15-2
Let's Build
a Port on a Sheer Cliff No One Can Approach
Translator : PolterGlast
The next day, when I
woke up, the door to my room sounded on its own. Wondering who it was, it was Kachua
and Carral. Both were fully dressed, and Kachua even had her bow
on her back.
「What
is it... It's still morning...」
「Ashley,
I heard the story from Puis! You're going to build a port in Erin
for us, aren't you? I'm so happy!」
「I
(Atashi) also got money from Puis-san... He told me to help with your
work...」
It seems I'm still
half-asleep. I didn't understand what they were talking about at first. Right.
Before completely stripping the money from that villain Codwall or
whatever, I was to build a departure route for the stolen goods...
「I was
having a good dream... I want to see the rest, let me sleep a little longer...」
「He's
saying this, what should we do...?」
「Yeah,
I'd like to let him sleep, but no. Come on, Ashley, wake up!」
In my dream, I was a
pink elephant. Ah, I'm curious... why pink... But my blanket was ripped off. On
top of that, I was pulled by the hand and dragged up onto the floor.
「That's
cruel, Carral...」
「But if
we don't move quickly, the sun will set. The seawater will get cold too, and
the one who suffers will be you, you know?」
「...Ooh.
That's certainly true, I suppose so. It seems I have no choice but to wake up.」
「You
know, Ashley, Atomina-sama made breakfast for us
(Atashi-tachi)...」
Breakfast made by Aneue,
huh. I'm looking forward to that. Without resisting, I was pulled by the hand by
Carral and carried to the dining hall.
「I'm
sorry, Atomina-sama, someone
like me (Ore), no, us
(Atashi-tachi) getting to eat it...」
「Oh my,
it's only natural since you
are Ashley's friends. Besides, this is about all I can do.」
Taking part in the
territory management in my stead, and even making breakfast. She was a very
capable older sister. Seeing Aneue's kind and beautiful smile first
thing in the morning makes my motivation for the day entirely different.
「Durin
also helped deshu. Ashley-sama, do your best at work deshu...
It's a crazy job that would make Durin want to run away deshu...」
「I
can't deny that. But I'll think of it as an early sea bathing.」
If I'm going to
scrape rocky reefs, I'll end up soaking in the sea. It was reasonably warm
today, but the seawater must still be cold enough to make one shiver.
「Even Ashley-sama
will freeze deshu yo...?」
「Well,
I'll manage somehow.」
「Since Durin-chan
said that, I'm getting somewhat worried. Should big sister go too...?」
「Atomina-aneue,
I leave the territory to you. It's a job an idiot like me can't do.」
「I
see... Make sure you come back before you catch a cold, okay...?」
「That's
the plan. More importantly, the potatoes are delicious; seconds.」
「In the
end, everything comes down to potatoes for you, doesn't it deshu...」
Stuffing Aneue's
mashed potatoes into my stomach, we headed to the southern part of Erin.
The sheer cliff coastal area.
◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇
Let me explain a
little. This entire area, including Erin, is unsuitable for a port.
Steep cliffs and rocky reefs. Due to this terrain, ships cannot approach. The
rocky reefs are especially troublesome, and there's nothing that can be done
about this alone anymore.
Because the sheer
cliffs separate the sea and land, fishing is also hopeless. Therefore, maritime
goods pass through Naglfar Port, which has a gentle coastline. Naglfar
itself is a small peninsula, which is also convenient as a port.
The plan proposed by
Carral overturns common sense and holds the potential to bring about
dramatic changes to maritime transport. Or so Aniue and Puis were
saying, so it must be true. I'm an idiot so I don't know.
While doing so, we
arrived at the coast. I heard it was a sheer cliff, but it certainly is an
outrageous terrain. The sea and whitecaps look small, and the view is
unbelievably good.
「What
an appalling place...」
「C-Can
we really make a port here... Are you sure about this, Ash—Shinza.」
「Yeah.
Outside, call me Shinza.」
「As the
one who suggested it, I’m starting to get a little cold feet... Do you really
think we can do it, Shinza...?」
「It's
not a matter of can or cannot. Since I've decided, I will carry it through.」
「Shinza
is kinda like a wild animal...」
「Ahaha,
he does have parts like a wild boar!」
I wonder why it
turns out like this when two women gather. But it's better than them being on
bad terms. I approached the cliff and looked over the area carefully.
「That
side is closer to the sea.」
「You're
right. I also think that side is better suited for a port.」
First, we need to
connect this steep cliff and the sea. So we chose a relatively low spot on the
cliff where no one lived. Even so, there's a distance of 7 or 8 meters to the
sea. It seems no one ever thought to construct anything here to go back and
forth to the sea.
「Around
here, I guess. The problem is how to cut open this cliff...」
I thrust my
ancestor's Shovel into the ground and pondered a concept, but I couldn't
gain conviction. The port I know is a place where there is a lot of delicious
food, the sunset is beautiful, and because distribution gathers, various races
gather. Even if I were asked what kind of shape it had, I can only remember the
shape of the mussels on top of the paella. To put it simply, I don't know how
to build a port.
In that case, the
person most knowledgeable about ports among us would be the Admiral, or rather
Big Sister, Carral Hez.
「You
two, give me instructions. I will follow your plan.」
「Eh, us
(Ore-tachi)?!」
「Yeah,
instruct me. I will move exactly as ordered. You can just think of me as a
convenient tool.」
「If
that's the story, I'm fine with it! I leave it to Carral! I (Ore)
will... move the earth and sand Ashley cuts out, and do odd jobs!」
Well, I suppose so.
I can't do the fine details either, so the support helps.
「So she says. I leave it to
you, Carral.」
「Ahaha,
sounds kinda fun. So you're going to build the port I envision!」
That's the spirit, Carral.
As the proprietress of the Hez Company, she certainly didn't rebuild the company
for nothing. Come to think of it, I'm starting to miss that carefree bodyguard
life from back then... Since Father
is in that state, an irresponsible and sloppy life is no longer permitted.
「Ah.
Also, I made a bento, so eat it, okay...? Atomina-sama helped me...」
「Ooh, a
collaboration between Aneue and Kachua. Now I'm motivated!」
「Alright,
I might have an image. Let's do it, Shinza! Are you ready!?」
「Yeah,
I leave it to you, Big Sister (Ane-san).」
「Ha?! Where
did you hear that nickname?! Stop calling me that right this instant, Shinza!!」
「I
think it sounds reliable and quite nice, though...?」
「Absolutely
no way! Especially being called that by Shinza is a nightmare!」
It's probably
because she's powerful like this and takes charge for us that she's called Big
Sister. I lightly apologized to Carral, and while receiving her
instructions, I scraped away the cliffs in the area.
「There's
a lot of heavy cargo too, so I'll have you do it on quite a large scale! That's
fine, right!?」
「It's
fine. With this ancestor's Shovel, I can do anything. Right now I'm full
of baseless confidence.」
It's a mysterious
sensation. My ancestor's Shovel gave me confidence and power. Just
holding this, I feel like courage is overflowing. To use a metaphor, a legend
is in my hands, lending me its strength.
「Then,
next let's build a slope along this cliff. The image is—a tunnel, maybe. You
dig through the cliff here and create a path descending to the sea!」
「Sounds
good. I think I can do that too. Let's try it.」
「Don't
make the incline too steep. There are some crazy heavy things too, so please
make it gentle!」
「I see.
So, digging a hole along the cliffside, then. Is—something like this alright...?」
「Wow,
the cliff is being scraped away like scooping aspic with a spoon?!」
「Amazing,
amazing! You're amazing, Shinza! What is this, haven't you powered up since last time?!」
It doesn't feel bad.
I could see the two getting excited over my astounding digging ability. If only
this weren't rock, there was a possibility of digging up potatoes too...
「Understood.
I will proceed with this one pattern as it is. Continue with the instructions.」
「OK! Do
your best, Shinza!」
「Wow,
woow... We might really... be able to build a port with this... The
fortification of Corin Village is nothing compared to this...」
Thus, while
receiving Carral's instructions, digging and digging and digging like
crazy, we cut out the cliff itself in about an hour, and arrived at the coast.
Since we were at it, they said they wanted to stop with the slope and make it
stairs, so when I scraped the path into steps, it seemed to become much easier
to climb. It's fine now, but it's this kind of location. On a slope, your feet
could slip, so it's probably the appropriate measure.
After that, we
finished even finer details.
◇ ◆ ◇
「I-It's
doneee!! Shinza, it's OK, thank you so much!」
「Shinza
is truly a messenger of God... He built a port all by himself...」
Told it was
complete, I stopped my mechanically moving hands. Moving to the sandy beach
side where the two were, and looking up at what I had created, it was indeed an
astounding structure.
「Rather
than a port, it's still just a prototype of it, but... this should be
sufficient for the time being.」
A sheer cliff had
been scraped away towards a plateau high above. It looks just like an ant nest.
Little by little, step by step, it climbs the wall, connecting the plateau and
the sea. There was a brilliance reminiscent of a secret hideout there, one that
would make any boy's eyes sparkle upon seeing it.
「Wait...
hey you two, isn't this jade...?」
「Ah,
it's true! Why in a place like this... wow, there's a lot?!」
「Ooh,
this is interesting. A mountain of treasure on an untouched beach.」
Jade was supposed to
be a mineral found in mountains and rivers. I wonder if it flowed into the sea
and washed up on this coast.
「It's
round and beautiful! This one is quite clear, Carral!」
「Then
look over here too, there was one this big!」
「Wow,
that's huge!」
「There
are a lot of others too. Let's gather them all!」
「Yeah,
let's do that! Hehehe... Maybe I'll give one to Yashu as a present.」
Carral and Kachua
were making merry like little girls. A mountain of jade on a coast no one approaches
due to rocky reefs, huh. It's hard to believe this is the outskirts of the Imperial
Capital...
「Looks
like they could be sold.」
「Uuun...
I wonder, maybe it's a waste to sell them... They aren't that expensive of a
stone, so I want to keep them as souvenirs for this time!」
「Yeah, I
(Ore) also think it's a waste to sell them...」
「Then
let's do that. It's an extravagance, but it's weird to try to turn everything
into money.」
Rather than
selfishness, agreeing with their dilettante spirit, I gazed at the sea from the
white beach. When I touched the seawater, it was much colder than I thought. Am
I going into this today... Even though I have no choice but to do it, this is
ascetic practice beyond just a 'little bit'.
Even from here,
countless rocky reefs could be confirmed right before my eyes. If I scrape
those away, ships can approach here. As a chivalrous thief, I want a route
where I can sell stolen goods safely and without getting ripped off. If so, I
can sufficiently overcome a trial of this level.
「Well
then, shall I scrape that.」
「No,
but you see, it's incredibly cold, this seawater I mean...」
「Yeah...
I know we asked you, but it's bad... It might be colder than usual.」
When you say that,
it makes me want to take you up on those words and run away.
「I said
I'd do it, so I will. Besides, I had a promise with Kachua.」
「Eh, a
promise with me (Ore), what is it...?」
「I told
you we'd do a food tour in Naglfar. If Carral is here too, it'll
be even livelier and more fun.」
Working a lot made
me hungry. Let's enjoyably fill our stomachs with Naglfar's abundant
seafood and imported goods.
「Ah,
yeah... I guess so...」
「Haa...
Kachua, sorry somehow... Shinza is this kind of guy who goes at
his own pace, so...」
「Eh,
no, I (Ore), I (Atashi), it's really nothing!」
「What
are you talking about?」
「It's
probably something you definitely won't understand for another 10 years, Shinza...
Well, you seem motivated, so let's go as planned! Now that it's come to this,
let's just enjoy ourselves!」
Let's fill our stomachs before scraping the rocky reefs. We headed to Naglfar, a famous spot for food tours different from the Imperial Capital.
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