Kays Translations

Chapter 65: Departure Preparations

The day after Isamu prototyped the shower, a fast horse arrived from the neighboring Viscount Jansen’s territory. It seems that Count Bruno, the head of the Kalenberg’s family, has formally decided to visit the Jansen Viscount territory to apologize on the 16th of the 8th month, four days later.

Originally, the plan was for the count to visit the Jansen territory about ten days later, and they had sent a message to that effect. However, as courtesy is important, they decided to send a fast horse from the Klaufeldt family as well, delivering a letter directly to Count Bruno Kalenberg.

The journey from the capital of Klaufendamm in the Kraufeldt territory to Belcoure, the capital of Kalenberg territory, takes about five days by carriage. Since it is currently the dry season, and major weather disturbances are rare, six days should be sufficient, allowing for an extra day of flexibility. They decided to depart on the 19th and aim to arrive in Belcoure by the 25th.

There are seven days left in the preparation period. During this time, they need to finalize preparations for the journey, including souvenirs, product samples, and details of the negotiations.

As for souvenirs and product samples, since they are mostly complete, Isamu, Eto, and Willem will finish and make final adjustments.

"This time, since we have multiple carriages, we can bring the improved refrigerators directly. Well, we're also bringing the magic tools that creates the insulation stone separately, so we could make them there if needed, but it's a hassle to adjust."

"Yes, and we've covered the surface with solid beetle shells on our end, so that saves us some work too."

The urethane foam generated from the magic circle that Isamu deciphered was officially named "Insulation stone." Keeping it simple is the best.

Regarding the origin of the insulation stones, they explained that unfamiliar stones were produced when they dug through the bedrock for the expansion of the lord's mansion in Klaufendamm. The stone resembled a substance from Isamu previous world, and after verification, it was found to have a similarly high insulation effect, so they used it to improve the refrigerators. While it's a bit forced, they can't disclose that they made it with magic tools, and if they said it was produced outside the town, it would undoubtedly attract investigation.

"As for the magic stoves, they should be presented to the royal family around this time, right?"

"That's right. Right after the monster incident, we transported them to the capital with the Zambrotta Trading Company's carriage, so they should arrive today or tomorrow. Since the group that went to present them will probably return before our departure, we'll confirm the situation and make the final decision."

Although they plan to bring the magic stoves as souvenirs rather than for negotiations, they can't hand them over before they reach the royal family, so they have to wait for the report from the group that went to the capital.

By the way, the presentation team includes Sven, the chief internal affairs official, and Silvio from the Zambrotta Trading Company, with the pretext of presenting them from the viscount's family and the Zambrotta Company. Since it's an offering from a lower-ranking noble family, the king won't grant an audience. If the king likes the offering, there will be a later summons for an audience.

Also, since both the lord and lady of the territory are visiting together this time, the security measures will be strict. When the daughter, Annemarie, visited the capital as a proxy for the head, there were ten knights for security, including the vice-captain. This time, there will be three times that, thirty knights. Naturally, all of them will carry the Felis Type 1, but there was a concern arising from the recent battle with the monsters.

When the Sharpness is activated, the magic stones glow. Although the function array has been plated from above, making it difficult to see the glow, the magic stone clearly emits light. While the knights welcomed it as "cool," using swords that all light up in case something happens would make them stand out.

In the near future, there are plans to disclose information about the Felis series, but they wanted to keep it under wraps a little longer. So, despite the complaints from the knights, Isamu and the others decided to make a minor change to make them stop glowing.

"Do we have no choice but to paint over it?"

"That's right. We can cover magic stones with metal, but for the non-attributed magic stones used for activation, we can't touch them."

"Will it still react if we paint over it?"

“We won't know until we try... we haven't had the need to hide it until now.”

While discussing this, Isamu, Eto, and Willem conducted experiments with various paints.

"I see. Magic stone powder works here too."

"It's useful in many ways, isn’t it?"

"That's right."

As a result, it was confirmed that as long as they used paint mixed with magic stone powder, they could activate it unless they applied it too thickly. However, if they painted too close to the base, it seemed to interfere with the activation array connected from there, causing it not to activate. Therefore, they decided to paint the bottom half with regular paint and the upper half with paint mixed with magic stone powder.

By the way, there was no issue with covering the entire surface with paint for attribute magic stones.

Seeing the Felis series no longer shining brightly, the members of the knight order shed tears of regret...

Up until now, they had been mainly working on small items, but now a request for a big item has come in.

The mother and daughter of the viscount's family made an earnest request to bring a bath with them.

For Isamu, who loves baths, this was a wish come true, so he agreed with a nod and began working on its creation.

However, unlike on Earth, with magic stones, there is no need for a power source or heat source, and water can be added with magic, making it quite easy to make. They used a covered wagon as a base. They didn't choose a box wagon because they didn't want to leave the interior damp after use, and Isamu wanted to take an open-air bath. First, they installed a bathtub with a wooden frame in a slightly larger covered wagon. 

They made the curtain of the covered wagon double-layered to ensure it was not see-through.

Although they thinly covered the washing area with copper plates for waterproofing and placed a wooden grating on top, they assumed it would deteriorate after a few years, so they planned for replacement. While they couldn't make it very spacious, they had to accept it as part of traveling. Once it's reasonably dry, they can load luggage during travel, and people can ride, so it didn't become too much of a luxury.

Continuing with the preparations, the group that went to present the magic stoves to the capital has returned. It seems they were able to present them to the royal family safely, so there are no issues with the souvenirs for the count.

As the departure to the count's territory approaches, Isamu is engaged in what can be considered the most crucial task: making preserved food for Orihime. Fortunately, refrigerators in this world can operate standalone as long as there are magic stones, so they often bring them on occasions like this one. However, due to the large number of people this time, it's impossible to secure a capacity that can hold all the food for the entire journey.

Moreover, refrigeration has its limits when it comes to the shelf life of meat. For humans, salted dried meat is acceptable, but for Orihime, who is a cat, it's not that simple. Considering the uncertainty of daily prey availability, and thinking about the future, Isamu decided to make preserved food that lasts as long as possible.

"Nyaa~"

Orihime let out a small sound and demonstrated a digging motion with her front paws right next to a container that seemed to contain something.

"I wonder if she doesn't like this much..."

"Indeed, Orihime-chan seems to prefer chicken meat."

Isamu and Annemarie, sitting on low stools, were peeking at Orihime's behavior, right in the middle of a grand tasting session of the various preserved foods they had made.

"Yes, that's right. She seems to like the Spike Goose that we ate when coming from the capital, or the breast meat of this Forest Heron."

Originally, she liked Spike Goose, but unfortunately, they don't inhabit the surroundings of Klaufendamm. Instead, they compared dried meat made from the meat of Forest Boars, deer-like magic beasts, and Forest Herons as substitutes.

As a result, it was found that the meat of a large bird resembling a chicken called Forest Heron was Orihime's favorite. By the way, Forest Heron is a large bird exceeding one meter in size, but surprisingly, it is not a magic beast but a regular animal. Despite this, it is quite surprising that it occupies a relatively high position in the food chain in the forest infested with magic beasts. It seems to be a relatively popular ingredient in Klaufendamm and frequently appears on the dining table of the viscount's family. Isamu’s impression of it was that it tasted like chicken with a Atka mackerel-like flavor.

They used a magic tool for air circulation, similar to the blowers used in ventilation systems, and a magic stove to make dried meat from the Forest Heron's meat. It was a device like a food dryer that continuously blew warm air. While natural drying would be possible during the winter, the fear of spoilage in the current high temperatures of summer prompted them to prototype such a device.

While it may not reach the level of jerky, if stored in the refrigerator in this state, it lasts quite a long time. A food item exclusively for Orihime, which is firm as it is but can be softened by soaking in water or hot water, has been completed.

In this way, as time passes while making various preparations, they welcome the morning of the day they depart for the Kalenberg Count's territory.

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