CH 68

Warning: If the sexualization of minors bothers you, please be aware that like much other medieval fantasy series, the author decided that this world’s definition of “adult” is 15 and there is a brief mention of adult men finding Flora sexually attractive and emphasizing her being so developed while still being so young.

After introducing Eins and the others and chatting for a while, Victoria left. She must be busy because she has her duties at Kruck Trading Firm. It seems that the remaining three will become scholars who serve House Caan.

First of all, I tried to talk about various things and then asked about the fields that each of them is good at and the fields that they are interested in. As a result, Eins is good at chemistry, Anneliese is good at botany, and Ehren seems to be interested in engineering.

If you hear that much, you may think that they have difficult specialized knowledge or that they are professional researchers, but they are not so full-fledged.

Simply put, Eins’s chemistry is like repeating experiments by mixing and separating chemicals. Science and chemistry in this world are underdeveloped, so there are many parts that are inferior to the knowledge of Japanese students on modern earth. Most of them are just something that can be done by mixing this and that. They don’t understand how to use it or its dangers, and they repeat horrible experiments. 1

Well, that’s why I can’t be stupid about this. Today’s science and technology exist because our predecessors risked their lives to carry out various research, and we only know it because we have learned from that accumulated knowledge. If I tell Eins as much knowledge as I can, he will develop it accordingly.

Next, Anneliese’s botany is not such a difficult story, either. It seems that Anneliese is particularly interested in the effects of plants. She’s not mainly interested in the ecology, classification, or breeding of plants, but in things like, if you boil this grass and drink it, it will have this kind of effect, or if you grind that flower and apply it to the skin, what will happen?

Her main purpose would be cosmetics and beauty. She seems to be particularly interested in things like good skin, good hair, or suppressing foul smells such as body odor and bad breath.

I’m also looking forward to Anneliese’s research. No, it’s not like I want to be beautiful with makeup, or I want her to make something that has a beautiful skin effect, isn’t it? I don’t hate that kind of thing, but… on the other hand, beauty is often related to medical care, and if you are familiar with plants, you may be familiar with cotton and natural resins derived from plants.

If it helps with the cultivation of cotton, it will be a plus for the development of underwear and sanitary products, and if resin can be produced, the applications will be greatly expanded. In order to make resin, chemicals are necessary, so I want her to cooperate with Eins and co-develop the chemistry. I still can’t believe that these two are a couple…

Why is this chubby beautiful older sister married to such a bigoted old man with a head that looks like it blew up…? Could it be that she was forced into marriage by some unkind means…..? That sounds like an insult to me… but Anneliese seems to be happily snuggling up to Eins, so that’s not the case.

And as for Ehren’s engineering, it’s not that difficult either. I called it engineering, but it seems that Ehren is very interested in firing products. It seems that he is originally interested in porcelain, so it might be helpful if he cooperates with glassmaking.

Also, since he is interested in porcelain, it might be a good idea to try making porcelain products as well as glass products. It’ll be good if there are various candidate products for House Caan’s specialties.

That’s why, first of all, I will provide the three of them with a large building facing the main street in front of Manor Caan. They are usually provided to the settlers as temporary housing until they can build their homes, but currently, the utilization rate is low. It was used by the tertiary settlers until a while ago, but they soon moved out after building their homes and establishing their living infrastructure. The number of residents will continue to decrease.

Furthermore, there are facilities that are used not only used as apartments but also as conference halls and assembly halls. Let’s temporarily rent one of them as a research facility for Eins. So I’ll teach him some of my knowledge and have him experiment. Ultimately, I plan to build a research laboratory and factory near the Dierbe River in the east.

Glass manufacturing factories use a lot of firewood and also need lots of fire, so it would be better to be near water in case of an uncontrolled fire. The reason for producing in Caanburg instead of Cien, where other materials are easier to get by boat, is that it is easier to secure firewood in Caanburg. In Cien, the distance from the mountains to the sea is narrow and there are not many forests. There is also the production of pot-cooked salt competing for wood.

Therefore, a glass factory will be built in the area east of Caanburg, where there are abundant forests and where transportation by ship is still easy. Mass transportation of production materials from Cien and Lubek can be easily carried out by ship.

We also have to think about pumping water for firefighting from the Dierbe River. It wouldn’t be fun to build a glass and porcelain firing factory in a forest with no water source nearby and have the flames spread to the rest of the trees.

Build a glass factory along the river, then head west to build Eins’s chemical laboratory and Anneliese’s botanical laboratory. Plants would be more convenient to collect in the forest. In Eins’s chemical laboratory, chemicals can ignite or explode, so it’s also good to be near water. However, chemical fires cannot be extinguished with water, and there are reactions that can make them even worse, so if you don’t think about that, it could end up being an even more catastrophic event.

The mountains to the north are called Hexenacht. Let’s build a plant research facility and a kiln for firing porcelain in that mountain range. It would be more convenient to have a facility on the mountain for collecting and researching plants. Besides, I feel that kilns for firing porcelain are mostly found in the mountains. I think it’s because it’s easy to make kilns and take clay from the slopes of the mountains.

That’s why I decided to build a facility on Mt. Hexenacht and talked to Anneliese and Ehren. Since the two of them will play a central role in making it, I can’t just decide on my own.

For the time being, they used the temporary facilities in Caanburg while working on the construction of facilities and factories that met the wishes of Eins and the others.

In a few months, when Flora and the rest of her peers would turn 15, a grand ceremony was held in House Caan’s territory.

“Thank you for coming here today for my family.”

The eyes of the attendees all gathered at the words of the Head of House Caan as she began her greetings. Her long blond hair flutters softly in the wind, and the men who were staring at her pale blue eyes were drawn to them and couldn’t take them off afterward.

The men’s eyes followed her lips, coated in a bright red lipstick invented at the botanical research institute established by House Caan and sold by Kruck Trading Firm.

The two bulges you could see from her boldly open chest are so plump that it’s hard to believe it belongs to a girl just about to turn 15, and her hips are so rounded her waist might snap if held too tight. Whenever Flora moved, her chest and butt swayed, making the men hunched over and unable to walk.

The greetings from Lady Flora, no, Sir Floto von Caan, have finally come to an end, and the curtain rises on today’s highlight event.

“Then please bear witness,” Floto said. “This is Port of Cien, which will be open from today.”

“Oooohhhh…!?”

When the curtain was dropped to reveal what was behind it, a commotion rose from the attendees. A neat and orderly harbor they’ve never seen before appears as if the pursuit of idealism had been realized. The ceremony being held today is for the opening of this new port. And at this event, there was also His Majesty, King Wilhelm, and the Third Prince, Ludwig.

In addition, relatives of the royal family such as Duke Dietrich and Rutger from House Kreff were present, so one can guess how big of a deal the ceremony was.

“This is the first ship to be launched today at the Port of Cien, the latest type of ocean-faring sail ship, a carrack. Your Majesty, King Wilhelm, please christen her.”

As the group moved to the shipyard, a tremendously huge ship was docked before them. The attendees cannot hide their amazement at its enormous size. Today’s biggest event is the launch of the world’s first carrack ship, to be christened by King Wilhelm.

“Hmm…. that’s right… let us name this wonderful ship the Wilhelm!” Wilhelm cried.

“Ooooohhh!!!”

The attendees also raised their voices in surprise at the christening. For nobles who value honor, to have the King himself grant his name to a vessel would be the greatest honor.

“Father… you truly intend to give your name to it…?” Ludwig asked.

He stares blankly at Wilhelm but Wilhelm doesn’t care. After all, Wilhelm is now glued to the carrack named after himself.

Even the caravel ship, another new type of ship that has already been launched and is in operation, was astonishingly huge. They thought that a caravel with its 20 meters of overall length and weight of about 80 tons was an intimidating giant. But this carrack ship is no match for even that.

With a total length of nearly 30 meters and a huge body exceeding 250 tons, it looks like a fortress. Like a child, Wilhelm was fascinated by the carrack. If you line up these boats and cross the sea, you will see a wonderful sight.

And actually, it wasn’t just Wilhelm. A little over half a year ago, when the new ship was launched in Caanburg, a naming ceremony was held for the caravel ship, and the noble invited to christen it, Albert von Carruthers, named it the Albert. Wilhelm didn’t know it, but in the end, they both did the same thing.

The Wilhelm slid down off the launch pad and entered the water’s surface, it caused a huge wave but launched safely. Once again, applause erupts.

When the launching ceremony is over, the ships that were waiting at the end of the sea enter the port one after another, and they come alongside each other and anchor at the Port of Cien one after the other. The attendees who had never seen such a large and advanced port could not hide their surprise at the functionality of it all.

“It’s a wonderful port,” Wilhelm said.

“Thank you,” Floto said.

After the ceremony ended, everyone moved to the buffet-style reception and enjoyed their meal when Wilhelm came and called out to Flora, no, Floto.

“It seems that you are planning to build three more of these new large ships….. what are you thinking about, building this size of a navy?” Wilhelm asked.

“No… these are just civilian ships, not warships, right?” Flora said.

Floto couldn’t help but smile at Wilhelm’s words. Wilhelm’s words mean that he doubted Floto’s loyalty to the state.

“And it’s not three carracks,” Floto said. “Just as I requested, two carracks and one caravel.”

Floto had already submitted a plan to build the next ship to the royal family so that the shipyard’s work would not run out and the craftsmen would not lose their jobs. The shipyard in Caanburg has already begun construction of the next caravel ship, and in the Port of Cien, apart from the shipyard that held the launching ceremony today, there is another shipyard capable of building even larger carracks. The next carrack was scheduled to be built at the shipyard that was just vacated today, and the fleet was supposed to be built one after the other.

It is far from unheard of for an individual to own a fleet of eight gigantic ships, including five unparalleled new large ships. If, by any chance, House Caan revolts and blocks the sea, the Kingdom of Ploiss will be in a lot of trouble.

But of course, Floto had no intention of rebelling. She does this simply to keep the shipbuilding industry alive for the development of technology, the protection of the craftsmen, and the passing on of skills. In the first place, building so many ships one after another is a heavy burden for House Caan, and they would like to reduce it going forward if possible.

However, due to the increasing demand for ships, the profits are actually enormous, and it cannot be denied that House Caan’s finances are enriched. The initial investment is huge, so it feels like a heavy burden, but once the ship is in operation and trade begins, the initial costs and other costs can be recouped in no time.

“This ship and the port are terrifying, but I’m also intimidated by your other projects…” Dietrich said, joining in. “I definitely want to visit the research institute and factory where the best of House Caan’s technology is said to be gathered.”

Floto couldn’t help but smile wryly again.

“No… I don’t have anything that I can show to Your Grace, Dietrich…” Floto said.

The factory area in Caanburg is already in operation and making a lot of money. In this world, a huge flat plate glass can only be produced in Caanburg, and huge mirrors use that plate glass. In addition, the Chemical Research Institute and the Botanical Research Institute continue to create numerous inventions that no one else in the world has discovered.

Furthermore, recently, possessing porcelain and white porcelain made by the House Caan has been traded at a very high price, it’s become a noble’s status symbol. Floto taught the painters the rococo style based on the beautiful whiteness of the base items, and so their value went so high that only aristocrats could afford them.

“Well, let’s just leave it at that, then, shall we?” Dietrich said. “Rutger is here today as well. He’s still a bit cheeky and a troublemaker, but please do speak to him.”

“Yes. Then, King Wilhelm, Duke Dietrich, I will see you later,” Floto said.

Floto left Wilhelm and Dietrich without changing her expression, she went around the party venue while receiving the greetings of the attendees with a slightly forced smile, somehow keeping her true emotions under the surface.