134.2. Difficulties Are Like Spices, Isn’t It?

While the room was being cleaned and I was being scolded, the meeting took a short break. As the maids and butlers bustled around tidying up and preparing tea, only Jabil-sensei stared intently at the sunken vase, muttering to herself.

“…Phase transition of water… volume expansion… alchemical adjustment… but is it really possible?… air pressure… container… mumble mumble…”

I couldn’t hear clearly because Leafan’s lecture was still going on.

“Are you listening, Craft-kun!?”

“Ma’am! Yes, ma’am!”

I continued listening to Leafan’s scolding until the room was tidied up. Sigh… Luckily, the maids were quite efficient, and I was released soon enough.

“Craft-kun, we’ll continue this when we get back.”

“…Yes.”

Mom’s tough…

Once everyone was seated again, Kyle cleared his throat.

“Ahem, we had a bit of trouble, but Leafan-san, what do you think? Do you think the water evaporation potion can be used?”

“I think so. It won’t be much trouble to figure out the proper amount of potion to use. In fact, the projected construction time could be drastically reduced… I’d estimate it could be cut down to one-tenth, maybe even less…”

Everyone in the room gasped at Leafan’s words. This construction project is massive, a project we expected could span decades, maybe even a century. We were prepared for it to take at least ten or twenty years, even if everything went smoothly. The idea was that as long as we could complete it before Kyle had to pass his title to his children, we’d be doing well. It was supposed to be a long-term plan.

“Leafan-san, are you saying it could be finished in less than ten years?”

Kyle’s voice trembled as he asked. Leafan shook his head.

“No, if everything goes well, it could be done in less than a year. Even if things go slowly, it’ll be finished in three years.”

She said it with such confidence that everyone was left speechless. All the attendees sat there, mouths opening and closing like goldfish. After a moment of silence, Kyle cleared his throat again to bring the meeting back to order.

“That’s fantastic news. What about the other issues? There was also the problem with monsters, wasn’t there?”

“That’s no problem. As long as we have Craft’s underwater breathing potion, we adventurers can handle the defense.”

Raidoc immediately answered Kyle’s question, and the head of the Adventurers’ Guild, Sinos Gashur, followed up.

“Kyle-sama, if you can prepare the underwater breathing potions and send out the escort request, there are adventurer parties familiar with underwater combat from hunting Silver-Scaled Piranhas. We can bolster the defense if needed.”

“Of course. I’m counting on you.”

Kyle smiled warmly, and Guild Master Sinos bowed deeply in return. As a side note, all the members here, except Eddie Drake of the Maritime Guild, had permission to call Kyle by his first name, as they had known him since before he became the Frontier Lord. Of course, in formal settings, we all address him by his title. I need to be careful about that, too.

With the construction plans settled, the atmosphere in the room eased. Raidoc, feeling the tension lift, murmured…

“Still, ever since we got to the frontier, it’s been nothing but water problems.”

Leafan chuckled in response.

“Raidoc-san, frontier development is all about battling monsters, water, and soil.”

Not just Raidoc, but I nodded in agreement.

“Ah, I see.”

Our voices harmonized, and the room erupted in laughter. Yes, we can do this.

We could feel the tangible progress of this grand national project.

◆

…I underestimated it. The fact that the construction time would be shortened. That means… the workload would increase. Overwhelmingly, brutally so.

“Ahhhh! Someone go get the documents from the Adventurers’ Guild right now! And Craft-kun, handle the negotiations with the Commerce Guild!”

Leafan screamed, and I shouted back.

“I can’t! I’m swamped with brewing underwater breathing potions! Send Plum instead!”

“N-n-no way!”

We’re short on hands! Way too short! The extra help from the orphan kids was gone in an instant. Negotiations with other departments and paperwork piled up. And the only one who could handle all of that was Leafan, the guild master.

But Leafan also had to manage production, which meant that the entire Production Guild was about to be buried under an avalanche of work again.

“Kyle-sama has sent another document! Guild master, please review it!”

“Aaaagh!”

Leafan clutched her head in despair. This is bad. At this rate, the Production Guild is going to crash!

And just when the guild was on the brink of collapse, a familiar face appeared.

“Oh man, you lot look like you’re really in a bind.”

Standing at the entrance was Grim Dondoll, the former guild master who had taken me into the Production Guild and who had since been promoted to the Guild Master of Gandarl.

“I’ll lend a hand.”

With a thumbs-up and a grin, he looked just like a savior.