Volume 4.3 - Extra 1.3

Volume 4.3 Extra 1.3

Editor: Weasalopes

「Thanks to the help of Ortem Village, I foresee all the demand in Wulls being met within three years or so. Their soil can be adjusted for rice cultivation a lot easier.」

「That’s mighty great to hear.」

「Then again, this is just the initial stage in which supply breeds demand. Considering how the military takes up a good amount of the quota, I think it will be at least ten years before all demand in Wulls is met.」

Hiroshi nodded at Layotte’s report. Increasing production of any new crops was never easy. Even farming in Japan normally required ten years beginning from soil amelioration to introduce new crops into the fold. Agriculture was always something you thought about in super long spans of time.

Layotte mentioned ten years, and that was the amount of time it had initially taken to establish a new cultivation method, whereas they had thought it would take thirty years, so it was already a good sign that the estimated time had shrunk to a third of the original. You had to hand it to these experienced farmers.

If people on Earth knew about the skills in this world, they would certainly see it as the most unfair thing ever.

「So what was it you wanted to discuss？」

「We wanna increase members.」

「Craftsmen, huh？」

「Them too, but I mean more of the workshop administrators. All the branches at Darl, Stiren, and Crest Cave. Layla-san’s an accomplished person but she ain’t gonna be able to handle all that by herself.」

「But of course you can’t just hire someone incompetent. Is that what you’re getting at？」

「Yup.」

Hiroshi nodded in affirmation. Layotte inwardly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that.

In all honesty, even if Hiroshi picked someone from somewhere and insisted on adding them to the workshop, Layotte and his people didn’t have the authority to reject that. Regardless of what Hiroshi himself was thinking, generally speaking, Azuma Workshop actually had more power than the royals of each country. While this was a problem that could interfere with the safety of the country, if Hiroshi got angry and vanished, this would cost the country more than having one or two spies.

As Hiroshi did not seem to be thinking about such things, he thankfully kept getting permission from the Farlane house, and this was unmistakably because he trusted them. Examining Hiroshi’s group’s actions thus far, it was obvious they could have made plenty of self-centered decisions regardless of how much it hurt the country.

Hiroshi most likely hadn’t thought of the idea of not consulting the state or the house. Layotte wasn’t so conceited to think that Hiroshi’s group would always submit to him unconditionally. Therefore, while inwardly relieved, he did his best to focus his mind elsewhere to avoid suspicion.

「I understand the summary. So on our end for craftsmen, we can interview the applicants and offer candidates, while for administrators, we find people who we feel can be trusted and who can handle miscellaneous matters without making a fuss. This will all be done very shortly.」

「’Preciate it mate.」

「This does concern all of Farlane, after all. I’ll assist in any way I can. However…」

「There some kinda issue？」

「Yeah. Wulls Workshop is fine as is, but you should also consult Darl and Forre about the Darl, Crest Cave, and Stiren workshops. For country-to-country affairs you should elect Layla as the superintendent, while you can place human resources delegated by the royal houses of each country to be stationed at each location and have them be the administrators there to decrease the likelihood of any future problems.」

「Ah～, ya got a point there mate.」

Hiroshi scratched his head when Layotte pointed that out, feeling a bit careless. It was true; Hiroshi had workshops in three different countries and as such should gather residents of said countries. He was grateful for Layotte pointing out something he himself should have thought of.

「Then I guess I better contact the queen ‘n king of Forre too.」

「I can deal with that on my end. It had better be in person, I think, so when that time comes can we use this Japanese-style room？」

「Go right ahead mate. When that goes down I’ll tell Teres ‘n the others that there’s an important conversation ‘n not to enter.」

「Thanks.」

Not realizing how large-scale of a conversation this was becoming, Hiroshi casually gave out permission. This very discussion was what set the stage for a fairly regular occurrence of the Conference of the Three Kingdoms in Azuma Workshop.

Afterward, finished with their small conversation, Layotte motioned to leave when he ran into Haruna, who had returned from her outing.

「Ah, Layotte, your highness. I didn’t know you were here.」

「Yeah. We just had a briefing session concerning the instant ramen factory.」

「Mind if I ask what you decided on？」

「The purchase for the factory site is nearly complete, so in the near future, we plan to use the sectors that we bought and had the residents move out of and make them into vacant land.」

「Wow, so you’re already talking about that.」

Haruna was genuinely surprised to hear Layotte’s explanation. Yes, this was a nationwide project conducted by a monarchy, but it was going faster than even Japan’s projects.

But thinking about it very carefully, even if you ignored the abnormally fast slum district soil renewal and experimental farm project, the projects that Hiroshi was involved with always got done at a terrifying rate. Not only was Hiroshi there, but the projects had the utmost urgency, normally impossible to finish in such an amount of time.

Judging from all this, Farlane probably had a great understanding and expectation of what was to come in these large-scale projects.

「I also asked Hiroshi to produce several varieties of portable foods. If it’s possible, could you also assist, Haruna?」

「Portable food？」

「Well, basically just retort, canned goods, etc. There’s also block-type balanced nutritious food if yer into that.」

Haruna was slightly puzzled at what Layotte was talking about, while Hiroshi threw in an additional explanation. Haruna pretty much got it when he explained.

「Yep, must be pretty tough to only have smoked meat and crackers.」

「Plus it seems like dried fruit’s only in a minority of regions, like Ortem.」

「Yeah, and it’s more difficult than it seems.」

Hiroshi and Haruna lamented the inconveniences as they listed packed meals, but they themselves ate luxurious food every day in abundance that was thanks to their portable and convenient cooking devices, so they were not exactly ones to be talking about this.

「And then, about the workshop craftsmen and administrators, this does involve the others and isn’t something to talk about right this moment.」

「Oh, so you discussed that as well.」

「Somewhat, yeah. The personnel selection will involve the country interceding.」

「I see. If it’s your majesty and the king selecting the personnel, then I say that’s a relief.」

「I promise the best for my country. Still, I cannot say anything regarding Darl or Forre, as that is up to them.」

「Darl or Forre？」

Haruna furrowed her brow the minute Layotte said that. She didn’t seem to understand why those two other countries would be involved.

「This is an international problem, but it’s still necessary that we not bring about discord within the groups who are currently supporting the workshop. Before the selection is finished, we need to explain to Teres and the others in order to gain their approval.」

「Then I think that should be done today.」

「Is everyone gathered here today？」

「There haven’t been any checks coming in for staying the night elsewhere, and Govejon-san and Foldan-san will be coming here for dinner because of their errands. While we’re at it, how about we have you eat with us, Your Highness？」

「Sounds like an idea. However, I do have some errands that will take around thirty minutes to complete, so I need to go back for a bit. Once that’s over I’ll return, so will that be all right？」

「No issues here.」

Nodding once at Haruna’s answer, Layotte quickly went back to the castle via transportation magic. Finishing everything within thirty minutes as was promised, Layotte also conveyed ths to King Regnas and took care of all the steps prior to recommending human resources for administering the Farlane workshop. And then, when he finally got back…

「Queen Misheila and King Goht, I see they contacted you rather quickly. Did Aearis and the Octogals help with this？」

Among the people standing by in the dining hall were those who probably shouldn’t be moving around and about.

「Yeah. Seems like the priestess asked the octogals to be messengers. Before you went to speak with King Regnas, I got permission to come here via the octogals.」

「And the same for me. This workshop and the octogals, I must say, are quite helpful when it comes to certain situations.」

Seeing Layotte react to their sudden appearance without much surprise, the queen and king of their respective countries revealed the reason with slightly bored voices. Thanks to Aearis, Layotte had acquired quite a bit of an immunity to these situations recently.

「Still, I thought that Teres and the others would shrink away from something like this, but here they are, fine as can be？」

「This isn’t the first time that royals have come to the workshop, you know. These two have been making appearances in the workshops of the other countries, and aren’t the kinds of people to snap due to the rudeness of other people not knowing their true identities, so there isn’t any reason for us to be reluctant.」

「……But yes, acclimation is a terrifying thing indeed……」

Nora and Teres responded to Layotte’s curious question with awkward smiles. Fum and Lime were even sitting on the laps of the two royals, so who even cared about being rude at this point? As for Govejon and Foldan, they had an errand in the village soon after coming this way and couldn’t meet the royals before leaving.