Chapter 23
(Kyle Calendar
Year 503: Age 10)
Initiation
Translator : PolterGlast
The new year dawned,
and I finally turned ten.
Up until now, my
proposals had mainly focused on passive countermeasures against the misfortunes
of the predicted future.
But I felt it was time
to go on the offensive. That's what I was thinking.
With everything we had
done so far and what we were currently doing, history should probably change
considerably.
If we continued to
implement countermeasures against the [previous history] as it was, I had a feeling
that discrepancies would likely arise.
To respond to this, I
felt it was necessary to create our own history and prepare for it.
That's why I made up
my mind.
I would proceed with
gathering personnel and secure subordinates who would become my hands and feet.
To that end, I would
secure the necessary personal funds.
First, three years! I
decided to focus firmly on this.
"There is a
matter I would like to have approved at the regular meeting."
Early in the new year,
at a regular meeting with my family, I made my next move.
"I would like to
build an archery range and hire personnel to manage it, as I mentioned before.
Please grant
permission to use the gold coins I have been allocated as a budget."
The reaction was
neither particularly good nor bad, just neutral.
"Takuhir, at this
time of year?"
"Yes, Father, it
is precisely now."
"And the reason
for that?"
"The personnel
hired to manage the archery range will also be expected to play a central role
in the event of a disaster."
"I see. So it's
about securing personnel who were active at the reception center and soup
kitchens before?"
Raymond-san responded
in place of Father.
"Yes, and I
believe we should act now while we have the leeway. We were planning to
strengthen the military capabilities of the citizens eventually anyway."
Indeed, the number of
personnel hired for the past relief measures had been gradually reduced as the
scale of implementation decreased.
"It's Takuhir's
budget. You can do as you like."
"Thank you,
Mother."
"……"
From the middle
onwards, Father was out of the loop.
At the regular
meeting, under the guise of ensuring the continued employment of personnel,
strengthening the military capabilities of the citizens, and discovering
talented archers, permission was granted for me to take the lead in operating
the archery range with the budget (1,500 gold coins) I had been given.
"Alright, we need
to start various things quickly. Anne, I'm sorry, but things are going to get
busy. Will you help me?"
"With pleasure! Please
let me help. I can't wait to see what will pop out next!"
Does Anne think of me
as a jack-in-the-box?
"First, we'll go
to the workshop now. Please."
"Yes, sir!"
"Next, we'll go
to the reception center."
"No
problem."
"And also to the
refugee camp."
"Anywhere!"
Thus, Anne and I took
the first step towards a new goal.
〇Mass Production of Improved Rapid-Fire Crossbows
I visited Master Geld
and Karl-san at the workshop and made a request.
"Please
prioritize ease of use, robustness, and delivery time."
"Leave it to us.
Your requests, young master, always take top priority."
〇Securing and Constructing the Archery Range
We visited the refugee
camp located on the outskirts of the town of Est.
"What's the
occupancy rate here?"
"At its peak, it was
about 90% full, but now it's about 20%. We are also adjusting the placement of
current residents, so there is plenty of vacant land that can be used."
I was satisfied with
Claire's answer from the reception center, who guided us.
Many people had left the
refugee camp to settle in the frontier settlements or find permanent
employment, and the number of residents here was gradually decreasing.
For the time being, we
will build a large archery range here.
To prevent stray
arrows from going astray, the building was surrounded on three sides by an
outer wall, while the building itself was open-sided with a high ceiling.
Facilities such as a reception area were also set up next to it.
〇Securing Archery Range Management Personnel
Considerable personnel
were needed to handle and manage the crossbows. Fortunately, after the Southern
Gate Annihilation Battle, the number of regular soldiers had increased, and
there was surplus manpower, so we decided to have them manage it in shifts.
Father agreed to this
condition: that it would also serve as a dedicated training facility for the
soldiers at night and in the morning.
Dedicated personnel
were secured for the reception and registration of those using the archery
range. The main force would be the people who had worked at the reception
center and soup kitchens during the previous refugee relief efforts.
Claire, who had guided
us through the refugee camp, was one of them.
I had entrusted her
with the reception center, which had now been downsized.
Currently, it was
shifting its function from refugee support to a job placement center for the
town of Est, but it should regain its bustle after the archery range was built.
And besides them, I
had somehow kept in touch with people I wanted to secure.
In addition, we
secured (scouted) personnel who were seeking permanent employment from among
refugees, the poor neighborhoods, and orphanages.
※
Several months later,
with the facilities completed and all preparations in place, we opened the
archery range as a place of recreation for the citizens.
"Those who wish
to shoot, please confirm your registration tag here, and we will hand you the
arrows. Up to 30 shots per person per day."
"First-timers,
please register at that reception desk, get your registration tag, and then
line up here."
The information woman
called out loudly to guide people.
Immediately after
opening, the shooting range began to bustle, and within a few weeks, there was
a daily queue.
There was a reason for
this.
At the archery range, we
not only set up targets but also assigned scores to them.
Of course, there were
also high-scoring targets with greater difficulty.
And if a certain score
was obtained with 30 shots, a small prize could be won.
・Two free drink tickets at the town's tavern (ale)
・One day's worth of dried noodles set
・Cash (less than the cash equivalent of the above two)
You could choose your
favorite from these.
"Today's sake is
mine!"
"Today, my wife
told me to go get some dried noodles."
"Hoh, in that
case, shall we bet a drink on who gets it?"
Actually, in the
beginning, we had adjusted it so that prizes were easy to win.
Then, little by
little, we adjusted the difficulty and made it harder to obtain prizes.
Now, only a few people
can obtain them in a day.
You could participate
for free and get a small prize.
This successful
experience made people come every day.
And gradually, it
became more interesting, with people competing for scores with their friends,
and the archery range became a place of recreation where people would stop by
during their free time or on their way home from work to enjoy shooting.
The rules established
in advance to prevent fraud were as follows:
〇Usage Rules
As a basic premise,
the archery range was only for the citizens of the Estol territory (and
refugees who had registered as refugees).
There were no age or
gender restrictions, but only those who had registered the necessary
information at the reception desk in advance could use it.
The registration was
the same as a common membership registration.
・The condition for use was being able to set and draw
the bow on your own.
・To use it, presentation of the registration tag at the
archery range reception was required.
・The number of shots allowed per person per day was a
maximum of 30.
〇Other
Information boards
were also displayed at the reception center and the archery range, stating that
a regular tournament would be held roughly once a month when things settled
down, and that the top performers in the regular tournament would receive
prizes (gold coins) that were incomparable to the daily prizes.
・Anyone with a registration tag could participate in
the regular tournament.
・A top-level tournament would be held once a year with
a large prize money prepared.
・The qualification for participating in the top-level
tournament was limited to the top three performers of the regular tournament.
In this way,
information on registered citizens and prize recipients was collected by the
government (Raymond-san).
It would not be an exaggeration
to say that I wanted this information the most and created this flow.
More details later...
Thus, while the
archery range thrived daily, the mass production of improved rapid-fire
crossbows also progressed.
Once we had a certain
amount of surplus in inventory and operating personnel, we sequentially
established simple archery ranges and reception centers in the other four towns
(Fran, Mars, Phobos, Dimos).
This was because, as
the archery range in the town of Est flourished, voices rose saying,
"We want an
archery range in our town too!"
As an aside, one of
the villages far from the towns with archery ranges surprisingly requested,
"We have built an
archery range ourselves, so please provide us with crossbows and arrows."
Well, since they couldn't
manage prizes, they wouldn't be given out, but we granted permission on the
condition that the village head would manage and issue registration tags, and
the stationed soldiers and guards would take turns managing the crossbows.
Thus, an archery boom
occurred in the Solis barony.
At this rate... maybe
we should hold the top-level (champion) tournament sooner rather than just the
regular tournaments...
I was starting to
think that way.
By the way, the
soldiers managing the archery range were part of the Baron's standing army, so
we didn't have to bear the cost of their wages.
However, the salaries
of the administrative staff who collected information on reception and
registration, the cost of prizes, and the construction costs of the archery ranges
were all covered from the budget (1,500 gold coins) entrusted to me.
We would have to
recover the investment eventually, but for now, I was just going to rush
forward.
Two months passed in
the meantime.
"The registration
information for yesterday has been collected. We had over 100 new registrations
yesterday!"
Such reports also
began to come in.
The operation of the
archery range was on track, and the participation of residents was increasing.
Information on
registered individuals was also being collected from other towns and villages
at any time, and the department managing the registrations was facing a
situation where they were overwhelmed with a mountain of documents.
"Takuhir-sama,
the cumulative number of registered individuals has exceeded 1,000, so I think
it would be a good time to start the regular tournaments."
Claire, who reported
this, was now a central figure in the operation of the archery range.
Originally, she was a
woman from an orphanage who was hired at the reception center during the
refugee response.
She had continued to
work ever since and understood my intentions well, so she was now almost like
my right hand.
Oh, right... I had
forgotten.
I had been running
around every day with the construction of the other four archery ranges,
arranging and training operating personnel, so the holding of regular
tournaments had slipped my mind.
Since there were
various preparations to be made, the first regular tournament was scheduled for
three months later, but that deadline was approaching.
It seemed like the
citizens who came to shoot were also in anticipation of it being held soon.
"Claire, could
you gather talented people from each department? A few people will be fine to
start.
I'd like to create an
executive committee for the implementation of the regular tournaments."
"Yes, I have
already selected personnel who would likely be helpful. I will summon them
immediately."
...Yeah, Claire is
also very capable.
I notified each
archery range that a regular tournament was scheduled to be held in one month
and that preparations should be made. I presented my plan to the members
selected for the executive committee, and we discussed countermeasures for its
realization every day.
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