West Gate Area
Satou here. As fun as it is to go sightseeing in lots of different nations, I think making a travel plan is part of the fun, too. I’ve even heard that some people are content just to read travel magazines.
“I see iiiit?”
“I smell salt from far away, so we must be getting close, sir!”
Swaying on the camel at the front of our caravan, Tama and Pochi strained to see into the distance.
The day after my visit to the Holy Woman’s shrine, we went to see the Saga Empire group off on their travels. Then we spent three days sightseeing in the holy city, and now we were on our way to the West Gate Area that overlooked the inland sea.
Arisa, who was sharing a camel with me, looked at me over her shoulder.
“I dunno…if she told you to stay in Parion Province for a while, doesn’t that mean something’s going to happen in the holy city?”
“Wouldn’t she have said ‘stay in this city for a while’ if that were the case?”
Besides, I had seal slates set in the Holy City of Parion so that I could return at any moment with the Space Magic spell Return, if necessary. As long as I didn’t leave the nation’s borders, it should be fine.
“I see…a wall.”
“Yes, Mia. This is the ultimate lookout position, I declare.”
Sitting atop Nana’s shoulders, Mia must have spotted either the outer wall of the West Gate Area beyond the sparsely green hill, or the Great Barrier Wall that surrounded the entirety of Parion Province.
Pochi gazed enviously at Mia’s high vantage point.
“That must be the outer wall,” Liza reported. “I can see the higher Great Barrier Wall far in the distance.”
Liza was standing directly on top of her camel. I was impressed that she could balance like that.
“Mew!”
Tama used her agile ninja movements to climb onto Liza’s shoulders and stand there.
Arisa grinned. “You look like some acrobatic troupe, or a circus act.”
“Pochi wants to do the act-o-maticus troop, too, sir!”
With that, Pochi tried to clamber up Liza’s legs and promptly lost her balance, nearly taking Liza and Tama down with her when they tried to hold her up. Luckily, they managed to right themselves on the camel without me needing to use my telekinetic Magic Hand to support them. Another win for muscles and athletic movements.
“That’s a lot of boats.”
“Sailing ships, galleys, even an express ship with jib sails…there are so many different kinds.”
As the gateway to the western regions on the edge of the inland sea, the West Gate Area had countless ships docked at its piers, and dozens more offshore waiting to be let into the harbor.
In addition to the merchants and sailors, there were dock laborers bustling around the harbor busily, and so many warehouses for temporarily storing trade goods that I couldn’t even see them all from a distance.
“Everyone’s dressed so fancy here! Especially after all the plain-colored clothes in the holy city.”
“It looks like they come from all over the world.”
Arisa and Lulu gazed at the clothing of the merchants and sailors.
Since almost everyone in the holy city wore black or beige, it really was a colorful feast for the eyes.
“Busy.”
“There is more variety than in the trade city in Shiga Kingdom or the sugar route, I declare.”
Nana was right: the races, clothes, and colors were all very diverse.
I did notice that the sandfolk seemed to be overworked as manual laborers here, too, but I didn’t mention that, since it didn’t look like the girls had noticed.
Tama’s and Pochi’s stomachs growled musically.
“Hungryyyy?”
“I guess we could have some lun—”
“Something smells good over there, sir! I bet it’s Mr. Food Stalls, sir!”
Before I could finish speaking, Pochi was already moving toward the pier where fishing boats were docked. I decided to trust her hungry-tummy senses, although I didn’t smell anything yet myself.
The source of the scent turned out to be stalls on the other side of the fish market.
“There’s so many colorful fish. It reminds me of the sugar route.”
“The shellfish are strange shapes, I observe.”
Lulu and Nana pointed out fish that were very different from the kinds found on the Shigan coast.
“The more colorful the fish, the better the taste! This here gangazi is in peak season right now. Buy some and you won’t regret it, trust me!”
“Gangazi’s great and all, but modogazi’s the way to go if you’ve got lots of mouths to feed! This stuff’s the best boiled in soy sauce, ya hear?”
“I’ll take fourteen of each kind, then.”
“Oh-ho, now this guy gets it. Gangazi tastes best filleted with vinegar, I tell ya. I’ll throw in a couple extra for you to practice with.”
“Then I’ll give ya an extra modogazi on the house, too.”
“C’mon, don’t be so damn stingy. We got a foreign customer here, go all out for ’em!”
“Fine, fine. Goddess Parion’s Lamplight burn me, I’ll throw in two more!”
Lulu smiled as she purchased fish from the enthusiastic fishmongers.
Meanwhile, Nana’s expression was as blank as ever while she bought up enough shellfish to overflow from her basket.
“Say, mister, how about some isugazi? It’s great for a little nighttime fun.”
Before my gaze could get pulled into the cleavage of a sexy saleswoman, Mia tugged on my sleeve with a grumbled “mrrr,” saving me from purchasing fish that might give me extra vim and vigor.
“How’s about some kraken, missy?”
“We got flying squid, too.”
The kraken in this water must be young or something; their bodies were only six feet or so in length. I didn’t buy any, since I already had tons of kraken in Storage.
However, the winglike ears of the “flying squid” piqued my interest enough to purchase a few.
Thus, by the time we made it through to the other side of the fish market, we’d purchased tons of different kinds of seafood.
“Yummyyyy?”
“Grilled shrimp and crab have such excellent crunch.”
When we finally reached the food stall area past the fish market, we were all smacking our lips for some fresh seafood.
Next to Tama and Liza, Pochi was tearing into her grilled squid with intense concentration. She must have been extremely hungry.
“The modogazi stew is rich and delicious, I praise.”
“This pickled gangazi and seaweed is tasty and refreshing, too.”
Nana was working on a chilled stew, while Lulu had selected a vinegar-based dish.
“Yes, that’s the stuff! Simple is best!”
Holding a salted fish skewer in one hand and a shrimp skewer in the other, Arisa struck a pose like a character from a gourmet manga. You really can’t beat fresh fish grilled over charcoal.
“Satou.”
Mia brought over a bowl full of what looked like agar-agar jelly strips.
My AR display told me that they were actually thin slices of jellyfish, not dessert gelatin.
“Yummy.”
Mia held out one of the jellyfish strips with her chopsticks and said, “Aah,” so I obligingly opened my mouth.
It didn’t have as strong a taste as I expected. The texture was firmer than gelatin and very springy. This would taste great with sanbaizu sauce, or even with brown sugar syrup as a dessert.
Mia’s action set off a strange competition where everyone started trying each other’s chosen foods. For some reason, they all insisted on feeding me directly like Mia did.
“Were you able to get more Lalagi Magic Items in stock?”
Upon hearing the name of a familiar place, I automatically turned my attention to the speaker.
Several merchants were drinking together in a seating area behind the stalls.
“Unfortunately, the Garleon Alliance– and Kalisork-employed merchants made off with all of them.”
“You too, eh…? The Shiga Kingdom jade silk I was after went to the likes of Sania Kingdom and the Tenion Republic, too.”
“Nations with a central temple really do have an edge.”
Central temples, like the Parion Central Temple here in Parion Province, were basically head temples devoted to each of the seven gods. They were positioned around the inland sea.
“Well, places that use their wealth to do all the talking aren’t so bad. Not compared to the bastards like Pialork that use their authority to threaten other nations, even ones that also have a central temple.”
“Zaicuon Temple is flexing its might right now, too. I wish they’d all calm down a little…”
The head priest of the Zaicuon Temple back in Seiryuu City caused a lot of problems, too. Apparently, there were others who were equally prone to stirring up trouble.
“It’s really only Sherifardo State that stays quiet, I guess…”
“That place is full of hardheaded lawyers. I’ve heard they’re not often in the market for luxury goods, eh?”
“They’re Urion’s loyal dogs, after all. I heard a merchant who smuggled in contraband there recently was strung up right along with the pirates.”
“That’s harsh, all right. Though you have to admit, bringing contraband into a place with so many Eye of Judgment holders was a stupid thing to do…”
If I remembered right, the Eye of Judgment was a Gift directly from Urion.
While I was reflecting on this, Arisa tugged my sleeve.
“Master! There’s a foreign merchant’s stall over there, and guess what they were selling!”
“Ooh, is that pasta?”
This was a rare find, since noodles weren’t very widespread in this world.
Arisa gave me a bite of her seafood pasta and requested a bite from my own plate in return.
“Arisa! Over here, sir!”
“Hurryyyy?”
Arisa went running over to where Pochi and Tama were calling for her.
They seemed to have found another rare food.
Still, the food stall area was getting crowded, probably because it was past noon.
“Say, pilgrim, won’t you let me buy you a drink?”
“Thank you for your kindness, good sir. May you all be protected by the gods in your travels at sea.”
The merchants were treating a group of pilgrims in plain clothes to food and drink.
From the sound of things, the pilgrims were traveling around the central temples the merchants mentioned one by one; the merchants were asking the pilgrims for rumors and information to use for their trade.
“Is Parion Province here the last stop in this seven-god pilgrimage of yours?”
“No, there wasn’t any sea route to Pialork Kingdom. We’re on our way to the south coast to go there, then perhaps visiting Sania Kingdom by land.”
“Land it may be, yet the sand sea that surrounds Sania Kingdom is no different from any ocean. Please be careful on your way.”
“I appreciate the advice. May the gods bless your trade and travels both.”
Sania Kingdom, the site of the Heraluon Central Temple, didn’t border the inland sea.
I decided to offer a few bottles of my nicer sake to get in on the merchants’ conversation and hear more of their interesting tidbits of information.
Gathering local gossip is part of the fun of travel, too, you know?
“Would you mind if I joined you for a while?”
“Oh-ho! You sure can!”
“Any fine young lad who knows the worth of good drink is always welcome here.”
They had no problem including an outsider. Maybe that was the nature of a port town.
“I’d love to get to the Purple Flame continent just once.”
“Does it really exist? I thought the Garleon Alliance sent a whole fleet of ships to find it and not one of them returned. Even the long-distance research airship from the Sage’s Tower went missing on that expedition, didn’t it?”
“It’s written in manuscripts from the Flue Empire era: ‘If you proceed ever westward across the sea for one month’s time, you will find a continent surrounded by purple flame.’ It’s definitely real, we just can’t get there.”
Oh-ho, a different continent?
When I was getting rid of the Evil Jellies—parasitic jellyfish monsters that were harming the World Tree—I got a glimpse of the planet below, but I was too preoccupied to make special note of the names of continents. At the very least, I do remember another continent besides this one off to the west, which must have been the Purple Flame continent.
“Forget about some continent that might not even exist. If I could go anywhere, I’d go to Valauris, the pleasure city. They say you can get a taste of all the pleasures this world has to offer there.”
Ooh, now that sounds intriguing.
“If you’re not careful, you could lose everything you own there, just like the vice city Sibe.”
“Don’t lump it in with a place like Sibe, where only thieves and pirates do business. The vice city is so dirty that even slave traders won’t go near.”
“Scoundrels or not, it’s amazing anyone thought to build a city on the island where the red dragon Welsh makes its nest.”
“That’s probably why the neighboring kingdoms don’t dare mess with them, though.”
Sounds like the kind of place where a game master in a tabletop RPG would be delighted to launch a campaign.
As much as I’d love to meet a red dragon, it would probably be better to stay away from a dangerous place known as a “vice city.”
“The pirates of the vice city Sibe are dangerous, sure. But fer my money, it’s the isles between the Heroic Peninsula and the Twin Peninsula that’s the most dangerous of all.”
“Yeah, there’s wyvern nests there, not to mention lots of places for pirates to hide. You never know when you’re gonna get attacked there.”
“Seems the marines of Sherifardo State have their hands full with those pirates.”
The Heroic Peninsula was on the southern coast where Pialork Kingdom was located, while the Twin Peninsula was on the northern coast with Sherifardo State and the City-State of Kalisork at its root.
“The pirates of the Sea God’s Cape in the Garleon Alliance have been getting more active, too.”
“All the more reason to be cautious.”
“Speaking of the Garleon Alliance, I met the ‘Wandering Wizard’ in the Garlelork City harbor.”
“Interesting… That’s the mountain man said to have lived since the Flue Empire era, right?”
A mountain man? I wonder if he has a white beard.
“As far as the west coast goes, I met the ‘Deviant Chef’ of Aubehr Republic. His appearance and attire were just as the rumors say, but his food’s flavors were even more extraordinary.”
“I envy you that. They say his cooking is fantastic. Though I’m curious about the ‘Miracle Chef’ who recently appeared in the Shiga Kingdom. Even the finest gourmets of the nation said his transparent soup had a ‘miraculous flavor’ or some such thing.”
“Yes, I’ve heard those rumors as well. What I wouldn’t give to meet that chef just once.”
Yeah, sorry, that would be me.
Since I couldn’t very well say “you’ve already met him,” I just smiled with the aid of my hardworking “Poker Face” skill.
“Sir, it’s about time to have the Lamplight conferred upon the ship’s lantern.”
A servant came to fetch one of the merchants, who excused himself and headed off to the temple.
“Are they referring to Parion’s Lamplight?”
“Yes, the very same. It’s incredibly effective at repelling sea-dwelling monsters.”
“It does come at the cost of a hefty offering. Safety is paramount, though.”
“The cost’s not so bad. It used to be that only faithful followers of Parion could borrow a lantern, after all. Now anyone can use it if you only have the coin.”
“True enough. Ever since Pontiff Zarzaris’s reign began, port fees have been next to nothing, too. And with enough funds, they’ll even let you hire a priest to lengthen the effect of the Lamplight for travel abroad.”
That all seemed to add up with what the cardinal told me.
“Speaking of which, I heard the hero from the Saga Empire was in the holy city.”
“I’m told he worked with Sir Mezzalt, the Holy Sword wielder of Parion Temple, to defeat the demon lord who appeared in the Dens of Evil.”
“Sir Mezzalt is truly amazing. No wonder he was chosen by the Holy Sword Blutgang.”
“On the subject of Sir Mezzalt, I’ve heard he’s fond of flower sake from the Aubehr Republic. If that’s all it takes to befriend someone who helped defeat a demon lord, it’d be a small price to pay.”
“I smell a business opportunity…”
The merchants grinned at each other.
I guess true businessmen can still keep an ear out for profit even when they’re just chatting about gossip.
“Masterrr!”
Arisa’s voice drew my attention away from the merchants.
The girls had finished eating and were shopping at a nearby stall.
Lulu was staring intently at something. I excused myself from the merchants and headed over.
The stall was lined with small bottles containing what looked like pretty rock candy.
“These are salt gems from Sania Kingdom. Try it once, and you won’t be able to get enough of that full-bodied flavor.”
The salesman used a hammer to shatter one of the small salt gems and handed it to us on a piece of paper.
I touched my finger to the salt and tasted it. It was a sort of rock salt that was chock-full of minerals. Although it tasted a bit odd, it would be great for grilling meat with a strong taste.
“How much is it?”
“One gold coin if you’ll buy a bottle.”
“That’s very expensive. I’d buy one for half a silver coin.”
Lulu immediately began haggling down the absurdly high price.
According to my “Estimation” skill, they were worth about one silver coin. The gold coins in Parion Province were on the large side, while the silver coins were a bit smaller, which meant that twenty silver coins was equal to one gold coin. Silver was apparently less valuable in the western regions. Instead of large copper coins, they had “half-silvers,” which were silver coins cut in half, and “quarter-silvers,” which were small square pieces.
“Oh, all right. For you, I’ll make it three quarter-silvers.”
Lulu had come out on top in the bartering battle.
“You’re not going to buy any, Master?”
“Since we’re planning on going to Sania Kingdom eventually, I’ll stock up straight from the source.”
One bottle should be more than enough to test it out in the meantime.
“They’re really cute-looking, though. Maybe they’d make a good souvenir?”
I hadn’t even thought of it that way. It might not appeal to nobles, but they’d probably make a good present for the next time I visited Hikaru or the Echigoya Company. Zena, Karina, Nana’s sisters, and our other friends in Labyrinth City might like some, too.
I retracted my previous statement and stocked up on the bottles of salt gems. It goes without saying that Lulu bargained for an even better bulk price.
“Looks like you’re having fun, young master.”
A man passing behind me murmured in my ear.
It was the former Phantom Thief Pippin, who now worked as an intelligence agent for the Echigoya Company.
“Hey, Pippin. Thanks again for your help before. The hero sends his thanks, too.”
“Glad to hear it.”
I had Pippin fend off poisoning and assassination attempts on Hayato the Hero in the holy city.
“What’re you up to today?”
“A new job from Lord Kuro.” Pippin shrugged lightly. “He wants me to do some location scouting and stuff for opening new branches in the western regions.”
Of course, I already knew that—I was the one who gave the order on my way back from the cardinal’s mansion.
I was planning to bring some branch manager candidates and employees from the company via teleportation after the wyvern messenger the cardinal sent reached them, which should be the following day.
“Now, I don’t mind Lord Kuro working me to the bone, but he didn’t give me the funds I need for all this.”
Whoops. I forgot to give him the necessary capital.
“I see. So you want me to lend it to you?”
“You’re quick on the uptake. A hundred gold coins or so would be ideal…”
“I don’t have that many Parion Province gold coins.”
“I can exchange them myself.”
I handed Pippin a pouch of Shiga Kingdom gold coins.
Next time, I should probably start using the Space Magic spell Material Transfer.
“Heh, thanks a bunch… Wait, isn’t this a bit too much?”
“The rest is a reward. It’s my way of thanking you for protecting the hero from the shadows.”
“Thanks, young master. You’re a real stand-up guy… Say, if this is your first time in the city, you should check out the bazaar on the south side. They’ve always got lots of unusual goods and rare sights fresh from the inland sea.”
With that, Pippin disappeared into the crowd, gold-stuffed pouch in hand.
“That was the phantom thief guy, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, I had him protect the hero from being poisoned. Next he’s going to handle preliminary scouting to set up new Echigoya Company branches.”
As Pippin left, Arisa arrived, done with her shopping.
“Anyway, he told me about a bazaar. Let’s go check it out.”
The rest of the group was equally excited, so we headed south toward the bazaar Pippin told me about.
“Larvae spotted, I report!”
“Wait.”
Mia stopped Nana before she could run off.
“If I wait, they will be purchased, I protest. Arisa says every meeting is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, I insist.”
Nana had spotted some strange accessories in the shape of small animals.
As soon as I gave the okay, she took off toward the stall, dragging Mia by the hand.
“That’s byootiful?”
“Tiny and cute, sir.”
Tama and Pochi locked on to a stall of wood carvings in a local folk art style.
“What are these for, I wonder?”
Behind the little duo, Liza looked at them and tilted her head.
“They’re launching devices for javelins. You press the butt of the javelin into this part and fire.”
Evidently, the wooden birdlike tool Tama and Pochi found was actually a weapon. The salesman explained that they made javelins fly faster than a normal throw, so I bought a set of one of the devices with the accompanying javelins.
“Arisa, look at this. It’s some kind of strange nutcracker. And I wonder what that is?”
Lulu was excitedly exploring a shop with cooking tools. For once, she was the one dragging Arisa around, instead of the opposite.
This place really was full of rare sights, like Pippin had said.
“Master! Master! Come here!”
I hurried over to Arisa.
From her urgent cry, I assumed something was wrong, but she’d just spotted another interesting item.
“It’s a transforming Magic Sword!”
“A Magic Sword…made of wood?”
It was a wooden sword carved with notches and grooves.
The carvings made for a somewhat unusual decoration.
“Look, just try putting some magic into it. Only a tiny bit, okay?”
At Arisa’s prompting, I sent a tiny amount of magic into the sword.
“…Ooh.”
The wooden sword transformed.
From the blade of the sword, a monster part–like shell-patterned prong appeared.
“Pretty cool, right?” Arisa grinned.
It certainly was cool, although it didn’t seem terribly practical to me.
“And this shield has a blade that pops out.”
Arisa held up a kite shield.
“Say, mister, you and yer friends have some mighty fine clothes. Are ya foreign nobles?”
“Yes, from the Shiga Kingdom.”
“Whoops, ’scuse my rudeness. Yer not swaggering around like you own the place, so’s I thought you was merchants…” The shopkeeper scratched his head. “I got some stuff special for nobles, too.”
He produced a small item in a box from behind the counter.
It was an odd combination of crystals.
“This ’un’s from the same magic tool workshop as them others. When ya put magic into it… Well, have a look-see.”
As soon as magic entered the strange, spherical object, it took on a much pointier shape. It was evidently made from monster materials, not crystals like I first thought.
The object glowed beautifully from within, possibly equipped with a light stone on the base.
“It’s very pretty.”
“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
Oh-ho? So there’s more?
Interested, I peered at the item in the shopkeeper’s hand.
Oooh.
The spiky outer parts split off from the center and began floating around the object in a circular orbit.
On closer inspection, they seemed to be connected to the main part by some kind of thread.
“Wow, that’s amazing.”
“I know, ain’t it just?”
The shopkeeper grinned widely at Arisa.
“So, what does this magic tool do exactly?”
“…Nngh.”
The man froze at her question.
“What’s wrong?”
“…Th-this is it, see.”
“That’s it?”
“For the most part, Magic Items from Joppentelle workshop just transform, an’ that’s it. There’s some what have weaponry like the wooden Magic Sword, ’cept none of ’em are much more ’n toys.”
The shopkeeper looked despondent.
He must be a big fan of this Joppentelle workshop’s creations.
“What’s wrong with toys? Besides, I’m sure fine engineering like this will find usage in many other fields in the future.”
“D-do ya really think so?”
“Of course.”
The shopkeeper practically clung to my hand. I nodded firmly.
Then, as if to prove it, I bought up just about all of his Joppentelle workshop products.
I figured they might be useful reference for when I make and tinker with my own Magic Items and weapons.
“Wowser, upper nobles from big kingdoms ain’t no joke… That’s the biggest sale I ever made in my life. If ya ever go to Kalisork, ya gotta stop by Joppentelle’s workshop, ya hear?”
The shopkeeper threw in all kinds of extras with my purchase.
At any rate, this transformation-obsessed workshop did sound intriguing. It made me think of Professor Jahado, who was obsessed with rotation-based devices. They’d probably get along.
We spent the rest of the day until evening checking out accessories and other small goods, with several similarly fun discoveries along the way.
Seeing such a wide variety of products was pretty exciting.
“Welcome back, Lord Kuro!”
After dinner, I went over to the Echigoya Company to have a meeting about opening branches in Parion Province, only to be met with a greeting in perfect unison from all the executive staff girls who happened to be in the manager’s office.
I nearly automatically responded with “I’m home,” which would have been out of character for Kuro. Instead, I coolly raised one hand in response and asked Manager Eluterina if there was anything new.
“Everything’s going smoothly, Lord Kuro.”
The manager’s eyes sparkled as she responded.
While she looked like a gorgeous blond woman, she seemed more like a pure young girl in moments like these.
The door to the office opened, and a silver-haired beauty with sharp features walked in: the manager’s secretary, Tifaleeza.
“Welcome back, Lord Kuro. Here is the list of candidates for merchant ship captains, per your request. I had hoped to gather twenty, but I’m afraid I’ve only been able to reach out to twelve so far. I got a positive response from seven of these.”
Tifaleeza was ridiculously competent.
It hadn’t even been three days since I’d brought up the subject, yet she already had seven candidates to captain the ships.
Glancing at the list, I saw that three of them were veterans who had traveled the western route before, while the remaining candidates were young up-and-comers with trade experience on the sugar route.
“Since it’s a long journey, ten would be ideal. I acquired ten ships at the trade city Tartumina and brought them here, if you could prepare them for travel. And I’ve got golems on guard, so don’t forget to bring an executive with you.”
These were actually all drifting or wrecked ships that I’d acquired on the sugar route.
I’d stopped at the harbor and popped them into the water on the way here.
“Very well. May I ask the classifications of the ships?”
“They’re all large galleons.”
Since it was such a long route, it seemed best to pick big oceangoing ships for the fleet.
“Lord Kuro, we were told by the fleet captain candidate—Captain Looklar—that it would be best to have a few high-speed vessels as well.”
“Got it. I’ll round up three or so of those, then. If that’s not enough, we’ll find more.”
I might as well leave it up to the professionals how to use them.
I still had some midsize and smaller crafts that might be good for shorter-distance trade routes once we had more personnel.
According to Miss Manager, they’d already secured a few rented storehouses and bases in the trade city Tartumina and were beginning to recruit sailors and gather supplies. I’d left the actual products for trading entirely up to Eluterina, so I was just going to trust in her instincts.
“As far as the personnel for the Parion Province location, I thought I’d send Merina, since it seems like there might be a lot of sales.”
Merina was one of the executive girls who’d distinguished herself in a big purchase of wholesale cotton from Vistall Duchy. She was currently in charge of things like jade silk and dressmaking. However, it was clear from her expression that she was raring to go, so I granted permission.
“All right. You’ll be perfect for this.”
Merina had exceptional instincts for bulk purchases and estimating market value. She might eventually be a good general manager for all our future branches in the western regions.
“I, Merina, shall work my absolute hardest on this new branch in order to live up to your expectations!”
Okay, that level of zeal was kind of scary. Hopefully, she’d relax a little.
“When will you be done preparing and passing on your previous duties? I will bring you to Parion Province once you’re ready.”
“Really?! I’m already done with all that. I can go as soon as tomorrow morning!”
Merina looked sheepish as the rest of the girls cheered for her enthusiastically. Maybe being sent by me personally was some kind of status symbol?
Eluterina and Tifaleeza were both grimacing, although they smoothed their expressions over when I met their gazes.
Based on the whispers my “Keen Hearing” skill picked up, it seemed like the girls were discussing how I generally picked people up to teleport them. It must be a sexual harassment issue or something.
In that case, instead of picking Merina up like usual, maybe I should lift her with Magic Hand to teleport her like I did with Pippin. Yeah, that should solve everything.
Miss Manager cleared her throat and went on.
“We’ve received word from Louna in the north that she’s arrived in Kageus County. According to her traveling companion Sharururuun, the internal strife in Yowork Kingdom has accelerated, leading to more refugees coming across the mountains.”
Manager Eluterina declined to mention something else that Louna, the executive who loved riding on a stone wolf, had written in her letter: “Saw a dragon. It was super cool!” I guess the lesser dragon that was freed from Yowork Kingdom’s control must be doing well if it was flying around like that.
“Costohna, who’s been establishing branch offices from west to east, has reached Seiryuu City. Since Sir Pendragon requested a great deal of sheep and goats to be procured, she’s buying them up slowly from Seiryuu County and Kageus County so as not to ruin the market price before transporting them to Kuvork Kingdom.”
Providing goats and sheep to Kuvork Kingdom was a request from Arisa that I’d passed on to the Echigoya Company.
Costohna was another one of the executives; though quiet and unassuming, she was persistent and did reliable work. Thus far, she’d been assisting Merina and negotiating deals for our franchising plans.
“We’ve mostly finished setting up branches within Shiga Kingdom. The scale of trade in the neighboring central and eastern nations is much smaller, so we’re thinking of hiring locals to make subbranch offices instead of full-blown stores. We’ve already hired widely connected individuals in Siruga Kingdom and Makiwa Kingdom to the east, as well as in Kazo Kingdom and Saga Empire to the north. We’ll send personnel ahead to those places within the next few days.”
So the branch setup was going smoothly, too.
“As far as the Muno County airship emigration project, Magistrate Lottel has given us a promising response. Skilled artisans, engineers, civil officials, and other intellectual types will be sent to Muno City, while the rest will go to Brighton City, where they intend to appoint Viscount Pendragon as viceroy, and to the surrounding abandoned settlements.”
…Appoint me as viceroy? Since when?
I’m sure it’s just a temporary assignment, since they don’t have anyone else they can make viceroy right now, but still, come on.
Brighton City was formerly overrun by monsters until we secretly cleared it out in spare moments during our stay in the royal capital.
“I thought I heard that Brighton City was destroyed by the ‘Undead King’ and became a monster territory?”
“Well, you see…it seems the monsters have been cleaned out at some point. A former mithril adventurer who’s a vassal of Count Muno went and confirmed it. Apparently, even Magistrate Lottel doesn’t know what happened…”
I guess word finally reached Count Muno that the city was free of monsters.
“…but she did question whether it might be the work of the ‘silver-masked hero,’ also known as ‘Sir Nanashi.’”
The manager looked at me questioningly. I nodded.
“That’s right. My employer and some of his other followers cleared it out. He said it could host more refugees than mass-producing a bunch of villages.”
That reason was just an afterthought, of course.
At the time, I basically just did it as part of my companions’ training.
There was still a lot to be decided about the emigrants to Muno County. I settled a few payments, gave solutions and strategies for some of the problems that were brought up, and left the rest in the executives’ capable hands.
I’d have to make sure to set up some housing complexes and farmland to be certain that people could live in Brighton City when the time came for them to actually move in.
“Now that we’ve begun several new projects and expanded on our existing ones, we’re shorthanded for managerial positions. While we do have applicants from the intellectual classes, many of them have problematic personalities or attachments to other nobles, making it difficult to hire anyone.”
Shorthanded again already? We just hired more people recently…
Tifaleeza handed me a file that made the reasons clear.
The company had already tripled in scale since the end of the year alone. If there was such explosive growth in such a short period of time, it was no wonder they were short on management. At this point, the Echigoya Company was already one of the top five biggest companies in the royal capital alone.
“We’ll just have to select senior staff members to promote to managerial roles.”
I contacted Arisa about it with the Space Magic spell Telephone, and she kindly offered to make an educational program for new managers. “Leave it to me!” she said. “This was my specialty way back when!” Given her confidence, I told the managers that I would commission outside help to create an educational pamphlet and left it at that.
Next, I received reports from the executive staff, thanked them for their hard work, encouraged them through difficult patches, praised their accomplishments, and so on. By the time I was done, it was too late at night to stop by the sales floor or the factories. I resolved to come in the afternoon next time so that I could see the redheaded Neru, the security specialist “big sis,” and the others, too.
While I was in the royal capital, I stopped by Hikaru’s place, too.
“Are you still awake?”
“Ichiroooou!”
I sat down next to Hikaru, who had set up cushions on the rooftop to drink sake and gaze at the moon.
This mansion was serving as the boarding house where the orphanage kids from Labyrinth City were staying to study abroad at the royal academy; I’d put Hikaru in charge as their caretaker. If anything, she was more like a dorm mother, but Hikaru insisted on the term “caretaker.”
“Congrats on taking down the demon lord.”
Hikaru toasted me with a cup of Shigan sake.
“Thanks… This is really good.”
“Hee-hee-hee, Sete and the others keep giving me stuff like this. I’m working my way through it.”
Sete was her nickname for the king.
A few of the authorities, like the king and the prime minister, knew Hikaru’s secret identity: the ancestral king Yamato, who founded the Shiga Kingdom. As such, they kept sending her gifts.
“Was the demon lord strong?”
“Yeah, very.”
I told her about the extraordinary efforts of the hero’s party, my own group, and everyone else.
“Those demon lords who make lots of spawn are one of the worst kinds, you know. And it doesn’t help that the ruins of the Evil God’s Prison have entrances all over the place—no wonder they had such a hard time tracking him down. Were there any demons?”
“Yeah, a green greater demon showed up again.”
“Green, huh…? Green and pink are really tough. The green one is always running away and making Avatars to do its dirty work, and the pink one hides in little gaps and splits up and stuff.”
“Sounds like you had your work cut out for you, too, Hikaru.”
“Yep, I sure did. Even when Sky all but destroyed the pink one with her breath attack, it can still revive if there’s even a chunk of flesh left, which is super annoying. And the green one has a crazy strong nose for danger. After Micchy finally made me a tracking item, it never showed up again.”
Hikaru complained at length about the demons.
Hmm, wait a minute.
“What do you mean by a ‘tracking item’?”
“This thing. It’s called a ‘Dream-Chase Spinning Wheel.’ If you tie the end of the thread to a demon, it won’t be able to get it off, no matter how far it runs. And then if you reel it in, you can launch an attack on the demon’s base.”
Hikaru produced a spinning wheel from her Inventory and showed it to me.
Aside from a mithril arrowhead at the end of the thread, it looked like a normal spinning wheel at a glance. According to my AR display, the thread had special properties and could astrally project in certain conditions.
All it required was piercing the demon with the arrowhead or winding the thread around it.
“So does the spinning wheel have teleportation abilities or something?”
“No, it’s nothing that fancy. It just retains traces of the demon’s path. You still need to get a Space Magic user to follow those traces to teleport there. I bet Arisa could do it, don’t you think?”
Bringing Arisa into a demon’s lair sounded a little too dangerous.
I wanted to research other methods, like turning the arrowhead into a miniature seal slate.
“Could I borrow this?”
“Sure. If you defeat the green one, I’m sure Micchy would be happy, too.”
Hikaru smiled as if at a fond memory.
I poured some of the Parion Province sake I’d brought as a souvenir into her cup.
“Okay, that’s enough dwelling on the past!” With that, Hikaru drained her cup and grinned broadly. “Oh, right! I actually went to Labyrinth City the other day. That teleport gate is wicked useful! I wish we had that back in the old days.”
Hikaru let out a sigh that smelled of sake, then giggled.
Going along with her, I poured more sake into my own empty cup.
“Zena, Karina, and Hachiko and the girls have all gotten a lot stronger, too.”
“Oh yeah? I can’t wait to see for myself.”
Beaming, Hikaru explained that she’d gone into the labyrinth several times and put them through HBC (Hikaru Boot Camp).
“Oh, and Usasa and some of the other Pendra kids said they wanted to get stronger, too, so I put together a special training program for the little tykes. And then the teachers—like Kajiro, Iruna, and Jena—were all like ‘Please instruct us, too!’ and joined in.”
It sounded like everyone was training hard in the labyrinth.
When I’d checked in on my friends in Labyrinth City recently using the Space Magic spell Clairvoyance, they’d almost looked exhausted, like their souls were on the verge of leaving their bodies. I’m sure that was just my imagination, though.
In any case, at least Hikaru was having fun.
“Now that I’ve got two more people to help me with the dorm, I’ll go stay over in Labyrinth City to check in on everyone again sometime soon.”
“I appreciate it. That reminds me… Once they get to the point where they need better equipment, could you give them these?”
I gave Hikaru the economy-style silver armor sets.
I’d made these in the laboratory in Bolenan Forest when I was developing the Phalanx system as a simplified version of the girls’ golden armor. It could probably hold up to an enemy on the level of an areamaster, even if it wouldn’t be strong enough to go up against a demon lord. As for their origin, maybe I should say I found them on the sugar route?
It might be good to make Japanese-style armor for Kajiro and Ayaume, too.
“Speaking of which, Zena said she won’t be making a trip home anymore.”
When we met at the beginning of the year, Zena had mentioned that she might need to return to Seiryuu City in a month or so to give an interim report. Evidently, however, that was no longer the case.
I’d been thinking of revisiting Seiryuu City while she was there, but I guess her job doesn’t have as much freedom as that of an office worker.
According to Hikaru, the reason this trip was canceled was that the second small airship built by the Echigoya Company was rolled out sooner than expected; when it was delivered to Seiryuu City, they brought along a Labyrinth City Celivera Elite Training Corps member with a written report, rendering Zena’s visit unnecessary.
“Oh, also! A kid who studied musical instruments under Mia in Labyrinth City said something about wanting to study abroad in the royal capital someday.”
“Huh. If they’re serious about it, we’ll have to lend some support.”
“Hee-hee, I figured you would say that.”
Hikaru and I continued drinking the royal family’s finest sake as we caught up on each other’s latest news.
I’d been planning to stop by Bolenan Forest, too, but it got later than I expected. My beloved Miss Aaze, the high elf of Bolenan Forest, was probably off in dreamland by this point. I decided to give her a morning call via Telephone instead.
“What’s thaaat?”
“It’s a lighthouse.”
The next day, we were touring some of the port city’s landmarks.
The lighthouses here were hard to recognize at first, since they stood on a three-pronged base.
Parion’s holy seal was inscribed on the side that faced the ocean, with delicate Parion Province–style reliefs carved into the base as well.
This was one of their popular sightseeing spots, if the crowd of tourists was anything to go by.
“The larvae are having fun, I report.”
I followed Nana’s gaze and saw a young couple with an adorable baby.
“Ah…!”
The wife, who was shading her eyes with her hand, suddenly collapsed.
While her husband caught her, the baby flew out of the wife’s hands and tumbled headlong toward the ground.
I saw the beastfolk girls and Nana take off toward them with “Blink,” but they wouldn’t make it in time. I used my always-active Magic Hand to support the baby’s weight and guide its trajectory toward Nana.
Sliding headfirst like a baseball player, Nana caught the baby.
“Nice caaatch?”
“Nana’s amazing, sir.”
“Safe, I declare.”
The baby started crying in Nana’s arms.
“You’re not holding her quite right.”
Arriving later than the others, Arisa took the baby from Nana.
“Are you all right?”
“Y-yes, thank you. I just got a little dizzy.”
The wife must be suffering from heatstroke.
Mia healed the woman with Water Magic, which worked great on that sort of thing.
“…I couldn’t find the guy you asked me to look for. I did pay someone in the other organization to keep an eye out for him, though.”
My “Keen Hearing” skill picked up on a somewhat suspicious-sounding conversation. I turned around and saw a familiar face at the source.
It was Sorijeyro the Sage.
He was standing in the shadow of a warehouse some distance away, talking to a captain from a foreign nation.
“Understood. Keep looking on your next voyage.”
“Sure thing. I’ll search some more while I’m escorting your students.”
The sage handed something to the captain.
According to my AR display, it contained gold coins.
…Urk.
The sage turned in my direction.
We were pretty far away, yet somehow he seemed to have noticed me watching.
Feeling somewhat awkward, I waved, as if I’d just spotted him.
“Eek! Hey, stop that, you!”
Hearing Arisa cry out, I turned and saw that the baby had pulled on her hair, tugging her wig enough to show a hint of her lilac roots.
“Oh, that little troublemaker. I’m sorry, miss.”
As Arisa fixed her wig, the wife apologized to her, looking much better after Mia’s healing.
At least it wasn’t anything serious.
When I turned back, the sage was already gone.
“Hurry, Master, hurry!”
I climbed the lighthouse as the girls shouted down to me.
“Wonderfuuuul?”
“Wonderiffic, sir!”
Everyone was very excited by the 360-degree view of the clear blue sky and the ocean stretching far into the distance.
We gazed at the ships of various nations anchored in the harbor below, and I answered the kids’ questions as best I could.
We could see a lot of the harbor facilities from here, too.
“That was more fun than I expected.”
Once we’d had our fill of the gorgeous view, we headed back down to the bottom of the lighthouse.
“…Master.”
With a warning tone, Liza stepped in front of me.
In front of her stood the sage.
There were two people behind him with the self-explanatory title “Sage’s Student.” One of his students was a pretty girl with straight bangs, while the other was a man with a rugged face.
“Hello there. Are you and your students touring the lighthouse, too, Sir Sage?”
Given that he was waiting for us downstairs, I had no doubt that he was here to make sure I didn’t tell anyone what I’d seen or heard between him and that ship captain.
“No, I’ve come to do some recruiting.”
But instead of being on me, his eyes were on my companions behind me.
“Recruiting, you say…?”
“That’s right. It’s a chance to become more adept at your natural talent. What do you say…”
His eyes were fixed on…Arisa?
“…young Tama?”
Huh? I thought for sure he was after Arisa, but the sage invited Tama instead.
Even the students behind him murmured in surprise at that.
“I am very intrigued by your ninjutsu. We have a small handful of real ninjas from the Saga Empire in the Village of Adepts. Would you be interested in training with them? I am sure it would be a great boon to your abilities.”
Tama looked up at me.
From her expression, she was clearly interested in the sage’s proposal.
But I was worried about sending Tama off by herself.
“Sir Sage, would it be all right if the rest of us came along?”
“But of course. No one would question whether any member of the Pendragon group is enough of an Adept after you aided in the defeat of a demon lord.”
With the sage’s immediate agreement, we decided to train in the Village of Adepts for a short time.
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