A New Problem
“I’m terribly busy these days—and all because of a certain someone.”
That was Raziel’s first comment after I finished reporting the exchange I’d had with Linka and Edgar.
“He knows it’s necessary to take action, both to let Edgar work in peace and for the sake of future developments,” I said with a smile.
Raziel sighed. “Yes, yes, I’m aware. But it’s hard not to get snippy when I’m surrounded by geniuses who seem to multiply my workload with every passing day.”
He’s been laying the sarcasm on thick lately.
Come on, that’s not my fault! Things only turn big because everyone else makes them big—I wish he’d understand that.
This year, there are fewer part-time students from St. Arthur Academy.
Apparently, four of this year’s graduates joined our company, and since other trading houses copied our previous summer’s part-time conditions, competition for good students has grown fierce.
Normally, hiring even one person from the Academy every few years would be considered good fortune—so for four of them to join us was a major shock to the other houses.
As a result, arranging summer vacations for our regular employees has become difficult.
Fortunately, since April, several orphanage kids who are good with numbers have started part-timing for us.
We’re currently training them up, hoping they’ll grow into real assets.
For those children, mastering the work means a chance at full employment someday, so they’re giving it their all.
It’ll take time, of course, but with the new district’s staff growing too, we have to focus on training anyway.
If Edgar becomes a full employee, we could give others time off during summer, so for now, I’ll just have to rely on Raziel.
I had wanted Edgar to take over some of my duties, but… I’ll have to let that go for now.
“Brother Chris, this is Lux Village.”
I pointed toward the large, double-layered earth wall surrounding it.
Chris hadn’t yet seen either the village or the Goosh sheep-shearing in person, so he came along this time.
“As expected of Logan—it looks more like a fortress than a village.”
Once inside, we found Marcus waiting.
“Marcus, it’s been a while. You look well.”
“Young Master Chrisford, it’s good to see you again. I came here expecting a slow village life, but it’s been nothing short of chaotic.”
“Well, my brother set his eyes on this place, so there’s no helping it. Still, it’s been good for the village—keep up the good work.”
Marcus could only laugh wryly.
“Marcus, are the Goosh still coming every day?”
“Yes, and their numbers have grown to around twenty or so.”
“There were that many Goosh in this forest?”
“I’m not completely sure, but since we started shearing them, their wool seems to be growing back faster.”
“I can’t even tell them apart myself.”
“Indeed. But the Boss Goosh comes by every month.”
“Really? Every month?”
“Yes. We think the shearing slime has softened their previously matted coats, letting the wool grow faster.”
That’s great news.
We still need tons of Goosh wool—we haven’t even distributed uniforms to all the knights yet.
We’ll have to check with Helios Village too.
Since it was evening, we decided to observe them up close the next morning.
When we went to see the shearing the next day, I noticed there were now three shearing slimes.
Good—they’re multiplying nicely.
“Young Master Reinhardt, it seems the boss Goosh is here today.”
I looked where Marcus pointed and spotted one Goosh larger than the rest.
“Brother Chris, I’m going to go have a word with it.”
“All right. Don’t overdo it.”
The Boss Goosh told me that since spring, its wool has been growing faster—but it didn’t really know why.
It also said summer shearing felt nice and cool. Apparently, if they ask the slimes, the creatures can even adjust the length of their coats for them.
Really, these shearing slimes are amazing.
When I asked if there’d been any trouble lately, it said they’d seen strangers who didn’t belong to the village and had been attacked—so they fought back, but some of their own were lost.
That’s… not good.
If Goosh numbers drop, our wool supply takes a huge hit.
“Are the young ones all right?” I asked.
They’re expecting a baby boom soon—strangely, not in spring, but starting now.
“If you want a safe place to raise them, we could build some shelters here.”
They said they’d tell the expecting mothers, but couldn’t guarantee any would come.
Still, I figure some will.
I thanked the boss Goosh, promised to increase patrols, and returned to Chris and the others.
“So there are more unfamiliar adventurers around?”
“Probably here for Rainbow Fish scales,” Chris said.
“Most likely. And if they meet a Goosh, they’ll see it as a monster and attack.”
“True. No one would guess we’re half-keeping them like livestock.”
Marcus nodded. “Then I’ll arrange to have the shelters built right away.”
“Good idea,” I said.
A new problem had surfaced—but at least now, we knew where to start.
What do you think about this chapter?
