Chapter 29 - 029_ Document Preparation
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029_ Document Preparation
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"Are you really going to eat it?"
"I'm worried you'll upset your stomach."
When Rodney tried to orally ingest the Life Light Stone of the lake's master, Emilia and Yulin made disgusted expressions. They were worried that Rodney would become greasy-faced like that middle-aged man.
"Since there's no information on that guy, the only way to confirm the fundamental power is by oral ingestion."
No matter how many times he read through the books, there was no record of the lake's master.
He concluded that it was probably a Selvanui that only existed in the Abandoned House Labyrinth, so there were no records anywhere.
If that was the case, the only way to know the fundamental power obtained from the Life Light Stone was through oral ingestion. If he had a hundred, there was a possibility that Emilia or Yulin could also obtain the fundamental power, but he only possessed one Life Light Stone.
The two understood that, but remembering the lake master's greasy face and disgusting gaze, they shuddered.
Ignoring the noisy two beside him, Rodney put the lake master's Life Light Stone into his mouth.
Agony pierced his entire body, and cold sweat burst out. In the past, he would have writhed, but he gritted his teeth and endured.
Soon he understood that he had obtained the fundamental power. The fundamental power gained from the lake master's Life Light Stone was Underwater Life. Understand delved deeper into the usage of Underwater Life.
Underwater Life allowed one to breathe underwater and swim like a fish. Furthermore, it adapted to water pressure and temperature, ensuring a certain degree of visibility even on the dark seafloor.
What an inhuman fundamental power. Though perhaps most fundamental powers were inhuman.
"Is that useful in combat?"
Emilia tilted her head.
"It's useful for combat, and it can also be used for stealth actions."
"Stealth actions?"
"When it comes to war, you might have to cross rivers, and you can also operate at sea. For a castle siege, you could possibly enter the castle from inside the moat. There are plenty of ways to use it."
"I see, I see, that makes sense."
(She doesn't really understand, that expression on her face.)
After that, while entering the Labyrinth, Rodney worked on documents for the summer territory report meeting.
"For the summer report meeting, I'll be bringing Rodmel and Roxwell. Please be prepared for that."
"Is it alright not to bring Yulin with you?"
Rodmel asked with a grin. He was implying that Rodney should marry Yulin soon.
"Why would I bring Yulin?"
Rodney made an annoyed expression and looked at Rodmel while resting his chin on his hand.
"Yulin is 19 this year, isn't she? If she doesn't get married soon, she'll be called a spinster. Is that alright with you?"
For commoners, it wouldn't be called being a spinster until around 25, but for nobles, it was normal to have a fiancé by age 20 even if not married.
Though a retainer was not a noble, if Rodney, who was a noble, were to marry her, there was a big difference between 19 and 20.
"Whenever you see my face, you tell me to marry Yulin. It's a bit annoying."
"The previous lord-sama has passed away. If I, the eldest, don't say it to Rodney-sama, who will?"
"Fine, fine... I understand. So, leave for today."
(I'm thinking about it too. But how to broach the subject with Yulin, that's the problem. I've always admired her as a childhood friend, but I can't just say 'come marry me'...)
It was just a matter of saying "marry me," but Rodney couldn't do it. Rodney made decisions on governmental affairs almost instantly, but this was something he couldn't decide on the spot.
"Now then, what should I do..."
"What is it?"
"!?"
Yulin had entered the room without him noticing, and Rodney almost fell out of his chair.
"What is it that needs doing?"
"Ah, no, it's nothing... yeah, nothing."
Yulin, who was two years older than Rodney, was very beautiful and intelligent. Would she marry an ordinary man like him? What should he do if she refused?
Rodney was lost in indecisive thoughts.
"Is that so...?"
When Yulin made a fragile expression, his heart skipped a beat. Rodney found himself oddly conscious of her.
"Ahem. I've come to report the results of checking that backpack."
Kiris appeared from behind Yulin. He had had the former merchant Kiris check the backpack item obtained from the lake master.
Kiris's judgment was that it was a Storage Bag. Its capacity was quite large; when they stored the Zarai that was in Forvas House's warehouse, there was still plenty of room even after storing 100 Altz (20 tons).
"Since we only had 100 Altz of Zarai, I haven't confirmed beyond that, but I think there's still considerable capacity."
"That's amazing."
"I think it's on par with the Storage Bag owned by the royal family."
"That much..."
Rodney hesitated whether to include this Storage Bag in the report to be submitted to the country, so he confirmed with Kiris.
"Since the lord's reporting obligations do not mention owned items, I think there's no need to report it."
The obligations to report at the situation report meeting were: population, grain harvest volume, disasters and their aftermath, increases and decreases in retainer houses, number of territory soldiers, labyrinth conditions, and other major events occurring within the territory.
The Storage Bag was obtained within the labyrinth, but item reports were excluded. However, the medicinal herbs Baram and Shokan discovered on the 6th floor were subject to reporting obligations.
The response differed between items randomly dropped by Selvanui and items that the labyrinth itself produced in fixed quantities.
"I have to include the medicinal herbs and Red True Ore in the report. If so, I should include the Red True Ore as a tribute item."
"About 50 Rodem (100 kg) would be sufficient to offer."
With that, the conversation turned to the situation report meeting.
Galim Syrup was certainly a big matter that had to be reported. However, Beer's status as an industry was still uncertain, and its profits were not substantial, so it was borderline whether it fell within the scope of reporting, but he decided to include it.
Since they planned to expand beer production in the future, he wanted to avoid complaints later.
"How is the repayment of the debt to Count Banyusas House?"
"We can prepare it without issue. The final repayment will be made at Bassam when the head of the house-sama travels to the capital."
Count Banyusas House had been taking care of them in many ways. Not only regarding the debt, but they had also been assisted with many things like the mindset and customs of nobility.
Rodney believed he had built a good relationship with the current head of Count Banyusas House.
"For now, whether it's Galim Syrup or Beer, if we increase production, we'll be short on manpower. We need to do something about that."
Rodney thought that Galim Syrup would eventually taper off. Because the material was Galim tree sap and production was as simple as boiling it down, it could be easily made in other territories.
Rodney thought that in a few years to ten years, Galim Syrup from other territories would appear.
On the other hand, beer production was not easy, so it would take time for others to make something similar. Also, even if beer was made, the taste would differ, so differentiation was possible.
He intended to earn as much as possible with Galim Syrup for a few years. After that, he planned to operate it on thin margins as a place of employment for widows. Therefore, he wanted to get beer established quickly. To do that, he wanted to concentrate capital on the beer workshop, but he was also considering starting new industries. The more profit pillars, the better.
The documents for the situation report meeting would be compiled by Kiris, and Rodney would review them.
At that time, all the retainers including Rodmel would be gathered to scrutinize the content. Since Rodmel and the other retainers were more knowledgeable about the labyrinth and territory soldiers, there might be things that Rodney and Kiris didn't know.
Rodney and the others steadily progressed with preparing the documents for the situation report meeting.
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