With the construction work finished, I returned to the shop for one last task.
You can never have too many allies. As I had discussed with Darson and the others the other day, I was scheduled to meet with the people who had walked out of the guild assembly. But before that...
"Well then, I would like to begin today’s report meeting."
Gathered in the manager's office were the seven people dispatched from the Ducal House. Before Darson and the others arrived, we needed to exchange information regarding the day’s progress.
That said, since everyone had been at the construction site this morning and I had been with my four guards the entire time, the only ones who had been acting independently were the maids.
My eyes met Libiola, the Greater Monkey-kin.
"As the representative for the maids, may I begin?" she asked.
"Please do."
"After leaving the construction site, we spent the morning at the Commerce Guild handling the land purchase, the formal establishment of the security company, and the preparations for recruitment. None of these tasks presented any issues, but there are several documents that require signatures from you as the owner, Ryoma-sama, and from the men in charge, Hughes-sama and Jill-sama. Please review them later. Furthermore, information regarding the company’s establishment and recruitment requirements is scheduled to be released tomorrow morning through every guild with a branch in Gimul."
"Thank you. It sounds like the procedures are going smoothly."
"Yes. We returned here for the afternoon, and during that time, we received several messages. First, Ribul, the coordinator for the slums, informed us that the residents who had previously been hesitant about relocation have been coming forward one after another to accept. Also, the owner of the Children’s Home, from whom we hadn't heard until today, sent an apology for the delay along with a message saying they would absolutely like to accept our offer."
"That’s great news!"
I thought the people in the slums were quite cooperative to begin with, but it was only natural that some couldn't respond immediately. Moving is a major life event, and people worry about the possibility of losing their homes due to some mistake. It was also understandable for the owner of the Children's Home to be hesitant, given that the lives of parentless children were at stake.
However, the fact that those people had become cooperative meant...
"It seems the magic from this morning worked," I noted.
"I should think so. I can't imagine any other reason. After hearing Camille’s critique following the demolition and then seeing you perform the rebuilding immediately after, I had a hunch... but you did that flashily on purpose, didn't you?"
"My desire to experiment was sincere, but I did hope it would demonstrate how quickly the work can progress. I was almost certain it could be used for demolition, if not the rebuilding itself. Either way, if I’m going to spend large sums of money to start multiple businesses at once, I’m going to stand out regardless. It might bring some headaches, but if I appear to be a high-caliber mage, it might serve as a bit of a deterrent. Above all, I have all of you supporting me now."
"From next time, please inform us more clearly before you conduct an experiment," Libiola replied with a wry grin.
"I will. Thank you."
"Next report. As a result of the discussions between the administrators, we received word that the children residing in the next Children's Home scheduled for demolition will be moving into the temporary residence rebuilt this morning, starting tonight. Therefore, they said we are free to demolish the remaining building at any time."
"They've moved already? I don't know how many of them there are, but is there enough space?"
"That place was an old warehouse of the same type as this morning's building. Due to age, the floors were rotting and collapsing, and parts of the walls and ceilings were peeling off. There were many areas inside that were off-limits because they were dangerous, so it seems they were already living huddled together in a cramped space. Because of that, they said the lack of space isn't an issue. More than anything, they said the drafts during this season were agonizing, and simply being out of the wind makes the new place feel like heaven. All the children are reportedly overjoyed."
"Well, I suppose if they don't have a problem with it, then it's fine. I'll provide some compensation to the children who just moved in tomorrow. Also, being told we can demolish the next building is a big help. The plan was to buy that land, demolish the existing structure, and build the security company headquarters there later."
Hughes raised his voice upon hearing that.
"Whoa, really? Does that mean our home base is gonna be ready sooner than we thought?"
"It does. I'll handle the demolition and rebuilding with Sand Magic."
Since I intended to build a solid house for the children, I had only used Sand Magic to create the general shape and made minor adjustments. For the security company building, however, I planned to be more detailed and apply a waterproof coating using Sticky Slime fluid. It would also be a good opportunity to test how much the presence or type of coating—such as other waterproof paints—affected the building's condition compared to the temporary residence over the short term.
"Hughes, Jill, as well as Zeff and Camille—please consult among yourselves and decide on the necessary equipment and what kind of interior you’d like."
"Understood!" they answered in unison.
"And finally," Libiola continued, "this is a message from the Ducal House. Regarding the 'dispatch of a reliable doctor' that Ryoma-sama requested, a letter arrived asking if four young disciples could accompany the one doctor who was originally planned."
"A sudden increase? Not a cancellation, but five people are coming for me?"
"It seems it isn't solely for your sake. Apparently, it was a proposal from Alafrar, the master of those four. You are acquainted with him, are you not?"
I was. He was the elven doctor living and working at the Ducal House.
"Briefly, while I was staying there. He gave me advice regarding the mana recovery medicine I was prescribing for our employee, Ox."
"That is likely what prompted this. Alafrar apparently praised your knowledge quite highly, and when the Master consulted him, he made the proposal. He said that while learning under him is good, it is also good to go out and learn from others once in a while. He also mentioned that it was about time the four young disciples stopped merely assisting their master's treatments and started gaining experience in diagnosing and treating patients on their own."
In other words, those four were in a position like medical interns. Regardless of what they could learn from me, I understood that he wanted them to gain experience.
"It will also serve as preparation in case anyone gets injured at the security company, so there's no reason to refuse. They are more than welcome."
"Then I shall send word to that effect from our side."
"Thank you."
That was the last report for today... Oh, right.
"One last thing I’d like to consult you about. Would it be alright if I kept some Goblins at the North Mine where my house is?"
When I asked that, the seven of them looked at each other, and this time Lulunese spoke up.
"I believe there would be no problem as long as you form a contract as a Tamer. However, what brought this on so suddenly?"
"It relates to the talk about studying from earlier. Since I’m being given the chance to learn, I want to set aside a decent amount of study time and produce proper results. I feel it’s a matter of courtesy to those who are taking the time to teach me. And since all of you have come here, I intend to delegate work to others in the future to secure that time. But seeing the laborers you gathered for today's work made me realize once again that having hands available for simple tasks is a real help. For example, feeding the slimes every day isn't difficult, but as the number of species increases, the time it takes from preparation to delivery is definitely getting longer."
Everyone seemed to understand instantly.
"By the way, Ryoma, how many slimes do you have now? If I remember correctly, it was over several thousand..." Hughes muttered.
"No, wait, couldn't slimes of the same species merge?" Jill added.
"Just as Jill said, that's true for the species that have over a hundred individuals. But the number of species is constantly growing, and since there are things I'm curious about right now, I'm increasing the numbers as much as possible. I'll have to do a tally another time. Especially the Stone and Weed slimes, which divide quickly; they're increasing every single day."
I felt like my mood when preparing food every day was gradually approaching that of a zookeeper. I'd never worked as one, so I might have been off the mark, but the feeling of being a "caregiver" was strong.
"No matter how much you love them, it's only natural that care becomes difficult as the number and variety increase," Lulunese observed.
When everyone nodded, I steered the conversation back to the Goblins.
"Regarding the Goblins, I found footprints this morning before leaving the house. It seems they caught wind of the potato field I planted the other day, and I think they'll likely come back soon. If that’s the case, I thought I would have to exterminate them for the sake of the field and also in my capacity as the one managing the abandoned mine—"
"But you figured you might as well use them as labor instead. Just like the construction work this morning," Jill finished for me.
"Those Goblins were lucky, then. Better than being exterminated," Hughes added.
It was exactly as they said. While I didn't love them nearly as much as the slimes or the Rimur Birds, I had no hobby of inflicting pointless pain. If they were willing to work, I would guarantee them food, clothing, shelter, and breaks. I intended to treat them with as much care as the Clever Chickens that provided us with eggs.
"But if that's the case, wouldn't it be better to hire people instead of going out of your way to use Goblins?" Lilian suggested.
"When I'm researching slimes, they sometimes undergo evolutions or possess abilities that I can't easily disclose to others. So, in terms of information management, it's a bit... risky. In that regard, even if Goblins learned something, they wouldn't communicate it to humans."
"That is true. My apologies."
"Not at all, I appreciate the input. It's only natural that I might make mistakes, and I expect the day will come when I'll need to hire people anyway."
The number of slimes had increased all at once during my recent excursion, and I had a feeling the variety would explode depending on the results of future experiments.
"Anyway, for those reasons, I’d like to hire Goblins as labor, and also as a source of food supply for the Cleaners and Scavengers."
They exchanged a few words to confirm the details and ultimately reached the conclusion that while there were a few things to be careful about, if it was me, it shouldn't be a problem.
"Well then, the next time I see them, I'll capture the Goblins."
"By the way, Ryoma, something's been on my mind," Hughes said.
"What is it?"
"Well, you know that other nobles are involved in what's going on in this city, right?"
"Yes, for the most part. Though I don't know who they are."
"In that case, I think it might be better to tell him a bit about that... What do you think?"
When Hughes looked toward the other six, Jill nodded.
"Ryoma is no longer unrelated to this; in fact, he's been proactively cooperating. It's only right that there should be a minimum level of information disclosure."
Though he wore a grim expression, Jill explained the situation carefully.
"I doubt you'll have any direct dealings with them, so I don't think you need to memorize them, but it has been identified that five individuals are working behind the scenes: Baron Lansol, Baron Lufred, Viscount Forgotten, Viscount Danietan, and Count Sandrick."
"Five people, I see."
"Yeah. However, Baron Lansol has no reason to be hostile toward the Jamil family or Reinhardt-sama. It seems he's being forced to cooperate by the other four."
According to the explanation, House Lansol was once a minor noble family ruling a small, unremarkable territory. However, during the previous generation's time, it was discovered that a massive gold vein lay dormant in the mountains of their land. It was said they became wealthy in an instant, but in reality, that wasn't the case.
The reason was that House Lansol lacked the know-how for mine development and defense. Out of necessity, they had relied on the nearby House Forgotten, which had a small mine. Before they knew it, they were put in a position where they couldn't operate the mine without the cooperation of the other four houses.
"On the surface, Baron Lansol appears wealthy because he owns a gold mine, but in reality, he secretly distributes large sums of money and numerous gifts to the other four houses every year. In other words, while he is an 'investor,' he is also an 'underling' who moves like the arms and legs of the other four houses."
"...Even if he's an enemy, Baron Lansol sounds like a pitiful person."
"You can rest easy. Reinhardt-sama is moving to separate House Lansol from the other four. It’s a strategy to cut off the source of funding they need to carry out their schemes. Apparently, he has gathered enough material for that. Although Baron Lansol is one of the perpetrators, Reinhardt-sama said that if he isn't doing it because he wants to, he might settle for just a reparation fee. If the mine operation truly can't be sustained without the cooperation of the other houses, the Ducal House will take that role instead."
I see... So the Ducal House would snatch away the position held by the other four houses.
"Reinhardt-san is quite shrewd, snatching away the rights to the gold mine like that."
"Of course. But Baron Lansol's situation will surely be far better than it is now."
Since the time for Darson and the others to arrive was drawing near, the conversation had to end there.
"Reinhardt-sama will make his move during the end-of-year social season," Jill concluded. "Starting next year, the enemies will lose their source of funding and won't be able to do anything too significant. If we can hold out until then, we win."
Finally hearing a clear goal for when this would end was a very welcome development.