Volume 8 - CH 15

Chapter 15 – Mineral Deposits Identification and Development Plans

We are now on the Add, heading for the Dark Elf Village. Yesterday, I took care of the ladies who had a little too much to drink on their day off and leisurely filled the rubber boats with hot spring water.

I filled more than 200 rubber boats with hot spring water. Now I can take a hot spring bath whenever I want. …If that were enough, I wouldn’t have had to build a rock bath, but it is what it is.

Bathing in a rock bath was a necessary thing. The slightly disturbing hot spring scene with the Girasole also had to have a different atmosphere. So there’s nothing wrong with it.

Before returning to the village, we decided to put barriers around the hot springs and the cave. This would prevent monsters from entering either the cave or the hot springs.

We ran through the meadow, thinking about trivial things. It is good to go down the river by boat, but it is also good to run through the meadow.

On the way back, a group of people who like to steer the boat wanted to drive, so I put a stopper in the back and let them drive, although I was worried about it. I felt uneasy with their big smiles, but they had endured the trip there, so I guess I had no choice on the way back.

I was in charge of stopping Ines, Dorothea-san was in charge of Alessia-san, and Ilma-san was in charge of stopping Marina-san in case she got out of control.

The group of maneuvering enthusiasts drives the Adds while shouting. There is no road, so they do not go full throttle, but they push it to the limit, knowing exactly what the limits are.

They are speed freaks. They are not used to driving, but they have a good sense of balance, or maybe they have a different sense, and they soon get used to it and seem to enjoy it.

When we arrived at the Dark Elf village, the group that liked to maneuver the boat was smiling with a refreshed face. They are easy to understand, aren’t they?

As we approached the village gate, we were greeted by the village chief. I feel bad that he has to greet me all the time, but half the time, he seems to want to meet Felicia, so I let him.

“Wataru-san, welcome back. I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Thank you for welcoming us, Village Chief-san. We found something good. Can you give us a moment of your time?”

“Yes, of course. Shall I call the deputy chief?”

“Yes, that will be fine. It would be better if he were present. Please do so.”

I went to the village chief’s house, greeted Cecilia-san, and waited for the deputy chief to arrive. After a short wait, the deputy chief arrived, greeted us, and we began to discuss the situation.

“Well then, let me explain what we found.”

The explanation of the hot springs did not seem to go over well with them. No wonder, since they are not in the habit of taking baths. As for the mineral deposits, they listened with obvious delight.

They said that they would send people to inspect the hot springs and mineral deposits and that they would hold an emergency meeting at night to discuss the proposal to build a village at the site of the hot springs.

They had planned to build a village in the forest, but now they were in the preparation stage and planned to build this hilltop village in advance while they were gathering materials.

Now that I’m doing what I want, their plans will go awry. I apologized to them, and they thanked me profusely, saying that although they were not sure about the hot springs, the mineral deposits alone were a very welcome discovery for the island.

As for our share of the precious metals, we were told that since we were the ones who discovered them, it would be enough for us to get a share of any iron that might be useful in our daily lives. I was told that on this island, gold and silver treasures are only used for decoration.

That may be true, but I didn’t feel comfortable taking a cut of the money they gave me for mining. After some discussion, it was decided that I would get 30%, Girasole 30%, and the Dark Elves 40%… Girasole was mainly responsible for discovering the cave and defeating the ants… Is it right that I get 30%?

They say it’s good; without me, it’s useless, no matter how much precious metal there is. I guess I am strong when it comes to holding the transportation. Alessia-san also said she had no intention of making money on this island, but she was overwhelmed.

I told them about the giant ant, but they said it would be no problem if there were not too many of them. We had already hunted all the ants in this cave, so if there were any, they were probably just stray ants, so they should be fine.

They asked me a lot of questions, but all I could tell them was that food production was going to be difficult. For now, I left them to Felicia, who knew what it was like to live as a Dark Elf.

It was decided that we would visit the hot springs and mineral deposits tomorrow. There will be a meeting tonight to decide who will go and what the general policy will be. What will happen? It’s going to be busy, so we’ll go back to the beach and stay on the Seeker.

“Wataru-san, won’t this island be great depending on the mineral deposits? What are you going to do?”

Alessia-san asked me while we were having tea in the Seeker’s living room. What am I going to do?

“Well, this island is the Dark Elf’s island, so I wouldn’t be too happy about sticking out. If there are any precious metals to be found, I’ll go and sell them on the southern continent. There aren’t many people here, so I don’t think we can mine that much metal. If we accumulate it and wholesale it all at once, we can sell it every few years. We have a stable food supply, so if there’s iron, which is more useful than gold or silver, I think I’ll concentrate on that.”

“Sure, it’s not good to stand out. If this place is discovered, it’s closer than going to buy pepper. Those reckless bums will come in droves. Ah, so that’s why you’re going to the southern continent to sell it.”

“The southern continent is safer because of the distance. Well, we don’t even know if it’s real gold or not, so it might be a wasted effort.”

If the glittering metal were the one that resembled gold, it would be a waste of time unless we could find some other precious metal.

“Fufu, you’re right. Let’s think about it after we check the deposits.”

That’s right, and yet we’ve already decided on the percentage of our share. It would be a shame if we didn’t find any precious metals.

……………

The meeting decided that the village chief and deputy chief would go to the site themselves to inspect everything. When we asked for someone who could use earth magic, the deputy chief said he could do it.

In the lake village, earth magic is used to process and repair the large rocks that are used as shelters when the monsters go berserk, and he is very skilled at it. When I told him to take an escort, he said it would only slow us down.

I told him that I thought it would be better to have more people than just the two of them inspecting the site, but he said that if we had more people, there would be a problem with the Dark Elf women who are interested in the hot springs and would want to follow us.

Leading the group of women was Cecilia-san, who had heard Felicia’s story and insisted that she would definitely go. A hot spring with a group of Dark Elf women… isn’t that good? Oh, they don’t have bathing suits, so it’s impossible for me to mingle with them. …I should have told them about the bathing suits. It’s too late now to say that mixed bathing is customary.

It seems that I convinced the women’s group that I would take them with me after the inspection and some maintenance. I’m sorry to make this promise without permission, but they bowed to me and asked for permission to use the hot springs. Haven’t they already decided to build a village around the hot springs?

We took the Japanese boat up the river, walked through the forest and mountains, and arrived at the hot spring at night. The village chief and deputy chief were both physically fit and even though the path was known, they were surprised at how easily we reached the hot spring.

Since they did not have bathing suits, it was decided that I, the village chief, and the deputy chief would soak in the hot springs—a hot spring with two cool Dark Elf men.

I, a man of medium height and medium build, was in the hot spring with these two men, with their toned bodies, long legs, and outstanding good looks despite being men. I feel like I’m doing something wrong, right?

At first, the village chief and the deputy chief did not like the smell, but they were surprised to see the hot water gushing out of the hot spring, and their expressions relaxed as they soaked in the hot spring water.

I lent them my face wash, shampoo, conditioner, and body soap, and a beautiful, radiant young man appeared… I thought the same about Alessia-san and the others, but I envied how good they were, to begin with, and how much they changed just by using shampoo and other products.

But now, when the Dark Elf ladies see this scene, the pressure to take them to the hot springs will increase. The village chief and deputy chief also like the hot springs and seem open to the idea of building a village.

Since I can’t keep it a secret anymore, I summon the Hideaway to spend the night. The village chief was surprised, and the deputy chief, who had been to the Hideaway in the Demon Forest, was also surprised because the interior was not disguised.

The next day, we went into the cave to check each mineral deposit. When we saw the deputy chief using earth magic to check, he cut out the deposits with earth magic, and when he cast another spell on the quarried stone, the stone crumbled.

The crumbled sand? When he cast another spell on the crumbled sand, it was divided into a small metal and a stone and hardened. I got the impression that the metal would come out on its own when the spell was cast.

When I asked him about the details, he told me that the metal would be hard to take out unless it was in a state like sand. The metal can only be sorted out by the person who cast the spell. It’s useful… but it will take a long time to mine…

It took us two days to go around all the deposits and get out. They were quite surprised by the magma. We found gold, silver, copper, iron, and lead. Maybe if I tell them about other metals they don’t know about, they’ll discover some new ones. I’ll have to look them up in the library.

During this exploration, the village chief and deputy chief were excited that they would surely build a village here. When they returned to the village, they immediately held a meeting and quickly set about building a village of hot springs.

The biggest driving force is the transformation of the village chief and vice chief. Cecilia-san, who had heard about the hot springs in detail from Felicia, confirmed the effectiveness of the hot springs and began to gather the women to put pressure on them.

At the meeting, it was discussed that they would build houses for everyone in the village on the hill and then work on the hot spring village, but it was decided to first build a fence around the hot spring and build facilities where people could stay overnight.

I recommended a Hot Spring Inn, but… Is it possible to build it using only my vocabulary? I think it would create a subtle atmosphere. …Oh, yes, there’s a section on hot spring resorts in the ferry’s travel guide. I don’t know the details, but I’ll bring it with me next time. I’m sure they sold it at the kiosk.

The lake villagers would have been upset to have their houses postponed, but Cecilia-san had gathered a group of women from the lake village, and things went smoothly.

I thought there was no need to be in such a hurry, but the house where the families with children would live was already finished, so I heard there would be no problem. Besides, they said, it would be more efficient to build a hot spring village because it would free up houses for people to move into.

This is, you know, this one, the one with the mineral deposits and all that is forgotten. We found gold and stuff, but…

The plan to build the hot spring village is set, and the mineral deposits are finally mentioned. How many earth mages will be sent to mine is discussed, as it has to do with farming.

In the end, it is decided that mining will not be possible until the Hot Spring Village is built. That’s pretty simple, isn’t it?

After the meeting, the deputy chief decided to leave to lead the personnel needed to develop the hot springs. Decisions are made quickly. I guess you can move more easily when there are fewer people in the group. I return to the Seeker and make some tea.

“Master, will you help with the development of the hot spring village?”

Ah, I don’t know. Should I help? It seems like I’d be in the way if I were there.

“Felicia, do you think we should get involved?”

“No, I think it will be fine. There are no dangerous monsters, so the people in the village will be enough.”

“Then, since we would be bothering them with our presence, why don’t we ask them if they need anything tomorrow and then sail out and relax on the Castle for a bit?”

I’ve been working a little too hard lately, and I’d like to live a little lavishly.

“Fufu, we’re going to take it easy. I’m looking forward to it. Can I have a little drink?”

“I’m going to take some time off, then we’ll see.”

Ines’ face lights up when she thinks about having a drink on that day off. She likes it, even though she drank a lot at the hot springs a while ago.

Well, it’s nice to have something to look forward to, isn’t it? I also got excited when I imagined my life of debauchery.

Playing with Rimu, Fuu-chan, and Beni-chan in the kind’s room sounds like fun. Or I can stay in my room and spend some time with Ines and Felicia. And don’t forget the hot springs in the Jacuzzi.

Yeah, why don’t we go to the village and ask them what they need? I feel like going back to the Castle tonight. …Should I summon the Castle here?

Is it too big? There was a commotion when the ship just disappeared, so if a huge ship like the Castle appeared, there would be a commotion. And it would probably run aground, so I should stop. It would be too selfish to go that far for a life of debauchery.

Let’s rest on the Seeker today and enjoy our vacation as much as possible tomorrow.