Wortenia Senki

Editor: Starbuck11

Sirius city was wrapped in the darkness of the night.
From the mansion built in the center, the light was still on despite being late of night.
It was around this afternoon that the celebration at Pireaus,  Rozeria Kingdom’s capital, took place. And after that, he went back to his city after more than one year of being an absentee.
After leaving his job for more than one year, he was forced to sit down and do all of the delayed doc.u.ment works.
The present Ryouma had no time to rest.

(As expected of the life of a feudal lord, huh?)

A smile of self-ridicule showed up on his face.
Ryouma read a bunch of thick reports while resting his elbows on the desk.
It was a counter-espionage plan that was going to be set up around the Wortenia Peninsula described in detail, made by Genou.

(The problems and proposal for improvements. Then what I should prioritize. Whether it is Genou or Bolts, both of them lacked sophistication...)

Ryouma nodded his head lightly in satisfaction.
Of course, those two men were not civil servants thus they were not good with desk jobs.  
The quality of those written sentences was not that high.
It was very rough since it was a fact that they have never actually done any desk jobs.
If they showed these doc.u.ments to the civil servants who served the royal family, it would probably go to the garbage box without being reviewed after calling it a scribble made by barbarians.

However, although he knew the importance of an official written style, as long it was readable, for Ryouma it was not important whether or not it was on par with the usual style of official doc.u.ments.
What was important for Wortenia Peninsula were people with ideas, and people to lead those ideas.
Furthermore, Ryouma wouldn"t have left the territory to the two people, if it didn"t have any chance of success, even if there were no other people other than them.

The basics of managing and operating an organization was always the same no matter where.
One needs a short-term goal, mid-term goals, and long-term goals. After one decides on them, one needs to further clarify the risks and merits of the plans, then the countermeasures for emergency cases.
Although that was more like the way modern society does things, it was pa.s.sable.
But, even in this kind of era, the top would have to think about the state projects, while the bottom would have to think about the common family plannings.

However, although it was essential to create and operate an organization, there were surprisingly only a few people who understand how it worked and managed to execute it.

(I guess it was the correct choice to haveleft the job to those two...)

The abundant life experiences they possessed. It was something they had acquired over many years.
And for Ryouma, that was a very important treasure.
Genou had led the Iga clan for many years,

his viewpoint was tough and accurate. It was also the same for Bolts
Looking at the results of the report, Ryouma thought his judgment was right. Since ,if they felt pressure from their job, they would write  more simple and beautifully worded reports.

(Well, I guess it was a bit funny... Besides, I have no confidence that I would be able to do it as well as them either...)

The face of the two men who desperately tried to make a report appeared inside Ryouma"s mind which caused him to smile.
Ignoring his own lack of confidence.

"Fuuh... A bit more huh...?"

Ryouma who finished reading the last page sighed and pa.s.ses the doc.u.ment to Laura who stands by his side.

"Yes, the last would be Simone-sama report."

"Roger that..."

Ryouma reviewed the doc.u.ment she handed over obediently with a tired expression.
Up until now, ever since he had returned to the Wortenia Peninsula, he had spent his time buried with office work.
However, despite his disgust with the job, he understands the importance of the task.
Ryouma was confident in Genou and Bolts" ability, but he didn"t trust them unconditionally.
Confidence and trust were different things.

(How difficult...)

It might incite dissatisfaction if he didn"t trust his subordinates and intervened too much, but humans would decay into corruption if they were completely neglected...
Such thing was the same whether it was in a family, company or society.
Then...

"As long you understand the essence, you can apply it, eh ? I see..."

It was the words which Mikoshiba Kouichiro, his grandfather, always told Ryouma about. Because his grandfather had told him repeatedly it was stuck in his brain, and after he remembered it, Ryouma instinctively smiled.
Back in j.a.pan, Ryouma had regarded his grandfather words as an old man nagging, but now that he was in another world, he felt thankful towards his grandfather’s words that saved his life a lot of time.

(I never thought that I would make use of grandfather teachings here, though...)

Although it was troublesome, doc.u.ment works were the basis of an organization. One cannot manage an organization if one didn"t take care of doc.u.ments work.
Even in the martial arts world, it was important to repeatedly do the fundamentals/basics.

(Besides, my aim is beyond this after all...)

The moment he thought about his final goal and drew it in his mind, it sent a chill down  his spine.
It was something that was impossible to do in peaceful j.a.pan.
Every man would have at least dreamed of it once,
However, the possibility of such dream to come true was very low and close to that of being a daydream.
Furthermore, that was not the end of his ambitions. Ultimately, for Ryouma, that

that dream was only a stepping stone to achieve his hope.

(Well, let us not rush things... There is still a long road ahead...)

Ryouma deeply inhales his breath and slowly releases it in order to calm his mind.
The hidden ambitions and the fire of hatred that was still burning fiercely inside of his heart. If he was not careful, it might destroy him instead.

"Thank you for the hard work. I will immediately prepare some tea."

"Ah, thank you... Shall we take a breather, then ?"

He himself realized that he had lost concentration. Ryouma gently nodded his head in response to Sara"s words.

Paper was something very valuable in this world where parchments were more common, but it was not something that bothered the current Ryouma.
The securing of stable supply of paper was something he asked Simone to do as one of the highest priority together with gathering funds.
To succeed in securing that was truly a great achievement for Ryouma.
However... Ryouma’s expression became cloudy when he read the middle of the report.

(Almost everything went as planned, I wish we had gained a bit more... But well, I can"t have everything I guess, but still...)

In fact, there were many things that didn"t go according to Ryouma"s expectations.
The question was whether one should modify the goal to suit one"s results or ignore the report because it didn"t go as one"s wanted.

Ryouma reads the papers further while creasing his frowned eyebrows.
Among the jobs handed over to Simone, the part of securing iron, woods, and most importantly paper had generally yielded satisfactory results.
Creating a spy network was also proceeding smoothly, with how he manages to have detailed information agents in the three eastern countries within the western continent.
Simone had managed high achievements. A good result that was almost perfect.

That"s right, except for one thing.

After he drinks his tea, Ryouma sinks his body on his chair while deep in thought.

(We only gained half of the planned money... Well, it was not part of the money needed for the immediate use and with the trade going well, we can cover it, but...)

It was the top priority order he had given Simone. It was the fundraising for the development of the peninsula, but the result didn"t go as he had expected.
The amount stated in the doc.u.ment was about 300 million baht.
It was only about one-third of the amount Ryouma had expected when he met Simone before he went to the Zalda Kingdom. And the problem was that there was no reason being written as to why it had ended up like that.

(I don"t think this is because of Simone management skills...)

In fact, Simone"s abilities were outstanding.
At first, her firm had only two galleon trade ships, now it had eight moving around doing trades.
With the new commercial treaty between ErnestGora and the three eastern countries nearwithin the Wortenia Peninsula, her influence would rise.
Although it

/>Although it was not a free trade agreement like the one from the modern world, the agreement had made business much easier. And with ErnestGora and Mist Kingdoms as the leading forces, the production, import and export would greatly increase for all four countries.
A great business opportunity.
However, compet.i.tion between merchants would intensify at the same time.
And because she produces excellent profits, the problem was not because Simone had no business talent.
But if that was the case, for Ryouma, the problem would"ve been more serious.
Words of advice from the Zalda King Julia.n.u.s the first emerged inside Ryouma"s mind.

(I feel something bad is going to happen...)

Whether or not it was related, there was no proof.
However, Ryouma"s intuition alarm began to ring.
Perhaps, Simone deliberately didn"t list the problem...

(Whether she didn"t write it or was unable to write it... I need to confirm this directly with Simone...)

The hand of the clock hanging on the wall pointed at 1:00 am early morning. It was not the appropriate time to call a young woman, but he had no choice.
Because he felt that the problem he was about to face would become a turning point as to how he would move in the future.

(I wonder... Is this about "that" matter?)

In spite of the sudden notice, Simone didn"t show any surprised expression. Although she described everything in detail, only that matter she didn"t write down.
Considering Ryouma"s personality, it would be easy to predict that he would come to check personally.

(But still, to be called at this time... I wonder if I"ve underestimated him... But I guess, the time is just right. I also had something I wanted to ask him directly...)

Simone was about to propose a meeting after dawn, but Ryouma seemed to have paid more attention to the matter than she had expected.
However, although she had antic.i.p.ated the meeting to some extent, the young woman still worried about her physical appearance after being disturbed from her sleep. Since she didn"t have enough time to set her hair, she used her hands to fix them while feeling concerned about the shape.

"Simone Christoph has arrived. May I bring her in ?"

A guard who was guarding the office door announced Simone"s arrival. A young soldier who still had some childishness on his face.
However, his behavior was that of a perfect soldier.

(I guess he also taught manners to these children, eh...)

Of course, it may be somewhat inferior when they were being compared to the servants working in the other n.o.bles’ households, but in Simone"s point of view who had interacted with many n.o.bles, their act was sufficient enough
On top of that, these soldiers, despite being young they were more superior.
All the soldiers protecting the office of the Wortenia Peninsula’s ruler had magic arts capabilities. And when it comes to guarding the gate, it was better to choose the loyalchoose the loyal ones.

"It"s fine, bring her in."

A voice sounding like a beautiful bell could be heard.
The door of the office opened slowly, then Simone stepped forward.
Ryouma smiling face that she didn"t see for a while appeared in front of her eyes.

(Just like usual... Like dogs that don"t want to leave their master"s side...)

Behind him, like a shadow, the twin sisters with golden and silver hair were standing, an emotion that was akin to that of jealousy began to appear inside the depths of her mind as Simone showed a bitter smile.
That was because Mikoshiba Ryouma never made any advances to Simone, not even once...

"I"m sorry for calling you in the middle of the night like this..."

"My, I do not mind..."

She then sits down on the sofa following Ryouma"s direction. This was the only expensive furniture he had bought from Simone, the comfort was exquisite.

(Geez... I can"t be like this, I need to concentrate, this is my work...)

Simone then directed serious eyes while fixing herdress as if trying to hide her dissatisfaction.

"I see, it seems my decision to ask directly is correct."

"Yes, I thought it would be best for us to meet as soon as possible... But I never thought I would be called this soon..."

However, there was no feeling of sarcasm from those words, despite Ryouma had called her during the dead of the night. In fact, Simone wanted to praise Ryouma"s fast judgment.

"I"m sorry for causing this kind of inconvenience, but well I was also at a loss regarding what to do, but then I remembered the Zalda King"s advice..."

"Advice is it?"

"Indeed, I"m not sure whether or not it was related to the problem here but..."

A question mark appeared above Simone"s head after she heard Ryouma"s words.

"May I know what is it?"

The advice of the Zalda King, Julia.n.u.s, who was known as a mediocre king.
Regarding the upcoming battles, the evaluation of Julia.n.u.s within the Rozeria Kingdom can be said as "cold".
In fact, Simone herself felt doubtful with the King"s ability.

(In the first place, it was weird that he immediately agreed to the peace agreement and obediently withdrew... As soon as the battle was over, the initial plan collapsed...)

Such incoherent decision.
At least Simone felt that way.
However, Ryouma interrupted her thoughts.

"I know what Simone wanted to hear... Lione-san also had asked the question a lot of time. But, I"m sorry that I have to postpone talking about that until later... Beside Genou and Bolts would also demand an explanation as well anyway..."

Since he said that much, Simone didn"t have any choice but to nod her head even though she felt dissatisfied.

"Now then, time is limited. Shall we begin the talk?"

Towards Ryouma"s question, Simone slowly opened her mouth.
That day, the discussion between Simone and Ryouma lasted until dawn.