kscans

Chapter 79 - That Black, Slightly Brownish, and Glistening Thing

"The festival is finally over."

Watching the test carriage run smoothly through the Forum, I let out a sigh of relief. This was its last lap. There were still plenty of people hoping for a ride, but the trade fair portion of the event was officially over.

Despite the inconvenience of having to travel all the way to Bertold, we were being flooded with orders from people wanting to request carriage "repairs" from our workshop.

Incidentally, Bowgan and Dolph were in the middle of interviewing for workshop assistants. That wasn't really my area to get involved in.

Central Garden's business had also been a resounding success. Plural's cherimoyas, Dalgan's new ham, and Roston's truffles had all apparently received numerous business inquiries. Our Take, which was targeted at merchants, sold out on the second day. And perhaps because the carriages drew so much attention, even our Ume kept selling right until the end.

We were all heading toward that relief sculpture. The restoration was already finished, and Rilka apparently looked quite relieved.

It was safe to say the trade fair was a success. At the very least, the Guild Master hadn't counterattacked. If he had held a test ride event with that other carriage in opposition, he might have stolen the spotlight.

It seemed that, as I suspected, that thing couldn't be offered as a commercial product.

In a way, that might have been the biggest relief of all. I recalled the words of the craftsmen who had observed the imperial carriage, as I had taken to calling it.

"I've never seen anything like it." According to Dolph, who saw the carriage after it ran out of steam near the end of the race, the area under the mudguards was a whole different world. The most distinctive feature was a mechanism that allowed all four wheels to move independently. And between the wheels and the carriage body, a flesh colored, squishy, cloth like material was attached. The structure was simple, but it was probably some kind of suspension. Thanks to Dolph remembering the pattern on the cloth, or whatever it was, Fulsy was able to surmise that it might be the hide of a certain monster.

Bowgan said that while the axle assembly was similar to a normal carriage, it was made of a metal he'd never seen before. The axle itself was apparently also metal, though it didn't seem to be magically infused. From Bowgan's comment that it had a scale like pattern, Noel recalled a metal called Dragon Scale Steel, which is made by mixing in dragon scales. She said it was an almost cheat like material, being both light and strong. I wonder if it's something like iron whose properties have been altered with rare earth elements.

In short, that carriage made lavish use of monster materials.

So, just as I'd predicted, they weren't a business competitor. When you factor in the cost of materials, we're talking way beyond the price of a few magic crystals. It wasn't hard to imagine it was built to navigate mountainous terrain, which made perfect sense considering the Empire's geography. The question was, just how rare was that thing to them, and even setting that aside...

"...kun. Ricardo-kun. We've arrived."

Lost in thought, I felt a tug on my sleeve.

"Ah, oh, my apologies, Alfina-sama."

I must have been thinking about the imperial carriage and arrived in front of the relief without noticing. Just as I was about to respond to Alfina, a voice called out.

"Ricardo Vinder."

I noticed a single girl walking straight toward me. Blonde hair in twintails. I had a faint memory of her. She was the first year student from the academy who had glared at me.

"No, you can't, Vina. I'm okay, really."

From behind her, a girl with a short, brown haircut was desperately trying to stop her.

"Senpai."

Mia alerted me. Right, she was from a family close to Dorefano and Calest, I think. I've never seen the other one. Judging from her clothes, she doesn't seem to be an academy student. Surely she's not an assassin from the Guild Master, right?

"Um, can I help you?" I asked as calmly as possible.

"Because you made a complete mess of the Forum, Natalie's shop is...!" the girl called Vina shouted, her eyes blazing with fury.

I've developed something of a knack for making people angry without trying, but why was she this furious with me?

"I told you, didn't I? Not to do whatever you please in the Forum. I'll never forgive you for doing something that drove Natalie's shop out of business."

"Drove her shop out? What on earth are you talking about..."

I asked again. From the moment the Knight Order's competition came up, it was clear that our Sho-Chiku-Bai alone wouldn't be nearly enough to feed the crowd. I thought the other stalls must have profited handsomely from all the people. In fact, all the other stalls had long lines, not just ours.

"Ah, she must mean because of this crowd," Dalgan said. "We had to clear the center of the Forum for the carriages. The Food Guild probably prioritized shops that could sell a certain volume of products."

So, this Natalie's stall was pushed out. I see, now I understand. There's no doubt I disrupted the business ecosystem of the Forum. But...

"It's alright. The trade fair ends today. Starting tomorrow..."

"It's too late. This was her last chance. You... you took that from her," Vina's voice grew even louder.

"Someone like you who only got ahead through connections would never understand Natalie's hard work, would you? That's right. You were afraid your precious honey would lose to Natalie's jam, so you sabotaged her."

Vina glared at the Central Garden members gathered around me as she spoke.

Uh, I've never even heard of this girl's jam. And who is she, anyway? Dammit, this person is impossible to reason with. Being hit with a flood of accusations from someone I've barely met is the exact situation I'm worst at handling. And she's a girl, to boot. Ah, I really should have read Mia's report.

"Oh, there you are, Ricardo. As it happens, even the First Knight Order has taken an interest in that carriage you designed. I'd like to discuss how we should handle it."

Prince Craig appeared, his adjutant knight in tow. Right, he did tell me to make time for him. I had told him I'd visit him later.

Unlike Alfina, who could just about blend in with our group in her simple one piece dress, its quality notwithstanding, this one came with an escort. He even had the rose crest of the royal family emblazoned on his chest.

"I want to hear your plans for the future," he continued. "With the success of this trade fair, the project you've drafted will surely grow even larger. I require a proper explanation of the Bertold Workshop's future. What about its size? Are you planning to go so far as to change the roads themselves?"

To make matters worse, Euphelia then appeared with Luitza. This is bad. Isn't this just making me look more and more like I got here on connections?

"His Highness the Prince... and the Grand Duchess..."

I was bracing for more insults, but Vina just stood frozen, her mouth opening and closing silently.

Well, that makes sense. Not even I would keep yelling insults in a situation like this.

"I-I'm so sorry. Vina, Vinaldira, was just supporting my shop, that's why..."

The girl with the short hair, Natalie, stepped in front of Vina, Vinaldira apparently, and desperately bowed her head to me.

"Could this be a lover's quarrel?" Prince Craig mused. "Ricardo, my boy. It's all well and good to be a man of means, but you really ought to pick your favorite before you start these things."

"Prince Craig, please don't complicate the situation. This seems to be... a business matter between commoners."

After saying that to the prince who offered completely useless advice, I tried to turn back to the more timid looking girl.

"In that case, if this concerns the Vinder Company, am I not also involved?"

This time, Alfina interjected. Vinaldira seemed to have noticed the second royal. Ah, as an academy student, she would know her face. Her trembling doubled. Natalie looked like she was about to cry.

What a mess. How am I supposed to resolve this? I don't even understand what's going on yet.

"Um, it's okay. These two are relatively harmless," I said, offering what was probably not very comforting reassurance. "So, what's this about your shop?"

"Ah, um, the deadline for the loan to procure sugar is... and, well..."

So she was short on cash. Still, trying to sell something with sugar at a food stall is a bold move. She said it was jam, but jam in this world doesn't use sugar. It's just fruit boiled down for preservation.

"And this jam is?"

Okay, good. In times like these, my strategy for handling things is to focus on objects, tangible things. Objects aren't complicated like human relationships.

"Um... it's a bean jam," Natalie said, lacking confidence.

"A bean jam!" I couldn't help but shout.

"A bean jam?" "There's no way that can compete with honey."

Rilka and Belmini tilted their heads in confusion. But I had a feeling, a premonition.

"If you don't mind, could you let me taste that jam of yours?" The words left my mouth before I could stop them.

"Wh-what are you doing? H-h-hiding behind the authority of the r-royals to belittle Natalie's jam, are you?"

"Vina, don't. Um, yes. I'll do as you say. Please."

Natalie hurriedly opened the basket she was holding and took out something about the size of a large wafer. As she timidly offered it to me, my companions all grimaced in unison.

I'll admit, it looked terrible. A black paste spread on what looked like dark bread. Brown skins glistened here and there. But I reached out without hesitation.

"Wait, Ricardo-kun. That's so black... I've never seen a food like that before," Alfina said worriedly.

I've heard that in my original world, Westerners sometimes mistake anko for chocolate, but there's no chocolate here either.

"Senpai. I will taste it for poison first."

"N-no way! There's no poison!"

Natalie took a bite herself to prove it. Then, I put the offered food into my mouth.

"R-Ricardo-kun!!"

"Ah..."

I closed my eyes. An incredibly nostalgic flavor filled my mouth.

A gentle sweetness. A nostalgic sweetness. The sweetness of my hometown. I felt tears welling up in my eyes.

"...Did you make this?"

"Y-yes. Huh?"

I grabbed both of Natalie's hands.

"S-Senpai!" "Ricardo-kun!" "Hey, get away from Natalie!"

Mia and the others were shocked. But I was in no state to care.

"I'm going to be your angel."

I had made up my mind. I was going to nurture her business and spread this flavor throughout the entire kingdom.