Chapter 247: It’s a Trap…!

The three guild buildings he established were not arbitrary choices; they were carefully considered by Beatrix with the residents’ future in mind.

Take the dwarves, for instance.

Once they create something, they need a place to “dispose” of their works. The Crafter’s Guild would serve this purpose.

Not only would it facilitate the distribution of their creations, but it would also manage intellectual property rights and patents. This approach would help prevent chaos over “stealing ideas” before it even begins.

The Gatherer’s Guild, however, serves a different function.

Elves are renowned for their ability to navigate forests.

Therefore, this guild was created to allow them to utilize their skills. However, with no forests nearby, the guild is currently only beneficial to farmers, assisting with tasks like posting requests for harvest help, distributing yields, and maintaining price control.

Lastly, there’s the Adventurer’s Guild.

This guild would function like a job center, where individuals could post requests that the other two guilds could not fulfill. Tasks could range from simple cleaning or gathering to more complex ones, such as hunting monsters.

For this, trained “Adventurers” would be required—individuals willing to undertake these tasks for a fee.

The concept is straightforward, and Axel doesn’t mind it either.

The main issue is management.

Each guild must train its employees, establish workflows, and tackle various logistical challenges, essentially starting from scratch. Axel couldn’t even estimate when the guilds might open.

“I definitely need to schedule another meeting to discuss this,” he sighed.

Everything else is manageable as it stands; only the guilds need to be “delayed” for a while.

To summarize, the Crafter’s Guild is located to the south, along with the entire worker’s district. The Gatherer’s Guild is to the east, near the World Tree, and closest to the military district within the inner walls.

Finally, the Adventurer’s Guild is positioned to the north, adjacent to the main road, making it more accessible than the others.

Given the current size of the Axevaria Kingdom, which spans about ten kilometers on each side, the guilds were situated several kilometers apart. Walking from one to another could take minutes, if not hours.

Therefore, he realized it was essential to establish some form of public transport soon.

As for what kind, that also needed to be discussed.

“Sir Axel…!”

“Huh?”

Hearing a voice call out, Axel turned to look behind and up.

There, descending from the sky, he spotted a familiar figure—two, to be precise.

With great finesse, he caught the two ladies as they fell and gently placed them on the ground beside him. The smaller one quickly moved, jumping into a tight embrace around Axel.

“Ria?” Axel whispered, noticing the loli witch acting a bit unusual.

While her antics were often quirky, this was quite different from her typical demeanor. She was silently hugging him, almost as if sulking…

“Nina, why is Ria acting like this?” Axel asked, turning to the other witch.

However, like Ria, Nina also quietly hugged him, burying her face in his chest.

“Huh?”

He stood there, unsure of what to do, with two witches clinging to him. He could only wait until they explained their behavior.

This continued for about ten minutes until they finally released him.

When he asked why they had acted that way, their responses were quite endearing.

“Just because I don’t mind you having a harem doesn’t mean I won’t get jealous,” Ria pouted.

Nina added, “I… I just felt lonely. I had to stay and deal with some complicated politics for Sophia, so I needed a recharge, or my heart might falter.”

After Eve and the others had left, Nina was practically in charge. She had to clean up the mess, eliminate the remaining targets, wrap up the succession, and neutralize any threats to Sophia’s regime.

This meant she had to take the lives of hundreds in a single night—a task that required a heart of steel.

Despite being raised on the battlefield, Nina still felt weak-kneed after all she had done. The begging, the crying, and the eyes filled with blame and resentment as she took their lives made it strange that she didn’t break down before everything was completed.

“…”

Axel looked at Nina, noticing her weakened expression, and couldn’t help but sigh. He reached out, gently patting the top of her head.

He didn’t offer any words of consolation, knowing that everything she did had been thoroughly discussed beforehand. It was an outcome they couldn’t change—the “minimum” casualties needed to ensure the Empire remained under their control.

“You really worked hard, Nina,” he whispered. “As a reward, I’ll grant you any wish later. Just think about what you want for now—”

“Then, can I have you tonight…?”

Before he could even finish his offer, Nina had already made her request.

The speed of her response made it seem as if she had anticipated his words. However, it was too late for Axel to take back what he had said.

“Damn…” he sighed. “Well, alright. Though I still need to sleep, okay…?”

“Yes!”

The sisters raised their hands and exchanged a double high-five. Watching them, Axel couldn’t help but wonder—was it all just an act to coax him into agreeing?

’Nah, no way…’ Axel sighed, shaking his head. ’It must be my imagination.’

After that, with the two witches in tow, he resumed his tasks.

He went about building new structures, fixing damaged buildings, and resolving petty disputes. He even had to save a drowning kid from the moat.

With a gap between the edge of the hole and the water level, it was nearly impossible to climb out once someone fell in. This was by design, intended to prevent enemy invasions. If a child fell in, there was no way they could escape on their own.

So, he added a sign reading “No Swimming in the Moat.” While it wasn’t a law—more of a guideline—he wondered if the kids would heed the warning the next time.

“I might need to assign someone to watch over the moats for the next few days…” he mumbled.

After completing his tasks, he realized he had finished just in time for lunch. With Ria and Nina in tow, they returned to the castle, walking and chatting casually.

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