About two weeks had passed since the refugees arrived in Felmund.
By that time, the construction of temporary housing had been completely finished, and the dragonkin’s living foundation had been established.
And—
“—Good, it seems things are going quite well, which is excellent.”
Hearing the report from Falsen, Edel nodded with satisfaction.
“As expected of dragonkin, the progress of excavation work is much faster than what humans could accomplish. At this rate, we might be able to confirm the types and quality of minerals extracted today and even get to selecting buyers.”
“While the work helps distract us, everyone is cooperating thanks to the support. If things go quickly, those currently working should come to report soon.”
Felmund’s mining business plan.
Edel had also received explanations about the land called Felmund.
It was a unique landscape where the environment changed drastically depending on location, making it difficult for humans to perform long-term work like excavation.
To work for short periods, imperial magical tools or northern machinery were essential, but magical tools were too expensive to gather in numbers, and machinery was heavily affected by environmental factors like temperature and humidity, leading to severe wear.
However, for demi-humans suited to the environment, long-term work wasn’t difficult.
The fact that they hadn’t touched the land’s resources until now also meant that a considerable amount of resources lay sleeping in Felmund, and even if prices fluctuated based on quality, continuing production would likely generate sufficient profit as territorial income.
“Seeing this work, it’s regrettable that Falsen and the others won’t settle permanently.”
“……I apologize.”
“No, there’s nothing to apologize for. I’m a merchant, so I don’t have strong attachments to birthplace or hometown, but I’ve seen people and demi-humans who value those things, so I understand.”
“I’m grateful you say that. By the way, Edel-dono, may I ask you something?”
“Okay, I’ll accept your question.”
“Don’t humans get sick from staying immersed in water like that?”
“Yes, actually it’s too hot and painful.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
In response to Falsen, who tilted his dragon head suspiciously, Edel splashed water.
Currently, Edel was inside a makeshift pool made by surrounding rocks.
After all, volcanic regions are extremely hot. The ambient temperature constantly exceeds thirty degrees, and while it may rise, it never falls below that, and moving just a little reveals glowing lava flowing in such an environment.
Even so, since Kurtz had entrusted her with confirming work progress and such, Edel had changed into swimwear prepared in advance, had the dragonkin make her a simple pool, and was spending time there floating a chair. If she had stayed in regular clothes, she would have certainly collapsed from heatstroke.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
“Actually, it’s not even water anymore, it’s more like hot water temperature.”
“What temperature is it?”
“By feel, it’s definitely over thirty degrees. I’ll have to cool it with cooling magical tools again.”
“……Isn’t thirty degrees cold water?”
“By Falsen and the others’ standards, what temperature does it become cold water?”
“Below sixty degrees is cold water. So eating cold water or food easily upsets our stomachs.”
“You have quite delicate stomachs.”
“Of course, it varies by species type. Fellow dragonkin suited to waterside environments wouldn’t have problems, but for them, temperatures we find comfortable would make them sick.”
“I see. Come to think of it, when I was considering creating routes to sell dragonkin clothing, the clothing required differed completely by species type, so I had trouble calculating efficient transportation points.”
“When was that?”
“I think it was when I was about eight years old.”
“……I understand that Edel-dono was brilliant from a young age.”
While they were having such casual conversation, Falsen suddenly raised his dragon head.
“……Come to think of it, isn’t Kurtz-dono coming?”
“Yes. Kurtz said he had business and left the territory a little while ago together with Lucia.”
“……I see.”
“Did you have something you wanted to ask Kurtz?”
“……Ah, he said something that’s been bothering me.”
“Kurtz is a strange child, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he said something odd.”
“You don’t call him a genius there.”
“Yes. He’s very smart, but I’m not sure if the word genius is appropriate for him.”
Frowning slightly, Edel spoke about the person called Kurtz.
“Do you remember the contents of the map showing planned excavation sites that I gave to Falsen?”
“Not completely, but… I do understand the places where work is currently being done.”
“Good. But honestly, when I saw that map, I could only think it was meaningless.”
“……Is that so?”
“No matter how untouched the land is, nobody can know if there are mineral veins there. You can partially tell using magical tools or machinery, but you can’t completely grasp their positions. So normally you’d dig multiple locations across a wide area, then expand any mineral veins you find.”
While Edel herself didn’t possess specialized knowledge, as a merchant involved in trading, she made sure to acquire appropriate knowledge and established practices.
However, the excavation plan Kurtz had given her was far removed from common sense.
“The excavation starting points are scattered, and the routes for digging forward are almost straight lines. If I showed this to specialists, they’d probably laugh it off as something a clueless child thought up randomly.”
“……Actually, he is a child, so that’s not impossible.”
“Yes. Even though he’s calm for his age and you can sense knowledge and intelligence disproportionate to his years, the possibility that he’s inexperienced in specialized fields isn’t zero. Normally, I should have used my connections to have specialists revise the excavation plan.”
Even so, Edel had issued instructions according to Kurtz’s plan without adding any modifications.
Edel personally liked Kurtz.
After all, he was a child she had recognized as a “friend,” which had the highest hurdle in Edel’s mind.
However, even if they were friends, “work” was separate.
The arrangement was that Edel would buy the excavated minerals and wholesale them to the distribution routes that she and Mercator had created. In other words, if no minerals were excavated, the entire transaction would disappear, and the time spent here would end in vain.
As the merchant Edel-Mercator, she had no intention of getting deeply involved in Kurtz and the others’ circumstances.
However, as one of his friends, she did hope he would succeed.
Considering Felmund’s current situation, securing long-term territorial income and business was essential, and if the possibility of failure was high, she understood intellectually that she should advise him as a friend, but—
“But I became curious to verify something.”
“……Verify?”
“I wanted to know whether he’s a ‘mediocre genius’ like myself, or ‘something else entirely.'”
Even those called geniuses sometimes fail. Nevertheless, those who continue walking to the end, making even their failures into sustenance, are the ones who come to be called “geniuses.”
If that’s the case—”those who never fail” are beings different from geniuses.
“……Which does Edel-dono evaluate him as?”
“The latter, of course. He won five hundred million gald in dividend money through dragon racing. Not only that, he even prepared materials and food in advance to accept Falsen and the other dragonkin. While I can understand preparing food and general construction materials for emergencies, he specifically ordered ‘heat-resistant materials’ from me. Nothing about him is normal anymore.”
“……Do you think he has abilities like prophecy or precognition?”
“I don’t deny that possibility either. Just as magic exists in the empire, there are people in the world who possess abilities that can’t be measured by reason or common sense. Depending on the person, even successful me might look the same way.”
But, Edel continued.
Visit the request page If there’s a Japanese Light Novel (LN) or Web Novel (WN) you’d like me to translate
When the donation goal progress bar above hit 100% one novel will be chosen for translation
| Table of Contents | Next* |
Support the Author by Buying the Original Books!
