Chapter 28
(Kyle Calendar
Year 503: Age 10)
A New Move
Translator : PolterGlast
"Father, as I
requested before, I would like Bart to be assigned as my exclusive
attendant."
One day, I abruptly
asked Father for the promise he had made earlier.
Having gathered ten
mages, I had received over 700 gold coins from Father as promised, and in
addition to the initially approved budget of 1,000 coins, I had over 1,000 gold
coins at my disposal.
So, I decided to use
Father's connections to make my next move.
"What do you
intend to do with Bart?"
"Yes, he is a
space-time mage and can use spatial storage, just like you, Father. I would
like him to accompany a trading merchant and fulfill a certain role."
Perhaps Father had
been thinking of something similar.
He made a slightly
reluctant face.
"Hmm... that
matter... actually, I was also..."
"What would
become of the lord if he broke his promise?"
Mother interjected
with a smile at Father's ambiguous reply.
No, her eyes weren't
smiling.
It was her usual
"absolutely don't defy me" look.
"O-of course! As
promised, I recognize Bart as Takuhir's exclusive attendant!"
Father, who seemed to
sense a dark mist rising from behind Mother, hurriedly agreed.
"As for the other
person, I would like to borrow their help as needed, rather than having them as
exclusive attendants right now. Everyone has already been helping with the
operation of the regular tournaments."
"That's right.
These children were originally found by Takuhir as personnel for the archery
tournament. That's only natural, isn't it?"
Mother is properly
cornering Father. I'm grateful.
"O-of course, but
some of them will also participate in combat training as mages. You have no
objections to that, do you?"
"Yes, I consider
that a matter of course. I will leave the arrangements to your discretion,
according to their individual aptitudes."
"What I would
like to ask of you, Father, regarding Bart, is to introduce me to a trustworthy
trading merchant, especially one who travels to seaside areas where goods not
found in the Kyle Kingdom are traded...
Also, when requesting
Bart's accompaniment from the trading merchant, could you make it in the form
of a request from you, Father?"
Yes, it's not that I
don't trust them, but if it's a request from Father, the merchants shouldn't be
able to refuse easily.
"That's fine, but
what are you planning to start, Takuhir?"
"I have a plan to
enrich the land of Estol with materials found discarded by the sea. I need his
power to try it out from now on."
"Hmm, that sounds
interesting. Report to me when you obtain those materials, and share the
results. That's the condition for my endorsement."
"Of course. Thank
you for your approval."
Well... the purpose
isn't just what I told you now, but I'll get to that later...
Father, who originally
had a talent for trade, and the Estol territory, which was booming with
prosperity, saw many merchants coming and going.
Soon after, through
Father, a certain trading merchant agreed to Bart's accompaniment.
And on a sunny day,
Bart set off on his trading journey, seen off by the mages attached to the
Lord's Manor, everyone at the reception center, those involved with the archery
range, and his comrades from the orphanage.
Seeing him off and being
surrounded by the important comrades who would advance the future projects with
me, I felt deeply moved, thinking, "We've finally come this far."
I had asked Bart to do
three main things.
◯Collection of Oyster Shells (Top Priority)
・Collect discarded oyster shells in seaside towns.
・Collect as many oyster shells as possible, even if
there is a cost involved.
◯Collection of Grain Seeds (If Possible)
・Obtain seeds of grain varieties not cultivated within
the territory.
・Prioritize rice if available. Also, confirm
cultivation methods.
◯Collection of Potatoes (If Possible)
・Obtain various types of potatoes not cultivated within
the territory.
・Collect seed potatoes and confirm the cultivation
methods for each.
Along with this, I had
entrusted him with a considerable amount of gold coins.
"Takuhir-sama,
what are oysters?"
"Um, they're flat
shells that stick to rocks by the sea..."
"I apologize...
what are shells?"
"!"
It was a natural
question for someone who didn't know the sea.
The Kyle Kingdom does
not border the sea.
Moreover, this was the
outermost frontier, in the opposite direction from the sea.
Even if I tried to
draw a picture, oyster drawings are surprisingly difficult. The shapes are
completely different depending on the individual...
I struggled to explain
oysters, which I had never seen, but I was helped by the accompanying trading
merchant who knew about them.
I also told him that
since there was nothing to transport on the outbound journey, he was free to
make full use of his spatial storage.
Rice, of course, was
close to my wish, no, my fervent desire.
Someday, I will eat
white rice. This was my dream.
I also wanted to try
rice cooked in a bamboo tube.
It would be great if
rice cultivation could be done in the Estol territory!
However, since it was
something I wasn't sure if I could obtain, it had a low priority.
Explaining rice was
also difficult, so I changed the expression to "any kind of grain."
And then, potatoes.
Potato production was also carried out in the northern regions of the Kyle
Kingdom and was used as food.
However, it hadn't
really spread in the Estol territory.
It would be good if we
could find potatoes that grew even in barren land...
It would be best if
they could be grown in the highlands of Teigun.
Regarding potatoes as
well, since the accompanying merchant knew about them, I asked him to tell Bart
if he saw any along the way.
From books I had read
before and the stories of trading merchants, I had confirmed that many types of
potatoes still existed in this world.
If we could find good
seed potatoes, I told Bart that I wanted to promote their cultivation even in
the orphanage and have the orphans grow them.
Of course, if he ran
off with the entrusted gold coins, that would be the end of it, but Bart seemed
to feel a great debt of gratitude towards me, who was acting to improve the
orphanage further and promote the employment of the orphans in the future.
I didn't even think
about such worries.
Depending on Bart's
success, the future six and nine years from now would surely change. That's
what I thought.
The first step towards
that had finally been taken.
"I will
definitely return with results!"
Bart waved his hand
many times to everyone who prayed for his safe return and set off on his
journey.
After sending Bart off
in this way, I steadily proceeded with identifying mage candidates, flood
countermeasures, and other tasks, in response to the increasingly lively use of
the archery range, the next regular tournament, and the increase in registered
individuals.
For the next
confirmation of magical aptitude, I planned to proceed with the selection and
recruitment of candidates discreetly and then carry it out all at once when the
time came.
Oh, right, the
top-level tournament (champion) held once a year... I also had to think about
the planning and the mechanism for betting (making money) for this...
A year would probably
pass in the blink of an eye.
I sat at my desk,
muttering to myself, running my pen across the paper to flesh out my ideas.
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