episode_0051

I entered the Manor of Carbone through the door opened by the soldiers. I parked the cart skeletons at the location indicated by the butler who came to meet me on the way, and headed to the reception room to meet Lord Carbone.

As I sat on the soft sofa in the living room, maids came out and brought simple tea and snacks to the table. Last time I came here, I didn’t even think about eating refreshments even though they were offered to me because I was going to talk to the Count right away, but this time I thought I would take my time and taste them.

“Oh… … . Does it taste good?”

The tea, which had a bitter yet refreshing taste, and the snacks, which had a light sweet taste, looked luxurious even at first glance. I could tell that it was a high-end product, not only in its appearance but also in its texture and taste.

It’s something I never really thought about enjoying, but I decided to try some of these when I go back later. Since I’m starting to make a lot of money, I can enjoy this level of luxury as much as I want.

Anyway, as I was spending some time enjoying refreshments, I heard the sound of people moving outside the door. Afterwards, the door to the living room opened wide with that sound. The workers opening the door were seen first, followed by Count Carbon.

“Baron Steele, nice to see you again.”

Count Carbone strode over to me, shook my hand, and sat down on the sofa across from me.

And, Count Carbon, who sat down, began to talk about various things as if to show that this was a model of nobility. Although it doesn’t have any nutritional value, it was said to be something like putting gold on someone’s face.

But that conversation didn’t last long. It was probably because I wasn’t used to the simple speaking style, so the conversation didn’t go smoothly.

Perhaps that was why, but Count Carbone got straight to the point.

“Baron Steele. However, I heard from the deacon that they were pulling a lot of carts… … . By any chance, are you planning to deliver some of the goods first?”

“Ah, yes. We produced all the items you ordered and brought them right away.”

“No, have you really already brought the goods? And not just some of it, but all of it?”

“Yes. Everything.”

When I told them that I had brought the goods, Count Carbon looked very surprised. His eyes were wide open, as if his eyeballs were about to pop out at any moment.

“I thought it would take at least three months to make something of that level. But they made all those items in less than a month… … . No matter how fast I heard it was… … .”

Even though Count Carbon had heard that I could produce things quickly, he seemed to have underestimated it.

But if you think about it carefully, his reaction wasn’t particularly strange. It was clear that if the blacksmiths in this city had tried to make items of that level, it would have taken several years. It was clear that they were being generous in their judgment in deciding that even if I made the items quickly, it would take more than 3 months.

“Producing large quantities of goods quickly and with uniform quality. That’s the advantage of our Smith Skeleton.”

I lightly appealed to Count Carbon about the merits of Smith Skeleton. Since Count Carbon was going to be one of my customers anyway, I wanted to encourage him to have a positive perception of my Smith Skeleton.

“The quality is also uniform?”

“That’s right. The quality of the items is the same no matter when you purchase them.”

“Huh… … .”

Count Carbon seemed surprised to hear that the quality was uniform. This was because the quality of the products varied depending on the skills of the blacksmiths and, to a greater extent, the condition of the blacksmiths. When I ordered several items of the same standard from the same blacksmith, the quality of all products was different, so I had no choice but to react that way.

Anyway, hearing that the quality was so uniform, Count Carbon jumped up from his seat.

“Do you mind if I go check the items right now?”

“As much as you want.”

Since I was confident in the quality, there was no problem in checking the product right away.

Nodding his head with confidence, Count Carbon went straight with me to the place where the cart loaded with goods was. Of course, accompanied by people including the butler and servant.

“The cart was also a skeleton?”

“It’s a specially modified skeleton. An ordinary horse-drawn cart couldn’t handle what I wanted.”

It was Count Carbon who showed a curious reaction to the fact that carts were also used as skeletons, but his interest did not last long. This is because numerous objects were discovered inside the cart, and attention was immediately drawn to them.

The cart skeleton was loaded with objects that sparkled and reflected light. Count Carbon immediately took out one or two items from the cart and began to look at them closely.

“Huh… … . The shape of the teeth is exactly the same… … . If you just overlap the saw blades, they will look like one.”

He checked the items by placing two saws on top of each other and admiring them.

“You said you used to work in a mine, right? Let’s check the quality of the pickaxe and shovel. And, you who are in charge of maintaining the mansion, please check this saw.”

They even called people who had used the items in their own way to check the quality of the items. Of course, in the case of body armor or arming swords, I had the escort knight accompanying me check the quality.

“What about a tiger armor?”

“It’s sturdy enough, and it’s great to see the curved parts that allow it to wrap around the body properly. It appears to be a good structure for deflecting the impact of arrows or stones. In addition, there are several holes for attaching a string, so each soldier can wear it to suit their body, so it can be useful.”

“Oh! If so, check out the Arming Sword too.”

“Hmm… … . Although it is a bit inferior to swords made by famous masters, the quality itself is excellent. It is judged to be sufficient to arm senior soldiers. No, it is actually okay for knights to use.”

Count Carbon, who checked the quality of the armor and arming sword with the guard knight, seemed very satisfied.

And Count Carbon, who was very satisfied with the quality of the items, burst into a very hearty laugh and gave some instructions to the butler. After receiving his order, the butler hurriedly ran somewhere and returned a short while later carrying a large bundle.

“The balance is the transaction amount minus the down payment. Since you gave me such excellent quality items so quickly, shouldn’t I also pay the balance quickly?”

The bundle that the butler brought was the bundle that contained the money for this transaction. It was a fairly large amount, so even if you used high-denomination coins, the amount was quite large.

After moving the items piled on top of the cart skeleton to a nearby warehouse, the bundle brought by the butler was placed on the cart skeleton. I adjusted the bones a little to make it impossible for anyone to touch the bundle.

After receiving and storing the payment, I could see Count Carbone still looking at the items with a satisfied face.

However, he was so satisfied that he was smiling for a while and looking at the items as if he were lost. In the end, I had to talk to the satisfied Count Carbone and bring him to his senses.

“Count. I’ll just leave now.”

“Already? Oh my. I’m distracted. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Because you looked at my items with excellence.”

“Hahahaha! Isn’t this all because you made excellent things?”

Count Carbone, who burst out laughing heartily, must have been really satisfied with the items, said he would personally see me off and walked with me towards the entrance of the mansion.

“What should I do if I need additional items later?”

Of course, they didn’t see me off for no reason. This is because I was so taken with the uniformly excellent quality, fast delivery, and low prices of the products that I was already thinking about ordering more.

“If you need an item, please contact me at any time. You can contact us through our Smith Skeleton franchise in Carbon, or you can send someone to the village where I live. Ah, the place I am staying is a small village in the Viscounty of Tar. Ten days east from Carbon… … . No, it’s a village you can reach by riding a carriage for about 15 days.”

“If he were Viscount Tarr, he would be a noble belonging to the noble faction… … ? How about coming to my territory instead?”

“That’s my hometown, and I have no intention of leaving there yet.”

“It’s a shame, it’s a shame… … .”

I smiled lightly at Count Carbon’s sincerely regretful appearance.

Although it was a disadvantage that our village was an aristocrat’s territory, it was not a problem for me at the moment, so I had no intention of moving. My parents were there right now, and all my friends and acquaintances were in the village.

Moreover, since our village was not that far from the direct jurisdiction of the royal family where Goro was located, we had no intention of moving far from where Goro was located even if we moved. Moreover, since Count Carbon was asking him to come to his territory because it would benefit him, he had no intention of moving his residence.

However, as I was thinking about that, one thing came to mind. Immediately, an idea occurred to me to create additional skeleton mages so that logistics could be moved without me.

“Count. Could you please allow regular logistics movement?”

“Are you talking about the upward movement from the top? If that’s the case, there’s nothing you can do other than obtain separate permission.”

“Similar, but a little different. To be exact, an unmanned carriage driven by a skeleton goes back and forth between our village and Carbon on a regular basis without me.”

“Unmanned… … ?”

“Now, the skeleton cart, not me, is driving that cart and coming here. When the skeleton horse pulls that thing, it moves faster than expected, so it takes less than ten days to move once. If we move at that speed, the Count can get the things he needs more quickly, and I can also get the things I need from Carbon quickly, so wouldn’t it be good for both of us?”

If you wanted to transport logistics using only Skeleton Mages, it was necessary to consult with the owner of the destination area.

This was because it was impossible to enter a city or village without consultation, since only skeletons were moving without people. In my case, since I had the certificate of being a certified warlock, I was able to enter even while riding a skeletal horse or a cart skeleton, so if I wasn’t there, I would be easily attacked by the guards.

And, when I explained that part and asked for permission to move the logistics unmanned, Count Carbon appeared to be thinking for a moment. He seemed to be contemplating whether this was a decision that would benefit him and his territory.