Amakawa Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts With a Village Volume 6

1. Auflage 2022
ISBN: 978-1-7183-3078-8
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, Band 6, 250 Seiten

Reihe: Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts With a Village

After returning to Itsutsu, Ash and Maika make quite an impact at their engagement parade by showing up in their lab's newest toy: a steam car!

Meanwhile, Marquis Datura and Viscount Yanga are scheming to incite a revolt in the Sacula region. To make matters worse, it appears to be true that demons strike when humans are in a state of discord. A pack of werewolves is headed for the Sacula region! Luckily, the Territory Reform Promotion Office still has an ace up its sleeve...

This is the sixth chapter of the story about a young boy who set out to create his ideal life by rebuilding civilization and revolutionizing the world!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Amakawa, Mizuumi

Weitere Mitwirkende

Okuma, Mai

Alesch, Maurice

Leseproben

Spreading the Word

We had finally returned to Itsutsu city. Our hot spring holiday had deviated quite a bit from the original plan. I had left as a simple man and returned as Maika’s fiancé. News that should have caused quite a stir at the Promotion Office. But their reaction was...different than anticipated.

“We caused a bit of a fuss in the capital. But now we are engaged!” I announced.

Lady Renge, who had been left in charge during our absence, and her assistant Lady Suiren quickly exchanged glances.

“Um... Congratulations!” Lady Renge replied a little awkwardly.

“Congratulations!” Lady Suiren sounded genuinely happy.

That was it. Lady Renge picked up some documents from her desk and handed them to me. She had already moved on from the topic of our engagement.

“While you were away, I couldn’t figure out what to do with this. Please take a look,” she explained.

Perplexed, I took the documents. My confusion quickly turned to alertness upon reading the eloquent summary.

“There has been an increase in applicants who want to learn how to make brick and concrete,” I observed.

“Precisely. However, our budget has already reached its limits. Even if we accept them, we may not have enough raw materials.”

“That is not a problem. We were not in the capital just to play around.”

As a result of my intermingling with the leaders of the remote regions, I received all sorts of donations. And since I implied that whoever gave the most would get to send their exchange students first, they all competed generously for that privilege.

Besides, upon seeing Maika’s showy proposal at the Sword Fighting Tournament, many increased their investments. The House of Nepton and the House of Sukuna, among others, celebrated our engagement with a considerable amount of money.

“Huh? But isn’t some of that an engagement gift for you and Maika?” Lady Renge voiced her concern.

“Yes, it is.” Despite returning from a holiday, our wallets had become heavier. Even the coins filling our pockets were but a fraction of what was about to arrive from each region.

“Are you sure you should use your engagement gift on the Promotion Office?”

“Is that a problem?”

We both looked to Maika. Lady Renge’s expression was saying, while my face read,

“I approve!” My fiancée, the Promotion Office’s chief, replied on the spot with the same happy demeanor that she had been wearing since winning her big prize at the tournament.

“Uh, Maika, are you sure? An engagement comes with a lot of costs...” Lady Renge protested.

“It’s fine. This is the best way to make Ash happy,” Maika waved off.

“But considering your status, you are expected to hold quite a large and expensive ceremony...”

“You’re right. Most people know that I’m a Sacula. As a member of the count’s family, I’m supposed to hold a grand wedding reception.” Thus was the responsibility that came with the Sacula name. A heavy duty brought about by their standing at the top of the government, which Maika simply brushed aside.

“But if it doesn’t contribute to Ash’s dream, is it really necessary? I don’t care about such boring customs,” Maika continued, smiling cheerfully. Her words were not uttered in disdain or derision. She was simply expressing her resolve. That she would kick aside anything in her way.

“And if anyone has a problem with that, they’ll have to deal with me,” Maika added and directed her smile toward me. “Ash can do whatever he wants. If he needs money, then he can take however much he needs.”

She vowed to support me. All her actions served my dreams. The woman who had stolen my heart showed the determination of a usurper. Of course, I did not plan on needlessly burdening the woman I loved. I may not have been willing to give up an inch in regard to my dreams, but I was ready to help Maika kick aside anyone in our way.

“You’re both something else,” Lady Renge muttered. For a brief moment a bitter expression flashed over her face. “You really are a well-matched couple.”

“Oh, thank you.” I agreed, but hearing it come from someone else made me blush a little.

“So, could you write me a report later detailing the donations you and Maika received? I will revise the budget accordingly.”

“I already wrote a report.” I started compiling it back in the capital. Best not to leave work like that for later.

“I appreciate the foresight.” Lady Renge smiled. It appeared that the hardworking maid very much agreed with me. “In that case, we can start accepting fresh applicants right away. Should I send them to the fort as usual?”

“Of course,” I nodded. The fort in question was a small defensive installation that was in the midst of being renovated with brick and concrete. Originally, it had been built as a protective measure against threats from the Roaring Dragon Mountains, the home of the demons, but recently it had also come to serve as a safeguard against Viscount Yanga’s men. Thus, large repair works had been ordered. Or rather, I had ordered them. And somehow, I had been put in charge of the project. Not that I was complaining.

As supervisor, I sent any motivated engineers willing to learn about bricks and concrete to help. To prevent a looming tragedy, we were eager to use up our budget in order to teach them new technologies. Emphasizing a military threat to request more money was the oldest trick in the book, but it still worked. Unfortunately, my recent visit to the royal capital ever so slightly increased the possibility of a real threat...

After I had finished dealing with Lady Renge’s documents, Lady Suiren came to hand me a new set of papers.

“You wrote these up well,” I praised her. She had clearly studied hard during our absence.

“Thank you. Renge taught me, and I did it together with Glen.”

“I see.” That must have increased her motivation, support from both her best friend and her lover.

Lady Suiren’s documents detailed the results of an inquiry about the current activities of the Ajole farmers who had been scattered across the region. With Glen as her escort, Lady Suiren had embarked on a round of inspections. At this rate, those two might get married before I do.

“It seems that, despite their hardships, the Ajole villagers are doing well,” I observed.

“Yes. It probably won’t have any effect on this year’s harvest, but the relocation appeared to be very motivating for them.”

That was good to hear. While I finished reading the report, I remembered fondly the times when my hard work had paid off. Then I recalled the original purpose of our visit.

After scanning the Promotion Office reports, we moved on to the laboratory.

“We caused a bit of a fuss in the capital. But now we are engaged!” I repeated, this time to Chief Reina and Deputy Chief Hermes.

“Yes, congratulations.”

“Yeah, congrats.”

Instead, they tried moving the conversation on to the reports that had accumulated during our absence.

“Um, should you not be a little more surprised about the engagement? Remember how I am the son of a poor farmer who could have easily starved to death, but now...”

Getting engaged to Maika, who would inherit the seat of the Sacula family, was a big step up on the social ladder. It could be perceived as marrying into wealth and power. Induce screaming and abuse from the masses. But the lab leaders just shrugged their shoulders.

“Everyone knew this would happen from the moment they heard you were going to the royal capital. So why should we be surprised now?” Chief Reina said.

“Don’t worry, we’re happy for you. We’ve even been discussing throwing a party together with the Promotion Office. But it’s business hours, so let’s focus on work,” Deputy Chief Hermes added.

All right... I glanced at Maika to gauge her reaction, but it seemed that she did not mind. She reassuringly patted my back, albeit with an embarrassed look on her face.

“Now, I am happy to report that the prototype steam engine is running smoothly,” Chief Reina informed us.

“That is great news indeed.”

Once the development of new farming tools for Ajole village had been completed, the research team had started seriously looking into the steam engine. It helped improve the accuracy of machine tools and it was necessary in order to study pistons and crankshafts as a preliminary step to the combustion engine. Moreover, one of the prisoner craftsmen, Rockel, had become obsessed with the mechanical marvel.

“At present, we have managed to produce one large enough to propel a horse carriage,” she continued.

“It’s a compound engine. In theory, it can withstand high-pressure steam, but for now we’ll stick with a low output,” Hermes explained. Caution was indeed advised....