Kays Translations

Chapter 50 - Turning Point

After the visit of the Yaderud Duke's family, several noble houses and trading companies continued to send messengers to visit. Most of them brought rather unpleasant proposals, trying to find out how the magic circle was created, or asking them to sell the exclusive rights, much like the Yaderud family. The only one I thought was worth considering was the inquiry from Viscount Innocenti, who controls the border region with a neighboring country in the western part of the kingdom.

Viscount Innocenti’s territory is a critical part of the kingdom, as it oversees almost the entire southwestern border. It primarily consists of a dry, rocky desert region but has magic stone mines producing Earth Magic Stones, making it quite prosperous. Upon hearing their story, Isamu thought it was akin to an oil-producing country in the Middle East.

However, due to the lack of large trees, there was a substantial cost associated with acquiring firewood for cooking and heating. Despite being a rocky desert, it got cold at night, so they needed fireplaces, and cooking wouldn't be possible without using fire. Even though the lords and major merchants had introduced magic stoves, they were quite fed up with the consumption of magic stones.

Then they caught wind of news about a magic device with running costs that weren't significantly different from wood-burning stoves. Furthermore, upon investigation, it turned out that the price of firewood was based on the standards of the central part of the kingdom, which was abundant in wood. For a border count family that paid a premium for firewood, this was an attractive prospect, so they decided to visit right away.

The envoy from Viscount innocenti’s territory was Julia Innocenti, the second daughter. Julia was a close friend of Annemarie from their days at the Magic Academy, which was probably why she was chosen as the envoy. Julia presented two requests: a swift introduction of the magic stoves to their territory and an invitation for setting up a workshop in their domain.

"So, you want to invite our workshop to your place, rather than creating one there?" 

"Yes. We could produce them in our territory, but isn't that equivalent to asking you to reveal your family's secret? We want to acquire magic stoves as inexpensively and abundantly as possible for our region. If you build a workshop there, it would be more convenient for us," 

Julia explained to Annemarie, who was in charge of negotiations.

This was a good negotiation, focusing on fulfilling their primary objective swiftly without infringing on the other party's interests. Once the mass production system was established in the Viscount’s territory, the agreement included providing a few tools from the initial production runs and a promise that if a workshop were to be set up outside the territory, they would first establish it in the viscount’s domain. In return, they secured a commitment to purchase Earth Magic Stones at a discounted price, which was also a significant gain for the barony.

As the Felis series was being actively produced and moving into the operational phase, having access to cheaper Earth Magic Stones was highly appreciated.

"By the way, Annemarie, what's that furry ball curled up on your lap? It's not a stuffed animal, is it? Is it your familiar?" 

Julia inquired about the cat-like creature, Orihime, which had been curled up on Annemarie's lap the whole time.

"Hehe, this little one is called Orihime. Do you remember that we took in a wanderer? It seems she came with that wanderer from another world. She's a creature called a 'cat,' not a familiar, but she's part of our family."

Annemarie answered, giving Julia a brief explanation. She seemed to be speaking calmly, but her eyes gleamed like those of a hunter who had spotted prey.

"Wow, it's unusual to consider an animal part of your family. I treasure my horses, but I wouldn't call them family. By the way, she's so quiet. Is she sleeping?"

"I think she's just dozing. Julia, would you like to hold her? Orihime, is that okay?"

"Nyah."

Having been half-listening to the conversation while resting, Orihime stretched a bit, hopped off Annemarie's lap, and walked over to Julia. She lightly touched Julia’s legs, circled them, then sat in front of her and looked up.

"Nyau?"

Orihime meowed softly and tilted her head slightly.

"H-ha!! This is... so..."

Julia was completely overwhelmed by Orihime's sudden and cute attack. It was an instant knockout.

"Seems like she's okay. You can hold her."

"Okay, I understand!"

With trepidation, Julia lifted Orihime and placed her on her lap.

"Wow... she's so soft and warm. And this fluffy fur..."

With a big smile, Julia gently stroked Orihime's back as she sat cross-legged.

"Orihime-chan enjoys being gently petted behind the ears and her throat," 

Annemarie chimed in.

"Really? L-like this, maybe?"

As Julia followed Annemarie's instructions and lightly tickled Orihime's throat with her fingertips, Orihime started purring and nuzzled her face into Julia’s hand. And then, she finally...

"Nyaaao."

"What!"

Orihime rolled over on Julia’s lap.

"Kakaka…She's... so cute!"

It was the moment when Julia was completely conquered by Orihime.

Afterward, Julia didn't let go of Orihime until she returned home, and even after returning to her territory, she kept saying she wanted a 'cat,' causing a bit of trouble for the viscount’s family.

Amid these meaningful negotiations and those without any significance, Orihime was steadily expanding her circle of subordinates. Silvio returned, exhausted, and with an unsmiling face, twenty days after departing from Kraufendam.

"...You have quite a worn-out look again, are you okay?"

While he had managed to change his clothes, his exhaustion was evident, and Nicolette couldn't help but express her concern.

"Well, I wanted to return as soon as possible, so... Excuse my somewhat shabby appearance. I may have pushed myself a bit, but I'm perfectly fine!"

“Of course, you might be fine, but that doesn't change the fact that you're quite tired.” 

Nicolette sighed.

I was later told that when he arrived, the coachman had eyes like dead goblin and worshipped Isamu as if he were a god, who couldn't bear to look at him and suggested that he take a bath.

"So, despite returning sooner than expected, how did things go?"

To Nicolette's question, Silvio grinned and took out a contract with the magic seal of the Zambrotta Trading Company.

"This is a contract with the seal of the company's chairman. We can verify it at the Merchant Guild later."

He slid the contract across the table. The contract indeed bore the magic seal of the Zambrotta Trading Company's chairman.

"That's certainly a magic seal."

"I see. I thought it might take more time to convince him, but it was quicker."

Checking the contract, Selfers said

"Oh, he certainly did. I told him I'd leave and create my own company to make this contract if he didn't accept it. Fortunately, the young folks have a lot of respect for me, so they readily agreed, knowing it would be unbearable if they lost me."

Silvio explained the reasons while laughing.

"He said he’d visit later to offer his greetings, so we'll need to coordinate a schedule."

While Silvio indeed stated that he would leave, Selfers had expected that it would take more effort for Silvio to convince the company. The head of a major trading company would not have signed a contract based on Silvio’s words alone.

It means that the chairman of the Great Trading Company thought there was no loss in that contract.

Selfers once again braced himself, thinking that the real performance was about to begin.

"It's true. After the contract is concluded, we'll need to develop a sales plan for the magic stoves right away."

While having Rudolf, the steward, confirm the contract, they started planning the sales strategy. The idea of selling high-end magic stoves to the affluent was still on the table and was something the Zambrotta Trading Company had no issue with. However, the first step would be to present a set to the royal family before beginning sales.

Whether or not this magic circle's originality would become known to the royal family was inevitable, and the decision to present it first or not could make a significant difference. It would also give them additional prestige as a royal offering and make the magic tools more widely recognized in connection with the royal name, serving as a deterrent to piracy.

Despite Selfer's initial concern about Isamu’s exposure to the royal family, he ultimately agreed, thinking that it was inevitable.

It has also been decided that the demonstration sales at the showroom, which Isamu had originally planned, will be carried out at Zambrotta Trading company Royal Capital store.

Magic tools for aristocrats are often pre-ordered or made to order, so most of them have showrooms.

Naturally, Zambrotta trading company also has a store with a showroom in the capital, so they will be exhibiting there.

However, up until now, although they had done test runs, they had never demonstrated anything ``as close as possible to the actual usage scenario'' that Isamu envisioned.

So, Isamu was asked to create the script for the live sales demonstration.

Fortunately, Isamu often left the TV running in the background when he was at home in Japan, so he had a general idea of the theory behind shopping channel programs. He figured that he could come up with something based on that, so he agreed.

By the way, Isamu’s favorite shopping channel commercial was the one for "Yume◯ Loop," but he immediately removed it from the list of reference materials, thinking it would be impossible to replicate.

After a modest celebratory dinner to mark the contract's signing, they discussed the selling price and the timing of the release. Now, in the late evening, since Silvio had reserved accommodations, they were in the lounge of the Viscount's house, enjoying some drinks.

"By the way, it was quite an ordeal coming back from our visit. We got delayed in the neighboring Kalenberg territory. If it weren't for that, we would have arrived two days earlier."

Silvio, who had loosened up due to the alcohol, expressed his regret.

Isamu thought to himself, (Well, if he'd hurried even more, both the coachman and the horses would have probably died... so it's a good thing they got those two extra days) and then asked about the reason for the delay.

"It was fine on the way there, right? So why did you get delayed?"

"I didn't see it myself, but I heard a report that a swarm of monsters appeared near the highway shortly after I passed through. A hunting party was formed, and it seems to have been quite large. Until they could confirm the safety of the highway leading to our side, we couldn't move."

Kalenberg territory bordered the Viscount Klaufendam's territory and was situated to the northwest of the close ally, Viscount Bisseling's territory. When seen from the Klaufendam territory, it was sandwiched between Viscount Jansen's territory, who had recently visited. The area along the border with this side was a deep forest in the Kalenberg territory, and monsters often came out onto the highway.

However, the highway was well guarded, and in most cases, any monsters appearing there were swiftly dealt with on the same day. This time, it must have been a larger number of monsters that the regular guards couldn't handle.

"That must have been quite a hassle. But well, the fact that you made it here safely means the monsters were taken care of, so that's a relief, isn't it?"

"Yes. If the monster subjugation had taken too long, I would have been late, which would have been a problem."

Silvio laughed and moved on to the next topic.

But then, there was a loud bang on the lounge door.

"What's going on? Did you forget we have guests?" 

Selfer's irritation showed in his tone.

"Apologies! But this is an urgent matter!!! A fast horse from Viscount Jansen's knight order has arrived! Please come to the knight order command post immediately!"

It appeared to be a knight who had delivered the message, and although he apologized, he left no room for further discussion with the urgency in his voice.

"Understood. I'll go right away!"

"Ha!"

Selfer responded curtly, and the knight stepped back.

The lounge, which was previously relaxed and full of chatter, instantly cooled down as a sense of tension filled the room.

"Silvio, I'm sorry for the commotion. It seems to be an urgent matter, so I'll go check it out. I apologize, but please wait here for a while."

"Sure, I have no problem with that. Please go quickly."

"I apologize, but Isamu-dono, can you accompany me just to be safe?"

"Of course. I will accompany you."

"Then I'll be back in a little while."

Saying this, Selfers and Isamu left the lounge. Orihime, who had silently followed Isamu, continued to stay close behind him.

Upon reaching the knight order's command post, they found it in a state of chaos.

"Bring the potions! First aid won't cut it!"

"Wake up everyone except those on duty! If they're awake, prepare their gear! Don't forget the horses!"

It seemed like the people in charge, Marcela and the deputy commander Felix, were rapidly giving instructions.

In the center of a circle of people lay a man covered in blood. His armor had been removed, and he was receiving first aid.

"What happened?!" 

Selfer's voice was sharp.

"My lord! Earlier, the knight order from Viscount Jansen's territory arrived covered in blood. According to what I managed to hear, a sudden horde of monsters appeared from the west side of the highway, launching an attack on the capital, Yanseir. They closed the gate, so the damage to the city is still minimal, but about half of the horde continued to the east. Some of our knights were dispatched as a pursuit team, but there were too many enemies. We hurried to notify everyone and rushed here."

"What did you say?!"

Selfer's stunned voice echoed through the knight order's headquarters.

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