Iron Hall's Longer Day
RUUUUMBLE!
Six bikes and one automobile tore across the green plain.
On either side of the road, vast paddies and fields stretched all the way to the horizon, where countless farmers plowed the earth and sowed seed, preparing for the year ahead.
Rattle! Rattle!
Behind the Black Terahole rolled the enormous wagon the Raven merchants had brought; behind the bikes, the carcasses of Black Foot monsters were hauled along on small carts.
Trailing after them came the knights of Lodria and the rest of the merchants' procession.
"I want a ride too."
"Damn it, why doesn't the Stens Coalition have anything like that?"
"Roll into Goldhaven on one of those bikes and every woman in the city would turn her head."
"Tsk. Is that all you can think about—picking up girls? Picture a company of knights charging the enemy line on those things. That hunk of metal up front eats every arrow, you don't even need to protect a horse, and the speed is insane. Practically invincible, wouldn't you say?"
The Lodria knights were already thoroughly obsessed with the bikes.
"You lot haven't even tried one, have you? I'm telling you, it was no joke."
Only one knight among them had gotten a brief ride—and ever since, he had talked of nothing else all day long.
"Once we reach Bladewin, I'm buying a bike even if I have to empty my entire fortune."
"Wake up, Banneret. Even the Robels are stuck waiting because they can't get bikes. You? How, exactly?"
At his comrade's words, the knight called Banneret clicked his tongue.
"If it doesn't work this time, we come back. You should all talk to House Lodria with me. This is our chance. The chance for House Lodria to become the strongest knight order in the south."
Banneret's persuasion slowly began to work on the others.
"Well… with bikes, even those stuck-up Benges knights wouldn't dare move."
"Heh heh. The second I get a bike, I'm spending every day cruising the streets of Goldhaven, picking up girls."
"You idiot! Why waste it on street corners? With a bike, even noble ladies would go weak at the knees. 'Just one ride,' they'd say."
"You're right! You're absolutely right! I was being an idiot!"
They went on trading remarks that made it hard to tell whether they were knights or a pack of rowdy mercenaries, each lost in his own happy fantasy—when Jackie, Selena, and the trade officer, riding in the Black Terahole driven by Erdin, gazed blankly out the windows at the passing scenery, each sunk deep in thought.
Hector… so you were the one who saved the Pacific Merchant Guild.
Damn it. So the Pacific Guild had already claimed this honey pot. This is going to be a nuisance.
If I hand over every horse we brought and walk away with even a single bike—or one of these automobiles—the trade mission is a success. The family will lose their minds…!
From the passenger seat, Erdin glanced at the three faces in the rearview mirror and spoke.
"We'll reach Iron Cliff Territory soon. You'd all do well to prepare yourselves."
The trade officer asked,
"Prepare ourselves? Is there some kind of inspection just to enter a territory?"
"Nothing like that. We're with you, after all. I just mean you might be surprised."
From the driver's seat beside him, Gast Robel nodded in agreement.
All three of their expressions grew grave.
At first they had written off everything this Erdin Robel said as empty bluster and exaggeration.
But after taking three straight hits—the cultivator, the automobile, and the bikes—that notion had been wiped clean away.
At the very least, he wasn't lying.
But the human heart is not so easily managed. Receive too great a shock and the instinct is to deny it.
Could there really be anything more surprising than this? Maybe he's exaggerating a little. At most it'll be one more thing in the same vein as the cultivator, the bike, and the car.
I don't think anything could surprise me much at this point.
Thinking as much, all three promptly forgot Erdin's warning and went back to fretting over how they might get their hands on a bike or an automobile.
And so they arrived at the south gate of Iron Hall.
Exhaustion had pinned me to the bed for nearly half the day.
Only after sleeping and waking did my head feel like it was spinning at full speed again.
I sat on the edge of the bed and sank into thought.
While preparing for the sewage system and the electrical grid at the same time… a way to pull in the funds we're short on…
A hospital. Right—we need a recovery facility.
One of the most important things in people's lives is their health.
Iron Hall certainly had hospitals already, but their standard of care was nothing impressive. Especially in the Mardin Principality, where church priests were scarce.
I went straight to find the administrative officer.
"What is it this time?"
The moment Uncle saw me, he asked with a weary face.
Harsh. What exactly had I done?
"I have a question."
"What?"
"How many hospitals and medical practitioners are there in Iron Hall?"
"Hmm… I don't know why you're suddenly curious, but Iron Hall has five hospitals. As far as I know, each one has five or six physicians."
"Have you received treatment yourself, Uncle?"
"Of course. Whenever my body aches, I go get treated now and then."
As he spoke, Uncle rolled his shoulder. His neck seemed stiff too; he kept shifting it.
"And the results?"
"There are results, obviously. Why else would hospitals exist?"
"Are you satisfied?"
"Mm… I think they're decent enough, in their way."
The people of this world and I operated on completely different standards.
To them, this level of treatment must have felt perfectly normal.
At best it meant dressing wounds with herbal salves, stitching them closed, and wrapping them in bandages.
There were supposedly minor surgical procedures for lancing boils and abscesses, but what I judged most necessary was orthopedic care.
Of all the people I had met so far, most lived with chronic pain in the neck, shoulders, and elsewhere. That was not something you fixed by smearing on herbs, praying to a god, or resorting to folk remedies.
They had grown so accustomed to pain that they treated it as simply the way life was.
Soldiers, knights, and blacksmiths especially.
I need to build a medical facility worthy of representing Iron Hall.
I couldn't teach medical knowledge myself. Building specialized equipment of that kind was impossible too.
But simple physical-therapy devices—those I could make.
Even that alone would be a revolution here.
"I want to build a new hospital of my own."
"You lunatic. I was wondering what nonsense you'd come out with this time. Are you planning to become a doctor?"
"Come on, of course not. More precisely, the Robon Medical Center. We'll have actual doctors."
"There really is no curing a madman like you."
Just as expected.
"I recruited an incredible person recently, you see. You could call him a panacea."
"A panacea?"
"Though he can only use it a limited number of times a day."
I'd run a few tests yesterday. The ability that had fully healed me couldn't be used without limit.
The number of uses seemed to vary with the scope of the treatment—but even that much was more than enough.
"From now on, you're going to charge for treatment."
"Pardon? L-Lord Robon. Using this gift the Goddess granted me to help people… for commerce… feels a little…"
"Commerce? What a blasphemous thought!"
"N-no! That isn't what I meant!"
"It isn't commerce. It's receiving a just compensation. Helping people indiscriminately is not the same as looking out for them."
"What do you mean by that?"
"People, by nature, love free things. Why? Because seeking comfort and ease is instinct. But to live in this world, you have to face trials and overcome hardship."
"That is true."
"Helping them for free is the same as stripping them of the strength to overcome those trials. They need to learn that receiving treatment this fine requires fair payment and effort."
"Oh… as expected! Apostle—no, Lord Robon, the depth of your thought is on another level."
"So please follow what I say."
"See? He never listened to a word I said, but the moment it's Lord Robon, Father Abel hangs on every syllable."
"Priestess Lidia. Aren't you being a bit harsh?"
"But it's true, isn't it?"
And so it was decided: going forward, Priest Abel and Priestess Lidia would serve as director and deputy director of the newly built Robon Medical Center.
I would be something like the chairman of the board.
This is a blue ocean. We can rake in money hand over fist.
I had heard the Mardin Principality was all but shunned by the Holy Nation.
Not only here in Iron Cliff Territory—even Adras had only a single church, supposedly.
In major powers like the Stens Coalition, the Empire, or the Hyber Kingdom, a single city might have four or five churches.
That meant that with Priest Abel alone, the Robon Medical Center could claim an unparalleled standing.
The finest medicine in the Mardin Principality! The finest technology! The finest infrastructure! Everyone, gather in Iron Hall!
"I can already feel myself buried in a mountain of gold."
"What was that?"
"Ah—nothing. Anyway, please give it some thought."
"You little brat. It hasn't even been a full day since you barged in here announcing you were converting the sewage system and the electrical supply to underground burial! Just implementing that has me clutching my head at the thought of haggling over money with Samuel. And now what? You want a hospital built too?"
Exhaustion was written plain across Uncle Richard's face.
I suddenly felt a little guilty.
Everything happening in Bladewin right now revolved around me, and the family budget was being funneled entirely into infrastructure expansion.
In the end it would benefit the house—but I couldn't help wondering if I was leaning on them a bit too hard.
Still, what choice did I have? I couldn't just throw away a blue ocean like this.
"Really! Just this one last thing! This has to be built. It's not as if we can do it in Lemel, right?"
"Even so—no! Bring me something that can actually convince me. Then I'll grant permission."
"Uncle! Last time you said you wanted to ride a splendid automobile. Heh heh. I'll build you something absolutely spectacular."
Uncle's pupils wavered.
Yes—there's no way he won't fall for this temp—
"Still no."
…He didn't fall for it? Truly, the man was as straight as a blade of steel.
"So if I build something convincing and show it to you, that settles it?"
"That's right. Bring me something that tempts me. Then I'll make a special request of the family head and have that built as well."
"You're awfully strict."
"What was that?! I'm only listening because it's you talking, Robon. Anyone else and I'd have thrown them out long ago!"
"A-all right, I understand."
I was practically chased out of the administrative office.
Suddenly I had a great deal more to do.
The sewage system and the underground electrical supply were long-term projects that would take months anyway, so I could take those slowly.
But a medical center with nothing but two priests, looking just like every other hospital—that wouldn't do.
Hmm… what should I make?
Mulling it over as I headed back up toward the research lab, I spotted knights gathered on the training grounds.
Training must have just ended; they were stretching during their break.
"Young Master Robon, haven't been running lately, have you?"
"We've been a little lonely without you out here, Young Master."
"When are you starting sword training with the Commander? Want us to help out a bit?"
The knights called out to me warmly.
The looks they gave me were bright. It hadn't always been that way.
I could feel how much their perception of me had changed.
"I'll start again soon. But what are you all doing?"
"Ah, this? After training we always loosen each other up like this. Keeps the muscles from knotting so the next session goes smoothly."
The knights were pressing firmly into one another's backs and shoulders, working out the tension.
"If it were arms or legs we could each manage on our own, but the back and shoulders are hard to press hard enough alone… so we do it for each other."
"Mas…sage… Yeah. That'll do it."
"Pardon?"
"A massage? Shall we give you one?"
"No, I'm fine."
A brilliant idea had struck me. A few pieces of equipment installed at the medical center, and anyone could easily treat others—physical therapy machines!
A massage gun.
An unbalanced wheel on a motor shaft, with the right control over vibration intensity and weight—perfectly makeable.
And ergonomic design was my specialty.
"This is going to be a massive hit. Guaranteed!"
A dim night.
In the distance, the walls of Iron Hall began to come into view.
The merchant procession arrived before the walls, passed a brief inspection, and entered through the south gate.
The streets beyond the south gate were dark.
Most people had already sought their beds to escape the night.
But then…
"…What is that?"
As they moved along the central road, a hazy glow began to seep into view far ahead.
"Has something happened? What are they doing at this hour, burning that many luminous stones?"
At Selena's question, Gast answered with a smile.
"Those aren't luminous stones. That light comes from light bulbs."
Erdin was stretched out in the passenger seat, snoring.
Given the grueling schedule it was no surprise he had fallen asleep—but the other three had eyes as bright and alert as ever.
And little wonder: everything since their arrival had been new.
And now the final spectacle that would crown it all unfolded before their eyes.
"A day in Iron Hall lasts longer than anywhere else."
In the deep-settled dark, the central plaza blazed with light. There, the people of Iron Hall went about their business as if it were broad daylight.
"This is insane…"
"Th-this truly isn't luminous stones?! Don't lie to me!"
"W-what on earth am I looking at?"
Faced with that staggering sight, all three of them hung open-mouthed, unable to close their jaws.
Roused by their commotion, Erdin muttered a single low line.
"I told you to prepare yourselves… Yaaawn… Stop gawking like a bunch of country bumpkins."