Chapter 78: In the Carriage!
I’ve changed into my knight’s regalia in the academy locker room and I’m getting out of the carriage at the farm. Helmut and Katherina are my only companions, but I’m sure they’ll be fine.
“Welcome, Baron Khan.”
One of the men in the line of visitors approached me. This old man’s name is Edward and he’s one of the overseers we’ve sent from Khazan when we set up our ranch in King’s Landing. Of course he’s trustworthy and capable, having been sent all the way from Khazan.
“Thank you for your service, Edward. I haven’t seen you since you moved from Khazan. How are things here?
“Yes… Recently, more and more people have started to imitate the Khan family ranch, and the unit price itself has dropped. However, we’ve been able to increase our sales by expanding the ranch and increasing the volume of goods we handle, so our sales are increasing.
It’s expected that there will be newcomers to the market as soon as they realize that they can sell their products. I hate to say it, but the unit price has been going down, so they have to make do with thin profit margins by large scale farms.
The profits are higher than before, but the production and sales volume has increased more than that. As a result, the profit margin is so low that other companies can’t enter the market and a sudden collapse in prices has been suppressed. If some other company enters the market on a large scale and the prices collapse at once, small and family-run businesses will probably go out of business.
In comparison, the increase in the production of sugar beets and the collapse in the price of sugar beets are remarkable. Unlike farms that handle living creatures, sugar beet is an agricultural product that does not require much care. It was originally cultivated as livestock feed, and it only needs to be pressed to extract the sugar before being used as feed, so there is little loss. I don’t know the language of livestock, but the best I can say is that it’s only a matter of time before the livestock that are fed to them are no longer tasty because they’ve become waste.
I originally thought that the method of making sugar beet would eventually leak out and be imitated, so that in itself is fine. On the contrary, since there is no longer any need to hide it, they are growing sugar beet to feed their livestock and making beet sugar in the royal capital as well.
But where did the recipe for beet sugar leak from? The most likely source would be the workers at the sugar beet factory…
There weren’t so many checks on the workers in the sugar beet factories. The Knights of Carn had a good system of registering and keeping track of their own families from the time of settlement, but even in Carruthers the registers were hazy. It’s not easy to choose only the right kind of workers in such a situation.
Another reason may have been the rapid expansion and the need for large amounts of manpower due to the high production volume. Some may have been able to get in with lax checks, and some former workers who initially had no intention of leaking information may have quit their jobs and then sold their work at the sugar beet factory to other parties.
I think that the information was passed to various places through various channels and was imitated, but from my point of view, I think it lasted for a long time. I expected it to be imitated earlier and the price would fall, so I’m very thankful for that.
The risk of information leaking from workers is considerably reduced at the production bases and manufacturing plants of flat glass and white porcelain because of strict screening. Similarly, shipyards and laboratories for new types of ships have strict controls on who can enter and leave the shipyards and laboratories, so information management must be very thorough. If the information is still leaked, it means that there is someone on the inside somewhere.
“As expected… No, I guess we should be happy that the price hasn’t fallen as much as we thought it would.”
I answer Edward as I answer those who have been waiting to greet me in line. And then one of them, the girl who’s sobbing! You! It’s too early! We’ll have time to talk about this later, but first, why don’t you calm down?
“So let’s start with this…”
Edward will show us around the ranch in King’s Landing. It’s been a long time since we built this place, but this is the first time we’ve visited it. In the first place, ranches aren’t all that different from the ones we’ve got in Khazan.
I thought so, but…
“This is… This is amazing…”
I did a complete 180 when he showed me this building. This place is nothing like the farm in kaserne again. The care of the livestock and the barns are no different. What’s different is the dairy plant.
“Since the Knight of Khan has left it to the discretion of the individual farms, we’ve been conducting our own research.”
I knew it from reports and words. The first Khazan ranch, the next one in King’s Landing, and the one in Khan’s Kernburg that’s being settled now. They are all alike and yet all different. Each one has its own unique research and development of dairy products.
Of course, the information of failures and successes are shared. However, we do not only know the methods developed by others and the methods that have failed, but also promote the research and development based on completely different ideas by each farm’s own research.
A recent example is the improvement of cheese. Each farm has tried various methods to improve cheese. The methods that other farms gave up because they failed were improved by other farms, and the successes and failures were shared by other farms while maintaining the originality of the research.
The result is a cheese that doesn’t smell so bad, but there’s more than one kind of cheese. I’m not an expert on cheese, but there are many kinds of cheese. Mozzarella, Camembert, blue cheese, cheddar. There’s all kinds of cheese on the planet, from the stinky to the not-so-stinky.
Each of the farms on my ranch has developed a variety of cheeses as a result of their own research and development. Each cheese has a different flavor and texture, so you can use them for different purposes. Each farm has developed its own cheese by sharing information and conducting research on its own.
The way of making butter and cream is also researched independently, so each farm has its own way of making them. I taught him how to use a centrifuge, but it’s not very efficient in this environment without electricity and mechanization. If you have to turn the centrifuge by hand, it may be more efficient to find another way.
Edward and the others guide me around and we have a very productive visit. We’ve been here for quite a while now, so it’s time to go. I thank Edward and the others and leave. I thank Edward and the others and finish my tour, but at the same time I call out to the girl who’s been so nervous the whole time. I asked Katharine to call her for whatever reason and waited in the carriage for Louisa to arrive.
“Already, Floto! You’re late! I thought we couldn’t talk today.
“Oh, I’m sorry. We’ll have to do a proper inspection, won’t we?”
I was hoping to talk to Louisa, but I’m not here for a visit, either. I’m not a lord or a manager if I don’t do my job well.
“I know that, but… I’m actually a girl, the daughter of a Carruthers frontiersman, a knight, and the owner of a ranch, so how much have you lied to me?”
“Ugh… I don’t think he’s lying that much. I was not knighted at that time so apprenticeship is not a mistake, and I didn’t say I wasn’t a manager, and I didn’t say I was a man, although I was dressed as a man in the first place?”
Yeah. I’ve done my best not to tell the truth, but I don’t think I’ve done much lying and deception. Of course there’s a little bit. But I didn’t lie about everything like you just said. I just didn’t tell the truth.
“That may be true, but… I don’t know, it just doesn’t make sense…”
Well, I can see Louisa’s point. Even if she wasn’t lying, if she was deliberately misleading you, you could be forgiven for thinking you’d been tricked.
“I know you feel that Louisa has been deceived. I apologize for that. But I had my reasons and my circumstances. I’m sorry.”
“Ah! Wait! I’m not accusing you of anything…”
The atmosphere has become a bit heavy and distant. We’ve both grown up to a certain extent, and we’re able to consider each other’s circumstances and feelings. But at the same time, I feel a sense of distance, as if there’s some kind of invisible wall between us. In other words, it may be said that we can no longer confront each other with our true feelings.
I guess things are still a little awkward between me and Louisa. Not like with Katherina. Catherina and I didn’t have a falling out. I was shocked, but Katharina left me because she wanted to learn to serve me better, not because she had any negative feelings about me.
Whereas when Louisa and I parted, it was as if we’d fallen out. And all these years later, I suppose we still haven’t been able to see each other the way we used to. I don’t know what to do in a situation like this.
I don’t know what to do at a time like this.
“I don’t understand why you’re angry that Lady Flora was a woman. If you were in love with Frodo, it would have been the same whether it was Lady Flora or Lady Frodo.”
Katharina?
Katharina, who had been listening silently until then, unusually interrupted me from the side. Normally she wouldn’t have interrupted me when I was talking to someone, but this was very unusual.
“That’s not what I meant! I was surprised when I found out Frodo was a girl, but I just thought she was beautiful!”
“Then what is it? Is it because His Highness Ludwig was next to you, as you said before? Just because His Highness Ludwig was next to Flora-sama doesn’t mean that you can speak out against Flora-sama, does it?”
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! What’s wrong with Katharine? She’s usually so reserved, she never does anything like this, but today she’s being so hard on Louisa…
“Hey! You can’t talk to me like that! This is between Frodo and me!
“No, no. You’ve caused Lady Flora a great deal of pain. You were kind enough to forgive me for apologizing the other day… but it’s something that would never be forgiven.
Why would Katharina say that much? I’m scared… This space… I just wanted to talk to Louisa for the first time in a long time. What’s going on?
“–! That’s…
At last Louisa fell silent.
“Louisa, don’t worry about it. It was really my fault. So there’s no need for you to be sorry or upset.”
Floto…
When I called out to him, he looked at me with watery eyes. I thought this would calm him down…
“Miss Louisa… What do you think of Lady Flora? What do you want? Are you just imposing your selfish ideals on her?”
Katharina is going to try to get to Louisa. What is wrong with Katherina today? I don’t think this attitude is like her usual one.
“I like… I love Floto! Even if it’s Flora, it won’t change my mind! You said Katharina! What are you? A mere maid meddling in Frot’s affairs?
“I have always admired you, Master Flora. It doesn’t matter if you’re a woman or a man. My feelings will not be shaken by such things. If your feelings are shaken by such a small thing, then your feelings are only that small, aren’t they?”
What? – What? What? What? What are you talking about? What are you talking about that’s so important right now?
“You don’t know anything about me! I love you too, Frodo! No, I love you! I’ll always love you, even if you’re a woman!”
“Then what is it that you are so afraid of? Are you afraid that if it were known that Miss Louisa, a woman, loved Lady Flora, a woman, she would avoid you?”
Katharina’s voice, which had previously sounded as if she was questioning him, had suddenly changed to a gentle admonishing tone.
“I don’t… I don’t…
“No, you’re aware of that, aren’t you? You know you can’t talk to Master Frodo the way you used to. But that only hurts you more and more. Please don’t let your selfishness and self-preservation hurt Mr. Frodo any more than you already have. Don’t worry, Master Thoth will take it all in.”
What? Me? What? Catherina’s looking at me with a soft smile, but I’m not sure I’m following. What? Are you saying that Louisa and Catherina both know I’m a woman and they like me? What do you mean by that? In a yuri yuri kind of way?
Floto… You know…
I was still stuck in Louisa’s gaze, her moist eyes fixed on mine, even though my understanding had not yet caught up with me.
