Chapter 257 Neil’s Consultation
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The day after the new specialty of the frontier settlement was born, I found myself not in my usual office but in the reception room.
It wasn’t because we had a visitor; it was just me, Diana, Lewya, Mei, and Zora in the room.
With this group gathered, it seemed natural that Estesia-san would also show up, but lately, Estesia-san has been wandering outside whenever she has free time, and she hardly bothers me anymore.
I was curious about her sudden change in attitude, but I decided to leave it alone to avoid stirring up trouble.
”Well, the reason I gathered everyone here is to discuss how to attract people to the frontier settlement.”
”Huh? Isn’t that no longer a problem since the new vegetables created by the spirits are here?”
”No, no matter how appealing something is, it doesn’t matter if no one knows about it, right? We need to make sure people are aware of its existence first.”
”Isn’t it enough to send crops from the Harvest Hoe to various places? The traditional crops became famous that way, right?”
”That might work for just getting the word out, but this time, the goal is to get people to come to the frontier settlement. If they can get it from the Harvest Hoe, there’s no reason for them to come all the way to the frontier settlement.”
”So, you want to spread information without actually distributing the goods. That’s why you called us here to discuss that method, right?”
”No, I already have some ideas about that method. I called everyone here because I wanted your opinions on it and I have other things to discuss as well.”
”So, what’s the method?”
”First, regarding the crucial crops, the best way to make their existence known is to spread the word outside. So, we won’t share it with the common folks we want to attract to the frontier settlement; instead, we’ll share it only with the wealthy, like nobles, and let them spread the rumors.”
”I see, so it’ll be like saying that while commoners can’t easily taste it, if they come to the frontier settlement, they can experience it.”
”Hmm, that could definitely draw people in, but…”
Zora frowned as she said that, and I understood her feelings, so I jumped in to support her.
”I get what Zora is saying. I didn’t want to favor only the nobles either. But it’s not easy to make your presence known without any real backing, and what do you think will happen if even the nobles can’t easily get their hands on it?”
”Noble envoys will flood the frontier settlement, for sure.”
”Not just that, but there will be some kind of pressure on the lord as well.”
”…So it’s better to give the nobles a fair share, huh?”
Zora didn’t fully agree, but understood that not doing so would lead to trouble, so she had nothing more to say.
”I get Neil’s thinking, but where exactly do you plan to send it? You’re not thinking of sending it to all the nobles, are you?”
”Of course, I’ll narrow it down. The Emperor, His Majesty is a given, and then I’m thinking of sending it to Duke Clement and Marquis Rubal.”
”If you’re sending it to nobles, those 2 make sense.”
”Who are those 2?” said Zora.
”They’re famous foodies among the empire’s nobles. I’m thinking of sending it as a way for them to taste the new crops.”
”Foodies… I’ve heard of Duke Clement before. Wasn’t he the one Narsht used to work for?”
”You remember well, that’s right.”
There are many picky nobles in the empire, but only Duke Clement and Marquis Rubal are called foodies. If they give their stamp of approval, that alone would be enough for promotion.
After that, rumors will naturally spread among the nobles, and orders will start coming in from others. Once that flow starts, we’ll be set.
”But those 2…”
”What’s wrong, Mei? Is there a problem? You just said they were a good choice.”
”Just because they’re a good choice as recipients doesn’t mean there aren’t issues, especially since those 2 don’t really get along.”
”While they’re both considered foodies, they have different approaches to food.”
They’re both nobles of the empire, so they won’t openly argue, and there’s a difference in their ranks.
Marquis Rubal can’t just act tough with Duke Clement, who holds a higher title.
Duke Clement knows that if he tries to push his claims here just because the other party is being humble, he’ll end up being mocked for using his title as a shield.
For Duke Clement, who believes his values about food are absolute, being told something like that is completely unacceptable.
So, even though they are both food lovers with different values, thanks to the nature of the empire’s nobles who dislike open conflict and the difference in their titles, they manage to get along just enough to avoid serious clashes.
”Just make sure to think carefully about the order and what to send. Since the frontier settlement is closer to the Marquis Rubal territory, if you send them at the same time, the Marquis Rubal will get it first.”
”Don’t worry about that. I won’t send it directly from the frontier settlement, I can’t even if I wanted to.”
”Hmm? Why not?”
When I replied to Mei’s advice, Zora tilted her head and asked.
”The head of the Count Atmiras family is my father. I can’t just ignore him and send gifts to another house.”
”Even though you’re in charge of the frontier settlement, you’re surprisingly restricted, huh?”
”Well, since I haven’t inherited the family headship, that’s how it is. Most of the rights in the frontier settlement are held by my father. If I want to do something big, I need my father’s permission, so I actually have very little freedom.”
So, the order of gifts should be adjusted by my father, and all I need to do is send the actual items along with a letter to him…
The only worry I have is that the package addressed to His Majesty might get pulled away by them before it reaches my father.
I’d be scared if I got complaints from His Majesty later, so I’ll send a list of what’s meant for them to my dad in advance to confirm.
”Now, moving on to the next topic, don’t you all think the transportation to the frontier settlement is pretty bad?”
”Well, with such a huge mountain range in between, it’s obviously going to be bad.”
”Yeah, Lewya, if we’re talking about straight distance, it’s only about 30 minutes by carriage to the northern street, but because of the winding roads to avoid the mountains in between, it actually takes over 2 hours. We can’t keep this up if we want to bring people to the frontier settlement.”
”Are you suggesting we improve the roads?”
”Yeah, I want to make a straight path through the mountains.”
”That’s a good idea. A lot of people visiting the frontier settlement have been complaining about the roads──what’s wrong?”
Lewya agreed, but seeing everyone else’s sour faces, she stopped speaking.
”Lewya, why do you think Neil-sama has left that troublesome road alone until now?”
”Well…”
At Diana’s question, Lewya fell silent.
I spread out what I had prepared on the table.
”Let’s talk while looking at the map. First, here’s the southern part of the empire. The map only shows forest, but this is the frontier settlement. Can you tell how much land has been given to the Count Atmiras family from this map?”
”Huh? Hmm, from here… about this much?”
Lewya traced the mountain peaks with her finger, then moved her finger southward to draw a circle.
”Sorry, but the land given to the Count Atmiras family isn’t that wide. The area around this mansion is the Count Atmiras family’s territory.”
”‘Area around’ is pretty vague.”
”It really is vague. In such undeveloped land, we can’t draw boundaries like in other territories.”
”What? So, can we claim the land we develop as Count Atmiras family territory?”
”It’s possible since it’s not clearly defined, but if we do that, we’ll definitely incur the wrath of His Majesty. Even though it’s undeveloped, this area, including the labyrinth’s domain, is treated as part of the empire’s territory. Claiming it as your own would be like invading His Majesty’s land.”
”So, it means that Neil was trusted not to do something like that, which is why Neil was given this land.”
”If that’s the case, it would be a great honor, but the frontier settlement was given to the Count Atmiras family, not to me. It was my father. So, I think His Majesty didn’t trust me, but rather based that trust on the idea that an empire noble who has survived the competition wouldn’t make such a foolish mistake.”
”That’s a nasty kind of trust.”
I agree with Lewya, a wry smile on my face.
”Anyway, to get back on track, the point is I want to improve the road, but since it’s not in Count Atmiras’ territory, I need to get permission from the person who owns that land.”
”If Count Atmiras’ territory is just around this mansion, then does that mean the northern mountains belong to the emperor?”
”Exactly, the area around the mountains is His Majesty’s territory, so we need to get permission from His Majesty. But there’s another person we need to get permission from besides His Majesty.”
”…Viscount Hedmar, right?”
Zora murmurs, picking up on my words.
”Yeah, the town road that goes north of the frontier settlement is within Viscount Hedmar’s territory. Since we want to connect to that, we obviously need to get permission from him too. Since we’re asking to build the road, he’ll likely have some demands, and he might interfere with the construction as well.”
”So that’s why you’ve been avoiding road improvements all this time.”
”Yeah, but we can’t keep saying things like that. Living as a noble in this country means we can’t avoid dealing with other nobles.”
”…That’s a statement I wouldn’t expect from Neil a little while ago.”
”I think so too. Now, getting permission from His Majesty and Viscount Hedmar is a must, but if we do get permission, we also need to think about which firm to hire.”
”Isn’t it a no-brainer to go with Sincere Dwarf?”
”That’s how I feel, but…”
As I say this, I turn my gaze to Zora.
This time, I think the request involving Viscount Hedmar isn’t something Sincere Dwarf would want, especially with their ongoing issues with the empire’s nobles, when Zora slowly speaks up.
”No, we’ll take that request.”
”Zora, I appreciate the sentiment, but the others won’t agree.”
”I’ll convince everyone. The client is still you, right?”
”That’s true, but since we’re connecting to Viscount Hedmar’s territory, we need to discuss things face-to-face to avoid any misunderstandings. Ronim-san and Ranaan-san will definitely be against it.”
”Then I’ll represent Sincere Dwarf in place of the two of them. Believe it or not, I’ve negotiated with the client a few times in Ranaan’s stead.”
”…Is that okay?”
Reuniting with the Hedmar couple was definitely not a pleasant experience.
Although they reached a temporary agreement, Zora still hasn’t fully processed the reality of having real parents.
”Don’t look so worried; I’m just going as a representative of Sincere Dwarf.”
”…Got it, then I’ll leave the request to Sincere Dwarf for now. First, we need to get permission from His Majesty, so negotiating with Viscount Hedmar will have to wait until after that.”
”Understood, I’ll make sure to convince everyone by then.”
Zora flexes her muscles, signaling to leave it to her. Although she looks cheerful on the surface, there’s a hint of weariness in her demeanor, but I didn’t point that out.
”So, is that the end of the discussion?”
”No, there’s still something else. I want everyone to come up with a name for the new crop.”
”A name?”
”The new crop is completely different from the traditional ones. But as it stands, it’ll just get mixed up with the usual crops from the frontier settlement, right?”
”I see, so you want us to come up with a specific name for it.”
”Well, having a name would help spread the word more easily, so let’s brainstorm together,” said Lewya.
Then we brainstormed ideas for the name of the new crop that would become the signature product of the frontier settlement, while I pondered my next move.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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