From inland, we are now looking around the seaside but the coast of the royal territory is nothing but a sparsely populated poor village on a bleak landscape.
The sheer cliffs, the waves rolling backward under the cliffs, and the vast ocean that stretches beyond the cape. When I finally saw the coastline, it was not the sandy beach I was looking forward to but a gravel beach full of big stones.
In fishing villages by the sea, it seems like they can barely make a living in their small boats.
Compared to the inland areas of the royal territory, where wheat is plentiful, crops are abundant and grapes are used to produce wine, the fishing villages are all poor and sparsely populated.
It was a desolate landscape but I was in a good mood as I smelled the sea breeze for the first time after a long time. For some reason, just looking at the sea made me feel very nostalgic.
This sea is what connects this world.
Aside from the other girls, Sharon had never seen the ocean since she was born and she was really amazed. Of course, Oracle-chan, who had recently come out of the dungeon, had also never seen the ocean and was surprised to see a "big puddle" but that's too far fetched.
They don't even know that the ocean water is salty. They also don't know why it is salty. Even the erudite Lyle-sensei wouldn't know.
While playing on the beach, sensei, whose robe fluttered in the sea breeze, approached me.
Her gaze was not on the sea in front of us but on the horizon.
「What do you think of the sea of the royal territory, Takeru-dono?」
「I think the seaweed looks delicious.」
The first time I went down on the beach, I picked up some seaweed that had washed up on the beach and thought to myself, "This is edible".
「You're planning to eat something like this!」
Sensei is surprised.
「Ah, right. Only Japanese would eat it.」
「No, I heard that some people in the fishing villages of Britanian Union eat them. Is Takeru-dono from a fishing village?」
「No, I'm not. If you don't eat this as a seaweed salad, what do you use this for?」
「They are sometimes dried and used as a fertilizer for the field but the transportation cost must be considered first. It's basically not used for anything.」
「I just remembered that seaweed ashes are supposed to be better for making soap than wood ashes.」
I wasn't able to recall until now since I've never come to the sea.
Also, I only heard about it somewhere.
「Is that so….given that there are a lot of areas available for soap production by the sea, this can be considered a secret manufacturing method. As expected of Takeru-dono. Let's try that. Let's make soap production a source of income for the poor villages.」
Of course, the Sawatari Company would be firmly involved in the industrial development stage.
I glanced at Sharon and she nodded as if she already knew what to do. That's very encouraging.
「I know this is off topic but, what do you think of the sea, Takeru-dono?」
「Well, it's poor.」
When sensei heard my reply, she laughed.
「Right! The royal territory of the Kingdom of Silesie has no good harbor so we can only use small boats, in other words, we have no navy. 」
「I see. I never felt the need of going to the sea though.」
「I supposed that is true until now. However, from now on, shipping business will also become important. Because of that, we need to have a navy.」
From what I heard, the current Silesie Navy is composed of two vintage merchant ships called cogs, which are 30 meters long and 8 meters wide with a gross weight of 100 tons.
The royal family uses them to visit countries by the sea for diplomatic purposes. In addition, they are anchored in the City of Nantes, a port city which is part of the south noble's territory.
「The Duchy of Transylvania has a good port so we might as well move it there for the time being.」
「I see. Then, let's do that.」
We decided to take advantage of Caroline's kindness. The dukedom is a small country but it is a well-developed country that actively goes out to the open sea and trades with the Britanian Union.
Also, given the current situation of the Kingdom of Silesie, we can trust a neighboring county with blood ties with us compared to the rebellious local nobles from the same country.
「I understand what you are saying. You want us to put budget for the ships and naval projects as well.」
In fact, there is a dispute over how to spend the reparation money taken from Germania. Sensei is telling us to direct it all to building military and domestic capital improvement. However, Sherry, who wants to acquire Germania's businesses, which had reached rock bottom, is forcefully against it.
It's the difference between an investment-type plan and a speculative type plan. A clash between two big brain cheats.
Sherry has recently gained confidence in her own analysis and has begun to argue even with Lyle-sensei and Prime Minister Nicola, who formally holds the key to the treasury, sides with Sherry, perhaps because he wants to oppose Lyle-sensei. Because of that, the budget planning discussion has become complicated, given that emotional issues get mixed in.
The queen doesn't meddle in things she doesn't understand so in the end, she pushed it all to me. However, I believe in both Sherry and Lyle-sensei.