Three more days passed.
In the end we went with soy for our bean plant. Upon closer inspection, I discovered several surprising things. Just like other legumes, soy's roots don't extend very deep into the ground. They don't absorb very much water, which lets the ground retain water, and it's difficult for the plants to leave the roots, so the land shouldn't run dry if we plow in the spring. Furthermore, the plants are about half the size of a normal soybean plant, and if we take into account the large number of rhizobia, protein must be packed inside the plant.
Now, after harvesting rye and wheat, we'll plant the soy and harvest the beans and use the remaining parts of the plants as feed for the livestock. This way the land will stay fertile. It's like we're killing two birds with one stone.
I ordered a large quantity of soy (soybeans) from Giresse, so he got me in contact with the merchants from the northwest Commerce Guild. Apparently, the soy should be coming within two weeks.
Livestock in the empire usually consists of a pig-like One-Horned Boar and a chicken-like Ratite. The only use of the One-Horned Boar is to kill it and eat it, and while the Ratite's eggs are appealing, we're trying to fertilize the land so they're unnecessary. In the end, we went with the Uru, a sheep-like animal that inhabits the alpines in the most southeastern regions.
I haven't grasped the Uru's ecology yet, but if they're the same as sheep, we can at least sell their wool to be used for clothing, and we can create dairy products like butter and yogurt out of their milk.
Also, as long as we have feed for the chicken-like Ratite, we should be able to raise them without too much trouble. On that note, there's always the 10% of the rye and wheat that consist of dead leaves and leaves half-eaten by insects that aren't accounted for in the tax calculation. We've also recently had to dispose a large amount of rye because of the series of goblin raids, so we could use that to raise the poultry.
"How does 150 gold for 100 Urus and 100 Ratites sound?" Rainer asked.
"That sounds good. Can you take it out of the royalties from the 『Hand Pump』?"
"I understand. Let's write a contract," Rainer said before turning to order one of his subordinates. "Draw one up for me."
He turned back to me and leaned forward. "So? What do you plan to do next," he asked like a moody kid who had just found a new toy.
"Just a bit of agricultural management......"
"What do you do for that?"
"I'm still experimenting. Once the results come out, I'll let you know through a letter."
Naturally, I would be an idiot to tell him every last detail, but Rainer is an important business partner---I can't leave him in the dark. I should at least feed him some information.
"Thanks. By the way, that 『Clock』is amazing. If the contents of the blueprint end up working out, it'll completely change our lifestyle. Even the 『Hand Pump』is an amazing invention that can't be sidelined. Do you know when it'll be finished?"
"We're tirelessly working to complete it at the moment. I visited Leroy-san's workshop yesterday but was kicked out as a nuisance," I said.
Rainer chucked in response as if to say, that's Leroy for you, but his face soon turned serious. "I'll give my thanks once again. You've opened up a new path for our Commerce Guild. Everyone from our guild thanks you from the bottom of our hearts," he said, bowing deeply as his subordinates followed suit.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself," I chuckled. "It's not even finished yet."
"Oh it'll finish. The inventor is none other than you, after all."
His excessive overvaluation made me a bit ticklish, so maybe it's time to change the topic.
"Have you found a place for that store I wanted?" I asked.
"Yeah, I found a great place. Look forward to it."
"Thank you."
"Well then, let's talk about the specifics of the 『Clock』. How's this?" he said, handing me another contract.
"70% for me, 10% for Giresse, and 20% for the guild. Is this really okay?"
"Didn't I say before? We merchants have long been thirsting for something like this 『Clock』. Normally, we'd be more than happy to just have the sole rights to sell this; it's just that it's more convenient for you that we take some of the share.
So he knew. If the Millard family somehow found out, they could worm their way in using their position as my guardians if I received all the royalties. My stepmother, at the very least, would do that.
On that note, it would be different with the guild in the mix. A contract is built upon trust, and the guild contracted not with the Millard family, but with me. Trying to weasel in would be like spitting in the face of the guild. It'd be one thing if they were some powerful nobles, but weak nobles like them would be crushed in an instant. Even my father wouldn't be so foolish as to attempt that.
"Thank you for your consideration," I said.
"No problem," he waved my concerns away. "But it was annoying to persuade Giresse. Jeez, that boy's been stubborn ever since we were kids."
"I bet."
Giresse had been against receiving a share of the royalties this time as he 'hadn't done anything,' to put it in his words.
My goal was actually to spread the clock around the world, so I had no qualms about what happened to the money.
However, in the face of the guild's fierce request, which bordered on pleading, Giresse and I took most of the royalties. They probably wanted to avoid making exceptions for me as much as possible.
"Well with that I will take my leave," I said.
"The contract should be finished soon." Rainer cut in.
"The contract will only take in effect once the 『Clock』is finished. Until then, it's just a slip of paper so it should be fine to hand it over once it's finished."
Well, Tote is hurting for a reserve defense force. Everyone here has F rank endurance or higher, so I could certainly use them.
"Okay. However, only once your wounds have completely healed."
I can't have them dying on me after I just saved them after all.
"Oh it is our humble pleasure!"
What kind of historical play is that phrase from? Well, whatever, it's too late now anyways.
I don't have time to spare. Let's begin.
"I can't babysit each and every one of you. Learn to fend for yourself. First, take this," I said, tossing several low-rank grimoires onto the ground. The grimoires I threw out were, 【Fireball】, 【Wind Cutter】, 【Water Bullet】, and 【Rock Bullet】. They weren't particularly amazing spells, but as long as they mastered these and raised their Magic they should be able to wield them in battle.
Judo placed his hand on the grimoire, and it emitted a radiant light as the words, By Judo, floated onto the grimoire.
Judo had selected the 【Fireball】grimoire, and if he fired it off here, it'd be a sea of flames.
I had the rest choose a grimoire as well, and after prodding them along, brought them to the forest outside of Tote.
"Point your right palm at that tree and chant, 'O red flame, gather betwixt my hands and turn to power,'" I said.
"What? Um......"
Hurry it up! I'm a busy man," I ordered Judo, who was bewildered.
"Y-yessir. O red flame, gather beaaaah!?" he yelped as a flame began to appear in his own palm.
"Hurry and chant it!!"
"Betwixt my hands and turn to power?" he chanted as his voice cracked. Once his chant finished, a fireball dashed towards the large tree before fizzling out as it collided with the tree. Well, that's what happens when your Magic is too low.
"B-b-boss, what happened?" Judo stammered.
"That book was a grimoire," I began to explain. "If you want to acquire its magic, you'll have to practice as per my instructions."
After a moment of silence, a thunderous howl echoed throughout the forest.
"Shut the hell up you idiots!!" I yelled. After they began to calm down, I swiftly began ordering them to make the contract with the grimoire. As if scrambling to be first, several voices bounded forward.
In response, I stated, "Once you make a contract with a grimoire, it can thereupon only be used by you. Additionally, you can now store it with the command, 'Storage,' and take it out with the command, 'Take out.'"
I discovered this feature when I closely examined a grimoire with Analyze Environment. I had my item box so it was a useless feature to me, but it would prove indispensable to these guys.
"Storage!" Judo commanded, and his grimoire disappeared without a trace. "Take out!" The grimoire then reappeared on his hand.
"M-me too---," Carla said. She imitated Judo, and the others began shouting in joy.
"If your grimoire ever burns up, you'll become unable to use its magic, so please be careful," I said, and began explaining our future plans to Judo and the rest, as they were still hyped up on emotions.
First, Mos, the black-haired youth who was the representative of the 35 wounded, would become the leader and take on the role of protecting Tote.
This way, it was possible to promptly mobilize Judo's group under the name of Sagami Co.
Additionally, if anybody spoke word of this, they would immediately be expelled, and their grimoires confiscated. I then teleported them to Tote and ordered them to be on standby.
◇◆◇◆◇◆
After returning to Straheim, Giresse informed me that the clock was completed, so I should go to Leroy's workshop.
"How's this?" Leroy pointed to the two clocks on the table as he continued working on a large bear.
The pendulum clock and the wristwatch were both made exactly as I had designed. Still, I had to hand it to Leroy---even though he only had a blueprint to follow, he finished it in a mere three days.
"It's amazing. Thank you for your hard work."
"I see. Tell me more when I wake up," Leroy said as he lay down and began snoring.
What a lively man.
Around three weeks later, the pendulum clock was set up on the first floor of the Commerce Guild's meeting hall.
The three weeks were calculated using mean solar time, which was time calculated by the motion of an imaginary sun conceived as moving through the sky throughout the year at a constant speed equal to the mean rate of the real sun. [1]
And so I introduced the clock to Alteria.
[1] Yeah so I didn't try to translate this term verbatim and just pulled it from google; it's the same thing in the end and the author's definition uses the same jargon.