Chapter 27: Increase in Production「This time around all of the products that were created were sold to the order of the knights serving under Marquis Webdos. We have been able to acc.u.mulate a total of 9 Million Zeni. This time around, the products that we had didn’t completely meet the requirements of the other party therefore, I gave them a discount for some of the products to a reasonable extent」
Hmm, was it 98 sandals, 20 boots, 49 m worth of cloth, and 10 cushions? Did the products I create really sell for such a high price……? Considering that the price of a single horse is approximately a couple of million Zeni’s, this would mean that we can at least buy a single horse and still have some spare change. At first I was worried that the trip wouldn’t be successful but now it feels a little foolish for me to have been so worried.
「The proceeds that we earned this time will be put into the various tools that we may need in order to continue making the rubber products. We also got a recommendation from Sendohel-sama and we managed to procure the goods at a lower price. The goods that we bought are these things…」
Saying this Hegard looked back to the wagon and he tore of the cloth covering an object. There seemed to be quite a bit of baggage that was left in the wagon, and even after taking off the cloth cover, the insides were still hidden. Come on, if you don’t open the bag, I can’t see the contents~. Well aside from the things inside of the bags, I could see some things resembling metallic pans and iron kettles, what could those things be?
「This is equipment that was bought from a blacksmith who discontinued his business in Keel. This equipment will be helpful when you need to pour the rubber into buckets. Another thing that was bought was a plow which can be used to plow the land. Later we can attach the plow to a horse and the horse can be used to cultivate and plough the land. If you have something you need just let me know. I haven’t decided the fee for it, but I can at least lend you a horse」
Hegard was proudly talking about the successes of his trip and everyone was cheering. Ueee~ You say that you are lending them the horse and the plough, but you’re going to take money for it? But then again, if he were to just give these things free of charge, that would probably cause problems as well, besides, as long as he set the price cheaply enough, there won’t be many problems, right? Anyways, with this we can probably successfully introduce domestic animals as a form of boosting our agriculture. Although it took a long time before we were able to achieve the objective, I still have a feeling of satisfaction as we did achieve our goals.
「In regards to the plow, I will give a presentation to cover it in more detail tomorrow. And there is one last thing that I have to talk about. Presently, the person that has been making the rubber products is Al from my family, but considering that we will need to make more products than ever before, we will need a lot of manpower to sustain it. Therefore, it will be necessary to increase the amount of people that help make the products. Even now, we need to quickly produce sufficient amounts to fill the orders that have already been requested, there is a mountain of things that we need to get done」
Hegards says this as he looks around surveying everybody.
「Taylor, Enbelt, Arnold………..and lastly, hmm let’s see. Diane……. and Myun. Diane is not here right now, but please let her know later. From tomorrow, all the people I called out will start learning about how to produce rubber from Al. Farne and Mill have already started to learn, and any trivial questions I will leave up to Farne to answer tomorrow. You guys got that? And last but not least, although this is natural, I will obviously pay you wages」
The people that had their names called out were the sons and daughters of various retainers working for our family. Only Myun was in her twenties whereas the rest of the people were around their young teens. Enbelt and Diane have just barely turned 15 years of age, and Arnold is only still a young 17-year-old. Well because he’s a dwarf he already has a beard growing even though he’s a midget. Taylor was 19 years old and the oldest if you didn’t include Myun, however, if I were to apply the common sense of j.a.panese culture, then he would still be considered a youngster. Nevertheless, young people are said to have absorbent minds, this should be good for learning and memory. Allow me to do my best to properly train them.
「Also if this business gets right on track….. it may still take 3~4 years to really take off…. I can’t really promise anything, but I really want to make this village take over the rubber product industry. From here on out, I would like to borrow everyone’s help for rubber production. So that we may accomplish our goals, you guys can a.s.sume that you have quit the agriculture business and you should devote yourselves to rubber production」
Although everyone obediently listened to Hegard’s commands, there was some people who seemed uneasy when they heard “quit the agriculture business”. The young people I mentioned before and their parents especially seemed to be a little anxious. In my opinion, being delegated into producing rubber is actually something to be happy about….
「Is there any questions?」
Hegard was wrapping up his talk. It was at this time that various hands went up from the crowd. One of the people who raised his hand was Beckwiz, who was a retainer to Hegard.
「Excuse me, in the end, did you visit Vicount Kindo on the way back home? Listening to the talk from before, I think that Viscount Kindo, is also really interested about ordering some of the rubber products」
When they heard this, starting from Hegard, all the people standing behind him had a change in expression. Don’t tell me……
「Ah…..In regards to that…. I completely forgot. This is bad isn’t it…….I probably should go back…… tomorrow I will head back to Doritto…….」
On the evening of that day, Hegard talked to us again after our meal.
「Farne, Mill, have you guys become able to create rubber products?」
「Yes, but I think that without the help of the memo prepared by Al, I wouldn’t be able to make it yet」
Farne said this. I guess this is to be expected. Starting from learning how to harvest latex properly, it’s only been three months since he started learning the process.
「Is that so, then Al should begin instructions on how to properly gather the latex. Ahh, , when I say instruct, I of course mean the newcomers Taylor and the others. Farne. You need to quickly come to grips on the correct mixture and ratio of creating the rubber products so that you will be able to create it without the memo, this is your most important objective. Starting from next year, you will be enrolled into the order of the knights working under Webdos, therefore you need to have perfected the art before then, alright?」
After saying that, Hegard turns his face towards Mill.
「Mill, have you been able to dry the rubber with the use of your magic?」
「Yes, Father. I’ve already learnt how to do so. Even Al has told me that I’ve done good」
Yeah, Mill is capable of using every kind of magic without trouble other than wind type magic, therefore, although she may not be as effective as me at it, she is still able to dry the rubber with efficiency.
「Alright, Al, I’ll depend on you starting tomorrow. We will probably be able to buy a couple more horses in the next three months, so we will need to build an additional barn. In approximately 10 days, the workers and builders from Doritto should arrive here in order to construct the barn. Everyone, remember not to be rude to them. If you do, it will give the whole Greed Family a bad reputation. I also order the builders to create a rubber manufacturing shed for you guys, before building the barn. The manufacturing shed will be placed next to a vacant land near the riverside. Al you can think about what you want for the shed so that it will be easy for you to manufacture. If you tell me when you want, I will convey that message to the builders」
「Yes, Father. I understand. I also have a question, would it be alright to ask?」
I wanted to ask about the blacksmithing tools.
「Nn? What is it?」
「In regards to blacksmithing tools, is there anyone in Bakuddo village who can use it?」
「I have a general idea of how to use it. But the rest you need to manage by yourself. Even if you need to employ people, you may do so」
「Eh? Me?」
This was unexpected. If Hegard had a general understanding of how to use the tools, couldn’t I ask him about it and do something with magic? No no, if possible I need to think of a method in order to profit. (TL: sorry guys I had trouble with this sentence, it may become more clear later when blacksmithing comes up)
The morning of the next day, Hegard woke up early and departed towards Doritto. After depleting my MP in the morning and having a good rest, I met up with the members who will be working with me from now on in the garden during the afternoon. To start off with, I should take them to the place we can collect the rubber trees. Because all of the people gathered here have been trained in the sword and hard labour of farming, they seemed to act as if the two-hour trip to get here was nothing. Although considering that it took two hours for my short legs, in truth it probably wasn’t that great of a distance.
We went to the actual location and I instructed them in the method to properly gather the latex. I had already installed various buckets under the rubber trees, so all we really had to do was collect the contents of the bucket. After collecting the sap, we needed to make a new cut in the tree, but considering that the previous cut was there as an example, it wasn’t really hard to replicate the action. Even though they didn’t’ have much experience, because there was so many people that partic.i.p.ated in the harvesting, we managed to end the collection in surprising swiftness.
After that, we brought back the gathered latex to the village (from 200 rubber trees, we can gather about 40 kg worth of latex every 10 days. When the latex is made into rubber, less than half will remain) I handed it over to Farne and Mill. Because it was already night time, although Farne and Mill started to create the ingredients such as the grinding the charcoal and sulphuric ore into fine powder, the actually process of mixing the ingredients to create rubber will happen tomorrow.
Tomorrow, the rubber will be refined and will be poured into the mould. This is also not very difficult work. I have already prepared the mould and all they really had to do was carefully pour it into the mould so that it doesn’t spill everywhere. After pouring it into the mould, us brothers and sisters would use our magic in order to dry it. In this way, the rubber production would be completed at an accelerated pace. It is more efficient since us three brothers and sisters have worked together, and because there are even more people with us now, it’s even faster than before.
As long as we had enough of the latex, we might even be able to supply the order of the knights with the goods within 10 days, the irony is that the item that takes the longest time to create is actually the product that uses the least amount of rubber, this product is the boots. The reason for this is that it is not possible to make the main body of the boots without spending time. The boots obviously need pig skin, and the process of gathering the skin adds to this time. In any case, for the time being, I made the insole of boots, and the bottom part. The good news is that Hegard has already purchased the boots and it was a simple process of remodelling the boots, after creating a sample for the others all I had to do was leave the rest to Taylor and Enbelt.
Merely explaining the special characteristics of rubber and how to properly pour it into the mould took a great deal of time. When people have to be taught, I guess it’s true when they say that time will rapidly pa.s.s.
Hegard returned from his trip, and Viscount Kindo also made additional orders, the builders are also proceeding to build the shed and the barn. For now, there is no apparent problems. And so I let my guard down.
It was at this time that I received a report from Myun. That among the builders who came from Doritto, there was actually a spy liaison working amongst them.
That reminds me. The builders haven’t finished their work yet. If I killed another one, will it cause troubles? I asked Myun to identify the target and I casted my appraisal on him. Oh what, he’s level 6? His mouth is always half open and he seems to be an absentminded type of guy. We still have some time; how should I deal with this problem I wonder? Should I wait until night time?