āIt seems to be quite a commotion. ā¦under the surface, that isā (Rephilia)
āUnder the surface, huhā¦ā (Mitsuha)
Rephilia reported the situation with overflowing smile on her face.
Right, I will not forgive those who look down on me.
Especially in a world like this, once someone looked down on you, those who thought they could do the same would come all together. Thatās why, even if I have to take some risks or damages, Iāll crush those who look down on me. To prevent that sort of people from appearing one after another.
In order to do that, I will gladly become [That]. The [Iām cruel, you know] thing.
You can call me Gorgeous ā Mitsuha.
ā¦Iām not always carrying a globe though.
(Note: the former is reference of the vintage manga [Gorgeous ā Irene], and the latter, the globe thingy, is reference of the Japanese comedian called [Gorāgeous])
Since the fact that Iāve been missing from the store was already known to those people, I borrowed the duplicate key to the warehouse of Rephilia Trade from Rephilia, and secretly transferred the whole inventory there from my store at midnight. Otherwise, the Rephilia Trade will run out of stock.
I told Rephilia that I decided to move at night because [If they found about this, we might come across something weird again]. Thatās why I borrowed the key from her.
I transferred near the warehouse, entered with the borrowed key and confirmed that no one was there. Then I transferred the goods inside, went outside, locked the warehouse, and left. ā¦ it was an easy job.
Of course, the reason why I didnāt directly transfer the goods into the warehouse is to avoid encountering someone, since even late at night, someone might still be working.\n
Besides, Iām not doing this every day. Normally, thereās no trader who receives the goods carried by sailboats every day. ā¦especially in this world.
Actually, it should be once every few months in normal circumstances, but because there are problems of storage capacity and product deterioration, I have to carry them gradually. However, it is not necessary to notify this matter externally, so the frequency of import is known only to me and the leader of the Rephilia trade.
āThen, Rephilia can decide what to do about this matter however you see fit. You should be relentless towards those who you deemed to be hostile, give some flexibility to those who you deemed to be friendly, and keep the deals going. We need to use our weapons effectively!ā (Mitsuha)
āAs you wish, Your Highness!ā (Rephilia)
ā¦whoās [Your Highness]!!
Is she joking, or is she really thinking that Iām a member of royal familyā¦
Well, I guess from the perspective of a commoner like Rephilia, thereās no big difference between nobles and royals. If you go against or offended them, your head will fly easily ā¦ not in figurative terms, but literally and physically.
āWell then, since the inventory has been replenished properly, do your best to become [Charlia Terrace]!ā (Mitsuha)
āYes!ā (Rephilia)
Yes, I adapted, translated and shortened that masterpiece novel and told the story to Rephilia.
Then, Rephilia set her sight to become [Charlia Terrace], one of the store on the shopping street in the royal capital, where the high-class stores lined up, just like in that story. Ā (Note: Ref. the title ofĀ Ch.166)
ā¦what will become of her, I have no clue.
(Naratorās POV)
Rephiliaās father and brother, of course, know that Count Wonrade and Viscount Efred are the aliases of the King and the prince. However, Rephilia, who never actually goes to transaction place with the customers, associate with each customers, or attended nobility parties when she studied business and helped the store, does not know about it. And of course, Mitsuha too. So, neither of them realized that a lot of people who were involved with the royal palace were being cut off from the merchandises handled by the Rephilia Trade.\n(Mitsuhaās POV)
All right, Colette-chan and Sabine-chan are in good mood, Rephilia trade only needs replenishment every other week or so, and [Gold Coin] would be fine if I leave it to its capable manager and the clerk. ā¦it doesnāt matter if they get a little deficit.
So, what am I gonna do, you ask?
Itās territory management of my Yamano Viscounty!
No one asked me to do things on the new continent, I do it at my own expense. I just borrowed the initial funds from the King, and I had to return it later. So the things on the new continent are just volunteer project, not a mission or a duty or anything.
But territory management is different. Itās my duty as a lord, and I must protect the territory and its people. ā¦ as the second priority after my life and safety.
Thatās why itās been a long time since I stayed at the territory residence. No, I sometimes go to my home in Japan or the store in the Royal Capital, but what I mean is [the basic place to stay].
And when Iām trying to go to workā¦
āAlright, Iām claiming the exclusive right to keep Mitsuha for myself!ā (Colette-chan)
Colette-chan has made a somewhat questionable claim.
As Iām wondering what she is talking about so suddenly, I listened to the storyā¦
āLeah, Noel, and Ninette thinks itās unfair if only me get to be with you all the time since I started telling everyone about Mitsuhaās good points every day, and theyāre planning to take my positionā¦ā (Colette-chan)
āItās because you say unnecessary things. You reap what you sow!ā (Mitsuha)\n\nThe first one is from Randy-san, whoās in charge of research and development in Yamano territory.
āYes. Iām thinking of trying to develop a gun using the method called [Hook Riffling] that you told me, butā¦ thereās a problem with how to hold and rotate the barrel, how to feed the cutter into it, and how to make a cutter that is strong enough to cut the barrelā¦ā (Randy-san)
In other words, little to no progress has been made.
Even though itās still difficult to reproduce even the smoothbore barrel, I guess it was a bit unreasonableā¦
And thereās no way we could make a cannon in a countryside like this where both iron and manpower are lacking, so I leave that matter to Count Bozes. Its research and development are in progress concurrent with the sailboatās in the County. It would be easier to duplicate based on a sample, and the riffling would be relatively easy if we use theĀ La Hitte system.
Well, there is still plenty of time. I am unlikely to die prematurely from injuries or illnesses, so anything except accidents, assassinations, exiles from the country, etc. that would prevent me from participating in the interception.
There should still be plenty of time before they can intercept without me. Until then, I need sufficient time to continue to provide knowledge of the Earth and make rifled gun, rifled cannon, and explosive shellsā¦
āWell, letās proceed gradually without being impatient. It doesnāt mean that there is no result at allā¦ Next, the report on agriculture, forestry, fishing, and town please.ā (Mitsuha)
Selling two-thirds of the ownership of the captured vessels to the country and Count Bozes, and selling Eras to the country, allowed us to have a considerable territorial budget. However, itās just [nonrecurring income], itās not the funds we should rely on.
Those funds should be invested in upfront investment such as mineral exploration, steelmaking research, construction of fishing boats, and farmland improvement instead. You should use easy money for such investments and shouldnāt be included your regular expenses. Itās the same as one of the useless thinking where you try to make ends meet of your household with the money you earned from gambling.
And, of course, those funds are for the territory, for the people of the territory, not for my personal retirement assets.
The āseized war assetsā from a certain country arenāt my personal property either, because they were acquired during the war between our territory and another country. Since I more or less reported the matter to the king and received the permission, I have to give a share to the countryā¦
Just like when the absolute defense of the Royal Capital, war is profitable.
I wonder if thereās anyone, whether a country or territory, would wage a war with me personallyā¦