Published: August 2, 2025
Today, three chapters posted simultaneously.
This story is Chapter 2.
After dinner,
It was me, Mr. Serge, Mr. Pioro, and the Duke and Duchess.
We enjoyed delicious food and fine wine, and the conversation flowed smoothly.
However, over the past year, I have been involved in various matters, and everyone else is equally busy. The topics were far from exhausted during dinner, and there was so much I wanted to ask but couldn’t. So, while enjoying tea after the meal, we continued talking at a more relaxed pace.
“I knew about the waterproof cloth, but Ryoma-kun was involved in other things as well?”
“That music box was originally something Ryoma-kun taught us about, wasn’t it?”
“Thanks to that, the Morgan Trading Company’s reputation is steadily rising. Pioro, I believe you’ve also been involved?”
“You mean the ‘barley tea’? That’s gradually increasing in sales as a new kind of beverage. We plan to promote it more seriously starting next year, but as a new venture, it’s going very well. I’m truly grateful to Ryoma, who even brought us the suppliers and raw materials.”
“It’s going well, which is good to hear. The source of the raw materials was from the hometown of one of our shop’s employees, so that was some good luck.”
“I’m glad to share that luck. No matter how hard you try, you can’t make luck happen on your own.”
That’s true. Since coming to this world, I’ve had fewer moments feeling ‘unlucky.’ Even the small misfortunes I have faced are minor. Receiving multiple blessings from the gods, and frequently meeting and talking with them, means my luck is probably extraordinary. If I had a luck skill, it might be maxed out.
“I heard Weizen Village struggled due to its awkward location, but it seems like it will prosper going forward?”
“If the villagers remain satisfied, Saionji Trading Company will purchase the wheat from there. We’re planning to improve staffing, tools, and necessary facilities for barley tea production and support by next year.”
“Increasing the wheat in the village, processing some into barley tea, and selling it through Saionji Trading Company—that sounds like a promising flow. I’ll support you in any small way I can.”
“Well, Your Grace, hearing that will really motivate those in charge.”
While chatting lightly, I occasionally felt a sense of unease.
Behind their words, I couldn’t fathom how much meaning was implied.
When it was my turn, I reported on recent events in a rather ordinary way.
For example, the state of the abandoned mine I’m managing, or news about slimes.
“Lately, I’ve been taming and breeding weed slimes and stone slimes, which mimic weeds and stones perfectly. Their food is easy to obtain, they reproduce quickly, and unless you know they’re slimes, you can’t tell them apart. It seems they use the ingested food as a reference to blend seamlessly into the local scenery… Recently, I’ve been considering using this trait for security at the abandoned mine.
Specifically, breeding two types and deploying them throughout the mine, connected via beast taming magic to detect intruders. Unfortunately, despite their rapid reproduction, we don’t have enough yet, so we’re currently testing in several eastern tunnels, where magical beasts have often settled in the past six months. But in experiments using limule birds, as long as I’m within communication range of the slimes, I can determine their locations and the number of intruders. I believe they’ll serve well as lookouts in the future.”
“You never stop finding uses for slimes. If you can detect intruders without being noticed and know their numbers and positions, you could even set traps.”
“Using slimes for security, huh… I have my familiars guarding my garden, but those kids immediately attack any suspicious person they find. That difference is interesting.”
The madam said this with a smile, but her familiars are wolf-type magical beasts. One I was shown before was well-trained and docile, but it still had an enormous body that could easily overpower her if she leaned on it… I understand anyone trespassing on the Duke’s household is in the wrong, but imagining such creatures attacking on sight paints a pretty gory picture.