Leave a comment

This chapter has been replaced with a new translation on [2024-07-21]. Comments may refer to the old translation.

I stood currently in front of a mansion, a few minutes distance on foot from the adventurer’s guild. This was the headquarters of the Medial Merchant Association, that Arkin belonged to.

“Uhm… Excuse me~~!” I called out to the man standing in front of the gates.
“What do you… ahem! …What might it be, young lady?”

Cuteness is justice. I guess it’s effective in this world, too? He was probably about to say something like “What do you want, brat?”.

“I was asked by a man called Arkin to come, that’s why I’m here…” I said, while showing him the business card I had gotten from the man in question.
“Mr. Arkin gave you that? Right, please wait a moment.”

The gatekeeper went inside and returned a few seconds later.

“It’s alright, young lady, you can go through,” he told me as he opened the gate.
“Thank you very much, big brother¹!” (Angel smile)

Though I should mention that he looks more like a middle-aged man.

“Heh-heh-heh-heh, you’re welcome.” (Where did Mr. Arkin get to know such a nice girl?)

When I entered the building, Arkin was already waiting at the entrance.

“Oh, good of you to come, Alim. Well, let’s go to my section.”

I was led into a rather elegant room.

“Have you become an adventurer?” he asked me.
“Indeed!”
“I see, I see. Could you show me your guild card?”
“Sure, here you go, Sir!”
“Thanks. Hrm… So, you’re only 12 years old… Huh? It says you’re already E-Rank? How in the world did you manage that, Alim?”
“Oh, I took the exam and then I turned in four E-Rank magic cores, and somehow that was what I ended up with.”
“Hah… In a single day. Just how did you manage to get to E-Rank? Is it because of talent? It should be fine, if that’s the case.”

“Why are you asking?”
“Hm? Oh, you told me that you’d become an adventurer, so I thought about buying some stuff from you. Look, I already bought a Great Potion from you. So, I’d be happy to be your business partner, Alim. Well, that’s why I asked you to come directly to our headquarters. Hrm, it looks like I didn’t misjudge you².”
“That’s right!”
“On that note, do you already have something to sell? Maybe those E-Rank magic beasts you defeated?”
“Oh, I have! Here, Sir.”

I brought out the Kasnakes that I had dismantled in advance.

“Oh ho, look at that! These have been splendidly dismantled, haven’t they? So, you have the Dismantling skill, Alim? Alright, I’ll pay you 150 bells for one of them. Since you have four… that’s 600 bells.”

Arkin stored the Kasnakes in a magic bag, took out five silver coins and 10 large copper coins³ from a pocket, and gave them to me.

“Heh-heh. Well, that’s what I expected of you⁴. Do you have anything else you want to sell?”

Ah, that’s right. I could sell these blue tongues.
The blue togues from the furballs… or rather, Chagemaros. They’re apparently a delicacy, but I have more than 400 of them and don’t need that many. Let’s sell around 100 of them.

“Yes, I have, Sir! It’s these things…”

I brought out a blue tongue from my magic bag.

“That’s… that’s a blue Chagemaro tongue! This meat is traded as a delicacy. The magic beasts they’re from are rather difficult to dismantle… moreover, they’re D-Rank. Monsters like these live in dangerous regions. Alright, I’ll buy it. How does 5000 bells for one of them sound?”

5000 bells… that would be 50’000 yen!

“I’ll… I’ll sell it! But that’s not the only one I have, you see…”
“Oh ho, feel free to sell as many as you want. Place the goods on this sheet.”

I lined up the blue tongues on the sheet he had brought out. Gradually, Arkin turned pale. The final count was 104 tongues… I had brought out blue tongues equivalent to 520’000 bells, or 5.2 million yen in Japanese currency.

“Ah… huh… uhm…?” Arkin stuttered incoherently.
“Phew. That’s all of them. Mr. Arkin… Mr. Arkin?”
“Hang on… Alim… Where in the world did you get this many of them?”
“Well, I simply hunted them normally, you know?”
“Hah… Are you sure? To sell such an amount…”
“It’s all good. On the contrary, I’m happy to sell them. Are you fine with this many of them?”

I was worried. But it looked like there had been no need.

“Ha-ha-ha. No, to get this many blue tongues of such a good quality… moreover, 104 of them. That you’d sell something like this to me… I’m happy with it. Are you sure that you’re not actually S-Rank instead of E-Rank, Alim? Otherwise, there’s no explanation for you to have this many.”

Oh, that’s what he thinks?

“Are you really sure, Sir? Oh, I’m sorry, but could you give me five gold coins, 45 large silver coins, 45 silver coins, 45 large copper coins, and 50 copper coins in exchange for one of the large gold coins?”
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You’re already like a proper merchant! And it’s only been a single day! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Fine, fine. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

Isn’t he laughing a bit too much? In other words, these things are popular enough that he’ll still make a profit, even after paying me this much, is that what he means⁵?

“Hah… That was too much excitement. Here are your 520’000 bells. Make sure it’s the right amount.”
“Thank you very much, Sir!”
“No, I should be the one to thank you. I’m seriously grateful to you. There’s a demand for these blue tongues, you see. I won’t have any trouble finding buyers for them.”

As I thought. Oh, that’s right. I should ask him for some favors.

“I’m sorry, Sir, but there’s three more things I’d like to ask you…”
“Hm? Ask away. Thanks to you, I’m currently in high spirits.”
“Alright. First, I wanted to ask you if there is a skill that lets you create magic cards.”
“There is. The skill is called Enchanting. I think it’s mainly weapon merchants, blacksmiths, and magic tool merchants who acquire the skill…”
“I’d like to learn the Smithing and Enchanting skills.”
“Why these?”
“Because I like to craft things.”

The truth is different. No matter how you look at it, I only want those two skills to use as materials for that five-star skill.

“Hrm, if that’s the case, that shop should be fine. There’s a place called “Knick & Honnard’s Store” I have connections with, that should work well. I’ll relay to them that when a girl called Alim visits, they are to teach you those skills⁶. When will you go there?”
“Oh, tomorrow. Also, if there’s a blacksmith in that store, I’d like to place an order for three pickaxes⁷, two shovels, two sets of sewing needles, two sewing scissors, and two dismantling knives…”
“Yes, the store is run by two brothers who work as a weapon merchant and a blacksmith. Understood, I’ll also relay your order to them.”

“Then, for my next request…”
“What is it?”
“I’d like to buy a set of tools each for smithing and enchanting.”
“Understood. We should have these in stock. I can get them now, if you want.”
“Yes, if that’s alright.”
“Great, got it. The price for them is 184’500 bells.”
“Understood, here’s the money, Sir.”
“That’s the right amount. I’ll get them, then.”

Arkin left the room. He returned after around 15 minutes.

“Let’s put them in your magic bag, then. This is an item to directly move things from one magic bag to another, so I’ll use it to transfer the tools into your bag now⁸… Good, it worked. Thank you for your patronage.”

“Now for my last request.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know where I can find a good mountain range to gather lots of ore? If you do, please tell me, Sir.”
“Hm~~, I guess the [Tria Erial Mountains] fit the bill. Still… there’s swarms of D-Rank and C-Rank magic beasts there… I wonder, will you be alright, Alim? I’m worried… For the time being, I wouldn’t recommend going there, but I guess that’s the best place to start. It’s directly south-southeast from the royal capital and takes around four days to reach via carriage.”
“Thank you very much!”
“Why would you want to go there?”
“To improve my Mining skill, Sir!”

The truth is that it’s cheaper to mine it myself rather than buying it.

“I see… I would advise you against it.
“That was all.”
“Well, you truly are a good customer. I’m quite happy with our transactions. If you need anything again, don’t hesitate to rely on me, will you?”
“Yes, I’ll do exactly that, Sir!”
“Watch out for suspicious people on your way back. Oh, by the way, I told the gatekeeper to just let you through next time.”
“Understood.” (Extraordinary smile)

I also said goodbye to the gatekeeper when I left. With another angel smile.

Now, it’s getting dark, so let’s go to Uruto’s inn [Hikari] and sleep there.

1. The original is お兄さん (“older brother”, “young man”, “buddy”). I normally would’ve translated it as “Mister”, but then the following sentence wouldn’t make sense.
2. This might be wrong. The original is 私の目に狂いはないようだ (“it looks like my eyes aren’t mad/irregular/out of order”).
3. This is 1 silver coin and 4 large copper coins (140 bells) in the original. I can only assume that the author originally intended for these things to sell for less.
4. Not sure if that’s right, the original is まぁ、こんな感じで頼むよ, but I didn’t find a fitting translation.
5. My first guess would’ve been hysterical laughter due to Alim’s craziness.
6. This sounds like he’ll order them to do that. It was more polite in the original (“I’ll relay to them that they should do you the favor of teaching you…”), but I didn’t find a good way to express that in English with how the sentence is built.
7. The original is ピッケル (“ice axe”). He likely plans to use them for mining and not mountain climbing, so I changed it to “pickaxe”.
8. Sure, that’s convenient, but wouldn’t people want to see if he gave them the right item?