Chapter 515: Julius’s Report
When I rang the chime outside Father’s office, the door opened almost immediately.
It was Lionel who answered.
Could it be that he was in the middle of giving his own report? If that’s the case, maybe I should come back after dinner to give mine.
“Ah, Julius. As it happens, I was just speaking with Lionel.”
“If you’re busy, Father, I can come back later with my report—”
“No, stay. Let’s hear it now.”
At Father’s glance, one of the servants silently began to prepare tea for me. Ah, that meant there was no escape now. With Lionel here, I had no choice but to hand in my report right this moment.
“I see you’ve already received Lionel’s report, Father. I’ve finished mine as well, so I came to deliver it.”
“What? No, we were merely discussing who would serve as your escort to the Kingdom of Raven, that’s all.”
“Eh?”
“Julius-sama, you’ve already completed your report? But yesterday you were at Baron Amber’s estate, weren’t you? That means you must have written it all today…”
Lionel looked utterly perplexed, while Father wore a rather complicated expression. Wait—does he think I just threw something together? Even if you are my father, that’s quite insulting. You’ll see soon enough. Behold the masterpiece I poured my soul into—and tremble before it!
“This is my report on the inspection.”
“Let’s see then… hm? Wh—what is this!?”
Father’s eyes widened dramatically. The reaction came so swiftly after glancing through the pages that Lionel, startled, hurried to peer over his shoulder.
Ordinarily, such an action would have earned a sharp reprimand—but Lionel was family, practically. No one would scold him for it.
“Wh-what is this!? Is this truly… the proper way to write a report!?”
Lionel’s astonished voice echoed through the room. Proper? Traditional? I wasn’t sure there was any such distinction. But apparently, I had written something revolutionary.
Father’s hands flipped through the pages without pause. Uh oh. Maybe I went a little too far. Lionel’s eyes looked ready to pop out of his head as he skimmed through the report. Ah—but the tea was excellent.
“Well, now that I’ve handed it over, I’ll take my leave—”
“Stay where you are.”
Damn, caught. And here I was, about to make a cool exit as Julius Heine, the calm and collected. Nero—my familiar—seemed positively delighted by my capture. Was this what he wanted all along?
“Julius, where did you learn to write like this?”
“No one taught me, really. I just thought… if I wrote it this way, it might be easier to read.”
Of course, that was a lie. In my previous world, I’d written reports by the dozens, only to have them returned covered in red ink again and again. Thanks to that relentless cycle, I’d eventually learned how to make my writing clear and coherent. But that wasn’t a story I could ever tell here.
“I see… readability, hmm. I’ve never really thought about that. Julius, I’d like to spread this style of report writing to others. What do you think?”
“I don’t mind, really.”
Oh boy. This was turning into something big. All I’d wanted was to lighten Father’s workload a little—but if this new format helped others too, maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. If reports became easier to read, everyone would save time.
“Then it’s settled. Julius, this report is excellent—so clear, so pleasant to read. After this, I doubt I’ll be able to look at old reports the same way again.”
“Is it really that good?”
Father smiled warmly, while Lionel looked utterly defeated. So it was true, then. Come to think of it, I’d never seen one of Lionel’s reports before. I imagined them as pages so dense with text they might as well be painted black. Essentially, a warning label that said: Do not read.
“Julius-sama, I assure you, this isn’t flattery. Even after all the reports I’ve written, I can say yours is on another level.”
“Ah—sorry about that.”
Lionel chuckled awkwardly. It seemed I’d unintentionally demonstrated a rather painful difference in skill. Another victory for me, I suppose. Still… if I showed this to Alex-niisan or Sister-in-law Daniela, it might cause quite a stir. Hopefully, their pride would survive the impact.
After that, Father continued reading through the report, occasionally asking sharp, insightful questions. Perhaps it was because the report was so clear that he could focus entirely on the content.
“Terraces, irrigation channels, and wells, you say?”
“Yes. And that’s not all. There’s also the potential for games using bamboo materials—those might spread in the future.”
Bamboo, huh? So it was real bamboo, not some look-alike. Still, I doubted those games would spread much—entertainments from the capital would probably reach the villages sooner.
“You’ve also written that the highways should be improved.”
“Yes. From what I’ve seen, areas near the capital are developing nicely, with plenty of magical tools and amusements. But the outer regions haven’t caught up yet. To enrich the territory as a whole, we need to accelerate distribution and information flow.”
“I see… I’d thought the domain had improved greatly compared to before, but it seems we still have a long way to go.”
Father placed a thoughtful hand on his chin. Improving infrastructure wasn’t something that could be done overnight. That was why it was crucial to begin early—and Father surely understood that.
“Understood. I’ll begin drawing up plans. And Julius, I have a request for you.”
“What is it, Father?”
“I’d like you to teach the gardeners how to form proper terraces, and instruct the magicians on building irrigation channels and wells.”
“Of course. I’ll start tomorrow.
“Good. Those are all essential for the prosperity of our lands.”
Father nodded, visibly pleased. Teaching them these techniques meant I wouldn’t have to personally oversee such tasks again. His request was a gift in disguise—precisely what I’d been hoping for.
I’d teach them quickly and thoroughly… and then I could focus entirely on my upcoming work in the Kingdom of Raven.