CH 338

This nearly 1 month period from the end of the exams to the closing ceremony is useless. There was a time when I thought so, too. But now, I’ve had time to think about it. It’s not that this time is wasted, but it’s bad that it can’t be used effectively. Then think about how to use this time effectively!

That’s why I thought about various things and prepared for this test break period.

First one! Basics of basics! That is to help the construction of Charlottenburg under construction near the royal capital. If you have my magic, we should be able to shorten the work time. In order to open the town of Charlottenburg as soon as possible, as it still remains closed off, I will be engaged in civil engineering work today as well.

“Heey! Mr. Mage Guy! I need your help over here, too!”

“Coming!”

I was called by a field worker, so I headed there. I’m currently wrapped in a robe to hide my identity, and I’m working as a civil engineer at the construction site here. If you use magic such as Earth spells, you can work faster and cleaner than humans can do by hand.

I’m wearing a full-body robe so that my identity and gender are not known, but normally, I’ll be suspicious if I cover my whole body in such a hot season. But for some reason, when I said that I was a magician, everyone agreed without hesitation. Even in this world, mages may have a common image of being suspicious characters in robes.

The main roads and the water lines and sewerage buried under them are done, but the buildings here and there are still under construction. Besides, there is also a place where the foundation will be dug and built from now on. Rather than digging by hand, it’s faster for me to remove and harden the soil with magic.

“Yeah, no matter how many times I see it, your magic is amazing, Mr. Mage Guy! We’re going to lose our jobs at this rate!”

“It’s a temporary help just for now…” I said.

“Oh, that’s right,” the worker said. “But it’s too bad! If you kept this job, the things you could do would be so great!”

“Dumbass! If that happens, we’ll be out of business!”

“Nah, no way!”

“”””Hahahaha!””””

Everyone burst into laughter. It’s a good spot. Work is progressing in a very good atmosphere. The construction period is ahead of schedule, and at this rate, it looks like it will be completed much ahead of schedule.

“Hey! Mr. Mage! Head to the second construction zone this time!”

“Coming!”

I can’t help them every day, but I’ll help them as much as I can.

Effective Use Of Time While Staying In The Royal Capital #2: that is preparation for diplomatic negotiations with the Kingdom of Del. Why am I having diplomatic negotiations with the Kingdom of Del? It has a lot to do with House Caan’s future goals.

I want to go to the western ocean from now on. I’ve said it many times. And in the current situation, the only way for the Kingdom of Ploiss and House Caan to go westward is to go down the Welzel River from Floren and go to the Hermann Sea, or go through the Strait of Del and go from the Hulk Sea to the Hermann Sea.

The Strait of Del has several islands between the northern peninsula and the southern peninsula, and naturally, there are straits between the islands and the peninsulas. Since it is troublesome to call each strait one by one, we just call the series of straits in Del that connect the Herman Sea and the Hulk Sea “The Strait of Del.”

Unfortunately, at present, the Kingdom of Ploiss does not border the Hermann Sea. Therefore, even if we go down the Welzel River, we have to pass through the territory of Frasia. I plan to take it back someday, but I’m not in a situation where I can fight Frasia right now.

And even if you intend to go to the Hermann Sea from the Werzel River, you can’t go to the Hermann Sea from the Werzel River except for the ships built in Floren. The canal connecting the Dierbe and Welzel rivers is still under construction and will take more than a year and a half to complete at the earliest. It’s still incredibly fast, but…

In any case, as long as the canal cannot pass at the moment, the only way for our House’s ships on the Hulk Sea side to reach the Herman Sea is through the Del Strait. In that case, it would be necessary to secure safe passage through diplomatic negotiations with Del.

Even if we suddenly approached Del about negotiating the right of passage through the Del Strait, I think they would agree. Up until now, various Hulk Sea coastal countries and merchants have been negotiating with each other, and they have succeeded in obtaining passage permissions and are moving through it.

However, high tolls are charged, and customs duties are imposed just to pass through, which incurs huge costs. As long as the Del Strait is held, Del and the Kamaal Alliance can maintain their enormous influence in the Hulk Sea.

So, I’m thinking of going to the Demon Country, the Yamato Empire, and having them persuade Del to give us an advantage in the negotiations. That’s why I’m laying the groundwork for the Yamato Empire from now on, and I’m trying to make various arrangements.

“Lord Floto! We should gather up five of those amazing new ships and take them to Del! Then, they will bow their heads to the ground before us!”

“Haa… Mikalojus… speak a little more quietly…”

I intended to leave Mikalojus in the Caan Knights Nation because of his relationship with Polsky and Moscove… But I decided to let him accompany me in the royal capital only during my stay there. I wanted to borrow Mikalojus’ cunning for negotiating with Del. But it’s too loud and I can’t help but reprimand him.

“Fuhn! Only 5 ships? With House Caan, we can gather 10 or even 20 ships! If you’re going to intimidate them anyway, just send in a large fleet!”

“Hold, Kanbee…”

I don’t know what it is, but Kanbee is butting heads with Mikalojus. These two often repel each other because they are both quite proud people. And both are extreme.

“Wouldn’t sending 20 ships for that sort of thing slow down the transportation of supplies…?” I said.

“Eh! Ah, are you saying that there are more than 20 of those new ships!? That’s impossible!” Mikalojus yelled, surprised.

When he was freed to serve me, he was quite surprised when he saw our galleon ship. And it seems that he’s now surprised we even have 20 of them. Even at this stage, if we collect all the galleons we own, we can manage 20 ships. There’s no point in just collecting them, though.

If 20 galleons were gathered just to intimidate Del with gunboat diplomacy, the current trade and goods transportation in the Hulk Sea would be disrupted. If that happens, our economy could die. Once you lose your market share, it will not be easy to regain it.

I haven’t given him all of my information because I still don’t fully trust Mikalojus. He is also monitored to prevent him from doing arbitrary actions. However, if the liaison does not know the situation of their House, it will hinder negotiations. So here…….

“I will appoint Kanbee and Mikalojus as special ambassadors for negotiations with the Demon Country and the Kingdom of Del,” I said. “If you, Mikalojus, need any information, please ask Kanbee. I have high expectations for the results you two will bring.”

“Yes! Leave it to me!” Kanbee said.

“Hmph! It would be better if only I was there! Lady Flora, you don’t need someone like this joining in.”

“What did you say?!”

“STOP THAT!” I yelled.

“”Yes…”” the two said, cowed.

Why are these two on such bad terms? I thought that if I let them work together, they would recognize each other’s abilities, but… I wonder if it’s been a little too early…

Effective Use Of Time While Staying In The Royal Capital #3. It can be said that this is the most important one. That is…….

“Here. Princess Eleonore, ah~nn.”

“Ah~… nnn~~~! Fluffy-fluffy~~”

When I give it to her, Eleonore eats it and makes her hands and feet flutter. Too cute! What a cute creature! I will definitely take you home!

“I’ve never done anything like that before…” Ludwig said.

“Then Prince Ludwig, do have this. Aah~nn,” Margarete said.

“Margarete…… ah~n”

Yet, despite that, Ludwig had a sloppy face and opened his mouth wide when offered to oblige them. Do I shoo out the bugs…?

Well, it’s fine. It’s good that those two are on good terms. And as long as I can have fun with Eleonore, that’s fine.

“How is it, Prince Ludwig?”

“Umu. It falls apart without even being chewed. The faint sweetness of the fruit and this crumbling texture makes it very addictive.”

Where did you learn to critique like a professional?

“Umu! It has been getting hot lately. Cool sweets like this would be nice!” Wilhelm said.

“Thank you,” I said.

The King also praised me. The snack I brought today is jelly. I had a lot of trouble making jelly. Gelatin itself has been used for a long time even on earth. There was something similar here too, but it was mainly used as a glue, and it was used as a building material or as an adhesive.

It was quite difficult for me, a cooking amateur, to make jelly by using gelatin for culinary purposes.

Still, through repeated trial and error, I succeeded in creating something like culinary gelatin and agar. The gelatin was fine, but I’m not sure if this agar is really the same as Japanese agar. While gelatin is extracted from animal bones, agar is extracted from seaweed. And as we tried various seaweeds in our coastal area, I was able to make something like that.

And even if I could get hold of gelatin and agar, I couldn’t quite get it to work the way I wanted it to. It’s a matter of course. Because I’m neither a chef nor a culinary researcher.

All I have to do is teach people what I know, and then just make it by trial and error. The resulting jelly is cooled with magic and eaten chilled.

It’s going to be the hot season soon, so something cold and refreshing like jelly or ice cream would be good. You don’t want to eat red bean paste or red bean sweets in the middle of summer, do you? That’s why I think of things suitable for summer as gifts for Eleonore and bring them.

“Flora! Ah-n! Ah-n!”

“Ah, excuse me. Yes. Ah~nn.”

And with her mouth open toward me, I hurry to feed Eleonore the next spoonful. Excuse me, but I feel like I’m feeding chicks here. Well, it might be true that I am feeding a chick, but…

“Nn~~~! Derishush—!”

This time, she holds both cheeks with both hands and wiggles. What a cute creature! And she’s mine now!

“Haa… Princess Eleonore, you are just too cute… I want to eat you, too…”

“So, Flora, it seems you still feel… oww!” Ludwig went, trying to say something unnecessary before Margarete stomped on his foot.

It’s under the table, but I can see it perfectly. It’s something that everyone already knows, but it’s probably not something you dare to say.

“Are you going to eat me, Flora?” Eleonore asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“Uu~n! So cute! Nnn~~~!” I squealed as I hugged her and nuzzled her head with my face.

Thinking that she was about to be eaten, Eleonore hurriedly pushed me away with her hands.

“Goodness, Flora and Eleonore get along quite well, don’t they?” Queen Elisabeth said. “I’ve never seen her with anyone else like this, she missed her so much.”

The Queen was watching over Eleonore with warm eyes. But I don’t think so. She also misses Margarete and Ludwig, and rather than missing me, Flora, I can’t help but feel that she seems to miss the person who brings her delicious sweets.

“Honestly… Princess Eleonore hasn’t opened her heart to me that much… I’m a little jealous,” Margarete said.

“Wouldn’t she have already?” I asked. “Aren’t you always with Princess Eleonore, Margarete? Children don’t stick to people they don’t trust.”

I thought Margarete and Eleonore were very close. I was just perceived as someone who gave her pudding. They call me Flora now, but they used to call me Ms. Pudding…

“By the way, Princess Flora, are you going to sell this jelly at Caanza Trading Firm?” Dietrich asked. “I would love my family to have some, too.”

“Ah~… Eh~… It’s difficult to secure a magician who can cool it with ice…” I said. “While I’m still here, it would be fine if I helped magically produced ice, but then once I leave, we can’t produce or sell it anymore while we’re gone

It’s not that it can’t be sold at room temperature, but I think jelly tastes better when it’s cold. But even if I wanted to sell ice cream or cold jelly, I couldn’t find mages who could make ice. If it can only be produced when I or the wives are present, the company cannot make it into a regular.

“How many mages do you have that can magically produce ice…?” Wilhelm asked.

“Your Majesty… Princess Flora is not only abnormal herself, but those around here are, as well…” Dietrich said.

“I suppose it’s true…” Wilhelm said.

I don’t know what it is, but the King and the Prime Minister are looking far away. And while I was distracted for a moment, Eleonore stole my jelly and stuffed her face with her second serving of jelly that day.