Chapter 305


(305) Church merchant and Haru’s skill


Translator: Tseirp


We started preparations for the trip to Mount Landau .


Today, I’ll buy whatever we need as we browse through the city .


“First would be —”


“Ichino-sama . I wish to go to the Church, may I have permission?”


“Church? If you wish to change jobs — can’t you do it yourself?”


I asked Carol after checking that there was n.o.body nearby .


In fact, Carol’s job has been changed back from Succubus Queen to Peddler .


“I require proof of job as Herbalist before I can purchase tools to create medicine . ”


Job certificates huh? We certainly have to visit the church for that .


Miri probably has tools to make medicine too but we might as well purchase new ones .


“All right, let’s go to the Church — Here, Carol . You can use this . ”


I said and pa.s.sed Carol some notes .


“These are?”


“Oh, so even Carol doesn’t know . These are money . Called Goats bills and they are used in place of coins in this country . ”


“Paper can be used as money — ”


Haru stared at the Goats bill curiously .


Coming from j.a.pan, I have the impression that paper bills have a higher value than coins but naturally in this world the residents don’t truly trust that paper can be used as money .


” … Ichino-sama, how much is this?”


“There are twenty 10,000 Goats bills so 200,000 Goats . About 2,000 Sense . ”


When Carol changed her job in Belasra, it cost 100 Sense but the job change fee we paid was for a job change from Commoner to another job .


I heard that it cost 1,000 Sense when changing jobs apart from Commoner and Jobless so I a.s.sumed it was more than enough .


“2,000 Sense … erm, Ichino-sama . Carol is no longer Ichino-sama’s slave . ”


“Hn? Yeah, that’s right . Eh, but you are still wearing the slave collar?”


“Carol is only wearing this as an accessory … erm, so about this money …”


” … Hn?”


What was she trying to say?


Was 200,000 Goats insufficient?


“With this, all the money Carol possess comes from Ichino-sama . ”


“Yeah, that’s correct . But that money can’t be used in this country . ”


” — Carol currently has nothing to give Ichino-sama in exchange for this 200,000 Goats . ”


” … Hm?”


What was Carol trying to say?


Carol has nothing to give me?


” ………… Ah, that’s what you mean . ”


I finally understood .


I see .


I paid for Carol’s meals and job change fee until now because Carol was my slave . In other words, as Carol was no longer my slave, she should be paying for her own job change fee . That was probably what she wanted to say .


” … Carol, I didn’t pay for your meals and job change fee just because I was Carol’s master . ”


” … Eh? That — ”


“It was because you are a companion on this journey . Putting that aside, I have no intention of changing my relationship with Carol . ”


In fact, she was still calling me Ichino-sama . She still affixed -sama even though she was no longer a slave .


The Home Return spell as well .


Haru and Carol’s Home Return point was still registered as My World .


To them, the home they return to is my world, the exact same home .


“You mean you will treat Carol as a slave even without the slave collar?”


“I mean even when there was a slave collar, I thought of Haru and Carol as my family, my kin . We lived in the same home, ate the same delicious food and laughed at the same things . That’s family no matter how you put it . ”


” … Family … In other words, you mean to marry Carol?”


“Marriage!?”


The unexpected confession rattled my heart .


“It’s a joke, Ichino-sama . Thank you very much, that made me very happy . ”


Carol said and smiled sweetly to me .


Joke — a joke huh .


I was really surprised because of how unexpected it was .


“Master, it seems like Carol has changed a little . ”


Haru whispered to me .


“That’s right — Carol may appear that way but she says quite amazing things with a natural tone . ”


Among the girls around me, perhaps Carol was the most carnivorous .


“Let’s head for the Church for now . The location is —”


“Ichino-sama, the Church is that way . ”


Carol pointed west .


… Why was Carol more familiar with the town than I was even though she just arrived here .


The Church was a lot smaller than expected . Apparently, this country has three Churches and this was the smallest Church . The prices were the cheapest accordingly .


We entered the Church but unfortunately, the priest was occupied .


A well-dressed merchant-like man was offering a deal to the priest .


When we entered the Church, the priest said ‘Please wait a moment’ . It was a small church that didn’t even have a reception so there was no helping it .


“I wish to buy this pure gold G.o.ddess Statue for 50 million Goats . ”


There was a golden Libra-sama G.o.ddess Statue placed in the Church . It was a 1:16 scale of the actual G.o.ddess so it actually looked more like a figurine .


Buying a G.o.ddess Statue for money … I can’t tell if that is piety or a sin .


“Carol, 50 million is —”


“Unprecedentedly expensive . Even after considering the artistic value, that G.o.ddess Statue should only fetch half of that, around 25 million Goats . In the first place, a Church selling a G.o.ddess Statue is frowned upon so the priest is probably at a loss . ”


I see, so it was expensive after all .


“But a Church is not allowed to sell G.o.ddess Statues —”


“That is not true, priest-sama . Using this money, you could hire a goldsmith to create a new G.o.ddess Statue and it will be fine . An even more splendid G.o.ddess Statue . The believers will be even happier if you do so . You could even use the remaining money for Church repairs . ”


” … Bu-but . ”


“It doesn’t matter if you refuse, I —”


The merchant said and took out bundles of 50 million Goats and arranged them on the table .


I could see that the priest’s eyes were nailed to the 50 million Goats .


Ah, it looks like he will be able to buy it . But —


Immediately after I had that thought .


Haru moved and twisted the merchant’s arm .


“Ouch-chhhhhh! What are you doing, this beast!”


“Priest-sama, do not be fooled! Those bills are all fake . ”


“Fake!? Fake bills!?”


I inadvertently raised my voice .


“Wh-what are you saying . These are unmistakably real . ”


“I will not be fooled . Ichino-sama, please call the guards immediately . He might have accomplices outside so Carol please remain here . ”


“All right .


“Understood . ”


Carol and I nodded at the same time and I left the Church and ran to the nearby guard station .


The guards immediately came to the Church with a magic tool to see through counterfeit bills .


And after investigation, it turned out that just as Haru claimed, the bills were all counterfeit . The self-proclaimed merchant was taken away .


“But, Haru . I’m surprised you could tell that those were fake bills . ”


Was there a scent particular to the material they used to make it?


I thought to myself but I was wrong .


“Counterfeit Appraisal, right?”


Carol asked Haru to confirm .


I see .


“Yes . It was a skill I received from Torerul-sama . ”


Haru replied .


A skill that Haru received in the Belasra dungeon .


Haru said that she received it from Torerul-sama but in actual fact, Torerul-sama skipped her work and I selected that skill using a roulette .


“But why did you think of using that skill?”


“Didn’t Master notice? That the exchange was strange . So I used Counterfeit Appraisal . ”


Ah, I see .


Haru didn’t find the merchant strange but because I found him strange that spurred her to action .


“Ichino-sama found that merchant strange? Carol was wary but Carol did not see any evidence even if he was acting suspiciously . ”


“Hn, well . I have a skill called Thought Trace . A skill to channel the target’s emotions to me . That merchant’s emotions were far from sincere . He was laughing at the priest . His emotions were laden with deceit . ”


“That’s a convenient skill . Especially in negotiating and gambling . ”


Gambling huh .


It would be pointless in roulette or slot machines but this skill might be invincible in poker .


Even if the opponent is a master of poker face, it is quite difficult to suppress emotions .


“Well, since we were caught in Belasra’s gambling hall previously, we shouldn’t go there for now — Haru?”


Haru’s tail withered apologetically .


As though a dog that knew it had done something bad .


“Actually, I’ve been to there three times …”


“You went to the gambling hall?”


“I’m sorry . ”


“No, I’m okay with it . At any rate, I don’t think you would play recklessly —”


Her tail withered even more .


… Haru-san? What happened?


“Master . Haru-san won 50 times against Gorsa-sama in 120 matches . ”


Ooh . It’s a little high for just leisure gambling but wasn’t her winning rate less than 50%?


In that case, there’s no problem — wait?


“Did you bet five numbers bet as before each time?”


It would be bad if her winning rate exceeded 40% against professional dealers .


“No . ”


Carol denied it . That’s a relief .


That’s to be expected . No matter what, betting five numbers bet against that Gorsa-san —


“It was one number bets . ”


“One number bets!? You won over 40% of the time with one number bets!?”


“I am sorry . I am terribly ashamed . Originally I had wanted to win at least 50% of the time . Even though Gorsa-sama didn’t use any cheat . ”


“No no, that’s already beyond the human capabilities . ”


“Demon Lo — Miri-sama seemed to have won with certainty even with one number bets . ”


“She has long since exceeded the realm of humans so she’s not considered . ”


I warned Haru with a motherly tone .


Or rather, just what was Miri doing .


Of course, when she was with Norn-san, they would pa.s.s by Belasra if they were heading directly south of Florence but I didn’t expect her to mess up the gambling hall .


… Is Gorsa-san all right?


“Incidentally, how much did you earn?”


“I did not exchange it for prizes . Well, I have plenty of medals but we played with the condition that I will not exchange them for money . But Gorsa-sama was not satisfied with that and I received all kinds of items from Gorsa-sama’s personal collection . Gorsa-sama seemed to have enjoyed it too so I don’t think we should worry . ”


Even if you tell me we don’t have to worry .


I guess I’ll apologize to him the next time we meet .


“Carol-dono, job change preparations are complete . Please step into the job change room . ”


“Okay! I’ll be going, Ichino-sama . ”


Carol lowered her head and entered the room at the back .


Only Haru and I remained .


“Koshmar-sama has a strong impact as always . ”


It may be a small church but it didn’t only have Libra-sama’s pure gold G.o.ddess Statue . There were six stone-carved G.o.ddess Statues as well .


I’ve seen most of the G.o.ddess by now .


I first met Koshmar-sama and Torerul-sama . Libra-sama came visiting when I made My World, I received a divine blessing from Koshmar-sama at Dakyat . I’m still overwhelmed by meeting Minerva-sama with Miri .


The one I have not met yet .


“Tet-sama … huh?”


I muttered while looking at the statue of a young girl with a bob-cut about the same size as Torerul .


“Now that I think about it, she appears somewhat similar to Pioneer . ”


“Perhaps the manufacturing of homunculi such as Pionia-san and Neete-san is related to Tet-sama?”


“Eh? Is that so?”


“It’s nothing more than a guess . But Tet-sama is the G.o.ddess of life . There’s a possibility that she is involved in the ability to give life to the homunculus . ”


“That sounds plausible —”


I didn’t even think of that .


Homunculus — the creation of new life .


Regardless of how much she wanted to do it, would Torerul-sama do something so troublesome?


“I wonder if Torerul-sama asked Tet-sama to make them . ”


Carol returned just as I reached that deduction .


Her job had been safely changed to 【Herbalist: Lv1】 .


“Thank you for waiting, Ichino-sama . ”


“We didn’t wait long . ”


“Also, as thanks for this time, the priest-sama reduced the job change fee to half . ”


“That’s lucky . ”


I thought he might as well make it free for us but considering that half of it has to be sent to the Church headquarters, I guess he couldn’t give such a discount .


“Next, we’ll look for medicine making tools … eh, where do we buy those — ?”


“We can purchase medicine making tools in the apothecary on the south street so let’s go there . ”


Just how does she know these things!?


When did she research that much?



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