Chapter 6: I Said the Space Emperor Is Also an Emperor, Are You Deaf! (Patreon)

Poor. Thin. Rough.

In the three days since crossing over, Subaru Natsuki had never once set foot in this slum tucked away in the royal capital — the poor district.

Ton, Chin, and Kan lived here, technically, but for three days straight he'd been dragging them around to make amends, and whenever they got tired they just crashed together at some cheap inn, four to a room. Aside from the two minutes it took to grab money, none of them had actually come back here.

And even that money run didn't count for much — the spot where the three of them lived sat right at the edge of the slum, barely inside it at all, and Subaru had been so preoccupied with the repayment business that he hadn't paid the surroundings any attention.

This was the first time he was really seeing it.

Over the past three days, what he'd seen was a perfectly ordinary royal capital — passersby and residents ranging from decent to shady, but by the standards of another world, the general moral baseline seemed pretty solid. Most people had work, a roof, a livelihood that wasn't in danger.

The knights who patrolled the streets every day never bothered pushing into the grimy back alleys where the small-time thugs lurked, but at least they kept up appearances of order on the main roads. It all looked peaceful enough.

Even a robber like Chin only took money, never lives — not rotten all the way through.

But now he was seeing a different side of this world.

In this corner of the capital, properly built stone houses were pitifully rare. Most of what passed for shelter were tents — fine on an ordinary day, keeping off wind and rain, but the moment a real storm hit, they'd be torn apart and leave everyone inside homeless in an instant.

The people here were scattered, each curled up inside their own tent, so it usually took walking some distance before you spotted anyone. But if you paid attention as you went, it became obvious the poor living here easily numbered in the thousands.

The slum itself wasn't filthy, wasn't foul-smelling. It was clear the people here had made a real effort to treat this place as home, working together to keep it that way.

The problem was supplies — there were almost no shops to speak of. The one or two that existed sold nothing but basic survival rations, and nothing else.

Everyone he could see, Felt included, showed clear signs of poor growth — none of them had reached the height they should have for their age. Thin, short, practically every one of them.

Ton, Chin, and Kan were the exception. One of them was short, sure, but that was just genetics — his skin still had good color. The other two were tall and solidly built. Compared to everyone else, it was obvious: those three were probably the only people in the entire slum shameless enough to go rob people on the outside.

Otherwise, everyone else's complexion would have been just as healthy and full as theirs.

The rest of the poor here, though they were destitute and might occasionally pinch something small like Felt did, held themselves to a far higher standard than Ton, Chin, and Kan. Mostly petty stuff, nothing worth chasing down.

Subaru opened his mouth, not quite sure what to say. He'd had no idea a place like this existed in the very capital city that had thrilled him, that he'd fallen half in love with at first sight.

"Heh. Look at that face — guess you've got a conscience after all," Felt said, arms crossed over a chest that wasn't really there, lips curling as she scoffed twice. "We're already giving everything we've got just to survive. If some jerk like you comes along to stir up trouble on top of that, how are we supposed to manage?"

She'd already half-decided: if Subaru Natsuki turned out to be the kind of idiot who felt no sympathy at all for the slum and insisted on stubbornly picking on her people, she'd have to get rough with him.

Sack him up, beat him black and blue, and dump him at least a few hundred miles outside the capital.

"Huh? But I never meant to pick on you guys in the first place. Who's picking on who here, exactly?"

Subaru didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He'd finally pieced together what was actually going on. "Besides, it was those three who came at me first, trying to rob me..."

"Ha? Like anyone cares about that. Look at you — pale and soft all over, wearing clothes so weird nobody's ever seen anything like them, but clearly not cheap. A noble like you getting picked on is just what you deserve. You should get a taste of the contempt we've had to live with all this time!"

"A noble? What exactly do you think I am?"

Felt snorted at Subaru's muttering, brushing off his protest entirely, already itching for a fight. "What, you think acting all innocent means I won't strip you bare?"

"Wait, wait, wait, aren't the roles supposed to be reversed here? Isn't it normally the girl who gets stripped in this kind of scene? I'm about to scream!"

Subaru clutched at his tracksuit in a panic. He was being threatened, sure, but somehow he couldn't muster a shred of ill will toward Felt. "And anyway, do you really think things are fine the way they are?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Felt bared her fangs suspiciously, sizing him up. Honestly, the whole stripping-him-bare thing had just been talk. So far, her impression of this guy wasn't bad at all.

"If you care about this place, then just going on like this forever isn't going to fix anything, right?"

An idea took shape in Subaru's mind. He clenched his fist tight and threw a punch skyward — decided. Now that he'd seen it, he couldn't just look away. "Listen up. I've got an idea. You, me, and everyone else in the slum — what if we fixed this place up together?"

"Turn it into something brand new, something amazing — the one and only place like it anywhere! From some poor district everyone holds their nose and walks around, ignored and looked down on, into a place so good even the high-and-mighty nobles can't help but notice — a place they'll have to bow their heads to, a whole new territory with a whole new name!"

"Doesn't that sound good to you? Otherwise, nothing actually gets solved. Felt, let's do this — together!"

As everyone knows, Subaru Natsuki simply cannot stand to see suffering. He's a good man!

[Ding!]

[All the land beneath the heavens belongs to the king — yet a truly perfect emperor never needs intimidation or punishment to make his subjects and his people bow their heads and sing his praises from the heart. But before that, a proper sovereign first needs territory of his own, rather than wandering rootless.]

[Unclaimed land of quality detected. Host's strong intent detected. In accordance with your own heart and will, please begin your reformation from the slum, turning it into loyal territory under your rule, and spread your achievements from here to the entire world, starting from zero.]

[Quest success will grant a powerful ability related to other lords, kings, or emperors, randomly selected!]