Chapter 56: It’s Here!

T/N: There’s going to be some talk of bodily functions during puberty here, so be aware of that.

I stare at documents today as well. Even though tax revenues will come in from this year onward, the finances of House Caan are still on fire. It’s far from a life where you can barely afford to go around by bicycle 1. If you lose even one thing, the money will stop circulating in no time.

In Caanburg, the highway that extends straight from Manor Caan runs smoothly and continues to the north gate of Carruzan. The main street was lined with large buildings where our homeless settlers lived together in the early days.

A little further to the east, there is a factory area where beet sugar and dairy products are processed and stored. A field has been built on the west side to make it easier to draw water, and it seems that various crops are grown there. Crops are not limited to sugar beets, but they produce a variety of foods, from staple foods such as wheat to vegetables, so that they can live without relying on imports.

In Cien, farming is not possible on a large scale, so the villagers are exporting seafood and salt to afford to import food they’re lacking, at least to the extent that they can be self-sufficient. As for the fishing, I don’t know the details because I just call the fishermen and leave it to them. However, I was allowed to say a little about the salt manufacturing industry.

If you want to make sun-dried salt, you need a vast salt field. It takes a while for it to dry. To put it simply, pot-cooked salt boils sea water to separate the water and the salt, but the salt concentration of seawater is around 3%. It is calculated that only 30 grams can be obtained from 1 liter of seawater. This is inefficient. No amount of firewood will be enough.

Therefore, whether it is pot-cooked salt or sun-dried salt, it is first dried to some extent to increase the salt concentration. As the names imply, sun-dried salt is put into the sun to evaporate, and pot-cooked salt has seawater boiled in a pot.

As for the method of increasing the salinity, Irihama Style salt pans must have existed here as well. Roughly speaking, by using the ebb and flow of the tide, we create a device that allows seawater to flow in at high tide and prevents seawater from flowing back out at low tide. Seawater accumulates in the grooves and then seeps into the surrounding salt pans through capillary action. The sand is dried by sunlight or wind, and when it dries, it is collected and washed away with seawater to dissolve the adhering salt. By doing this, the salt attached to the sand dissolves in the seawater, creating water with a higher salt concentration than ordinary seawater.

The advantage of this is that normally you would have to manually sprinkle seawater on the salt fields to dry them, but when the tide ebbs and flows, you can sprinkle seawater on the salt fields without the need for human intervention. The fact that the most difficult work process can be omitted means that a lot of salt can be made with less manpower.

I didn’t have a clear idea of the specific method, so I consulted with someone who had experience in the salt industry, and after repeated trial and error and failure, we finally completed it. It’s probably not as sophisticated as the one on Earth because it’s something we made by fumbling around. Still, the people in the salt manufacturing industry were happy that it had become very easy, so let’s say it’s a good result.

Some of the caught seafood and salt is transported to Caanburg by land on the already connected roads, but others use ships to go up the river.

House Caan currently operates three ships under public ownership. The river that flows to the east of Carruzan is called the Dierbe River, and it is currently operating a regular line that connects the eastern dock of Carruzan to the eastern dock of Caanburg, the town of Lubek at the mouth of the Dierbe River, and Cien.

Originally, it was mainly used for transporting daily necessities from Carruzan to Cien… but now it’s not. After Caanburg and Cien’s livelihoods stabilized, it was now used as transportation within the territory. However, it remains in use as a regular line due to the large number of passengers traveling to Lubek and Carruzan. On the contrary, there are too many passengers, and I’m thinking about separating the cargo and the passenger trips.

Well, there aren’t many travelers going to Cien, so the route to Cien is almost exclusively for cargo. Most of the people are passengers between Carruzan and Lubek. There aren’t many passengers who get off at Caanburg either…

This should be profitable, but for some reason, there is no money left. It’s a mystery. If there was money, it would disappear. Even in my previous life, I should have worked so hard that I didn’t even have time to go out, but I didn’t save any money. Ah, that’s because I bought goods, discs, and games… forget what I said…

I also made a hand pump. Although Caanburg also has clean water, it is not like modern Japan where you can apply pressure with an electric pump and turn on the faucet at any time to get water. We have to draw water from the water wells. Cien also uses a well, because I thought it would be difficult to pump up water the old way, so I developed a hand pump.

The structure of the hand pump itself is simple. To put it in extreme terms, attach two lids that can only be opened upwards. The lower lid is fixed and the upper lid is attached to the handle that levers it up and down. Priming water is put in first, the inside of the pipe is sealed, and when the handle is moved, the water rises.

Push down on the handle. In short, when the inner lid rises, the lower lid opens and water is sucked up. The upper lid does not open because water is on top of the lid.

Lower the handle all the way down and then raise it. The lower lid is then closed by the pressure from the upper lid. Since the lower lid is closed, the upper lid has no place for water to escape between them.

When the handle is lowered again, the water accumulated on the upper lid is pushed up and comes out. Since the space between the lower lid and the upper lid is in a vacuum state, the well water is sucked up and the water under the well rises. It may be hard to explain, but in a nutshell, it’s like this.

We installed it in each well. It is installed not only in Caanburg’s water well but also in Cien’s well. I also have this installed in my house. Build a water well next to the mansion and pull the water up to the ground once and store it. A pump is installed to pull up from the reservoir on the ground to the top of the mansion, and the tank above the mansion is filled with water.

It’s troublesome because it’s pumped twice from the well to the ground and from the ground to the roof, but by storing water in the tank on the roof and dropping it from the top, the water in my mansion is just turning on the faucet. In short, I have running water.

My house is also fully equipped with a bath, and in areas where a large amount of water is used, such as the bath, water can flow directly from the well’s pump, so the water in the tap water tank is mainly used for the flush toilet and washroom. The kitchen also draws water from the tap water tank, but when using a large amount, we use a pump from the well. It’s hard to use the water tank too much and go to the tank on the roof many times.

Hand pumps are being commercialized and sold at Kruck Trading Firm, as they are likely to be in demand even within the Kingdom of Ploiss. This is also a simple structure, so it will be imitated eventually, but it seems to be selling quite well.

Sales of wigs and treatments to nobles seem to be increasing recently, so it’s a great source of income. The cheese has also improved considerably to the extent that I can eat it. However, unlike me who ate cheese in my previous life, other people don’t seem to like it very much yet. There are preferences for fermented foods, etc., and likes and dislikes are largely divided depending on whether or not you have been eating them since childhood. Maybe next time I’ll try making some delicious food or sweets using cheese…

Hmmm… that’s weird, isn’t it? Now that I think about it, I wonder why I can’t save money even though I’m working so hard… ah~……I wonder if this is why I was so irritated until a little while ago. I had a headache, and recently my stomach hurts… it’s not like diarrhea or constipation, it’s something else… it’s like it aches, or it hurts like sharp jerks…

“Excuse me. Sir Floto, I have brought you a document…, Sir Floto! Are you alright!?” Helmut cried.

He had knocked, and I told him to come in. Then, his expression changed and he rushed over to my side.

“Nothing’s the matter, okay?” I said.

It’s a lie. My stomach hurts so much. But a maiden who has a stomach ache or something so embarrassing can’t say as much even under the fiercest duress.

“It can’t be nothing!” Helmut said. “You look very pale and in pain!”

Is that so? For the time being, I’m going to put on a poker face and look calm, but… well, I can’t deny that I’m leaning forward to hold my stomach. It’s different from my usual posture of straightening my back, so maybe that’s why I got caught.

“What’s going on?” Isabella asked as she came into the room, probably from all the fuss I and Helmut were raising.

“Nothing is?” I said.

“Sir Floto…!” Isabella cried. “Are you feeling sick? Please go back to your room and rest a bit.”

I tried saying the same thing I said to Helmut, but it didn’t work for Isabella either. It seems that I’m not feeling well even from an outsider’s perspective. That’s strange. It’s not a climate where you’re at risk of catching a cold, so I wonder what it is. Feeling irritated, having a headache, having a stomach ache…

“Come now! Sir Floto, please stop working and take a rest!” Isabella said as she held onto me.

“…… Ah,” I said.

The moment I stood up from my chair, an unpleasant feeling flowed between my legs, around my crotch. Ah? This can’t be? Could it be… at this age?

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Since I was a baby, I had a sense of ego, so I didn’t wet myself as much as possible. I didn’t understand the language and I couldn’t talk to people, so they thought it was inevitable, so they put me in a diaper, but from the middle of the day, I didn’t leak anything and went to the toilet properly. Even though it should be the case… I never thought I would end up doing it at the age of thirteen…

Was it because my stomach hurt after all? I didn’t feel that way at all… But something is wrong. Did I pee myself after all?

“Sir Floto… This is…” Isabella muttered.

She seemed to have noticed something was wrong from how I trembled, she looked at my butt. I wonder if she’s holding back her laughter because it’s so funny that I’ve done it at this age…

“Helmut! Get out of this room at once!” Isabella said.

“Huh? What? But what of Sir Floto?” Helmut said.

“It will be fine, now hurry up and leave!” Isabella shouted.

“Ye-Yes…!” Helmut cried before he did just that.

Did she at least keep Helmut from knowing? Isabella found out about it, but Helmut didn’t laugh at me, so it’s still better off…

“Sir Flo… No, Miss Flora, you may be scared at first, but this is normal. Let’s calm down first,” Isabella said, making me sit down again.

I feel soggy, wet, and uncomfortable. Is it normal? Peeing yourself? That’s not true…. no matter how naive I am about this life, I can understand that much.

“All women grow up to experience this,” Isabella said. “It’s not just you, Miss Flora. Besides, it’s rather late for you. We were worried because it’s been so long since your breasts started to swell, but it’s finally time for your first.”

……………… I wonder what that “first” is. Could it be that? The legend that visits women once a month?

“Congratulations on your first period!” Isabella said.

“Huuuuuhhh~~~~!?” I squealed.

In this way, I had my first period, which seems to be a bit late in this world.

Three people, men and women, were facing each other in a room of the Royal Castle Bern, in the capital of the Kingdom of Ploiss.

“Is-Is this true?” King Wilhelm said, astonished as he looked through the documents.

“Yes. No doubt about it,” said Victoria, Chairman of Kruck Trading firm, as she calmly drinks her tea. For her, this was nothing new.

“No, that’s… I don’t think you would lie, Aunt, but it’s still an unbelievable figure,” Duke Dietrich sighed as he read another document with Wilhelm.

In the Kingdom of Ploiss, you cannot own a large ship without permission. Even if it is as small as a fishing boat, the possession of a ship is directly linked to military power and thus requires the royal family’s consent. In the first place, in both Ploiss and its neighbors, single-owner ships do not exist, and it is common for multiple rights holders to jointly own them.

House Caan put in a request to purchase 2 more ships, even though they already exclusively owned 3 large ships. So, Wilhelm summoned Victoria, who had just arrived at the royal capital, to speak about the matter.

They don’t believe House Caan or Flora is planning a rebellion and amassing ships as a military force. However, it was unprecedented for an individual to own a ship, so they asked Flora and Victoria what the financial situation was like to fund such a purchase, to begin with.

Wilhelm and Dietrich had their eyes shoot open when they saw the resulting documents.

“I was surprised that the population is approaching 300 people in such a short period of time, but I didn’t expect their finances would also be rising with it…” Dietrich said. “I envy them.”

If it’s a normal knightly household or a baron’s household, it’s a big deal if they govern a village with dozens of people. It’s not like it’s suddenly opened up, either, but it’s only after many generations of development that it’s able to stabilize on that scale.

However, not only that, but House Caan’s estimated income is an order of magnitude higher. Its scale is estimated to be on par with a fairly high-ranking aristocratic family, surpassing not only a baron but even a count. Of course, Dietrich’s saying he’s envious while being part of Kreff Duchy is neither sarcasm nor a joke.

It seems that the tax revenues and pensions are negligible. The bulk of the income was from the sales of House Caan’s specialty products, the sales of the products consigned to Kruck, and the profit from regular shipping. There is so much variety of industries and diversification, it was as if she didn’t think it would hurt to pick up another business just for fun.

“So Flora also had business acumen, did she…?” Wilhelm said, lost in thought and stroking his beard.

It’s bad for him if Flora ever turns against him. If someone with this much talent were to defect to another country and even get married there, they would become a formidable enemy. He doesn’t think he understands Flora’s talent, but by chance, Ludwig got engaged to her first and he stroked his chest in relief at that.

“And even though you have this much income, she’s using it steadily,” Dietrich said. “Without doing anything unreasonable or borrowing, she’s launched new businesses one after another with just her capital, and all of them have been successful. Just what in the world is going on in this Princess’s head…?”

Normally, even if you want to start a business, you have to raise funds from somewhere else because you don’t have enough capital by yourself. And if you borrow it, naturally your business will be interfered with, and in the worst case, it will be taken over by your investors. Flora is doing everything with her capital, so no one else has the right to say anything about how she runs things. And all of them are hitting a big surplus.

With that large surplus, she will proceed with the development of her territory and gain further financial strength. They can’t imagine how far she plans to go.

“I thought that she would build a small village with the help of House Carruthers, but instead she… no, no, I’m afraid to even say it,” Wilhelm said.

“So, Aunt,” Dietrich said, “about all these various new products, it seems even we haven’t heard about most of them in our family?”

“Oh?” Victoria said. “Should Kruck not sell any new products without consulting Duke Kreff first?”

“No, that’s not my intention, however…” Dietrich said.

Thus, the three of them talked until late in the day about Flora’s eccentric new products and plans.

T/N: Storm warning over my place. As usual, it’s looking pretty bad due to geography and climate change. Updates could stop if I lose power and/or internet service for a while.

Footnotes

In Japan, bicycles are one of the cheapest and most economical ways to get around, thanks to their urban development not being as spaced out and car-centric such as America’s.

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