Searching for Warm Stones
Yesterday, I ended up spending a lot of time talking with the Cocotte Queen, so I stayed at the fortress near the Great Forest.
Today, we are searching for warm stones near another Cocotte nest.
I sent Atre to ask the Queen of that nest, but she didn’t know, so progress has been slow.
“Doesn’t look like there’s anything here either.”
“There’s only one more Cocotte nest left. Hopefully we’ll find something there…”
Even at the last nest, Atre asked, but again she didn’t know.
We searched around the nest, but no large rocks were found.
I expected to find something quickly, so this struggle was unexpected.
If this continues, the new city’s hot stone bath might not be possible.
“There’s a spot ahead with no trees. Let’s take a break there.”
“Got it.”
The area ahead wasn’t completely bare, but sunlight lit it like a clearing in the middle of the Great Forest.
“There aren’t many trees here.”
“That’s unusual. Clearings are usually made by the knights cutting trees.”
“Hardt, this soil is warm.”
“Huh? Warm?”
I put my hand on the ground—indeed, it was warm.
“Is it the sun’s heat?”
“Hamilton, can you dig up this soil?”
“Dig it up?”
“If you hit anything hard, let me know.”
Hamilton seemed to understand what I was thinking and began softening the soil.
“Young Master Reinhardt, I’ll hit something hard soon. It’s probably rock.”
He pushed the softened soil aside, and the rock’s surface appeared.
I paused Hamilton and touched the rock—it was warm.
“A warm stone. Atre, good work.”
It seems the warm stones had been buried under leaves and soil over the years.
That must be why no trees grow around here.
Hamilton, Kamuela, and the other knights with earth magic loosened the surrounding soil to extract the rock.
It was a huge stone, roughly five meters long and wide, and about twenty centimeters thick—enough for the chicks’ hut and the new city’s hot stone bath.
“This one should be enough.”
“I’m glad we found it.”
I’ll take it to the stone workshop to have it made into slabs quickly.
Returning to the mansion, a shipment of petit wheat had arrived from Helios Village—seems they sent the leftovers from sowing.
Thanks to everyone in Helios Village.
I asked the head chef to make large batches of sweet buns for Brother Chris and company, the staff, and Helios Village.
Then we’d send these along with the petit wheat dishes from Savai Village to Brother Chris and the others.
I thought I could finally take a breather until the warm stone slabs were ready, but Rosa dragged me to the administrative office, saying there were letters and documents to check. The desk was piled high.
Why, when I had entrusted it to Rosa?
“Please do a final check. I only know what you have told me, Young Master Reinhardt. There could be mistakes,” she said firmly.
Looking through the documents, there were applications for the new city’s dining halls and stalls, and requests from prize winners at exhibitions for their booths.
“Rosa, are there any of these that need urgent replies?”
“None of the documents, but many letters are awaiting responses.”
“I want to sort them into three boxes: one for letters and documents needing my urgent attention, one for items to review soon, and one for things that can wait. Priorities should be clear.”
I also instructed her to prepare boxes for things I will reply to myself and items I will have her draft on my behalf.
“You’ll make a box for the things Young Master Reinhardt replies to directly?”
“I want you to be aware of the letters’ contents and handle the addressing.”
I also asked that the boxes be color-coded to avoid mixing them.
No time or materials right now, so that will have to wait.
Going through the stall applications, the contents were all over the place.
Ah, I forgot to standardize the format for the new city’s applications.
I called Damian and Rosetta to handle this and told them to standardize the forms like we did for the exhibition.
“The exhibition forms were made by Young Master Reinhardt; we’re not confident making them ourselves.”
“Just draft something, and I’ll check it.”
“I want forms for resident registration, new stall applications, and general stall applications… anything we can think of. We’ll use them in the new city long-term.”
“Understood. Also, about the exhibition report in the capital, winging it is risky.”
“Got it. If you have a set of anticipated questions, I’ll review them, and we’ll go over what to say.”
From what I’ve heard, the presentation itself seems fine.
“Also, inform the prize winners about what happened to them.”
“Is that okay?”
“It has to be done. The ones inconvenienced are the prize winners who worked hard.”
What do you think about this chapter?
