The next day…
As promised, I went to the guild. There, I saw Miya-san in the room I was brought to. I spent the time idly chatting with her as we waited for the others, at which Wereanna-san’s group, Raypin-san, and Asagi-san came one after another. The last one to arrive was Wogan-san. At his arrival, he immediately began to explain the details of the request.
With Wogan’s explanation finished, I found out that the request is about securing lumber by hunting treants and carrying them back home. Our goal, at the very minimum is to have at least around 300 treants. But of course, if there’s more, then the reward will also increase.
I don’t know exactly how much 300 treants will end up being, but I do know that will be an amazing amount. And that’s most likely the reason why they called someone like me who can use space magic.
I don’t have any problems with it in particular, so I decided to participate. The others did too from the looks of things.
But then, after everyone finished accepting the request, Wereanna-san asked,
“Considering how much treant wood we’re gathering… Is there something going on?” [Wereanna]
“Yeah… You know about the population decline of this town, right?” [Wogan]
“Well yeah. After all, one of the mines did get abandoned. It might have only been one mine, but there are still quite a few guys who lost their job.” [Wereanna]
“Right, and that’s the reason why. The things is, although this story’s old news by now, a section of the public office once tried to think of a way to increase the town’s profits, but unfortunately the head back then wasn’t that passionate about it, so nothing came out of it. But the new head of the public office knew about that event, and this time, he thought of asking for their opinion. The result? They decided to gather people who can make some specialty products, but unfortunately… this town doesn’t have anything noteworthy aside from the mines and iron.” [Wogan]
How about being a tourist spot for the Rimel Birds?
“Can’t the rimel birds be considered a specialty of the town?” [Ryouma]
“Well that idea was proposed too, but the thing is that the season that the rimel birds appear in is also the time when the grell frogs are being hunted, so it’s not possible to make them a tourist attraction. We can’t stop the hunts either. And besides, something like that is temporary. What the public office wants is something that’s available all year round.” [Wogan]
Eh–…I suppose town development isn’t that simple, huh? But while I don’t really get it, isn’t it good enough as long as there’s something that sells well? So wouldn’t it be better not to be so picky, and just make the most out of something already known to be profitable? Like that one or maybe even a festival.
“Isn’t it fine even if it’s temporary? You could do it as something like ‘the flavor of the season’ or something…” [Ryouma]
“That’s not a bad idea, but this is a mining town, remember? If the mine runs out in the future, then the town will only be able to make a profit during that season. So with that in mind, it’s imperative that the town find something that can be profited off of for the whole year.” [Wogan]
Ahh, now that he mentions it…
“Well it’s not like I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. In fact, I’ve actually also thought that it’d be fine to make some profit gradually. But… Well in any case, the discussion this time around went that way, and in the end it was decided for an arena to be made beyond the southern gate of the town to attract tourists. There, those who wish to participate in a bout will be able to, and at the same time, spectators who want to watch will have lodging available for them to stay at. As well as other facilities that might be of service to them. Moreover we also plan to make some profit out of the spectating fees and the betting. It’ll take a lot of money to have everything ready, but in exchange, the profits will also be equally big.” [Wogan]
“Fighting and gambling, huh? The profits will definitely be big, but in exchange, the public order will probably greatly decline, de gozaru.” [Asagi]
Yeah I imagine a number of ruffians and thugs will probably come.
“And that’s exactly why it’s basically a new town. All of the facilities, including the lodging for both the guests and the participants, will be built in the new town. As for this town, it will remain a mining town, and nothing will change. It’d be better if you just consider that town and this town to only happen to be managed by the same people, but are completely different from each other.
Moreover, we’ll also raise the budge on security, and hire more guards in order to keep the public order safe. The gambling will also be managed by the town. With that kind of thorough management, nothing should go wrong, right?
And to answer Wereanna’s question, the design and construction of the arena is being handled by Perle Bekentein.” [Wogan]
At those words, everyone besides me was shocked. Is that person famous?
“Umm… What kind of man is that person?” [Ryouma]
“Oh, you don’t know, Ryouma? He is the second son of Viscount Bekentein. He was originally supposed to help manage the region under his brother, but then he left his family, and went on to become an architect, de aru.” [Raypin]
“As an architect, he’s an unparalleled genius, but at the same time, he’s famous for being an eccentric.” [Miya]
A rather deep person… in more ways than one. Not that I know anything about him.
“Well… that’s how it is. After sounding it out, he quickly took the job, apparently thinking it’d be good for his image. But when he did, he gave us a condition. ‘I want to use treant wood for the arena, so unless it’s treant wood, I refuse to work on it!’ he said. And that’s how we ended up in the current situation, where we’re starting to gradually stock up on those treant wood.” [Wogan]
The fastidiousness of an artist? Treant wood being used for architecture is definitely not unheard of, however, it’s something generally used for magical contraptions, so it’s not usually used as construction material. Considering that this architect is asking for something rather unreasonable, I suppose his skill must be equally considerable. Then again he is known to be an unparalleled genius.
I mused to myself like that for a bit. After which, the meeting ended, and we were dismissed.