It’s like… the two of them are unleashing their hometown sales pitch.
They’re both such good salespeople! I found myself wanting to go too, and I was already thinking about how to adjust my schedule…
But, there’s a real spark flying between the two of them…
Come to think of it, they’re both from merchant aristocratic families… they must clash often as business rivals.
It really feels like they both see each other as rivals… I wish they’d get along.
Well, that’s how it is.
When you meet your superior for the first time, I think it’s just right to go all out with flattery from the start.
Listis finally seemed to realize that these two were engaged in a sales battle, and she’s looking at me with a slightly awkward expression.
I need to help her out here…
Unlike these two, the Duke Marstella family is completely military.
They clearly can’t keep up with this mood… but I can’t just leave her out of it.
More than that, I’ll capture them properly and make all three of them my wives.
Or, I’ll have them all give up entirely.
It’s all or nothing! That’s the path I must take.
For now, after pushing and shoving each other with their shoulders and hips, they start glaring at each other in silence, so I slip out from between them.
“Ah, I completely forgot. Listis, we haven’t done this yet! Well, it’s nice to meet you again properly!”
I move in front of Listis and offer my left hand. For a moment, she looks taken aback.
Then, with an awkward, hesitant gesture, she shyly shakes my hand back.
After that, still with an awkward air, she offers a single smile.
“I, I look forward to working with you…”
She was sent here as part of a political marriage, so perhaps she’s not happy about it at all.
Her volunteering for the Royal Guard might have been forced upon her, making her give up her desired position in the Imperial Knights… I should try to understand that.
It’s obvious she’s forcing that smile, but if she’s showing even a little willingness to reconcile, I should acknowledge it.
I don’t expect us to be close right away, but I have to get along with her too…
Even if I don’t have a choice, I must become the most trustworthy confidant for them.
I glance over at Kuroie. She nods with satisfaction.
Yes, yes, I understand… We have a telepathic connection; I can understand my lord’s thoughts without a word.
If I had just listened to their sales pitches silently, she would have likely thought of calling out to Listis or coming up with some way to support her.
In short, if I can win these three over, the three great dukes will automatically be on our side.
Once that happens, my own political foundation, and by extension Kuroie’s, will be solidified… Kuroie understands that well.
In any case, I must treat all three equally, get along with all of them, and take them all as wives… That’s what she wants.
Even without words, I have a good grasp of Emperor Kuroie’s intentions.
If it were just Lady Cellmile, she would have undoubtedly opposed it, but if it’s all three treated equally, that’s an ideal development.
We also want a deep connection with the top aristocrats of Romeo, the three great dukes, in some form.
Kuroie alone might not have been able to achieve this, but for me, having many wives is not a problem.
Among powerful aristocrats, having only one wife is a minority. Rather, the more wives one has, and the more they come from high-ranking families, the higher the status of the Takakura family itself rises. And a wife from the absolute top rank commands genuine reverence in the social standing of women.
Kuroie is supported by the younger generation of women, but her support among older women, such as female heads of households and female merchants, is somewhat lacking.
This is a rather realistic concern: is a young, immature girl truly capable of being Queen? That’s her true feeling, so while she pledges loyalty outwardly, her actual thoughts are unpredictable.
However, if Kuroie is the head of a polygamous household, with the wives of the three most prestigious ducal families beneath her, then the situation changes.
In the social hierarchy of aristocratic women, she would be undeniably amazing!
In other words, this is a harem situation often seen in dating sims, but it’s also politics.
I’m not doing this sort of thing out of personal preference.
This is politics.
It’s an unavoidable path, based on high-level political judgment, for the stabilization of the country and the establishment of my own political foundation.
Of course, the conditions for clearing this are rather harsh: not just conquering one person of interest, but conquering them all, with no bad endings allowed… but I have no choice but to do it!
“Listis, no matter where you go, greetings are fundamental, aren’t they? Well, it’s nice to meet you going forward! I say this out of grandmotherly concern, but you should relax a bit. You know what I mean, right?”
Saying this, I gently place my hand on her shoulder.
“Yes! Um… well, uh… earlier… I apologize…”
Perhaps she’s reflecting on her behavior, she apologizes in a small voice while looking down, and lightly grips my fingers on her shoulder.
It doesn’t seem like she dislike it, maybe it’s her way of hiding her embarrassment? Her fingertips are calloused from wielding a sword… but these are the hands of a hard worker, who trains every day without fail.
Noticing that my fingers have the same calluses from practice swings, she looks up in surprise and strokes my fingertips.
That’s right… just wanting to become a little stronger, I’ve been practicing swings with a stick before bed.
As I watch her actions, our eyes meet, and her cheeks flush red.
Oh, is she warming up to me a bit? Indeed, when she’s usually so prickly and then acts like this sometimes, it’s like an oasis in the desert, and it really gets to me.
So this is the charm of a tsundere… not bad at all!
“…If you practice sword swings every day, your fingers get stiff… Well, I only do it as a light exercise, so I’m nowhere near as good as you.”
“I, I’m sorry… I’m often told my hands are not very feminine…”
“No, these are the hands of a diligent worker. You should be proud of them, actually.”
Saying this with a smile, she suddenly pulls her hand away and averts her gaze.
However, as if imitating Latrie, she clasps her hands together in front of her waist and bows deeply.
“I… may have misunderstood His Excellency a little… Once again, I apologize.”
She says this and then looks up with a smile.
Unlike before, it doesn’t feel forced… it’s a natural smile.
The tension in her voice has eased, and I can see her usually sharp expression has softened a little…
I can see her age-appropriate cuteness… I like this.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s difficult to understand others. Especially since we’re men and women. I don’t expect us to understand each other easily right after meeting. Oh, and by the way… have you heard about the national railway from Duke?”
“Railway…? Y-Yes… A high-speed mass transportation method incomparable to horse-drawn carriages… running on iron tracks using vehicles powered by steam engines that utilize steam pressure… right? My father asked me if it was possible to implement it before, and I researched it with my academy friends as a research project, so I remember.”
I had consulted with Param and Yorme about the development of the railway network, and they had replied that the Merchant Guild would fully support it.
I see, judging by this, the story must have reached Duke Marstella at a very early stage, and they were verifying the technology on their end… Is that it?
“Oh, really? Well, the Dwarf engineers responded that as long as money is no object, it can be built without issue.”
By the way, the blueprints for the steam locomotive were sourced from Japan.
Creating a behemoth like the D51 was too much, even for Japan, as it was partially a lost technology. However, I managed to get the blueprints for a 6-ton class mini steam locomotive, which was newly manufactured about five or six years ago for a theme park, and had the Dwarves look at them.
They immediately understood the mechanism and gave the reply, “This is perfectly doable!”
Apparently, they had also seen the Bun-chans and built something like a steam automobile. However, it became too large and heavy, causing the wheels to sink into the ground. Conversely, if they tried to make it smaller and lighter, the boiler would just explode… that was their situation.
As the next step, they tried to mimic the infinite crawler mechanism, which doesn’t have problems with some weight, but they encountered technical hurdles due to issues with durability, even though they managed to copy the mechanism itself.
Indeed, the prototype of the infinite crawler technology appeared relatively early, around the 18th century. However, it apparently took roughly a hundred years to develop it into a practical product… it’s a difficult technology that requires that much trial and error.
Moreover, even today, heavy infinite crawler vehicles aren’t meant to travel long distances.
Tanks and heavy machinery are typically transported on dedicated large carriers when moving them long distances.
This is where the concept of railways comes into play.
Instead of forcing them to run on the ground, the idea of creating a sturdy iron rail track and having them run on it was something that hadn’t occurred to them; Doran and his colleagues were very impressed.
“Yes, we were aware of the existence of steam engines, and humans have even achieved practical implementation with their own technology. However, we never thought of using it that way… As for the theoretical verification, as you said, it’s entirely possible to adapt the steam engines used by the Dwarves in the northern mines. The issue was laying the iron tracks, which would naturally require a considerable budget, but considering the cost-effectiveness, it is sufficiently profitable. However, human technology alone would be difficult, so the cooperation of the Dwarf Tribe is indispensable…”
Saying this, she glances towards Selma.
Meanwhile, in a corner, Latrie is lecturing Selma about something, and Anna is acting as a mediator, trying to calm things down.
I see, Listis is implicitly suggesting the need for cooperation with Duke Schatteluren.
Indeed, the northern mountainous regions, where Romeo’s Dwarves reside, are entirely within Duke Schatteluren’s territory.
Doran and his group had also mentioned that the Dwarf clans in northern Romeo are an advanced engineering group possessing the world’s best ironworking and mechanical technology.
In other words, if the two great dukes join forces, the matter of the domestic railway network will gain considerable momentum.
Listis understands its usefulness and is offering me advice.
Hmm, this girl… she’s incredibly intelligent and considerate for a 15-year-old.
Even though she’s a bit prickly, if I think of her as a tsundere, she’s perfectly fine!
