Chapter 64: The Visitors

After hiring Damian-san, I asked him to take a look at the workshop’s management from a merchant’s perspective — and, well, he pointed out a lot of problems.

The biggest criticism, however, was this: “Don’t buy like a noble.”

Apparently, when you leave purchases to merchants, they’ll sometimes push unsold or unnecessary goods on you. And, since they tend to judge the buyer before naming a price, he told me to always research expensive items before making a purchase.

Well, what’s done is done — there’s no fixing the past. So I gave up on that and promised Damian-san that from now on, he’d check any renovations or equipment purchases for the workshop.

Just as we were making steady progress with the preparations, though, Vessel-san showed up — completely unannounced.

“Vessel-san?”

“…Just so you know, this ain’t my fault, alright?”

He told me that after accepting a request from the Adventurers’ Guild to go to the royal capital, he’d finished that job and was looking for a return escort request when he happened to find one from Baron Merlot’s house — a request to guard Tobias-san. So he took the job and decided to return by the western route.

“So you went from the capital to Meluestat, then?”

“Well, it was work, after all.”

Judging by his awkward tone and the way his eyes darted away, I could tell it hadn’t been intentional.

“Come on, Al-kun, don’t be too hard on him,” someone said.

“I’m not blaming him,” I replied. “I just wish we’d had some notice, so we could prepare.”

Since the visit was sudden — and they’d be staying for a while — I had Heralda and the others scramble to get the guest accommodations ready.

“Oh, that’s fine. I brought two maids with me,” she said.

That might be true, but since I left the preparations to Heralda, one of her maids ended up having to serve the tea anyway.

“No, I meant the guest rooms need to be prepared.”

“That’s alright, I’ll be sleeping with Oneesan,” Rosanne-sama said cheerfully.

“—No, it’s not alright, Rosanne-sama!”

Yes — the one who had shown up out of nowhere alongside Vessel-san was none other than Rosanne-sama herself.

“My, how cold of you, Al-kun.”

“Yeah, Al, that’s mean,” chimed another voice.

“…Marnix-kun, you too?”

Yes. She had brought Marnix-kun along as well.

“So, what brings you here at such a busy time of year?” I asked.

“I came to talk with Oneesan and you, Al-kun. There are many things we need to discuss.”

I wanted to ask why she’d come all this way during tax season of all times, but just then, a knock came at the door. I granted permission to enter.

“Pardon me, Arthur-sama,” Heralda said, bowing her head slightly toward me.

“Rosanne-sama, the guest room and bath are ready. Please, rest and recover from your journey first.”

“You’re right — I should cleanse myself before meeting with Oneesan.”

If that’s what she thought, I really wish she wouldn’t storm into the mansion the moment she arrived.

“Heralda, please show them the way.”

“Yes, at once.”

Led by Heralda, Rosanne-sama and the others left the drawing room and headed toward their guest quarters. Once they were gone, I turned back to Vessel-san.

“So, I just want to confirm — it’s really alright for Rosanne-sama to stay here?”

When a noble from another domain visits, it’s customary for them to stay with that land’s ruling house. It’s a matter of inter-domain courtesy — and since she came straight here without visiting the Marquis’ family, I couldn’t help but worry whether they might take it as an insult.

“I already sent word to the estate. It’s fine,” he said.

“Well, if that’s the case, then good.”

This land may belong to the Marquis, but many other nobles are involved in its administration. If any complaints come in… well, I’ll just blame Vessel-san for it.

“Also,” I continued, “the workshop preparations are nearly done. Could I get your signature on the application forms?”

“Sure, no problem.”

“Then I’ll go fetch the documents.”

I went back to my room and returned with the workshop’s paperwork and various forms. Before asking for his signature, I explained the workshop’s outline and introduced the staff using the documents.

“Women’s… underwear?”

Vessel-san’s jaw dropped, his eyes widening in disbelief.

Well, it wasn’t exactly a flattering image — Vessel Vanni of the Flash Sword Style, serving as the representative of a workshop that made women’s lingerie.

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “But it’s the fastest way to spread awareness of the new fabric — women will adopt it first. And since production is still limited, we can only focus on a specific product line for now.”

“…Ah, well, I suppose that’s fine—wait, is it fine?”

“It’s alright. Once production increases, we’ll expand into other products.”

There’s no clear timeline yet, but once sales of the underwear stabilize, we’ll start making other items too.

“And don’t worry — if it’s unnecessary, your name won’t appear anywhere.”

“Please make sure it doesn’t.”

There was no reason to publicly name the workshop head, and since the workshop name didn’t include his, no one would know anyway.

“By the way, did you already know Damian-san?” I asked.

“No. I knew his shop sold rare liquor — the kind you can’t even find in taverns — but I didn’t realize he was the owner.”

So it wasn’t a matter of helping out an acquaintance. I suppose it made sense — Damian-san often went traveling as a peddler, so they’d never met in person.

“Well then, that’s the last of it.”

Vessel-san signed all three papers — the workshop establishment permit, representative registration, and employee registration.

I carefully checked each document and stored them away in my case.

“Thank you very much. With this, we can officially open the workshop.”

“Good. Do your best. Well then, my business here is done, so I’ll head back to the estate. Sorry, but I’m leaving Rose in your care.”

“Understood. Leave it to me.”

Vessel-san finished his tea to the last drop before taking his leave.

“Now then, I should take care of whatever I can before Mother gets back…”

I gathered the servants who currently had their hands free into the dining hall.

Heralda was absent, attending to Rosanne-sama. Rodolf was looking after the carriage and horses that Rosanne-sama had arrived in. Rugena was off to report to Mother. That left five people who gathered in the dining hall.

“First, Fana, help Bartel with dinner preparations. Kacha, assist Rodolf with the horses. Manon and Epha, once Rosanne-sama and the others are done bathing, clean the bath. Mother should return before dinner, so after that, follow her instructions. That’s all — any questions?”

I issued the necessary instructions for what needed to be done before Mother’s return.

“Um, I’ve never made one of those course meals before,” Bartel said nervously.

“Ah, right… that’s a problem.”

Bartel had trained at a town tavern, so he could handle commoner-style meals, but he’d never prepared a noble’s multi-course dinner.

Up until recently, we’d been living as commoners ourselves, so we still ate in the simple style of placing all dishes on the table at once.

“Al-sama, I believe Heralda-san can make course meals,” Fana offered.

“Eh? Heralda? I thought she specialized in eating, not making them?”

I had heard she loved food, but never that she could cook.

“That’s not true. Some of the sweets served with tea are actually made by Heralda-san.”

“Really? I had no idea.”

That being the case, it would make more sense to have Heralda handle dinner preparations.

“Fana, could you switch with Heralda and take care of Rosanne-sama for now?”

“Understood. I’ll go right away.”

Since Stefana had originally been Tounis-san’s slave, she and Rosanne-sama were already well acquainted — and she’d cared for her before in Helvendorp. Having her take over was far better than assigning an apprentice maid.

“Arthur-sama.”

Heralda returned quickly after trading places with Stefana.

“Hey, Heralda, can you make course meals?”

“I can’t make anything elaborate, but I can maintain proper form.”

“In that case, sorry, but could you work with Bartel on dinner?”

“Yes, certainly.”

Good — that should do for now.

“’Scuse me, one more thing,” Bartel said, raising his hand hesitantly.

“What is it?”

The moment I saw him fidget like that, I had a bad feeling.

“We don’t got enough cutlery and glasses.”

“Ah— seriously?”

For a course meal, we’d need several spoons, forks, and knives per person, plus separate glasses for each type of drink — all multiplied by the number of guests.

But there was no one to send out shopping now, nor the time to do it.

“Hmm… I’ll handle the cutlery and glasses myself. Everyone else, get started on your tasks.”

“As you wish.”

After giving out the orders, I slipped away alone to a storage room.

This was where I kept materials used for alchemy training — ingots of various metals and glass, as well as core components.

“Let’s see… around here, I think.”

What I needed were red and white wine glasses and water glasses for Mother and Rosanne-sama, and handled glass cups for fruit water for Marnix-kun and myself.

I pulled out three glass ingots.

One ingot could make three wine glasses, so that gave me enough to make up to nine in total.

I began by drawing a transmutation circle for shaping at the center, and two schematic diagrams for heating to melt the glass.

After generating the alchemic domain sphere, I placed the ingots inside, melted them, and then shaped them accordingly.

When I finished, there were four tulip-shaped wine glasses, two water glasses, two handled fruit-water cups — and a small lump of leftover glass.

“Hmm… oh, right.”

I activated alchemy again, using one fruit-water cup and the leftover glass lump.

This time, I made a cup with handles on both sides.

I remembered how Marnix-kun had used both hands to hold his teacup in the sitting room, so I figured a double-handled cup would be easier for him.

“Alright, the glasses are done — now for the real problem: the cutlery.”

Most of our utensils were wooden, with only a few pieces of silverware — not nearly enough for a proper course meal.

Still, since Rosanne-sama and her group were nobles, it would be unthinkable not to serve them with silver cutlery.

I could make silver ones using alchemy, but I didn’t have enough silver to work with.

And melting down silver coins to make them… yeah, that would be a bit much.

“Hmm… maybe I can manage.”

First, I melted iron with alchemy and shaped it into cutlery.

Then I melted down the few pieces of existing silverware and, within the domain sphere, coated the iron cutlery with the molten silver.

It wasn’t quite silver plating — more like a silver coating.

“Mmm, a bit thick, maybe?”

It seemed I’d used too much silver, making the utensils a little chubby-looking.

Since my silver supply was limited, I needed to make the coating thinner.

I separated the silver from the iron and tried again, carefully adjusting the proportions until I achieved a balanced silver-coated finish.

“Phew… just in time.”

When I stepped out of the storage room, all my work finally done, the sun was already low on the horizon.