Chapter 57 – Bear-san Goes to the Royal Capital’s Commerce Guild
After we entered the room and the two of us were alone, Fina and I both let out a big sigh before sitting on the beds.
「Big sis Yuna, today was tiring.」
「Are you okay?」
「I’m all right, but is it really okay for someone like me to stay at an aristocrat’s house?」
「I thought you were rather quiet, but you were thinking about such a thing.」
「That’s because if I blurted out something strange and offended someone, it would trouble my family.」
In the end, that was how n.o.bles seemed from a commoner’s point of view.
「Well then, now that the escort request has also been dealt with, shall we look for an Inn? Fina can also calm down that way, right?」
「But, the money-」
「That much is fine. Fina doesn’t need to worry about the money, you know.」
「But…」
「I don’t want to hear any more ‘buts’. Anyway, we’ll look for an inn tomorrow, so let’s call it a day and go to sleep already.」
「Okay. Thank you, Big Sis Yuna.」
We got into our respective beds and slept to recover from the day’s fatigue.
The next morning, Fina was already awake and was sitting on the bed with a bored look on her face, having nothing to do.
「Good morning.」
「Good morning to you as well.」
「You’re already up.」
「Yes, I woke up at my usual time, but there was nothing for me to do.」
Ever since her mother had fallen ill, Fina had woken up early in the morning to do the housework and to work at the guild.
It had probably become a habit for her to get up early in the morning.
「Then, after I get changed, shall we head to the dining room?」
「Isn’t it still too early?」
「If it’s too early, we should go outside to eat. In that case, we can also search for an inn along the way.」
「Are you really going to look for an inn? I can bear with it here, if that’s what you are worried about.」
「It’s not for Fina’s sake. I also don’t feel at ease in this house.」
The dining room was empty when we arrived.
It seemed that a n.o.ble’s morning started late.
For the time being, we decided to search for someone who would be able to give us permission to go out.
When we left the dining room and entered the hallway, we found the maid from yesterday.
「Well, if isn’t Yuna-sama and Fina-sama. You’re both up early.」
「Good morning. I’d like to have a meal. Is it possible? If not, then I was thinking of heading out.」
「No, it is fine. Please wait for a short while in the dining room.」
While we were waiting in the dining room, Eleanora-san entered.
「Ara, you’re up early.」
「Good morning to you.」
「Good morning. Having a meal already?」
「Yes.」
「Then, what are your plans for today?」
Since she asked about our plans, I decided to speak honestly.
「To look for an inn.」
「An inn? Why? It’s fine if you stay here until the end of the birthday festival.」
「For some reason, it seems that a commoner like me cannot calm down inside an aristocrat’s house.」
「However, I think that will be impossible. Thanks to the birthday festival, there is a huge influx of people here, so I think the inns will be overflowing.」
The birthday festival, huh?
The inns are definitely impossible, huh?
In that case, it’s a little earlier than planned, but should I find a house to install a Bear Gate in?
「That’s all right, because there is still an alternative.」
「I see. Still, it’s fine for you to stay in this house for as long as you like. Cliff also wrote as much.」
Fina and I, who had finished eating breakfast, went outside.
While we were in the middle of eating breakfast, the sisters, Noa and Shia, didn’t wake up at all.
For Noa, it was probably the first chance to sleep in late after a long time.
After all, during the trip we had always departed at sunrise.
While wandering around the Royal Capital, we visited several inns.
I forgot while I was in the town of Crimonia, but my bear appearance is really eye-catching.
Any person we pa.s.sed turned to look at me, without fail.
Then, without fail; 「It’s a bear.」 「A bear?」 「Cute.」 「What’s that?」 「It’s a bear-san.」
Such statements were heard.
「Fina, sorry about this, I’m standing out quite a bit.」
「It’s all right, I’m used to it.」
Smiling and telling me that you’ve become used to it doesn’t make me happy though.
We explored the Royal Capital while I worried about the stares.
As Eleanora-san had said, no matter where we looked, the inns were full.
For the sake of carrying out the next plan, I headed to the Commerce Guild.
I didn’t know where it was located, so I asked for the location at the last inn and headed in that direction.
In comparison to the one in Crimonia, the size of the Royal Capital’s Commerce Guild was unbelievably ma.s.sive.
There were a lot of people entering and leaving.
I entered the Commerce Guild and looked for a receptionist.
It sure is crowded in here.
However, there was also a considerable number of receptionists.
Erm, what should I do?
I glanced around.
Apparently, you picked up a number ticket and went to the reception counter when your number was called.
I lined up where they were distributing numbered tickets and received one.
Naturally, I was also the center of attention when I lined up.
If it were j.a.pan, it would probably be similar to lining up in pajamas.
I couldn’t help being conspicuous.
I received ticket number 213.
At the moment, they were calling number 178.
It seemed as though it would take some time for my turn to arrive, as there were only seven receptionists.
To my surprise, it seemed that the numbers were called rather quickly.
After we waited for 30 minutes, our number was called.
「Welcome. What kind of business brings you here today?」
The receptionist’s smile disappeared for an instant upon seeing my appearance, but it returned quickly.
As expected of the receptionists of the Royal Capital.
They didn’t judge people by their appearances.
However, I wasn’t sure what was going on inside her head.
「I want to buy land in the Royal Capital, is it possible to do so?」
「Excuse me, but do you have a guild card? 」
I handed over the guild card.
「Please wait just a moment.」
The guild card was placed on the crystal plate.
「Commerce Guild Rank F, Yuna-san, am I correct?」
「Yes.」
「Incidentally, how do you plan to use the land?」
「I just plan to build a house normally.」
「In other words, for living in the Royal Capital, right?」
「That is still undecided. My main residence is in Crimonia, so I was simply planning on using the house in the Royal Capital as a secondary residence.」
「I understand. Then, let me explain the regulations regarding the land. Firstly, the area in the vicinity of the castle is the n.o.ble’s district, so I cannot sell you the land there. Next, land in the middle-cla.s.s district cannot be purchased without a letter of introduction. Thus, the only area left where I can sell you land is the lower-cla.s.s district.」
「…A letter of introduction?」
The letter of introduction that I received from Mylene-san came to mind.
「Can this be considered a letter of introduction?」
「I will confirm it. 」
The receptionist opened the letter of introduction and examined it.
「This is…yes, I have confirmed it.」
「What do you think?」
「I apologize. I cannot make this decision on my own, please wait a bit.」
The receptionist left her seat and went into the interior of the guild.
「Big Sis Yuna, are you buying land?」
「Yes, because I have the money, and I feel that it will be convenient in the future.」
When I’m not there, it’ll be an unoccupied house, but the Bear House can be set to disallow entry to unauthorized people, so there is no problem.
「Oya, if it isn’t the young lady.」
「Gran-san? And Eleanora-san? Why are the two of you here?」
When I turned around, Gran-san and Eleanora-san were there.
「That’s my line. Why is Yuna-chan here in the Commerce Guild?」
「I was thinking about purchasing land for the sake of building a house, but it seems impossible to buy it without a letter of introduction. I handed over the letter of introduction that I received from the Commerce Guild in Crimonia and am waiting for it to be inspected.」
「A letter of introduction? In that case, shall we write you one?」
「I’m fine with writing one for you too, you know.」
「That would be a big help, but is that okay?」
「Yes, because this life was saved by you.」
「Yes, because you have been taking care of Cliff and my daughter.」
「So, why are the two of you here?」
「About that, you see, after Yuna-chan left, a soldier came to the house in regards to the thieves who were caught yesterday. When I told him that Yuna-chan wasn’t there, he said he would go to Gran’s manor, so I accompanied him. Somehow, there was a person in the barracks who wanted to explain some things, so he said that he hoped Gran would come to the barracks. Therefore, we planned to go to the barracks, but Gran said that he had business at the Commerce Guild to tend to first. That brings us to just a few moments ago.」
「And then, young miss was here.」
I see.
「In that case, would it be better for me to accompany you to the barracks as well?」
Although it’s troublesome.
「From what I heard from the soldier, he did say that he hoped you would come, as it’s a conversation concerning the bounty.」
「The bounty?」
「When you caught the thieves, weren’t they carrying a lot of weapons and tools? Those were turned over, but all of them should have fallen under young miss’ ownership.」
In that case, wouldn’t it be bad if I didn’t go?
Incidental income was also appreciated.
While I was deep in discussion with Gran-san and Eleanora-san, the receptionist lady returned.
「I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. Regarding the land purchase, if it’s near the middle or lower cla.s.s districts, it is possible.」
「Around where?」
She opened a map of the Royal Capital and pointed out the areas to me with her finger.
「What, isn’t this near the edge of the city?」
「You’re certainly right.」
The two unrelated people also peeked at the map.
「The young lady over there, lend us some paper. We will write a letter of introduction.」
「That’s right. Lend me some paper as well.」
「Umm, who are the two of you?」
「We are Gran Faren Gramm.」
「Eleanora Forchurose.」
「Earl Faren Gramm and Missus Earl Foschurose?!」
「That’s right, if this fellow needs a letter of introduction, we will write one. Now, go prepare better land than this.」
「Y-Yes! I’ll prepare it immediately!」
The receptionist quickly stood up and dashed to the back room.
Within moments, an elderly woman came out.
「What! When she mentioned Earl Faren Gramm, I thought it was the younger one, but it was the gramps, huh?」
「What is this granny saying?」
「On top of that, the young lady from Foschurose, is it?」
「As expected of you, even though I’m no longer of the age where I can be called young lady.」
「Are you two going to be this strangely dressed girl’s guarantors?」
Strangely dressed, she said!
「Ah, that’s right, so hurry it up.」
「Mylene aside, why would you back this kind of little girl?」
「For us, it is because this young lady saved this life of ours.」
「As for me, it is because both my husband and daughter are also indebted to this young girl.」
「Hmm, is that so. Well, fine. If you are going to be her guarantors, I’ll prepare some suitable land. So then, little girl, you have money, right?」
「Though I don’t know how much the land here will cost, even if you name a price that’s a hundred times the price in Crimonia…」
「Hmph, it’s great if you can joke like that.」
It wasn’t necessarily a joke though.
Even a thousand-fold was no problem.
「For now, do you have any requests?」
「If possible, a place with good public order and low pedestrian traffic. Furthermore, as an extravagant request, I would be happy if it were close to the Adventurer’s Guild.」
「Quite a greedy little girl you are. Well, fine. In that case, how about around here?」
The old lady indicated a single point on the map.
Since I wasn’t familiar with the Royal Capital, I didn’t really understand it.
「It’s close to the upper-cla.s.s area, so if it’s around here, the public order should be fine.」
「In addition, only large manors are lined up here, so other than the people who live in this neighborhood, the number of pa.s.sersby will also be low.」
「If you follow along this big road, the Adventurer’s Guild is also nearby. Young lady, this place is good.」
「That’s true, the rest depends on the price. Well, if you don’t have enough, I can also help cover it.」
「That’s right, since she is your acquaintance, the price should be roughly around this much.」
I looked at the offered price.
It was an amount I could fully pay.
It was unexpectedly cheap.
「Isn’t this a bit expensive? There’s no building there, right?」
「Don’t say stupid things. For such a conveniently located piece of land in the Royal Capital, even this much is considerably cheap, you know.」
「What does Gran think?」
「For starters, can the young lady even afford this?」
「I can pay it, but the cheaper it is, the happier I’ll be.」
「Little girl, are you sure you can pay this? This isn’t something a rich kid’s pocket money will buy, you know. This isn’t an amount that an aristocrat would be able to pay easily, you know!」
「It doesn’t particularly have to be in one lump sum, right?」
Eleanora sent me a lifeboat.
「If this little girl were the daughter of an aristocrat or of a famous merchant, then that would be fine. For anyone else, anything besides a lump sum is out of the question.」
「If I pay it all at once, you’ll sell it to me?」
「Yeah, even paying by card is fine, but after looking at your guild card, the amount of money in the card doesn’t even amount to ten percent of the amount needed to pay for this land.」
「Is it okay if I take it out here?」
「If you have articles to show, then take them out and show me. Once you’ve taken them out, I’ll even consider giving you a discount.」
If you say that, then I have no choice but to take it out.
I produced money from the Bear Box.
「W-Wait a minute.」
I ignored her and pulled out some gold coins.
The gold coins piled up into a large mountain on top of the counter.
「I told you to wait! Don’t put all that gold on this small counter!」
Telling me to take it out and then not to take it out, what a selfish old grandma.
「The surrounding people will be astonished, so put it away. It’s my loss. This isn’t the place for making large monetary transactions. Let’s go to another room.」
I put it away immediately, so n.o.body noticed me taking out a large sum of money.
Gran-san and Eleanora-san were standing around me, and we were also in a blind spot.
With the grandma’s guidance, we headed to a separate room.
「In accordance with my promise earlier, I’ll let you have a 20% discount. As such, any more than this is impossible.」
I took out the gold coins once more.
「At any rate, who in the world are you? The child of a large merchant or something? But, if that were the case, then you would already be in my intelligence network. Or is it that you’re the illegitimate child of some n.o.ble somewhere?」
「I’m just an ordinary adventurer, you know.」
「Hmph, so you have no intention of telling me, huh? Well, I’ll understand after I investigate a bit.」
Wasn’t that impossible?
No matter how much you investigated, my birth information was probably impossible to understand.
「Well, since you have a guarantor and money this time, the Commerce Guild doesn’t have a problem. Here, the contract. With this, this piece of land is yours.」
「Thank you.」
「Your grat.i.tude ain’t necessary. If you plan to build a house, I’ll give you some advice.」
「That’s all right, I have that covered.」
「Is that so? Then, with this, we’re done.」
The grandma gave off an air of annoyance as she drove us out of the room.
Well, once I got ahold of the land, we had no other business, so we also left the Commerce Guild.
「So then, Yuna-chan, what are you going to do?」
「…?」
「Didn’t I mention the summons to the barracks regarding that matter from yesterday?」
Ah, the matter with the thieves, huh?
Though it was troublesome, there was also the incidental income.
「I’ll go. Is Fina okay with that?」
「Yes, I’m fine.」
「We’ll also come along, so it shouldn’t become troublesome」
The four of us headed to the barracks on Gran-san’s carriage, which was waiting outside of the guild.