What sort of technology is afforestation?
Ignorance is shameful. To conceal or cover up ignorance will eventually lead to ruin.
That is why Gea asked the question sincerely, but her words shook the hearts of Takuto and the others more than expected.
"Huh?"
The King let out a sound of surprise.
That single word filled Gea with an unease she had never felt before, but it seemed the King was not so much disappointed as truly astonished. He swayed his jet-black form, crossed his arms, and began to ponder something.
"You don't know about Afforestation?"
"My apologies."
"No, it's fine. Elder Mortar. Do you know? And you behind him—Emuru?"
To Atou's question, both Elder Mortar and his adjutant Emuru shook their heads.
For a moment, Gea prayed to the ancestral spirits that at least one of them might know, imagining the crushing disappointment if they didn't. But it seemed that if even these two knowledgeable people didn't know, a serious gap in understanding was indeed present.
"Hmm. The technology level was around Refinement, Fishery & Aquaculture, Fortification Construction... that's odd."
Takuto, usually so reticent, spoke at length, which surprised Gea and the others.
"You know the terms Lord Takuto mentioned, of course?"
He nodded, affirming.
These were technological concepts they knew well. Commoners might not, but before fleeing to this forest, they had held various positions.
Naturally, they possessed knowledge of the technologies held by various nations, at least in name and general nature.
Gea considered explaining this in words, but Atou continued before she could.
"And these? The Four Great Elements, Magical Warfare Arts, Six Great Elements, Special Mana Sources, Strategic Offensive Magic, Army Enchantment Magic, Levitation Weapons, Geological Manipulation, Dimensional Summoning, Magical Automata, Hereditary Modification Magic. These are all magical technologies."
Those words were entirely beyond the pale of comprehension.
The magic systems they were called by were all completely unheard-of, and among them were terms that were altogether unknown to them. They could vaguely grasp what sort of meaning those words might carry, but the concepts were so fancifully abstract that they might as well have existed only in picture books sketched by children at play.
Old Mortar trembled at the fact that those words had emerged from Atou's mouth, and answered with the only knowledge of magic in this world that he possessed.
"I—I am familiar with the Four Great Elements, but I have neither heard of nor seen any of the others…"
"What is your understanding of magic? Please answer with general knowledge regarding combat, and matters relating to the military. Do magic units exist?"
"Ah, I shall answer. Well, for individuals, mages use offensive magic in a support role for warriors. On a military level, it is standard practice to assign healers to rear support units, but due to constraints involving escort duties, range, and sustained combat capability, the formation of mage-based units has not been undertaken. There have been discussions about it, however…"
"At that level, then…"
Upon hearing the words of his adjutant Emuru, Atou let slip a single mutter and fell silent.
It was because the world's technological capacity was too severely skewed. Under normal circumstances, scientific technology and magical technology would advance in parallel. From what Old Mortar had told him at the previous meeting, fortress construction and iron equipment had already been developed, so he had expected that magical technology would likewise have reached a comparable level—enough to have developed Military Magic and the Six Great Elements at minimum.
But when all was said and done, regarding magic in particular, their technological capability was virtually indistinguishable from child's play.
If that was the case, their bewilderment at the concept of Afforestation was somewhat understandable.
In Eternal Nations, Afforestation was an terrain-improvement technique unlocked by the development of Farming technology and Six Great Elements technology. Unlike reality, it utilized magic, enabling forest cultivation at speeds far exceeding those of the real world—a defining characteristic—but it was undeniably a specialized technique.
Even so, even if magical technology was primitive, the concept of Afforestation itself, and non-magical methods of achieving it, should surely have existed.
And yet they claimed not to know.
Atou noticed the strange correlation between this world and Eternal Nations, and turned his gaze toward his liege to report it.
The silent nod returned to him was proof that Takuto had arrived at the very same realization.
"So in other words, the level of magical technology in our world is far lower than what His Majesty has envisioned?"
"…Yes, that is precisely correct. Surprisingly low indeed. However, this is also a very intriguing matter. Though the reason behind their lagging magical technology remains unclear, if we accelerate our own magical development, we can secure an enormous advantage over other nations."
Takuto seemed to agree with Atou's words as well, nodding with clear satisfaction. The slightly faster pace of his head movements suggested he too was excited.
Observing this, Gia sensed the meeting was proceeding smoothly and, when the conversation paused, seized the opportunity to pose his lingering question.
"Lord Atou, if I may, I would like to inquire further about the afforestation—specifically its objectives…"
"Ah, we seem to have gone off track. Afforestation refers to planting trees on logged land to preserve vegetation. While securing timber resources is one goal, there are numerous other benefits as well."
"Hmm, I see, I see. To my knowledge, some trees take centuries—even a millennium—to mature once felled. Could it be…?"
"Yes. Using magical elements that you are not yet aware of, we can accelerate their growth."
With that explanation, Elder Mortar understood everything. In this world, tree growth periods were long but they also tended to grow enormous. Forests were abundant, and in fact needed to be cleared to create farmland. Even elves protected forests, but only as part of a philosophy of coexistence—not with any concept of controlling trees.
However, if trees could be cultivated with magic, and if the king intended to rule over a span of centuries, the calculus changed entirely. Forests were finite and would eventually deplete. Trees were a vital resource for construction. Investing early in tree cultivation was an investment for the future, and if magic could accelerate growth, it would become a powerful weapon for increasing national strength through vast resource generation.
He felt profound reverence for the greatness of the sovereign he served, and for the foresight that looked beyond the lifespans of humans and even long-lived elves.
Yet simultaneously, a question arose. Why did the king possess such extraordinary knowledge—including the magical techniques mentioned earlier and the nature of this "afforestation"?
"But earlier, you mentioned magical techniques unknown to us, and the nature of this 'afforestation.' Where, exactly, did this knowledge originate…?"
"All of this is knowledge and universal truth brought forth by the great divine sovereign of Mynoghra, Takuto Ira."
"Good heavens!!"
(Eh!?)
When Old Mortar raised his doubts, Atou answered with a proud expression, brimming with confidence as if the matter concerned her own self.
Takuto was a beat behind, then silently cried out in shock.
He had just heard a spectacular load of lies.
"You have all been touched by the King's mercy and granted the honor of becoming his subjects. In that process, you must understand well how great the King truly is."
The Dark Elves nodded vigorously, murmuring their assent.
Takuto flapped his hands frantically, trying to cut the conversation short, but every single one of them was focused on Atou, so his meager efforts came to nothing.
"You are too kind. The real King is a hundred times more amazing!!"
With a loud voice for this crucial moment, Atou spun a lie from A to Z.
Of course, as the one concerned, Takuto ought to have spoken up immediately to deny it, but unfortunately, words failed him at precisely this kind of time.
All he could do was watch with worried eyes as Atou, bordering on reckless, began boasting about her master.
Naturally, Atou was acting from nothing but good intentions.
Perhaps she truly believed Takuto had created everything. But it was less problematic, as a matter of fact, to let the impression stand that he was the originator of the technique.
In any case, there was no doubt she was casually scattering a tremendous time bomb right now.
Atou subtly curled her finger, beckoning him.
It was the signal: "Ask me anything you don't understand."
Takuto thought, *Stop it right there!*, but of course, the message didn't reach Atou at a time like this.
Before he knew it, Atou's adjutant Emuru, who had taken her cue, began asking questions with sparkling eyes.
"Previously, in the human Holy Kingdom of Quolia, a plague occurred and caused a great many deaths. The priests of that nation called it a demon's curse. Regarding your words earlier, if it was the King, might he know the cause of that plague?"
"After all, it must have been something like hunting down all the cats living in the city, right? Which led to an explosion in the rat population... Rats carry plague. People die of plague, then rats feast on the corpses, grow fat, and multiply. Then the plague spreads and more people die. A splendid loop, don't you think? The King discovered it."
It seems the king has discovered something.
Of course, Takuto hadn't discovered it. It was some other great figure who found it.
Inwardly, he offered apologies to the great predecessor who had, through effort, reached this truth.
"...A career in plague? Could the existence of rats truly lead people to death?"
"Not the rats themselves, but the bacteria they carry as vectors. There exist in this world organisms so small they are invisible to the naked eye. Discovering this is also credited to the king's achievement."
(On, on his own, without...)
Takuto's head spun at the anecdotes piling up one after another without his involvement or knowledge.
But he wouldn't forcibly interrupt and correct Atou. More accurately, it wasn't quite right to say he lacked the communication skills to do so; either way, the fact remained that he was too soft on Atou to say anything.
"Hmm. If I imagine something like a minuscule, winged insect, it becomes somewhat comprehensible. One must consider expelling that insect causing mischief within the body."
"There are several countermeasures. You are likely thinking of bloodletting, but to conclude: attempting to draw out the bacteria by letting blood is a mistake. It weakens the body and has the opposite effect. Prayer—since magic exists in this world, it holds meaning, but it is not something that can be applied to tens of thousands. So, the king decreed."
He hadn't said any of that.
But that's how it turned out.
Following that, knowledge regarding the most effective medical procedures and preventative measures, treatments, and initial responses to the plague was generously disclosed. And despite having done nothing, Takuto's reputation soared ever higher.
Dark elves, filled with awe and respect, hammered unknown techniques and concepts into every corner of their minds.
All of it landed as a mundane body blow to Takuto's stomach.
"Hehehe, for our king, a task like this is but a trifle."
Takuto, as if resigning himself to the situation, could do nothing but quietly nod in agreement.
"The knowledge generated by the king. The Divine Land where the king originally resided holds a multitude of knowledge. Due to its advanced technology, most of it cannot be utilized in our current situation, yet, like the knowledge just shared, it will provide various benefits. Have you understood how fortunate we are?"
In truth, aside from the parts inflating the king's greatness, Atou's words were not particularly wrong.
It is generally understood that technology only yields results when accompanied by foundational prerequisites, the research leading to it, and a corresponding level of cultural maturity.
That is fact, but also a lie. The journey with a treasure map yields results infinitely faster than blindly pushing through the fog.
True, neither Atou nor Takuto possessed expertise beyond that of a specialist, nor did they have practical experience.
But such shortcomings were trivial when weighed against the sheer value of their knowledge.
"So the apple the king produced was also food he created in the land of the gods!"
The topic then shifted to something else.
What Vice-Commander Emuru brought up concerned the fruit Takuto had created.
Those too were modern products, the kind Takuto had often eaten in life.
No one understood the mechanism behind this miracle, but the singular fact remained that technological advancement could produce such priceless food.
"Yes, yes, exactly! It is delicious, isn't it? There are many other delicious things as well. I am particularly fond of grapes."
Even so, Atou was getting slightly carried away.
Perhaps he should issue a temporary grape prohibition order as punishment.
While Takuto was thinking this, Atou was already highly energized, completely unaware of his thoughts, and was fluently chattering on about this and that.
Seeing Atou in such high spirits, Emuru likely felt her own mood uplifted as well.
Perhaps there was also the joy of having a figure of such high, isolated status descend to her level and speak with her.
Showing a cheerful, smiling face, she responded to Atou's words as if chatting with a close senior friend.
"Those purple, bumpy fruits! Speaking of which, they had seeds, so I planted them. And they have already sprouted! I look forward to their growth! Before long, you will be able to harvest a great many fruits without the king needing to trouble himself!"
"You did that without permission!? Without consulting me, let alone obtaining the king's approval—what is the meaning of this!"
"That is right, Emuru. That was not good. Why did you do such a thing on your own?"
And so the crude male interjected into the delightful conversation between the two women.
Takuto thought perhaps he shouldn't interrupt the girls, but something else caught his attention, so that was where his focus lay.
Yes, there was something in that earlier exchange that shook his heart.
"I-I was overcome with curiosity...and it was delicious, so I thought it would be okay..."
"You planted seeds of modern fruit from the God's Kingdom?"
What Atou realized came a beat after Takuto noticed it.
Her startled, widened eyes pierced Emuru, and his shoulder flinched.
Emuru shrank back like a scolded child, looking so utterly pitiful that even Old Mortar and Gear felt compelled to step in and mediate.
But Atou and Takuto, far from that, were already turning their thoughts to entirely different points.
The food produced by emergency production was indeed modern. And its seeds were also from the modern world Takuto came from, not this one.
Which meant it was nothing other than the ability to directly utilize, in this less-developed world, the fruits of superior modern technology.
In other words, the answer and the result that led to the future lay right there.
Food production was directly tied to a nation's population.
The thought of how much value modern high-yield crops—the pinnacle of bioengineering and genetics—could bring to a nation was dizzying even to contemplate.
But it wasn't just that.
The fact that food could be produced meant other resources could be produced too.
Hadn't it been thought that strategic resources couldn't be created via emergency production?
—No. What couldn't be created were the strategic resources that existed within the game.
It had just now become clear that if it was a material that existed in the modern world Takuto had lived in, it could be produced.
Experimentally, Takuto extended his palm into the void and focused his thought.
Clunk. What fell into his palm was a metal, an electric can—aluminum, deceptively light for its appearance.
Takuto's cheeks relaxed.
Base metals like aluminum and steel. Rare metals known as rare earth elements. Phosphate rock and calcium for fertilizers.
Furthermore, if it could produce not only black powder but even smokeless powder, it would be possible to forge a powerful military ahead of the curve.
Moreover, by mastering magical technology, the diverse resources that are the legacy of modern technology would unlock even greater possibilities.
Of course, the prerequisite was possessing the industrial and foundational technical capacity for mass production, plus a sufficient population. Yet, the system where one could prepare resources without worrying about deposits, simply by channeling in vast amounts of mana, was undeniably fascinating.
There were even worlds where nations fought and killed across the globe for resources like oil. Gaining the means to secure resources would undoubtedly make Mynoghra the most formidable state.
Therefore, what was needed was mana. An immense, mind-boggling amount of it...
To forcibly generate scarce and depleted resources using an astronomical quantity of mana.
It was a strategy only possible because he, the king, existed. But fundamentally, a nation is its king, and the king is the nation. There was no problem whatsoever.
Takuto organized the information whirling through his mind, piecing together his future strategy.
The corner of his mouth curled upward naturally, and a small laugh escaped. For once, Takuto wore a scheming smile.
Simultaneously, his confidant, Atou, grasped the implications of what Takuto had deduced and let out a soft chuckle.
"Ah, um... was... was that no good?"
"Quite the opposite. This was an oversight. You've done excellent work."
Atou smiled gently at the trembling Emuru, then nodded in satisfaction.
Perhaps this world—the game—was, unexpectedly, quite lenient.
Holding this impression brimming with unreality, Takuto began revising his nation's operational policy for the days to come.
===
A new national orientation has been bestowed upon Mynoghra.
*Divine Right Orientation*
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=Eterpedia===
[Godly-Privilege-Oriented] National Orientation
Map Name 'Earth-AC2145' enables the production of known food, resources, strategic materials, etc., based on achieved technology.
※Items produced from unacquired technologies will have increased mana costs according to their technical difficulty.
※This orientation alters the world by...
=Message===
〈!〉Error No. 447 (Anomalous operation detected)
〈!〉Nonexistent orientation data has been selected
〈!〉Contradiction between world profile and technology profile
〈!〉Original map game balance is at a [FATAL] level
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