Episode 244: I’m going to start a new business (2)
‘Fenris Arrow Delivery? What’s that?’
‘This is driving me crazy. You gave your cosmetics weird names last time too.’
‘Can’t you at least improve your naming sense?’
Regardless of what the business was about, just hearing the name made her dizzy. As the vassals stared with their mouths open, Jiselle began to harden her resolve.
“Why? What? How is it? The name should be intuitive so that people can easily recognize it? I said it should be like that. Last time, I gave in to the cosmetics name because it was supposed to be used by nobles. Right?”
Jiselle had spent much longer as a mercenary than as a noble. Naturally, he had no choice but to prefer a quick and intuitive name over a uselessly flashy one.
I still regret missing out on the ambitiously-made ‘Lovely Bling Bling’. At the time, people’s reactions were so negative, and since it was a luxury item only for the nobles, I just let it slide, but this time I couldn’t give in.
Claude, who had been listening, asked with a still blank expression.
“… … So what is this arrow delivery? I have a rough idea of what it is, but please tell me exactly what you are going to do with it.”
“It’s simple. It’s a business that delivers people’s letters and goods.”
“oh…….”
“We will set up a ‘telegraph post’ in each city and town, and deliver letters and goods safely to people for a small fee. The ultimate goal is to have a telegraph post in every city and town connected by a road.”
“Umm… … .”
In modern times, it was not easy for ordinary people to send letters and items to distant relatives or someone else.
The limitation of this era was that it could not be sent whenever one wanted, but had to be delivered through the companions of travelers, merchants, or armies as they moved.
Of course, there was a way to request it from the higher-ups or to hire someone to send it separately, but it was difficult for poor landowners to use it.
So it could take months to send a single letter.
If you make it a business of the land and transport it instead, anyone can send letters and goods with ease.
Jiselle continued, as if that wasn’t the end of it.
“It will only be used within the territory for now because the road needs to be connected, but it will still be used quite a lot. At the very least, soldiers who are away from their families due to their duties will have to use it often.”
The attendants nodded their heads blankly.
“And actually, even if it’s an area that isn’t connected by road, you can still deliver. It just takes a little more time. Once you start operating it in your territory and establish a solid basic system, you’ll be able to use it for knights, administrators, and immigrants from far away. You’ll have to charge more in fees, though.”
“oh…….”
Everyone looked amazed. It certainly seemed like a viable plan.
The Fenris Estates were not only inhabited by people who had lived there for generations.
Several wars and territorial annexations resulted in the mixing of the peoples of Ferdium, Digald, and Kabaldi. There were also thousands of immigrants from other regions.
Many knights and magistrates responded to Giselle’s invitation and came to Fenris alone, away from their families and relatives.
In particular, if soldiers who are away from their posts frequently send letters to their families and close relatives, their morale will increase.
“Not only that. Once this system is fully established, it will be easier for the people of the territory to obtain goods. The faster the communication between each city and village, the faster they will be able to find the goods and materials they need.”
As soon as Giselle finished speaking, Claude broke out in a cold sweat and fell into deep thought.
‘What the heck? How did you come up with this idea? This is on a whole other level than any other business I’ve ever done. If it’s successful, I could make a ton of money. A road toll collection and a delivery business that covers half the kingdom!’
Giselle snickered as she watched Claude in his distress.
‘When I was a mercenary, I did a lot of delivery work.’
Among nobles and merchants, there are still those who use mercenaries to deliver important items. Mercenaries even escort and deliver people.
If you are attacked by bandits or monsters, both people and goods will be blown away, so you can reduce the risk by using mercenaries.
So, the more skilled the mercenary or the larger the merchant, the more expensive the shipping fee was.
‘It was really comfortable in my past life.’
In my previous life, I had a business like this. To be exact, it was not for making money, but rather a transmission system that was built out of necessity to deal with chaos.
They used the intermediate bases built to move troops and supply supplies to each fortress in that way.
Having already experienced the convenience of that system, Jisel intended to run it as a proper sustainable business at the territory level.
‘It would be a great force in times of civil war and chaos. It would also be good for beating up disobedient people.’
It’s not just for making money. In peacetime, it’s used for delivery business, but in wartime, it’s also useful for military purposes.
Since I had to do it someday anyway, I planned to make some money along the way.
Claude rolled his head as he looked at the confident Giselle.
‘This lord has done something ridiculous more than once. I feel like I can push through this too.’
You can make a road by putting in money and people. You can also make a stable and a telegraph office by putting in people.
That’s all well and good. But there was one thing that couldn’t be fixed even if people were replaced.
“You say there is a shortage of people who know how to ride horses? Even if you connect all the roads, what good is it if there is no one to deliver them? Are you planning to borrow those too? The cavalry is a high-class unit and is few in number. The other lords will never support them.”
“That’s why I’m planning on training professional riders. I’ll use them as cavalrymen in emergencies and as deliverymen in normal times. I had plans to train cavalrymen anyway. Hmm.”
Jiselle exclaimed in admiration without realizing it. Her horsemanship will naturally improve as she works. She can earn money while training soldiers. This is really unbearable.
No matter how I think about it, it was a really great plan. I brought in so many things for this.
“… … .”
No one could respond properly to Jiselle’s shocking statement.
‘You’re really determined to get people to change you. You have to do your job while being a soldier?’
‘We have to build roads and train cavalry at the same time. We’re all going to die.’
‘Why is it that the things we do are always out of the ordinary? Our land has become rich, so why can’t we just live comfortably now?’
Of course, it wasn’t just negative thoughts. Some people were so overwhelmed by the scale of the work that they were left speechless, while others thought positively.
‘You can send letters and goods safely and at any time? If you can do that, you can make a lot of money.’
‘As expected of a bold lord. Delivery person? Delivery soldier? He even created a new job.’
‘It would be a great achievement if it were completed. If we guarantee it at the territory level, everyone in the kingdom will have to use it. The royal faction is behind us, too.’
There was not a single fief or group in this kingdom that was properly conducting the transportation business.
This is because they never intended to connect roads this far apart in the first place.
If it were before, I wouldn’t have even thought of telling Jiselle to stop talking nonsense. But since there are many words and people like Yeongjimin, I also felt hopeful that it would be worth a try.
Claude also thought that Giselle’s plan was viable. It would require more work, but now that he had the connections and power, he could see the possibility of success if he poured his energy into it.
And… … . He’s a lord who won’t listen no matter how much you try to stop him.
He took a deep breath and said.
“Understood. Then I will send people to each territory and the capital to convey the business plan. First, I will start building roads and obtain the right to collect tolls. It will inevitably take time to train cavalry, so for the time being, I will suffer a great loss… … .”
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Before Claude could finish speaking, Giselle waved her hand.
“What are you talking about? Why should you take a loss? You can raise a cavalryman in just one or two months. I told you I had a plan for that too.”
“Huh? How do you train cavalry so quickly? It doesn’t make sense.”
Then Jiselle chuckled.
“That makes sense. Now is the time to use the elves.”
* * *
It had been several months since the elves had begun their physical training. Giselle thought that by that time, their basic physical strength would have increased to some extent.
I couldn’t check it in the middle of the trip to the North, but I knew that Gordon was working incredibly hard.
Jiselle now slowly moved on to the next plan and went to find the elves with some of her vassals.
“One! Two! Three! Four! Five… … .”
Gordon’s booming voice could be heard from afar. Giselle walked forward with a pleased smile.
And everyone who arrived at the training ground and saw the elves was shocked.
‘This is… … an elf?’
‘Why is my body… … .’
‘Even if you exercised a lot, what on earth did you eat?’
If you didn’t look at them, you wouldn’t know who Gordon was. They were all so muscular that it was hard to move.
It didn’t matter if they were tall or short. It didn’t matter if they were male or female. They were all just like shoulder thugs. Their trapezius muscles were so prominent that it seemed difficult to even turn their necks.
But the lower body is weaker than expected. It seems like they only grew their upper bodies, so they all have inverted triangle bodies.
“… … .”
Jiselle blinked at the sight of the elves she hadn’t seen in a long time and couldn’t say anything. What on earth did she do to make the elves change like this?
Gordon, who was exercising with the elves, was delighted to find Giselle.
“My lord! When did you come back? I definitely did some ‘physical’ training! Now I’m going to build up my lower body too!”
The elves also strike cool poses while looking at Giselle, as if they want to show off their muscles.
“I found this quite fun! Hahaha!”
“Now that I’ve gained muscle, I feel more confident!”
“It was a little creepy at first, but the more I looked at it, the more I thought it was cool! Wow!”
“… … .”
After briefly watching the elves show off their muscles, Giselle looked around at the servants and asked.
“Why… … didn’t anyone stop me until it got to that point?”
Jiselle, Gillian, Claude, and others were out on a mission so they couldn’t check. But the others might have been able to check.
Then the servants all avoided eye contact and said:
“I’m so busy with work… … .”
“I know you can do it… … .”
“He said there was no need to worry too much about this… … .”
The elves’ training ground is in a corner of the lord’s castle. If you don’t take the time to go there, you won’t be able to notice the elves’ condition.
The vassals were too busy with their own work to bother to visit them. They simply sent what Gordon needed when he asked for it.
Gillian also sighed deeply and bowed her head to Giselle.
“……sorry.”
I was the one who recommended Gordon. I told him to do ‘physical’ training, but he said he built up his ‘physique’. He didn’t even have an excuse.
“First, I’ll lose some muscle.”
“……okay.”
The elves planned to create a new special unit that would suit them well. It would be counterproductive for them to be so muscular, since they were neither shieldmen nor assault troops.
If your muscles become too large, they will not be able to exert their full strength. In particular, your agility and endurance will be greatly reduced.
Although this type of training suits some people, it is only suitable for those with a large frame and a fighting style that emphasizes destructive power. It does not suit the slender elves at all.
Gordon ran over, smiling brightly, unaware of the gravity of the situation.
“My lord! What do you think! To prevent muscle loss, feed those guys only chicken breast every day… … . Keke!”
Before Giselle could say anything, Gillian started beating Gordon without saying a word.
‘Anyway, there’s no one decent enough.’
The elves also stopped showing off their muscles when they saw Gordon was right and started to look around timidly.
Surprisingly, the body of the swearing Ascon was the most normal. He had a slim figure while maintaining firm muscles.
Not listening and not training properly ended up being a blessing in disguise.
“Yeah, you should have done it moderately like me. It’s an eyesore to everyone else but me.”
Ascon shook his head as if he was proud of himself for not listening.
Jiselle shook her head and immediately summoned the elves.
“Physical… … No, physical training stops here. Let’s start the next task.”
“evil!”
“… … .”
The answers also became extremely strange. No matter how strange the elves became as they adapted to the human world, it seemed like they had become even stranger in the short time I hadn’t seen them.
“… … In the morning, I will rebuild my body with Gillian and now begin basic training.”
“evil!”
“… … Change your speech too.”
“evil!”
“… … Ascon.”
At Jiselle’s call, Ascon slowly approached and took notice.
“why?”
“From now on, there is a task that the elves must do every day. After morning training, the afternoon will be devoted solely to that task.”
“What is it… …?”
“From now on, all elves will be horse breeders. Let’s tame horses so that others can ride them as quickly as possible.”
Ascon’s eyes widened at the sudden words. I’ve never done anything like that. I’ve always been comfortable riding in carriages, so I don’t know how to ride a horse.
“No, shit… … How are we supposed to do that? We’ve never even properly raised a dog before.”
Then Jiselle grabbed Ascon’s shoulder and chuckled.
“No, you can. Only elves can do it. It requires the ability to ‘communicate’, which is unique to your race.”
