching.
Come to think of it, to him, who knew my true identity, it might seem like a comedy.
Well, what of it?
A true actor should not shy away from a shameless performance.
No, in acting, the more shameless, the better the actor.
I crossed my arms and stared at the refugee procession.
Just then, a crystal sphere sparkled.
I instinctively reached for it, but hesitated for a moment.
That was a crystal sphere that the Emperor had specially ordered from the Magic Tower.
It was for ultra-long-range communication and even included a function that only the user could listen to.
It meant that it was an important crystal sphere.
That was connected to the Imperial Secret Knight Order.
Specifically, it was connected to the intelligence department in charge of foreign espionage.
[Your Majesty.]
The moment I picked up the crystal sphere, the surrounding noise was blocked out as if I had turned on the noise-canceling function of an earphone, and I could hear the voice from the other side.
[This is No. 31. ing urgently.]
“Speak.”
[The paradise of the elves has been destroyed.]
For a moment, I doubted my ears.
[The paradise of the elves, the entire city has become ruins. There are no survivors.]