Kays Translations

Chapter 40: Preparing to Launch the Workshop

The preparations for establishing the workshop began the very next day.

First of all, the workshop was intended to be built in this village, but to actually construct it, permission was required from both the village chief and Tounis-sama, the baron.

As I sat down to draft the documents outlining the purpose of the workshop in order to secure approval, a new issue arose: who would serve as the workshop’s head, the one responsible for its management?

My mother had confidently declared, “I’ll be the workshop head,” but then Rugena reminded us of an unwritten rule: “Only men can be heads of workshops.”

This wasn’t a universal rule for every kind of business; it applied specifically to workshops. It was said that if a woman became the head, technical knowledge might be leaked, and other workshops—eager to avoid complications—refused to trade with a workshop led by a woman.

Rugena explained that when she had established her own blacksmith workshop, she too had appointed a male proxy to serve as the official head.

“Well, the proxy is just a figurehead,” she said lightly, as if brushing off the inconvenience.

But it wasn’t as simple as picking any man. I wasn’t yet an adult, so I couldn’t officially serve as the head, and even as a proxy, the role carried responsibility. If unreasonable demands were made, the proxy couldn’t simply refuse. Moreover, if any trouble arose in the workshop, the proxy—even if only nominally—would be held accountable. That alone was reason enough to avoid taking the position.

The logical choice would have been someone from the baronial family, but my mother warned, “Relying solely on His Excellency is too risky.” Therefore, this time, Baron Merlot’s family was not an option.

In the end, the only person left who might be persuaded was Vessel-san, and my mother said she would try to ask him.

Until the responsible head was confirmed, the documents couldn’t be submitted, and the workshop couldn’t be built. Yet waiting passively for Vessel-san to arrive seemed a waste of time. So, we decided to start by having the tools for spinning and weaving delivered first.

We would need to request them from the traveling merchant, Blows-san. The weaving loom, however, was large, so an extra carriage would be necessary to transport it. It would cost more, but since these tools would inevitably be needed, ordering them in advance would not be a waste.

Finally, there was the matter of recruiting staff.

“Once the wheat harvest is over, we’ll head back to Meluestat to find skilled people,” my mother said.

In Meluestat, we would look for people capable of harvesting spider abdomens and extracting the silk liquid, others who could turn that liquid into raw silk, and yet others skilled in spinning, weaving, or tailoring. Ideally, we would also find someone who could serve as their escort. All in all, I estimated we’d need around five people.

The retrieval of spider abdomens would be handled by the Adventurers’ Guild.

“I suppose that’s about all we can decide for now?” my mother asked.

“You’ll also be buying slaves, right? Do we have enough money for that?”

“I can’t say it’s completely certain, but by then, the money from the glass business should have come in,” she reassured.

From the net profit of the glass business, our share was one-tenth, and after deducting trade taxes, that amount was scheduled to be deposited into my mother’s account. Of course, we had only just sown the wheat, so this was a plan for more than six months ahead.

“Until then, let’s prepare as much as we can.”

“Yeah. I’ll start thinking about improving the silk-spinning device.”

“And you… will be in charge of collecting spiders?” my mother asked.

“Eh?!”

Stefana’s eyes went wide in surprise at Rugena’s words. Seeing Rugena shake her head, she turned toward my mother with a nearly tearful expression.

“I’m sorry… but there’s no one else we can rely on.”

“…I-I’ll manage. I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you, Fana.”

Stefana responded cheerfully to my mother, yet it all looked to me as though she were merely being manipulated for my mother’s convenience. The fact that Stefana seemed genuinely happy only made it look more obvious.

“What… is that about?” I whispered to Rugena.

“Who knows?” she whispered back. Honestly, I wanted to know too.

“Al.”

“…Huh?!”

“What’s wrong? You just made a weird sound.”

“Ah, nothing, it’s fine.”

I adored my mother, but I knew full well that if I ever angered her, things would get scary. Best not to poke the sleeping bear.

“You mentioned improving the silk-spinning device—how do you plan to do it?”

“The current model just forces the gears to turn by brute force. I want to make it a little easier to use.”

My basic plan involved using gears and bearings. Bearings, in particular, were compatible with alchemy and should be relatively easy to produce.

“Are you scheming something strange again?”

“…Excuse me! I’m not scheming anything strange!”

“But your face was grinning again just now.”

I cupped my face in my hands and rubbed it, embarrassed.

“Well… I just had a little idea, that’s all.”

“See! You said ‘just a little’ again, and it’s going to end up being something outrageous!”

“Not outrageous… I think.”

I had only barely come up with the design, but I didn’t know if this world even had bearings.

“Still, they’re useful and not visible parts. As long as I don’t show them, it should be fine.”

“…What do you think, Tine-sama?”

“Well, if we don’t announce it publicly, I think it’ll be fine.”

“Tine-sama…”

Rugena looked exasperated at my mother, but it was fine—I would make sure nothing was visible.

“I’ll be making it out of iron, so Rugena, I’ll need your help—okay?”

“…Alright.”

“Then I’ll draw the blueprint and return to my room.”

For now, retreating while I still could seemed the safest course.

Back in my room, I immediately sat at my desk and reviewed the specifications of the spinning device.

I wouldn’t change the basic structure. Currently, it was a simple design with two gears, one large and one small, placed side by side. It worked, but turning the gears horizontally was surprisingly tiring. I wanted to make them rotate vertically, but overcomplicating the mechanism could make repairs impossible.

Moreover, I didn’t want the device to be something only I could make.

That might be advantageous for profit, but if it broke and no one else could fix it, I would have to do it myself… just thinking about that was exhausting.

So I avoided making anything overly delicate, like chain drives. The other options were belt drives or shaft drives, but rubber didn’t exist in this world, so belt drives were out.

“Maybe a shaft drive would work…”

The small metal gears were made by jewelers, not blacksmiths. Jewelers often handled jewelry, but they were skilled at precise metalwork, so they could also make small tools. Since gears were used in many applications, repairs should also be feasible.

“If anyone notices the bearings, I could just leave that to the jewelers too,” I thought, sketching the design. The bearings would be ball bearings, used to fix the shaft to the center axle.

“Next comes the actual construction, but it’ll be a slow and meticulous process.”

Technically, jewelers could handle it, but fabricating each individual component would be painstaking work.

Meanwhile, my mother busied herself preparing the paperwork for the workshop, sending letters to various people. Stefana and Rugena collected spider abdomens, I disassembled them to gather silk liquid, and together we spent the winter improving the spinning device.

Then spring arrived.

And some unexpected visitors came to see my mother, leaving us thoroughly unsettled.

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