Chapter 49

After treating ourselves to eel for dinner, Yoshioka and I went our separate ways. He said he was going to head back to his place to pick up some gear. Since we’ll both be pulled back to the small room in the gap simultaneously when the time comes, even from different locations, there was no need to worry.

I decided to cherish having some time to myself for the first time in a while. It was 9:00 PM, which meant I had exactly one hour until the re-summoning. Doing some shopping at a supermarket in Yotsuya Sanchome was convenient since there was a bookstore in the same building. Killing time in a bookstore is the perfect way to avoid boredom; besides, I thought I might find some books that could be useful over there.

I tucked my groceries into the Spatial Storage and leisurely browsed the aisles. Initially, I intended to head toward the outdoor hobby section, but my eyes were drawn to books on “Tea” and “Coffee.” Since I’m currently dealing in teacups and the like, it’s probably wise to acquire some specialized knowledge. I’ve looked up the basics on the internet, but that’s just a stopgap measure.

In the Kingdom of Saxens, both coffee and tea are consumed as luxury goods, but their history there seems relatively short. I figured introducing things like British-style tea service might give me a business edge. After flipping through a few, I decided to buy several volumes.

As I continued through the hobby section, my gaze landed on some magazine-book sets with supplements: the “Hobby Science Magazine” series. This quarterly magazine was created for adults to enjoy learning about science and how things work, and it comes with experiment kits or assembly models. Looking at the lineup on the shelf, I saw a goldmine of things that would be useful in the other world.

“Build a Steam Engine” and “Play with Letterpress Printing,” huh…?

A dark joy began to spread through my heart. This is big. If I take these to the other world, even their researchers and engineers should be able to grasp the mechanics. There are smart people everywhere, after all.

Honestly, taking professional textbooks would probably be better, but I feel like I’d end up spending an astronomical amount of time just on translation work, so I’ll pass on that. Besides, if someone asked me a difficult question, I wouldn’t have the knowledge to answer. It would be better for the Kingdom of Saxens—and easier for me—if I just taught them the basic concepts and let them develop the fine-tuned technology themselves.

For now, I bought those two volumes. It was an investment of about 9,000 yen, but I got shivers thinking this could turn into hundreds of millions of Marques. With enough capital, I could run steamboats, newspapers, or even a publishing house. Saxens doesn’t seem to have newspapers, and since every book I’ve seen was handwritten, letterpress printing must not have been invented yet.

I headed back to my apartment, pondering how to popularize newspapers and what kind of content would work best.

At exactly 10:00 PM, I was transported to the small room in the gap. Yoshioka had been successfully summoned from his room as well.

“I’ve sourced some great stuff,” I said.

“I brought some things from my room that look useful, too.”

Both of us couldn’t stop grinning. When we showed each other what we’d brought, it turned out we had a bit of an overlap.

While I had “Build a Steam Engine,” Yoshioka had brought a model of a steamboat. It wasn’t just a toy; it was equipped with a small boiler and a functioning steam engine connected to it.

“Does this actually move?”

“Yeah. You burn alcohol to fire the boiler. This is a horizontal long-stroke engine, so it’s got plenty of torque. I’m planning to sell it to an academy or somewhere for an exorbitant price.”

I see. Selling the technology for a premium.

“Wait, you’re not going to develop steamboats or railways yourself?”

“Developing something like that takes an insane amount of time and money. If things go south, I’d be in massive debt. Senpai? You weren’t actually thinking of a shipbuilding project, were you?”

Urk…

“O-of course not. What I was actually thinking about was the letterpress printing.”

I lied…

He probably saw right through me, but…

“Well, that sounds like something we could develop relatively easily,” Yoshioka mused. “With newspapers and publications, there’s no competition, so demand should be huge. I think it’s a great idea.”

I felt a little annoyed that he beat me to the punch on the steam engine logic. Oh well, building a steam engine as a hobby isn’t a bad consolation prize. It’s what you’d call a “rich man’s pastime.” I’ll just enjoy being the patron. Besides, even if we don’t build something massive like a ship or a locomotive, there must be other uses for it.

“Come to think of it, weren’t there tractors that used steam engines?”

“Ah, you mean traction engines,” Yoshioka replied.

Apparently, “traction engine” is a general term for steam-powered tractors, road rollers, and haulage vehicles.

“If we had those, wouldn’t they be a huge help in developing Ebba-berg?”

See? I didn’t propose developing a steam engine out of a desire for immediate profit. I was thinking of Ebba-berg’s 100-year plan! (It was a total post-hoc justification, but I didn’t let that bother me.)

“That sounds interesting. Once we have the funds, it would be cool to commission talented engineers and craftsmen to build one.”

Exactly. Let’s enjoy investing as a sophisticated hobby. We came to this world to have a good time, after all.

Before stepping through the blue door, I pulled today’s Skill Card.

I’ve taken yet another step toward becoming a literal dog…

I’ve heard a dog’s sense of smell is anywhere from one million to one hundred million times better than a human’s. However, it’s not that they perceive the intensity of the smell that much stronger; rather, they have a much higher ability to distinguish and categorize scents.

If you think about it, that makes sense. If everything was just “louder,” a dog would pass out every time someone farted. If that were the case, I’d seal this ability away immediately.

The last time we were summoned, Clara-sama, Yoshioka, and I had a bit of a party with wine. This time, it turned into a sophisticated salon over coffee.

“Today we’re having Gori Gesha beans from Ethiopia,” Yoshioka announced.

The moment he opened the bag, a gorgeous aroma filled the room. It was like flowers mixed with honey—that kind of scent. Yoshioka had gone out of his way to bring the beans and a manual grinder.

“If this suits the palate of the people of Saxens, I’m thinking of sourcing coffee beans and tea leaves. What do you think, Clara-sama?”

“Mmm. It is delicious. How should I put it… it far exceeds the taste of any coffee I have ever known.”

The review was stellar. I tried some too, and the flavor was so good it redefined my understanding of what coffee could be.

While items like cups and pots don’t result in repeat orders once someone has a set, consumables like coffee and tea are different. The unit price is lower, but it’s a smart move for long-term business.

“But how will we sell it? Wholesale it to merchants, or run a retail shop?”

Wholesaling is easier, but the real profit in wholesale only comes when you’re handling massive quantities.

“Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, Senpai,” Yoshioka said. “We can’t carry huge amounts of stock. That’s why I think we should run our own shop.”

Yoshioka’s vision was to open a high-end café somewhere in the Capital. We’d serve customers while simultaneously selling tea leaves, coffee beans, and even the teacups themselves.

“Clara-sama, are there ‘cafés’ in Dresden? Places that serve coffee, tea, and light snacks?”

“Those would be restaurants. Their main focus is serving meals, though one can enjoy just coffee or tea there.”

So, there are no specialty shops. I remember reading somewhere that newspapers spread in England because they were placed in “Coffee Houses,” the precursors to modern cafés. My newspaper plan might just hitch a ride on this idea perfectly.

“Kota, what is a ‘newspaper’?”

I explained the concept of a newspaper to Clara-sama and showed her the “Play with Letterpress Printing” kit I bought. To my surprise, she showed immense interest, and we ended up assembling the kit’s supplement together.

“Kota, this is incredible!”

If the craftsmen of Saxens understand the structure, they should be able to build a printing press. If all else fails, I could buy a second-hand press in Japan and just have the lead type cast in Saxens. Then we could invest our own money to hire reporters and craftsmen to start a small paper.

“Initially, it would be fascinating to create circulars for knights, reports on the war, or political decisions from the House of Lords. I bet it would sell in the provinces, not just the Capital,” Clara-sama mused.

“And we’d get advertising revenue, of course,” I added.

If it goes well, the synergy will make the shop flourish. We’ll provide a salon where the wealthy can gather, newspaper in one hand and coffee in the other, engaging in heated debates. Naturally, we’ll be charging premium prices.

The dreams are grand, but we need capital to realize them. Tomorrow, we are finally scheduled to arrive in the Royal Capital. Our activities there are about to begin in earnest.