[Azure Kingdom, White Castle]

Going back to what was happening in the kingdom in the sky, Asagi was currently observing the state of her kingdom as she notice many problems in relation towards the farming firm and the fishing firm. Due to the heavy cold weather that her kingdom was currently feeling, the whole lake which the fishing firm's progress was reliant with, had become a complete frozen body of water as far as the eye can see.

Because of that the people who are in charge of fishing  then temporarily stopped their work and relied to any exports that the other kingdoms had provided.

If one were to ask why they  haven't simply break the ice to fish, all she could say that such effort would be meaningless. After all based on her system's object analysis example, the ice itself was as thick at about 20 inches. With that it would need about a modern drill of earth or a destructive spell with great force to actually break the ice.

However the ice itself wasn't simple as one might think it is. Since the Kingdom was nearing the center of the northern continent, the concentration of frost would naturally be higher than the areas near the sea. If one would put it to practice, any water that comes in contact with snow or cold wind would only need about 2 seconds to freeze over completely. Of course this only applies to all water objects and not the humans themselves. It is as if the frost and snow itself was made by magic.

As for the drinkable water  that everyone use, they were completely protected by the magic heat insulation applied to each home inside her kingdom's walls. Also taken note that even her own pool got frozen till kingdom comes.

Since destroying the ice is pointless due to how fast it freezes over, the jobs in the fishing firm was then halted  causing many people to temporarily lose their jobs. Since the fishing firm was temporarily close, the supply of fish in the market naturally dropped causing its price to rise at all time high.

So in order to replace their missing goods, they have no choice but to export meat as substitute from their allied countries in exchange from their raw products and materials.

As for the farming firm, their problem of having their produce frozen solid were quickly resolved through the use of greenhouse which has insulation appropriate for plants applied inside. Taking a long walk to the north outer wall of the kingdom, one could see a huge greenhouse plantation in a size similar to a supermall back on earth.

Since the greenhouse isn't part of the function provided by the system, such structure was naturally made by the locals under the guidance of Asagi during its creation process. Naturally due to magic and what not, the greenhouse was finished after days of non-stop work and creating such a huge master piece.

Of course there isn't only one greenhouse in this place, there were also under construction green house on the other areas beside the initial product. To be exact there are about 4 greenhouse that is currently under construction for the whole kingdom. Totaling to about 5 supermall level greenhouse in plan.

The first greenhouse naturally housed the wide plantation of rice in all the floor such as the ground floor up to the fourth floor. Just by this structure alone, Asagi couldn't even figure out how such structure was made. Normal common sense doesn't apply to this world, so the only thing that could make such structure possible was through the use of magic.

As for the other greenhouse, their produce would naturally be decided once they are finished on it construction.

Speaking of which, not only is the farming firm and fishing firm that had quite a trouble this time around. The pharmaceutical firm was also having its own problem due to the rising number of patients in the area. Even thought the pharmaceutics firm building was quite big, it was still overcrowded by patients that have a problem of their own.

Some of the patients were people who caught sickness due to this cold weather, some even had their asthma triggered due to the cold wind, but most of all were people who caught a frostbite on their fingers and toes due to staying so long outside the warmth of their home unprotected. Most of the frost bite cases were children who like to frolic in the streets.

Luckily there is a magic to regenerate the cells of a human or person in this world, due to that the people who caught frostbite doesn't have to suffer of having their body parts chopped down for the rest of their lives. Nevertheless the frostbite was still a horrifying experience for all.

Due to how busy the pharmaceutical firm is, Katarina Atkinson the sole lady who was frequent in Asagi's castle visit, was nowhere to be seen for a couple of days. With in fact she was buried with work in relation to supplies and serving their patients.

Another one side of the problem were the workers who are in charge of building the septic tank, the road, and waterway outside the capital walls. Due to how fast the snow pile up in the surroundings, the progress of the construction in this three projects were quite slow as a snail. In fact due to the weather situation, all they could do was lay out a blueprint and build some support factors for each project.

Aside from that, there is practically near zero progress so far. Nevertheless they begun to fix the land for the heavy construction.

Lastly is the problem related to the adventurers of the kingdom, even thought it is a new country, the things for an adventurer to do in this country was limited. Adding to the fact about the whether that the adventurers in the equator isn't accustomed with, there are many adventurer leaving her kingdom and returning back to the warmth of their country.

Aside from all the problems, the snow itself was a natural tourist attraction for anyone who would like to see a brand new world covered in white snow.

*********

After a few hours of supervising, Asagi can currently be found inside the adventurers guild managed by Darius. In here she was currently taking a break after a long hour of moving all over the place to inspect the activity are in the kingdom.

This time aside from here original orders such as water, milk, and juice, she then order another drink which was the specialty of the counter inside the adventurers guild, the mix drink.  The drink itself was specially handled by Darius employee who had made a reputation for himself , due to his swift handling of drinks. The skills of the bartender is almost the same level of skills in comparison to the bartenders back on earth who likes to flip the drinks in a container into the air.

Due to such performance, the bartender himself then became well known towards all the adventurers who often buys drink in his counter. However this time, that specific bartender himself seemed to be on edge as he served the customer in front of him.

After all the person who acts as his customer for the day was none other than the queen of the very country the bartender is living on. Just Asagi's presence alone could immediately dictate such simple visit as something grand in line of national. If the bartender were to somehow make a mistake in front of her, not only would he anger the very queen he should respect, but even tarnish his reputation forever, which would make his life hard.

Aside from that the archangel (Ariel) beside her, seemed somewhat wary of him as she kept her guard up while guarding Asagi.

As a person who recently got acknowledged as a citizen of the kingdom in the sky, he clearly knows such existence far above the angels that occasionally patrol the streets. The archangels themselves were equivalent to the royal guards in other country. Meaning such status was something that a mere commoner like him cant afford to offend.

Thankfully not long after, Darius switched out with the bartender as he instructed the guy to take a break while he handles the guest. Upon hearing Darius words, t6he bartender smiled happily as he went his way and leaving the tense atmosphere that he was dosed into.

"Its been awhile hasn't bit?"

The moment Darius made his appearance, the wary atmosphere from earlier slowly dissipated into the air as Ariel somewhat relaxed her senses. After all  Darius is one of the memorable guy that had early access to enter Asagi's kingdom. Alongside it, Darius often visit the castle in order to hand out information towards Asagi in regards to various areas development. Due to that he became well known in the circle of archangels.

Plus Darius is one of the few people who is allowed to call Asagi in a casual tone, such privilege's is towards a guy who has spent his current loyalty towards Asagi.

"Awhile? I'm not too sure about that" answered by Asagi

"Is that so?"

"It is... anyway, the guild seems to be lacking of any of its previous vigor"

"Well can i blame them? there is little to no events happening in this city... the monster's are beginner level, there are no dungeons, no hidden treasures, nor even a grand event that would endanger the kingdom, with all of that, coupled with this peaceful atmosphere, we can almost be identified as a beginner place for all newbie of the adventurers guild"

"So we're regarded as such?

"Yes"

"I see, no wonder the adventurers that can be seen in this place are fewer than the l;ast time i visited"

"Well there are still adventurers visiting this place and not a small number at that, but it isnt the same the first time it was... utmost most of the adventurers used this place as a checkpoint wherever they want to travel to other country without wasting any time... your teleportation tower is really something else"

Upon hearing that, Asagi simply nodded at his words, as she took a drink and replied.

"Indeed, because of that the teleportation tower fee we collected could be piled into a mountain and be used to further enhance my kingdom"

It was quite understandable in the perspective of the native of this world. The only reason why such people visited her ,kingdom, was because, her kingdom was a whole new place and realm for any adventurers who yearn to explore the unknown. Some of those adventurers even expected that they would find a new type of monsters upon arriving in such place.

However reality is always disappointing. Aside from finding creatures quite different from their own, there were no notable monster in the area. Due to that the excitement of the adventurers died down for a bit as some who yearns for thrilling experience left her kingdom.

In that moment Asagi then looked up towards Darius.

"Anyway is there any new news that you guys uncovered?"

When Darius heard Asagi's words, he immediately tensed up as he somehow hesitated to even talk such topic towards her. Naturally this type of behaviors had caught Asagi's quickly eyes, the moment she saw Darius hesitated to tell something, she then knew that something wasn't right and the latter was hiding something from her.

"There's something new isn't it? What do you know? tell me"

The moment Asagi asked such questions, Darius then collected his thoughts as he told her the news that had been bugging his adventurers guild with stress, headache a, and danger.

"Smuggles..."

"... A what?"

"There is a case of smuggling happening in your kingdom that is hidden in plain sight"

Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various motivations to smuggle. These include the participation in illegal trade, such as in the drug trade, illegal weapons trade, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, exotic wildlife trade, art theft, heists, chop shops, illegal immigration or illegal emigration, tax evasion, import/export restrictions, providing contraband to prison inmates, or the theft of the items being smuggled.

All in all smuggling is something illegal even back on earth.

The moment Asagi heard such a thing, she couldn't help but be surprised as such activity was being conducted within her kingdom. In that moment an inexplicable anger swelled within her towards those people who will try to sully the reputation of her kingdom.

At the same time, Ariel suddenly received a message through telepathy as she simply nodded away from the message itself. After awhile she then looked over towards Ariel as she said.

"Your majesty! Gabriel had contacted me! He said that a group of people wished to talk to our kinds representative, it seems like the discussion won't be a simple thing at all."

Hearing Ariel's report, Asagi simply stood up as he put the idea of smuggling aside and focused on one important task, nevertheless she didn't let go of the matter regarding smuggling easily, with a deep breath, she then gave Darius an order

"Take care of the smuggling case Darius, i don't want such an act to stain my reputation and my kingdom's reputation"

"... Understood your majesty"

***ReadAtWebnovel