Striving For The Luxury Liner – Vol 16 Chapter 7

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(8/20)

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Chapter 7 – Aquamarine Kingdom Escape

Somehow, I managed to escape the hell of paperwork and went on an inspection tour of a village that was going to be a frontier base for the construction of the Beastmen City. I was greeted enthusiastically by many beastmen (men) there.

“I’m sorry we only have this.”

“No, I was thirsty, so I really appreciate it.”

I was thirsty from the tension and the speech, so I was really grateful to have something to drink.

Yes, it’s delicious.

Yule-san served me a cup of lukewarm tea, but I was grateful that I could drink it all at once.

The aroma was a bit cheap, but if you’re drinking it to quench your thirst, this is just the right amount of tea.

“Still, you were very popular, Wataru-san.”

“Haha, I was surprised.”

I respond to Yule-san’s sincere words with a wry smile.

Hey? Wait a minute.

The beastmen gathered around me, and I managed to calm the place down by making a speech.

But that doesn’t mean it’s as easy as just settling the matter.

The storm of gratitude and worship had subsided, but the eyes of the assembled beastmen were extremely kind to me.

I am not so stubborn as to be able to leisurely inspect the city under such a friendly gaze from these burly men, which even seemed to include physical pressure, though it was a friendly gaze.

When I was in trouble, Yule-san asked me if I would like to take a break in his office and offered me tea.

So I thanked him, but didn’t he cause such a fuss in the first place by casually revealing to his beast companion that this person was Wataru-san?

Could it be that he was trying to avenge the previous drastic increase in work due to me and the fact that he had been driven to the brink of death by overwork?

I looked at Yule-san’s expression with fear, but he looked at me with a smile and didn’t seem to have anything against me.

So, did he cause that commotion naturally?

That’s scary, isn’t it?

Well, with my inexperienced eyes, I can’t tell if he’s a natural or if he’s hiding his hatred for me under the mask of his smile.

Just to be sure, I’ll keep Yule-san on my radar as a person to watch out for.

I continued my conversation with Yule-san while being secretly suspicious.

Although it was difficult for me to inspect the city, I was able to understand the progress of the construction to some extent because I was able to speak directly with the person in charge of the construction site.

According to Yule-san, the size of this city will continue to grow. The merchants are so eager to bring in the beastmen that even now, there are not enough dormitories to accommodate them.

Half of the beastmen are building in the city, and the other half are working to improve the road that connects this city to the royal capital and to build a road to the proposed site of the beastmen city.

It is said that the construction of this road is going well. It seems that the beastmen are working extremely hard, partly because they are building their own city.

“Still, Wataru’s popularity was quite impressive.”

After hearing Yule-san’s story, the atmosphere relaxed a bit, and Alessia-san rehashed the conversation that had been left unanswered.

If possible, I would have preferred not to talk about it because I didn’t want to remember that frenzied atmosphere.

“It’s only natural. For the beastmen, Wataru-san is their savior.”

As if it were a matter of course, Yule-san interjected some outrageous words into the conversation.

What do you mean by savior?

“Yes, that’s right. It might not be an exaggeration to say that Master is their savior.”

A betrayal I wasn’t expecting.

Felicia, you know better than anyone that I am no savior, don’t you?

I am a fool who buys you with money and takes great pleasure in ecchi this and ecchi that, right? What are you saying now?

“No, Yule-san, it’s just that… I’m just having a hard time finding a good use for my loose change, so please don’t think so big about it. Felicia knows I’m not such a respectable person, right?”

“The idea of building a city for the beastmen who have money problems is wonderful. Wataru-san, there is no need to be shy. It is natural for good deeds to be praised. In fact, it is a social problem if it is not praised.”

Yule-san. I’m not embarrassed at all, and it’s not a social problem, so don’t say that with a straight face.

I got goosebumps hearing something so far away from me.

“Listen, Wataru-san. You paid money for needy beasts and gave them a place to live, food, and freedom. And with the best guarantee of all, a contract with the God of Commerce-sama. You just saw how grateful the beastmen are, didn’t you? Be proud of yourselves.”

I see; there must be a saint with the same name as mine in this land. I guess I’m being mistaken for that person.

Because in the process of sorting out the paperwork in hell, I found a lot of documents related to the contract of the God of Commerce-sama, and I thought that I should cancel the contract of the God of Commerce-sama now. How can a person who thinks like that be a savior?

Oh, no. Ines and Ilma-san started to grin at me. This is definitely a sign of a bad trip.

Unlike Felicia, they understand my feelings and are trying to have fun by embarrassing me.

“Yes, Master…”

“I’m sorry to bother you with your busy schedule! I’ve heard some helpful things, and now I’m leaving!”

Okay, the interception was successful.

Judging by the unhappy expression on Ines’ face, she must have been thinking of something bad. 

“? Wataru-san is an important customer, so it’s important for me to make you understand the situation. You’re not interrupting anything, so please take your time.”

…Yule-san, he’s a natural, isn’t he? I think he is a bad kind of natural who explodes his naturalness in a bad way.

When dealing with that kind of person, if you are reserved and choose your words carefully, you will end up at the bottom of a pit and suffer a terrible fate.

Let’s just say it outright and leave this city quickly. And let’s stay away from the Aquamarine Kingdom for now.

＊＊＊

“Whew. I finally calmed down.”

I lay down on the Lutto’s sofa and relaxed my whole body while hugging Rimu.

When I left Yule-san’s office, I found that my story had spread, and even the beastmen who couldn’t join the commotion earlier had gathered, so I had to give my speech again.

So I was scolded that I should use more fancy words, but I managed to finish my simple speech and escaped from the city.

When I returned to the royal capital in a mentally exhausted state, the papers were piling up again.

They wanted to take me to the document room by force, but I refused, saying that I had to leave the harbor. Then, the guildmaster and the others came to me and begged me to replenish the cosmetics and liquor left over from my absence.

I fought off the greedy guildmasters who were trying to get as much loot as possible, jumped aboard the Lutto, and sailed away.

After working so hard, it would be forgivable if I stayed on the sofa in a slumped position.

“Fufu, it was a hard day’s work, wasn’t it? Thank you for your hard work.”

As I promised myself that I would just lounge around for another hour or so, Claretta-san gave me a shout of thanks for my hard work.

It was enough to cheer me up.

It’s hard to tell if I’m just a simpleton or if Claretta-san’s healing power is amazing.

Okay, I’ll just keep pretending to be exhausted and let Claretta-san pamper me.

“Now that all of our business is done, it’s time to leave for the western continent! Everyone gathers for a strategy meeting!”

Ah, with Alessia-san’s words of assembly, my healing has left me. At least let me be pampered a little, you know?

“Wataru. We’re going to start, so please stand up.”

“Yes.”

It looks like I won’t even have time to linger today.

＊＊＊

“Hey, Yule-danna.”

One of the beastmen speaks to me in a serious tone. Did something unusual happen?

“Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing happened, but I need to talk to you about something. Can you give me a moment of your time?”

“Yes, no problem.”

It does not seem to be an accident.

But a consultation? It is rare to have a consultation from the beastman side, who is grateful for the current situation and working to the best of his ability.

I’m a little worried that some strange opinions might come out of the blue.

“Thank you. By the way, Wataru-sama came to see us today, didn’t he?”

“Yes. What’s wrong with that? If it’s Wataru-sama, he was satisfied with everyone’s work, so there’s nothing to worry about, right?”

He listened carefully to what I had to say, and on his way home, Wataru-san brought a large amount of alcohol and food for us to drink together.

I think it is safe to assume that he was pleased with our work.

“I see. He was satisfied, huh? No, I’m glad about that, but our discussion was about something else.”

Oh, it was something else, huh? 

“What is it then?”

“Well, we were all talking about, can we change the design of the city now?”

“It’s not impossible, but it depends on what it is.”

Changing the design at this stage. Even though we have not yet started building the city, we have already completed the design, received Wataru-san’s approval, and started preparing materials.

We want to fulfill the wishes of the beastmen who will actually live in the city as much as possible, but it is difficult to make drastic changes.

“Ah, I’d like to do it if possible, but if it’s impossible, I guess it’s impossible. It’s unfortunate, but I’ll give up.”

“I understand. Let me hear it.”

Surprisingly, there are many clients who demand sudden design changes, but it helps if they are willing to give up without sticking to their own opinions.

There are many people who make unreasonable demands and then demand that something be done about it because they are the ones paying for it.

This kind of low-key attitude is very helpful.

“We were going to build a big square in the city, weren’t we?”

“Hmm? Yes. It will be used for fairs and festivals, so we reserved a place for the plaza.”

“Can you erect a statue of Wataru-sama in the middle of it? If possible, we would like to express our gratitude to Wataru-sama.”

“Oh. Please tell me more about that.”

…It might not be a bad idea.

The amount of construction materials needed will increase, but since Wataru-san has given us a lot of money, we can afford to build the statue.

Since it is a square, we can be flexible with the design, and any confusion caused by sudden changes in the design will not be as serious.

Besides, Wataru-san seems to be a very reserved person. It might be a good idea to let him know how much the beastmen appreciate him by building his statue.

This is getting kind of fun. Let’s make sure that we boil down our ideas and that Wataru-san will be very happy with them.　

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