CH 72

About a month before school started, I left home and after about 10 days, came to a place where I could see the royal capital. I used Kruck Trading Firm’s replacement horses to blow past the roads, so we moved quite quickly.

The Caanza Company and Kruck are accommodating with each other in various ways… well, in reality, it should be said that Caanza is indebted to Kruck, but on paper, they are supposed to be accommodating to each other. I’ve been allowed to use the sales network and stores, and like this time, I’ve been allowed to use Kruck’s horses when traveling, and Caanza as a whole is piggybacking off of Kruck.

In exchange, Kruck sells various goods from Caan territory, so even if they take care of Caanza they’re making enough profit… or so it seems.

No, I don’t know the accounts of Kruck Trading Firm, do I? But, Victoria says it’s good because it’s making enough profit, so I’ll trust what she says. There may actually be some losses, but Victoria, who is a talented manager, says that profits are still secured, so it’s not something I have anything to say about.

And this time, I’m coming in the carriage of Margrave Carruthers instead of the carriage bought by House Caan. The reason I came to the royal capital this time was to go to school as the daughter of Margrave Carruthers. That’s why I have to act as a daughter of House Carruthers as much as possible there.

I’m supposed to live in the Carruthers Residence, and since there is a House Carruthers carriage at the Carruthers Residence in the royal capital, that’s how I’ll go to school.

“It’s been a long time since Mother’s been in the royal capital, hasn’t it?” Mother said.

“Indeed,” Father replied curtly.

Yes……. for some reason, my father, mother, and Victoria are also riding in this carriage with me. The other people who came this time were Helmut, Isabella, and Katharina. The coachman is employed with Kruck, so he has no connection to me.

Why are my father, my mother, and Victoria following me? That’s… I don’t know either.

Are my Father and Mother planning to be at the entrance ceremony? They seem to want to attend. When my older brothers went, we never went to the royal capital together. Will both my parents participate only while I’m there?

I have no idea why Victoria is following me. I don’t think she’s related to the academy… I wonder if this is also a business negotiation for Kruck Trading Firm. I’m borrowing horses from Kruck, so I can’t say no, but I think it would have been better if she didn’t have to go out of her way to ride this narrow carriage with us.

As for my luggage, Oliver’s unit will transport it later, so don’t worry. They’re already supposed to escort my luggage to the royal capital. At first, we left Caanburg together, but there was no way that we, who changed horses and flew across the roads, would be able to keep pace with the slow-running wagon train, so naturally, we arrived first.

I’ve brought enough luggage to live on for the time being, so it should be enough until Oliver and the others arrive. And in the worst case, I can buy what I want at the Caanza royal capital branch office.

I dared to make a royal capital branch office. Normally, it might be better to set up the head office in the royal capital, but Caanza’s head office is in Caanburg. I don’t like having the capital host my head office, so it’s not like I’m rebelling against the country.

“Well then, this is my stop,” Victoria said. “I will see you later, Lady Flora.”

“Yeah, thank you so much, Mrs. Victoria,” I said.

I dropped off Victoria at her mansion in the royal capital where I had stayed before, and we parted ways. The Kruck coachman said he would drive me to the Carruthers Residence, but since he’d have to walk home from there, I had Helmut take over and headed to the Carruthers Residence with only the people related to House Carruthers.

“Welcome home, Master, My Lady, Lady Flora,” the house servants said.

I don’t really use the Carruthers Residence in the royal capital, so I don’t know them that much. The only time I stayed here was when I came with Father for my knighting ceremony. Other than that, I’ve been to the royal capital a few times, but I haven’t stayed at the Carruthers Residence. It’s kind of hard to use…

I’ve come to the capital when Caanza’s royal capital branch opened a store and applied for additional ships. But even then, I didn’t use the Carruthers Residence, but stayed at Victoria’s mansion, or took a room at a random inn in the royal capital. It’s been a really long time since I’ve been here.

I go to the room that was to be my lodging and put away my luggage. Well, I don’t do anything myself… the butlers carry the luggage and the maids clean it up. Even if I try to clean up, they get angry and tell me to sit down. I don’t really have a say in any of this.

Since I had some free time, I was walking around the Carruthers Residence, and since I was holding in a bit, I decided to go pick some flowers and then froze. That’s right……. this is not Manor Caan. It reminds me of when I came here in the past. At that time, that was normal in this world, so I didn’t think anything of it, but now that’s not the case…

Manor Caan was built with water and sewage, flush toilets, and baths fully equipped to my liking. But here… there’s no toilet, let alone a flush toilet, and there’s no water supply or sewage system. Since there is no bath, it is normal to boil water and wipe yourself with the help of a bucket.

Oh no……. I’m not confident that I can live comfortably in this house…

Before I learned about the convenience of Manor Caan, I should have accepted it as common sense in this world, but I don’t think I could endure being told to live like I used to. What will I do? What should I do?

“Helmut! Helmut~~~~….!”

I panicked and searched for Helmut.

As soon as I realized the situation in this house, I hurriedly sent Helmut to Caanza. The first thing is a water hand pump. At Manor Carruthers, which draws water from a well, we use a bucket on a rope. Doing the same is just a waste of time. Since I have to live there for three years, securing water is the top priority.

Then build a new bath. I decided to build a bathroom by destroying a plot of the garden that was used as a flowerbed. I got permission from Father and Mother, so there’s nothing to worry about. There was no need to make it elaborate, so I decided to make a temporary bathroom in a hurry. A full-fledged bathroom will also be built at the same time. That will be the main one, but it takes time to complete, so it’s natural to make a separate place to use first.

I also need boots. Neither Carruzan nor Caanburg is covered with filth, but in the royal capital, filth piles up and clogs the drains. It’s impossible not to step on filth, so it’s necessary to wear thick-soled leather boots so that my skirt doesn’t get dirty, and the boots can be easily cleaned as well.

I have to do something about the toilet situation. It doesn’t end with flushing it down the sewer, so even if you build a toilet, it doesn’t end with just flushing it. We are planning to build a toilet along with the bathroom, but we haven’t decided yet how to dispose of the excrement. It is pointless to install only a toilet.

I hesitate to use the chamberpot, let alone go inside the garden. When I was a kid I didn’t mind, but it’s even more difficult at this age. At the very least, if I had been using the toilet like that all the time, I would have been fine, but I’m used to the flush toilet at Manor Caan, so I can’t do that anymore.

It’s embarrassing to let people deal with what you excrete. But I can’t help but take it to the country’s disposal site every time I do it. That’s why the inhabitants of the royal capital are also thrown it out on the streets… what on earth do I do…?

No… wait? How do you dispose of all that waste at the royal capital’s waste dump? If I remember correctly, I heard that the collected waste is incinerated with magic. If so, should I make a place in the garden where I can set a fire and incinerate them with my magic?

But if you burn it normally, it will probably smell bad… burn it down with high-heat magic in an instant so that it doesn’t even smell? Do I want to try it.…?

Since it’s a maiden’s secret, I went outside the royal capital with only Isabella, and after going to the toilet, I tried digging a hole and burning the result.

I was able to solve the toilet and waste disposal problems, so I’m going to have a quick construction. Temporary baths and toilets are completed in a hurry, and the permanent facility is carefully completed to suit the Carruthers Residence. In addition, I will set up a facility for incinerating things with my magic in the garden. With this, I can secretly dispose of it by myself as soon as I use it.

Even refractory bricks can’t withstand the magic if you burn things slowly, but I’ve confirmed that if you just burn a small amount in an instant, they will hold up to some extent. Incinerators made of refractory bricks should be able to be used for a long time.

But somehow… it’s inconvenient. Very inconvenient… when I was born in this world, I took it for granted, but once I got used to living in Caanburg, I couldn’t stand it when I went to another place. At the very least, I want to create a proper environment for the place where I’ll live for the long term…

… Will I build something?

Will I build a Caan Residence in the royal capital? It may not be complete with water and sewage, but it may be possible to reproduce it in an environment similar to that. Even if you can’t flush the toilet down the sewage system, you can probably flush it somewhere else. All that’s left is to figure out a way to dispose of the piled-up waste…

Hmmm… the only problem is the location. There is probably no such site left in the center of the royal capital anymore. Let alone aristocratic districts, it’s doubtful whether even the downtown area has a surplus of land on the scale I want. In the worst case, it could end up being built outside the royal capital.

If I consult with King Wilhelm or Ludwig, they might be able to do something about it, but it’s not very good to owe the royal family. They’re thinking of announcing my engagement with Ludwig sooner or later, but if I borrow something like this, it will be difficult to annul it.

Huh? But if you think about it, if I break off the engagement and leave the royal capital, I don’t even need to build Manor Caan in the royal capital, right? For a short stay, Victoria’s mansion or an inn might be fine. Well, even so, I wonder if it’s better to think about building a Caan Residence because there is also a connection with Caanza. No rush, but I’ll keep it in mind.

A few days after coming to the royal capital, the days pass by in the blink of an eye as I’m busy once more. I still have a lot of things to do today, such as going around in a carriage.

And I keep avoiding one thing while I’m busy. It was an inspection of the royal capital’s ranch. Even though I’ve been to the royal capital many times, I’ve never visited House Caan’s ranch in the royal capital. The reason, of course, is that I’m afraid to meet that girl…

I know on paper that the girl is still working on the ranch. I even know that she has risen considerably as a supervisor. That’s why I’m so scared. If she’s just a simple laborer, I will hardly see her if I go after the ranch work is over. But the supervisors remain until quite late in the day.

Above all, if I say I’m going to inspect, the supervisors will definitely greet me. There is no doubt that that girl is among them. If they go out on a large scale, I will definitely meet her. I’m scared of that.

I rode a carriage while gazing out vaguely at the scenery of the royal capital…

“-! Stop!”

I cried out as quickly as I could. I don’t even think about what I’m going to do once we stopped. Just because I was thinking about such things, I ended up screaming at the figure I saw outside the window.

“What’s the matter?” Helmut asked from the coachman’s seat.

He looked surprised but I can’t afford to worry about it. However, I was slowly getting off the stopped carriage as if I was being pulled by something. The surroundings are surprised at the carriage that suddenly stopped and look at this me. That girl is also looking, too…

“Louisa…”

“Huh?! Why did you use my name…?” she said.

I can’t be wrong. It’s been around five and a half or six years, and even though I haven’t seen her in a long time, there’s a shadow of those times in her appearance. She has slightly dull blondish hair and blue eyes, which is relatively common in the Kingdom of Ploiss. She is a strong-willed girl with a few freckles.

“Could you be… Floto?” Louisa said.

“…”

Louisa seems to have noticed me, too. She may not be sure yet, but she seems to be starting to recognize me.

The two of us just face each other in silence. I was fine jumping out, but I don’t know what to say now. I didn’t even think about what to do after this, just jumping out impulsively without thinking about anything.

Louisa didn’t say anything more than just stiffening up with a surprised face. It’s good that I came out, but what should I do about this… there was an awkward atmosphere between the two of us.