Chapter 41: For Now Let’s Finish the Request
「An dat’s how it is. Once that pretty lady knight-sama came out, she told us to hear the details from you, and she just up and ran off. So, what happened in there?」(Miner)
Let’s leave the issue with the feudal lord aside for now. After we finished the request and exited the mines, just as we got out, the miners from before came hurling questions at us.
From the look on their faces it seems they were really concerned about how things looked inside. Well, of course they would be.
「The problem inside has been taken care of. This girl and I, and also that knight who was here earlier, we wiped out all the orggs」(Hitto)
When I answered their question, the two miners turned to each other for a moment, and then asked “Are you kidding?” in disbelief.
Well as such, I took out the orgg horns which were a ha.s.sle to gather out of the bag.
When the mountain of horns spilled out onto the floor the two were even further surprised. Looking like they about to burst they ran off to somewhere.
And then immediately after, a loud roar pelted our ears.
「YOU GUYSS～～～～! WELL DONE! YOU DEFEATED ALL THE ORGGSーーーー! WE CAN START WORKING AGAIN～～～～～～!」
It seems like those two, they ran off to alert the other miners at the cabin.
And the two’s voices mixed in with the with the other miners that had showed up――
「Is it true that you defeated the orggs!?」
「T-This sonny and the girl with the big b.o.o.bs did?」
「I just can’t see that happening……」
「B-But they have so many horns――」
「T-There’s no doubtin’ it! The orggs have been annihilatedーーーー!」
Yeah. For some reason we were suddenly surrounded by a bunch of brawny men. While intently staring at us they just spouted out whatever they wanted to, and before I knew it they were shouting praises like “YOU DID WELL, SONNY!” and giving me a slap on the shoulder and side.
I’m sure that Melissa is a bit scared too! Geez, well if they’re going to offer their thanks then I’ll gratefully accept it.
「I’m the one who’s in charge of these mines, Draum. Let me offer my thanks on everyone’s behalf. We are truly thankful to you for saving us」(Draum)
As he said that, the square-faced middle-aged man lowered his head.
Rather than being a miner himself, he was more or less the senior chief who supervised the mines. But since he only wore a T-shirt and work trousers, he didn’t look too much different from the other miners.
Right now, Melissa and I are in the cabin the miners used for resting.
By the way, the miners were rowdy when they learned that the orggs were defeated, but after they made a fuss for a while, this here Draum yelled at them to get back to work.
Seriously, they sure are a hardy bunch.
After that, we were taken to the miner chief’s cabin, but since there were no chair or tables inside of it, we just sat down on the ground floor.
Draum was sitting cross-legged as he bowed his head.
Honestly though, the only thing that feels like “rest” is the cabin itself.
「Please raise your head. I am an adventurer. This time we just happened to be around, so of course we’d come to help even without an official Guild request. Well, we’ll obviously still be getting a reward from the Guild though」(Hitto)
「Yes, of course. You handled such a big issue after all. And so, is there anything in particular I should write?」(Draum)
「No I don’t think so, this incident will probably be treated like as an emergency after all. At the very least we won’t have to provide any writing from this side, but I think that someone from the Guild will come to investigate the circ.u.mstances」(Hitto)
「Yeah, I suppose you’re right. But still, you really did save us. I never would’ve thought that you’d clean things up and return so quickly. When I first heard that some unknown Beginner Adventurer and a Female Knight went inside, I was seriously startled. Even so, are you really a Beginner?」(Draum)
「Pretty much. It’s nice to have a Beginner like this around sometimes, right? This time we had some help from the knight as well」(Hitto)
「Oh yea, now that you mention it, she quickly ran off before I could say my thanks, but who is that female knight anyways?」(Draum)
「Who knows? I only heard that she was a wandering knight」(Hitto)
「I have also heard the same」(Melissa)
Melissa and I both pretended not to know.
Angie is somewhat travelling incognito after all. It would normally be a good idea to lie in times like this.
「Fumu. Well that’s fine. If she ever comes here again then I’ll say my thanks then」(Draum)
「Yeah, please do. Also, this is sort of a different subject, but I originally came here for a separate request, so I would like to have some iron ore and magic stones」(Hitto)
「Hmm? So it’s a transportation request huh. Does that mean you came here by wagon?」(Draum)
「No, I have a Magic Bag after all. So I’ll be putting them in that」(Hitto)
I pointed to the bag that was hanging by my waist. Draum’s eyes opened wide as he saw it.
「To think that a Beginner would have a Magic Bag. No wonder you came all this way with only two people」(Draum)
Fumu, it seems like carrying a magic bag is something to be surprised about.
「Pretty much. And so, I would like 3 kg of iron ores, 1 kg of earth magic stones, and 1 kg of fire magic stones. I’ve heard that the payment would be taken care of by Dowan」(Hitto)
When I told Draum the contents of the request, his brow very slightly wrinkled up and he looked uncomfortable.
「When you say Dowan, do you mean the Dowan from Central Arts?」(Draum)
「Yeah that’s right. The dwarf one. He’s the one we received the request from」(Hitto)
When I responded, Dowan folded his st.u.r.dy arms and nodded his head with an “Umu“.
「Since you saved this mine, it pains me to say it, but if that’s the case then we can’t give you those iron ores and magic stones. I’m sorry」(Draum)
“What!?” I accidentally yelled out hysterically.
「How! Why is that so!」(Melissa)
Melissa also leaned her head forward, she spoke out in defiance.
「Sorry, Jou-chan. The truth is that bad rumors regarding Dowan’s store have even managed to reach out here. Stuff like the management is really bad and dangerous. We’ve had pretty harsh taxes placed on us recently you see. We can’t afford to sell to a place that we’re not so sure about」(Draum)
‘Bad rumors’―― Is this the work of those scoundrels that were hanging outside of Dowan’s store? No, I get the feeling that those rumors were spread by some other party.
Although, of course, the main source of it all would be that Bungle company or whatever they’re called.
「Hey wait, I have also heard about those rumors, but quite honestly they don’t have a single shred of credibility to them. If they were true then I wouldn’t take a job from there either」(Hitto)
「That is right! Though the storefront has such an appearance, there are no signs of it being mismanaged! 」(Melissa)
「But still. Where there’s smoke there’s fire, right? There’s got to be some source to all the rumors. Because of that, we can’t afford to give you them here either」(Draum)
…… That “fire” is definitely caused by arson though.
This still really sucks――
「Is there really nothing you can do?」(Hitto)
「…… At least not by any normal procedures. There is the requirement that it has to be paid in full, but since you’re the one asking, it should be possible to sell you some if the price is higher」(Draum)
「How much?」(Hitto)
「Let me think…… With the amount you want the lowest I can sell it for is 80,000 Gold」(Draum)
80,000 Gold huh――
「Alright. I’ll pay for that in advance. So can you start preparing it now?」(Hitto)
「!? Are you serious? I thought for sure you’d at least head back and discuss it first!」(Draum)
Well that’s another option too, but honestly that would be troublesome. And also――
「I have faith in Dowan after all. Of course if I go back and he refuses to pay then I’ll be sure to let you know. If that happens to feel free to withhold the transaction or whatever you want. But based on what I report back, can you continue helping in the future?」(Hitto)
「…… You are pretty softhearted huh. Well alright then. If there are no problems this time around, then I’ll see what I can do about it」(Draum)
「Yea, that’ll help. And so here is the 80,000 Gold」(Hitto)
I took out the appropriate amount of money from the magic bag, and handed it to Draum.
「I have received it. Now then, I’ll prepare it for you so after a while please go in the mines」(Draum)
“Understood,” with a nod to Draum we left the cabin.
「Goshujin-sama――」(Melissa)
「Hahaa, Are you astonished? To be doing something like this when we really need more money」(Hitto)
Hear Melissa softly murmur that I turned to face her, but in response to my words she shook her head.
「I believe I can take pride in Goshujin-sama」(Melissa)
She tightly hugged my arm as she said that.
Fumu, a soft and round feeling is…… No, now’s not the time to be saying that. Well, I guess it’s still a side benefit.
Still, it’s good that I’m not hated. But if we can’t get Dowan to pay then I’ll end up a laughingstock though.
「Here is 3 kg of iron ore and 1 kg each of earth and fire magic stones」(Draum)
Saying that, Draum placed them on a large scale for us to confirm the purchase.
I took a look at the numbers but there’s no mistake.
Still, leaving aside the iron ore, the magic stones looked similar to the way they did in the game.
Even though they’re called “stones” they look like crystals, and as the name suggests they are stones that house the power of magic.
Depending on the attributes the color differs: Earth stones are yellow, Fire stones are a fiery red, Wind stones are green, and Water stones are blue.
After that there are also exists very rare types: Holy attribute stones that are pure white, Light stones that are golden, and then Darkness stones that are black.
Magic stones could also be used in manufacturing. If they were used to create magic devices then it was possible to bestow magical effects on to equipment.
「I have certainly received it, thank you」(Hitto)
「It’s fine. Rather, under normal circ.u.mstances I should apologizing for this instead」(Draum)
Saying my thanks as I placed each item into the magic bag, Draum scratched the back of his head while lowering his brow.
I guess normally he wouldn’t be the one offering apologies……
「In any case, has the tax really been that harsh?」(Hitto)
「Yeah, it truly is. The incident this time was really dangerous. The mine is charged an ‘operations tax’ every single day, so when the monsters showed up we had no choice but to sit and wait. With our revenue diminished there were quite a few miners that were worried they’d fall into slavery right away」(Draum)
Every single day…… That really is a harsh tax huh.
「Did that also happen when the feudal lord changed?」(Hitto)
「Yeah that’s right. In the past we weren’t pressured to such extremes」(Draum)
「Fumu…… So the heavy taxes are taking their toll everywhere huh. This is just a hypothetical situations, but if people were to run away, or if some radicals started a revolt, are there any people like that?」(Hitto)
「Huuh? Don’t be stupid. There’s no way something like that can happen」(Draum)
「Why is that? As expected, is it because the feudal lord and aristocrats have the backing of the knights?」(Hitto)
「Of course that’s a factor, but regardless there’s no way rebelling against the feudal lord-sama would be allowed! You should also stop saying such reckless things」(Draum)
…… For some reason he was in a real big panic. It seems he’s seriously afraid of something but……
「Hey, have you ever met the new feudal lord before?」(Hitto)
「D-Don’t spout nonsense. There is no way people like us will be allowed to have an audience with the feudal lord-sama!」(Draum)
In other words he has never seen them huh.
「Goshujin-sama. In regards to the feudal lord-sama, I also believe that it would be best to not go about defying him either…… If anything were to happen to Goshujin-sama then I do not think I can go on living――」(Melissa)
Y-You’d go that far? Hmm, to think that Melissa would be that worried about this.
…… Well, it can’t be helped. If we continued to talk about this then there’d be no progress after all.
In any case, although we had to pay in advance, we have received what we came for so let’s head back――