CH 279

Yesterday’s inspection was wonderful. Being able to make black tea is a great achievement. I drink the tea that Katharina brewed this morning as well.

“Ah… I like this milk tea,” Louisa said.

“Yeah, I’m feeling this lemon tea more,” Claudia said.

The two are drinking and comparing their teas. Yesterday’s tasting was straight tea brewed by the staff over at the cultivation site, but today after breakfast we are brewing various types of tea using the methods I taught them. In addition to drinking straight and adding sugar, I also prepared milk tea and lemon tea.

Surely lemon tea is better for nutritional efficacy? I feel like I’ve heard that milk tea makes it difficult to absorb certain nutrients and ingredients, or that their functions cancel each other out and weaken them. I wonder if it was a story that lemon and tea help each other and increase their effects…

Well, I don’t drink worrying about such things. The question lies with your taste. Whether it tastes good or not is the most important thing, and the efficacy of nutrition is secondary. There is no doubt that it is better to have higher efficacy, but there is no need to put up with bad or disliked foods for that reason.

The best thing to do is to enjoy what you like. If it’s more effective than they would be otherwise, it’s just a matter of luck.

Our ladies seem to be fine with either milk tea or lemon tea, but it might be a good idea to have the House Servants and my other subordinates try it and gather some opinions. If milk tea becomes popular, the current milk production may not be enough.

It’s not like we have to produce the entire demand ourselves, but at the moment few competing companies have entered the ranching business, too. In the end, let alone the amount we need, most of what is on the market is shipped from our House. If there is a possibility that demand will increase further in the future, it would be better to prepare for increased production.

It’s the same with any business, but it’s not as easy as thinking about it today and doing it tomorrow. You may think that you can harvest more crops in a year, but it takes a long time and a lot of effort to clear the land, improve the soil, and grow the crops on that newly prepared land.

And if it’s a business that deals with live animals like a ranch, it will take years to increase the number of cows and be able to milk them.

We are also gradually expanding and increasing production at farms and ranches in various places, but even so, we can’t respond to a sudden increase in demand. Since it is expected to grow further from now on, it would be better to hurry up with a higher production increase target.

After breakfast with everyone and the tasting session afterward, I was finishing up my work in the office when there was a knock on the door.

“Yes. Go ahead,” I said.

“Pardon me for the interruption. Miss Floto, you have a guest,” Isabella said.

A guest? I shouldn’t have promised to meet someone today, but…

Today, I’m planning to leave for inspections again after finishing the paperwork early in the morning. Documents come every day, so if you don’t process them at least to the extent that more is coming in than leaving, they will pile up in no time. I was supposed to head to Floren today after I finished processing, but…

Does it mean that this visitor without an appointment is a very important person I have to meet?

“Who is it?” I asked.

“My apologies, Lady Flora,” the visitor said from behind Isabella. “I took the liberty of seeing myself in.”

And that visitor was…

“Mrs. Victoria! Long time no see!” I said.

It seems that Isabella’s older sister, Victoria, the Chairman of Kruck Trading Firm, has come.

“It’s been a long time, Lady Flora,” Victoria said. “I apologize for interrupting your work.”

“No. Please, come in and have a seat,” I said, stopping my work and offering Victoria the sofa.

“Isabella, prepare a cup of tea for Mrs. Victoria,” I said.

“Certainly,” Isabella said, leaving the room with a grin.

I suppose she was imagining Victoria’s surprise when she drinks the black tea.

“Are you here because of the black tea?” I asked.

“That’s what I’ve been looking forward to since I came here. So, what are you up to this day?” Victoria said.

She’s probably grinning right now, too. Tea is a prized item. I’m sure Victoria will be amazed. Anyway, I wondered if it was some kind of emergency to suddenly visit without an appointment, so I asked her about her business.

“No, I didn’t have any special business, but I did hear you had returned Lady Flora, so I thought I would visit,” Victoria said. “I will be leaving again soon, so I thought it would be rude, but I made a promise before, so I decided it would be better to visit without an appointment.”

“Is that so…?” I said. “Thank you very much for that.”

Well, she’s the chairman of the biggest trading firm in this country, so I’m sure she’s busy. I don’t know what kind of work she’s traveling for, but I’m sure she’ll be running around here and there every day if she’s devoted to her work at the firm.

Come to think of it… I’m starting to feel my worries about my territory these days were because of Victoria.

Victoria came to ask me to do something about Lubek’s siege and said that if I could do something about it, she would make Lubek my territory. As a result, not only Lubek, but other Free Cities relied on me to form the Caanza Alliance, and for the sake of the Caanza Alliance, there came time to go to war with the Kingdom of Polsky.

If you think about it, isn’t Victoria why I have Caanza Alliance, the Caan Barony, and the Caan Knighthood, and aside from that, the Caan Knights Nation? At least there is a causal relationship, right…?

“You seem to be getting more and more active lately, Lady Flora, and I’ve heard stories of your bravery,” Victoria said.

“Ahaha…” I went.

I’m at a loss as to what to say. There are various ways to say it, but I laughed vaguely and deflected it.

“It seems that Caanza Trading Firm is also doing well,” Victoria said.

“Yes. Thanks to you, business is proceeding smoothly,” I said.

It’s true that in his matter, or rather since the opening of the business, sales plus profits have been growing steadily. A large amount of paperwork related to Caanza Trading Firm also comes… but Caanza’s sales would far exceed the tax revenues of small countries.

Of course, it’s not just us. The weak point of Caanza Trading Firm is that it has no foothold, only established because Kruck lent their sales and distribution networks as sales agents. This rapid expansion is also due to the increase in distribution and sales to Kruck.

It’s not that sales at existing stores are skyrocketing, but it seems that sales are increasing as the number of stores that sell our products is increasing. Of course, our products are gradually spreading and sales are increasing, but you could say our rapid expansion is because our products have become available all over the Kingdom of Ploiss.

“Pardon me,” Isabella said, coming back with a tea set.

“My! What a wonderful vessel,” Victoria said, delighted like a little girl as she examined the Hexen White Porcelain teapot and teacup.

“Thank you,” I said.

Admittedly, this is reasonably good. They are cute with a beautiful floral pattern.

Isabella brews tea with speed. It began to smell quite gentle and pleasant.

“This is……” Victoria muttered, her eyes widening as the tea was served.

Let her taste it straight first.

“This is a newly developed ‘black tea’ at our House,” I said. “Please, enjoy the aroma and then taste it as it is.”

After checking the aroma as if I was demonstrating it to Victoria, I took a sip. It’s not a matter of manners. This is showing the goods off as a merchant. So it doesn’t matter if the manners are correct or not. It is for properly confirming the goods handled by the opposite merchant.

For example, even a sommelier will swish and spit out the wine they drank. Considering the etiquette of eating and drinking at a meal, it will be said that it is a violation of manners and bad conduct. But for them, it’s their job, and a necessary task and movement to perform that work.

Here again, the Chairman of Caanza and the Chairman of Kruck are confirming the products that they will likely handle in the future. That’s why it’s not a place where eating and drinking manners matter.

“It’s a scent that I’ve never smelled before… the taste is…, hmm…” Victoria said, looking surprised after a sip.

I don’t know what kind of reaction this would be.

“How do you find it?” I said.

“It’s very delicious. I’ve never had tea like this before,” Victoria says.

Seems like she liked it. I thought that if she wasn’t used to it, she might not like straight black tea, but at least Victoria finds it fine.

“Add sugar, or try milk tea and lemon tea,” I said.

At my signal, Isabella prepares quickly. Make a small amount and compare while drinking and talking.

“This is wonderful. It will definitely sell,” Victoria said.

Before I knew it, Victoria had put on her Merchant Face. She must have found a new business opportunity in black tea. If she successfully sells it to royalty and aristocrats, she will be able to make a huge amount of money just from that.

“Again, did you invent this black tea, Lady Flora?” Victoria said.

“Huh? Yes, well…” I said.

I didn’t really invent it … it’s just a reproduction of the knowledge I knew in my previous life, and there’s not a single invention that I have discovered or thought about on my own. Despite that, it’s a bit painful to be told that I invented it, or rather…

“This manufacturing method must never be leaked,” Victoria said. “Also, the selling price must not be lowered. Even today’s green tea is a luxury product. Let’s wholesale it as a luxury item.”

“Understood,” I said.

Well… even if you don’t intend to rip others off in the first place, it won’t sell at such a low price. As Victoria said, first of all, the distribution volume of tea itself is small. The amount of tea cultivated by House Caan is still small. Considering the time and cost involved in processing them, there is no doubt that these are ultra-luxury items.

It’s not something that can be made at a cost of a few yen or tens of yen like today. Considering the recovery of the initial investment and labor in a non-mechanized factory, it will be expensive even if you do not intend to rip off your buyers.

“If you have this much commercial talent already… is it about time?” Victoria whispered to herself as she put down her teacup.

“Mrs. Victoria?” I asked.

There’s something strange about her. I wonder what happened.

“I’m too old and my time is short,” Victoria said.

“Huh? What are you…?”

It’s true that Victoria and Isabella are pretty long in their years, but they’re not that old yet. They both have strong bodies…

“Of course, it’s not like I’ll be unable to work this year or next year,” Victoria said. “But I’m already past the age where I have to prepare a successor.”

“…………”

That may be true, but… training a successor will not start today and be completed next month. But when I hear something like that, my chest hurts a little. I know I have to look ahead, but… I feel lonely…

“My husband and I were not able to have children,” Victoria said. “So we tried to raise a successor among those who had experience in the firm but it didn’t go as planned… there is still no one I can entrust Kruck Trading Firm to after I step down. Therefore, I would like to entrust Kruck to you, Lady Flora.”

“What!?” I cried.

I was so surprised I stood up. I don’t care if I should or should not have done it.

“For the two of us who had no children, Kruck was like our baby,” Victoria said. “There is no one better than you to entrust it to, Lady Flora. So please… please, take care of Kruck Trading Firm, I leave it to you.”

“Hold, hold! Please raise your head,” I said, panicking as I tried to make Victoria raise her head.

It’s too sudden, I can’t catch on to what’s going on.

“In the first place, no one will be convinced that I, an outsider, can legitimately succeed Kruck Trading Firm,” I said. “The Kreff Duchy will also have something to say about this, won’t they?”

There is no way that the people who have worked at Kruck would be able to accept that I was suddenly declared the new chairman. Anyone who has worked for a company for decades but suddenly finds someone who’s never worked a day there is now their new boss would push back at the decision.

Besides, the Kreff Duchy is backing Kruck. Victoria and her husband are connected to House Kreff as relatives, but if I inherit Kruck despite having no such relation, there is no way that House Kreff will remain silent.

“That’s exactly why I will ask you to work at Kruck Trading Firm, Lady Flora, so that you can legitimize yourself as a successor moving forward,” Victoria said.

“…………”

Do you want me to do more work? Do you want me to die a mundane death?

There must be other things I have to think about, but my head couldn’t catch up with Victoria’s sudden proposal.