Chapter 147
Chapter 147
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: An Enormously Large Gate
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An ~enormously~ large gate.
No, it was such an impressive structure that I wasn't even sure if calling it a "gate" was appropriate.
In truth, it was just an entranceway built without any actual gate doors or surrounding walls, yet we still referred to it as a gate.
We were looking at the Solchemia Triumphal Arch.
"That carriage statue on top of the gate and the gem at the end of the staff—how much do you think those cost?"
"Hmm... At least the price of one or two buildings, right? You couldn't buy them for less."
"Definitely."
I was admiring that gate alongside Ivana.
For reference, the Rosaki sisters had wandered off on their own and eventually gone off for some snacks, while Ella was diligently listening to the guide.
Both Ivana and I were technically following the guide and walking slowly, but we weren't paying nearly as much attention as Ella.
We were just wandering around the Solchemia Triumphal Arch, making odd comments.
"It might be nice to build something like that—a really huge structure—in the Northern Region too."
"Do we really need to build something like that? It doesn't seem like it'd generate much revenue as a tourist attraction like a triumphal arch."
"Hmm... Is that so? If you create various places around it to spend money, wouldn't that solve the problem?"
"Even then, it'd still just be a triumphal arch. The Solchemia Triumphal Arch at least feels like the empire's trademark, but suddenly putting one up in the North... wouldn't it seem a bit out of place?"
"True..."
Ivana was... what could I say...
Did she want to turn the North into a tourist destination?
She'd dragged me into this for business reasons, but her stories always veered toward things like this, which made me curious.
I'd prepared tourism products related to the North in my childhood, and since I'd never been there myself, I wasn't uninterested—honestly. But I hadn't expected this from Ivana.
I'd just been thinking of things like gem businesses or mana stone mines...
That kind of stuff. But most of the ideas she'd brought up later were along these lines... Hmm.
"Hmm."
Well, she probably wasn't planning to start a business right away.
She was still an academy student, in the middle of the semester, after all.
Plus, our club dealt with business planning and concepts like that, right?
"In your opinion, Camellia, what business should we do in the North?"
"In the North?"
"Yes. I think starting there would be best."
"Hmm..."
The North.
This came up suddenly while we were sightseeing the Solchemia Triumphal Arch.
But it wasn't a topic I couldn't answer at all.
She'd already brought up business with me before, and it was for becoming the head of her family in the North, so it made sense.
Originally, the ideas I'd thought of back then were tourism-related for the North.
"The first thing that comes to mind is making it easier for tourists from other regions to visit the North more. It's not just seen as a cold place—it's perceived as quite mysterious."
"Is that so."
"There are few places that interact with the North, and even fewer cases of Northerners coming down south. It's only natural."
"Hmm..."
"And there's no other place that's cold and snowy year-round like the North. That makes it even more inevitable. But people from other regions can't easily go there?"
This was a surefire tourism product.
No, it was so perfectly suited for tourism that calling it anything else would be downright stupid.
"If you really asked people how to get to the North, they'd probably just say 'take a carriage' and not know anything else."
"......."
"They might even get lost on the way if the coachman doesn't know the North well, even by carriage."
"It's not that bad..."
"It is that bad."
"......"
Was it because she was from the North, from the Nordal family?
She didn't seem to like my cold assessment.
Did they think they could access their own region easily... or something?
If that was the case, it was a huge miscalculation.
"Basically, the route goes through the capital... Probably no other way."
"That's..."
"The problem is getting to the capital from other regions costs money. And then from here to the North takes a ton of time. Unless you're a noble with plenty of money or time right here... you probably can't come at all?"
Occasionally, knights or servants from some families would save up diligently.
By their standards, they'd scrimped for months or years and finally taken a trip.
But even so, there were hardly any tourists heading to the North—most went to places like Rosaki.
Rosaki's seas were pretty too, but the North was supposedly incredibly beautiful, at least from what was known.
"........."
"And the North has relatively more monsters... among other things..."
"........"
"Well, anyway, that's the gist."
I'd just given her a rough rundown.
"Anyway, the point is, it would be good to make it easier for people to access the North. That's about it."
"...Wouldn't nobles coming be enough?"
"........"
"Commoners or knights wouldn't spend that much anyway."
...Hmm.
Hmm.
Hmm...
"Ivana, you do want to do business, right?"
"........"
"No matter how little those people spend individually, if a ton of them come and spend, you'd definitely make a lot of revenue, right?"
As we wandered around the triumphal arch.
The guide, who had been quite close by originally, was now leading the students elsewhere, and we no longer followed.
We just stood in the plaza and kept talking about it.
I figured I needed to... educate her a bit more.
I'd assumed that since she'd brought up business with me, she knew something about this field. But she seemed clueless, so I had no choice.
We kept standing and talking until my legs hurt, so we sat on a bench and continued.
We talked for over 20 minutes like that...
"I get it... I get it, so... can we rest a bit?"
"Shall we?"
"...Yes."
Ivana finally admitted, to some extent, that she was wrong.
Yeah, if only you'd admitted it from the start—how great would that have been?
It felt rewarding to see her obediently agreeing with my lecture.
"Hehe..."
If only she'd cleanly accepted my words from the beginning.
Honestly, if she hadn't kept reacting like "no" to what I said, I wouldn't have gone this hard.
"Hmm... Ivana."
"What? Got more to say...?"
"No, not that. There's a churros stand over there. Want to get some?"
"Oh..."
She must have thought I was about to launch into another lesson.
No matter what, I wasn't bad enough to push her more after saying we'd rest.
Of course, this time she really seemed to want a break.
Honestly, if I gave another business lesson here, her reaction would probably... be pretty amusing.
"Hmm... So, what do you think?"
"...One, please."
"Hehe, got it. Anything else you want to drink?"
"Yes..."
Leaving Ivana, who answered in a slightly exhausted tone, I headed to buy the churros.
I'd never seen Ivana look tired before, so honestly, this new side was fun... and I kind of wanted to tease her more.
If I just turned around and kept talking business right after...
"Hmm..."
I imagined it roughly, but no matter how I thought about it, it'd be fun.
Was it because Ivana rarely showed weakness?
She looked strong and intimidating, but her personality was more ordinary than you'd think. She made weird judgments sometimes, but it wasn't a big deal.
I acted on my whims plenty too, after all.
Anyway, teasing Ivana like this was honestly...
"Hmm."
I felt a bit embarrassed inwardly for having such strange thoughts.
It was just a thought, so no big deal.
"Here, Ivana."
"...Thanks."
"You're welcome. More importantly, you got the gist of what I said earlier, right?"
"...Yes."
Just a little.
A tiny tremor in her voice, so subtle she probably didn't notice it herself.
She figured if she said no here, I'd tease her more.
"Good thing you understand."
"Haha..."
I sat back down next to Ivana on the bench.
There was still time until we had to gather, nothing else to do, and just looking at the triumphal arch wasn't bad.
And watching Ivana sitting beside me, nibbling on her churros, was more fun than I'd expected.
Treating someone from the Nordal Ducal Family like this... Normally, it'd ruin not just my academy life but my noble standing too. But that wouldn't happen with me.
She'd approached me first about business, and I was doing this for that reason.
No matter how unpredictable Ivana could be, she wasn't the type to make weird requests or start strange antics first.
"Hmm......"
Lost in such thoughts, I glanced at Ivana beside me.
Not as close as when I'd spent time with Karen at the café yesterday, but since we were on the same bench, it was still pretty close.
"Why are you staring?"
"Just curious, so I was looking."
"...?"
"Ivana's hair is just so fascinating no matter how many times I see it."
Her hair really was fascinating, even after seeing it so often.
Snow-white silver hair, distinctly different from other colors, unmistakably unique.
Even though I'd seen it enough to get used to it, my eyes still drifted there.
"Hmm... Um..."
"Why...?"
"Just that your eyebrows are white too, so it's fascinating."
It was obvious.
My eyebrows matched my blonde hair, and everyone else's did too.
But even so, the pure white eyebrows were still fascinating, so I spent a bit more time staring at her hair and brows.
"Hmm..."
But asking here if the hair on other parts of her body was white too... would that make me sound like a total lunatic?