CH 114

Ah~ I had a terrible experience today. It’s the same with the extra time taken by the King and everyone else, but above all, I don’t like the fact that Wilhelm and Dietrich called out to me after revealing their identities at the end. Thanks to that, it was hard for me to come back without attracting attention. Some people were following me, so I had to do a lot of tricks to lose the tails before I got back to the Carruthers Residence.

Well, it’s been a long time, so I can’t help but complain about it, but even so, I still want to say a few things. If those two want to act like rampaging shoguns or drunk old men, they can do whatever they please, but I don’t want to get involved. I just want to sneak around the town and not change the world.

After taking a bath and dinner, I sat down on the edge of the bed and looked to the side of it, then saw a package on the end table. Come to think of it, I received something like this. I’m curious about the contents, so I decided to take a quick look.

………………

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“This is……”

I was amazed when I saw the documents in the package Dietrich gave me. I see……. did Wilhelm and Dietrich go out of their way to give this to me today?

What was written in it is very important. And originally, Wilhelm and Dietrich shouldn’t have given this to me. That’s why today they dared to go out to town as normal people, not as the King and Prime Minister and then handed this over to a place other than the Carruthers Residence.

If it becomes public that the King or Prime Minister handed something like this over to a high-ranking aristocrat in the Carruthers Residence, it will be a big deal. In order to prevent that, we were just looking like ordinary people, and they went out of their way to hand it over at an unrelated ordinary cafe in town. Well, I’m not sure if Caanza Trading Firm’s crepe cafe has any explicit relation to me…

Anyway, this information is very helpful. This document cannot be used as evidence. If that were the case, it would become a question of where this document came from. Based on this evidence, we need to re-investigate ourselves and gather legally presentable evidence.

Still, this information is very useful. While appreciating Wilhelm and Dietrich’s thoughtfulness, I instructed Isabella and Helmut to get new proof.

The next day, an unexpected person showed up at a school, while it was still empty except for me.

“Good day, Flora.”

“Mikoto… good day to you?” I said.

Mikoto always doesn’t come until she’s on the verge of being late. It’s rare for Mikoto to show up at a time when there’s no one else but me.

“Hey, what was going on yesterday?” Mikoto asked.

And now she wants to hear about that. I guess that’s why she made an effort to come early today…

“Well… it’s a little…” I started.

“What? You can’t even tell me?” Mikoto said.

I can’t tell her… can I? That’s right. It’s better not to say too much. Of course, I’m going to investigate and tell everyone if I can get some evidence to back it up afterward, but it’s not a good idea to spread the word about who provided the information or at the stage where we can’t confirm it ourselves

“We’re still investigating… so if we can get some evidence to back it up, I’ll talk about it when everyone is gathered,” I said.

“Oh, so that’s what it is. It’s something to do with that thing. I understand,” Mikoto said.

It seems that Mikoto also noticed. I can’t do anything bad about the matter that everyone cooperated with. I’ve told everyone about it, and I’ve also told them not to carelessly leak information. Everyone thinks about that.

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Mikoto is no fool. It’s like she’s fully aware that I can’t share information about that matter in a place like this where I don’t know who is who.

“Then we’re done talking about yesterday, so why don’t you talk with me until someone else comes?” Mikoto said.

“Uu…!” I gasped.

Mikoto smiled bewitchingly and hugged my arm tightly. All my attention was focused on the feeling of her modest bulge pressing against my right arm.

What kind of face are you making, Mikoto…? Is she really fifteen, the same age as me? Even though her body is the most childish of all, what is this sex appeal…? If this had been in my room in my previous life and it was just the two of us, I might have just pushed her down.

As expected, I wouldn’t do something like that when I didn’t know who would come to school, but conversely, if it wasn’t for that kind of place, I might have pushed her down. I was nervous just talking to Mikoto like that.

I was able to come home today without incident. Wilhelm and the others didn’t come rushing in, and everyone didn’t gather at the house either. I’ll enjoy my free time…… but I can’t do that. I’m busy with this as well. Documents related to territory management and documents related to Caanza keep coming, so I don’t have time to spare.

I have to do something about Alexandra, and also about Simon and Marquis Roppe. Helene and the others have been quiet lately, but I don’t think they’ve given up. Now should be considered a preparation period for their next round of harassment.

Something caught my eye when I was sorting through the documents. It shouldn’t be such an urgent document, but it’s better to deal with it early. It is for the construction of a ship, specifically, application for ownership. Am I going to build another ship? Of course, I am. I’m originally from a maritime culture, so I think the ocean is very important. Furthermore, I asked Mikoto a little about the geography of the Demon Country, so it’s not unnecessary.

The Demon Country seems to be a peninsula. If we bypass the Demon Country from the northwest sea of Caan territory, we can reach the northeast sea. Furthermore, if you go north from the Demon Country, there is also a country called the Kingdom of Del. Considering various things such as trade with these countries and coastal defense, there are still not enough ships.

We don’t plan to protect the seas of the Kingdom of Ploiss with the Knighthood of Caan alone, and we don’t intend to shoulder the burden of money and manpower by being responsible for it alone. But at least we need defenses to protect ourselves when our territory is attacked. And it’s useful to keep trade in check before others come in.

Reports have come that a shipyard for large ships in Caan territory will soon be available for new work. It would be a shame to leave the dry dock empty and not use it when the shipyard is ready for use. The shipyard has enough space, so they want to start construction.

Well, it’s actually the other way around. We are not building more ships as the shipyards become available, it’s that we can’t have the shipwrights lose their jobs because the shipyards are empty, so on the face of it we’re just constructing new vessels.

In any case, the Caanburg small shipyard and the Cien large shipyard will soon be filled up again. You have to apply to the country for the ownership of the ships to be built there. Then there is the bolstering of the crew and navy. Training cannot be done overnight. In order to increase the number of ships, we must also increase the number of sailors and start training…

Come to think of it, Oliver’s squad is here, so we need to increase the ground security forces… I feel that the Caan territory has too many soldiers compared to its population, but we don’t feed our soldiers solely with tax revenue from crops, so there’s no problem with the budget. However, there is a possibility that farming and reclamation work will be delayed if too much manpower is taken into the army. On the other hand, the number of unskilled settlers cannot be increased under the current circumstances.

It seems that I have a lot of political opponents, and I have to consider that among those who want to settle here, there are spies from other Houses and factions. Even building a new pioneer village or just farming has many secrets. It’s a painful place to not be able to entrust even a simple task to someone who is too unreliable.

In the Caan territory, the construction method of cultivation villages is also very different from other territories. After the water supply and sewerage were developed, the roads were also paved and houses were built systematically. It is full of information that cannot be leaked, such as the technology, construction methods, and efficient work procedures used in them.

Also, in farming, there are fertilizers that only we use, measures to avoid continuous crop failure, farming equipment, and in any case, there are secrets that even for farming cannot be leaked.

It is unavoidable that information leaks little by little. Besides, I don’t think we’re going to monopolize it forever. I should welcome the fact that the Kingdom of Ploiss will become richer and have more national power and products. However, if it spreads before we collect the profits after all our development costs, we will be in trouble. Besides, even in that same country, there are my enemies, so it’s not enough to just go “You get one, and you get one, everyone gets one.” to my fellow citizens.

While thinking about various things and putting away the documents, there was a knock on the door. When I permitted them, Katharina came in alongside…

“Louisa? What’s wrong?” I asked.

What the? Today wasn’t a meeting day for the Alexandra Rescue Operation, so was there some kind of emergency?

“Sorry to bother you, Floto. I’m coming over,” Louisa said.

Huh? What? Louisa approaches me while blushing slightly.

“Oh, this scent is…” I said.

“Did you recognize it?” Louisa said.

A pleasant floral scent wafts from Louisa as she’s close to me. Apparently, she used the soap that we bought then.

“Did something happen?” I asked.

“… Do I need a reason to come over?” Louisa asked.

Uu…! There’s something wrong when Louisa looks at me with a sad face. Was Louisa such a girl? What’s going on with Mikoto and Louisa…?

“Ah!” Louisa cried, surprised as she looked at me.

“Huh?” I went.

More than that, though…

“Louisa? Did you make a secret agreement with Mikoto?” I asked.

“Huh? Um~mmm, what? What are you talking about?” Louisa said.

Suspicious. Obviously suspicious. It’s strange that Louisa suddenly came to visit me this afternoon and is now clinging to one of my arms. Louisa usually hesitates to come to my house.

Yes, that’s right. Louisa considers herself poor. Leaving aside whether or not Louisa, who already earns more income than the average, is still a pauper, I understand well how ordinary citizens find it difficult to casually visit a mansion of a high-ranking aristocrat like a margrave.

It’s blatantly strange that this same Louisa suddenly came to me today and before that Mikoto became clingy to me. It’s normal to think that there’s something wrong with the sudden attitude of the two of them today.

“You have good intuition only in strange places, Miss Flora. It’s fine if you just experience it without thinking about things, right?” Katharina said.

“Ka-Katharina……?” I said.

Katharina clings to the opposite arm from Louisa. It is useless. My thoughts are distracted as my focus goes to the mounds being pushed into my arm. But it’s useless if I’m washed away by the sensation. I gently move the two away, then look them straight in the eyes and open my mouth:

“I can’t just play around with a woman without knowing the intention or reason. Please tell me properly. Did something happen?” I ask.

I use as serious of a face as possible. If something were up, I would have immediately turned my nose up, but I can endure it. Don’t let my desires get in the way here. If there is some serious reason, I have to ask…

“Uhm, uh?” Lousia said. “Mikoto is about to reach the limit of her patience, so she said it would be nice to get a little closer to you, Floto… today is a good day for everyone to do that, so that’s why I’m here.”

………… Okay?

“Umm?” I went.

“Therefore, we both agreed that we would not play around with you, Miss Flora, until Lady Alexandra is rescued, but there is also the limit of our patience,” Katharina said. “We decided that it would be fine as long as it was light contact. Hence, that ban ends today.”

Um~mmm… am I a fish that had a fishing ban or something? Or like alcohol consumption? It seems that the date for lifting the ban has been decided…….

But I knew what they meant. After rescuing Alexandra, the 5 of them said they would pursue me at the same time, but in the end, they couldn’t stand to wait that long, so it would be fine if they fooled around with me a bit a little earlier…… that’s why today, Mikoto is suddenly approaching me, Louisa is coming to visit me, and Katharina is holding my arm.

Does that mean that Claudia will come to my house after the Royal Guard training is over? She can stop by my house on the way from the royal castle to House Frieden’s residence. Since it’s Claudia, she’ll probably do just that and then go home.

Well, what’s the pro~blem? It’s not like there’s a big reason or a heavy secret. It’s good, it’s good… what am I saying?! What is going on here?!

“That’s the way it is, so please give up, Miss Flora,” Katharina said.

“Yeah,” Louisa said. “It’s just for a little while, right, Floto…?

“Aah–!” I gasped.

I thought I had nothing to do today… but it seems that the days when I can spend a peaceful time alone are gone…