CH 50

“Flo-to…~!” Alexandra trilled.

“Uu…!” I gasped.

She was sitting next to me, she hugged me, and then I stiffened up. 8 months have passed since the first time I met Alexandra at the social debut party.

Now that we’re approaching 11, our bodies are gradually changing. Especially around the chest…

It’s completely different from a fat man’s chest that fattens up and droops everywhere. Only around the nipple are they growing and perking up. It seems we’ve hit puberty.

Of course, they’re still immature, very small blue buds. But Alexandra’s body is definitely becoming more of a woman’s. Well, my breasts have also been growing out lately, but… but there’s nothing wrong with that, as the day when I can have “tee-hee, haha” fun times with other girls is getting closer by the minute.

However, in this world where there is almost no such thing as underwear and so having a girl’s blue buds pressed against me is a little stimulating to me.

Alexandra is still visiting my shack in the woods today. Lately, whenever I have free time, I’ve had visits like this, and I think there aren’t many days when Alexandra doesn’t come over. Of course, I welcome her, but… is that a good thing for a daughter of count?

Even so…I wonder if Alexandra has a bit of a Lily inclination to hug me while I’m so defenseless…

No, wait, wait. Don’t be too hasty… did I forget what happened last time I was so quick to judge and made a mistake? 1 Alexandra may be treating me like this just as a sign of normal affection. Rather than clinging on for ill and breaking up our current relationship, I have to think that just being able to play and have these “tee-hee, haha” times should be enough.

“Young Miss, it’s about time to go,” Kaspar said.

“What~…? It can’t be helped, I suppose,” Alexandra said. “Well then, Floto, let’s hang out again tomorrow, shall we? Good day to you.”

“I hope you don’t come here to the detriment of your duties… good day, Alexandra,” I said.

I feel reluctant to say goodbye because she comes almost every day, but she often goes home obediently. Alexandra will be home before evening, so it’s still bright outside and there’s still time for various other things. Besides, I have a lot of things to do, myself.

After seeing Alexandra off, I immediately returned to work. The pioneering village has completed the water supply and sewage system and the main street. On the main street, a gutter was created using a U-shaped groove. After all, it was too difficult to make the entire U-shape with bricks, so I was able to shorten the construction period a little by connecting partially assembled components so they would lay flat on the installation sites.

In the process, the concrete U-shaped groove itself was a prototype and went well. However, there are various problems, so I refrained from burying it underground, which is difficult to maintain and clean up later. We can’t just bury it where it’s difficult to redo it later unless we actually see its performance.

Therefore, I decided to use the U-shaped ditch as side drainage in practical use, but so far there have been no specific problems. However, there are not many buildings and there are no residents, so I don’t know how practical it is yet…

Even with everything I just said, the pioneering village is not yet completed on the surface, it seems that it has progressed only to the extent that there are no issues. Since the zoning was decided and the buried infrastructure was constructed first, the only visible above-ground buildings were the workers’ quarters.

The main problem was sewage treatment. The filtering device has been made, but filtering alone won’t get rid of germs and the like. In addition, substances dissolved in invisible sewage cannot be removed simply by sedimentation in a septic tank.

I’m not an expert in sewage treatment, and I’ve never been involved in that kind of work, so I don’t know much about it, but I have a vague recollection that activated sludge was created, so organisms such as bacteria would decompose the worse microorganisms… I tried to create a reliable facility based on that dim memory.

However, there is no electricity or machinery like in modern times, and there is no such equipment as checking with an electron microscope. In an experiment, we mixed the sludge that had accumulated at the bottom of the sewage system and pumped a lot of air into the water. You’ve probably seen bubbling air coming out of fish tanks. This is something like that.

Since it was a small-scale experiment, I was able to confirm that something like cotton dust was floating in the water when I tried to force air into it manually. If I remember correctly, this is a collection of microorganisms, and this should have been eating the substances dissolved in the sewage. By sending in air, the microorganisms became active and they ate up the waste. So the experiment was a success.

When actually constructing a sewage treatment plant, it is impossible to manage everything automatically without electricity. Also, it is not possible to manually send air into the activated sludge all the time. That’s why I thought of windmills and watermills. As windmills and waterwheels turn, their power is used to send air from the pump.

I don’t know how effective it is. Perhaps the activated sludge is not very useful and the result is hardly purified. I can’t even test the water quality, so I can’t confirm anything.

However, in this world, it’s normal for sewage to flow as is, so if it has a purifying effect to some extent, wouldn’t that be enough? In the worst case, it would be better to purify even if the effect is low than just letting it settle in the septic tank and then flow back out into the natural water bodies.

In addition, for water supply, water pumping wheels are built in the river to move water into the waterway. With this, the flow rate can be controlled to some extent, and the garbage and fish that flow in can be removed many times. If the river water flows directly into the underground waterway, garbage and fish may flow in or it could become clogged.

That’s why the construction of burying water and sewage underground has been completed, and now buildings are being built on both sides of the main street. It seems that the furthest north is to be my house. It seems that the main street runs straight from my house and various buildings are built on both sides of it.

Now that the streets and gutters are complete, building construction and water and sewage connections to them are underway. I was told that soon my house would be finished soon. It’s not completely done yet, but it looks like a wing will be ready soon. If possible, it would be a good idea to go check it out next time.

After Alexandra leaves, I’ll do the paperwork for the reclamation, the farm, and the ranch before I go home. That’s it. Let’s stop by Kruck Trading Firm on my way home today.

Thinking that it would be ready soon, I took a detour on my way home and stopped by Kruck’s Carruzan branch office. I haven’t said anything yet, but as soon as I arrive by carriage, I’m greeted warmly and taken to the reception room. The Kruck staff seem to think I’m an important guest. It’s true that I’m close to Victoria, but in reality, she’s just mostly in it to entertain herself…

“Welcome, please come in, Lady Flora? Sir Floto?” Victoria said.

She uses either title depending on my business. I don’t know if there’s any meaning to it, but it’s probably some mix of public and private considerations… I guess it’s important to separate business and personal life.

“I came here today to talk about the wig,” I said. “I supposed it should be ready by now…”

“Ah! Please wait a moment, Sir Floto. I’ll have it fetched…” Victoria said.

It seems that the wig order is a “Sir Floto” case. Wigs are something that even young ladies use, so I feel like it would have been fine as a “Lady Flora” case, but I don’t really know how Victoria separates the two. Since I’m using House Caan’s resources and funds, it should all be a “Sir Floto” case.

Well, moving on, I ordered a wig from Kruck Trading Firm quite a while ago. After failing many times and making various prototypes, it is finally nearing completion. It should be done by now. It’s not a finished product yet, but it’s a much-improved prototype…

While I was chatting happily with Victoria for a while, the errand runner she sent off, came back. He has a box in his hand. Victoria took it from him and then handed me the box.

“Here you go, please take a look,” Victoria said

“… My heart is pounding,” I said.

Victoria smiled. It seems that this time, she’s quite confident about the product. I gently open the lid.

“Thi-This is it!” I yelled.

“Please try picking it up,” Victoria said.

As requested, I did. This feeling in my hand… it’s nothing compared to what it used to be.

“This is wonderful!” I said.

Finally… it’s finally finished. I can say that it’s complete. Finally, I have seen that…

“The Drill Curls Wig is complete!”

Yes. I had been thinking that it would be a good look on Alexandra, so I had been trying to make a drill curl wig, a blonde one to be specific. And now it’s finally done.

Wigs themselves already existed. It’s not flashy and it’s not popular. Then there are also perms, but is it a heat-treated perm? Or should I say, a thermal perm? It seems that heat is applied to curl the hair, and the damage becomes severe. Even though usual wigs are made of human hair, they feel like modern fake wigs. Moreover, the curls are weak and do not last long.

So, in cooperation with Kruck, I developed a treatment that does not deteriorate the quality of the hair while giving it a strong perm, no, it restores the quality of the deteriorated hair.

When I was on Earth, I was told that a perm was a chemical reaction at a beauty salon, but I couldn’t prepare a perm solution because I couldn’t make chemical substances. To begin with, I don’t know what kind of substance perms are made with, so how can I reproduce it in this world?

However, if you want to apply a strong thermal perm in this world, I can do it. If you apply it too strongly, it will only damage your hair and cause it to become dry and crack, but it is not impossible to apply a strong perm.

So, as a solution, I thought about repairing the damaged hair fibers. Something like a self-made hair pack can be made relatively easily. If you mix it with olive oil, eggs, honey, etc., you can easily make a pack.

Well, everything in this world is expensive, so even if I say it’s easy, the cost is ridiculous… also, I don’t know the ratio or the amounts of each ingredient, so I was fumbling around. And so, after trial and error, we finally completed a blonde wig with drill curls and glossy hair!!!

“By the way, Sir Floto……” Victoria said, “is it really alright for me to take such a large share of the proceeds from this treatment?”

I decided on this before, so it’s fine, but Victoria seems to think that my cut is too small.

“Weren’t the materials procured from Caan’s vegetable farm and poultry farm? I think this is more than enough,” I said.

Poultry farming is not yet popular enough to confidently say it is, so we are supposed to use a lot of our materials and output to make it. I’m somewhat reluctant to receive a lot of monetary shares just by submitting a treatment idea even though there are sales from those. Anyone can imitate it relatively easy as long as they know the amount to blend, so it will be imitated sooner or later.

Victoria has to recover her investment by then, so she should know that it’s not the time to pay me a large share.

Various new types of wigs and treatments to care for them are by-products of the development of the drill curl wig, and Kruck will be selling them in the future. In particular, I anticipate great sales because I believe will be many people who use treatments not only for their wigs but also for their natural hair. The pursuit of women’s beauty never ceases. I’m sure it will be a good product.

Well, that’s what Victoria and Kruck will do, and I’m fine with getting a small share as an inventor’s fee. I did not have much effort in development and no effort in sales. I just gave them some ideas and gave them a bit of advice, as well. More importantly than all of that……

“Fu, fufu…! Ufufu! With this, Alexandra will be…”

Yes. More important to me is this drill curl wig. Now let’s put this on Alexandra’s head. I’m sure she’ll look like an arrogant young lady with blond hair in drill curls.

Alexandra’s personality is so good and kind, but her face looks scary and tough. Well, she’s cute in that respect, but people who meet her for the first time will probably be scared. And this drill curl wig. Equipped with this, she will be perfect.

“Now then! I can’t wait for Alexandra to visit me tomorrow!” I cried.

I paid Victoria for the wig and returned to Manor Carruthers in a good mood. But the next day, Alexandra never showed up at my shack.