kscans

Chapter 200 - Episode 1: Preliminary Preparations

Three days had passed since we crossed through the wyverns' domain and were met by the Empire's Horse-Dragon unit at the entrance to Maldras. We had moved into the lord's manor, which overlooked the Maldras basin. By the Kingdom's standards, the estate was modest.

It was two stories tall with more than ten rooms, feeling like the manor of a local viscount. My assessment was that it was not a bad venue for negotiations. Perhaps due to the local style, the building used a great deal of wood. It was not exactly Japanese in design, but the wooden floors and pillars had a certain charm. The ivy trailing along the walls was a comforting sight for a commoner like me, forced into the ill.fitting role of a special envoy.

Now, that special envoy, though in reality I was the vice.envoy, was currently in the kitchen with his hands covered in flour. Behind me stood Lisabet, the lady of the manor and my negotiating partner. This was a preliminary negotiation of sorts, I suppose.

Prince Craig, the head envoy, was likely speaking with Dagobard. We had divided our duties. He would handle military affairs, and I would handle commerce. That said, it seemed his side had a mountain of issues to resolve, including post.war processing, before they could even get to the main topic.

Fabius and the others were preparing for the expedition to Wyvern Mountain, which included resupplying our goods. I really should have been helping them, especially with connecting to the Imperial merchants, but my side job as vice.envoy was keeping me from my real work.

"Speaking of which, I must thank you," Lisabet said in a bright voice.

What had I done?

"It is thanks to that pollen that my domain was saved from the dragons."

Lisabet was smiling. A bead of sweat formed on my brow. That was right. I had taken advantage of her love for her homeland to lure the Empire into a trap.

"Oh yes, you were used splendidly, weren't you, Lisabet. It was right here in Maldras that Dagobard and I were made to dance to that tune, deceived into believing the pollen was ineffective against Horse-Dragons. Thinking back on it makes me a little angry."

Maytyl spoke up from behind me. She and a female sorcerer who had come with Dagobard were assembling Eylis. They could have just done that in their own room.

"Your hands have stopped, Lord Ricardo."

"N, no. I just finished preparing the dough, that's all. Haha."

I took my hands off the lump of greenish.brown dough.

"Is this the noodle made from buckwheat that Princess Maytyl mentioned? This color and aroma, it is that tea, is it not?"

Lisabet looked at the green lump with interest. I was using matcha I had brought with me, but the buckwheat flour was from Maldras.

"It's a dish Ricardo made just for me," Maytyl said boastfully.

"I made it to console Princess Maytyl, who had lost her appetite out of loneliness after leaving her home."

"Wha, you do not have to say things like that. Besides, it was not because I was lonely. The Kingdom's pretentious food just did not suit my palate, that is all."

Maytyl grew flustered. The female sorcerer beside her glared at me. Her name was Crenne, if I remembered correctly, the one who had held the rear guard to the very end in that battle. She was released from captivity when Maytyl took her place. She must have had a hard time in the Empire with her superior gone. She had an important role to play in these negotiations. I did not want to make an enemy of her.

"Well, it seems Princess Maytyl was quite well looked after," Lisabet said with a gentle smile.

"I went to the Kingdom at Ricardo's request. It is only natural for him to keep me in good humor. That's right, I also had him make that ice cream you mentioned, Lisabet. Mine was probably more delicious."

Maytyl said it with pride. You should not make claims you cannot verify. Personally, I prefer the Matcha Ice Cream. And she sounded like a simple girl who had been tamed with food.

Lisabet tilted her head.

"Princess Maytyl seems to have changed a great deal. I do not recall seeing such a soft expression on your face when we last met. Did something significant happen in the Kingdom?"

"W, well, it was stimulating in many ways. It was not just Ricardo. The Kingdom's mages were quite a talented group."

"I should think you appear far more charming to the gentlemen now. What do you think, Lord Ricardo?"

Lisabet teased Maytyl like an older cousin. Then again, perhaps that was their relationship.

"Though you may be a special envoy, such insolence toward Her Highness is..."

Finally unable to bear it, Crenne started to approach me.

"Crenne, hurry up and learn how to use this. You understand how much this one device could advance sorcery research, do you not? Frankly, it is more important than improving that magic staff. We must introduce it in the Empire as soon as possible. Besides, given my position, you are the only one who can measure the ley lines here."

"This is indeed magnificent. To think such a simple mechanism could expose the very essence of magic power. I cannot imagine someone without the gift coming up with such a thing."

Crenne turned to me, her eyes filled with open distrust. She was right. The original idea was not mine but that of a great mind from my past life.

"Well, I feel the same way, but I saw it happen right next to Ricardo..."

Crenne glared at me. Lisabet brought a hand to her mouth.

"I, in other words, it is so far removed from the common sense of sorcery that you must understand it thoroughly. Lisabet, shouldn't you be getting to your own work? Weren't you going to discuss the vision for the new city with Ricardo?"

Maytyl rattled off the words quickly. I thought I was about to be teased again, but Lisabet's expression turned serious.

"You are right. As the Empire's negotiator and as the lord of Maldras, there is much I need to hear. The fact that you took such a risk for us, Lord Ricardo, has clearly shown the possibility that the new city can be realized. Even those who were skeptical should be paying attention now."

Her expression was completely different from when she was teasing Maytyl just moments before.

I had gained something from it as well. Ruins that could be repurposed for stone, traces of roads covered in weeds, things like that. The data on the wyverns' ecology was also important. By the way, we dissected the wyvern we defeated, but it had no Air Sac. Its origins were likely reptilian, like a pterosaur.

"Then, let us begin with the details of the futures market."

The Empire should have been informed about it, but this was something no one had ever seen before. I explained it to Lisabet, recalling my discussions with the Food Guild.

"I understand the advantages of standardizing giant warehouses and logistics containers for a stable food supply. After all, being on the edge of the Empire, we struggle to obtain goods we cannot produce ourselves. However, the dissemination of future price information through a futures market..."

Lisabet watched me intently.

"To be honest, I have my concerns. There is a great disparity between the Kingdom and the Empire when it comes to agriculture."

Lisabet's gaze shifted to the window. A few wheat fields existed only in the center of the basin, with other fields scattered about, clinging to the mountains. It was a completely different sight from the wheat fields of the Kingdom. In terms of simple competitiveness, there was no comparison.

"I cannot deny that, but as the one responsible for the new city, I am hoping it will give rise to new exports from the Empire to the Kingdom. The dish I am preparing now is one such example."

I cut the dough I had let rest, then boiled and prepared it. I served the finished chasoba peperoncino on small plates. Lisabet did not hesitate to taste the green noodles.

"It is simple and rustic, yet it has a powerful flavor. It's delicious. I watched you make it, and it is almost all buckwheat flour, is it not? I never knew it could be eaten like this."

Lisabet's face lit up.

"It is more fragrant than when I had it in the Kingdom."

"Yes. I think so too."

It seemed the quality of buckwheat was better in the Empire.

"The color aside, it is not bad."

Crenne, who had hesitated until the end, nodded reluctantly.

"If buckwheat can be sold in the Kingdom, not just my domain but many others would rejoice. You intend to increase these kinds of products, correct?"

"Yes, I plan for the new city to function as a place to test such things. That includes items like the Yokan that you also sampled, Your Highness."

Using food to turn the area into a tourist destination. It was a secondary benefit of a secondary benefit, of course, but it would help attract people.

"Even with a futures market, we would likely start with only one type of wheat and one type of mineral resource. The Empire has an advantage in mineral resources, so the results should not be one.sided right away. Furthermore, until the city's construction is complete, the city itself will require a large amount of goods from the Empire. Food will come from the Kingdom, but construction materials and the like will likely come from the Empire. During that time, I will encourage the intermingling of information from both nations to foster the creation of new things."

I explained the carriage trade show we held in the Royal Capital, adding that the new city would include a convention center for such purposes.

"For that, I would also like to hear more about the Empire's products. By the way, does Maldras not produce any sorcerous metals or Magic Crystals?"

Crenne's gaze, which had softened with the chasoba, grew sharp again. I was asking for information on military supplies, after all. I had asked deliberately for three reasons. This recent event had shown me exactly how much magic power was needed to operate in a monster's domain. We had managed to cross the territory without any casualties, but we consumed a significant number of Magic Crystals even using the improved spiral flame. For the time being, it would be better to have a supply source nearby in case of an emergency.

Another reason was my belief that Magic Crystals would eventually become the biggest commodity on the futures market. This was a conjecture based on the sorcery of the spiral flame and on petroleum and natural gas from my previous life.

The last reason was an idea that had occurred to me during this journey. It was not yet at a stage where I could discuss it with others. There were too many uncertain factors.

"If we had those, things would have been quite different."

Lisabet looked sadly at the mountains spreading out beyond the window.

"My grandfather's generation conducted a large.scale resource survey. They found a vein of crystals in the western mountains, but... it was the negative stone."

"Negative stone?"

"Ah, so you have that here. Its shape and feel are similar to a Magic Crystal, but you cannot draw magic power from it. On the contrary, it degrades any Magic Crystal it touches."

"Something like IG.1?"

"If it were, we could find a use for it, but its effect wears off immediately. You can only feel something like a flow of magic power when it is in contact with a Magic Crystal."

"And that happens regardless of one's aptitude?"

"Yes, but it is meaningless since you cannot draw any power from it. What, do you have another idea?"

What piqued my interest was the phenomenon of a magical flow occurring just through contact. If the development of magic energy resources from the Blood Mountains were to begin in earnest, I would want to make magic tools more widespread. If the spiral flame's formula could be applied to daily uses, people without the gift would need to be able to flip a switch.

"No, I cannot say anything about something I have not seen. It is true. I really have not thought of anything."

It was probably impossible within my lifetime anyway.

"In any case, did you understand what I have explained?" I said to Lisabet.

"Yes, I would like to use this discussion to increase the number of supporters on our side. You know, if the next round of negotiations is to be held in the Kingdom, I would very much like to attend. I am also looking forward to trying the chestnut ice cream that Princess Maytyl boasted about."

Lisabet said this and smiled.

"I am counting on you."

For now, my part of the job was going smoothly. However, there was a fundamental prerequisite that had to be cleared before any commercial talks could proceed. We had to prevent the great calamity. If we could not do that, in both the Kingdom and the Empire, then business would be the last thing on anyone's mind. If the damage was even moderately severe, it would cause the economies of both nations to shrink, and the new city would never come to be.