The next day.
“Shall we?” [Reinhart]
Last night I was officially appointed as the specialist of the Jamil House. Today, I will be accompanying Reinhart-san and the madam to inspect the city. As we got up the carriage and sat ourselves in its comfy seats, the servant outside gently closed the door, and the carriage departed.
We chatted idly along the way, but both the duke and his wife were focused on watching the city through the windows. Though they weren’t obvious about it and maintained an elegant posture while sitting, it was clear that they were examining the atmosphere and circumstance of the city from the corner of their vision.
“My…” [Elize]
“Is something the matter?” [Reinhart]
The madam let out a voice, and Reinhart-san immediately responded. But just as quickly, she shook her head.
“There was someone dressed like the security company’s staff just around the corner, but the people around him seemed quite favorable toward him.” [Elize]
“He’s probably someone who served in the fire brigade.” [Ryouma]
“Oh, you mean those people that extinguished the fires with those fire-resistant equipment of yours?. I see, no wonder.” [Elize]
Those people were the talk of the town right now. People would approach them even when they were just walking around, and when they went out for drinks, the bar staff and the customers would buy them a drink. There were even people that offered them their daughters for marriage.
They were the people that risked their lives to save the people by throwing themselves into the flames. They might have had magic-enhanced fire-resistant equipment on, but there was no denying that they still risked their lives. So it’s no wonder that the people they rescued and the people of the city are so grateful.
…Honestly, when I drafted the original proposal for the fire brigade and the fire resistant equipment, I didn’t think I’d actually have to deal with a fire ourselves.
I’m just a beginner at firefighting, after all. I referred to the fire brigade in my previous life to come up with the equipment, while the know-hows, I learned from a former fire officer when I was forced to join a youth group in the community I lived in. He said something about being in the Ranger Unit or something, and he taught me some stuff, but that’s all.
I didn’t think I’d actually be able to convince the employees of the security company – many of which were laborers originally unrelated to the city – to jump into the fire with such shallow knowledge and hastily made equipment, but surprisingly, they volunteered to do it themselves. As I talked about the effectiveness of the equipment and spoke about actual results and future goals, the Macho Squad spoke up, then other people started speaking up too.
I was the one who came up with the equipment, but I actually ended up being the one to discourage them. Yet as trust in the equipment grew, and as more people volunteered, the craftsmen working on the equipment were enlivened, and before long, jumping into the fire became an actual option. Thanks to the activities of the fire brigade just recently, the craftsmen even started offering ideas to improve the equipment.
I may have come up with the original idea due to my vague knowledge of Japan’s fire brigade, but it was really the craftsmen of the city and the efforts of the firefighters that realized that idea. When I think about it that way, their current fame is simply the reward they’re getting for the effort and passion they showed.
Of course, the guards that have been protecting the city all this time were duly recognized too, and while people were cautious of adventurers for awhile, the honor of those that defended the city were protected as well. The Tamer Guild, the Merchant Guild, and the government office were also instrumental in dealing with the aftermath, so the people of the city were grateful to them as well.
“Hmm?” [Reinhart]
“Did something catch your attention?” [Elize]
“No, I was just thinking how there’s so many cat people here. I wonder if there’s something going on?” [Reinhart]
“Ah… There’s an inn nearby that the cat people like to frequent, so it might be because of that.” [Ryouma]
“Oh? From the look you’re making, you seem to be quite involved with that inn.” [Reinhart]
I don’t know what kind of face I was making, but Reinhart-san wasn’t mistaken.
“It’s under my management. We built an inn for workers with the bare minimum bedding and space. It’s meant to just be a cheap place for sleep, but for some reason it became really popular with the feline beastmen.” [Ryouma]
I referred to the Capsule Hotels – that I used infrequently in my previous life – for this particular inn. I’m not referring to the stylish ones that started growing in popularity around the time of my passing, but the old-fashioned ones with minimal facilities.
Though we did put a lot of effort into making the bedding fluffy by using the fluff of the fluff slimes and also provided soundproofing between the walls, the rooms were basically just bunk beds lined up in a small room. Honestly, they’re just like small boxes, but apparently, the feline beastmen really liked how tight the rooms were.
I once brought the cat-woman adventurer, Miya-san, and the tiger-woman, Mizelia-san, and the maid, Rurunez-san, to get their opinion, and they said, “It’s a tight fit, but it’s really calming for some reason.” Apparently, my take on the capsule hotel was well loved by their feline sensibilities.
As for the guests from other races, they just stayed there because it was cheap or because they had nowhere else to stay, so in a sense, they were actually the customers we’d originally intended to target; however, as the feline beastmen kept increasing, before long, the inn had practically turned into a feline-exclusive inn. There was a capsule hotel like that nearby, so it stood to reason that there would be so many felines.
“I did get a brief report about the inn, but I didn’t know that much about it.” [Reinhart]
“It’s because I usually just leave the operation to my employees. At most, I might show my face from time to time, but unless there’s a problem and someone contacts me, I’m usually elsewhere for a different job.” [Ryouma]
Perhaps, that’s just the right level of involvement for me.
After that, we continued chatting while looking out the window of the carriage to observe the town. I’m pretty sure I’ve already told them everything I could on the spot, but they mentioned wanting to investigate my concerns later, so we couldn’t get any rest even while in the carriage.
After spending some dozen minutes in the horse-drawn carriage watching the duke and his wife work, the place we arrived at was an area in the northern part of the city where a series of temporary housing units have been built. There was originally a large wholesaler here that dealt with lumber and a bunch of warehouses, but they were burned down by the fire.
After a lot of back and forth between the government office and the manager, they decided to use the remaining lumber and the site to build a temporary housing area. However, it’s still under construction. All the buildings in the area have already been demolished, but they still haven’t finished clearing the rubble. In fact, most of the land was still covered in rubble.
Clearing that would be my next job. As for Reinhart-san and the madam, they’re here as members of the Jamil Ducal House to offer their sympathy.
