"Your Excellency has been causing quite a stir lately."
Draco shrugged. "It seems you are already aware of the current situation."
"The Treant Race can communicate through plants, so we naturally know what happens in the forest."
"Then why didn't you step in to stop it?"
Treyni sighed. "We discovered that someone is fueling the flames behind the scenes. If we were to intervene rashly, we might alert the enemy."
Draco fell silent for a moment upon hearing this. "Do you know who is responsible?"
Treyni shook her head.
"It's not clear yet; we only know this person wears a Crow Mask."
A Crow Mask... Draco already had an idea; it was likely Gelmud's doing, and certainly another of Clayman's schemes.
"Lady Treyni, I think I already know who is behind this."
"This person isn't much of a threat; you can act with peace of mind."
"If anything goes wrong, I will step in to settle it."
Treyni was somewhat puzzled as to how Draco knew, but she didn't ask too many questions.
With Draco's assurance, she felt much more at ease.
Setting aside the hidden Great Tomb of Nazarick, the strength of the Duchy of Nazarick alone on the surface was already enough to suppress any variables in the forest.
What? You're talking about the Storm Dragon Veldora?
That guy can't get out without Rimuru.
No one can break Chloe's Infinite Prison; only a bug-like existence like the Great Sage would have a way to rescue him from the Sealed Land.
Afterward, Treyni spoke with Draco for a long time.
Once everything was arranged, Draco left the place with Benimaru and the others.
Over the following period, Treyni traveled throughout the forest to spread the word.
The various tribes that had been at each other's throats quickly returned to their normally peaceful lives.
The words of others might not carry weight, but the words of a Treant were very effective.
That was a tradition passed down for thousands of years.
However, because of this, Clayman's original plan to unify the forest and artificially create a Demon Lord was postponed indefinitely... Draco returned to the town with Benimaru and the others.
Just as they arrived, Draco heard a familiar voice.
"Lord Lionel!"
Aura ran over happily, still looking as energetic as ever.
"Aura, is something the matter?"
"The construction of the town is finished. The remaining details have been handed over to the engineering department."
"What do you want my next task to be?"
"Oh? Finished so quickly? Thank you for your hard work, Aura."
"It was nothing~"
Aura's face turned slightly red, though it was more out of excitement than shyness.
"Take a break for a while, or you can go to the Sixth Floor to help Mare with the planting."
"Eh? Lord Lionel, don't we need to build a labyrinth around the town?"
"It's enough for defending against monsters, but without a labyrinth's protection, the city is still too fragile if we encounter an enemy attack."
Draco patted Aura on the shoulder. "Don't worry, there won't be any enemies for a long time to come. Just rest for now."
Although Aura was puzzled, since the supreme being had said so himself, she chose to believe him.
"Then I'll go find Mare on the Sixth Floor, my Lord."
"Go ahead."
Draco waved his hand, signaling Aura to leave.
He knew very well in his heart that the Jura Great Forest was very safe right now.
The White Tiger, who had been repelled by Orel in the Eastern Empire earlier, had reported the matter upon returning to the imperial capital.
The Empire's intelligence department had long known about a figure like Draco.
But so what.
Even with a million-man army, the Eastern Empire didn't dare approach the forest by a single step.
Four hundred years ago, during the Heavenly Demon War.
The Eastern Empire led an army to invade the Jura Great Forest, only to be completely annihilated by the Storm Dragon Veldora.
Only Gardera (Razen's teacher) survived and fled back to the country.
Even though Veldora was now sealed, the Eastern Empire still didn't dare to act.
They were afraid of some unexpected occurrence.
So Draco wasn't in a hurry at all; it wasn't too late to let Aura rest for a while before starting work again.
After returning to the city, Draco rearranged the work for Benimaru and the others.
The three hundred members of the Ogre Tribe had all been named by Draco; at this moment, they should be called the Ogre Race.
Fifty of the Ogres were assigned to Souei to help Demiurge set up the intelligence network.
The Red-haired Uncle led a hundred to form the national defense department, responsible for guarding the city.
Benimaru led a hundred as the Minister of War.
Their daily task was to train non-stop to improve their combat power; they would be the city's main force in the future.
The remaining fifty were mostly female and were assigned to Shion's command to be distributed among various administrative levels.
The members of the Ogre Tribe were all high-level cadres, and below them was an ordinary army of thirty to forty thousand.
They were all slaves Sebas had brought back from the Puppet Kingdom, organized into units.
Every day, they underwent hellish training from Hakurou and Cocytus, and their strength was steadily rising.
The city's population was only around two hundred thousand, but with more people arriving later, the size of the army would also begin to increase.
For convenience, Draco opened up a separate training ground on the outskirts of the city instead of training in Nazarick's arena.
This was also to keep the Great Tomb completely hidden.
When these soldiers left, they were all placed under memory magic that would make them forget everything regarding Nazarick.
Draco took a walk around the city; everyone was working in an orderly fashion.
After confirming there were no problems, he returned to Nazarick... In the days that followed, everything seemed very harmonious.
Shuna's students had already graduated.
These students became teachers, entering the city to teach more people.
Specifically, the techniques of cooking and weaving.
Shuna was finally liberated from her busy life as a teacher.
Every day, she only needed to be responsible for preparing food for Draco and a few others; at other times, except for the morning magic classes, her time belonged to herself.
Midred, the High Priest of the Dragons Capital, sent more than ten Dragon Worshipers to learn various techniques from the Principality of Nazarick so that Milim could return home.
He was dedicated to creating a place that could retain Lady Milim.
Although the results weren't ideal, Milim would occasionally return once or twice.
Midred's actions gradually pushed forward the previously stagnant civilization of the Dragons Capital.
As for Draco, he continued to be in a state of painful bliss every day.
Fortunately, he leveled up more than ten times during this trip, and his various stats received significant boosts.
He was finally able to hold his own against the two women with ease.
In this way, time quietly slipped away.
One year later... let me show you my Shuna.
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