Chapter 154: Towards the Opening of the Theme Park

“About that ‘theme park’ of yours. I think it would be better to build it outside of Harmonia rather than inside it.”

“Outside?”

What does he mean?

As I tilted my head, Father spread a map of the provincial capital, Harmonia, and its surroundings drawn on parchment across the desk.

Harmonia, the provincial capital of the Philharmonie Ducal House, is built on a large island in the middle of a lake.

There is also a civilian district on the shore of the lake, connected to the island by a large bridge. Does he mean building it in that civilian district?

“No, not there. I’m suggesting we create a new island next to the central island and build it there. I don’t know how much land this ‘theme park’ you speak of will require, and there’s a possibility it could cause a nuisance to the surrounding residents.”

“Ah… That’s true.”

Theme parks on Earth were always adding new areas, too. Also, as the lord of the territory, he can’t just ignore complaints from the neighbors.

A completely independent location might give us more freedom to do as we please. Or rather, create an island…?

“Um, is it even possible to create an island…?”

“It’s not impossible if we hire a few dozen people skilled in earth and water magic. Of course, I intend to have them work on the subsequent construction as well.”

Father says it so casually, but won’t that cost a massive amount of money…?

Those who can use magic are mostly nobles. It’s common for those who aren’t the heir or eldest daughter to take jobs using magic, but their request fees were generally supposed to be quite high.

Even for civil engineering and construction, hiring a few earth magic users can sometimes be more expensive than hiring dozens of laborers.

The cost is high, but in exchange, the work is finished quickly, and if there are any mistakes, they can deal with them immediately. So I guess it is convenient, but…

“Of course, we’ll hire normal laborers too. Creating new jobs isn’t a bad thing for Harmonia, either.”

“No, I’m more worried about the money it will cost for the construction… Won’t the territory’s finances take a hit?”

For a birthday present, this has become a bit… no, a very expensive endeavor.

Personally, I was just thinking it would be nice if it could be built somewhere close to Harmonia. As long as I got the land, I was planning to gather the money myself and build it through trial and error.

Has this completely turned into a public works project for the Philharmonie Ducal Territory?

While I was making a worried face, Mother, who was next to me, chimed in.

“There, there, Mother is in charge of that part. The money for this theme park is going to come from the sales of the goods from the stores Sakura-chan summoned, and the profits made by the Sakura Company. Not a single coin of the territory’s taxes is being used, so it’s completely yours, Sakura-chan.”

“Eh!?”

I thought it was a public works project involving the whole territory, but it’s a completely private property!

“Does our Ducal House really have that much money…?”

“We do. We didn’t expect things to sell this well either, so we’re a bit surprised ourselves. Recently, merchants not just from Symphonia, but from other countries have been coming to buy our goods, you know?”

Seriously.

I thought we were making a decent profit, but that much…?

I wasn’t particularly interested in the business side of things and had left it entirely to Mother, so I hadn’t asked how much we were making or specific amounts.

“You shouldn’t underestimate the vanity of nobles, you know? If there’s a rare item that no one else has, they can show it off ostentatiously at tea parties and evening soirées. There are people who will pile up as much money as it takes.”

“Wow…”

Is that really okay, nobles? Are you sure about that? Well, it helps us out, though…

Isn’t that money coming from the taxes collected from your people anyway?

Well, there are quite a few nobles who run their own trading companies like our house does, so I can’t say for sure.

But there are definitely idiot nobles who mix up their territory’s wallet with their own personal wallet.

“Since this is supposedly your birthday present, Sakura-chan, we plan to pay the expenses for creating the island out of our own private funds, though.”

Ugh…! I ended up asking for an outrageous present…!

I would have been perfectly fine with some unused, empty field somewhere!

However, building it on a new island does feel like it would be better for both appearances and drawing in customers. Also from a security standpoint.

I guess I’ll just rely on my parents’ generosity here… I’ll definitely generate profits that exceed this in the future!

For now, we decided to determine the size of the island, its location, and create a rough map of the theme park.

Hmm… Since it’ll be close to the water, I’d like to incorporate things like a lazy river or water slides, too.

I need to check what is possible and what isn’t, one by one.

There is no scientific technology in this world, but there is magic technology that more than makes up for it.

Things that are impossible in my previous world might even be possible here.

To gain that knowledge, I have to study a lot of things. For now, I suppose I’ll start with what seems feasible.

“And so, could you make something like this?”

“Listen here, little lady. I’m a magic sword smith, you know.”

Looking at me with exasperated eyes, Ballei-san took a big gulp of the Junmai Daiginjo sake I brought as a souvenir.

A blacksmith still works with metal, don’t they? Can’t you make a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel?

“But what is this? This ride thing I don’t understand… A ‘rorrah coas-tah’?”

Ballei-san tilted his head as he looked at the explanations for the roller coaster, Ferris wheel, free fall, and the like that I had drawn.

He was the only person I could think of who seemed capable of making these… Knowing we were asking for the impossible, we had come to the town of Fuoco.

“It runs on rails, right? Is it a minecart?”

“Hmm, close, but a little different. It doesn’t just run straight; it snakes around, does vertical loops, and horizontal spins.”

“Spins…? Now I understand it even less…”

Ballei-san shot me a look that said, What the heck are you talking about? Ugh. I’m not explaining this well.

From there, I drew pictures of a roller coaster in my notebook and meticulously explained how it moved and what was necessary for safety.

“I somewhat grasp what this ‘rorrah coas-tah’ thing is. But why would anyone ride something like this? Why ride something that doesn’t go anywhere and just returns to where it started?”

“Umm, to experience a heart-pounding thrill, I guess…? To get a kind of excitement you can’t experience in everyday life.”

Ballei-san made a face that said he genuinely didn’t understand. To explain it in a way that Ballei-san could understand…

“…Drinking a liquor you’ve never tasted before. I suppose it’s similar to that kind of heart-pounding excitement.”

“Hmm, I see. I understand perfectly.”

You understand that?! As expected, alcohol is the key for dwarves.

“And this ‘Ferris wheel’ thing is for enjoying the view from up high? And this ‘free fall’ thing is for enjoying that ‘thrill’ by dropping.”

“Right, right.”

“Hmm. If you ask if I can make them, it’s not impossible. But as I thought, this is outside my field of expertise. A dwarf more knowledgeable in architecture and construction could probably make something better.”

A dwarf knowledgeable in architecture? There’s someone like that?

“There’s a dwarf village in the mountainous region further west of the Prelude Kingdom. The craftsmen there could probably build exactly what you’re imagining, little lady, to perfection.”

“In that case, could you act as a mediator for us?”

“I don’t mind, but those guys won’t move for money. Well, I’m sure you already know, little lady, but—”

“Alcohol, right.”

As if saying Exactly, Ballei-san flashed a wide grin.

How should I put it, it’s very helpful for us if they’ll work for alcohol, but I also have this contradictory thought of Are you really okay with that, dwarves?

Well, whatever. For now, I’ll give Ballei-san several types of alcohol to serve as a letter of introduction. I’ll have them drink these and decide whether to accept the job or not.

“With your alcohol, little lady, I’m sure they’ll come flying. It will probably take about half a year, including preparations starting from now, is that fine?”

“We haven’t even finished the groundwork on our end yet, so just an answer on whether they’ll accept the job is fine for now. We’ll decide the schedule… the plans from there.”

We don’t even have the island that will serve as the foundation for the construction yet. We need to proceed with a long-term span in mind.

If the island is completed by the end of this year, and we can start construction next year, that should be fine.

“Putting that aside, don’t I get a finder’s fee?”

“…Will Spirytus do?”

“You know me well.”

Ballei-san joyfully accepted the Spirytus I took out from [Inventory Storage], poured it into a glass, and downed it in one gulp. I can’t believe he can chug alcohol with such a high proof in one go…

“Gah! This hard-hitting kick is irresistible! Little lady, if you have that spicy wurst, sell me some of that too!”

“Well, I do have some, but…”

When I took out a hot dog with the special hot sauce from [Inventory Storage] in the same way, he devoured it in a single bite. And then he gulped down more Spirytus.

“Kuuugh! This combination is the best after all!”

Ballei-san said such things, but if a normal human did that, I’m pretty sure they’d writhe in agony and die…

Suddenly thinking that if it’s Ballei-san, he might be fine with this too, I took out a habanero from [Inventory Storage] and let him eat it.

“Oho! This makes for a nice little snack! It seems like it would be delicious stir-fried with meat.”

Watching Ballei-san munching and crunching on the habanero just like that and savoring it in a good mood, I was convinced that dwarves have tongues and stomachs made of iron.

I’ve only been using the habaneros as bug repellent anyway, so I might as well sell the surplus to Ballei-san. An inventory clearance sale.

Plans are steadily moving forward. I’d like to get it into some sort of shape in about five years, though.