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Chapter 180: Keep the Economy Going
I realized the reason why the number of spirits abruptly increased in my workplace. Only spirits with names that aren’t numbers and spirits that are born within the house while I’m here such as fire spark spirits and other small ones can enter my house.
That means the workshop I built later on for making medicine was considered outdoors, huh!
It’s dangerous doing stuff inside the house, since the small ones that normally disappear after a while are not only staying there; they’ve also grown quite bigger somehow.
There’s no suitable place to do smithing and dyeing in Canum so I don’t have a choice about that, but I’m going to make the medicines there from now on. We don’t want the drugs to have some weird effects after all, that’d be scary. Will it be weird to turn the prescription dispensing counter I made into a workshop?
「This is fine. 」
「What is? 」
Kiel caught me mumbling to myself on my way out.
Just like what we talked about the other day, I’m here with the magic stones that Soleil will sell for me.
Majority of the ores are jades from monitor lizards. I didn’t hole up in Canum just for show, these are the ones I diligently polished while kneading Daifuku. Scrap that, they’re the ones I diligently polished, period. So no worries, they shouldn’t have any sort of weird effect.
Some of the jades were beautiful as they were, but most of them had dull brown surfaces, so they had to be polished to bring out that nice green color. Jades with high transparency and gorgeous green colors can cost an arm and leg while those that don’t have beautiful hues are ground into powder and sold as medicine for kidneys.
「Jade, hm. It’s popular among the oldies because of the superstition that it can soothe back pain when placed on the lower back. 」
If the powder is really effective for kidneys, then that might be the source of that superstition, given that backache and waist pain can be caused by kidney problems. Add the fact that they might have a ‘fairy tale-ish’ effect because of the spirits… At any rate, I can’t easily dismiss it as an old wives’ tale just because my Japanese common sense is telling me it won’t work.
「This is a cheat ite— ehem, I mean, this is a romo sample. 」
I handed an intricately carved jade ornament with braids whose design I ripped-off from those ancient Chinese pendants that they hung from the waist.
It was detailed work so I made it in the workshop in my house. The spirits came over, so it got back pain reducing effect. That got me flustered, so I escaped to Canum, but the tools I needed weren’t there. I got fed up with all of that, so I just polished the rest.
With all of those events happening, only one cheat item was made.
「Oh my, what a fine craftsmanship. 」
「It really soothes back pain just a tiny bit, so you can lend it to those who suffer from aching backs as part of marketing the other goods. You can’t sell it unless you really really need to compete, but there’s only one of that, mind you. 」
I already teleported to Canum before it was completed so the effect is weak.
「Actually, it’s already worth a normal mansion depending on how it’s sold… 」
Soleil seemed a bit dubious based on her response. She’ll probably test it on one of those involved in the repairs of the castle.
「Here, pelt. 」
I took out the fur that I nonchalantly crammed inside the pouch.
「It’s warm here so pelt — Hey! This isn’t something that you can just stuff inside a sack! Help me. 」
Soleil spread the pelts neatly on the table with Gold and Silver’s help — two pieces from Tri-Horned silver foxes I hunted from the depths of the forest, huge enough to turn into a mantle.
Furs might be exported from Nalluahdid to different places, but it is still a hot region. Trade of ordinary furs are more popular among the tribes of the northern islands, so they’re usually dumped there. Rare pelts and furs that aren’t used as daily items to block the cold are sold here.
「Deposit the sales of these into my account. And don’t forget to get your company’s commission, alright. Ah, and here, spirit gold, congratulations on establishing your own company. 」
「Spirit Gold… 」
「You can use it as the company’s showpiece, or you can also use it for your own wedding, either way is fine. 」
Only miniscule amounts of spirit gold can be obtained so it’s ridiculously expensive.
Spirit gold will probably make a pretty strong armor, but currently, it’s treated as a special jewelry for the rich guys’ engagements and weddings. It’s most commonly used for constantly worn wedding rings and earrings. Very wealthy folks also make them into bracelets and necklaces, apparently.
I just recently learned that engagements for noblemen with ranks of count and above
might also be postponed if gold or white gold with spirit stones hadn’t been prepared, since their face is at stake.
— There are also stories such as a man who became super rich after discovering a vein of gold that had transformed into spirit gold for the most part long ago, and a king who made a golden armor with spirit gold. Legend says the armor had sunk in the ocean facing the Kingdom of Desolation.
I sensibly gave Soleil a gold piece that was only the size of the tip of the thumb. The magic ores we gathered from the tunnel weren’t that many, after all. Ah, but what an extremely efficient money-making scheme it’ll be if magic gold and magic silver turns to spirit ores just by leaving them as is wherever they are. But then, spirits will probably get bored easily if the metals didn’t transform.
「Master, just who are you…?」
「I just have connections with a retired Gold-rank. 」
I waved my hand at Auros who seemed incredulous. Dinosso told me I can use his Wolf King name, but I decided not to for now.
「Gold-ranked adventurer? Just how — 」
「Kiel, it’s not good practice to pry about personal trades. It’s very valuable, so I’ll have it appraised at the Commerce Guild. That’ll be good for publicity and trust — thanks. 」
Kiel was about to press me for answers but Soleil stopped him and thanked me.
Afterward, they took me to check the state of the palace renovation while explaining stuff to me.
「We’re almost finished with the restoration of the buildings surrounding the inner courtyard. All that’s left is to install the fixtures including the doors as well as facilities. We wish to have the smithy running first for the repairs. 」
They’re using a temporary shed for simple smithing, apparently.
「Can you scout for skilled smiths? 」
「We’ll see what we can do with our connections. 」
Auro’s connections… I feel a bit uneasy about that; is it just me? I wanna ask him about it, but there’s the matter earlier so I can’t…tsk.
「We wish to interview a few people, including Soleil’s friend, next month. Is the plan alright? 」
「As long as they can keep the first conditions and Soleil approves then that’s fine by me. 」
「We will be conducting interviews here too, of course. Also, I believe it would be in our best interest to have those incharge around the back of the main building sign a direct contract with us. 」
「Got it. 」
We discussed our plans while moving around.
Our next stop was the atrium inside the main building.
「A window’s suitable for that place that’s all cut out rather nicely, right? 」
「Yup. 」
Kiel was pointing to the place that I opened by hacking the stone walls night after night with『Zanzenken』.
「The stonemason wanted to put a tracery there, what do you think? 」
Wait, what’s a tracery? Don’t randomly blurt out things, will you.
「What kind? 」
When I asked, Kiel showed me the stonemason’s drawing that he had with him. Ahh, I see, kinda like those in the churches in Europe, huh. Stonework houses have arches above the huge windows because of the construction process. Stone framework and vertical lattice work are then fitted on the arches.
Moreover, since I didn’t know how important arches are and just went on hacking without a care, the wall that had been originally alright was starting to crumble in some places. Sorry, sorry. Yeah, it’s not a big deal if the stone above is just a single slab of stone, but it’ll definitely crumble if individual pieces are joined together, right?
The net-like partitions and latticework made out of stone and iron are called tracery, apparently.
「Wow, what a knowledgeable guy you are, Kiel. 」
「Hmpf. 」
「He just heard it from the stone masons. 」
…Auro, are you on good terms with Kiel or not? I don’t get their relationship.