CHAPTER 160: CHAPTER 107: WHALEBONE

The next day, at a newly-built standalone house in Wanjin, Endo Chiyoda was preparing to head out.

Today was her first day "on the job," so she got up especially early, washed up carefully, styled her hair neatly, tying her long hair at the end in a little "tail knot," and deliberately chose a short-sleeved top with hakama pants for ease of movement.

At a glance, she looked rather like a kendo club girl from a modern-day Japanese high school.

After checking several times that her mental state and attire were both fine, she finally stepped out the door and made her way to Harano’s residence to report in.

Hutaro naturally followed along to act as her bodyguard, and the two hurried down the road, soon meeting Harano.

Since she was just taking up her post, of course Harano needed to guide her, explain her responsibilities, and as soon as he saw her arrive, he welcomed her politely, had someone bring tea, then spread out an enormous blueprint before her.

Endo Chiyoda’s attention was immediately seized by this big, strange-looking blueprint.

This map-like drawing was unlike any picture she’d seen before—the ink lines were smooth and crisp, varied in thickness, perfectly straight and intersecting, outlining a space with distinct layers and exquisite proportions. It perfectly showed the spatial relationships between buildings, with a precise, minimalist beauty—nothing like the crude, freehand mapmaking of this era, which often included trees, mountains and such scenery.

Even though she could guess what this was, she couldn’t help asking, "This is...?"

"Wanjin, one year from now," Harano said, admiring his own masterpiece, eyes shining. "In a year, this blueprint will become reality."

Endo Chiyoda bowed her head to examine the blueprint closely. Even though she was new to this style of technical drawing, she quickly found her new home’s location, and in her mind, pictured the entire town.

Harano pointed at the blueprint and explained, "Of course, turning it into reality will take our efforts. Look here, this workshop area is a priority construction zone; the buildings and roads all have their own blueprints, which you can study later. Also, pay special attention here—the walls and trenches here are above the standard..."

As he explained in detail, the image of the town in Endo Chiyoda’s mind grew clearer—she almost felt as if she were a bird looking down on the bustling town, already seeing a beautifully planned territory brimming with people. Once the explanation was finished and she’d gotten a sense of the future plan, Harano handed over a thick bound ledger and instructed: "This has the daily schedule and all the management rules—still on trial, so of course we’ll have problems. Use it as a reference, revise as you go, and report your improvements to me regularly."

"This is the accounts and inventory book—you can allocate funds and materials as needed, as long as you keep proper records and send a copy to Yayoi’s side as well. They’ll keep their own records too."

"This is the current project leader list. If any troublemaker acts up, you can suspend them first, then report to me and I’ll deal with it."

"These are the lists of special and pending projects, remember to prioritize as needed..."

"These are the construction acceptance standards..."

"This is Wanjin’s current household registry—make sure it’s always updated, don’t miss a single person."

Real life isn’t a game; you can’t build a base by just clicking a mouse, and people are naturally prone to slacking off—plenty will eat their fill and avoid work. So if you truly want to build Wanjin, and do it just right, there are far more hassles than most could imagine.

Harano was already overwhelmed by these chores—not only did he have to handle the planning, but he had to keep an eye on workshop production and process improvements; he wished he could split himself in two. He hadn’t even found time to start looking for saltpeter. But now, all these little, sometimes-messy matters—none of which could disrupt the big picture much even if bungled—could be delegated to Endo Chiyoda. If she was as clever as the rumors claimed, then after adapting for a bit, at the very least she wouldn’t cause any real disasters.

Finally, Harano waved over three young maids and, smiling at her, said, "These three are your assistants. They know seven or eight hundred common characters, so they can help you find documents or run errands. When you have time, keep teaching them more reading and arithmetic."

The three maids had all been taught by Yayoi during her spare time last year, but their lessons were short and they were still young—so they weren’t of much use yet. No rush, though; they could be trained further—and maybe someday one of them would really shine, at the very least, they could serve as junior secretaries in the meantime.

Endo Chiyoda hadn’t expected there to be so much to do—building up a domain from scratch. Still, she’d managed a household for years, plus Harano had already paved the way and made plans, so she felt no fear, but rather a deep sense of trust—she never imagined Harano would entrust her with something so important, work that by all rights only men usually did.

She took a deep breath and nodded seriously: "I understand, Lord Nozawa, you can count on me for all this work."

Good, that’s the spirit!

Harano raised his hand, wanting to pat her shoulder for encouragement, but then realized it wouldn’t be proper and might cause rumors, so he simply nodded with a smile and said, "Don’t worry, just go for it—if you make mistakes, it’s all right, we’ll fix them together."

"Yes, sir!" Endo Chiyoda answered promptly, thinking that the Nozawa family’s patriarch really did have a generous, good-natured personality.