From the next day on, it was hectic.
There were a few things that needed to be taken care of before Heid visited Vespian.
First, we had to find merchants affiliated with the Magic Tower and sell off the Rivilla merchant group’s cargo.
The shops that ordinary adventurers frequently use would inevitably try to find all sorts of faults and drive the price down as much as possible.
While there isn’t much difference in price no matter where you sell things like monster byproducts or crude weapons, for items easy to find fault with like this loot, we had to carefully choose where to sell.
“Hmm… customers, you didn’t happen to rob some merchant group, did you…?”
Even a merchant affiliated with the Magic Tower made a troubled face asking if this was stolen goods, so how much worse would it be with the merchants near the guild who make fleecing adventurers their life’s joy?
“This is a bit troublesome. If you’re looking to dispose of loot or stolen goods, you’ll have to look elsewhere besides our shop…”
Like this man before us, suggesting we look for another shop if we want to dispose of stolen goods – he was already in the top 1% of conscientious merchants in terms of character.
Most of the merchants in the guild district would offer ridiculously low prices, or even go further and subtly threaten to report us to the guards if we refused their offer.
Since these items were legitimately obtained loot, there wouldn’t be much to pin on us even if reported to the guards, but the very fact of a guard investigation would be extremely troublesome for us.
That’s why we came to find this merchant Amy introduced, instead of those guys.
“Don’t worry. I’ll vouch for them.”
Of course, with Amy accompanying us.
“I swear by the name of the Magic Tower that these items are legitimate acquisitions without any problem.”
Amy, who came to the merchant with me, showed him a token proving her Magic Tower affiliation and shrugged her shoulders lightly.
It was a guarantee dozens of times more trustworthy than a hundred words from me.
“Hmm… this is Lord Rayfield’s token. Then there should be no problem.”
The merchant, after hearing Amy’s guarantee, leaned forward to examine the token closely, then nodded as if it was trustworthy enough.
“Rayfield?”
“My master. She’s also my patron who recommended me to the Magic Tower.”
Amy whispered quietly, bringing her mouth close to my ear.
Milena Rayfield, a high-ranking magician of the Magic Tower.
She was Amy’s teacher and patron, who would recommend children with magical talent like Amy to the Magic Tower whenever she discovered them, becoming their teacher and patron.
Of course, while the words ‘teacher and patron’ sound nice, apparently all she did for the disciples she took in was just toss them a Book of Adventure.
“…Why bother taking in disciples then?”
“Well, I’m not sure either. Maybe it’s for the tuition fees. Or to increase her faction’s numbers. Maybe it’s just a whim?”
Anyway, she said that while she might be a failing grade as a teacher, her reputation and credibility were high, so it was a very convenient name to use in situations like this.
“Alright. I’ll buy all of these, these, and these. As for these weapons… they don’t seem worth buying.”
While Amy and I were chatting like that, the merchant, having finished his deliberation, pointed at each item on the list we had given him, selecting the ones he would buy.
I had hoped he would buy everything… but I guess he wasn’t going to be that much of a sucker.
It seemed we would have to quietly take the items of ambiguous commercial value, like the crude weapons left behind by the bandits, to sell in the guild district.
“Are you going to sell those horses too? If so…”
“Just two of them. We’re planning to keep the other two for now.”
After roughly sorting out the items he would buy, the merchant finally asked if we were planning to sell off the pack horses that had pulled the wagons.
While horses are quite expensive items to sell, so we had originally planned to sell them all off, Friede and Amy suggested we keep two of them.
Saying that if we had our own horses and wagon, we could avoid the hassle of having to rent a wagon every time we went out on a request.
Hearing that, it made sense, so we decided to just keep two of the pack horses with us.
Unlike the horses, the wagon was already in a rag-like state by the time we arrived in the city, so we’d have to repair it or buy a new one.
“Is that so…? Hmm, then two gold coins should be sufficient as payment.”
Two gold coins.
In other words, he was offering to pay two hundred silver coins.
Divided by four, that’s fifty silver coins per person.
Considering the prices in this world, it was honestly selling at a bit of a bargain, but even so, from this merchant’s perspective, it was putting in a fair effort.
If he wanted to, he could secure the same items at a much lower price.
After all, isn’t that what merchants are like originally?
It’s a profession that monopolizes distribution rights by bribing high-ranking officials, then buys goods cheaply and sells them at three or four times the price to pocket the difference.
That’s why goods that would require at least five gold coins for us to buy directly have fallen to a value of only two gold coins when we’re selling them.
In fact, two coins is treating us well. Other merchants would have tried to settle for one gold coin.
Without the backing of the Magic Tower, even this merchant would probably have done the same.
If such profiteering is so unbearable that you can’t stand it, you should quit being an adventurer and join a merchant guild to change professions…
‘…That’s nonsense. That is.’
This was just a half-joking lamentation, in reality it was completely out of the question.
There were two conditions for joining a merchant guild.
Either pay an enormous support fee to the guild, or simply inherit and continue the profession of parents who were already guild members.
In other words, no money, no connections, no outsiders allowed.
It’s only natural. Who in the world would want to share such a sweet pie with complete strangers, except maybe their own family?
So, well, there’s nothing we can do about it. We should just be grateful to properly receive even two gold coins.
“Ah, please give half in silver coins. I need to distribute it to the party members.”
“Well, that’s not a difficult thing. Here you are. Take it.”
The middle-aged merchant took out one gold coin and a hundred silver coins from a cabinet behind the sofa, put them in a leather pouch, and handed it to us with a smile. Saying it was a good deal.
Of course it’s a good deal for him. Just reselling the items we handed over would yield a net profit of more than three gold coins.
* * *
“Here, fifty silver coins each.”
After leaving the building with the money pouch, I distributed each person’s share to Friede and Kikel who were waiting outside, and Amy who was standing next to me.
“Fifty? My share of money. Isn’t it a bit much?”
Kikel tilted his head and asked back.
Saying that while it might be understandable for copper tokens like Friede or Amy, wasn’t fifty silver too much an amount to give even to him who was still just an iron token?
There’s an adventurer who refuses even when given more money. It was a declaration of conscience rarely seen among humans.
“It doesn’t seem right to discriminate within the same party, does it? If you think it’s an unsuitable reward for an iron token… consider it a sign of high expectations.”
I smiled and told him to take it instead of refusing.
“In my view, if you can solve your body temperature problem, you could aim for copper token. If you feel burdened, you can use that as capital to quickly promote to copper token.”
I meant for him to use the money I gave him to secure plenty of heating stones and become a more reliable force.
“…Kakachak!”
Perhaps touched, Kikel who had been silent for a moment soon raised his head and burst into laughter.
“Have gratitude! Your recognition like family! I make you sibling! Allow speak casually!”
Kikel, expressing gratitude for the family-like recognition, said he would treat me like a sibling from now on so I should speak casually.
Surely he hadn’t decided to treat me like family, as if I were his younger sister, just for handing over fifty silver coins.
Perhaps the way I had treated him closely and considerately in various ways until now had reminded him of family affection.
Well, it wasn’t a bad thing for me. I had honestly found it a bit troublesome to speak formally only to him while speaking casually to other party members.
“Sure. No, I will. Actually, that’s more comfortable for me too.”
So I nodded and immediately started speaking casually. In a more familiar voice, even mixing in jokes.
“Then should I call you big brother Kikel now?”
Big brother, huh. It’s funny even as I say it. It’s a word I wouldn’t utter even if my mouth was torn in normal circumstances.
“Hi-Hilde? That’s a bit…”
Friede, who had been listening quietly, expressed her opposition with a disgusted face. I don’t know why. Did she think it didn’t suit me?
Well, it was just a joke, so whatever.
Calling him big brother was just a joke, I had no intention of actually calling him that even if told to.
If I did, my hands and feet would curl up like a blue robot raccoon.
“Wrong! Not right! Call Kikel name!”
However, Kikel, who heard my joke, shook his head firmly. Saying it was unacceptable to call him big brother and to just call him by name.
“Oh… alright then. Was I suddenly too informal?”
I nodded with a slightly disappointed face.
Even if we’re like siblings, is the term big brother a bit too much between colleagues?
It was an understandable answer, though it made me feel a bit awkward.
“Different! Not big brother! I call you big sis!”
…But the answer that came right after was incomprehensible.
“What big sister?”
I asked back with my mouth wide open. Big sister? What’s with that suddenly? With our age difference, how could he say such a thing…
…Wait a minute.
Had I ever asked Kikel’s age?
Come to think of it, I hadn’t. I had just assumed he was older than me based on his usual way of speaking and rugged face.
But big sister?
Could it be that this Lizardman was actually younger than me?
“Uh… Kikel, how old are you now?”
“…Don’t tell me you were actually the same age as me?”
Amy also seemed quite surprised by the fact that Kikel was younger than me, as she turned her head to look at Kikel and asked. With a face that said, surely with that appearance he couldn’t be the same age as her?
And then.
“Kachak! Fourteen years old!”
Kikel burst into laughter and revealed his age.
“…”
“…”
“…”
The three of us couldn’t laugh. Because the answer that came back was at an unbelievable level.
Same age as Amy my foot. He was much younger.
To the point where it was hard to believe.
“…Fourteen years old?”
“Kachak! Correct! So Hilde is big sis!”
Fourteen years old?
Forget being younger, he’s just a child.
Good heavens, had I been running a child soldier all this time?
Was I pushing a fourteen-year-old child in front of monsters as a shield?
It was truly a shocking revelation.