After the Battle... (1)

After concluding the meeting in Milet, I read through documents as I rode in the carriage. The carriage soon stopped, and when I raised my head, I saw a gate outside the window with a sign reading Aileen Port. I got out of the carriage with the documents in hand and passed through the gate.

Aileen Port was the name of the port town I had built in the Cashew region. It had been named by my father, Count Graham, and was originally a name prepared for King Henri when she was a girl.

The port town I built had been given the name of the man who abandoned me. I did have mixed feelings about it. But I didn't feel enough disgust to reject it, either. Apparently, my relationship with King Henri had more or less been settled in my mind.

If anything, I almost wanted to commend Father's skillful maneuvering to curry favor with the royal family.

Beyond the gate, the port town's main street stretched straight ahead.

Aileen Port was bustling with activity. People and goods came and went, and money changed hands.

Until recently, few people had gathered there, and the town had been deserted; now it was so lively that it seemed as if that had all been a lie. Trading ships had begun to arrive, allowing the port town to function, but the biggest factor was that people from Melka Island had come to work away from home. Without them, trading ships would not have started coming so soon.

I walked straight down the bustling main street. Before long, a large stone building came into view near the harbor. When I entered, I found a crowd gathered in the spacious hall, forming lines. Several counters stood at the far end, where employees busily attended to them.

This was the Port Authority. At ports where trading ships arrived, all kinds of work arose.

Someone had to decide which pier each arriving ship would use, and dockworkers had to be arranged to load and unload cargo. Warehouses were needed to store the goods, and inspections had to be conducted to ensure that no illegal goods were being smuggled in.

They also had to collect fees for using the port and warehouses, record traded goods, and calculate taxes. Arrangements for people entering and leaving the country were part of the work as well, making their duties extremely wide-ranging.

The Port Authority was the government office that handled all of those tasks.

The people lining up in front of the counters included all kinds of people: shipowners, merchants, workers looking for jobs, and travelers considering entering or leaving the country.

I slipped past the people and headed deeper inside, where I found a pair of double doors. Soldiers stood guard beside them, and when they noticed me, they opened the doors. I nodded to them and passed through, finding a long corridor lined with several doors on either side. At the very end, signs identified the office on the right as the Director's Office and the one on the left as the Deputy Director's Office. The Director's Office, however, was currently vacant.

The position of Port Authority director was an important one. Naturally, the preference was for someone with deep ties to House Graham and the Kingdom of Lionel to take the post. But because it was such a high-ranking position, the selection had proved difficult, and no one had been appointed yet.

I wished they would decide soon, but apparently House Graham and the Kingdom of Lionel were at odds over the matter, so it did not seem likely to be settled anytime soon.

I knocked on the door of the Deputy Director's Office, opposite the Director's Office. A gruff voice answered from within. When I opened the door and entered, I found a man and a woman inside. A large man with sea-weathered skin gave me a hearty grin. He was Deputy Director Maurice.

"Oh, Romelia-sama. How did the meeting in Milet go?"

"I managed to finish it somehow."

I nodded back at the blunt Deputy Director Maurice.

"Nice work."

As Deputy Director Maurice laughed, the woman beside him smacked him on the head.

"You're supposed to say, 'Thank you for your hard work'! Don't act so high and mighty!"

Deputy Director Maurice's wife, Rebecca-san, had long black hair and sharp eyes with white showing on three sides.

"Rebecca-san, I don't mind."

I stopped Rebecca-san from admonishing him. I had no intention of making an issue of a minor slip of the tongue.

"Don't coddle him, Romelia-sama. Who does he think made him deputy director?! One word or action from you could change Melka Island's future!"

Beside Deputy Director Maurice, who was rubbing his head, Rebecca-san furrowed her brow.

"No, I was the one who asked him to take the position of deputy director."

I stepped in to defend Deputy Director Maurice. The two of them hailed from Melka Island in the Mebium Inland Sea. The island had maintained its independent self-government, but it was now working in concert with the Kingdom of Lionel and sending us many migrant workers.

Thanks to them, we had been able to gather workers to load and unload cargo, as well as employees for the restaurants and shops.

"Maybe I should have brought Barbo after all."

Rebecca-san muttered. Barbo was the adopted son of Deputy Director Maurice and Rebecca-san. In Rebecca-san's opinion, he was somewhat lacking in forcefulness, but he was an intelligent person whom the islanders respected.

"Tch. Even though I'm the deputy director, I have no standing."

Maurice pouted when compared to his son.

"Oh, that's right. I hear you wanted advice on selecting shipbuilders."

I handed him the documents I was holding to change the subject.

A shipyard had also been built at Aileen Port. However, the Kingdom of Lionel had never possessed a port before and consequently had no shipbuilders of its own. We had no choice but to hire one from outside, but the problem was that we did not know whom to hire.

"Hmm. Kanicha is skilled, but he overcharges. Mekkel builds good small ships, but he suddenly becomes terrible when it comes to medium-sized ones. You'd best stay away from that damn Borzon. He cuts corners at the slightest opportunity."

Deputy Director Maurice gave his assessments with a stern expression. But midway through, his hand stopped as he flipped through the papers.

"Oh, old man Telos. He's stubborn and cantankerous, but he does good work. His sons and grandsons have been improving, too. It's about time they set out on their own, and if we offer to set them up with a workshop, they might settle down here."

Seeing him select the shipbuilders, I felt once again that I had been right to invite Deputy Director Maurice.

The Kingdom of Lionel had never possessed a port before, so it had neither the knowledge nor the experience needed to operate one.

That was why I had recruited an experienced man from the foreign land of Melka Island to serve as deputy director.

Just as I had hoped, Deputy Director Maurice was managing the port skillfully. His broad network of acquaintances was just as valuable as his knowledge and experience.

Since the port had opened, all kinds of people and ships had arrived from all over. Some even came intending to deceive us, newcomers that we were. Normally, dealing with such people would have been difficult, but Deputy Director Maurice knew most of them personally.

It was invaluable to know in advance how trustworthy someone was. Moreover, the mere fact that Deputy Director Maurice was backing us discouraged people from treating us lightly. That alone was a great help.

"Thank you. We'll discuss the matter on our end as well."

I nodded with a smile, and a bell rang out beyond the window. It was the signal that a ship was arriving at the port.

I looked toward the harbor and saw a ship attempting to pull alongside a pier. A flag bearing a lion flew from its mast, and when I narrowed my eyes, I could make out a statue at the bow of a horse pulling a wagon.

"The Wagon has returned from Melka Island. Right on schedule."

Deputy Director Maurice looked up at the sun. The Wagon was a used ship purchased by the Kingdom of Lionel. It had been scheduled to return from Melka Island around noon today, and it had arrived precisely on time.

"I'm thinking of going to see it. What will you do, Romelia-sama?"

"Then I'll come with you."

I headed for the harbor pier together with Deputy Director Maurice and Rebecca-san.