CH 63

It’s already becoming regular, practicing with my mother every morning, but today is a little different. I carefully examine her power. I’m trying to get closer to her by slipping through her spear, but I can’t close in at all. Since the first day, I have never been able to get close to Mother even once, so the difference is hopeless.

Even so, I somehow managed to activate Mother’s form of buff magic. If you don’t corner her, she won’t even use buff magic, so the premise is to corner her and force her hand. On top of that, I carefully observe her as she casts.

As I thought, the spell activation time is extremely short. It feels like she’s using only the minimum necessary time at the moment. Furthermore, my father and mother probably have techniques to hide buff magic and boosts. I guess they’ve been using it here and there and I just because I haven’t been able to perceive it. Otherwise, there are moments when their power and speed jump so suddenly that they cannot be explained.

Why do my parents use buff magic and boosts while hiding them? You can understand that by crossing swords with them like this. If your opponent finds out that you are using buff magic or boost, they will do something to counter it.

In other words, if the opponent finds out that you used buff magic while you’re still at a distance from each other, it will be noticed that they will attack you.

Of course, just because it was found out doesn’t mean everything is bad. For example, it would be good if the opponent could unleash a deadly blow that you could block even if either of my parents were in an exposed state. It is possible to give priority to surely defeating the opponent rather than forcibly hiding it.

Alternatively, if the opponent is anticipating an attack by looking at their buff magic, it can be used to outwit them.

However, the fact that your buff magic is fully exposed to the opponent also means that the technique will be imitated. It would be unbearable if I easily showed my magic, which you can say is my secret tool, to my opponents and have them imitate it. In that sense, it’s a natural choice to try to hide it as much as possible.

Still, I desperately cling to Mother, deciphering the formula of buff magic and confronting her spear, thinking that it might be of some help. It’s really a desperate decision to dodge a spear blow that instinctively tells me I’ll be killed if it so much as touches me.

But I can’t reach her. No matter how much I prepare for death, no matter how much I sharpen my nerves, I can’t see my mother’s technique, and I can’t decipher her technique

“–!–!–Haa-haa…!” I pant.

“That’s enough,” Father said.

I managed to avoid it, but at last, I was facing an unavoidable blow and Father caught it. It’s better not to rely too much on Father’s interception skills. In the unlikely event that he fails to step in in time, I’ll die. At best, it’s a permanent serious injury that can’t be treated.

Life-threatening training every morning and every night. I wonder if I’m getting stronger, even if just a little, through practical combat training with a sense of tension that makes me think my spirit is getting worn out…

“Now then, let’s take our turn,” Father said.

“… Uuu,” I moaned.

The usual four come out instead of Mother. After this, I finished my morning training by getting beaten up and down the training ground with iron bars, as usual.

Once more, I finished my work in the morning today and escaped from Manor Caan. I run through the forest to meet Mikoto. I asked Mikoto if she could prepare rice and soybeans for planting. I also want someone to ask a farmer how to grow it and write that advice down.

In addition, I said that I would like her to tell me how to make soy sauce and miso and the production method, but it would be difficult to arrange everything all at once.

Besides, I somehow feel that Mikoto has a rough personality. If it were me, I’d go to the people of my fief and ask them about how they’re growing things and then observe them, but I wonder if Mikoto would go that far.

“Geeze! You’re late, Floto! I’m always waiting for you!” Mikoto yelled.

“Sorry……” I said.

For sure, Mikoto always comes first and waits for me. But I have training in the morning and I have to work. I can’t afford to neglect my work and daily routine like that.

And maybe… Mikoto and I have different distances to get here. I’ve come a long way. What about Mikoto? In the early days, Mikoto returned home in the northwest direction. The only human towns and villages that I know of are Caanburg or Carruzan, in the southeast direction.

Or she heads southwest to the Kingdom of Frasia. I don’t know the geography of the Kingdom of Frasia, so I don’t know where its towns would be, but since the border town of Carruzan is not far away, I think there’s some kind of town in the Kingdom of Frasia’s side as well. In terms of border security and transportation, there should be a counterpart.

The first time Mikoto fled was not southwest, but northwest. That’s why I think she’s returning to an unknown village or town that I don’t know. No matter how stupid I am, I can at least guess that Mikoto doesn’t come from a recognized town in the Margraviate of Carruthers. What I can imagine is an unknown village or another country that has no contact with its neighbors.

But she hasn’t been going back to the northwest lately. Or rather, she’ll stay here until I’m gone. It seems that she sees me off until she can no longer see me, and then she sneaks back home. That’s why she only headed northwest the first few times, and I don’t know if there really was a house over there and she was heading straight home.

“Here!” Mikoto said. “I got it for you! And this is how to grow them!”

“Huh?! Ah! Thank you!” I said.

What Mikoto presented was a small hemp bag-like thing and a piece of paper. When I received the hemp bag and looked inside, it was rice with the husk still attached. Is this planting rice? However…….

“Umm… I can’t read this one…” I said.

“I-I’m sorry! My handwriting is messy!” Mikoto said.

No, it’s not that. Her handwriting may not be very beautiful because it’s written like scribbles on poor-quality paper, but even then, I can’t read any of the characters written by Mikoto. This is different from the Ploissian language that is understood to some extent in the Kingdom of Ploiss and its neighboring countries, but it is also different from the languages I knew of on Earth.

“Huh? Ah! So that’s it! Umm…” Mikoto panicked as she snatched the paper from me, crumpled it up, and hid it.

It seems she thought she’d revealed her true identity to me from this script.

“Hey! Mikoto! Can you teach me the words and characters from your home?” I said. “I’ll teach you the words and characters of my home’s language, too. Shall we teach each other?”

“Huh? Um…” Mikoto said.

I sat the confused Mikoto down on the usual stone and start the lecture. Mikoto knows most of the language, so it won’t be too difficult for her to learn the letters from me. Though she was puzzled at first, she gradually began to study hard. By the time I left, she seems to have already learned some simple words.

“Then, from tomorrow, you’ll teach me too, okay, Mikoto?” I said.

“Yeah! I understand! See you soon!” Mikoto said.

I waved to Mikoto and parted ways. Time is too short. Why is such precious time so short?

As I thought, I couldn’t read the rice cultivation method, so I decided to store it for a while, after listening to the precautions for storing it. It’s not yet sowing season. I don’t have to worry about it.

To begin with, how should I put it, Mikoto just brought some rice from somewhere and simply ignored the verbal explanation, and when I asked her about this and that, she became flustered and she couldn’t answer. It seems that she didn’t properly ask the experts how to cultivate. What was written in that note…? I don’t think it’s a big deal…

Anyway, I promised to study together from tomorrow and left Mikoto.

It seems that a letter from Kruck Trading Firm had arrived the next morning while we were having breakfast, after finishing training. It seems that Victoria is not in Carruzan right now, so if she took the trouble to send the letter, was it really so urgent? She shouldn’t have considered me such a big deal…

Or is something wrong? Did she get complaints about the hair packs? It seems that some aristocrat’s wife has come to Kruck to complain about being scammed with a fake treatment from another trading firm.

From the start, it’s not a product sold by Kruck Trading Firm, so if you have a complaint, you should go to the place you bought it from, but it seems that there are monsters who make such unreasonable complaints in any era.

It seems that the wife’s argument is that, “Since I was forced to buy it because of a product from Kruck Trading Firm, Kruck Trading Firm should take responsibility.” It seems that she was swinging the weight of her House around… but of course, there was no way Victoria would even give them the time of they, and when she physically turned them away at her office, they pursued and threatened her by using their status.

The Head of the House and his wife seem to have been lucky to just have received a severe scolding from Duke Kreff, but it seems that there are quite a few people like that. I thought it was some kind of complaint or dispute, so I hurriedly checked the contents, but it seems that I was wrong.

Enclosed with that letter was another letter. The sender is… Wilhelm von Ploiss… that means the King of this country…? Is it okay for a king to casually send a letter to an individual who is not very close to him?

That’s what I thought, but after reading it, I was convinced it was justified. It seems to be about my new ship ownership application.

It wasn’t so urgent that Victoria, who seems to be in the royal capital, had to send a letter right away… well, she let me know in a hurry, but I’ll be honest: it was enough if I had heard about it afterward at the Carruzan branch office after Victoria came back…

Anyway, the letter said that my application was approved. House Caan now owns 5 ships. I don’t have a horse-drawn carriage, but…

It’s kind of funny…. House Caan still does not own a carriage. What I usually ride is a carriage without a crest owned by House Carruthers. That’s enough for me, so I don’t buy a carriage for myself and keep putting off the purchase.

Another big factor is that House Caan doesn’t have a crest. Usually, the carriage owned by one’s family has a coat of arms drawn so that you can easily identify who it belongs to. However, Sir Caan and his House don’t have a crest, so I can’t mount a crest even if I did buy a carriage. That’s why I hadn’t decided on a coat of arms for a long time, even though I was thinking of buying a carriage once I decided on a coat of arms.

In that sense, it would be better to attach a flag to the ship as well. In that case, it’s time for House Caan to decide on a crest. In that case, in addition to the two ships, I’m also buying a carriage… geh……. this is going to cost a whole lot of money again, isn’t it.…? The construction of ships must also be ordered.

House Caan currently owns two Cogs and one Hulk. The ship I’m hoping to build new once I got permission was a completely different kind of ship from those.

The 3 ships that the Khan family has now were already-built ships, but the ship I’ll order next time will be a new ship that I have asked my shipbuilders to design.

I don’t know much about ships, but I somehow gathered the chief builders of several shipyards to listen to my opinion, drew a picture, made a prototype scale model, and completed the prototype. There are two types of these new ships, one of which is called a Carrack and the other a Caravel.

We were planning to build each of these new ships one-by-one once we got permission. It seems that permission has been granted, so we have to go to the shipyard and have various meetings regarding the actual construction.

Normally, the official business first thing in the morning is paperwork at Manor Caan, but today I changed my schedule and headed to the shipyard. It’s not like we’re signing a contract and starting construction right away today, but Victoria and King Wilhelm sent us a letter in a hurry, so it would be best to do it sooner rather than later.

I want to eventually build a shipyard in Cien. This time is my chance. A new shipyard may be needed to build a new ship. Therefore, a shipyard will be built in Cien, and craftsmen will be gathered there to make Cien into a port town. Smaller ships will be built on the Dierbe River east of Caanburg in a small shipyard, while larger ships will be built in Cien.

… And it was also expensive. I’m in trouble…… even if we manage the lumber on our own, I wonder what the future maintenance and running costs will be, considering everything from the construction of the shipyard to the salaries of the craftsmen…

Money, money-money-money! No matter where you go, it’s all about money… I can’t help but complain. If I can’t secure the funds somehow…

Besides, if I slow down too much, Mikoto will get angry again. Today’s official business has a meeting at the shipyard in the morning. When I’m done, I go to Mikoto’s place, and after I get home by evening, I’ll clean up the paperwork that I always finish in the morning…

For some reason, no matter how hard I work, it never gets easier. Even if I organize my work and clear it up, it won’t ever end… there are quite a few jobs that I leave to Helmut and Isabella, and there are many parts that I only complete with the final payment and confirmation. Still, it’s not enough hands. It’s about time we needed someone specializing in that kind of work… like a treasurer or a secretary…