Chapter 116: Development Hotspot
And so, one way or another, the development of Baumgarten Territory progressed.
The Adventurers’ Guild, although its building wasn’t finished yet, had begun full-scale operations.
Adventurers, too, delved into the forest almost daily, exterminating monsters. The biggest monster defeated so far was a Cockatrice. Well, it was just a big chicken, really. The meat was delicious.
The felling of trees was also progressing smoothly. Little by little, the territory expanded, and lumber accumulated. Things were looking good.
It was truly like scattering money around, and development was proceeding at a considerable speed.
As things progressed, how to spend the money became important.
The commoners also set up food stalls or did civil engineering work to earn daily wages. Baumgarten Territory was overflowing with money like never before.
However, if there was nowhere to spend money, there was no point in earning it.
So, I opened a large public bathhouse. Because I rushed it, the construction was a bit crude, but it was quite spacious. Water was gathered using Lily’s magic and Cornelia’s Holy Sword’s power, and it was a simple setup where the water was heated by the Jewel of Fire Extinction, but it was quite popular.
And the one I appointed as its manager was Bach. If the water cooled down, Bach could reheat it with the power of his Gift.
According to Bach’s report, the public bathhouse was apparently very popular. Soaking in a bathtub was a luxury that even nobles could rarely afford.
Also, merchants were currently in the process of building shops, so once those were completed, monetary transactions would likely become more active.
As a stopgap measure until then, the Baumgarten family had opened its own shop. The best-selling item was alcohol. I needed to ask Arnaud for more.
I hadn’t neglected agriculture either.
In Baumgarten Territory, wheat was produced in Higashi no Higashi Village, while the other villages cultivated Dietria. Well, they were just potatoes, but I wanted to popularize the name Dietria, so that’s what I called them.
As for these Dietria, they couldn’t be cultivated consecutively. Repercussions of continuous cropping would occur. To cultivate Dietria again, the land had to be left fallow, but it was a waste for the fields to be unusable during that time.
So, I had done some research in the Royal Capital.
What I set my sights on was poultry farming. You fence off a field and let chickens roam free. The chickens eat insects and such, and their droppings improve the field’s soil.
I had pestered Benno into gathering chickens for me, so there were no obstacles to starting poultry farming.
Moreover, I had Benno and Arnaud gather other animals besides chickens. Things like pigs, cows, and sheep. First, I needed to increase their numbers.
There was also this report.
Baumgarten Territory was in a basin surrounded by mountains, and apparently, there was a possibility that useful ores were buried in the surrounding mountains.
This was according to a prospector I’d brought from the Royal Capital.
Those detestable mountains that had hindered passage until now… to think they might actually contain treasure…
Because we lacked funds until now, Baumgarten Territory hadn’t had the resources to survey the mountains.
Well, whether I believed it or not, it was best to check it out at least once. I assigned adventurer escorts to the prospector and ordered a survey of the mountains. Ideally, I’d like them to find valuable ores like Orichalcum, Mithril, or Adamantite… Well, who knew what would happen.
“Well, that’s about it, I guess.”
Leaning back in my office chair, my back stretched, and it felt good.
“Will you be taking a break?”
Knock, knock, knock!
Just as I was about to nod at Old Man’s words, the sound of knocking burst in.
“Hm?”
“Master, Lady Cornelia has arrived.”
“Let her in. Let’s take a break.”
“Very well.”
When Old Man opened the door wide, a beaming Cornelia appeared. She was wearing a dress and all dolled up. Did she have some plans today?
“Brother, good day.”
“Good day, Ria. What’s up?”
“I’m about to have a tea party with El, Clau, Sister-in-law, and Lily. Will you come too, Brother?”
“Hmm…?”
Even if I joined, I’d be the only guy among the girls, so it might be a bit awkward.
“I think I’ll pass. You go and have fun, Ria.”
“Oh, okay…”
Cornelia looked disappointed—no, a little lonely.
I gave a wry smile, stood up, took Cornelia by the waist, and hugged her. A faint, flower-like scent wafted from her. It seemed she was even wearing perfume.
“Ria, what’s wrong? You look a little sad.”
“You can tell?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Um, well…”
“I want you to tell your brother anything. We promised, didn’t we? I won’t laugh, no matter what it is.”
“Yeah… Um, well. It’s about Sister-in-law…”
“Dora’s?”
“Yeah… You see, I still don’t know how to interact with Sister-in-law…”
“Ria, do you dislike Dora?”
“I don’t dislike her. I think she’s a good person, and she’s very considerate towards me, so it’s not that I dislike her. But… um, you know? My heart just feels… uneasy. I think I’m probably envious of Sister-in-law…”
Cornelia confessed her feelings like that. Was it jealousy? No, it wasn’t a feeling as developed as jealousy. I thought it was more like a knot in her heart, something before it became a full-fledged emotion.