Another three days passed since Eleonora’s arrival. We continued making rounds to introduce her to everyone and help her settle in, then Sebasu-san dropped by.
“About the ‘suspected technology theft’ that I’d mentioned, well, we’ve concluded our investigations and it turns out there was no technology theft.
However, it is true that ‘a facility modeled after Ryouma-sama’s waste treatment plant has been built.’” [Sebasu]
We were gathered at the meeting room in the office. It was just like last time except Carm-san wasn’t around.
Since there was no technology theft, that probably means no slimes were stolen.
None of our employees seemed to be involved either, so that’s good, but the report wasn’t done.
“The matter in question is a newly established ‘collection point’ for garbage. We questioned the ruling lord of the territory, and he said that it had been established to deal with the increase in monsters.” [Sebasu]
Apparently, the increase in monster numbers have been especially noticeable in that territory, and when you add in the lagging administration due to the abrupt transfer of power, their forces have understandably been stretched thin.
We can also confirm that more monsters have indeed been appearing at the old waste treatment facility outside the city and that there has been a rising trend of casualty among the workers there.” [Sebasu]
Normally, they would bolster their defenses in response but that means spending more money, and that territory already wasn’t very wealthy. They were also still suffering from sanctions because of the former lord.
Of course, they couldn’t just sit still and do nothing either. So, they halted the operations at the existing facility and set up a temporary collection point within the city.
They might be just kicking the can down the road, not to mention all the concerns surrounding hygiene, but narrowing your defenses to just the city doesn’t sound like a bad idea.
In fact, we have a waste treatment facility in the city of Gimuru too, not mine, but the old official one, and just like theirs, it was located outside the city. It’s functional despite my own plant, and there are people working there too.
However, because my own slime treatment plant is working well within the city, if a similar predicament were to befall us, we could easily handle it; otherwise, it wouldn’t end well for us either.
“By confirming the situation by the collection point and the territory there, we were able to conclude that they weren’t just making up stories.” [Sebasu]
“…Just making up stories, huh. Sounds like there’s more to this problem.” [Ryouma]
“Yes. The core of the issue lies in the relationship between the ruling lord and the surrounding nobles.
After taking office, the new lord’s relationship with the surrounding lords has only worsened with time, deteriorating to levels far worse than we initially assumed.
The monster problem plaguing that territory affected not only their waste management but also trade.
So, wisely, the ruling lord swallowed his pride, what with the mistakes of his predecessor, and sought assistance from the neighboring lords, only to be coldly rejected and be subjected to increasingly unreasonable demands.” [Sebasu]
“I guess the monster problem won’t be the last of their problems then. Even if they solve it, a new problem will probably come up if that’s how they’re being treated now.” [Ryouma]
“They’re knee deep in the water already, so there’s probably a lot of people just itching to take advantage of them,” Yurdum-san nodded. [Yurdum]
“Those with closer territories will just say that they’re barely managing to defend themselves to buy time, then when the ruling lord can’t endure it anymore, he’ll appear before them again on his knees.
They’re probably think that’s how they can profit the most from him.
Either way, it’s the people who suffer. Even if the new lord could resolve the monster problem by accepting their terms, if those conditions harm them in the long run, then their collapse is just a matter of time.” [Eleonora]
Eleonora muttered with a bitter expression.
It was probably because of her family background, but her view of the new lord was far from favorable. Yet at the same time, perhaps due to knowing firsthand what it was like to be boxed in, she couldn’t remain completely unsympathetic. It was complicated.
By this point, I was beginning to understand what Sebasu-san meant by ‘partially true.’
“So, the story about technology theft was a deliberate misunderstanding engineered by the ruling lord, is that right?” [Ryouma]
“He never admitted it outright, but it’s almost certainly true. The former duke personally came to question him about the matter, but despite how panicked he seemed, his explanations regarding the garbage collection point were clear and smooth as if he had prepared his answers in advance. Additionally, the neighboring lords who were pushing unreasonable demands have backed off due to the misunderstanding over technology theft.” [Sebasu]
“Well, no one wants to risk a fight with the duke. Even if they could make him their subordinate, they wouldn’t want a ticking bomb around. After all, if you’re seen as their ally, you’ll get dragged into a losing fight, and if they do something stupid after bringing them into their fold, then the consequences can only get worse.” [Yurdum]
Just like a wild animal or insect with dangerous colors. As the saying goes, there is nothing more dangerous than an incompetent ally. I guess the ruling lord thought he could play around that saying to keep the other houses off his back.
“All he did was gather garbage into the city, so if he’s just burning it, there’s no innovation, really, there’s no technology. So how could anyone say that he has stolen anything?
Really, he must’ve thought that he could just ignore the matter altogether unless it was the ducal house itself asking, and even then he could just apologize and say that he’s been careless.” [Ryouma]
“Still, that can’t have left a good impression. Maybe he thought it didn’t matter because his reputation was already bad…” [Yurdum]
“Perhaps youthful recklessness and defiance played a part as well. I hear the new lord graduated from the royal capital’s academy just last year, he’s currently 19 years old.” [Eleonora]
Nineteen!? Wait, he’s that young? …Well, I suppose that makes sense. He inherited the title before he had time to gain experience. If he had time to wait until he was older, he could’ve studied and prepared for the role. But in that case, this situation probably wouldn’t have occurred to begin with.
Hmm… I had suspected he was merely acting out of desperation, but this was unexpected.
“I feel kind of conflicted hearing all this. Wasn’t there anything else that could have been done?” [Ryouma]
“One option would have been to request aid from the national military and have troops dispatched, but the problem lies in the time it takes to deploy. First, there’s the paperwork, then deciding on the number of troops and units, preparing the supplies based on that decision, and the travel time to the site, and so on. It’s said to take at least two weeks at the earliest.” [Eleonora]
Eleonora quickly explained. At the earliest, it would take two weeks.
“You might think that’s slow, but if the national military were to move too quickly, the local lords might feel that their own defense capabilities were being questioned or be suspicious elsewhere. Politically, that kind of thing is a tricky slope, so the national army can only be reinforcements. Each ruling lord’s troops must be the first to move, that r or adventurers, then if that’s not enough, they must cooperate with the neighboring lords. At the very least, that’s how territorial defense should normally go.” [Yurdum]
That’s also why every lord needs to maintain a good relationship with others. They only have each other in times of crisis. But of course, in this ruling lord’s case, the relationships were a mess from the start.
“Honestly, I feel bad for the new lord and, if I may say so, frustration at the petty infighting given the crisis at hand.” [Yurdum]
“If you trace it back to the root cause, most of the world’s problems are petty. Major issues often arise from small, seemingly trivial things piling up. That’s why it’s so important to resolve issues while they’re still small.” [Eleonora]
That makes sense. Even in my previous life’s job, leaving small problems unattended often led to major headaches down the line.
Of course, it’s still manageable if you can recognize that there’s a small problem. What’s truly dangerous is when you don’t even realize a problem exists. That’s a time bomb. Unfortunately, in my old company, there were people who were regularly making bombs.
If you don’t know there’s a problem, well, okay. I can understand that. But if you do know that there’s a problem, then why, why ever would you wait until the very last moment it just before the deadline to spring it on me!?
What’s worse is that it’s the manager himself who can’t speak up until the last moment!
It’s annoying enough when a rookie does it, but how does a boss justify that kind of behavior!?
I can’t even count how many times I’ve wanted to scream my guts out because of that. Okay, so I did scream a few times when I was by myself.
But anyway, the point is that when the problem starts at the top, it’s the people at the bottom who suffer. I can only imagine how bad the people living in that territory must be having it.
“In any case, I believe we can consider all matters related to Ryouma-sama settled. While there was no actual case of technology theft, Reinbach-sama has given the lord in question a firm warning, and the entire territory will now be placed under the surveillance of the Jamil Ducal House.
If anything should happen again, we will handle it ourselves, so please feel free to devote yourself to the research and studies that interest you, Ryouma-sama.” [Sebasu]
With that, Sebasu-san pulled out a stack of documents from his Item Box and changed the topic.
“Here are the documents and usage permits for the miasma purification test site we mentioned previously.” [Sebasu]
“Ah, the land I requested. Thank you very much.” [Ryouma]
“We appreciate it as well. The master even said that, if possible, he would like the process completed before you return from the Great Forest. I apologize for the delay in processing.” [Sebasu]
“Considering the dangers of miasma, it’s only natural that the procedures would take time. I think this was plenty fast already.” [Ryouma]
It’s like lending out a mountain that produces poisonous gas. There’s no way you could just casually approve that. Even if Reinhart-san could give permission as a Duke in his own domain, it’s the people under him who handle the actual process, so of course it takes time for the instructions to reach all levels and for the paperwork to be completed.
“Also, Rosenberg-sama should be available starting next week.” [Sebasu]
“So I can learn sorcery from him? I’ve really been looking forward to that. We’d agreed to make time for it, but we haven’t discussed the details just yet. Should I visit dropp by the Duke’s mansion?” [Ryouma]
“About that… Since there’s also the matter of the ‘lost magic of curse removal’ you consulted us about, how would you feel about going to the test site together once he’s ready? He’s quite skilled in handling miasma as well, and we believe it will be easier to try various things that way.” [Sebasu]
It was a proposal clearly made with full understanding of my tendency to want to run experiments the moment I get an idea. Of course, I had no reason to refuse, so I readily agreed. After that, we finalized the date and time for the rendezvous and the details of how to get to the testing site.
From then on, I focused on my work in town–mainly improving the environment at the office–while looking forward to officially beginning my studies in curse magic.
■ ■ ■
Before I knew it, a week had passed.
“To think a place like this existed here.” [Ryouma]
Led by Sebasu-san, I arrived at the base of the mountain designated as the testing site. To my surprise, this mountain wasn’t far from Gana Forest, where I spent the first three years after reincarnating. I vaguely remembered passing by here while completing jobs to rank up with the Adventurer’s Guild.
Perhaps due to the effects of miasma, a part of the mountaintop had dead trees and exposed crumbling soil, giving the impression of some major construction. The areas of the mountain unaffected by miasma were still lush with greenery, making the barren, scarred areas appear conspicuous.
“Takebayashi-sama, everyone is ready.” [Eleonora]
As I was looking at the testing grounds, Eleonora-san’s voice came at me from behind.
She was originally assigned to stay back in the city of Gimuru to handle administrative tasks and communications, but this time, she was accompanying me.
Apparently, Carm-san had advised her to get used to me first by saying–“Your work performance is fine, so for now, just focus on getting used to the owner’s personality.”
As a result, she ended up joining me for this site inspection.
Should I get Carm-san something to show my appreciation?
As I was thinking that to myself, I heard another voice.
“Thank you. Well then, shall we?” [???]
When I turned toward the voice, I saw a group of people behind Eleonora-san all geared up to climb the mountain.
Standing next to Eleonora was Yurdum-san, who had joined as my support staff. Behind him were Sebasu-san, who had brought us here, and Rosenberg-sama, who would be teaching me curse magic.
A short distance away from them stood five adventurers: the female beastkin adventurers Miya-san, Syria-san, Mizelia-san, and Wereanna-san, along with the spear-user Jeff-san. They had been tasked with surveying the area around the testing site.
Originally, I had planned to conduct this survey myself, but I already had too much on my plate, so Eleonora-san gently persuaded me to get help, and as a result, we ended up outsourcing part of the investigation.
This project was part of my duties as the duke’s engineer, so any hired help had to not only be capable of conducting a proper survey but also be trustworthy and be able to keep secrets.
These five adventurers more than met those criteria. I also knew them well already, so that influenced the selection too.
Five adventurers and four nobles. If you add myself, that’s ten people all in all.
It’s rare for me to work in such a large group, but I think this is plenty fun its own way too.
Leave a Reply