Chapter 62
Claude, who had returned from the blacksmith, was studying with the educational materials Brother Fahrenheit had given him that morning.
Although there were several things he didn’t understand, he was compiling the parts he didn’t grasp into a notebook.
He knew Brother Fahrenheit was busy assisting Father, so asking about each and every little thing would be a bother.
Around that time, Finel and Fahrenheit were discussing how to deal with the ever-increasing number of residents.
“I believe it will be difficult to respond by creating any more pioneer villages.”
“In that case, we’d have to build a new town, but there’s the issue of land, and above all, what to do about the costs.”
“If we invest the funds Claude earned for us, we might manage, but what should we do?”
“If we could recoup it immediately, that would be one thing, but it will likely be several years before we can recover the profits. I’d like to avoid that if possible.”
“Be that as it may, to the people who come here having heard the rumors, we can’t exactly tell them not to come, can we?”
“Even if too many people gather in our domain, we’ll be glared at by other nobles, so it’s not exactly a welcome situation.”
“The people leaving is also because there are problems with those nobles’ governance, but it’s not like we can say that out loud, can we?”
“There’s no point just thinking about it. Could you call Claude for me?”
“Understood.”
“Claude, do you have a moment?”
“Brother Fahrenheit. This is perfect timing. I had some things I didn’t understand, so I was just thinking of going to ask you.”
“What is it that you don’t understand?”
Holding the notebook where he’d compiled the points he didn’t understand, Claude asked questions one after another.
“This part is like this, and this is because of that.”
Brother Fahrenheit carefully explained.
“Is that everything you didn’t understand?”
“Yes. Thank you very much. If I have more things I don’t understand, I’ll come ask you again.”
Fahrenheit was inwardly anxious.
Because Claude was understanding the study materials, which Fahrenheit had painstakingly created, at a terrifying pace, he figured that in the near future, there would likely be nothing left for him to teach.
“By the way, wasn’t there something you needed?”
“That’s right. Father is calling for you. Will you come with me?”
“Yes.”
Getting along well with Brother Fahrenheit, Claude headed to Father’s study.
“Father. I heard you wanted to speak with me; is something the matter?”
“Mhm. This is difficult to say, but I was hoping you’d let us use the funds Claude earned.”
“So you’re having trouble with funds. If that’s the case, please use this as well.”
Claude took out all the gold and silver ingots he had obtained from defeating the Worker Ants.
Finel froze for a moment but somehow managed to reboot.
“Claude. These gold ingots, what on earth…?”
“They’re byproducts from when I went to gather materials the other day.”
Finel was at a loss as to how he should respond to Claude, who was smiling brightly.