The next day.
Feeling guilty about letting Ei cover his shifts for the past few days, Makoto returned to Tenshukaku early in the morning to handle the backlog of pending affairs.
Clementine strolled in leisurely, holding a significantly thick report in one hand and carrying breakfast in the other.
They had started working truly early today.
It was hard to say whether they had actually woken up early or simply hadn’t slept at all; in any case, when the Thunder Dragon opened her eyes in a daze early that morning, she found the other already writing something by the window.
Afterward, she was dragged out of bed by Makoto with the excuse that “Clementine has not slept either,” and they headed straight to Tenshukaku to resume the corporate slave life she had been away from for a few days.
Fortunately, the war had paused, and Inazuma’s primary need at this stage was work related to recovery and recuperation.
While there were many specific procedural frameworks to follow, there were no major directions that required new decisions or changes.
Makoto also considered using this opportunity to let his subordinates begin acting more autonomously.
Aside from grasping the general direction, he only needed to oversee a few key nodes and the final results, which would save a lot of trouble.
Consequently, a slightly resentful Clementine quickly found a reason to head out as a Messenger to contact the various Commissions, mainly serving the purpose of distributing the misery equally among everyone.
Although, after making the rounds, she still felt that she was the only one suffering.
She moved to the desk, set down the two items in her hands, and took the opportunity to tidy up the slightly cluttered desktop, speaking as she worked.
“I bought some breakfast on the way, want to eat?
The Kanjou Commission has a pretty thick proposal, it seems quite important, so I brought it back for you to look at in one go.” “They plan to build a port in Ritou in the north, mainly to develop foreign trade and expand shipping routes to facilitate exchanges between Inazuma and the mainland.
The plan is quite detailed.” Seeing that Makoto had already unfolded the document, Clementine said no more.
Makoto was quite willing to discuss it with her, speaking as he flipped through the pages.
“This idea of his is quite reasonable and coincides with my own opinion.
After all, Inazuma is populous but has limited land, which makes the disadvantages of losing contact with the mainland due to our geographical location even more apparent.
If we want to change this status quo, opening up shipping routes and ports is naturally essential.” “Beyond that, it’s about long-term recuperation, letting the populace recover their vitality.
To do business, one must have goods to sell and money to buy things with.
But that’s not urgent; let her proceed according to her existing ideas.
It was never something that could be built in a short time, so starting now is just right.” Clementine chimed in, “Besides selling goods, selling technology isn’t bad either?
I’ve seen quite a few craftsmen who forge swords; there shouldn’t be any problem doing that kind of processing business, right?
If we don’t have enough materials here, we could change it to a commission form where the other party provides the raw materials, and we just charge a processing fee.” Makoto nodded in agreement, pointing to the document in her hand as she replied, “That’s correct, Hiiragi Hirotsugu also mentioned this.
He is quite thorough in his considerations; he is a talent who genuinely works for the development of Inazuma, and he should be given some preferential treatment.” “Then I’ll leave it to you to help; tell him that since the plan has been well-devised, he should go ahead and execute it.
As long as it is beneficial to Inazuma, he has my permission to act without restraint.” “If you are the one to say it, it will probably make the process of him handling this matter less troublesome.” “Hmm, alright.” Clementine didn’t think it was a big deal and agreed.
Just as she was about to set off, she suddenly thought of a question and sat back down in her original spot.
“The Kanjou Commission doesn’t know what the situation is like across the sea, do they?
Inazuma has so little land, and Ei has been conquering everywhere, cutting through five passes and six generals.
The mainland is vast, and there must be more competitors no matter how you think about it; wouldn’t they be fighting until their brains are scrambled?” Makoto was amused by her strange metaphor and replied, “That is a matter for me to consider.
Since it is the Archon War, one must scout for a few reliable allies; we do have some relatively stable contacts.” She paused slightly, recalled for a moment, and asked Clementine, “Speaking of which, where were you before you came to Inazuma?
Have you been to the mainland across the sea?” Clementine glanced at the map hanging on the wall of the room.
“I haven’t been there; I was on the other side of Inazuma before.
According to your description, it’s the place where those defeated Archons fled to; it should be called the Dark Sea, right?
I didn’t know this name before, I hope I remembered it correctly.” Makoto was slightly surprised; to be able to wander in the Dark Sea for such a long time without sustaining any major damage, the other’s combat strength seemed to be a step higher than he had imagined.
Clementine was a bit puzzled by Makoto’s surprise.
“I’m just an ordinary dragon, not very powerful; I just know how to use some magic and can barely trade blows with other Archons.
My close-combat level is very low; at most, I’m just a fragile mage with some special abilities?” When the Thunder Dragon said this, her expression was indeed very sincere; she probably really thought she was unremarkable, leaving the even less combat-inclined Narukami speechless for a moment.
Seeing that Makoto had nothing more to say, and completely unaware that she had rendered the other silent, Clementine simply and very self-responsibly headed out to relay the work to the Kanjou Commission.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”