Chapter 80: Secret Workshop (part two)
We went with Gilbert to the upstream of Varnalis River at night.
Trading the horse-drawn carriage with a small boat en route, we boarded a flat-bottomed ship heading upstream at a harbor on the outskirts of the town.
Loaded on this flat-bottomed ship were various everyday commodities to be delivered to the village upstream.
Pulled by a horse in the towpath made on the shore, it traced a gentle flow upstream.
Gilbert sipped a glass of mulled wine that the crew had shared, and exhaled deeply, breathing out white vapor.
Harold and I who were still children were given a heated spice apple juice.
The cinnamon and ginger warmed our body from the core.
“On the evening of the day I arrived at Knot Reed, I went up the river like this.
It’s only been seven days since then, huh……thanks to Botchan and you guys, it’s been days that were rich in experience.”
“But, Aniki, if you were going up the river by yourself, wouldn’t it be better using the land route?”
Harold put a damper on Gilbert who was looking into the riverside in nostalgia.
“There was a package that I wanted to carry in, so I had to use a ship.
From the results of my many years of research, I knew that the local whetstones were ideal for porcelain materials.
Since they were as cheap as dirt, I bought up all the whetstones that were in the market.”
“Heeh, a whetstone, huh……hm, huh? Buy up?”
『Speaking of which, you told us that the market price of whetstone is rising.』
“Aniki, so that was your doing, huh……”
Harold glared at Gilbert with accusing eyes.
He did say that he was repairing a rotating whetstone of the confectionery store.
Perhaps, other bad effects of whetstones shortage might have come out.
“Eh, what? Why are you angry?”
“Nothing—. It’s just that Aniki’s actions result in a lot of troubles this week—.”
“Now, now, I don’t know what happened, but it’s fine, right?
Because of my foresight, I made use of them in the production of porcelain with painted cobalt oxide.”
At Gilbert’s words, Harold became silent begrudgingly.
There was no doubt that he was saved by it, so he couldn’t say anything.
“Well, whether it was a foresight or not, we shouldn’t be fixated on those unnecessary details.
We can sell the white porcelains to eastern business partners, where they are still popular.
Even though I know that fact with my head, my heart isn’t on board, I guess I’m afraid that it won’t reach expectation.”
『But thanks to your extra insistence, the material is not wasted, and everything goes well.』
“Right, right, mister. You say some good things.”
Gilbert’s mood got better thanks to Tirnanog’s words.
Harold’s staring seemed to show that he was still dissatisfied.
“Tsk, Aniki is doing fine, huh……but, is it possible to sell that conveniently in the East?”
“It was the opinion of my partner at the time I was in the South.
That guy didn’t agree with my hobby, but he has a considerable aesthetic sense.
He is quite favourable as a partner, well, I think it’s fine to trust his judgement.”
The East had an elegant and sophisticated culture, yet they preferred simple things.
A pure white porcelain might be better suited to the taste of eastern people than a porcelain with flashy and gorgeous paintings on it.
“Is that partner of yours possibly a mage of Hafan?”
“Aa, I was in charge of alchemy, that guy was in charge of magic and he was studying to combine East and West techniques.
Although I got separated from that guy due to that event, but the scroll entrusted to me by him is even now still my partner.”
Gilbert said so, his nose sniffling whether due to the cold or sentiment, and looked up to the dusk sky.
I raised my face to follow his line of sight.
In the dark sky without the moon, the stars were shining brightly.
At this time, in that direction I could see the first magnitude stars of Lupus and Canis Minor.
Then, on the underside there were the red stars that made up Cancer.
Gradually lowering my line of sight from the three constellations, I noticed that a huge shadow was towering.
It was a tall tower that looked as if it was touching the sky.
There seemed to be windows around the tower, and several small orange lights were lit up.
“The tower has come into view at last. Boatman, please drop us off this shore.”
“Ou.”
As the ship stopped, we got off to the riverside.
It was around 8 o’clock in the evening, but because there was no moon, the field of vision was much darker.
Each of us lit a lamp or lantern.
“It’s a splendid castle. Is it the residence of a nobleman around here?”
“Nn~, well, that kind of stuff……Botchan should know more about it, right?”
“Oh my, Harold, huh?”
“No, about the detailed description……ah—, that one is mine.”
Harold averted his eyes while scratching his cheek.
No, it wasn’t in the level of ‘it’s mine’, right?
“That castle of ours is called 〈Castle of Light〉.
It’s an old castle built on the rocky side of the bank of Varnalis River, characterized by a very tall tower.”
“The one that built that tower was the Turm family who migrated here.
If you think about it, Turm and Nibelheim are often connected to each other.”
“Anki, if you say that, practically all noble families and companies in Knot Reed are connected with each other.”
“Hahaha, that’s true.”
Harold and Gilbert laughed with each other after saying so.
Indeed, it seemed that the whole Knot Reed had a friendly atmosphere like some kind of family or relatives.
“There is nothing special, it’s just an ordinary rural castle.
When the weather cleared up, we can see the unbroken view of the town, so it’s not bad.”
“That’s nice.”
“Aa, that’s right. When this matter has settled down, shall we meet together and hold a feast?
Since there is no budget, we will be eating food a little and having fun, it will be just a modest thing.”
A celebratory feast while watching the night view of Knot Reed might be a good proposal.
Although it was said one shouldn’t count one’s chickens before they had hatched, as long as I kept my nerves tightly bound up, even if I relaxed a little, there shouldn’t be any repercussion.
“I think it’s a quite tasteful plan.”
“That’s nice. I will go wherever there is alcohol.”
『Umu, not bad.』
“Alright, then it’s decided.”
When all of us showed our agreement, Harold’s teeth could be seen as he laughed.
“Well, that’s that. Let’s put the matter about Castle of Light as something to look forward to, first off, let’s go to my secret base.
It’s just a little farther, be patient and we will arrive in no time.”
Even though he said ‘a little farther’, we arrived at Gilbert’s hideout in just about five minutes from where we disembarked.
There was an old cabin on the open space where only the foundations of some buildings remained.
According to Gilbert, it seemed that it was formerly a work cabin for quarrying.
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