How to Use the Lord’s Future Diary

Chapter 124

Chapter 124

I could see Rotsy in the distance.

The first thing that caught my eye was the fortress wall.

The wall, built entirely from stacked timber, left quite the impression.

‘So they reinforced the durability by adding metal plating over it. These guys sure love their wood.’

Even the Black Lions insisted on building their houses with wood.

Judging by the log houses visible from afar, it seemed to be a cultural trait of the Lion Tribe.

Well, there were even Rabbit Tribe members who dug burrows to live in, so this was understandable enough.

Still, I felt a bit uneasy—it seemed extremely vulnerable to fire attacks.

‘Well, it’s not like monsters use fire attacks anyway.’

A wooden wall and wooden houses—primitive in appearance, but fully functional.

A fairly large river flowed into the city, and the roads were decently wide.

The roads were paved with small pebbles, so even rain wouldn’t be a problem.

The most impressive part, however, was the water and sewage system.

Crude in design, but surprisingly efficient.

Especially the purification setup that used Slimes to filter wastewater once—it looked rather convincing.

You could say it was a medieval fantasy-style sewage treatment system.

It felt familiar, quite like what I used to imagine.

‘A city of humans that handles water, heating, and purification entirely through Life Magic—now that’s the one that’s unrealistic.’

Still, there were certain aspects that definitely required the support of Life Magic.

Especially heating.

Log houses would naturally be weak in that regard.

Considering the risk of fire, it seemed far safer to rely on Life Magic for temperature control.

And, of course, purification systems were essential to prevent contamination.

They were using Slimes, but since their only water source was the river crossing the city, it would need thorough management.

Of course, those were issues that could easily be solved once we started proper exchange with them.

‘They say their only trade with humans involved food—specifically, meat.’

Since the tribe consumed vast amounts of meat, they probably hadn’t the leeway to trade anything else.

“Let me introduce her. This is my first mate, Camilla.”

“Nice to meet you, human chieftain.”

As we entered the city, a number of Lion Beastmen greeted us.

The first to speak was Camilla, said to be Rudelrof’s first wife.

She was a most imposing warrior woman of the Lion Tribe.

‘She’s an incredible fighter.’

Even at a glance, I could tell she was of Master level. She served as the Great Warrior leading the Lion Tribe’s soldiers in place of Rudelrof, who focused on governance.

While Rudelrof, the Lion Tribe Chieftain, led the tribe itself, Camilla commanded the warriors who defended against external enemies.

She was the core of Rotsy’s military strength—and its strongest warrior.

At one time, she was said to have competed with Leisha for the title of strongest in Rotsy, which spoke volumes of her prowess.

“So, you’re the male of that damned black-furred one? Hmph… Not quite at our Rudel’s level, but still a fine male.”

“By black-furred one, do you mean Leisha?”

“That’s right. Because of her, I spent many sleepless nights. I can say it now—but those days were pure torment.”

“…Is that so?”

I was caught off guard by the sudden mention of Leisha.

She spoke with a surprisingly natural air of gossip, as if she still held a lot against her.

‘That’s quite a raw, intense tone. Doesn’t sound like just rivalry to me.’

Apparently, Leisha used to be the one most often mentioned as Rudelrof’s first mate. Since Camilla deeply loved Rudelrof, she harbored strong resentment toward Leisha.

In the end, Camilla did become Rudelrof’s first wife, but she supposedly stayed vigilant until the day Leisha left.

I turned toward Rudelrof, curious about what she meant, and saw him give a bitter smile.

“To be honest, I seriously considered making Leisha my wife.”

“Really?”

“I thought it would be the perfect way to unite the Black Lions. But I had to give up. Leisha was a female I could never control.”

“I see. That’s saying something.”

“To this day, I still can’t believe it. How on earth did you manage to tame that beast?”

“I didn’t really tame her or anything.”

Sure, Leisha could be a bit wild—

—but not to the extent they made her sound.

All I did was feed her meat, feed her plenty of meat, keep feeding her until she was overflowing with meat, and occasionally serve some alcohol. She had no real complaints after that.

Of course, the problem was that it wasn’t just Leisha I had to feed—but all the Black Lions.

‘Ah, right. The Lion Tribe probably couldn’t afford that.’

They likely struggled even to secure enough meat for themselves, so handling the Black Lions would’ve been nearly impossible.

Because of the Black Lions’ food shortage, Leisha had even worked as a Mercenary—but after meeting me, she’d settled peacefully in Johnson Territory. It was, in a way, a happy ending for everyone.

“Well, you’d best stay cautious. Those Black Lion females… they’re something else.”

“Something else?”

“When they lose control, they don’t care about fire or water. It’s not uncommon for them to kidnap or steal males already spoken for.”

“Uh, that’s……”

“The thing I feared most was exactly that, human male. The finest male in the Lion Tribe was, without question, Rudel. That’s why I always had to protect him. It’s only natural for a capable male lion to have several females, but a female who steals a male without the first mate’s permission—that’s something I could never tolerate.”

“Well, yeah. I suppose.”

There were some parts of her story I had trouble understanding.

Apparently, among the Black Lions, kidnapping and stealing males was a fairly normal custom.

Camilla had been wary of Leisha because she feared that Leisha might try to kidnap Rudelrof. I didn’t even know how to process that.

Polygamy was natural to them, yet stealing a male without permission was unacceptable—

I couldn’t quite grasp what logic governed that.

—I’ve heard of that too. For a female, having her male stolen is deeply shameful. Even more so for the tough lionesses.

‘You’re telling me this is real? I’m getting dizzy just thinking about it.’

Still, if Leisha had truly aimed for Rudelrof, I doubted Camilla’s vigilance would have stopped her.

Camilla was strong, sure, but Leisha… she looked down from a level beyond.

This whole thing felt like Camilla had been shadowboxing on her own.

‘She must have really fallen for him. Her eyes are practically heart-shaped…’

—Bald as he is, still a fine male, though.

‘Right? Seems baldness isn’t exactly a deal-breaker among lionesses.’

What stood out even more was that bald Rudelrof was loved so sincerely by Camilla, the healthy and strong beauty of the cool-headed type.

She might have been overthinking Leisha’s intentions, but if that showed how devoted the couple was, it wasn’t a bad thing at all.

—So in the end, what the master needs to worry about is being kidnapped by that lioness.

‘Oh, come on. She wouldn’t go that far, would she?’

Leisha didn’t seem the type to pull something so absurd.

Unless it involved meat, alcohol, or a strong enemy, she didn’t care much about anything else.

Though… she did show some pretty strange moves back in Henil Territory.

“Lion females generally prefer strong males. That includes the Black Lions. But strength doesn’t only mean physical might.”

“I fell for Rudel’s shining charisma, even though he was weaker than me. Physical power is something females need more—it’s the female’s duty to protect her own male.”

“That’s right. A male just needs competence, and that’s enough. In that sense, you’re a perfect match for Leisha. You’re feeding all the Black Lions, aren’t you? That alone makes you a male of undeniable ability.”

“Indeed, that black-furred one would be crazy not to steal such a fine male. You’ve got quite an impressive body too.”

I must have been imagining it, but the way they said that sounded strangely suggestive.

Best to let such nonsense pass through one ear and out the other.

After distributing meat to comfort the Lion Tribe, I quietly paid a visit to Rudelrof’s home.

His house, located at the center of the city, was a log-built residence—a rare two-story structure in Rotsy.

It was only two floors high, but since most houses were single-story, it looked quite grand.

“““Welcome~!”””

When I entered, Rudelrof’s wives greeted me warmly.

Counting Camilla, he had four wives in total.

“Daddy!!”

“Daddy!!!”

“Daddy, Daddy!”

And no less than seven children.

I was a bit surprised—it was quite a large family.

Rudelrof, it turned out, was more impressive than I thought.

‘Surely this isn’t the average for the Lion Tribe, right?’

—If the master builds them a Horned Rabbit ranch, their numbers will skyrocket.

‘That’s… quite something.’

Whether it was the Rabbit Tribe or the Lion Tribe, it seemed they multiplied rapidly as long as they were fed.

Truly, the wonders of life.

Of course, considering how vast the northern area of the Levela Peninsula was, the population of Beastmen still felt rather small.

“All right, let’s get down to business.”

“Agreed.”

I’d come here to have a quiet discussion with Rudelrof.

Starting with a proposal to build a Horned Rabbit Ranch south of Rotsy, and then talking about relations with other Beastmen tribes.

The ranch proposal didn’t pose any major issues, since Rudelrof and I shared similar views.

“The biggest problem will be that the area’s all open plains.”

“Perfect spot for monsters to come and die, then.”

“We’ll need fortifications.”

The Horned Rabbit Ranch in Johnson Territory was located in a basin, so monster attacks were rare.

But this area was different.

The plains south of Rotsy were wide open on three sides.

Worse yet, the northeast connected directly to the Monster Mountains.

That section, being Rotsy’s final defensive line, could be guarded somehow—but the other directions were dangerously exposed.

Most monsters probably saw Horned Rabbits as tasty snacks, so we’d need proper defenses against incursions.

“I plan to build high fences first. Then, how about adding a wall and constructing lodgings to the west?”

“The wall makes sense, but lodgings?”

“I was thinking—why not hold a large market there?”

“A market, hmm… I see. You mean to set up a trading spot for Beastmen.”

“Exactly.”

“If lots of Beastmen gather, the monsters will be driven away naturally.”

“Precisely. Besides, we’ll need a trading hub anyway.”

In short, we’d build lodgings and a market west of the Horned Rabbit Ranch for visiting Beastmen—and that area would serve as additional monster defense.

That was our first plan.

“To the north, close to Rotsy, we can build a slaughterhouse and a storage facility. With many residents working there, monsters won’t stand a chance.”

And to the north, we’d protect the ranch by constructing a slaughterhouse and warehouse.

“The most warriors are usually deployed for hunting and food gathering. But since that’s no longer necessary, many of them can guard the ranch instead.”

“That’s good news.”

With numerous warriors assigned to the ranch, monster elimination would go smoothly.

“With that part settled, the real issue is the other Beastmen, isn’t it?”

“Right. You’ll likely have to handle that personally.”

“Me?”

Trading with Beastmen wasn’t all that difficult.

They’d already done business with humans before, so they weren’t averse to dealing with us.

Through Rudelrof, I’d already shared the situation of the humans, and they’d agreed to trade with us.

But what I wanted went beyond simple trade—there were other things to consider.