Botsuraku 129

I entrusted the construction of the first departure station to Mr. Lotson and focused on making the magic train. Moreover, I also officially got my people's agreement on constructing the Dragon's Spine.

Completion of the magic train is drawing close and so I am thinking of going forward with the Dragon's Spine construction simultaneously.

"Grash, could you come here for a bit?"

While the magic train was being built, I called over young Grash who worked hard the other day.

"What is it, master Kururi?"

He came in front of me and asked while taking off his helmet. His face was also dirtied with soot.

He's quite a refres.h.i.+ng young man. He had a bald head and was tall. He was one of the younger workers I gathered and had a personality which was loved by all.

Even now, he showed no signs of fatigue on his face and had an easy-going expression on.

"The wheels you and your team were in charge of, I saw them. It was extremely well done. Lightweight and yet very st.u.r.dy. It will probably be easy on maintenance, as well."

"Ah, yes, thank you very much for the compliment."

He looked embarra.s.sed as he grinned with his right hand behind his head.

"And so, I have something to talk to you about. Grash, I've given this some thought after seeing you work and I want to entrust the construction of the Dragon's Spine to you."

"Eh? You're kidding, right?"

"No, it's no joke."

In response to his perplexed expression, I told him how I came to that conclusion.

"At first, I thought I would go myself but I can't really leave this place before the magic train is completed. This is what needs to be prioritized the most, after all. I thought about Mr. Lotson but his hands are already full. Anything more than that would be hard. And so there, you were selected from among many people."

"But, I'm just a bit dexterous with my hands and that's all… Umm, I am not really suited for that kind of a job."

"It's fine, you can do these just fine once you are used to it. More importantly, your extensive knowledge about the wheels will be really useful in making the rails. On top of that, you're loved by everyone. Won't you try doing it?"

"I will do it since you're insisting but I am sure you will end up regretting it."

"It's fine. I will teach you the ABCs of the rails beforehand. All you need to do is get to the site and lead everyone to work. I will also determine the a.s.signment of work. In short, you just need to be a model worker to everyone. You don't need to be so uptight about it."

"Is that how it is?"

"That is how it is. If you just walk in front with confidence, people will naturally come follow you."

He couldn't really refuse when I persuaded him like this. It seems he finally realized how big of a role it was.

After about an hour, he came to me himself and asked me to leave it to him.

………I will have you go through with it now that you have declared that.

Of course, I do plan on supporting him on all fronts. I will also help out at first and will come up with the plan myself. However, once he's used to it, I plan on entrusting different jobs to him. Grash always helps calm down a situation with his youth-like att.i.tude and he's actually quite clever too. He said he's just good with his hands but that's far from it. He knows his way around to make a living. They say that people who are good with their hands have a clumsy way of life but he has it both and those kind of people are hard to come by. All he needs is some experience and he will be all good. A Mr. Lotson #2! Fufufu, It's my principle to use everyone I can.

And like that, on the next day, I had Grash lead the construction group for the Dragon's Spine.

I also rushed to the site myself on the day and explained the work procedure to them. I had one group handle the technical stuff and made multiple groups with the remaining people and had them memorize the routine work.

The work went smoother than I had expected.

As I a.s.sumed, the leader, Grash, was working well.

Maybe because of his sense of responsibility, he also learnt the work really quickly, even the ones I thought would take some time. And with his charming personality, the work environment was also great there.

At this rate, I can entrust the entire responsibility of the project to Grash faster than I had thought.

The number of people working on the magic train was slowly increasing day by day.

Currently, most work, other than the crucial industrial work, is suspended in Helan territory. Everyone had the mindset of working nonstop until the magic train was complete.

And right about then, Mr. Lotson came to me.

He had a calm and composed expression as usual but I could somewhat guess what he came to talk about. I put away the blueprint of the magic train and welcomed him.

"Mr. Lotson, welcome. You look like you're here to talk about something important."

"Oho? Did it show on my face?"