Read Novel Full Vol 22 Chapter 2
Vol 22 Chapter 2
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Chapter 2 – The Winner Is…
In the Beastmen Village, Camille-san told me to choose a name for the trading company, and after much thought, I decided on Toyomi Trading Company. I was relieved, but then I was asked to design a stamp for the company. I decided to hold a contest with a prize for the best design, but the top three designs by Ines, Felicia, and Marina-san were all too good, so I couldn’t decide. What should I do?
“Wataru-san, you seem to be having trouble deciding, but you can use my design if you want.”
“Haha…”
Camille-san spoke to me as if she was joking when I was having trouble deciding on a winner, but she looked at me with a rather serious expression.
I don’t know if she doesn’t like to lose or if there’s a prize at stake, but Camille-san seems to really enjoy this kind of competition.
As a participant and organizer, I’m quietly happy that she’s taking it seriously. But of course, I can’t just ignore the top three and pick Camille-san.
Drawing lots or rock-paper-scissors is a bit different.
There’s also the option of making all three stamps and seeing how they turn out, but that would take a long time to register, so I’ll have to give that up for this time.
It’s difficult, but I have to think of it as a company stamp and somehow choose one.
I’ve made up my mind and compared the images.
…Huh? There’s something strange about it…
I thought long and hard and forced myself to come to a conclusion. To be honest, there were no problems with any of the drawings, so I was going to pick out the candidates by looking for roughness. However, I noticed something, and it was like a complete turnaround.
I got everyone’s attention while playing a drum roll in my mind.
“The winner of the stamp contest, presented by Toyomi Trading, is… Marina!”
I announced loudly after building up the suspense. It’s sad that there wasn’t a big round of applause.
“Winner.”
I announced it after building up the suspense, but Marina-san’s reaction was kind of sad. But she’s smiling and patting Fuu-chan, so I guess she’s happy.
“Master, I want to know the reason for the selection. It smells like favoritism.”
Just as I was about to hand over the prize money, I heard Ines’ words. And they hit a sensitive spot.
I won’t deny that the thought of favoritism crossed my mind.
I thought it would be better and less confrontational to favor Marina-san over Ines and Felicia, who are very close to me. But I seriously considered that it would be disrespectful to Marina-san, so I made my choice.
That’s why I can clearly refute the accusation.
“It is true that the drawings of Ines and Felicia were also difficult to choose between. So it’s not unreasonable to suspect that I was trying to be considerate, but in some respects Marina’s picture surpassed the others.”
Ines’ drawing had a diagonal composition, with the front and side of the picture all in one frame. It had a slightly unique composition that was different from the other pictures, and it was cool.
Felicia’s drawing was simply drawn from the side, and it was a picture that gave you a sense of the natural softness that was characteristic of Felicia.
“Where? As a composition, it’s no different from Felicia’s.”
Ines looks doubtful. Maybe she can’t give up because she’s enjoying the casino fever with a single gold coin.
“Look here, look here. The sun that hides in the clouds.”
“Th-That’s not a normal sun… Could that be a steering wheel?”
“Yes, that’s right. I was also surprised when I first noticed it.”
Marina-san’s picture is realistic, and the sun is small and half-hidden by the clouds, so I didn’t notice that it had such a playful touch.
So when I noticed it, I felt like I’d gained something.
“If people who see the Toyomi Trading Company stamp and notice the sun steering wheel are surprised and happy, that’s a little bit of happiness, isn’t it?”
There may be similar performances in Japan, but I think this kind of performance is amazing in this world.
In fact, not only Ines and I but also the other members gathered around to admire the picture.
“I don’t think we’re losing out elsewhere, but this idea is certainly interesting. It’s frustrating, but I’ve lost.”
Ines finally agreed.
Phew, I’ve got myself into a bit of a pickle over something silly. I’ll refrain from any more competition among relatives. Or rather, I’ll stop offering prizes like a gold coin just because I feel like it. Someone in particular will get carried away.
Well, I guess I’d better wrap things up.
“Marina, thank you for your beautiful drawing. Here’s your prize.”
I hand Marina-san a single gold coin. If this was a real contest, there might be an award ceremony or something, but we can’t afford to take that much time.
“Then I’ll send this design to the craftsman Miranda-san introduced me to.”
“Please do.”
I handed the design to Camille-san and breathed a sigh of relief. I think I’ve done everything I need to do here, right?
No, I still have to inspect the city of the Beastmen. It looks like things are pretty bad there as well, so I’ll just get it over with.
＊＊＊
William-san was free at the time, so I asked him to come and take a look around.
With that, William-san and Camille-san will have a chance to talk about various things, and the inspection will be complete.
I’ll just ask about the things I’m curious about while playing with Rimu and Pent.
“Oh, you started building the city walls at the same time as the moat?”
When we arrived at the Beastmen’s city, the first thing I noticed was the large number of Beastmen and the stone walls that had already begun to be built, even though they were still low.
“Yes, we have a lot of workers, so we’re doing different construction projects at the same time.”
I think William-san is smiling a little wryly because there are so many workers that they have to do the work at the same time. I understand.
“I’ve heard about this place, but it’s huge. Has the interior work started yet?”
“Yes, the construction hasn’t started yet, but the land has been leveled and the construction work, including the waterways, has begun.”
Camille-san, who is here for the first time, is surprised by the extent of the construction. That’s right, they’re doing construction on a ridiculous scale.
I’m doing this construction.
…When I look at the construction site again, I feel scared. I wonder what I’m doing…
Turning a blind eye to the scene that makes me want to escape reality, I go into town.
I listen to William-san’s explanations while I inspect the inside, but I start to feel bad.
Because, you know, they’re changing this and that, they wanted to unify the market and make it bigger, but it’s too far away, so they’re going to split it up, and they’re going to split the craftsmen’s district to some extent… it’s all about design changes.
I don’t know much about the construction industry, but I do know that design changes during construction are frowned upon.
Then, they keep changing the city’s design. It’s hell. And it’s not just reducing the size; it’s doubling it. If it were me, I’d run away.
Despite the situation, the workers are working hard, and the construction seems to be going smoothly, probably because William-san is good at what he does.
But there is one thing that worries me.
“William-san, all the workers at the port construction site were big and strong, but there are quite a few skinny people here, too. Is there a reason for that?”
I thought there would be a lot of burly, brawny beastmen like at the port, but about half of them look scrawny.
“Some of the construction work at the harbor is specialized, so we send experienced workers. The people who are skinny and work here are the ones who have recently joined the construction team.”
“I see…”
Come to think of it, they’ve been hiring more and more people. I see, so the skinny people who work here are the muscle-bound reserve force.
It’s not that it’s a bad thing, but I feel like I’m doing something sinful.
If I hadn’t tied myself down with various conditions in my contract with the God of Commerce-sama, I think the bigwigs of the Aquamarine Kingdom would be cowering in fear.
If it were me, I’d probably choose to surrender before a battle. I might be better than them in terms of level, but I don’t think I would win visually.
“This is the central square.”
While I was freaking out about weird things, we arrived at the center of the city.
“Isn’t this square too big? What are they building in the middle?”
I was a little embarrassed that I didn’t even know.
“In the center, we are planning to build a large pond to provide water for the city.”
A big pond is amazing. In Japan, it’s normal to have ponds in parks, but I think it’s unusual to build a pond in a walled city. Well, I guess that just shows how important it is to secure water in this area.
Hmm? It looks like they’re digging around the middle of the pond, leaving the center alone. Maybe they’ll make a fountain in the middle.
“Can this water supply meet the water needs of the residents?
“It’s difficult to do it just here. We plan to supply water by creating water canals and firebreaks around the town.
Camille-san and William-san have started a serious conversation. Oh well, I can ask them about it later.
It’s amazing. Since the big buildings aren’t finished yet, you can really see how big the city will be.
It’s like building an ancient Chinese capital. Well, it won’t be that big.
Yeah, if we built another city of this size, we’d run out of money.
I thought it would take a long time because it was so big, but it was still in the early stages, and there weren’t that many places to see, so we were able to finish the tour before evening.
“How was it, Camille-san?”
“I had a general idea of the situation from the villages and documents, but I doubted Wataru-san’s sanity to do something like this on his own.”
I only asked for her impressions of the city after the inspection, but she doubted my sanity. Well, I’d question someone else’s sanity if they did something like that.
I definitely wouldn’t do something like this if it weren’t for the penalty of charity project expenses. Or rather, even if there were charity project expenses, I wouldn’t have wanted to do a charity project on this scale.
I don’t know what it was, but the conversation just kept getting bigger and bigger…
“Well, aside from my sanity, what did you think of it from Camille-san’s point of view?”
“Well, as Miranda-san said, the industries that could be a strength are weak. I think it could be maintained to some extent with large-scale construction, but it’s a matter of how much strength can be created in the meantime.”
“Isn’t that strength the Castle?”
By cooperating with the Castle and the Beastmen City, we’ll be doing business with the rich, right?
“Did it seem like it was enough to make a difference?”
Camille-san’s serious face is frightening. Well, there are certainly too many people, so it’s not like it’s a drop in the bucket, but it seems difficult to cover everything.
“What should we do?”
“The only thing we can think of right now is an employment agency for people who are used to manual labor. Besides, construction will continue for a while, so it might be a good idea to teach the workers some skills while they’re here.”
A temp staffing agency? That doesn’t sound too bad, but the Aquamarine Kingdom is an island, isn’t it?
There are quite a few undeveloped areas, but it seems like the work will eventually run out… No, it’s connected to Southern City and the Brescia Kingdom by regular shipping routes, so it should be possible to send workers to other countries on the Castle?
The conditions seem quite high, but let’s think about it in different ways, taking that into account. It would be sad if the city of the beastmen disappeared after the construction was finished and the financial situation collapsed.
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