Chapter 15: Countermeasure Against the Deforestation and Last Boss (森林破壊およびラスボス対策)

"Um... You said that the Occult Dragon is watching what move we will make, but if we show our effort to cut down the deforestation, the Occult Dragon may retreat."

Everyone looked at Ekaterina with a surprised look. They didn't expect a noble lady to cut in on their conversation here.

"...I also think there's that possibility. But on the other hand, the demand for fuel is increasing. It's difficult to cut down the deforestation."

"How about afforesting after cutting the trees in the forest?"

"Huh? Afforesting? Uh... I've never heard that word."

I knew it!

When I lived in Osaka in my previous life, I went to Yoshino in Nara prefecture for an off-campus study. I would be happy if we went to see the cherry blossoms, but our study topic was Yoshino cedar tree planting. I heard that Yoshino's afforestation started in the Muromachi era. Then we had to write the report after that, and the theme was the current state and history of afforestation around the world.

I knew this at that time. In Europe, forests had long been cleared and turned into farmland, and they had no idea to plant trees after cutting them down. The culture took root only in the second half of the nineteenth century.

So it's also the same here!

"In the farmland, farmers will plant crops again after harvesting wheat. 'Afforestation' means re-growing the forest after cutting it down."

"Re-growing the forest after cutting it down...?" That dumbfounded Forli. "My Lady, a tree is different from wheat. It takes a year to grow wheat. But how long will it take for the forest to re-grow?"

"Yes, I understand your point. I've heard this saying before. 'It takes one year to grow wheat, ten years to grow trees, and a hundred years to grow people."

It was rice, not wheat? And the proverb of my previous life probably didn't exist in this world? Well, I'll lose if I care!

"The Yurinovas is a family that boasts a history of four hundred years. How can we support the empire if we find it difficult to grow trees?"

I put on airs, trying to say it smartly.

The key to having a successful presentation was a confident attitude. Learn the secrets of your presentation from a swindler!

"Lord Forli, you said that the Occult Dragon is the oldest existence, and no humans can eliminate it. It's inevitable that we can't avoid the Occult Dragon's anger if we continue cutting the trees like this...

If it's now angered, not only Duke Yurinova, but this empire would be struck with a great disaster. We should avoid such things. I don't want Brother and all the people of the Empire to be at risk. Even if we can't immediately stop cutting the trees, we can continue to plant trees and use them in the future. Isn't it worth trying to see if we can calm the Occult Dragon by showing our effort?"

"Hmm..."

Forli groaned.

Others were staring at Ekaterina thoughtfully.

"Ekaterina... Afforestation, is it? I never heard of it before, but where did you come up with that?"

"Brother. Just as I said before, I thought of it as wheat. The trees in the forests are important products of Duke Yurinova's territory, aren't they? Then we shouldn't just cut them, but also think of a way to preserve them. It will take time, but if we take care of the trees ourselves, we may have better building materials than using the trees that grow naturally in the forest."

"...Hm." Alexei pondered. But he immediately raised my face.

"That sounds good. Leaving aside the Occult Dragon's matter, we can effectively use the steep mountainous area unsuitable for agricultural land. We won't have any loss for the future. Forli, consider this afforestation and implement it as soon as possible.

For the current order, have it postponed for half a year. We'll see how the Occult Dragon reacts. If there's no movement, we'll think about it later."

"I understand."

As expected from Brother! Even if he had never heard of 'afforestation', he calmly judged the benefits and found a middle ground to implement it. I really admire a reliable man like him!

...But then, the countermeasure against 'the oldest existence called the King of the North, the giant dragon, the Occult Dragon', was 'afforestation'.

How plain.

I was the one who proposed it, but it was too plain.

B-But the Occult Dragon... no. If I remember right, his name in the game was Vlad Foren, the king of demonic dragons. He was the last boss!

Once we entered the route of the country's ruin, no one could beat him!

No, I think it's possible to defeat it by capturing it as a love interest...

Actually, he was the hidden capture character...

I found out about that when I searched whether there was a route to capture Brother. When the player met certain conditions, they could target the king of demonic dragons. When he transformed into a human, he had the appearance of a black-haired, red-eyed beautiful man.

But I had no idea how to capture him! After knowing that Brother wouldn't appear on his route, I didn't even care about him anymore!

The king of demonic dragons (human version) that I saw in my browser was so beautiful that I hesitated whether I should challenge it or not, but my favorite type was still Alexei. Since the king of demonic dragons most likely had a cocky personality, I wouldn't experience the soothing sensation when watching my brother pamper his sister. So I didn't even look at how to capture that king.

I'm sorry for being useless!

However, when I got the country's ruin ending, the king of demonic dragons (dragon version) trampled the burning castle to pieces, roaring powerfully.

And he was as big as the castle... He's probably over a hundred meters long. Yeah, twice as big as a Boeing 747...

Come to think of it. The reason the last boss attacked the country wasn't explained in the game. However, not clearing the crucial events in the future would make a large number of demons attack the country one after another, with a high chance of the last boss's appearance.

That's why I thought that I had to clear the events to break the empire's destruction flag. But now that I found out that the last boss and the demons in this world went on a rampage because their habitat was robbed by deforestation, taking great care of it might stop the attack.

Moreover, according to the knowledge of my previous life, deforestation had tons of harmful effects.

The water-retaining capability in the mountains would decrease, flash flood and mudflow would occur, and disasters such as landslides and debris flows would happen frequently. The reduction and drying of groundwater, the loss of biodiversity, and the change in nourishment flowing from rivers to the sea would affect the ecosystem.

Now that I think of it, Brother received a report that a rockfall happened in one village before.

So let's stop deforestation!

There's no loss in planting trees! Just do it!

And I would do my best to clear the events so that I wouldn't enter the empire's destruction route!