Amazing Village Building

“There are swords like this in the west…?”

“Yes. We were able to make this sword thanks to the parts from a special monster. At least in theory, this sword could be used forever.”

We only just became able to make such swords recently, so we didn’t have anything to serve as proof to that claim.

“Incidentally, do you think it’s possible to make a katana—our nation’s style of sword—that has the same property as that one…?”

“I think so, yes.”

“Really…!?”

My answer surprised Shogun Ieasu.

Shortly after, Masamine-san huffed and shouted something.

“For us samurai, our katana is more important our own life! However, no matter how excellent a katana is, repeated use will wear it down and cause its inevitable end to come much sooner! It is sadly not rare for a katana to be beyond repair after an intense battle! The death of a cherished katana is worse than the death of one’s own child! It is no exaggeration on my part to say that a katana that can be perpetually used is a dream that all samurai share…!”

Masamine-san was so excited that Shogun Ieasu cautioned him to ‘c-calm down a little’.

“What have I done? To be so impolite in front of the shogun himself…!? This is the gravest error I have made in my life! The only way I can atone for it is to commit—”

Another gravest error of his life? Don’t he have one too many of those?

Masamine-san tried to, again, commit seppuku. And again, his retainers did their best to stop him from doing so.

While acting as though it was all business as usual, Shogun Ieasu left them be and moved the conversation along.

“I would like to have plenty of that kind of katana no matter what.”

“We can’t make too many of it at the moment, but we’d do whatever we can to answer your request. However, there is something we want in exchange for the sale of those katana.”

“What might that be?”

“Rice.”

The food culture in the village had become exceedingly rich at this point, but unfortunately, rice was still in short supply. And what we did get, it just didn’t taste great…

For that reason, I absolutely wanted to import to the village the rice that this nation produced in abundance. After all, if they were willing to have that many paddy fields of rice, it was all but certain that their rice was delicious.

In fact, it was no exaggeration to say that negotiating for rice was the reason I accepted this audience with the shogun despite initially wanting to say no as much as I could.

“We have plenty of rice. You’re free to buy as much as you want.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but do keep in mind that the mountain range still stands in between our two nations. Just transporting the rice to your nation is quite an ordeal.”

“Ahh, that’s no problem for us. We have a way to travel easily.”

“What method might that be?”

“Our nation has been making these things called railway systems recently.”

I say our nation, but really, I was the one who built them.

“Reyl way systems?”

“Yes. I suppose it’s better to think of them as the evolution of horse-drawn carriages in that it can transport a large number of people quickly. By using our railway systems, a journey that could have taken a few days by horse-drawn carriage would now only take a few hours.”

“You have something like that…?”

“Furthermore, even across mountains and deserts, our railway systems have no problem whatsoever in transporting people. After all, it’s all underground.”

“Underground!?”

“Speaking of deserts, we actually had installed railways in the desert. So, even now, people from your nation should be able to visit our kingdom easily by making use of the one there.”

“Eh?”

The shogun was astonished by what I just said.

Which was only natural given that there was a mysterious mode of transportation so close to his nation that he had no knowledge of.

“*(But if that’s true, then if their side ever felt like it, they can attack us at anytime, can’t they…? For me, the shogun, to not know that such a thing was built recently…moreover, considering that they have the technology to make those swords, it’s clear that making enemies out of them is quite the dangerous endeavor…then, establishing friendly ties seem to be the only option.)*”

The shogun then timidly asked something.

“B-by the way, have you already visited the other eastern nations?”

“We haven’t, but we do plan on doing so.”

“I see…apart from Kyou, I am certain that at least Osaku will wish to trade…very well then, I want a reyl way system of yours to pass through the mountain range. How much manpower and time will its construction take?”

“If we start now, it should be done by tomorrow at the latest, I think.”

“Tomorrow at the latest!?”

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