The Marquis’ Eldest Son’s Lascivious Story

[So, about the matter I called you out for this time...]

I decided to get to the point. I turned my eyes to the civil officer and urged him to start talking.

I think the general outline has already been conveyed to the Nambonan side, but I'll double-check it here to make sure there are no discrepancies. I had him e xplain the guesthouse concept again, including the need for accommodation for future noble diplomacy, the desire to make the building one that emphasizes beauty over martial function, and the need for an architect who can design something innovative.

[....So, what do you think? I'd like to hear if you have any good solutions.]

When I asked him this last question, Ramon put the documents on the desk and began to explain verbally.

[Here is a list of master carpenters we can contact. They have solid skills, so I think they can be of help with the construction of the guesthouse.]

In cities and towns, there are often guilds of carpenters and craftsmen, but the master carpenters here are a group of craftsmen who take on requests by selli ng their technical skills, something like a mercenary group but for construction works.

However, unlike mercenary groups, there are hardly any master carpenters who are constantly wandering around from place to place. Most of them seem to h ave their headquarters in a certain city. They build their own networks to form connections with skilled craftsmen and workshops in various places, and ask th em to participate in projects as necessary. A master carpenter is required to have not only simple architectural skills but also a wide network of contacts and a dvanced management skills.

The people listed in the documents prepared this time are mainly master carpenters active in the Empire. Some of the examples given as achievements were o nes I had heard rumors of, such as "That mansion in that territory is said to be wonderful."

[... That's a bit surprising. I heard that ornate architecture was popular in the Empire, but was it actually outsourced?]

I thought for sure that the construction was done by the engineering soldiers employed by each noble family. It led me to believe that the Imperial nobles were holding a discreet battle to show off their architectural skills.

[In the Empire, it's important to ride the wave of the trend. That's why they probably approach well-regarded master carpenters. The South, West, and North h ave all been governed stably, so it's not difficult for commoners to move around.]

Apparently for them, following the trend is more important than to show the individuality of each family. I suppose it's quicker to hire people who have the skill s from the start than to make your own engineering soldiers learn the latest technology.

[So these master carpenters are not under the control of a specific noble family. In that case, we could hire someone here.]

That was much easier than I thought at first, I said, but Ramon shook his head quietly.

[A well-known master carpenter receives many requests, Mayor will need some kind of connection to get in.]

For example, it is unclear whether a famous master carpenter will respond if the Quordenze family suddenly requests for him. This time, someone related to N ambonan City will be the contact person, but without that, Ramon said that an introduction from an Imperial noble would be necessary.

Considering the current situation where we don't want to incur unnecessary debts to the noble families factions in the southern and western Empire or the cor ridor noble families in the northern Empire, it is helpful to be able to make requests through Nambonan.

[Otherwise, the fee is expected to be higher than usual.]

[A slight surcharge is to be expected.]

No matter how well connected you are, there is still a limit to that. As a result, a certain amount of surcharge will be incurred.

It will be best to leave it to my civil officers to decide how much they can tolerate. I have a say in the guesthouse, but this is a project run by the Quordenze fa mily. The budget does not come from my wallet after all.

[Understood. Could Mayor please tell me in detail what kind of guest house you are planning to build? If you want to use the architectural style that is popular i n the Empire, we can select a suitable master carpenter here, but...]

[I want to avoid that.]

A guesthouse with a design that is popular in the Empire might be well received, but I feel that doing so at this time would bring a slightly political element to th e forefront. On the other hand, I wonder how it would look if it was closer to the atmosphere of the Royal Capital.

[So, I want the exterior to have a different direction from both the Empire and the Kingdom.]

I don't really understand what I'm saying myself, but I want a new design that's different from existing ones... Even as I say it, I feel like it's a very unreasonabl e request. From the perspective of the person receiving the order, it must be an endlessly troublesome request.

In front of this troublesome client who had suddenly appeared, the people on Nambonan's side were frozen with blank expressions.

[Hmmm, don't worry. I'm not going to burden it all on you. ...Hey, here's that thing. Just the final candidate is fine for now.]

[Understood.]

I signaled to the civil servant to hand over the documents that we had prepared to Ramon.

[This is an imaginary drawing of the state guest house. I had one of our guys draw it.]

It was a drawing by Vidaldo, who had heard about the state guest house. I told him half-jokingly,

[Don't worry about the cost or the details, just draw a cool building. If it's good, we'll use it and actually build it.]

. And in just a few days, he came up with something really good.

One or two would have been fine for us, but in the end, over ten design candidates were submitted. It must have been quite a challenge since the drawings no t only include the exterior but also the interior, but he seemed to be enjoying it.

The designs that I showed Ramon were the ones I thought were particularly good out of all the designs, and which had also been well received by the civil offi

cers.

[This is, strange...]

The exterior drawing showed the state guest house and the surrounding scenery.

It was a rough sketch without any color, but the realistic touch that is characteristic of Vidaldo's paintings was immediately obvious. The Nambonan team, incl uding Ramon, seemed confused by the image at first, but they soon became attracted to the design. They leaned in close and groaned quietly.

[I don't know how reliable it will be, but I asked for blueprints to be drawn as well.]

He said he could also draw detailed blueprints, so I asked him to finish it separately from the sketch. To be honest, I thought Vidaldo's self-reported career wa s quite suspicious, but it seems that he was telling the truth about working in the construction industry.

However, it is unknown how much use this blueprint will be. As an amateur, I cannot make a judgment on that point. The most important thing is the overall im age, and it is the exterior drawing that I showed them first. I just told Ramon and the others that they don't need to force themselves to match the blueprint.

[...Is the person who designed this here today?]

[Unfortunately, he isn't.]

He was so excited about drawing this and that that he had been sketching and drawing plans almost day and night without sleep. Then, early this morning, he collapsed into a deep sleep, satisfied that he had done all he could. He's probably still in bed.

[The designer of this is someone I hired personally, but if we can go ahead with that plan, I'm thinking of sending him to Nambonan City. He said he wanted to check it out on site.]

It would be better if the designer himself was involved in the construction. For now, there's nothing much he can do in Newnelly City other than drawing pictur es, so I'd like him to be useful in the field of architecture.

[That would be very helpful. May I take these drawings and blueprints back to Nambonan City?]

[Yes, that's fine. You can take the rejected plans with you as well. We may need to prepare a new mansion in addition to the guest house. When that time com es, we'll have to choose from among them.]

This is assuming that Romilie really wants to stay in Nambonan City, but there's no need to say anything about that yet.

Ramon took the documents that Vidaldo had drawn from the civil officer and handed them over to an old man from the Nambonan group who was sitting a littl e distance away. Judging from the way he was checking the sketches and blueprints with a sharp look in his eyes, he must be an old man who knows a lot ab out architecture. He may have brought him here specifically to talk about the guesthouse.

[By the way, what are your thoughts on the proposed site for the guesthouse? It has to be somewhere that won't be flooded by the Amelia River floods, but th e scenery is also important. Also, it would be inconvenient if it was a place where it was difficult for a large number of people to move around.]

The people entering the guest house were nobles from other territories. As the host, we want to be in a position to quickly contain the enemy in case of emerg ency. Ease of deployment of troops is one of the important factors in selecting a site.

[We have a candidate. There are gentle hills around here...]

Ramon spread a detailed map of the outskirts of Nambonan City on the desk and moved his finger in a circular motion to indicate a candidate site.

[This place has a good view, and I think it will match the atmosphere of the guesthouse Mayor showed me. However, it is not a place that has been touched by many people. Considering that many people will be visiting, large-scale construction such as building a road will be necessary.]

[That's right, I'd like you to consider that as well.]

When I replied lightly, Ramon looked a little confused.

[In that case, would it be possible to mobilize engineering soldiers?]

[Quordenze's engineering soldiers?]

[Yes. The master carpenters we plan to hire this time have unparalleled expertise in the construction itself, but in most cases they are not that skilled in civil en gineering. If the client is a noble or knight family, it will be better to mobilize engineering soldiers in advance to prepare the land.]

Their construction techniques are particularly outstanding. It's not like they're completely useless at civil engineering, but the engineers who make their living f rom infrastructure construction probably have higher skills.

According to Ramon, if you leave civil engineering to an inexperienced master carpenter, the end result will be mediocre, while the costs will also increase, wh ich is undesirable.

[So... does that mean we need to bring in the engineering soldiers too? This is a problem, I didn't think about that far ahead.]

[Is it really going to be difficult?]

[As I said before, they are pretty busy right now.]

I want to build a guesthouse soon for future noble diplomacy, but improving the defense of Weldburg City is a higher priority.

Even if that work is finished, the engineering soldiers won't have any free time. They also need to improve the old Amelia road that connects the mainland to Weldburg City, and they need to allocate resources to hand over the interior territory and take control of it afterwards. There's no way we can afford to bring t hem to Nambonan City.

[If it's difficult to field the engineering soldiers, then regular soldiers will do...]

The master carpenters' specialty is gathering craftsmen and managing them. They are not suited to human wave tactics such as gathering people and pushing through with manpower. Certainly, military officers are better at that.

[The quickest way to get the plan moving is to use the Nambonan soldiers, but it would be a pain to suddenly have them do civil engineering work when they a re supposed to be a standing army.]

Even though the standing army project is about to start, it won't be as exciting if their first job is a pseudo-engineering soldier. The concept is flawed from the start.

However, the existing soldiers are all performing their own roles in various places, and new conscription would be a heavy burden on the people of the territor y. It would be difficult to coordinate the allocation of people from the Quordenze army.

Perhaps Ramon understood the situation to some extent, so he did not ask for personnel in a very strong tone.

[I guess we have no choice but to recruit short-term workers. There are probably some people in Nambonan City who are out of work, and if we leave them th ere, nothing good will come of it, so we'll absorb them as workers. They're just amateurs, but they should be able to become a labor force. Well, it's the least i nteresting path.]

[That may be the safest option in the current situation. But, what do you mean it's the least interesting path?]

[If we could assign our engineering soldiers there, we might have been able to steal the skills of the master carpenters and craftsmen.]

Even though the engineering soldiers specialize in infrastructure, they also have the know-how in the construction field. If they work with the master carpenter s, they should have had more or less the opportunity to learn those skills. It would have been no fun to miss that chance.

Short-term workers are really just labor. They have no knowledge or long-term prospects, so the matter of stealing skills or anything like that is out of the pict

ure.

[But, the construction of the guesthouse this time will allow the Quordenze family to make connections with the master carpenter, yes?]

As long as we don't hesitate to pay or give the master carpenters crazy orders, they will be considered us as "good customers". Ramon said that if we do that, from next time onwards, they will be able to accept requests directly, without going through Nambonan. There is no point in making the engineers learn how t o do it, since we can just make the request.

It is certainly the simplest and easiest thing to do if we can make requests. The problem is what happens if we can't.

Unfortunately, it is unclear what the future holds for the Quordenze family. In particular, the way our relationship with the Empire will change is fluid, so we can not be optimistic.

[Requests can become difficult. Are there no capable master carpenters based in Nambonan?]

I glanced through the list of master carpenters that was submitted, but I couldn't find any that are based in Nambonan.

[It's not like there aren't any, but compared to the master carpenters who are based in the Empire, they are inferior in some ways. ...I understand the Mayor's c oncerns.]

Perhaps he sensed the possibility of a deterioration in relations with the Empire from the way I spoke, so he didn't ask any more questions.

And so the topic of discussion moved in the direction on how to gather and manage short-term workers.

Just when I thought I could leave the finer details to the civil officers, an old man who appeared to be a Nambonan employee standing diagonally behind Ramo n made a strange movement.

I wondered what he was doing, but it seemed to be a signal to Ramon to ask for permission to speak. Ramon thought for just a moment, then turned to me and asked for permission for the older man to speak. It was a very roundabout way of relaying permission.

[It seems you have something to say. I'll allow it, so please speak.]

The old man is quite brave to want to talk to me, a nobleman, directly despite it being our first meeting. There are some familiar Nambonan officials here, but t hey usually leave it to Ramon and keep quiet.

The old man respectfully thanked me for allowing him to speak. I thought this was a tedious exchange, but the old man seemed to read my feelings and get to the point immediately.

[Mayor spoke earlier about organizing soldiers specialized in combat, the standing army. In that case, why not create a new group specialized in construction as well? I foolishly think that this would also achieve our goal of obtaining the master carpenter's skills.]

Is this a proposal to split the engineering soldiers into combat and construction specialists? I can kind of understand what he's trying to say, but that's not the problem here.

[The total number of engineering soldiers won't change, so there's no point in splitting them up.]

However, it seems that my answer was a little off from what the old man intended.

[Yes. So it will be a completely separate organization from the engineering soldiers.]

[It will take time to create a new organization in the military. It will be a big project that will affect the entire Quordenze family. It will cost a lot. It may be worth considering, but it's not something I can reach a decision on right now.]

The military has already considered plans to increase the number of engineering soldiers, but there are many hurdles to overcome, such as the budget, so no decision has been made yet.

[As Mayor said, there will be many issues if we consider having them in the military.]

From the way he spoke, I could tell he had some kind of idea.

[Oh, do you have an idea on how to reduce the number of issues?]

The old man grinned in response, as if he had gotten what he wanted.

[The commoners.]

The old man's idea was to set up an organization specializing in construction in the private sector. He seems to be thinking of hiring many people to work on t he guesthouse project and nurturing master carpenters and craftsmen with a long-term perspective.

[...I get it. You're planning to start a joint-stock company, right?]

[Indeed. Hiring a lot of people requires an initial investment, but now that the way to raise funds through stocks has opened up, it's quite possible to make it ha ppen. Above all, this method will greatly reduce the workload of the military and the city. All personnel management can be done by the new organization.]

Whether you invite a master carpenter or hire short-term workers, the management work will be done by either the Quordenze military or Nambonan City. This is a rather tedious job, so being able to leave it all to them is a big advantage.

Our officers, and of course, the Nambonan City employees also have a lot to do, so there's nothing better than reducing their workload.

[The Quordenze family will commission the new organization to build the guesthouse and pay the money. The new organization will oversee the entire constru ction and hand it over when it's completed. ...That's quite interesting.]

It's outsourcing, but I feel that there's more potential in commissioning it to the new organization in Nambonan City than commissioning a master carpenter fro m another territory. Plus, all we have to do is "give them money", so it's pretty easy. That is, as long as we have the money.

This guy must have had a lot of thought put into this proposal, so I decided to ask him about the philosophy he plans to base the new organization on and his v ision.

[What will happen once the guesthouse is finished? There will be no more work, so will the new organization be dissolved at that point?]

[My guess is that there will be more work in the future.]

Although he prefaced it with a prediction, the old man seemed certain of it. He spoke with a tone of affirmation.

[The long-running war between Quordenze and Spierzeig has ended. After great destruction comes great rebirth. Inevitably, there will be more demands for b uildings in the future. I believe that expectations for the new organization will also rise.]

So it's not just about building a guest house, but about anticipating a sudden rise in construction demand in the future. It's a positive thing that he's thinking ab out things in the long term, rather than just jumping at the chance to become a corporation.

Then, the old man made a deliberate gesture of lowering his voice before continuing.

[When we have the means, we may even start developing land that has never been touched before.]

... He was talking about the contaminated areas of Arknoa.

It wouldn't be strange for someone connected to Nambonan to guess that the Quordenze family had taken some kind of measure to purify the impure land. Sin ce I've repeatedly said that the Weldburg City is important, he probably predicted that Arknoa would be fully purified and re-developed.

If Arknoa is re-developed, construction workers will be extremely busy. The new organization should not be left without a job.

[Until now, we have been a small-to-medium-sized group of craftsmen, relying on the abilities of individual master carpenters, but I propose that one of our go als is to create a construction organization that goes beyond this. In the future, we may be able to take on some of the engineering soldiers' tasks, such as roa d construction.]

He didn't mention war directly, but if war were to break out again, the engineering soldiers would be even busier. By taking on road construction and other tas ks, they could indirectly support the military.

He spoke of contributing to the Quordenze family, but this must be an attempt to solidify the foundations of the new organization by taking on some of the "un ending work" of infrastructure construction.

[Our base of operations will be in Nambonan City, but we are also considering accepting requests from other territories. Once we grow big as an organization, we will be one of the forces supporting the prosperity of Quordenze.]

I couldn't help but groan.

In short, this old man is probably aiming to establish a company similar to what we would call a general contractor in my previous life in Japan. He also seems quite competent, as he was able to immediately come up with a plan to utilize the structure of a corporation he had just heard about.

[...I think that was an interesting proposal. What do you guys think?]

So, I decided to ask the opinions of the Quordenze officers attending the meeting. The first to respond was a civil officer.

[Young Master, you will invest in the establishment of this new organization... Are you considering purchasing stock certificates?]

[Yes, I am. It'll be in the future, but if it grows well, it will be able to make a lot of money from other territories and contribute to Quordenze in the form of divide nds.]

That's what the old man meant when he said, "It will be one of the forces that support the prosperity of Quordenze". The new organization will be useful not on ly to domestic demand but also to external demand, so he wants the Quordenze family to invest in it... or so he said. He's a tough negotiator despite the fact th at he's making a bargain with nobles.

[In that case, we would have to pay not only the cost of purchasing the shares, but also the fee for the guesthouse...]

[That's true at first. But aside from the fee for the guest house, it's not certain that we will be the only ones investing in the shares. There must be some wealth y merchants and people in Nambonan who are interested.]

It's not like the Quordenze family needs to hold 100% of the shares. It would be fine to get some wealthy people from the private sector to contribute.

Even if we don't go along with this plan, we'll have to hire short-term workers or bring in soldiers. Either way, it'll cost money, so I wanted to go with the more ambitious option.

The civil officer didn't seem to think it was difficult to compare at this stage, so he didn't strongly object. Whatever he said, it was a blessing that we wouldn't have to allocate more resources to building the guesthouse.

[That's for later...]

The military officer spoke, pondering.

[We are concerned that the capabilities of the engineering soldiers will decline.]

If they outsource even a portion of the work, the skills of the engineering corps will be lost... The military officer's thoughts made the Quordenze people groan. For noble families, building and maintaining infrastructure is also a factor in maintaining their reputation externally.

[So this could be a catalyst for the division of labor between combat and construction?]

It could be a historic turning point where the standing army specialized in combat, the new organization specialized in construction, and the engineering soldie rs are divided into government and civilian...is that a bit of a leap? There's no point in dreaming too much at this stage.

[That concern is valid, but that will take several decades, or even a hundred or two hundred years into the future. The founding of this new organization is co mpletely unrelated to the reform of the engineering soldiers system.]

Well, even if the engineering soldiers lose their technical capabilities, if necessary, the people of the new organization based in the Quordenze territory will be able to do something about it. As long as the world of the nobles continues.

The military officer only expressed vague concerns, and did not seem to be that seriously worried. The concerns of those involved in Quordenze ultimately boi I down to how much it would cost and whether the new organization would actually function properly.

[Ramon, what do you think?]

[...I think it's a good idea. I believe the founding of a new organization would be very meaningful in terms of spreading awareness of the corporate system.]

The stock exchange will feel barren with only the provisionally named Thick-haired Rabbit Company listed. Two is better than one.

In the end, there was no major opposition from the attendees. I instructed everyone to start considering it as soon as possible, saying that we would decide lat er whether to actually start the company or not.

[And lastly, about the representative of the new organization. To achieve the big goal we just talked about, it will be necessary to have the appropriate ability a nd ambition. Do you have any suitable person in mind?]

If I add, it would be preferable for the person to be able to communicate to some extent with the military officers of the Quordenze army. It may also be related to cooperation with the engineering corps, so it would be troublesome if a completely civilian was the representative.

When I told the Nambonan group about this request, the old man tightened his expression and straightened his posture.

[I'm afraid I would like to ask you to leave the position of representative of the new organization to me...]

Ramon seemed to think that this was an arrogant remark and immediately scolded him to stop. However, I wanted to hear what the old man had to say.

[Are you saying that you want to resign as a Nambonan City employee and become the representative of the new organization?]

[No, I was in the military until recently, so I'm not a Nambonan City employee.]

I didn't understand what he meant, but the military officer confirmed his statement and added further.

[What that man is saying is correct. At first, he was one of the slaves employed to build the Alduke Fortress, but because he had a good knowledge of the con struction field, he began to serve as an engineering soldier. On the front lines of the Voistra Plains, he performed an excellent job in constructing the camp des pite being a serf, and received direct praise from General Galfis. Due to these achievements, he was freed from slave status.]

He was supposed to have been just a slave, but he showed his skills in the field work, and before he knew it, he had become a leader among the other worker s. He was praised for being able to read and write, having specialized knowledge, being good at managing people, and having leadership skills, and even thou gh he was a slave, he was in a position equivalent to that of a squad leader for the engineering soldiers.

[I'm used to dealing with people, even though I'm like this. I also have personal connections with some of the master carpenters and craftsmen, so I can poach them to start a new organization. There are probably people in Nambonan who remember me, so I think I can attract more investment]

He's quite confident, saying that if he becomes the representative, both money and people will come.

[So, you were in a good position before you became a slave?]

[... Yes. I'm embarrassed to say this here, but I served as a council member for Nambonan City. Because I committed a grave crime, I received mercy from Go d for the life that should have been taken from me, and now I'm back here. I've never forgotten the great kindness I owe to the Quordenze family.]

He was a former council member who had fallen into slavery, and looked similar to Ramon. It was then I finally realized who the old man was.

[Are you by chance, Ramon's father?]

[Indeed. My name is Dezaule, Ramon's father.]

I see. That's why Ramon had been looking uncomfortable. I wonder how he felt inside watching his father making a big appeal to be the representative of the new organization.

However, I think it was Ramon himself who made the old man, Dezaule, join the Nambonan group this time. He knows a lot about Nambonan City, has a fair un derstanding of the inner workings of the Quordenze army, is knowledgeable about the construction field, has ability, and is easy to talk to, so he is the perfect advisor for the guesthouse project.

[I see. Your son is a hard worker.]

[Yes, I'm very grateful that the Mayor has supported my son. It's also a great honor to be connected to Lord Bermakan...]

Dezaule then expressed his gratitude to me in a surprisingly diverse way. It's almost funny how such beautiful words come out of his mouth so easily.

However, I was wondering why he didn't mention Koharii at all. From what I had heard from Ramon before, he was a heartless father who prioritized making m oney over his family, but perhaps he just wasn't interested in anything other than money.

[And your daughter too. She is a fine girl.]

Dezaule then made a show of glancing around before replying in a low voice.

[Yes... I am truly grateful for your favor and for speaking to me here.]

Ah, he didn't make any mention of it because it has to do with a noble's sexuality.

I thought that if he was the father who had sent a concubine to the nobles, he would take advantage of it and start saying things like,

[Make me the representative of the new organization. I'm Koharii's father.]

. I had heard that he was a greedy man and was disliked by those around him, but it's good to see that he is aware of his position.

Even so, the men of this family are truly excellent.

Ramon is very resourceful, and his father is a man who rose from a traveling merchant to a wealthy merchant in one generation. Moreover, even after being re duced to slavery, he didn't give up and instead rose again to prominence, and is now trying to make a comeback.

[...It's not yet confirmed. But for now, let's start by starting a new organization with Dezaule, who is also its representative, at the center. Ramon, please keep me updated on the progress.]

[Understood.]

I would rather have him continue to play an active role as a citizen of Quordenze, rather than treating him carelessly and letting him go off to another territory. For now, let's put Dezaule as the leader and have him put together a business plan. He seems to have some ideas at this stage, so if there are no problems wit h the content, I will consult with my father and give the go-ahead.

[I will definitely prepare a plan that will satisfy the Mayor. ...In that regard, could you give us a temporary name for this new organization?]

Dezaule said that just calling it a new organization is inconvenient in many ways, and he wants a name that is easy to explain to investors. If I had been told to think up the official name I would have had some trouble, but a temporary name would have been easier to think of.

[...You're aiming to eventually become a big enough company to take on missions for the engineering soldiers, right? In that case, how about construe tion company?]

[Haha. I'll do my best not to tarnish that name.]

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