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Chapter 18 – Completion of the Material Loading and the City of Cagliari
After the discussion with Mauro-san, who seemed to cause a bit of a ruckus, was over, the next one was Donatella-san.
She looks like a serious secretary type. Her hair is pulled back in an updo, and her clothes are not flashy. She is a human with the vibe of an older sister and a clean and calm atmosphere. Her breasts are also nicely shaped, and although it is hard to tell, they are probably a D size. If this person could manage my schedule, I would be able to work very energetically.
“What kind of work did you do, Donatella-san?”
“I managed the property of a store in the royal capital, which has since gone out of business. Currently, I manage materials for the Adventurers’ Guild.”
Someone who managed the property of a collapsed store… I wonder if there is a problem with that.
“Um, excuse me, but why did the store collapse?”
Well, I don’t think Camille-san would bring in someone who embezzled or did something bad, but I have to ask just in case.
“Yes, to put it simply, the store where I worked was not liked by the nobility.”
Ah, well, there’s nothing you can do when the big shots stare at you, is there?
“Donatella herself is very talented, but because she is related to a store that has fallen out of favor with the nobility, they are reluctant to hire her. But in this case, I don’t think it would be a problem.”
Well, as Camille-san said, I don’t think it will be a problem even if someone is displeased with us. If the nobility of this country came to visit the luxury liner and noticed Donatella-san and complained about her, it would be manageable.
In that case, I’d be more than happy to have the excellent Donatella-san work for me. After all, she’s beautiful.
“I have no problem with that. I feel reassured by both Donatella-san and Mauro-san, so I will first ask you to sign a contract to discuss the details, and I will tell you all about it. After that, if you are satisfied, I would like you to work for me.
After the contract was signed, we went to the Lutto. I showed them the inside of the Lutto and told them about the mage and other things related to the business.
“Yes, yes, I thought it would be an interesting story since Camille-jouchan is on fire, but it’s more than I expected. I’ll take care of it. Depending on the contents of the ship, I’ll squeeze the wealth out of the richest people on the continent.”
This old man suddenly started talking about something very dangerous. I’m happy if it becomes popular, but if we want to make money, it’s best to do it in moderation. If we go too far, there will be resentment.
Donatella-san said it was a worthwhile job and promised to help us, so we went to the Merchant’s Guild and signed the job contract.
For now, we decided to dismiss today and let Camille-san, Mauro-san, and Donatella-san inspect the Castle tomorrow.
………………
I led Camille-san, Mauro-san, and Donatella-san to the Castle, where the three of them had a serious discussion and looked around the Castle. Mauro-san and Donatella-san also agree with Camille-san and say that the food and facilities on board should be under contract as much as possible.
Mauro-san seemed happy to say that after opening the Castle, he would call his son to come up with a distribution channel. He told me to rest assured that he would give me a margin on top of the contract fee.
I hope the culture will spread, but the way Mauro-san talks about it makes me feel like a bad boss, which is a problem for me. He looks like a retired person, though.
The three of them are arguing loudly about the staff they need, the fees for using the facility, and so on. I have no idea what they’re talking about.
They promised to look for staff for the orphanage as well, so I decided to leave the rest to the three of them. It’s not good for a layman to interfere, is it?
A few days passed, and Camille-san told me that she had received permission to dock the ship. For a simple disguise, I left the Lutto anchored in the harbor, and in the middle of the night, after taking a Japanese-style boat out into the open sea, I anchored the Fortress a short distance away from the harbor of the Southern City.
A large ship that could be seen from afar brought people to the harbor, and food stalls were opened. It’s a festive atmosphere. I’m afraid of the public’s reaction to the opening of the Castle.
I paid Camille-san 20 platinum coins for the materials and 30 gold coins to carry the cargo and gave her a ticket to enter and leave the parking lot.
I think 30 gold coins… 30 million yen for the cost of carrying the cargo is ridiculously expensive, but is it reasonable considering how often they use the boat to carry heavy materials back and forth?
For now, I’ll leave the delivery of the materials to Camille-san, and we’ll stand by on the Lutto. Even if they’re suspicious of us, it’s important to be prepared, isn’t it?
As expected, a messenger from the Southern Count-sama made his way to the Fortress. I had received a warning beforehand, so I waited as the mage and listened to what he had to say.
He wanted me to have dinner with a high-ranking civil official from the Southern Count-sama’s office, but I politely thanked him for allowing the Fortress to dock and declined the dinner.
It seems that although they are interested in the mage, they are not sure how best to respond to him. The messengers came several times, had a brief conversation, and then left.
Perhaps they are gathering information, but what do they know? Well, it’s not difficult because they don’t ask me any deep questions. But Ines, Felicia, and I have to change our voices, which is tedious.
First of all, I doubt that an amateur like me can fool them by changing my voice, but I think it’s better than not doing it at all.
“Master, Camille-san told me about the messengers who will come at the same time tomorrow at noon to see Master at the Lutto and the mage at the Fortress. What are you going to do about it?”
They are really suspicious of me, aren’t they? It’s almost certain, isn’t it?
“Well, I have the feeling that they have completely seen through me, but if I can fool them here, it will be very confusing for the Southern Count-sama, won’t it? Can’t we do something about it?”
“Well, the messenger will come to Master on the Lutto, so it’s impossible to deceive him. As for the Fortress, the messenger will be sent to the mage, so if we can manage someone with the right body shape and voice, we can disguise the fact that it is the mage.”
Body type and voice, huh? Can we record the voice on video? The sound quality and noise would be strange, but since no one but us knows that the video exists, I think we could fake it.
“Yes, I think so. If we record a video of the greeting and play it, we might be able to get away with it. Can Ines do it?”
“I think it would be better to ask Marina to do it since she is closer to you in height.”
“I see. I’ll ask her.”
As it turned out, I think it was a success. Marina-san covered the bulge in her chest with a sarashi and left the words other than yes and no to Girasole’s quick wit. At least my voice was played on the video, so the messenger seemed a little surprised. I hope the Southern Count-sama’s camp is confused as well.
Meanwhile, the Fortress was full, so I swapped it with the Stronghold and finished loading the materials.
I promised Camille-san and the others to come with me next time, and we left the Southern City. Hopefully, the whole route will be clear the next time we come back.
………………
After repatriating the two ferries, I take the Castle to the city of Cagliari. On a luxury liner, you feel like you’re relaxing because it’s no different than a vacation while on the move.
I enjoy my time on the Castle every day. I’m not an active person, to begin with, so I feel like I never get tired of it. Hmm? Isn’t that right, since my lifespan is increasing as well?
But with the ladies, Rimu, Fuu-chan, and Beni-chan, I’m sure I won’t get tired.
Even though I think I’m working pretty hard, I wonder how much I’m working per month since I’m traveling a lot on the ship. I should stop thinking about it because it makes me feel like I’m not working hard enough.
After a leisurely voyage, we arrived at the open sea near the city of Cagliari.
“Wataru-san. What are you going to do now?”
Alessia-san asked me.
“We are going to change to the Lutto and talk to the Merchant’s Guild in the city of Cagliari. It will cause a commotion if we suddenly arrive by ferry.”
“I understand. Then we’ll start by defeating the monsters, right?”
“Hahaha, that’s right.”
When we are in the open sea, the monsters will gather at the Castle. That’s good because it will raise our level.
After defeating the monsters, we entered the city of Cagliari and went to the Merchant’s Guild. As usual, the city is not very lively, and the only place that seems to be noisy is the Naval headquarters. There must be a shortage of men and materials.
When I entered the Merchant’s Guild, I was greeted by the old man and the receptionist Onee-san of the Merchant’s Guild. I went to the Onee-san’s counter, but the old man came up to me as well, so it was useless.
“Oh, long time no see. You said you wanted to gather personnel and materials; what happened?”
I knew that the old man would talk to me. Life is not always what it should be.
“It took some time, but I asked Mage-sama to help me and brought a lot of materials.”
“Oh, I see, but what about the workers? You can’t build an orphanage without carpenters and masons, can you?”
“The city of Cagliari is under the direct jurisdiction of the Navy headquarters, so I was told that it is not good for a stranger to build a big building there, so I gave up on that.”
“Hmm? Well, you’re not wrong, but if it’s at least an orphanage… Hmm, you’re well aware of that. Surely, there is a possibility that they would not like it if a stranger built a big building right behind the Navy headquarters.”
“Yes, I have some excellent advisors.”
If it were just me, I wouldn’t have noticed. It’s thanks to Camille-san.
“But we don’t have any carpenters or masons. What are you going to do?”
“Yes, I asked Mage-sama to bring a large amount of materials for me to use. I’m going to wholesale the rest of the materials here, except for the ones used at the orphanage, so could you please ask the Navy headquarters to lend us some workers? There is a shortage of materials in this whole city, isn’t there?”
“Hmm… sure, there is a shortage of materials, but there is no surplus of workers either. If you have half of what they need, they will just laugh at you.”
It’s a lot, but what do you think?
“I bought 20 platinum coins worth of materials from the Southern City. Even if you exclude the materials used to build the orphanage, it’s still quite a lot, don’t you think?”
“20 platinum coins, that’s quite a lot. I can’t say for sure, but I’ll talk to Navy headquarters.”
“Please do. Oh, and since we’re going to dock a big ship, could you ask the Navy for permission and to bring in the cargo as well?”
We don’t have many people, so if we can’t ask the Navy to unload the cargo, it will be a problem.
“Hmm, well, I don’t have to ask you, but if you use it too jaw-droppingly, you’ll have a hard time later.”
“Most of the money is used at the Navy headquarters, and the orphanage is right behind the Navy headquarters, so there’s not much distance between us. Will they complain?”
“I wouldn’t complain to Mage-sama, but since it is the Navy headquarters, some people have a lot of pride for no good reason. There are also those who think it is natural to sell all the materials to the Navy. Well, I go to the higher-ups who know what it’s all about, so it’s all good on the surface.”
Hmm, that’s hard to hear. It’s hard to take action, especially when they’re cooperative on the surface but sneakily pulling us down.
…I was thinking of anchoring one ferry at a time, a little farther away from the harbor when I wholesale materials, but I wonder if I should put pressure on the Fortress and Stronghold by anchoring them right on the edge of the harbor. If they are reluctant to fight, it will be harder for them to harass us.
“I would ask you to try to keep things as civil as possible.”
“Well, as much as possible.”
Is that too much to hope for? No, even an old man like him must be surprisingly good at what he does. I believe him.
“So, how long will it take to get a permit?”
“Hmm, they’re busy with all kinds of things. I don’t know how long it will take, but it has to do with Mage-sama. Wait three days and come back.”
“I understand.”
We left the guild and returned to the Lutto. We had three days left. We can go to the open sea and relax at the Castle.
“Wataru-san, if we’re going out to sea, why don’t we stay on the Chris today? I want to try something at the spa on the Chris. Is that okay?”
I feel like it’s been a long time since Ilma-san asked me something. Of course, it’s okay.
“Yeah, it’s fine. What about the staff appointment?”
“I’ll ask about that too. You can expect a massage as a thank you.”
That sounds like fun. What will she try? Let’s hope for a massage anyway. We go out into the open sea and summon the Chris and board it.
…..It seems that what Ilma-san wanted to try was a hair removal treatment. Last time she used wax, but this time she said something about using electricity.
It was so vivid I had to cover my ears. …Come to think of it, Ines and Felicia both used razor blades. …I know it’s a personal grooming thing for me, but I’d like to pretend I didn’t notice that part.
Don’t think about anything else, and get a relaxing massage.
Thanks for the chapter
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Interesting topic
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Thanks for the treat.
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