Chapter 457 – The Greenhouse of the Otherworld Ambassador

“Hmm… I think this spot might be best after all.”

I immediately parked the carriage at the ritual grounds and began surveying the planned construction site for the greenhouse.

“It’s close to both the ritual grounds and the Fire Spirit Hot Spring, and it gets good sunlight too.”

Grace smiled while shielding her eyes from the slightly dazzling afternoon sun with her hand.

Indeed. There don’t seem to be any problems with the various conditions. Sunlight is particularly important, and this location seems to clear that requirement as well.

King Melvin had mentioned he would send someone who could grant approval in his place later. Probably to prevent delays in construction caused by having to send messengers back and forth between the hot spring town and the Royal Castle about where to build it. Now, I wonder who will come? Probably Prince Josiah or Princess Stephania, I’d imagine.

As I was thinking this, a carriage came down the road leading to the Eastern District and stopped in front of the planned construction site.

The person who stepped out was… Chancellor Howard.

“Oh, Ambassador, and everyone else is here too.”

“Chancellor Howard,” I said with a bow. Howard nodded gently in response.

“His Majesty has ordered me to grant approval regarding the planned greenhouse construction site.”

“To think you would come personally, Chancellor Howard. I apologize for the trouble.”

“Not at all. I happened to be planning to come this way anyway. Well, I was also told it would be good for me to hear about this since it relates to future food production,” Howard said with a slightly evasive smile. …I see. So he means he was planning to visit the hot springs.

“Have you decided on the construction site?”

“Yes. I was thinking this location might work. If there are no issues, I’d like to proceed with building here…”

When I answered, Howard looked around the area and nodded.

“Understood. I shall report as such to His Majesty. He said you may begin construction whenever it’s convenient for you, Ambassador.”

“Thank you.”

So that means we can start construction right away without any problems.

According to King Melvin, unused land should be fine. Although the area around the ritual grounds is intentionally kept vacant, that doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t be used for some purpose eventually.

In that sense, Howard as Chancellor was probably the appropriate choice since he’s familiar with the current situation of the hot spring town.

“But… building a greenhouse here would be quite charming. The location is truly excellent. To leisurely admire rare plants before visiting the hot springs, or after warming up… hmm.”

Howard seemed to be picturing the completed blueprint in his mind as he nodded quietly.

“While the greenhouse is somewhat biased toward crops and herbs, since we have more land available than initially planned, creating a garden and planting seasonal flowers might be interesting too.”

The ideal plan is to first create an environment here where we can grow and propagate crops, then expand cultivation bases according to demand. As for the garden, we can prioritize aesthetics.

Well, I also plan to build a small greenhouse at home in parallel for personal gardening. I’d like to casually enjoy growing pineapples and such.

“I heard you plan to plant new crops underground as well.”

“Yes. Rice… white rice, to be specific. Considering its high yield per area and ease of long-term storage, I believe it could be an excellent food source.”

This is why rice became a staple food in places like Japan. While there are several crops that can serve as staples, like wheat or corn… rice is equally excellent as a food source that can support large populations.

Howard showed a thoughtful expression, but the corners of his mouth relaxed slightly as if he was envisioning various ideal future scenarios.

“Hmm. I’m quite looking forward to it. Well then… I shall inform His Majesty.”

“Yes. Please convey my regards.”

Perhaps because Howard politically tries to maintain some distance from me, he wrapped up the conversation somewhat quickly, though he seemed a bit reluctant, then boarded his carriage and departed.

“Well then… may I get started too?”

Timing her question for when my conversation with Howard ended, Claudia asked.

“Yeah. It seems we can begin construction. Let’s see… right. We’ll build the greenhouse on this side, so let’s use this area for the materials storage.”

When I explained using a three-dimensional model, Claudia closed her eyes and nodded quietly.

“Understood. I’ll be teleporting the materials, so could everyone please be careful not to stand around this area?”

“Got it.”

Hearing my exchange with Claudia, everyone moved away from the planned materials storage area.

Seeing this, Claudia nodded and deployed a Magic Circle.

“Then, I’ll be going.”

With those words, Claudia disappeared.

…The sunlight is gentle, but the wind is a bit chilly. Since getting cold during work isn’t good, I used Wind Magic to create a field around the construction site, making it windless… which created a perfectly comfortable autumn-like temperature.

After a short while, a pillar of light appeared. Claudia returned with the greenhouse materials. As expected, using Teleportation Magic makes transportation incredibly fast. Well then, let’s begin the Magic Construction right away.

“Arise.”

I mobilized Earth Golems to serve as workers too. We’ll dig out the underground section to a rough estimate first, then create the foundation.

“How large should the rice paddy be? We can expand it later, so a rough estimate is fine.”

Forset had been wide-eyed at the number of Golems mobilized, but when I spoke to him, he shook his head slightly as if collecting himself and answered.

“Um, let’s see… I think this area should be good. As long as we keep some seed rice in reserve just in case, we can always start over. The depth might need to be a bit more. We’ll be embedding Spell Formulas in the ceiling and walls.”

“Understood.”

Then let’s go a bit deeper… About this much? I continued preparing the underground section while consulting with Forset.

“Is the underground structure strong enough?”

“The walls should be fine. For safety, having pillars around here might be reassuring.”

“Got it.”

After finishing the underground expansion, I reinforced the structure together with Seraphina. Next, we began creating what would serve as the ceiling of the underground section, or rather, the foundation of the greenhouse.

For the above-ground section, we plan to create actual flowerbeds for planting. While accounting for waterways and the raised soil areas for flowerbeds, I returned the Golems to stone materials and formed everything at once. As each section was completed, I used structural Enhancement to create and reinforce the greenhouse foundation.

Due to the excavated underground area, we have extra Golems, which would be best used to create walls around the greenhouse perimeter.

Eventually we’ll need to bring water to the greenhouse… but let’s move on to creating the greenhouse framework first.

“Is there anything we can help with?”

Ashley asked.

“Hmm. Let’s see… Well then… It would be helpful if you could bring iron and Magic Stones from the materials storage area to where I am. Be careful not to get injured.”

“Understood.”

When I spoke, everyone began moving. As usual, they used Levitation to bring the materials to me.

I stood near the edge of the greenhouse construction area, deployed a Magic Circle, and waited. The first to bring materials was Marlene.

“Thank you.”

When I expressed my gratitude, Marlene smiled brightly, nodded with a small motion, then hurried off at a trot to bring the next materials.

Right behind her followed Rosemary, hiding her mouth behind her feather fan. She might have been worried about Marlene getting injured.

Then came Ashley, Floria, Grace, Sheila, Irmhild, Claudia, Princess Elham, Forset, Sion, and the others…

I melted and mixed the iron Ingots and Magic Stones everyone brought within spheres of light.

The Magic used for processing is the same as when we built the Sirius. We melt the iron masses and Magic Stones within light, fuse them together, then reform them into the greenhouse framework.

While reinforcing them with structural Enhancement and preservation Magic to ensure they won’t break or rust, we created the installation parts for the foundation, walls, and arched ceiling sections in order.

Herb area. Palm tree area. Pineapple field… We divided it into several sections according to minor differences in growing environment requirements, since each needs different temperature control and such.

We positioned and assembled the framework for each section according to the scaled model we’d planned.

After that… we plan to create a fountain in the center and something like a mezzanine or terrace seating that won’t block sunlight, allowing a full view of the entire greenhouse.

As we progressed with the work, recreating the three-dimensional model… the overall shape gradually became visible. Even with just the framework, it already looks quite greenhouse-like.

All that remains is to magically form glass panels, apply structural Enhancement, and fit them into the frames to complete the greenhouse structure itself. However, if we install the glass panels before the climate control Magic Tools are in place, the internal temperature will rise, making subsequent work difficult. So the Transmutation of glass panels from silica sand will be postponed.

Let’s move on to the process of bringing water from the spring source. As for how to bring water to the greenhouse, since the spring water itself is too hot, we’ll first store it in a water Tank, adjust the temperature there, then flow the water into the greenhouse waterways and underground sections.

So let’s proceed with installing the water pipes and water Tank. Both are Magic Tools… but it seems best to install the Tank first, then lay the water pipes from the greenhouse toward the ritual grounds.

That way, when connected to the spring, water will automatically come and accumulate.

Just then, Corulis came flying from the direction of the Royal Castle. Princess Stephania and Princess Adriana were riding on its back, along with Flamia.

“Your Highness.”

“Yes. Good day.”

“We heard you might start building the greenhouse around today… and came to see if there’s anything we can help with.”

Yeah, having more hands is helpful.

“Thank you. We were just about to install the water tank… Since Corulis and Ignis supporting it would give us just the right height, could I ask for your help? We’ll have it floating with Levitation, and while you’re supporting it, we’ll create the foundation.”

“Understood.”

When Princess Stephania looked at Corulis and nodded, Corulis nodded back. We had the water Tank float and supported by Corulis and Ignis. We formed the foundation, installed it, and reinforced it with structural Enhancement. When I looked at Seraphina, she smiled and nodded.

“Could you lower it slowly?”

“Yes.”

Once lowered onto the foundation and secured… Good. The water Tank installation is now complete.

Alfred had already started moving when the framework was completed and seemed to be beginning installation of the climate control equipment.

Well then, let’s continue with laying the water pipes and such.

Once the plumbing and climate control equipment work is finished, we should be able to fit the glass walls and ceiling into the framework too.

After that, if we work on the flowerbed areas and interior sections… the greenhouse itself should be mostly complete. Hmm… Judging by the progress, we might be able to reach the stage of planting crops straight away.