Chapter 106: Policy Adjustment

After breakfast, Ichira returned to Japan, went to an electric shop, and bought home appliances such as air conditioners and additional laptops, as well as cosmetics that he promised to buy for Liese, and gathered various information.

I also bought a DVD copy of the encyclopedia when I bought a personal computer.

It’s much more compact than a book, and it will make it easier to retrieve information.

My situation will be eased to an extent, as I would not need to return to Japan whenever I need information.

I also went to the local museum and asked the staff to explain in detail about counteracting the vibration of horse-drawn carriages.

After hearing a lot of things, I came to understand the “suspension type” method that could be used in Isteria.

“Suspension type” is a method to reduce vibration while running by hanging the seat from the carriage with a string or chain.

Although it is not as good as the spring suspension, it will be much better than the state where vibration was transmitted directly to the body.

I was able to purchase some references, so I’m likely to start working on them as soon as I return to Isteria.

In the afternoon, I returned to the village and spent time relaxing with Valletta.

It had been a long time since we had spent a relaxing time together, listening to the current situation of the village and looking around the aviary and fields.

We talked about the work in Isteria occasionally, but it never became the main topic of conversation.

Valletta seemed to be interested in life at Narson’s house and the contents of the food Marie prepared.

I went to bed early that night, got up early to get ready to leave, and headed to the village entrance.

At the entrance of the village, all the villagers gather to see off Ichira.

Right now, he is saying goodbye to Valletta.

“Next time I’ll probably be back in three months. If I have time, I’ll try to come back early, so don’t worry.”

“I understand, but the village is fine, so don’t overdo it, Ichira-san. Health comes first.”

Valletta remained cheerful even when she heard that Ichira wouldn’t return to the village for a long time.

Most of the villagers look anxious, but none of them can put it into words.

Ichira, who thought that Valletta would miss him, felt more lonely at the same time as he missed the beat.

“Don’t push yourself too hard, Valletta. I got a tip from a girl who is close to you that you hardly take a break every day and can’t stop moving around.”

“I’ll… be careful”

“Really?”

“Huh, I’m telling the truth.”

Ichira smiled and turned to the rest of the village.

“Then I’m going. I won’t see you for a while, but I hope you’re well.”

“…I’m sure we will meet sooner rather than later.”

“What?”

When Ichira turned to Valletta with a puzzled look, Valletta smiled.

“Have a good day. Take care.”

“Yes, I’ll be back,”

Ichira got into the carriage, while replied without understanding the meaning.

Midnight the next day.

When they arrived at the square of Narson’s mansion, Narson and Zirconia welcomed them.

“Thank you for your long journey, Ichira. How did it turn out?”

“I’m home. I have everything I need and have a construction plan prepared, so let’s start construction immediately. Are you able to secure personnel?”

“It’s done. Shortly after Ichira’s departure, a portion of the glass sales came in, so I used it as an initial cost.”

“Oh, did Claire do it? It’s only been about half a month, but you sold well.”

“It seems that he was rushed by Liese, and hurriedly sold a small amount for the construction cost. He told me to wait a little longer for the rest.”

I’ve given Claire dozens of processed glass balls.

I didn’t give her all of them because it took me a while to get them from Narson.

It seems that he will continue to hand over a certain amount without revealing to Claire how many there are in total.

“With those sales, Do you think that will likely last for a while?”

“It’s enough for the initial cost, but it won’t last long. We don’t have to worry about running out of funds because we have a separate budget for the project.”

It seems that a reasonable amount of money has come in, but not enough to cover the construction cost that mobilized a large number of people.

It would be nice if Claire raised money regularly, but it wouldn’t be good to rely on her too much for this.

“It’s hard to say if it’ll be a stable source of income. How long it will take for the remaining glass to be cashed… Have you heard anything?”

“I heard him say that he sold a few small ones for the time being, while the rest had not been put up for sale yet, and was going to wait for a while and put them up for sale at the right time.”

“Hmmm… you can’t sell them all at once, can you?”

“That’s right. If you put out too many at once, it could lead to a price crash, and above all, it’s too conspicuous. For a while, I think it would be better to give her small pieces in small quantities, and occasionally prepare glass beads, so that she can adjust the selling price based on quality rather than quantity.”

“Well, that sounds good,”

In my room, there is still more than 5 kg of unprocessed glass rods.

Whether it’s a ping-pong ball size or baseball ball size, I’ll be able to make it as needed.

“Well, let me rest for today. Is it okay to adjust the construction plan tomorrow?”

“Well, before that, I’d like to talk to you about something…”

“Hmm, what happened?”

When Ichira asked back, Narson looked at the Zirconia next to him.

From here, it seems that Zirconia is going to speak instead of Narson.

“While Ichira was away, messengers came from the royal capital, from Gregorne, from Milling, and from Clairatz to offer to see him. It seems that the rumor of the waterwheel has finally reached their ears.”

Upon hearing that, Ichira frowned.

It seems that the time he had been expecting has finally come.

I thought there was still time before the information was delivered to other areas, but it was unexpectedly fast.

The fact that the messenger is here means that the other party has already identified the source of information and confirmed the authenticity.

“So you come at last… is the messenger of Clairats the same business as the royal capital?”

“It’s the same, but they want to set up a meeting to discuss other matters. That is military-related, so I will handle it.”

“Hmm… can you tell me what it is about later?”

“Of course. I don’t know the details yet, so I’ll tell you after the meeting.”

Zirconia smiled and nodded at Ichiyoshi’s offer.

“We were planning to gather information on Arcadia’s diplomatic situation as soon as possible, so it would be good to hear from Zirconia along with the details of the meeting.”

“There are a few other problems that I would like to discuss with you… I’ll discuss the details tomorrow, so please take a rest today. The bath is ready.”

“Well, I’ll do that.”

I’m curious about what it is, but right now I’m exhausted from traveling.

I had to unpack the luggage I had brought in, so I decided to return to my room as recommended.

I left my luggage to Isaac and went straight to the bath, and after a sweat, I returned to my room.

When I looked at the table, I noticed a notepaper and a small cloth bag next to my laptop.

“What’s that… oh, a cookie?”

Upon opening the bag, I found a lot of square cookies inside.

When I picked up the notepaper, the message was written in beautiful letters.

The sender seems to be Liese.

“‘Welcome back. I tried baking cookies as taught by Eira. It’s delicious, so I’ll share it with you.”

Liese… I’m sure you’re a very busy person, but you’re really thoughtful. I’ll accept this.

I started up my laptop while biting the cookie.

In the meantime, I opened the piled-up cardboard boxes on the floor and took out the “original font creation software” from the inside.

I flipped through the instructions and read how to use them.

‘What, I’ll scan the handwritten characters with a scanner and register them.’

“…I’ll ask Leise to help out. Her handwriting is much better than mine.”

After the software Installed, I started to play around with it.

There is no need for complicated operations, and it seems that fonts can be created easily.

“If I make fonts compatible with document creation software, the efficiency of document creation will improve dramatically. Can Eira help me?”

If we could ask Eira and Marie to do documents on a personal computer, the burden on Ichiyoshi and Narson would be greatly reduced.

Some information may be classified, but you can ask Liese or Zirconia for them.

However, it will take some time for them to be able to get a job because they have to learn how to handle computers.

“…Valletta seems to learn everything quickly. It looks like she will be able to use it better than me in no time.”

I remember Valletta’s smile when we parted yesterday, and I feel a little sad.

With her incredible understanding speed, she can easily use spreadsheet software as well as writing software.

I know her well, and it would be most reassuring to have her by my side.

However, it can’t be helped if she wasn’t here.