Chapter 109: Tunnel Digging
After helping out at Naomi-san’s shop, Yuri and I flew with Count Connor and the others, heading for Leben.
Their three attendants were also on board.
The meticulously prepared Count Connor had apparently identified the necessary personnel and already dispatched them to Leben.
Still, it looked like we would arrive a few days earlier.
“Oh, so this is the view Your Highness always sees! It’s magnificent!”
By now, it had become a proper airplane where one could sit normally and gaze outside from within the cabin.
Including the attendants, they were all gazing at the scenery from above with great interest.
After finishing the flight and arriving at the Lord of Leben’s mansion, Genzou-san greeted us.
For now, I’d be relieved once Count Connor heard about the current situation from him.
I also made a request, just in case, that there were things I wanted him to take over since I had made a promise at the mine.
“I see. So you’ll continue to employ them unconditionally until the assets confiscated from the exploiting merchants run out, is that it? What about the income and expenditure for that?”
For now, the mine’s operation was in the black. When I told him the current situation, he showed a relieved expression.
“Ah, you can consider the income and expenditure separately.
It’s fine as long as they are given money until they’re in an environment where they can look for other jobs.”
Right, this wasn’t about taking care of their jobs indefinitely.
It was about wanting them to be employed at least until they had enough leeway to manage even if they failed at job hunting once, not just enough to get their personal affairs in order.
For them, who were used to being frugal, it probably wouldn’t take that long to save money.
Hearing that, Count Connor thought for a moment, but when he looked up, his expression had softened.
“If that’s the case, it seems convenient for us as well.”
Mining was originally a dangerous and unpopular job.
No, rather than unpopular, it could be said it was shunned as a job for Sinners.
Naturally, having a number of people disproportionate to the facilities would incur a large loss, but if the income and expenditure were currently in the black and it was being covered by the confiscated funds, then there was no problem at all.
All they needed to do was consult with the workers and consider whether to invest in equipment.
After giving such an explanation, Count Connor offered unrestrained words of praise.
“Your Highness’s methods are, as always, wonderful.
Not only is there no burden on our side, but you were also helping the people while making a profit!”
I was happy he accepted the handover of the promise, but even if I was praised that much…
I was making them work with what they had been exploited for, so it wasn’t exactly a heartwarming story, you know?
The handover proceeded amicably, though I smiled wryly, thinking about how we were profiting from what the merchant association had siphoned off.
Among Genzou-san’s words during the handover, an unexpected remark made me involuntarily stop the conversation.
“A Salt shortage, you say?”
“Yes, because distribution with the Empire has completely ceased.
We can no longer bring it in via Lestall.
We can’t even get rock salt on this side, and since it’s inland, transporting it is also a major undertaking.”
This land is a large, protruding peninsula.
Therefore, it can be said that more than half of it is surrounded by the sea.
Belfast has the sea all along its southern side, and on the Mildrad side, most of the area from west to southwest should be sea.
But when I carefully recalled the view from the sky, the coastline was almost entirely land surrounded by mountains.
To the extent that it gave the impression it was made that way.
“The amount of Salt obtainable from southern Mildrad isn’t that much either.
We’re supplying the entire surrounding area, so it’s just barely enough.”
I see. So it’s not like I can just bring a large amount as a temporary fix.
But Salt, huh… That’s a matter of life and death. I can’t just ignore this.
“Well then, Yuri, next, let’s go check out the sea for fun, or something.
There might be a place we can use as a Salt production site with a little ingenuity.”
“Ah… We can go to the sea together again! I’m so happy!”
What’s with this girl? She’s too much of an angel. So soothing.
And so the discussion ended, and it was decided that Genzou-san would handle the handover until Count Connor’s men arrived.
Yuri and I, having spent the night at the Lord’s mansion, headed to where Ignat and the others were, whom we had left alone for a while.
It seemed they were staying at the same inn, so we met them right away and joined them in the room they had taken.
“I’m back. The war’s over, so I returned.”
“We’re most glad you’re safe,” Ignat and Kai said in unison.
“Sooo, how did it gooo?” Natalia-san asked in her relaxed voice, to which Ignat admonished, “It’s not something we freeloaders should be asking about.”
“Nah, don’t worry about that stuff anymore. Even Pops was finally starting to believe it.”
When I gave a light reply and told them about the battlefield, the two of them showed expressions of astonishment.
“You defeated two of the Twelve Generals…?”
The two of them murmured, as if surprised.
“To think you drove over thirty thousand Imperial Army soldiers to annihilation with only about five thousand casualties…”
“But, if that’s the case, I’m worried about Shen. I hope nothing bad happens to him…”
Ah, the younger brother he entrusted the Marquis title to, huh.
When I asked if something bad might happen, he said that if those were the only decent soldiers left, the unscathed Ignat Family would likely be used for anything and everything.
“Ah, um, I feel kinda bad. Even though you cooperated with us…”
“Not at all! This is the path I chose!”
“That’s right! We’re happy now, you know!”
“That’s true. It couldn’t be better.
It’s the first time I’ve been able to go out freely with you like this.”
“Ufufu, I wish times like these could last forever.”
The two of them suddenly started gushing and flirting.
“This is normal for them,” Kai said with a wry smile.
Then I thought about doing the same with Yuri, but that would be too unfair to Kai, so I restrained myself.
“Oh yeah, you guys are looking for work, right?”
I remembered the main reason I came here and asked.
“Yes. We were hoping we could work under Prince Rui, but…”
“Then, could you give me a little help?”
And so, I explained my current situation and the Salt shortage.
“Salt, you say? If it were our territory, we could have procured as much as needed, but…”
Hearing Kai’s voice, I couldn’t help but blurt out, “Why?”
Since it’s on the opposite side of Leben, you guys aren’t along the coast either, right?
That was my thought when I asked, but apparently, the Marquis Ignat Territory extends further west, and there’s a Town facing the beach.
It seems the Salt exported to Mildrad came from there.
That said, we couldn’t procure Salt from there given the current situation.
We puzzled over what to do.
“If it’s not a problem for me to operate in the Empire, I can bring the know-how.
Our production volume is the highest in the Empire, so if that could boost production in southern Mildrad…”
“Ah, I see. If there are no other good places in our kingdom besides the south, then that could work.”
With that settled, we decided to eat something and then take to the skies.
Hearing about food, Natalia-san gave me an intense look, but I brushed it off with, “Too bad. This is outside, so I can’t cook,” and we enjoyed eating out.
After that, when we flew to check along the coastline, we found an interesting place nearby.
On the other side of the mountains west of Leben, there was a flat area facing the sea.
A place surrounded by mountains and the coast, completely untouched by human hands.
It was also spacious enough to fit the entire Town of Leben.
“How about that place?”
“Are you going to have people live on the other side?”
I asked Yuri, who tilted her head, if we could go back and forth if we dug a Tunnel.
“Rui… Even the mine we dig every day is only progressing that much, you know?”
“No, no, we have that, don’t we! That thing!”
Saying that, I landed at the foot of the mountain on the sea side.
Then, I drew the Magic Circle the mole-person had used in mid-air.
However, the Magic Circle couldn’t be moved.
In other words, I couldn’t press it into the earth.
“Rui…” Yuri said with a pitying voice, looking at me.
“No, wait, wait! I just meant we’d use this!
If we have Mithril, we can make a Magic Tool, right!?”
Since it was decided that I’d hand Leben over to Count Connor, all my personal belongings from the mansion were in Storage.
I hurriedly searched for Mithril from my Storage Magic, thinking, “Not this, not that.”
“Stop looking at me like that,” I said, and hastily took out Mithril from storage, created a Magic Circle about three meters in size, and while sending Magical Power into it, pressed it against the rock face. It sank in easily, squish, squish, and the rock turned into sand.
“Amazing. With this, we could indeed dig it in a few days. Should we just remove the sand?”
“No, wait. Before that, let’s try this first,” I said, and to prevent interference, I coated only the contact surface with an insulator, then created a Storage Magic Circle with Mithril and layered it on top.
After that, I emptied the contents of the storage once, then pressed it against the rock face again. The crumbled rock went straight into storage, eliminating the need to remove the sand.
As expected, even if Storage Magic is made into a Magic Tool, it seems things can be put in as long as they aren’t large enough to get caught on the Mithril.
All that was left was to keep advancing while channeling Magical Power.
“Th-this is… beyond just being efficient, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’s so innovative I’m almost speechless…”
“Ufufu, it’s nice to be able to dig a hole so easily, isn’t it?”
“Indeed. It’s a very good thing.”
“Y-yes, it is…”
Natalia-san joined the two astonished individuals, and the seriousness of the situation began to fade.
In a way, they were a good team.
While entertaining such thoughts, I consulted with Yuri and continued to devise ways to dig a clean hole.
First, to dig straight, I drove stakes into the ground. Then, using a method similar to sliding a rod along a guide like a clothes-drying rack, I ran the magic circle attached to the tip of the rod, aiming to open a perfectly round tunnel as straight as possible.
After that, I created a long spirit level using Maso and made adjustments to ensure it was as parallel as possible.
Once that was somewhat complete, I then attached two wheels to the ceiling and two to the floor, fixing the setup completely. I made it so that a hole could be dug simply by channeling magical power into it and letting it run.
Well then, just as I was about to proceed and dig through quickly, Ignat grabbed my hand.
Seeing his slightly panicked expression, I asked, “What’s up?”
“Um, before we proceed, I wanted to ask, have you prepared the Slime Jelly?
If we dig any further, they will probably spawn.”
“Ah, that’s right. Without that, strong monsters will spawn, right?”
“Yes. In the worst-case scenario, there’s a possibility that monsters stronger than those on the mountaintop could appear.
I hear there’s a grace period of a few days, but it’s very dangerous, so I believe we should handle it properly on the spot.
Even if done by an amateur, as long as it’s only somewhat uneven, strong monsters won’t spawn.”
Oooh. That’s scary.
An expert’s advice is invaluable. While thanking him, I decided that in that case, I should put the items I’d made with Maso into storage, return to Leben once, and buy a large quantity of Slime Jelly from the mine.
According to a soldier, rare large Slimes apparently appear in the dungeon of the neighboring town, and since they said they could get as much as needed, I had them sell it to me at a price that included shipping.
And so, returning to the site again, I had Ignat and the others do the digging while Yuri and I handled the coating process using the Slime Jelly.
After advancing a few kilometers, Ignat and the others ran out of magical power, so from that point on, I took over completely, digging the tunnel as I ran through.
Perhaps because I was performing all tasks simultaneously and maintaining considerable speed, they were astonished once more and offered words of praise. Pleased by this, Yuri’s cute humming occasionally echoed through the tunnel.
At that moment, I instinctively used Enhanced Hearing at full power, and only the strong memory of my ears being utterly blissful remained.
After opening up the tunnel, I concealed it just to be safe, and we returned to Leben. We took rooms at the same inn, and a chat session centered around Natalia-san continued until late into the night.
And then, for some reason, Natalia-san ended up sleeping with Yuri, so I had to sleep alone and lonely in a separate room.
Grr, I won’t let my guard down tomorrow!
Despite thinking that, I fell asleep in the inn’s bed.