Chapter 123 - 123 Market Malfunction
The effects of Pyrethrin and the Mosquito Coil were also confirmed by the Royal Research Institute. And, the King evaluated the merit of the insecticide development, and a story came up of raising Brian to the rank of Viscount.
Although the idea for the insecticide was Steve's, since it is being sold as a product of the Archibalt Territory, the logic is that the merit belongs to Brian. Since there is nothing more to give Steve, they decided to raise Brian instead.
For Brian, it was a complicated feeling to be raised in rank due to his son's achievement, but when Abigail said, "It was the same when you became a Baron," he had recently let go of it.
Furthermore, there was no particular increase in territory. Originally, two Baron territories had already been added, which was equivalent to the land a Viscount would hold.
From King William's perspective, although there was a threat from Steve, there was also a desire to reward Brian, who had supported him for many years through hard times. Also, since he is the father of the Queen of the Kingdom of Merda, there was a reason to consider giving him an even higher title.
Christina, who heard the news of Brian's promotion, proposed it to Steve.
"Would it not be appropriate to celebrate Father-in-law's promotion only among family? It could be done with a very small number of people, separate from the grand celebration."
Christina also liked the homey atmosphere of the House Archibalt, and she thought it would be fine to have a celebration with just the family, without others present.
"Chris, that is a good idea. Freya Onee-sama and Sherry Onee-sama's families and us. I will ask the sisters if we should celebrate Father like that."
Steve immediately went to the two sisters to confirm their support or opposition to Christina's proposal.
As a result, both agreed, and they asked him to set a date since they wanted to check their family schedules. So, upon returning home, he took Christina with him and told Brian about the celebration.
Candidate dates were quickly proposed, and Steve flew to his sisters again. Thus, the date and time for the celebration were decided.
On the day of the celebration, Steve used Teleportation magic to gather Freya and Sherry's families, and it became a promotion celebration party held only among family members. At that gathering, Brian gave a shy greeting.
"I, of all people, am a Viscount now. I am blessed with children. I cannot wish for anything more than this."
Saying that, he looked at Sherry and Steve.
Steve showed a smile to his father.
"If it goes any further, there is the title of 'King's Father.' Look, you have a grandson who is first in line for the throne."
"In that case, I would be dead."
"Then shall I become King and be the King's Father?"
"Since I do not want to suffer a headache on such a joyous occasion, stop those jokes."
When Brian put his hand to his forehead in protest, all the participants laughed. If anyone outside the family had heard this, it would have been a major problem, but since today was only for family, there was no issue.
"Anyway, until now, many people were promoted at the war termination ceremony, so I didn't stand out, but this time, with just me, I really stand out."
"Since the announcement of Father's promotion is at the King's birthday celebration ceremony."
There was no particularly major event regarding this promotion, so it was decided to announce it on the King's birthday when nobles from all over the country gather. Although the participating nobles had been told beforehand.
"Since it is just one person, there will be jealousy. Who knows what kind of incident will happen."
Steve looked at Brian with a grin.
"Compared to the incidents you get involved in when you go out, this is nothing."
"Well, to surpass that, it would be like a meteor falling into the Royal Castle."
"Don't say such ominous things."
Since Steve threatened Brian so much, Abigail scolded him, and he stopped saying ominous things. And from there, a pleasant conversation continued, and the family-only celebration ended.
However, perhaps because Steve spoke those words, Brian's promotion did not go smoothly.
On a certain day before Brian's promotion, Cyril ran to Steve, who was working at the factory.
"This is terrible. A report has arrived from the Royal Research Institute that someone died after inhaling the smoke from the Mosquito Coil."
Hearing that report, Steve asked Cyril.
"Is that our product?"
Regarding the occurrence of defects, it is important where the source is. Especially when many similar products are circulating, it is important which manufacturer produced them.
In his previous life, Steve received a contact from a customer about a defect occurrence, and he implemented a defect sorting of his company's inventory, and also went to the customer's site to implement defect sorting of the customer's inventory. And, when a customer returned the defective product and he saw it, he realized it was not a part from his company. It was a cut piece of an aluminum block, but the cutter marks were different.
When he confirmed with the customer, it turned out they had secretly purchased from two companies, and the parts produced by the other company were defective.
There were also cases where similar products were made by another company to prevent mixing, and he received a defect report from a mistaken customer.
The Mosquito Coils made at Steve's factory undergo regular sampling inspections to confirm their quality.
At least, nothing that would kill a person was mixed in, and it should not be possible to die from inhaling a normal amount of smoke.
"The house that suffered damage claims that is what happened."
"Where is that house?"
"It seems a servant of Viscount Brennan died."
"I've heard that name somewhere."
Steve had the name Viscount Brennan in the corner of his mind. However, he could not remember where he had heard that name.
While thinking about remembering the name and what he should do, Bella entered next.
"Steve, Margrave Sowell is calling you."
It was a call from Aurora via communication using a mirror. Steve scratched the back of his head.
"Lord Sowell, huh. The timing is good."
"You have a dog-like sense of smell."
Bella expressed it that way because she did not like Aurora that much.
Given the timing, Steve decided to interrupt his talk with Cyril and go to Aurora.
He immediately Teleported to visit Aurora.
"You were fast."
"I also had urgent business. I thought it might be that matter."
"Probably so. Do you know that Viscount Brennan claims that a servant died after using your Mosquito Coil?"
"I received a report from Lord Cyril. I hurriedly checked the ingredients of the products at the factory regarding that matter. Well, there were no problems with the company inventory."
While answering that, Steve was impressed by Aurora's good hearing.
He wondered how she could obtain information from the Royal Capital so quickly and looked closely at Aurora's face.
"In that case, no need for preliminary explanation. So, did you really make something that can kill a person?"
"Absolutely not. Unless the dead human is a hybrid of a mosquito and a fly, there should be no toxicity that would kill even a baby."
"That is what I thought."
Aurora did not seem to suspect the products from Steve's place.
She suspected that Viscount Brennan, who claimed to have suffered damage, was lying.
"Probably, this is Viscount Brennan's revenge against you."
"I don't have any memory of doing something that would make that Viscount Brennan hate me."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes. If you know, please tell me."
Aurora spoke to Steve with an exasperated expression about Viscount Brennan.
"The orphanage you took over, when it was in the Royal Capital, there was someone who set it on fire and was stoned to death. That was Viscount Brennan's child. This is revenge for the child."
"Oh, come to think of it, that happened. So that was Viscount Brennan's child? But if that's the case, it would be misplaced for me to be hated. After all, I really did set the fire."
"As a parent, they probably cannot accept it."
Without needing to be told by Aurora, Steve knew that as well. Even if the child of a criminal, from the parent's perspective, the person who judged them is hateful.
So, Steve knew he would be hated.
"So, they are trying to interfere at the timing of Father's promotion. But, was it really our product?"
"It seems the evidence item remains. They say they have already submitted it to the Royal Research Institute and requested an ingredient analysis."
"That is convenient."
"Wasn't it better if it didn't exist?"
"No, if we can prove it is not our product, it will be more convincing than a water-sparring argument."
If there was no evidence item, even if it was a lie, proving it would be difficult. Even if he pleaded innocence, a certain number of people would not believe Steve's claim, and he could not think of a way to deal with that.
On the other hand, if they have an evidence item, if they can prove it was not made in the Archibalt Territory, the trust in the product will not be lost.
"I wanted to convey that information. Did I help?"
"Thank you as always. We do not have the ability to collect information with just our territory."
Steve sincerely thanked Aurora for the information provision.
Aurora was happy that Steve thanked her. However, she did not show it on her face but kept it deep in her heart.
"It is a relationship of mutual benefit with His Excellency."
Saying that, the corners of her bright red lips curled up.
Steve looked at such Aurora and wondered what kind of reward to give her.
After Steve left, Aurora called Harry into the room.
"My Lady, what is the matter?"
"Harry, investigate merchants who deal with poison and frequent Viscount Brennan's place."
"I understand."
Following Aurora's instructions, Harry went out of the room again. Aurora, now alone, shivered.
"Thinking about what comes next, my body trembles with joy."
Saying that, she tightly grabbed her left hand with her right hand.
After returning from Aurora's place, Steve told Cyril and Nick the information he heard from Aurora and asked them to go to the Royal Research Institute together.
"Well, according to Lord Sowell, the evidence item has been submitted to the Royal Research Institute, so let's all go there. Since we are targeted for a child's revenge, the opponent seems persistent."
"Master, is it okay? If something was mixed into our product?"
"We have to check the actual item first. Defects we never imagined have existed before. It might really be our defect."
"Well, that is true."
Nick had also experienced defects many times. Human work is not perfect. He knew that more than anyone else. Steve thought it was fine, but he could not feel at ease until he saw the actual item. What Nick said was also a manifestation of his own anxiety.
They immediately Teleported to the Royal Research Institute. Steve and Cyril had free passage here and were immediately guided to the insecticide researchers.
The insecticide researcher was a young man. Steve requested him to confirm the actual item.
"We came to confirm the matter that someone died from the Mosquito Coil. Please show us the evidence item submitted by Viscount Brennan."
"I apologize, Your Excellency. Regarding that, it is arranged that we contact Viscount Brennan when you arrive. And we are told to verify it in the presence of Viscount Brennan."
They were told that the actual item must be confirmed in the presence of Viscount Brennan. It seems Viscount Brennan made a request to rule out the possibility of substitution.
The researcher bowed his head apologetically.
"He is quite wary."
Cyril smiled bitterly.
"If I really tried, substitution would be possible, so such an order is meaningless. Although, of course, I have no intention of doing such a thing."
"If we cannot confirm the evidence item, shall we at least look at the autopsy results?"
"Yes. Is that also at the Royal Research Institute?"
When Steve asked, the researcher nodded. The autopsy was conducted by officials in the Royal Capital, and the Royal Research Institute received the report. Steve could imagine they wanted to establish a track record of a fair third party judging whether the autopsy results matched the ingredients contained in the Mosquito Coil.
In the autopsy results shown, the deceased servant was a young woman, she had no obvious external injuries, and a pungent smell like burning sulfur remained in the room where she died, so it was concluded that she likely ingested a lethal dose of sulfur dioxide gas or similar.
Seeing that, Steve knew that the death of this servant was not an accident, but an incident.
"Well, this is clearly not our product's fault."
"Master, is that really true? You haven't even seen the item yet."
"Well, I want to confirm that too. And, since it will become a political maneuver, how far scientific talk will go."
Steve thought that in the verification following this, political power would matter more than scientific talk, and he worried about how to deal with it.
Thank you always for your typo reports.