Chapter 39
(Kyle Calendar
Year 504: Age 11)
Bart's Return
Translator : PolterGlast
"Takuhir-sama, I
have just returned from my trading trip."
After about a year of
travel, which felt like a blink of an eye, Bart and the merchant caravan he
accompanied returned to the town of Est, just in time for the Champion
Tournament.
"Welcome back,
Bart. Thank you for your hard work on the caravan."
Seeing him looking
well, I was relieved at his safe return.
"I have many
reports. Please give me some of your time."
I immediately began to
receive Bart's report on his achievements.
Judging from his
demeanor... it seemed he had been successful, and I was looking forward to it.
◯ Regarding Oyster Shells
"Oyster shells
seem to be a nuisance to dispose of as garbage everywhere.
I was told I could
take as many as I wanted, and I was able to collect them all for free."
Bart continued
proudly.
"I haven't been
able to collect all of them yet, so I've told them I'll come back for
more."
Hearing Bart's report,
I was relieved to know that oyster shells could continue to be collected.
Honestly, I wanted even more.
Now I could make my
next move. After the Champion Tournament ended and things calmed down, I
immediately began preparations.
"Could you bring
out all of it?"
"Is here
alright?"
"Of course, bring
everything out here."
"......"
"W-what is
this!"
I was speechless at
the unexpectedly large number of oyster shells.
Father, who happened
to be there, let out a shriek at the enormous amount of oyster shells (garbage)
that wouldn't fit in several houses.
And... the unique
smell of the sea that wafted through the area...
The backyard of the
lord's manor had transformed into a veritable garbage dump.
Ignoring my astonished
father... I pretended not to see him and hurried with the work.
"Elan, Mary,
please!"
The two of them used
earth magic to create shallow pools one after another.
"Sasha, from the
finished ones."
With water magic,
those pools were filled with water.
"Everyone,
please."
The rest of the group
submerged the oyster shells in the pools.
Everyone's cooperation
was tremendous. A little while ago, it would have been a task that Anne and I
would have spent a considerable amount of time on.
From now on, we plan
to rinse them several times, changing the water each time to remove the salt,
and then dry them in the sun for about half a year.
I told my parents and
Raymond-san about these oyster shells:
・They would be burned and crushed to use as fertilizer
for soil improvement.
・They would also be used to improve the water quality
of sewage in the Teigun settlement.
・We would start the experiments once they were
sun-dried.
・We would continue to collect oyster shells in the
future.
◯ Regarding Potatoes
"I don't know if
they will suit the soil of the Estol territory, but I have purchased as many as
I could gather."
There, several kinds
of seed potatoes were piled up like a mountain.
"Hmm, you've
gathered quite a variety."
A voice of
astonishment came from Father.
Actually, perhaps
having learned his lesson from the oyster shell incident, he had stayed there,
ready to stop me immediately if there was a problem.
"For each type,
within the range I could gather, I also confirmed the place of origin and
cultivation methods."
"Thank you, Bart!
That's perfect."
The large amount of seed
potatoes that Bart had collected were divided for these purposes:
・Select several types and send them to Teigun.
・Have Miseri-san conduct trial cultivation locally.
・Conduct trial cultivation at the orphanage in the town
of Est as well.
Of course, as a matter
of course, I also tried growing potatoes myself.
Similar to the
turnips, I made ridges haphazardly in the flowerbeds of the mansion and any
empty spaces other than the oyster pools and planted the seed potatoes.
And the Solis Baron's
manor became... a field of potatoes...
And Father ended up
holding his head in his hands again...
"Please... no
more potatoes... please don't let me be known as the Potato Baron."
"I will do my
best, but the people's voices cannot be stopped."
The culprit (Takuhir)
deliberately did nothing to stop it or spread it himself.
Several months later,
Baron Solis also became famous for having acquired two new nicknames in a short
period.
【Baron Solis has two faces. Turnip Solis and Potato
Solis, the people use these names and greatly respect him.】
◯ Regarding Grains
"I apologize. I
tried to find grains that don't exist in Estol, based on that premise..."
It seemed that finding
grains, especially rice, was proving difficult.
Regarding rice, I had
asked him to look for examples of grains cultivated in watered fields.
Apparently, there were
no cultivation examples in the northern part of the continent where Bart had
gone to explore.
"According to the
merchants, far to the south, in the Sula Duchy, even further south than the
Gryphonia Empire, there seems to be a grain cultivated in watered fields."
"That information
alone is a splendid achievement!"
I excitedly took
Bart's hand.
With these
achievements, I gave Bart a reward separate from his salary from Father and asked
him to continue collecting oyster shells and seed potatoes.
Bart was also
well-liked by the merchants, and especially on the outward journey, when he had
no cargo, he apparently contributed significantly to the caravan using his
storage magic.
Therefore, the
merchants covered all his food and lodging expenses, so there were almost no
costs, and conversely, his income had increased with rewards.
Along the way, he
learned the customs of commercial transactions, necessary business information,
and merchant networks from the merchants, and he was gaining confidence as a
merchant in his own right.
Therefore, as a new
proposal, I told him that out of the 140 gold coins remaining from the initial
deposit, he could use 40 coins, plus the 60 coins he had newly earned, a total
of 100 coins, for speculation when he saw a business opportunity. And if he
made a profit, 20% of the profit would be Bart's share to use freely.
Given that storage
magic was a rather cheat-like skill for a merchant, I was sure he would achieve
results.
Once everything was
settled, Bart departed again, following the merchant caravan that was setting
out on another trading trip.
He was seen off by the
increased number of comrades compared to a year ago.
Due to other matters,
I planned to have him return in about half a year, after the new year.
I had a feeling that
the future where a trading company named Bart Trading Company would play a part
in the economic activities of the Solis baronial family was not far off.
Also, Bart and Claire
had been putting most of their salaries from the Solis baronial family into the
orphanage where they grew up.
The same was true for
the other orphans who had been hired as operational staff for the shooting
range, regular tournaments, and the Champion Tournament.
As a result, the lives
of the orphans in the orphanage had drastically improved.
Taking the opportunity
of the children's lives beginning to have some leeway, the orphanage was
renovated, and a large classroom was built.
Furthermore, using my
personal gold coins, I hired teachers and prepared teaching materials so that
they could learn letters and literacy.
This classroom was
also made available not only to orphans but to any child in the town of Est.
And those who properly
attended the morning classes were provided with free lunch.
For the lunch itself,
I asked Miguel-san, the head chef, to train some of the older orphans so they
could cook it themselves.
Of course, those in
charge of cooking also received a small daily allowance as income.
Later, after Bart's
departure and the classroom and lunch program were on track, the number of
children coming to learn continued to increase, and the classroom in the
orphanage became too small.
At that point, I
pleaded with Raymond-san to increase the number of classrooms and teachers.
Furthermore, we
reached the point of having a facility built to provide higher-level education
for those with talent.
Fortunately, the Solis
baronial family would now take care of the classrooms, teachers, and lunches
with their budget.
As a result of these
efforts, the literacy rate of the children in the town of Est improved
drastically, and their desire to learn increased.
And the Solis baronial
family gained a large number of future civil official candidates.
＜Gold Coins on Hand＞
・Initial Gold Coins 500
・Shooting Range Prize Money ▲150/year
・Regular Tournament Prize Money, etc. ▲240/year
・Mage Introduction Reward 1,500
・Summoning Ritual Costs ▲400
・Bart's Deposit ▲150
・Voting Ticket Revenue 600
・Voting Ticket Preparation Costs ▲10
・Champion Tournament Prize Money ▲115
・Champion Tournament Preparation ▲50
・Reward from the Margrave 500
・Order and Technology Provision 500
・External Manufacturing Costs and others ▲200
・Other ▲20
・Bart's Temporary Reward ▲10
・Classroom Establishment Costs ▲15
・Teacher/Material Costs ▲40/year
・Classroom Lunch Costs ▲100/year
---------------------------------------
Net Balance 2,100 Gold
Coins
-----
Thank you for my Patrons !!
[Platinum]
Swagaraga
[Gold]
B random
DavidA
Nepheos
ShitaiNoKootoRyuu
[Silver]
Creris
Fred A.
Frédéric Bertrand-Hudon
Geral Aponso
Matthew Fraser
Anton Lim
Ctdela
Curious Panda
Read Advanced Chapters only on my Patreon
-----
