"This is... incredible."
On the table sat a massive fish, roughly two meters in length. Since it had come straight out of Rei's Misty Ring, it retained the freshness of having only just been killed.
In truth, given that it was a fish caught in the early days of Rei's sea fishing trips, it should have naturally gone bad by now. While refrigerators and the like did exist, they were high-end Magic Items — not something ordinary people could acquire so easily. A fish caught days ago, especially during this season transitioning from late summer to autumn, would normally have undoubtedly begun to rot.
But the fish was as fresh as could be.
"Here. It's a souvenir."
"Are you sure? A fish like this would surely cost quite a bit if bought normally."
Daskar asked while looking at Rei, and he was by no means mistaken. Gilm was located far from the sea, so with very few exceptions, the sea fish eaten there were salt-cured. Of course, salt-cured fish could also make a delicious meal if properly desalted and prepared with time and effort, so it wasn't as if they tasted bad. But compared to a dish made from fresh fish by a skilled cook, it was inevitably inferior.
Being handed such a fish so casually as a souvenir left even Daskar momentarily at a loss for how to respond. Still, the fact that he quickly regained his composure and called for a maid was likely because he had built up a tolerance as the lord of Gilm — a city that was, in many ways, an unusual place.
...Though that very tolerance had been rapidly reinforced since a certain someone named Rei arrived in Gilm.
"You called?"
The maid who entered after knocking showed a brief expression of surprise at the sight of the enormous fish on the table, but it quickly vanished.
"Take this fish to the kitchen. It's a souvenir from Rei."
"Understood. Shall I then use this fish for tonight's dinner?"
"Yes, that's fine."
Hearing it would be a fish dish, Daskar's expression brightened slightly.
Watching Daskar's reaction, Rei recalled the taste of a dish made by Bistol, who was not present at the moment. Bistol's cooking was better than what you would find at an average eatery, and his seafood soup in particular was so good it had been dubbed "seafood soup of corruption." Rei even wondered whether anyone could make a dish better than that soup.
Of course, given that the cook worked at the lord's manor, their skill should be on a level entirely incomparable to a city cook. If so, he would certainly like to try it sometime. Or rather, he had already eaten their cooking several times, hadn't he? The light snacks — such as sandwiches — served whenever Rei came to meet with Daskar. Naturally, the one preparing those would be a cook employed by Daskar.
Since sandwiches were simple to make, no matter how skilled a cook was, there wouldn't be that much difference from sandwiches sold at other shops. To be precise, there were various creative touches, but Rei's palate wasn't refined enough to discern them. No — taste was one of the five senses, and since Rei's body had been crafted by Zephyle, it was undeniably sharp. But in that area, it was purely a matter of Rei's own lack of experience.
"Judging by that fish, it seems you had quite an enjoyable time at the sea."
"That's right. Though there was a pirate attack, among other things."
In this case, "pirate attack" meant they hadn't been attacked by pirates — rather, they had attacked the pirates, which was the accurate description. Daskar already knew this through the Paired Orbs, so he didn't bother interjecting. After all, it was Daskar himself who had requested that the pirates they captured and enslaved be transported to Gilm. Given those circumstances, it was more a matter of "why bring this up now?"
"The pirate situation caught even me off guard, but this time around, there was a lot more to gain than expected."
"That's true. Even if they're considerably aged, we did acquire ships as well."
Even when using the Sand Ship as a reference to build a Land Ship, Rei wasn't optimistic enough to assume everything would go smoothly from the very start. Given that, items for practice were indeed necessary. Additionally, for examining ship construction and the like, having ships was simply better the more there were. In that sense, the two ships Rei had seized from the pirates were incredibly important assets.
"As for the payment for those ships..."
"Ah, please negotiate that matter with Marina."
"...Figured as much."
At Rei's words, Daskar's expression turned slightly disappointed. Negotiating with Marina would invariably result in a contract unfavorable to his side — and favorable to Rei's group. That much was certain.
He supposed the negotiator would just have to treat it as a learning experience. He should probably pay them some extra compensation for this. The last person who negotiated with Marina had required several days of rest to recover from the sheer mental exhaustion. That was just how draining negotiating with Marina was. However, precisely because of that, anyone who had negotiated with Marina showed visible improvement in their negotiation abilities. In that sense, perhaps they should even be grateful to Marina — but that didn't mean they could so easily accept disadvantages to themselves, even understanding that it would surely benefit them in the long run. Nevertheless, being able to ultimately make the decision to accept was a testament to Daskar's considerable competence as a lord.
"Understood regarding the ships. What about the slaves?"
"They said they'd head to Gilm as quickly as possible, so I expect they'll arrive before winter."
"Hmm, then it's possible to train crew members to operate the Land Ship during winter."
For Daskar, the Land Ship project was something bordering on a gamble. Constructing a facility to build a Land Ship required exactly that much funding. If the endeavor ended in failure, all the funds spent up to that point would become entirely wasted — for Daskar, and for Gilm.
And yet, Daskar held firm conviction that the project would succeed. The basis for that certainty was, unsurprisingly, the existence of the Crimson Lotus Wings led by Rei. If a necessary Magic Item arose, he could commission Rei's group to secure it. On top of that, the Crimson Lotus Wings had Set — a being with extraordinary mobility. There was also Marina, who could freely wield Spirit Magic and possessed deep knowledge. Even Vihera, who lacked those types of skills, was a former princess of the Bestia Empire — her connections would undeniably prove useful in various ways. Furthermore, the alchemists in Gilm were, having gathered in a frontier city, largely quite skilled.
Considering all of this, even if developing a Land Ship was a gamble, it was one with considerably high odds of success. That was precisely why Daskar had taken it on. If the odds had been low, he would never have embarked on something so boldly. And even if circumstances somehow forced his hand, he certainly wouldn't have gone so far as to build a dedicated facility for constructing Land Ships from the outset. Daskar's very attitude was what indicated the high probability of the project's success.
"That's right. In winter, many adventurers are resting. In that sense, it's the perfect time for them to study ship operation."
"Hm? Marina, what do you mean by that? What Lord Daskar mentioned about crew training — they're not adventurers, are they? In that case, shouldn't it be fine to study anytime? Of course, sooner would be better for that sort of thing."
Elena, apparently puzzled by Marina's words, asked with a hint of a question in her voice. From the flow of the conversation so far, it was perfectly clear that the people Daskar had in mind as Land Ship crew members were not adventurers, but rather his own subordinates. But considering Marina's words, the question arose as to why adventurers entered the picture at all.
Marina, who received the glance, directed a meaningful look at Vihera. As if understanding the intent behind Marina's gaze, Vihera quietly averted her eyes and reached for the tea that had been left on the now-cleared table where the fish had been.
"When winter comes and adventurers stop going out as much and start resting, incidents will decrease too, won't they? Well, there might be some adventurers who get drunk and cause trouble, or cause various other problems, but..."
Like Vihera.
Those words went unspoken, but from what had just transpired, it was obvious what Marina meant. In Vihera's case, given her love of fighting strong opponents, it was not uncommon for problems to arise one way or another. Vihera understood this herself, so she couldn't carelessly argue back.
"I see, so that's how it is. ...Lord Daskar certainly has it tough in many ways."
"Hahah, I'm glad you understand. For some reason, there aren't many people who seem to appreciate how hard I have it."
Daskar said this with a laugh while glancing toward Marina. However, unlike Vihera moments ago, Marina didn't avert her gaze. She even smiled as she spoke.
"Oh, I think you're working hard too, Daskar."
"...If you really think so, it would help if you could go a bit easier on me in various ways."
"If I went easy, the next generation wouldn't grow. Would you ask them to go easy on you just because they're not dealing with me?"
"That's..."
There was no way he could do such a thing. If he did, Daskar — and the Neutral Faction under his leadership — would be looked down upon by those around them. Given that their forces were already inferior to the Noble's Faction and the King's Faction in their current situation, there was no way they could afford such a thing.
"See? That's why this is all strict love's whip."
"...Hmph."
Thoroughly outargued, Daskar could only snort in dissatisfaction. Still, the fact that he could immediately shift his mood was likely a product of his experience as the lord of Gilm.
"For the time being, I'd like you to return to the expansion construction starting tomorrow... is that a problem? If you have errands to attend to, it can wait until after you've finished those."
He phrased it this way because he understood he was placing a considerable burden on Rei's group. Forcing an order here and causing Rei's group to harbor resentment toward Daskar as a result would be the absolute worst-case scenario.
Besides, if he tried something like that, who knows what Marina would say to him. Having his embarrassing childhood actions — things that seemed mortifying in hindsight — described in vivid detail would be nothing short of a nightmare for Daskar. If she were to bring up his greatest dark history of all — his marriage proposal to Marina — he might literally die of embarrassment.
Of course, if it were for the sake of Gilm, he wouldn't hesitate to use his authority as lord. But there was no need for such measures in the current situation. It was better to have Rei's group work in good spirits. Though in terms of working in good spirits, they had just enjoyed over ten days of vacation up through today, so he figured that was surely sufficient.
"Understood. I don't have any particular errands... oh, just having the Guild research the monsters I obtained at the sea. Also, I have the timber from the Treant Forest that I was transporting by carriage stored, so I need to deliver that as well."
Starting with the jellyfish monster, there were several species that weren't listed in the Monster Encyclopedia Rei possessed — monsters that even former Guild Master Marina and the merchant Bistol didn't know about. He had obtained their Magic Stones for the time being, but he needed to investigate which parts served as Subjugation Proof Parts, whether they could be sold as materials, and so on. Additionally, if they were lucky, they might also learn how to prepare and eat them.
Cooking, huh. Bistol must be quite busy right about now.
He had parted ways with Bistol before coming to the lord's manor. Unlike Rei's Misty Ring, the Magic Pouch Bistol carried had a flow of time. Given that, Bistol surely wanted to sell the dried fish he had worked so hard to make during their time at the sea as merchandise as quickly as possible.
For Bistol, who had accompanied Rei's group on this trip, he had been able to obtain a large quantity of goods while spending almost no money — though in exchange, he had been put in charge of cooking and the like. While such items might not hold much value in coastal villages and towns, bringing them all the way to a place like Gilm would cause their worth to skyrocket. If he handled it well, it would undoubtedly be a remarkably profitable venture — making money with barely any effort.
Well, considering Bistol's personality, I doubt he'd engage in any underhanded business practices. Though for that matter, does he even have anyone he can do business with?
Rei's group had grown accustomed to it, but Bistol's appearance was quite striking. Just how many people would actually do business with someone like Bistol? With such thoughts in mind, Rei continued his conversation with Daskar.