Chapter 19 – Ferry Movement and Construction Plan

When I go to the Merchant’s Guild after three days, the old man gives me a boastful look. I guess he got the proper permission, but I should just let it go because it’s either a smug look from a muscular old man or… he did his best, but I’m mildly annoyed.

“Hello. How’s it going?”

“Oh, no problem. They’ll be loaning the personnel, and the unloading will be done by the Navy when the ship arrives. In return, you’ll wholesale everything here at a fixed price, except for the materials to build the orphanage, is that right?”

“Yes, no problem. Then I will pick up Mage-sama, and I think the ship will arrive in the evening. Can you start unloading tomorrow?”

“I will let them know. Please make sure that the ship is anchored where it won’t interfere with the coming and going of the ship.”

“I understand.”

Yes, everything is going well. I want to get this annoying thing over with and feel comfortable. I left the Merchant’s Guild and went out to sea on the Lutto.

“Wataru-san, you said you would let both ships float near the harbor, but what are you going to do? Won’t it be noticed if you move around too much?”

Alessia-san is right; it is noticeable… What should I do?

“Should we bring the Fortress to port in the evening and move the Stronghold in the middle of the night?”

“Would it be less noticeable at night? I know there will be surveillance, but it would be better if you did that.”

It really is better not to, isn’t it? I’ve been trying to loosen my grip a little bit, but I think I’m getting too comfortable with it. I guess it’s okay to say I’m taking it easy.

“Speaking of which, I left the ship disguised as a wooden ship. Is that okay?”

“Ah, of course. Do you want to leave the Castle disguised as a wooden ship? If not, it will cause less trouble later if the ferry is not disguised as well.”

Hmm, what should I do? Since they can enter the ship, they will know immediately that it is abnormal. Then there seems to be no need to disguise the exterior… I don’t know if anyone would board a metal ship like that because it might sink.

“I’m going to disguise it because a wooden ship would be more acceptable.”

“That might be safer.”

I think Alessia-san thinks that too. But when I’m told it’s safe, I find myself wanting to surprise them. Maybe I want to change from my boring self. I changed into the Fortress and left for the city of Cagliari so that I could arrive in the evening.

“Wataru-san, there is a commotion in the city, is everything okay?”

I look out at Marina’s words. I can’t understand it very well. I can only see the Navy headquarters in the distance, and my eyesight is not that good.

“Marina-san, I don’t understand. Is there a commotion?”

“Yes, there is a commotion. Can’t you see it?”

We’ve talked to the Navy headquarters and the Merchant’s Guild. Why is that?

“I can’t see them at all. What’s going on?”

Marina-san tells me while she checks the direction of the city. I wonder if Fuu-chan has caught on to this because she is on top of Marina-san’s head, stretching her body toward the city as well. Rimu on my head seems to be attracted to it as well because I can feel his weight shifting.

“Well, um, more of a welcome than a commotion? People are coming out of the gates, waving flags and hands.”

“Is it because we sunk the Imperial Navy that occupied this city in the first place?”

“Maybe? I don’t think they’re alarmed.”

Well, I can’t judge that from what I hear.

“If they’re not on alert, shall we continue on our way?”

“All right.”

The mage shouldn’t be out in the open, so there’s no need for me to change my clothes. The ship will be anchored just at the edge of the place, where it will not disturb the coming and going of the ship. It’s a bit far away, but even I can see the people in the city.

“They are so welcoming. What are you going to do, Wataru-san?”

Indeed, Alessia-san was right. There are not many people, but it seems that the people of the city are welcoming us as they watch the ship.

“It would be strange if the mage came out, so could Alessia-san and the others please wave to them?”

“We? We were in the city until noon, weren’t we?”

The members of Girasole also nodded delicately. I understand how they feel.

“But it would be awkward to ignore them when they welcome us, wouldn’t it?”

I was a little worried, but I asked Girasole to wave to them. The people in the city were cheering, so it was probably for the best. I returned to the ship feeling a little uncomfortable.

“It’s so subtle. I wonder if that was the right thing to do.”

Dorothea-san asked, tilting her head. I was worried that Beni-chan might fall off the ship.

“There’s nothing we can do about it, so let’s be happy about it.”

In order to forget about the delicate atmosphere, we had dinner with drinks in the vending machine corner after a long time.

“It’s been a while, but I like the atmosphere here. I feel at home.”

Alessia-san says as she bites into a piece of fried chicken and swallows a can of beer. It’s kind of casual, isn’t it? I think the Chris is better in terms of taste, but it’s the vending machine corner that relaxes me.

A noisy drinking session begins, and after we have drunk our fill until midnight, we leave for the open sea on the Lutto.

“Master, are you all right?”

“Mmm, I think I’m fine, but I think I might have had a little too much to drink. If you think I’m in danger, please call out to me.”

“I understand.”

Ines is sunk, but Felicia is still solid, so she should be fine. With a slightly wobbly head, I switched to the Stronghold and headed for the city of Cagliari on autopilot.

I was already sleepy, having lived a surprisingly regular life. I docked the Stronghold next to the Fortress, Felicia calling out to me from time to time.

“Ugh, I’m pretty tired; let’s go back to the Fortress and get some more sleep. Can Felicia take care of Ines? I’ll take care of Rimu, who’s sleeping there.”

“Okay.”

As a man, I should probably carry Ines, but when I think about it, Felicia is the right person for the job. Even I can carry her with ease, but I’m afraid I might accidentally fall.

………………

The next morning, I go to the Merchant’s Guild and talk to the old man.

“Good morning.”

“Oh, good morning… I mean, wait! Why are there two of those ridiculous big ships? I haven’t heard anything about them.”

“Eh? …We came with a lot of materials, so we ended up with two ships, didn’t I tell you?”

“I didn’t hear that.”

…Oh, at first, I planned to have one ship at a time, but then I decided to have two ships side by side to scare off anyone who might try to shoot at me. Well, I showed them both in the war, so I guess there’s no reason to be surprised.

“I forgot to tell you, didn’t I? I’m sorry.”

I bowed my head. The old man mumbled and complained about how hard it was to get a call in the morning and how the Navy brass was getting all worked up. I let it go, knowing that if I continued the conversation, I would be in trouble.

“So these tickets are like a pass to get on the ship. Right now, we have 300 tickets prepared by Mage-sama. I’ve heard that if you don’t have them, you’ll be thrown off the ship, so please be careful.”

“We don’t need 300 tickets. Besides, what does it mean to be thrown off a ship?”

“I don’t know. You should ask Mage-sama.”

I really have no idea how it works. Maybe I’ll have to ask the Creator God-sama.

“Can I meet Mage-sama?”

“I don’t think so. He hardly ever meets people.”

“Then it’s impossible, isn’t it? Can’t you ask him?”

“I’m in trouble if you ask me that. All I can say is good luck.”

He began to complain again. It’s a hassle.

“So when do you start unloading, and when can I meet the carpenters you’re going to introduce me to?”

“Hmm? Oh, the unloading and the carpentry will start in the afternoon. If I can get in with this ticket, can I start unloading by myself?”

“We will leave the loading dock open for you, so you can start unloading on your own. However, please note that the ticket only allows you to enter the area where there is a load.”

“Oh, but I can’t be responsible for anyone coming in with unnecessary interference. Are you okay with that?”

“Yes. I’ve heard that they can’t enter any other places than the specified ones, so I don’t think there’s anything we can do about it.”

“This Mage-sama is a very capable person, isn’t he? Well, if it’s not a problem, it’s fine. I’ll call the carpenters in the afternoon, and you can come back then.”

“All right.”

I left the old man, returned to the Fortress, and opened the loading door. The Navy will do the rest.

“Wataru-san, you’re meeting with the carpenter this afternoon, right? What kind of building are you planning?”

Claretta-san asked me a question about something other than cooking and stuffed animals, which was rare for her. I was a little surprised. No, she was involved with the orphanage in both Southern City and Palermo, so I guess it was only natural.

“Well, that’s right. Depending on the discussions with the carpenter, I plan to have a three-story building built on about half of the lot, with many large rooms. A large bathroom and dining room. I also want to have a large kitchen. I also plan to have a separate building built for the staff to live in.”

“A lot of big rooms?”

“Yes, I want them to live together as a group. If we build a lot of small rooms, it will be difficult for the staff to see them all. Do you need any other facilities?”

“Yes, I do. Orphans come here, and some of them are emotionally traumatized. We can’t deal with them alone in the big room, so we need a small room to calm them down and deal with them.”

I guess you can’t just get all the children together and live together. The children who have suffered from the effects of the war will also come… Once again, I’ve gotten myself into a lot of trouble. I hate my brain that I can only think of an orphanage in another world = charity work.

The only thing I can do is to make sure there is enough money and to hire more staff?

“I understand. Let’s build a room for the staff in the orphanage itself and build small rooms around it. It would be easier to manage.”

“That would be good. And I think we also need more toilets.”

Toilets. It would be hell if there were too many people and not enough toilets. I’ll have to ask them not to forget that. There seem to be a lot of things that need to be done, so I’ll ask Claretta-san’s opinion and put it together.

“I understand. Let me know if you need anything else.”

If I’m going to build it anyway, it better be easy to use, right? I wanted to leave it to the carpenters, but they’re so busy now that I’m afraid they’ll cut corners if I do.

“I understand. In terms of facilities that would be good to have, it would be a study room. If we can teach the orphans how to read, write and calculate in a big room, it will definitely help them in their future. In the church, priests teach them, but in a private orphanage, you have to hire teachers, so I think that would be a challenge.”

Hmm, reading, writing, and arithmetic. That’s important, isn’t it? It would be difficult to hire a teacher, and it would be quicker to find a slave who could provide education, even if it was expensive.

“Claretta-san, I know it’s a little late for this, but I’m going to buy slaves to work for the orphanage staff. Will that be a problem?”

“Hmm, if even the representatives are slaves, it might be a problem. Wataru-san, are you planning to collect donations?”

I don’t need donations because I’m building an orphanage to spend money on. The problem is when my funds run out or something, but that won’t be the case for the time being.

“No, for the time being, I intend to finance it only with my own funds.”

“If that is the case, I think there will be no problem with just the slaves if Wataru-san or Camille-san becomes a token representative and some authority is given to those who will be in charge of the slaves. If you don’t ask for donations, there is no relationship with the outside world except for shopping. However, orphans need connections to find employment. So I think it would be helpful to have someone with strong connections.

Giving authority to slaves is like being a slave master? Well, that kind of place is convenient if you do it with your own means.

“I understand. I will ask Camille-san and Mauro-san about the human network. If push comes to shove, I can get them to work on the luxury liner.”

After putting together the necessary facilities for the orphanage to some extent with Claretta-san, we finished lunch and headed for the Merchant’s Guild.

“Oh, here you are. This way.”

The old man led me to a room where three carpenters were waiting. These are the people who will build the orphanage.

“This guy is the client… is it going to be Mage-sama who will be the client? Well, this is Wataru, the man in charge. Wataru, these are the carpenters and masons.”

I don’t think this old man is an employee of the Merchant’s Guild; he’s so rough around the edges. I think he’s probably the master of the Merchant’s Guild, right?

We greet each other and begin our meeting. I was worried that they might be grumpy about being sent here when they are so busy, but it seems that the craftsmen are fully motivated by the fact that this is a project that the mage has put on his mind. It is thanks to the mage’s popularity. I’ll pretend that I didn’t notice their eyes on Girasole. I completely understand how they feel.