Chapter 285: [Another Perspective] The New Cayenne Castle
[Zetros]
“I tried making a rooftop and a terrace.”
“Mm, magnificent! This is the best!”
“Fuwa…!?”
On the terrace of the castle, which had been reborn in the blink of an eye, Panamera was hugging Van and swinging him around. After watching Van being swung around with a red face, I then shifted my gaze to the cityscape visible from the terrace.
It was a magnificent view where the entire city could be seen at a glance, something impossible with the previous castle. After all, the three-story castle had become five stories high. That would be a significant difference. Looking down at the city from the rooftop, it was even higher, enough to see even the guards walking atop the city walls.
“A-Anyway, I’ll continue the explanation of the castle!”
“Ah, my bad. I was just a little happy.”
At Van’s words, Panamera laughed, looking truly happy, and let go, releasing him. Now free, Van looked at the castle interior from the terrace and spoke.
“As I said earlier, this terrace is on the fourth floor, but the fifth floor is Panamera-san’s bedroom and office. This fourth floor contains meeting rooms and storage, the third floor has guest rooms, halls, and servants’ quarters. The second floor has a bath, treasury, and library, and the first floor has a dining room, kitchen, another bath, and rooms for guards.”
“Mm, truly wonderful. The appearance of the castle is also very good.”
“The design is called Baroque style. You can also climb the spires on the left and right. Due to that design, the rooftop is narrow, but since it usually won’t be used, there should be no problem.”
“Oh, is that so! I don’t really understand, but thank you!”
In the middle of the explanation, Panamera hugged Van again and started spinning around on the spot. Van’s servants and subordinates were laughing at this, but the administrators of Fortress City Grosser, now Cayenne, remained bewildered by the renovation work that still felt unreal.
“…Excuse me. I understand that if Lord Van is present, this fortress city will be reborn immediately. However, is your magical power alright? If you use this much magic, will you not be unable to move for a week?”
I asked, unable to hold back. At that, Van, still captured by Panamera, shook his head and laughed.
“I’m fine. Today, I’ll hurriedly make furniture for now, and tomorrow I’ll clean up the city walls and gates. If materials are available, I’d like to clean up the residences and main street too. Ah, and depending on the skill of the Earth mages, I plan to work on the water intake and sewage as well. I wonder if it will all be finished in about a month?”
“I-Is that so?”
Hearing Van’s answer, I stopped thinking deeply. I have no choice but to think that Van’s magic is just that kind of magic. After all, Panamera, who understands this well, is even making additional orders for the castle Van renovated.
“Make this window bigger.”
“It will become as big as the whole wall, you know? In that case, I might have to add more vertical pillars for reinforcement.”
“Mm, no problem.”
“…Like this?”
Every time Panamera had a request, Van skillfully remodeled the windows, wall and door decorations, room shapes, and so on. It was an outrageous story, but Van’s subordinates were praising the newly made things without concern.
“Ooh, isn’t this good! Next is furniture, but I’d like to be a bit particular here…”
“Even the ones until now were plenty elaborate… Anyway, since there are many today, it’s just for the barracks, okay?”
“Muu… It can’t be helped. I’m counting on you for tomorrow.”
Listening to such a conversation between the two for the umpteenth time, Dee walked up and reported to Van.
“Lord Van. It seems the Chivalric Order bunch has brought the timber. They are currently lining it up in front of the dormitory.”
“Ah, that helps. It’ll be dinner time soon, so shall we hurry and make just the beds?”
Answering Dee’s report with a smile, we decided to move to the front of the dormitory again.
He had been renovating buildings endlessly since we arrived, yet he says he will make more furniture now. To begin with, completing the castle renovation in a few hours is surprising enough, but to think he still has magical power left.
I watched, thinking this gentle boy might collapse any moment, but my fears were unfounded.
The timber piled high in front of the dormitory was originally just pruned branches that couldn’t be used immediately. It contained a lot of moisture and should have required preparation for processing.
However, Van looked at the timber and nodded with a smile.
“Thank you, everyone. These are fine trees. They’re from the forest near the road, right? It helps to be able to harvest this much wood so close by.”
Saying such things, Van touched the surface of the timber and began using magic. Before I knew it, the mountain of timber transformed into box-like shapes that could be held in both arms, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a state like a storage area in a stone quarry.
At this, the city residents also raised voices of surprise and caused a commotion.
“Okay, I’ll keep making them here, so everyone please carry them inside. Ah, sorry, but could I ask the people of the Cayenne Chivalric Order to cooperate as well?”
“Mm, no problem. If two people carry one, they won’t have to go back and forth many times.”
“Ah, is that okay? Then, I’ll keep making them—”
After briefly discussing the workflow, Van transformed the newly made square boxes into beds one after another. They were simple structures combining pillars, frames, and boards, but they would be more than sufficient for a barracks.
“These are slatted beds focused on lightness, but I’ll prepare mattresses later, okay? So carry them with peace of mind.”
“Yes!”
When Van explained while making beds with a smile, the knights replied and carried the newly made beds into the dormitory.
I thought making over a hundred beds was insane, but it took only a short time to make one bed. Rather, the pace was such that the soldiers carrying them inside couldn’t keep up.
“Come on, those who are free, carry them in! Ah, Bell and Lady Rosalie, could you sell us cloth and feathers?”
“Eh? We haven’t prepared enough to be used as bed materials…”
“What are you saying, Bell! Lord Panamera, understood! We will prepare them immediately! Come on, we’re buying from the residents of this city! If Lord Van is making them, tattered cloth is fine, right!?”
“Ah, that’s right! I-I’ll go gather them immediately!”
Not losing to Van’s momentum, Panamera also moved on to the next preparation. The merchants suddenly became lively too. Indeed, this is a big business opportunity involving the entire city. Thankfully, the residents, who do not possess the currency of the Kingdom of Scuderia, will gain some assets through this. Since two trading companies are here, they will be able to purchase daily necessities with that currency.
The problem is how much should be paid to Viscount Van himself, who is handling all this alone. Normally, even a thousand platinum coins wouldn’t be enough for this work. He reduced the construction period by nearly five years, had most of the materials gathered by his own knight order, and even responded to detailed requests.
Although she became a Count, there is no way Panamera, who obtained her own territory for the first time, has such assets. It is a known fact that landless nobles, living only on budgets and rewards received from the kingdom and profits from trading companies they back, have tight finances. They have a residence as the head of a noble family, and operating costs for their own knight order are also required. Considering those, Panamera likely doesn’t hold many assets.
“…I apologize for interrupting when you are busy, but how should we handle the remuneration for this work… Umm, perhaps we could pay in installments over several decades…”
Perhaps arriving at the same thought simultaneously, Barratt, who is in charge of the city’s budget, asked that. Van showed a gesture of thinking for a moment while making beds, then immediately spoke with his usual gentle smile.
“Please treat me to a delicious meal.”
While we were dumbfounded by that statement, Panamera burst out laughing.
“Fu, hahahaha! See, Zetros! A delicious dinner! Prepare the best feast in this city!”
“…Understood.”
I don’t think for a moment that the meal covers the entire cost. However, listening to their exchange and, above all, seeing Van’s carefree smile, my worries about money vanished in an instant.
Replying with a smile, I decided to return to Cayenne Castle to hold the most superb banquet ever.
