Oppen, the capital city of a certain Duke's territory, was currently experiencing massive changes.
A year ago, the city looked very different. The tallest buildings used to be very rare, as they were all important ones for the city. But nowadays, they were commonplace.
The Duke's castle, which used to be the second tallest building in the city, was now at the bottom of the list.
The city's Mage Association tower, which used to be the tallest one, was now average-looking in terms of height.
Aside from the buildings, the infrastructure was also changing.
There used to be no sewage system in the city, which caused the river flowing through the city to be very polluted. But now, there was a sewage system, although not fully completed yet.
The roads were also being upgraded. What used to be narrow and muddy dirt roads, were now wide and solid concrete roads.
The economy of such a changing city was of course on a boom. This, in turn, attracted a lot of migrants from all over the kingdom.
Contrary to the medieval period of Earth, this world had a much larger population.
The population, which used to be a measly 100,000 people, was now exceeding 5 million.
This also meant that the city's size was expanding immensely. Thus, the old walls surrounding the city were torn down.
And as there was no definite end to the expansion, the Duke decided to postpone the city wall's reconstruction.
The citizens of the city were obviously in panic, as walls were essential to every city, due to concerns of an enemy's attack and the security in general. But the Duke assured them that it was alright.
The security of the city, which should be less safe, was actually improving.
The Duke implemented a new force within the city, and supplemented them with a newly developed weapon far more superior to a sword or a spear.
Life in the city of Oppen was bustling with new citizens. They go to work every morning, and come home in the evening. And when these people go back from work, they would often spend their money on drinks with friends and co-workers.
Taverns were the most busy place during these times of leisure. Inside of these taverns, most people were talking and gossipping about their new life in the city.
"More drinks please!"
One man exclaimed towards the waitress.
"Got it!"
The waitress left the man's table to get more drinks.
The man was enjoying his new life in the city, and was currently hanging out with his co-workers.
"So guys, isn't this place awesome?"
"Hahahahaha, of course. There's literally no other place like this city. Even the capital of kingdom falls short to this city. And to think that a year ago, it was just some backwater city."
"Yeah, as Dave just said, this place has changed a lot. How about you Marty? Aren't you one of the original residents?"
"Sigh, I miss the old look of the city."
"Why? Wasn't it terrible?"
"It was, but it also felt peaceful. Nowadays, I just can't seem to sleep with all the noise in the city. The nights used to be very quiet, but now the city just feels nightless."
"Don't tell me you still live in that shabby house of yours?"
"I do, what about it?"
"Didn't they guve you guys a choice to live in the tall buildings they call apartments?"
"They did, but I'm terrified of heights, so I don't like being in one."
"You didn't hear the news?"
"Huh? What news, Jack?"
"They're making a new residential area just for small buildings up in the north side of the city."
"Really? That's cool. But I don't have any money though."
"Don't worry, apparently, original residents get to have one for themselves if they agree to exchange it for the land of their previous house."
"Shit, I'm sold. Where do I sign up for it?"
"In the government office, you know that place right? H-hey, where are you going Marty?"
"I'm going there right now!!! That place is still open right now, and I don't wanna wait for tomorrow."
"But the drinks just came!! At least give us the money to pay for yours!!"
"I'll pay you at work tomorrow!!"
"Shit, he's gone. Dave, you should pay for Marty's drink."
"I'll beat the shit outta him tomorrow. He better pay me interest."
"What interest you greedy freak? You're not a bank."
"Hahahaha, but we do work in one."
****
To think I became the Duke of this place. It certainly wasn't easy.
After the hostage scenario, I learned the language of this place from scratch with the help of the Duke's daughter. I guess I should say the previous Duke, or....
My father-in-law.
Sigh, I can't believe I got married to his daughter. I mean, we haven't even had sex yet.
I only learned this world's language from her, so she was my language teacher. I never had any feelings for her.
Well, I guess she's super pretty, I'll give her that.
But we literally just spent an entire year learning, and then boom, we're suddenly married.
Funnily enough, the past me would've went crazy if he realized he was going to get married. I mean, before those aliens dumped me into that world, I was practically lonely as hell. Maybe it's because I've grown past all of that stuff centuries ago.
There wasn't even a ceremony, we just signed the marriage papers.
Well, I guess they were pretty ashamed for allowing me to marry into their family and seizing the title. I guess that father-in-law of mine got too scared that I was going to leave.
But it's not like I don't like this situation, because I actually planned for it to happen.
Firstly, I showed off my overwhelming strength so that they saw the value in me. They would also see that messing with me would just bring trouble.
Secondly, I stayed here for a year under the guise of learning the language. I actually learned the language pretty quickly, and just spent the rest of the time learning about this world. I found out that this wasn't Earth, it was a fantasy world set in the medieval times. Just like in the isekai novels I used to read.
Thirdly, whenever there's a chance to speak about it, I always spoke about becoming a noble. This plan succeeded, because when I was about to leave, the former Duke begged me to marry his daughter.
And then after the marriage, I threatened the former Duke to give me his title. According to the laws of this kingdom, giving away your title is fine as long as the receiver is part of the family. Which means that since I was his son-in-law, it would be perfectly legal for me to receive his title.
And that's how I got the title of Duke.
After that, I spent another year improving the city.
With the knowledge that I have from my previous world, and also from the centuries of me spending my time in that cursed world, I'm pretty much overpowered in this world in terms of knowledge.
So, I gave them the recipe to make cement. With that recipe, it was possible for me as a duke to order the construction of skyscrapers among many other things.
Oh yeah, I also gave them the knowledge to make guns. And revamped the city guards into a police force using those guns.
Now, I wasn't a genius when I was a normal person, but after gaining my power in that other world, learning became too easy.
Also, that world resembled Earth a lot. It's just that there was no people there, and monsters were everywhere. But I was sure that it wasn't Earth, because there was no sun or moon there. There was no night or day, the sky was just white in color.
Thankfully, some places weren't destroyed by the monsters. And in those places, I often found books I could read.
Physics, biology, chemistry, math, engineering, programming, literature, etc. I read any book that I could salvage and learned a lot of things.
Well, that's all in the past though.
Now, I can live a much more fulfilling life.
"Excuse me my lord, your wife has called for you."
"Bring her in, Sebastian."
"As you wish."
****
Sebastian, the head butler, quickly left the room to bring the Duke's wife to his office.
Entering the office, a red-haired woman appeared. Her ears were long and sharp, her face was immensely beautiful, and she had the perfect hourglass figure.
She was a half-elf.
"You can sit down."
Sitting down on a chair, she immediately asked him a question.
"So, what brings you here?"
"What do you mean by that??!! You obviously know!!"
"Sigh, is this about the heir stuff again? I told you that we can do it later."
"You said that a year ago!!!"
"Ugh fine, let's agree on a date for it."
His wife was rejoicing. Now, her pesky father should stay quiet about it. The reason why her father was so desperate for this was the fact that he was very old.
His father was a mere human, and he would love to see his grandchild before his death. However, her husband doesn't know this and he assumed that it was because her father wanted the child to receive the title of Duke instead of him.
"So, my dear husband, when do you think we should do it? In a month, or maybe a year?"
"Look, you're a half-elf right? That means you can live for a very long time."
"Yes? But what does this have to do with it?"
"Let's set it to 100 years from now."
Her heart sank.