Chapter 16

......Well, it's been half a year since the bank was established. During this half year, the first public works project, road construction, has started and is steadily progressing.

At the bank, the members of the chamber of commerce first opened accounts in the name of the chamber and made deposits. Then, those associated with the chamber began to open personal accounts, and this spread further... In the urban areas, the presence of the bank has grown significantly. Along with this, Moneda seems to be quite busy. The challenge now is how to expand beyond the cities...

The construction of the academy has been funded successfully and is currently underway. Once completed, it is planned to start operations immediately. However, since we are prioritizing the construction of the high school, it will still be a long road before all the children of the fief can attend the elementary school.

My workload has not decreased but rather increased. I do think I might be a bit overworked lately, so my top priority is to gather the bureaucrats who will manage the fief. Those who have already been involved in fief management within my household have been reassigned to their respective departments to handle their work.

The current departments are Finance, Education, Civil Affairs, Engineering, and Legal. I serve as the acting lord overseeing all of them.

Incidentally, the Finance department also handles taxation, calculating the costs of proposals from each department to determine their feasibility. Once approved, the funds are disbursed from the bank. Additionally, the Finance department discusses future tax reforms.

The Education department is similar to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan. It is responsible for setting the curriculum, estimating costs, and managing the personnel of the academy.

The Civil Affairs department manages the fief's residents and is currently working on creating a household registry by traveling to various regions. Eventually, I plan to have them handle social welfare as well.

The Engineering department is responsible for road construction and the establishment of public facilities. Given the large-scale road construction currently underway, it is arguably the busiest department.

The Legal department, as the name suggests, is responsible for organizing the fief's laws. They are currently systematizing the existing customary laws into a formal legal framework.

...I'm tired, maybe I'll take a bath.

"Miss, what's the matter?"

"It's rare to have some free time, and I'm a bit tired, so I want to take a bath. Can you prepare it for me?"

When I told Tanya, she immediately started preparing. Lately, Tanya has been extremely overprotective. ...Do I look that tired?

"...You seem very happy today. Did something happen?"

"Ah, you noticed? Hehehe, I finally got what I wanted."

Hehehe... After months of busy research, I finally completed it. I plan to try it out today.

I soaked in the bath, relaxing and soothing my fatigue, and then immediately used it. Ahh, the lovely scent of roses.

Still in a good mood, I got out of the bath, and Tanya was waiting to help me get dressed.

"Excuse me, Miss. I'll fix your hair... Wait, what!"

Tanya froze in shock when she saw my hair. Hehehe, impressive, right? For someone who rarely shows any change in expression, this must mean the effect is excellent.

"Your hair is so beautiful... It looks like it's glowing. Miss, what did you do?"

"Hehehe... I used this."

I showed her a small bottle. It was filled with a light yellow liquid.

"What is this?"

"It's called a rinse. It's a crucial product that makes your hair shiny and lustrous."

Actually, this world doesn't have rinses. Everyone just washes their hair with soap and that's it. I had to endure so much for these six months. For the first three months, I didn't even think about it, but once I did, it became a concern. ...Shampoo alone can damage your hair. Knowing this but having to finish with just shampoo was painful. Iris's hair, which she inherited from her mother, was especially beautiful platinum, which only added to my stress.

In my previous life, I got into making handmade soaps, shampoos, conditioners, and toners, but it took a lot of time to create them in this world. Since I was determined to make something special, I used our family's prized roses as a fragrance.

"...Amazing, Miss..."

Tanya sighed in admiration as she gazed at my hair. Beauty products really do captivate people, no matter the world.

"...Would you like some, Tanya?"

"Really? That's so kind of you."

"It's easy to make."

It took a long time to create the first one, but now that the recipe is established, it doesn't take much time.

"Then, just a little..."

Tanya took it happily. ...I'm glad she's happy. I really owe her a lot.

However, the story didn't end there. When the female servants saw my hair, they started questioning Tanya about what special product I was using and where I got it. Tanya remained silent, but when I revealed the truth about the rinse, everyone started asking for it.

Once they knew its effects, the men suggested, "This could be a business opportunity." As a result, the Azuta Chamber of Commerce quickly began to produce it.

Needless to say, this added even more to my workload.