Striving For The Luxury Liner!! ~Get That Rich Isekai Life With A Ship Summoning Skill~ (WN)

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(16/24)

Chapter 11 – Developing Cagliari

I visited the Southern City after a long time and had a business meeting with the Master of the Merchant Guild about the construction materials and treasures obtained in the Aquamarine Kingdom. The price of the construction materials was less than a tenth of the price of the treasures, which made me feel a little uneasy, but the guild master promised to prepare all the materials in 20 days, so I will consider the business meeting a success.

“The city of Cagliari is quite busy. It looks interesting.”

“Yes, I don’t know what it looked like before it was destroyed, but is it really necessary for a military port to be so busy?”

I came to Cagliari because I had 20 days free because of a business meeting, but there were many ships in the port and small boats coming and going all the time.

It is a military port, you know? People are moving around all the time, but is the security safe? I started to worry about the orphanage.

“The Castle is docked here. It can’t be helped that it’s full of people.”

Well, it’s like having an otherworldly city nearby, so it can’t be helped that people are gathering. I’ll leave the security of the port to the military, but I’ll take care of the orphanage.

“That is correct. So… where should we drop anchor? I don’t see any port officials…”

If we were out of sight, we could just dock the Lutto next to the Castle and go on board, but that’s not how it works here. If we leave the Lutto alongside, it will be in the way, and if we go back and the Lutto disappears, there will be an uproar.

We have to take the crossing ship to the Castle at the port… I don’t see any gap in the port where a ship could dock, and I don’t see any personnel to ask.

There seems to be room in the area used by the military’s magic ships, but it would be difficult to dock there.

“Ah, Master. A small magic ship is approaching.”

I looked in the direction Ines was pointing and saw that a small magic ship was indeed heading that way. The port staff seems to be on board, and they will probably explain what to do with this magic ship.

“Huh? A temporary port has been set up?”

When I asked the staff what to do, they told me about the existence of a temporary port. But a port is not so easy to build, is it?

“Even though it’s a temporary port, it’s just a place for boats to dock. It’s like coming here by boat from there. If you have cargo, there is a place to unload it at that port, but it will cost you a little more money.”

My doubts must have shown on my face because the official continued to explain.

But a temporary port, huh? There’s no need to unload, but it looks like it’s a little far away, and it’s a hassle to take the trouble.

It can’t be helped. The secret “power of money” comes into play.

“I’ll pay you, but can’t I dock at this port?”

“Money alone is not enough. The people docked at this port now are nobles and wealthy merchants, in short, people with money and status.”

The secret technique was easily defeated. It seems that without money and power, I won’t be able to dock at this port.

If I brandish Mage-sama’s name, I can get by in this port, but considering the cause of this port’s hustle and bustle, borrowing Mage-sama’s authority will probably be a big problem later on.

It would be safer to drop anchor in the temporary port.

＊＊＊

“Wataru-san. It’s been a while.”

“Camille-san, it’s been a long time. It seems like there are a lot of people here. It was very hard to get here.”

From the temporary port (just a place where ships can dock), we took a crossing ship to the port of Cagliari. From the port of Cagliari to the Castle.

It sounds easy in words, but in reality, it was not so easy. The conditions for getting on the crossing ship to the Castle were getting stricter and stricter, so I had to go to the Merchant Guild to ask for permission.

In addition, the Merchant’s Guild is no longer the quiet atmosphere it used to be, and the merchants with bloodshot eyes are everywhere… so much so that I almost said, “I’m acquainted with Mage-sama…” several times.

“Oh, yes, you’re right. In fact, after the last ceremony, we had a big mess with people coming in. So we had to severely restrict the conditions under which people could enter the Castle.”

Camille-san looks at me with a distant look. It must have been very hard.

But her beauty still shines through, doesn’t it? She must be taking full advantage of the Castle’s facilities.

“Huh? But I informed you at the ceremony that the Merchant Guild and Camille-san manage the boarding tickets, right? You can’t board the ship without a ticket, and yet so many people showed up?”

You understood that there would be a commotion, so you must have made all the preparations in advance, right?

“That’s how big the impact of this ship was. Merchants with letters of introduction from the nobility gathered in large numbers. A lot of merchants who didn’t even talk to the Merchant’s Guild stormed this ship… Now, even the nobles and merchants from other countries… The Guild Master of the Merchant Guild also shouted…”

Does this mean that their desires outweighed their preparations?

Unlike the Guildmaster of the Merchant Guild in Cagliari City and the Guildmaster of the Southern City, she didn’t seem to have the ability to turn profits into power, so it must be hard to deal with those merchants whose eyes were bloodshot every day.

Camille-san has not returned from her distant gaze, and I think we need to ask the merchants to calm down a bit.

“Well, Camille-san. Should we move the Castle, even temporarily? I think things will calm down if we give them some time, don’t you?”

“If we do that, the country will be in turmoil, and Wataru-san’s recruitment will heat up. There are many people who want the Castle in their own countries and territories. It would be dangerous to move the ship lightly.

The country will be in an uproar, she said. And it’s bad enough that even those around me who are relatively calm due to the support effect of Mage-sama will be in trouble. Let’s pretend that the idea of moving the ship never happened.

“What should we do then? Is it safe to leave it like this?”

“Mauro is moving energetically, so I think it will be fine.”

Ah, Mauro-san is moving? He is as powerful as the Guildmaster in the Southern City, and I feel reassured that he will do something about it, right?

“I’m glad to hear that. But I want to do something about the difficulty of moving to the Castle. I don’t want it to be a problem every time we come.”

The Castle was docked right in front of us, but it took us almost four hours to get in and out. It’s hard every time.

“In that case, this way, please.”

Camille pulled a metal card out of her desk and handed it to me. A docking permit?

“What’s this?”

“It’s a permit to anchor in the port of Cagliari. When the port was in turmoil, we secured a berth for the Castle. It’s next to a place used by the military, so it’s safe, and there are no unauthorized anchorages. With this permit, you can anchor at any time, so please take advantage of it.”

“Thank you.”

I knew it, but Camille-san is super talented. It takes a lot of foresight to take advantage of the chaos and secure a spot or something like that.

It seems like even after it gets crowded, the prestige of the Castle ship could secure a place, but the effect on the environment should be completely different if you use your authority after it gets crowded and quietly secure a place before it gets crowded.

I was able to attract good people, wasn’t I? My foresight is not that bad.

Next… I need to talk about the employment of Bella-san and the others, the Sea Serpent materials we got, and the treasures of the Duke’s Castle.

After that, I also want to make sure I hear about the situation with the Castle and the orphanage. I haven’t heard anything about Donatella-san or anything like that, but I wonder how she’s doing?

＊＊＊

“Phew. That took quite a while. Felicia. Shall we take a walk around the ship and join Ines and Alessia-san, and the others?”

Since we were short on manpower, the employment of Bella-san and the others was decided upon with great enthusiasm, but the treasures and the pile of Sea Serpents were not to be processed until Mauro-san, who was outside, and Donatella-san, who was leading the big shots, had some free time.

Seeing Camille-san holding her head, I have a feeling that both the treasure and the Sea Serpent material will cause a commotion.

I also heard that the orphanage is not a problem. It seems that military personnel are guarding the orphanage, considering the surrounding situation; I think it’s kind of cool to be treated like a VIP.

“That’s right. I think it would be better to meet early.”

“Hmm? It’s okay if we take our time, right?”

It’s safe inside the Castle, so as long as I can join them before they go to bed, there’s no problem, right?

“…When we parted on board, Ines and Alessia happily said they were going to the casino.”

I see… I’ve given Ines quite a bit of pocket money, but I can only see a future where it all melts away.

Alessia-san, well, she will be fine. I’m sure she’ll get her share of the treasure, and unlike Ines, she won’t get so involved that she’ll sell herself.

“Shall we join them as soon as possible?”

Felicia and I nodded at each other and headed for the casino.

Inside the ship, there’s a moderate amount of well-dressed people walking around, and there’s a lot of elegance.

There are a few people walking around who are dressed in familiar outfits that I think they bought at the Castle, but the majority of them seem to be wearing unique outfits from this world.

It’s an upper-class crowd, and it could have been a medieval European-style social gathering or something like that, except for Saporabi.

Saporabi seems to be as popular as ever with women and girls, and I saw many of them happily holding hands as they walked around. Some of the children were holding on to their parents, and it was hard to tell if they were walking or being carried.

“I thought the same thing at the ceremony, but it’s nice to have a lively atmosphere on the ship.”

I thought the mermaids were lively, too, but the number of people on this ship was different, and the way they were dressed was more glamorous and gave them a tremendous presence.

“That’s true. I like the usual quiet atmosphere, but I think this kind of atmosphere is not so bad, just like a festival.”

I was about to say, “Yes, that’s right,” but my mouth stopped.

“Hey Felicia, what do you think?”

“That’s right. It’s like a defeated soldier, isn’t it?”

Defeated soldiers, huh? That fits.

But I don’t like it at all.

“Alessia. You shouldn’t sleep in such a conspicuous place. The sofa is for other people’s use.”

I never thought I would see Alessia-san like this. How is she supposed to look like a woman of her age, lying on the sofa, hugging her knees and looking down at her eyes?

“Ah, Wataru…”

Alessia-san who always seems to be radiant, but even her voice lacks strength. How much has she lost? Alessia is the one who can control herself, right?

“Um… Wasn’t Ines with you?”

“Ines is in the casino. She won a lot, and she’s very excited.”

What?

“Um… Ines is winning in the casino?”

I understand that there are winners and losers because it is a gambling game, but I was a bit surprised to hear that Ines won.

“Yes.”

Alessia-san replied with a wicked grin. From the looks of things, I’d say that Ines’ big win has inspired Alessia-san to spend a lot of money as well.

“Um… let’s go eat something sweet.”

Ines seems to be winning, so we can leave her alone. First, we have to do something about this disheveled beauty…