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Management strategy of the Maguire territory
Currently, we had gathered in the office of the feudal lord to devise concrete countermeasures.
“Did you guys watch their dead-fish-like eyes? Bloody hell, serves them right!”
Grandpa Dimer humorously slapped me on my back.
“Listen here. Do you even understand the situation we are in, father? The fact that we are in debt doesn’t change anything.”
Bart chided him.
However, Dimer just smiled broadly.
“Um-um, I know. But, it’s none other than Grey who’s gonna help in managing our territory. We can easily repay the debt or whatever it is. You don’t need to worry.”
Judging from Dimer’s behavior, maybe he already expected it to turn out like this. What a shrewd raccoon.
“The first is the reformation of the farmland. Then, we can set aside excessive manpower for other industries. After that, we have to work together to come up with an industry that’s unique to the Maguire territory.”
It was fine if that something was also tourism or manufacturing industry, like spinning. In short, something that couldn’t be produced by anyone else other than the Maguires.
“A unique industry for our territory… But Grey, we would have done it a long time ago if there were such things.”
I also thought so, but uniqueness is an extremely critical factor for success. For that, I wanted them to find out by themselves at any cost.
“Something unique…”
“Aren’t there any hints or something?”
As Dimer began to think deeply while stroking his chin, Bart asked such an absurd thing.
We weren’t playing some kind of trick or riddle. They were the ones who should have known more about the development of industries specific to their territory than I did.
Well, they weren’t merchants, so they must be unfamiliar in that regard. Perhaps they might just need some advice to get a headstart.
“Let’s see. What’s the most valuable local heritage in this territory?”
Local heritage had a strong connection with the land. So the chance was high for them to get a clue from there.
“A local heritage… I wonder if there is.”
Bart crossed his hands and brooded about.
“Yeah.”
Dimer still stroked his chin like before and groaned.
The head maid, May-san, placed the tea in front of us while giving that unreliable man a side glance.
“Isn’t it the white luminous worm?”
She gave much-appreciated advice.
“Aah!”
Immediately, Dimer slammed both of his hands on his lap.
“There was indeed such a local heritage.”
Bart quipped repeatedly.
No, no, a local heritage like this… You know that you guys are more or less aristocrats, don’t you? You’re looking down at local heritages too much!!
“What’s this white luminous bug?”
“It’s a worm that produces white threads.”
Hey, hey, by white threads… You don’t mean…
“Is that the kind of worm that produces beautiful lustrous threads?”
“Yeah. It was the first-class product presented to the imperial court until several generations before us.”
Bingo! The closest similar thing I know is silk.
“Past tense? Why was such a first-class product discarded?”
“Because it was too difficult to handle that thread.”
May-san was the one who answered my query.
“Speaking of which, originally it was your parents who were producing the white luminous bug’s threads, right?”
“Yeah, the weaving of the threads requires a unique processing method, but at that time, due to a widespread pandemic, everyone who knew about the manufacturing method passed away, and ever since then…”
“You weren’t able to produce it?”
“Yes. I heard from my grandmother that they no longer risked their lives to grow them because the worms were too poisonous and hard to handle.”
I see. The Maguire family wasn’t as wealthy as the Millard family, but they weren’t at their wit’s end. So they chose safety over wealth.
“Where can I find the white luminous bug?”
“I think you will be able to find them deep inside the wood behind since they are the larvae of moths.”
If so, I might be able to experiment on them multiple times after harvesting a sufficient amount of them. It was becoming interesting. Durable silk. I might have unexpectedly struck a treasure trove.
We had grasped the starting point for the industry. The rest was just to figure out how to design it.
“Are there people who have some knack for textile-related information in this territory?”
“……”
Dimer, Bart, and May-san exchanged glances, looking somewhat baffled.
Hmm? Did I say something weird?
“Umm?”
“Textile is the forte of Lady Anna.”
I was told so straightforwardly. I see. It was the memory of Grey that I didn’t know.
“Ah, how could I forget.”
I said to deceive them.
Well, now, all conditions had been met. The rest was only to implement them.
◇◆◇◆◇◆
I explored the woods behind the mansion of the Maguire family, capturing several dozen cocoons, the living ones, and conducted experiments.
As a result, I found some really important facts.
First, according to the analysis results, the white luminous worm was categorized as a monster and could produce magic stones.
Second, the white luminous worm’s threads possessed the property of heat resistance, magic resistance, and shock resistance.
Third, the threads extracted from the cocoons were as hard as wire, hence couldn’t be used in making clothes.
To put it bluntly, why the heck had the Maguire family decided to throw away such miraculous threads? I even doubted their sanity. This was the best treasure that could create more wealth than any other materials excavated by chance. Someone from the top executive with decent judgment in management would have pushed ahead with the research and development, no matter what sacrifice they had to pay. If it had been offered to the imperial court, they should have also realized the importance of the threads. At the very least, they should have confiscated it. Everything seemed illogical and didn’t fit well with each other.
Anyway, the conditions that must be cleared became apparent this time.
One, to once again improve the threads of white luminous worms.
In other words, the threads must be made soft enough to be used in weaving the clothes.
Two, how to breed these white luminous worms and the method to remove their poison.
It was simple, though quite difficult. However, the fact that it had been made in the past meant there had to be a solution for this.
If only I could just find a reference or something, that would be a good start…
“Did you have something in mind on how to improve the threads?”
I tried to ask May-san, knowing it might not yield any result.
“I’m sorry, Young Master Grey.”
May-san shook her head apologetically.
Well, that was also right. If they’d known any convenient methods, they would have done it a long time ago.
“I see.”
If that was the case, I’d have to look for information in places where there might be clues.
Of course, I could have investigated everything about it in my company from the beginning, but it would take too much time. After all, it was a case where both the Maguire family and the imperial government had already given up.
Besides, Sagami Co. was an outsider to this territory. If we developed everything from beginning to end, sucking the whole fortune, it wouldn’t be any less different from the West Company. Above all, we would be unable to secure trust from the masses.
The citizens of this territory were the essential future customers of Sagami Co. It would be best for us to position ourselves as a good partner for them. In other words, the most effective way was for us to just stick to assisting and let the citizens take the lead in the development as much as possible. By all means, I wanted them to grasp the starting point.
“If you’d like, I can lead you to my parents’ home?”
“Much appreciated. Please.”
May-san’s family had been involved in the development of the white luminous worms for generations. If there was any clue, it would be there.
The Maguire territory was naturally well-off. May-san’s parents’ house was located in a small village just south of the woods where those worms lived.
We were guided into an old building and led into a spacious room that looked like a parlor.
Inside the room, several old men, who looked like village executives, were seated at a long table.
“We haven’t heard from you for a long time, Young Master.”
A white-haired old lady with a hunchback stood up from her chair and bowed her head. The rest of the old men followed suit.
She was May-san’s grandmother, and probably the chief of this Shirokane Village.
“Yeah, it’s been a long time.”
I also corrected my posture and gave a polite bow. Naturally, I didn’t remember her, but I did have heard that I’d used to visit May-san’s family from time to time when I was a child. I was urged by the old woman to sit, so I sat down on the designated seat.
“What can I do for you today?” she asked me straightforwardly about the matter.
“I come to investigate the way to improve the white luminous worm’s threads. Do you happen to know anything?”
“The white luminous worm… You seem to be interested in strange things. May I know the reason?”
“It’s for the reformation of this territory.”
Instantly, everyone present gasped and became boisterous, as if they had been imprisoned in an insect cage. The old woman raised her right hand to control the situation and looked at me with a piercing gaze.
“This means Young Master will be the future head of this territory. Is it fine to think so?”
I see. This strange uproar was all because of this apprehension.
If I became the candidate of the next head of the Maguire family, I guessed they were worried that it might cause unnecessary strife in this territory.
Geez, even though what I want to talk about isn’t even to this extent…
“You seem to misunderstand. I already have a territory in Radol as Viscount. I don’t have a shred of desire to govern this territory at this point.”
“Viscount…”
“Ridiculous!”
At my remarks, the uproar increased further.
“Everyone! Be quiet! I’m talking with your master here!!” the old woman shouted loudly, unthinkable for her age.
The room became quiet in an instant, and the old woman stared at me with a strange look.
“If so, why are you trying to reform this territory?” she asked the reason for reformation.
Hmph, this old woman seemed to be quite stubborn, and if I began to talk about reason and all, I was sure I wouldn’t be able to receive the information I wanted.
Just as I was about to open my mouth一一
“Grandma, Young Master has heard from me.”
The maid, May-san, signaled me with her eyes. Certainly, the situation would become even more complicated if they listened to me, an outsider. I should just let her, the relative of the old woman, explain the predicament of this territory.
“I see… I did hear about Count Noval picking a fight under the pretext of mining, so this is what happened.”
Unlike the firmness from before, hostility had disappeared from the old woman and the others.
What a sudden change. I wonder if they’d thought I was Count Noval’s puppet or something.
“It’s great to see you understand it. Either way, this territory needs reformation. Will you cooperate with us?”
“That’s of course… Or so I wanted to say. But we don’t know much about the white luminous worms.”
It was just what May-san had said before.
“It’s fine even if it’s not a detailed manufacturing method. Just what you remember about what you once saw.”
“The thing I remember…”
The old woman looked at the ceiling and groaned, but then she turned her head as if she’d just remembered something.
“Speaking of which, I remember when I was a little and entered the workshop without permission, I saw my grandfather was mixing something. I particularly remember it because my grandfather, who was always so kind to me, yelled at me with a menacing look like a demon.”
“Mixing something in the cauldron…”
There seemed to be something wrong. Mixing something in a cauldron. This practice itself was a typical thing in the industry and shouldn’t be very surprising.
You might get angry if a child enters the workplace without permission. However, I felt an intense obsession in the old lady’s remark.
“Can you tell me in detail what happened at that time? As many details as possible.”
“Sigh…”
At my extremely tense expression, the old lady sighed and began to talk about the past as if she felt nostalgic about that moment.
“I see. So it was like that…”
More or less, I’d guessed for my sense of discomfort. If my speculation was true, I thought the Maguire family and the imperial court had made a desperate but wise decision.
The governance of this imperial country for several generations might be firmer than I had imagined.
“Have you noticed something, Young Master?”
I nodded at May-san’s curiosity-filled words.
“Yeah, I have more or less guessed the manufacturing method.”
All we needed to do was repeat some experiments and find the solution. It was because, although the manufacturing method wasn’t that abstruse, the problem was something else.
I shifted my gaze to the old woman and declared, “Epidemic wasn’t the reason why your grandfather died. It was the thread production itself.”
If that was the case, it would explain the questions we had been having.
First of all, why did the imperial court and the Maguire family readily interrupt the production just because it was dangerous?
Of course, there might be some problems in breeding or raising these poisonous worms.
However, if we took the vast fortune from thread production into account, it would be unconvincing to cancel the operation just because it entailed danger.
In other words, it wasn’t only the worms but also the threads that were poisonous, and the poison generated from the manufacturing method was gradually eating the workers.
There wasn’t a single proper medical institute in this empire. Especially when an epidemic broke out, the entire village would be annihilated.
That was why they had been able to make a living out of the threads without even realizing that they were being poisoned.
And the old lady’s grandfather must have been fully aware of the dangers of possessing this thread. It was no wonder that he stubbornly refused to raise a successor, and that he was furious when the old woman entered his workshop.
The old woman’s grandfather probably had failed and died while trying to detoxify the thread, along with the workers.
It would’ve all made sense if the Maguire family and the imperial government had suspended the development of threads upon noticing the level of risk after receiving reports about the accident on the site.
Well, it wasn’t like I had anything to prove at this point…
“The production itself was dangerous, so it was banned. If that’s the case, then we also don’t have any choice but to abandon the development of the thread…”
May-san let out a sigh in disappointment.
“Of course, we will still develop them.”
It was a miraculous thread, still secret from others, and no one had even tried to research and develop it.
“It’s dangerous! Who’s even gonna try it!?”
“I will.”
Naturally, I didn’t have the slightest bit of intention to hand it over to someone else.
“No-no-no, Absolutely not!”
May-san vigorously shook her hand and strongly rejected it.
“I have my thoughts about it. If we follow a few steps, we can reduce the danger considerably.”
“I’m against it!”
“I will do it, whether you agree or not.”
As a politician, it’s correct to hesitate at developing something unknown because of its danger. Unfortunately, I’m a researcher by nature. I don’t have the mentality to abandon research merely because of its risks. Besides, there are always minor or major risks in research and development. Science has been developed by continuing to do so regardless of the dangers.
“You aren’t going to change your mind no matter what?”
“Yeah, it’s impossible.”
The surrounding village executives gulped when the atmosphere between us turned dangerous, a complete U-turn from earlier.
“Then, please let me participate in this research.”
“Huh? You can’t do that, can you?”
I flatly rejected May-san, who said such a ridiculous thing.
“Whether I can or can’t doesn’t matter. I will do it,” she insisted stubbornly.
“Be my guest. I won’t let you participate anyway.”
Now that I got what I wanted to know, there was no other reason to linger here anymore.
“I will report this matter to Lady Anna if you don’t let me participate.”
As I was about to stand up, May-san asserted it strongly.
I was beat. It would be bad. Too bad. I could imagine mother opposing with teary eyes if she learned about the specific.
Mother’s fashion sense was needed for this project. We wouldn’t be able to do much if she became angry.
“I understand. But you will attend only the briefing regarding the research.”
It wasn’t a problem if May-san was present only during the short meeting time.
“No, I will participate in everything! You wouldn’t mind if there weren’t any life-threatening parts, right?”
This person, was she always that stubborn and troublesome? I’d thought she would be a more understanding person…
However, it would certainly be more convenient for public opinion if there were participants from the Maguire family. Perhaps, it would be a good idea.
“I will tell you this first. Although it’s possible to tone down the danger, it won’t reach zero. There is always a risk of death, you know?”
May-san gulped.
“Bring it on.”
But she insisted stubbornly.
Well, whatever. It was somewhat different from my initial expectation, but I laid out the groundwork for research. All that was left was to put the operation in action.
This time, I bowed and left the village chief’s house.