"…I’m lightheaded."
"Stupid of you."
"Forgive us, Barbara-san."
"No, Father-in-law, please."
"This is embarrassing."
"Grandfather, don't let it worry you."
Having spent far too long talking in the water, Erik, Roland, and Raglann had all become lightheaded and collapsed. Currently, Barbara was tending to the three of them in the lounge adjacent to the hot spring.
While Jin could have used 'Healing' or 'Cure' to fix them right up, he decided to leave them in Barbara's capable hands for the time being.
＊ ＊ ＊
"My, how embarrassing."
"Sorry, Barbara."
"Jin-san, thank you for having us tonight."
That evening, Jin hosted a dinner at Jin Castle, inviting not only Roland, Raglann, and Beaute, but Erik and Barbara as well. The menu was a showcase of Kaina Village’s finest.
There was barley porridge, salt-grilled river fish caught from the Erme River, a hearty stew made with vegetables harvested from the village, and smoked mountain deer. As accompaniments, he also served small portions of mountain vegetable tempura, miso soup, and grilled onigiri. The drink of choice was Peruhya tea.
Of course, the preparation and seasoning were the culmination of Perido 101's absolute best efforts.
"This is delicious."
The seasoning for the porridge and grilled fish utilized seaweed salt rather than standard salt, and the stew was enriched with a savory dashi stock. Even the smoked meat had been prepared using only fragrant query tree chips. Every dish had been treated with care in ways that weren't immediately visible to the eye.
"Jin-san, you truly have your hand in many different things."
"That's right, Father. I’ve learned a great deal from him as well."
The pen nibs and rubber balls that were currently hits for the Raglann Company in the royal capital were now being processed and shipped out by Erik himself.
"I see, I see. Erik, you’re growing as a magi craftsman as well."
Away from the pressures of trade, Raglann seemed like a completely different man—a doting, kindly grandfather.
"So, regarding that talk about the highway Beaute-san mentioned..."
In a rare display of social consideration, Jin directed the conversation toward Beaute. The man was sitting at the edge of the table, looking a bit out of place but chewing his food with great relish.
"Fwoh!?"
Flustered at being addressed, Beaute accidentally choked on his food.
"Cough! Hack!"
Seeing this, Roland and Raglann both buried their faces in their hands.
"Uh, well, you see..."
Once he had finally settled down, Beaute began to speak in a hesitant tone.
In essence, highway maintenance was slated to proceed as a public works project for the Klein Kingdom. As the first phase, the section from the capital, Alban, to the Town of Charles had been targeted. However, at that point, the Third Princess, Lieschen, had offered some advice.
"A highway that carriages can manage to traverse already exists between Alban and the Town of Charles. Conversely, the stretch from the Town of Charles to Toka Village is poorly maintained. Therefore, it would be better to include Toka Village in the scope of maintenance."
Furthermore, this public works project was not solely funded by the state; donations were being sought from merchants. In exchange, these merchants would receive tax reductions for a fixed period.
"Our Raglann Company donated three million Toll, so our taxes will be halved for the next three years," Roland explained at the end.
"Which is why we’re hoping to conduct some larger-scale transactions during these three years while taxes are low," Beaute added.
"Ah—hey!"
"Ouch!"
A fist landed squarely on the head of Beaute, who had foolishly and honestly laid all their cards on the table.
"This is why people say you aren't cut out to be a merchant!"
"I-I'm sorry..."
"Now, now, Roland. Leave it at that. There's no need for secrets with Jin-san anyway."
"That may be true, but if I don't educate him at times like this, he'll never learn."
In contrast to Raglann’s 'grandfather mode,' his son-in-law Roland did not neglect his duty to train his subordinate even now.
"Uh, so, how far had we gotten... Ah, yes, the plan to maintain the highway up to Toka Village," Roland said, taking over the explanation. "Since Kaina Village is your territory, Jin-san, they cannot act arbitrarily here. It seems they will re-stabilize the road up to Toka Village, which lies just before us."
"I see."
"Even though I call it 're-stabilization,' it mostly consists of leveling out the unevenness of the road and widening it in certain places."
"...I see."
"Other than that, it would involve replacing old bridges and such."
"I understand."
Since this world lacked paving technology, Jin figured that 'maintenance' would naturally be limited to that extent. There certainly wouldn't be enough budget for stone paving, and asphalt was out of the question due to the cost of transporting it from Mitsuho at the western edge of the world. One had to be satisfied with simple leveling.
"...If only they would set up 'Roadside Stations' as well."
Roland latched onto the words Jin had murmured to himself.
"Jin-san, what is a 'Roadside Station'?"
"Oh, sorry. Uh, well, I suppose you could call them free rest areas established at key points along the highway."
"Free... you say?"
As a merchant, the concept of 'free' seemed to pique his curiosity immediately. Jin realized this at once.
"Yes. By making it easy to use like that, you attract many travelers. And that's where you place shops."
"I see!"
"That is an excellent idea!"
Not only Roland, but Raglann also jumped on the suggestion.
"By making the rest area free, many travelers will gather. If you place local products there, it serves as an advertisement. Of course, it's no good if there are no local specialties."
"That's wonderful!"
Being merchants to the core, Roland and his father-in-law realized exactly how much potential Jin's 'Roadside Station' idea held.
"Water could be free, but food and medicine would cost money..."
"If there were also information about the highway..."
"We could have the country handle that part..."
"We could also attach a dining hall and simple lodging..."
The two of them immediately began brainstorming together, causing Jin to give a wry smile.
"Father, Grandfather, you're being rude."
Erik, unable to watch any longer, cautioned the two of them.
"O-Oh, forgive us."
"...Jin-san, my apologies."
Though they were interacting frankly, Jin was still a lord. Roland and Raglann apologized for their discourtesy. Jin laughed and waved it off.
"It's fine. More importantly, could you make such a proposal to the kingdom?"
"No, it would be better if you proposed that to the kingdom yourself, Jin-san."
"Yes, exactly."
"...Is that how it works?"
Jin didn't particularly want to deal with troublesome matters, but since he had quite a few acquaintances in the Klein Kingdom, he decided to stir himself into action this time.
"In that case, perhaps I'll take Hanna along as well..."
Jin had decided. He was heading for the Klein Kingdom's capital, Alban.