Chapter 388

The Founding of the Saltas Company
While we were talking with the representative of the Kiblinki Saltas, it seemed the others had already finished expanding the fields.
But the scale of the fields was beyond what you'd call a field or even a farm.
It was more like the size of an entire village.
If you leave these kids alone, they’ll start farming on a truly outrageous scale!

“Hey, you’ve secured quite a large area of farmland, but can you manage it all?”

(There’s no need to worry. We plan to use crop rotation and set aside land for regular test cultivation, so we just tilled a wide area at the beginning. Since this land has little moisture, we wanted to get the water flowing across it as quickly as possible.)

I see, they’ve thought it through.
Still, was it really okay to receive such a large tract of land?
When I belatedly asked Viscount Juneb about it, he actually said it was perfectly fine to cultivate as much land as possible.
Is their food situation that serious?

“To be honest, we rely heavily on aid from other territories when it comes to food. While there aren’t many troublesome monsters here, there’s still a lot of land that hasn’t been developed, and even if the land is cultivable, many areas don’t have the manpower to build villages. Frankly speaking, if you could at least prepare farmland, we’d be able to assign people to those areas.”

Hmm, so that’s the situation.
I’d like to help, but this is starting to feel like getting too deeply involved.
What’s a good middle ground?
When it comes to matters like this, I should probably hear the opinions of Marquis Vardmoi, head of the faction, and Alizée from the Trade Guild.

“Personally, I’d welcome your support. If a noble within the faction gains power, it leads to stability for the faction as a whole. Especially when it comes to food and public safety—those are issues directly tied to people’s lives. If you can help, I’d like you to do so.”

“As the Trade Guild, I’d say this is where we should draw the line on free assistance. Even if development is second nature to you, Lady Lily, I don’t think it’s wise to offer too much help to nobles you have little connection with.”

“Oh? Alizée, that’s a rather loaded way of putting it.”

“To be blunt, let’s use this opportunity to establish a trading company that leverages the strengths of the Kiblinki Saltas. Its main business will be land cultivation and grain sales. As initial capital, we’ll receive cultivable land from each noble.”

In other words, they’ll farm freely on the land they’re given, and if there are surplus crops, they’ll sell them.
Also, if a payment is made, they’ll assist with field cultivation.
Hmm, it depends on the mood of the Kiblinki Saltas, but it might not be a bad idea to go ahead with it.

“So, what do you think?”

(Let’s see. We have no interest in human currency, but if the contractor receives money, some vegetables will be shared with us, yes? If that’s the kind of contract we’re talking about, I agree. The rest depends on the companions scattered across other lands.)

As expected, it all comes down to what the other Kiblinki Saltas think.
For now, the establishment of the trading company will be a matter to address in the future.
Whether this idea will be accepted by the scattered Kiblinki Saltas and the various nobles remains to be seen.
Each noble house surely has its own motives, so it won’t be straightforward.
I’ll have Marquis Vardmoi and Alizée handle the negotiations on behalf of us.
As for me, I’m fine with getting enough compensation to buy the vegetables to be shared with the Kiblinki Saltas.

What do you think about this chapter?