Because I’ve Been Reincarnated As A Girl I Just Want To Do Yuri Things, But Things Aren’t Going Well - CH 220

King Wilhelm of Ploiss always said to let Flora through to him as soon as she visits the royal castle. So far, if Flora is visiting the royal castle, either Wilhelm or Dietrich will be available. Unfortunately, there are cases where neither of them is present, but it was meant to convey that Flora’s visits were of the utmost importance.

Wilhelm stood up after receiving a message she had arrived for business today. Dietrich should be at work right now, so he sent a messenger to tell him to wait in Wilhelm’s private room. Flora would be fine if she was ushered in by a different servant.

He had been thinking that the Academy’s long vacation would end soon, so she would be back soon. He had imagined it would still be a few days later, so as he walked down the hall, he thought she was quite early.

Perhaps this business is about the blockade of the Hulk Sea. Wilhelm and Dietrich are also gathering information. About half a year ago, they knew that the seas near Lubek had been blocked by ships from the Kingdom of Hollant and were in crisis. However, the Kingdom of Ploiss has a weak navy and cannot win at sea against the maritime nation of Hollant.

A nation is always classified as either a continental nation or a maritime nation. It is impossible and incompatible to serve both.

The Kingdom of Ploiss was a traditional continental nation that faced the Kingdom of Frasia in the west and Demon Country in the northwest while developing and colonizing in the east. For Ploiss which is a superpower with its land army, naval battles are a dead end, and they have suffered many times in the past in the Hulk Sea and the Hermann Sea.

Even though the Kingdom of Ploiss is in such a situation, this noble who has only had a territory for a few years, Flora, no, Sir Floto von Caan, should be in considerable trouble with the Royal Navy of Hollant. Wilhelm and Dietrich had a common understanding that she came come to see how the Hollant pirates could be dealt with.

After returning to her territory for the vacation, she was troubled by the pirates of the Hulk Sea, and when she returned to the royal capital, she visited to keep pace with the country. With that assumption, they waited patiently and thought that Flora was coming sooner or later.

She came back a little earlier than expected, but that’s not a problem either. How do we get rid of the Hollant Royal Navy, who call themselves pirates? Considering the preparation and transportation, it will take about half a year or a year at the earliest. Until then, whatever happens, there will be damage to the port cities on the Hulk Sea coast such as Lubek and Cien. They have to get a handle on this quickly.

After he finds Ludwig and Eleonore making a fuss in the hallway, Wilhelm soothes Eleonore and walks with Flora. It was unexpected that Ludwig would come with, but Flora nodded to signal there was no problem, so Wilhelm raised no protest.

Ludwig also needs to get involved in various practical matters soon. He also has to create a faction now and gather people who will support him when he succeeds to the throne. If the reigning King dies while the Crown Prince’s supporters and faction are incomplete, the succession to the throne will be disrupted. Thinking about that, Wilhelm nodded to himself, thinking that Ludwig still had a ways to go.

When they entered Wilhelm’s private room, Dietrich was already waiting. After the 4 of them sat down, they immediately got to business.

“First… I want to build a canal, but I don’t know what to do because the laws surrounding it are underdeveloped in this country,” Flora said. “Will Ploiss only build canals as a national project? Or may local lords build it at their discretion?”

“To come out with this all of a sudden…” Dietrich said. “That’s such an incredible feat…”

Wilhelm and Dietrich were dumbfounded when they were told a proposal they had never imagined, even though they assumed she had come to talk about Hollant’s piracy. They already figured Ludwig wouldn’t be able to keep up, but they never thought they’d be left in the dust from something so beyond them.

“So with that matter, where does this… canal connect to…?” Wilhelm asked.

“Please see this document,” Flora said, bringing out a beautiful set of paper documents.

Upon seeing them, Dietrich and Wilhelm are at a loss for words.

“You’re kidding… are you trying to connect a canal from the Dierbe River to the Welzel River!?”

The handed document states that the Aster River will be extended halfway and a canal will be excavated from there to the Welzel River. Detailed routes, construction methods, expected necessary manpower, budget, and construction period have already been investigated and presented. Arrangements had already been made to the point where they could start at any time as soon as the go-ahead was given.

And the scale of the business is not something that a single noble can carry out. It is different from making a small waterway or pond. This is already a national project sort of infrastructure. If the other party wasn’t Flora, they’d laugh it off as a joke.

However… if the other party is Flora, the story is different. All detailed investigations have been completed. Even if Ploiss won’t lend her a hand, Flora will do it on her own. That was all they could see clearly.

“What is the construction of this moving bridge?” Dietrich asked, looking at the documentation and finding words unfamiliar to him.

“Right,” Flora said. “This canal is designed for large ships to come and go. Therefore, it must be wide enough to allow tall sailing ships to pass through. However, I would like to build a bridge that will allow the high sails to pass through with little disruption. Therefore, we are thinking of constructing a large drawbridge, similar to the ones used in castles, to create a movable bridge to get it out of the way.”

“I see……”

The document already includes research on large drawbridges. The 3 of them saw the materials, but the structure was gibberish; still, they understood that research and prototyping were already being conducted for practical use.

“Flora, what do you mean by this ‘lock’?” Ludwig asked.

“Water always flows from a high place to a low place,” Flora said. “In a naturally formed river, you go higher above sea level as you go upstream, and closer to sea level goes down as you go downstream. In the case of a canal that has been built, the height difference is not always suitable for ships to pass.”

Flora draws a diagram as she continues to speak.

“Therefore, in order for the ship to climb to a higher position, water gates are installed at the front and back to make an enclosed space, and the height of the ship is changed by letting water in and out. The water gates at the front and back are called locks.”

“Huh…” Ludwig said.

He didn’t understand how they would work or the logic behind it because he had never heard of such a thing but he was honestly impressed. But Wilhelm and Dietrich are different. Most of the problems that could not be carelessly constructed with poor routes up to now have been solved with this invention. If the Kingdom of Ploiss wants to build a canal somewhere in the future, using this project as a model case will solve most of the practical issues that had killed them before.

“What is the need for this aqueduct or reservoir?” Ludwig asked.

“Of course,” Flora said. “As I said earlier, water always flows from a high place to a low place. Depending on where the land is excavated and a canal is opened, it may be necessary to pass through a higher level than the original river. I said we would use the locks to change the height of the ship, but now there must be a source of water upstream so that the water can flow through the locks.”

The two adults listened to the explanation while pretending to understand. Thankfully Ludwig asked all the things they were a little embarrassed to ask. This time, they thought that Ludwig’s presence was a huge relief.

“When a canal is excavated, if the resulting construction is higher than the original river, water must be brought in from somewhere else,” Flora said. “It must be diverted from the water source and stored in a reservoir.”

“So that’s why you mention using an aqueduct or a reservoir…” Dietrich said.

Flora nodded, a small cloud falling over her face. “Yes… as Your Grace Dietrich said, I can’t say for sure which one is more suitable.”

The document indicates whether a reservoir should be built by branching from the upstream of the Aster River, or an aqueduct should be built from the Dierbe River’s side, which is an extension of the Aster River. However, the problem is that the flow rate upstream of the Aster River is low, and even if the amount of water flowing into the reservoir is controlled by a sluice, it is possible that the flow rate downstream of the Aster River will decrease and have an impact on everything past that point.

In addition, when constructing an aqueduct from the Dierbe River’s side, various problems such as the increase in construction costs, the extension of the construction period until the completion of the canal, and the safety of the aqueduct running over the land were written. If the aqueduct carrying land is destroyed, either intentionally or by accident, the canal becomes unusable until the bridge is restored. It can be a weak point of the canal as it can be targeted by hostile forces.

Nonetheless, you might think Flora hasn’t thought anything about such a terrible flaw, but that’s not the case. Rather, it is already planned and prepared for. Naturally, some inherent problems remain, and even after the construction has started, various other problems may be noticed and it may be necessary to change the plan or introduce new technology. It’s just a surprise that she’s been able to get this far ahead in the initial stages.

“If a law is passed allowing local Lords to enact canal construction by themselves, will the Kingdom of Ploiss and the royal family not be against it?”

“Of course, we’ll be happy to immediately start a partnership with House Caan,” Dietrich said.

So they say, but Dietrich’s help was never needed. The document and the plan state that the project has already started. There is no law regarding canal construction, so it is nominally unfinished, but in reality, the forest at the planned excavation site has already been cut down under the pretext of creating a towpath, and excavation is under the pretext of an embankment to build up the towpath.

In the end, no matter what Ploiss says, construction has already started and there is no intention of stopping it. Even though it’s nominal, the kingdom can’t complain because it’s just laying roads that Feudal Lords are allowed to build at the moment.

“Understood, understood,” Flora said. “Then please enact a law as soon as possible. How long will it take?”

“Hah…” Dietrich sighed. “This is entirely unprecedented so… 3 months…”

“Do it in a month,” Flora said.

““…………””

Wilhelm and Dietrich had no choice but to remain silent at Flora’s request. Flora is saying she wants to get the construction in earnest right now And that Flora says it now means it is a dire matter. She is no fool to build a canal of this scale just for fun.

“Then, we annihilated the Royal Hollant Navy, which was blockading the Hulk Sea coast,” Flora said. “We have either sunk or captured all the ships that entered the area, but we don’t know how many more ships they have in their possession. There is a possibility of war with the Kingdom of Hollant someday.”

“That’s also…” Wilhelm started.

And then suddenly this statement. The three of them could only feel their eyes spin. Wilhelm and Dietrich thought that today’s meeting would discuss measures against the Royal Navy of Hollant. Who would have thought she would have killed them all already?

“So how many enemies were there?” Wilhelm asked.

They were dispatched under the guise of pirate ships, so there is a possibility of a fleet of them. Wilhelm and the others had not yet obtained detailed information, so they did not know how many ships the Kingdom of Hollant had sent.

“8 standard ships of the Kingdom of Hollant,” Flora replied.

“Huh, 8 ships?!” Wilhelm spluttered.

If the Royal Navy of Hollant has 8 ships, there will be no chance of winning even if all of Ploiss’s Navy is sent. In terms of only raw numbers, Hollant’s is naturally higher, but the mobility is too different as well. The other side is so fast that Plossian ships can’t catch up. The other side can sail rings around them and attack freely. Conversely, the Royal Navy of Ploiss can only defend and cannot attack the opponent.

Even if there are many ships, there is no chance of winning if they are attacked unilaterally, and they will have no choice but to be tossed about and destroyed one by one. In fact, it was not once or twice that Ploiss was defeated in a naval battle with the Kingdom of Hollant.

Of course, when it comes to land battles, the Kingdom of Ploiss is far more overwhelming, and the Kingdom of Hollant cannot defend its land. No matter how much you try to escape to the sea, if you don’t have a port to resupply, you’ll just die of thirst or hunger on the water.

That’s why the Kingdom of Hollant followed the Kingdom of Ploiss when they bordered each other. No matter how much they block Ploiss by sea, once they’re attacked by land, their homeland will fall.

However, they have heard now that Hollant is getting closer to Frasia, whose borders surround them. There is no need to think about what the naval blockade was about this time.

It was just a local aristocrat, a knighthood, who single-handedly defeated 8 warships of the Hollant Kingdom, a maritime nation. The impact and significance were enough to make Wilhelm and Dietrich’s jaws come off.