Episode 370
Chapter 5
Soon the living room door opened and the Lynch family came inside.
Roland had a complicated but slightly pleased expression on his face, while Harold had a determined look on his face.
So everyone sat down, and everyone’s eyes moved to my mouth.
okay.
“Now let’s talk about railroad construction.”
That’s how I started the introduction.
“Let’s list the advantages first. First, mass transport on land is possible with the introduction of the railroad. Second, it is more accessible than ship transport. Third, it is fast. Fourth, it is advantageous for long-distance transport. Fifth, in the case of existing horse-drawn carriages, the speed was not constant due to physical strength issues. However, that is not the case with the magic carriage. From now on, for convenience, I will call this magic carriage the horsepower train.”
He tapped the table with his hand.
“It’s so obvious that I don’t need to mention it, but I’ll do it anyway. With the introduction of this horsepower train, industry will develop at an incredible rate, tourism will develop, and the economy will develop. Travel between countries will also become free, and probably, with a high probability, the introduction of this railway will create a lot of new things. Of course, behind these great advantages, there are also disadvantages.”
Everyone was focused.
“Route selection, construction, completion, planning, and aftercare, as well as construction costs and maintenance costs.”
This was a much bigger problem than I thought.
“There will be no problem with manpower. Thousands of mercenaries will soon flock to the Kingdom of Milos. And tens of thousands of mana users will soon arrive in the Kingdom of Milos. In other words, all you have to do is plan properly.”
Roland, who had been listening quietly, asked.
“I have a question regarding the cost.”
“Go ahead.”
“Honestly, I’m not worried about the construction costs. After all, our Continental Battlefield has money to pay you back, and you have quite a bit of money. With that amount of money, covering the Kingdom of Milos with a railroad? It wouldn’t be difficult. It’s enough money to cover the entire continent. But.”
Roland, who had been looking around for a moment, spoke in a serious tone.
“Who ‘owns’ that railroad?”
I ended up laughing faintly.
That’s the key question.
To be precise, you could call it everything about this railroad business.
From a merchant’s point of view.
“Once the railroad is established, there will be tremendous development in industry and the economy, just as you said. It may seem like a case of the belly being bigger than the stomach, but I’m sure the world will advance because of this.”
Just look at one thing. If a railroad is built, commerce itself will develop.
“The most important thing here is distribution. I don’t know you very well, but I think I know enough to know. You wouldn’t be running all of that ‘for free’, would you?”
“That’s right. I hate free stuff.”
“Yes. Then, every time you use the railway, the users will have to pay a fee, and the fee earned will be a profit. A huge profit. Let me ask the previous question again. Who owns the railway?”
I ended up chuckling at Roland’s question.
“All railways built on the continent are owned by the ‘Kingdom of Milos.’”
A wrinkle forms between Roland’s eyebrows.
“… … It’s a state-run project?”
“Yes. It is a state-run project. All profits from the railway after its construction belong to the Kingdom of Milos. There is absolutely no intention of compromising on this point. However.”
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“but?”
“Management can be delegated to the private sector.”
Everyone’s expressions, including Roland’s, changed meaningfully.
Actually, this railroad business is nothing special.
I guess you could call it a change of ideas.
Who will monopolize it first?
Who will smell the money first?
The most important question here is whether there is someone who can definitely lead this railway project in one direction.
In the case of such a large-scale project, all sorts of vested interests tend to come together.
The countless nobles and merchants who were chasing after those vested interests would have smelled money and power in this large-scale railroad project, and they would have fought each other for it and done all sorts of nonsense.
Naturally, business will be delayed and, in severe cases, the business may go bankrupt completely.
But when I do it, it’s different.
Roland touched on that point.
“Rumors about you are actually a blessing in this area.”
If you were to describe me in the world, you’d just describe me as a crazy person.
A monster in itself, an unprecedented tyrant in history who threatens anyone who gets in his way, or kills anyone who doesn’t listen.
A human being who should never be touched.
That’s the business I’m running.
Are you eyeing this?
What kind of crazy person would do something like that?
“Since you’re a civilian… … Given your personality, you wouldn’t be able to entrust that to just anyone, so I guess the ‘Continental Battlefield’ and ‘Jack & Harold Group’ here will be in charge of that task. Is that correct?”
“Yes. I will make sure that you don’t regret the profits. So let’s make it sound good.”
This could be a signal announcing the dawn of the merchant age.
Everyone will have different standards, but they will probably consider various interests.
When people want something, they become bold and use their brains in ways they wouldn’t normally use.
I’m trying to create that kind of foundation.
The world I’m trying to create is a world where extreme freedom is guaranteed. If we think about the worst case scenario, it could become a world of agitators, but why would I create anonymity?
This is when wiretapping is used.
Anyway, everyone nodded and continued.
Roland said.
“So what should we do now?”
There’s no one better suited to that job than me.
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He pointed to the hammer with his hand.
“A bit late in the introduction. I am Hammer Slave, who will be in charge of the overall construction of the railroad.”
Hammer, who was quick-witted, stood up from his seat.
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Then he cleared his throat and spoke slowly.
“What’s the point of talking long and hard? Dwarves don’t do everything haphazardly. So keep that in mind and let’s get started.”
Hammer took out a small piece of paper from his bosom as if he had prepared it in advance.
And I spread it all out on the table.
It was a map showing the entire terrain of the continent.
The hammer began to infuse mana into the map, and the map began to swell.
A map that covered the entire table in an instant.
And dozens of lines drawn on that map.
The hammer pointed to the line.
“I need to choose a route, but I thought about it before coming here.”
“It spreads out, centering on the Kingdom of Milos. But… … there are some terrains that are bothersome.”
Those were Roland’s words, and Hammer nodded in agreement.
“This is just my personal route. My ‘employer’ over there is thinking of connecting the entire continent, so I made a plan based on that, but the first thing we need to do now is to improve this route a little bit. I’ll go and check it out myself.”
Hammer, who was continuing his speech, turned his head slightly and looked at Angela and said this.
“Because I am a craftsman.”
Angela just blinks her eyes blankly.
This dwarf, why are you so sensitive? That’s what his expression is like.
So I pulled back my chair, crossed my arms, and assumed the form of a bystander.
Soon Harold started to voice his opinion, Aveiro started to voice his opinion, and Roland started to voice his opinion.
The discussion was quite interesting as they were experts in their respective fields and had a lot of experience.
1 hour.
2 hours.
Three hours passed and the living room became quiet.
“I think we’ve pretty much settled things, so let’s stop here for today.”
I was the first to stand up, and everyone else followed suit with tired faces.
“And, since I will be staying in the Demon Forest for the time being, if anything urgent comes up, please contact me through the communication channel, and I hope you will at least come up with a basic plan before the opening. That’s all.”
He banged the table with his fist.
“Meeting over.”
He left the room smiling.
* * *
As soon as I left the reception room, Aveiro and Harold followed me.
I should probably tell Aveiro too, just in case.
“Hammer and Angela will be staying at the villa for the time being. Is that okay?”
“Yes, my lord. Of course.”
It’s surprising that Aveiro didn’t own a house of his own.
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He makes a lot of money, but he doesn’t think about spending it.
Usually, he stays at Ascenv’s villa, and when he goes to Valanti’s territory, he stays at the main building there.
Harold does have a separate home, though.
“You too, stay with me at the villa.”
“Yes, I will do that.”
And because things got this big, there were some parts that became a little ambiguous.
“Aveiro, Dean of the Faculty of Information, Harold, Dean of the Faculty of Commerce… Will this work?”
The two of them couldn’t answer right away.
“Harold, you left the Continental Battlefield and became independent. In the future, you will take over the industrial bases of the Continental Battlefield one by one, so it will be difficult to stay in the Academy. Aveiro, you will have to create a new political system, build a railroad, and even take charge of the wiretapping.”
This is why Aveiro lost weight.
A huge workload.
It’s strange that this isn’t missed.
“As you know, wiretapping is important.”
“… … .”
“You know what I’m talking about?”
The guy nods.
We need to make the Milos Academy bigger, hire more instructors, make the curriculum regular, and educate the children while giving them practical experience. The core of the country is the children.
The seeds of the future. But it takes time for them to sprout. That was the most important thing.
And we need to make the Academy bigger than it is now.
“Let’s be clear. If you don’t want to be the Dean of the College, I’m thinking of promoting you internally. If you have any recommendations, please let me know.”
Both guys answered at the same time.
“I’m fine. I’ll do it concurrently.”
“I am enough.”
For a moment, I stared blankly at Aveiro.
“really?”
“yes.”
There was silence for a moment.
From what we’ve seen so far, Aveiro isn’t exactly a brat.
Harold is the same way. He was the same when he first asked me to build the top, and he is the same now.
Well, it’s not like they’re both irresponsible kids. Hmm.
“Okay. You guys figure it out. I’m sure you’ll do well.”
Since ancient times, it is natural for a lord to trust his subordinates.
I accept and trust them both.
That’s it. What more do you need?
I patted both guys on the shoulder at the same time.
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“Then let’s do that. Good luck.”
“Are you leaving now?”
“Uh. I have to go.”
The work here is almost done, and there’s someone waiting over there, so I have to go.
“I’ll grab some elixirs and come back after I finish my work there. See you then.”
“Have a nice trip.”
“I will take care of the upper-level work without you having to worry.”
I looked at the two guys who were nodding their heads while saying a few words each, and then I lightly snapped my fingers.
Light surrounds my body.
I moved to the forest of demons again.
