(O3O)/ – Here is Ch-33.1!!!
(OwO) – Enjoy the chapter∼♥
Because of the conversation that Leo had with Leena last night, he kept wondering if he did something to make her sad… but nothing came to mind, so he went to sleep really late—
(Well, now"s not the time to be worrying about something else… I need to make a lot of money during the festival, then I"ll rub all my money on Emily"s face, and say: “You"ll never beat me on my own game—!”) (Tl/n: Sweet revenge∼)
—However, unlike the other orphans, Leo"s preparations for the festival were a bit more delayed than usual, so he woke up early anyway, even though he was dead tired.
(—But to do that, I"ll have to start early… after all, the morning market is a reconnaissance battle!) – Thought Leo, as he sneaked out of his room.
The products that Leo wanted to sell during the festival were better when combined with something else, so he had to make sure that his products had a reasonable price.
But before Leo could open the front door of the orphanage, a hand grabbed his shoulder.
“Where are you going so early in the morning, Leonorsama?”
“K-Kai…!?”
Leo did his best to sneak out of his room as quietly as possible, so he didn"t understand how Kai managed to hear him sneaking out of his room. But, now that Kai knew he was trying to sneak out of the orphanage, Leo had to create a distraction, so he looked at Kai with upturned eyes (unintentionally), and said–
“–You"re, going out, while dressed, like that, Kai? You"ll catch, a cold, you know?”
“That"s my line, Leonorsama! You can"t go out there all alone!”
“I-I just, uh… wanted to, feel the, morning breeze… or something, like that?” – Said Leo, with an awkward smile.
“That"s even worse! You don"t even know how to disguise yourself properly!”
Kai was right. Leo was wearing a simple cap, an old s.h.i.+rt and loose pants, but none of those could hide “Leonora"s” delicate features.
“S-sorry… it"s just… I wanted, to see the, morning market….”
“Oh… so you wanted to see the morning mark-Ugh!?”
Before Kai could finish his sentence, a sudden wave of nausea attacked him, so he leaned forward and blocked his mouth with his right hand.
“are you, okay, Kai!?”
“I"m alright now… sorry for worrying you, Leonorsama…*Cough*…Changing topics, you said you wanted to see the morning market?”
“Yes… but not just, the market–”
(I want to scout the market first, then I"ll set a good price to what I want to sell!)
“–I want, to see, the food, the prices… everything… with my, own eyes.”
“…Leonora… sama….”
Do your best, fair prices, prepare in advance (if possible), and don"t neglect the opinion of your customers. Those were the four tenets that Leo always followed when he was doing business. He didn"t have an entire month to prepare (like Leena), however, he wouldn"t simply give up on making money just because of that.
But Kai didn"t know about that.
(I see… so Leonorsama is trying to see what she can do for the population…)
Leonora von Harkenberg was hailed as a saint after she exposed the wrongdoings of Harlet and saved the lives of many n.o.bles. It was a new era of peace and happiness now that the evil lurking in the academy was finally gone…… well, not really.
The aftermath of the incident was a lot worse than what the n.o.bles made it sound.
The Spirit faith, the organization responsible for doing the public maintenance on every city, was now in decadence. They couldn"t help the people like they usually did…… mainly because of the lack of money.
No one would willingly donate money to an organization that was plotting the downfall of their country.
No one trusted them anymore.
The normal population felt betrayed.
And many churches were burned to the ground by the enraged citizens.
Even Kai, who wasn"t that fond of reading the news paper, knew about this.
So what about Leonora, the one hailed as a Saint? Perhaps she wanted to see with her own eyes – the amethyst eyes of truth – if the people had regained their livelihood after the incident. It was her fault that all of this happened in the first place… many believed so.
(Khh…! But Leonorsama didn"t do anything wrong…!)
Harlet was the one plotting against the Empire.
The citizens were the ones who burned down all of those churches.
Nevertheless, many blamed the girl.
(This is unfair…!) – Thought Kai, as he bit his lips.
“Kai, I came here, to see, the festival… please, don"t stop me….”
“L-Leonorsama, I–!”
‘I won"t let you carry this burden!" – Is what Kai wanted to say… but he couldn"t.
His master"s gaze was unwavering.
(Well… we have at least 10 knights blended in with the normal populace, so it should be alright…)
“–I understand…… I won"t stop you–”
“Thank you, Kai!”
“–But I"ll go with you.”
Kai then went to his room and changed his clothes to a normal white s.h.i.+rt, beige pants and a dark brown jacket. Then he left a note to Hannah and went to the market with his master.
The orphanage was located at the East District of Richard, so it took a while for them to reach the Commercial District.
(I"m finally home!!!) – Thought Leo, as he stared at the bustling market; his eyes s.h.i.+ning with excitement.
Richard was one of the three biggest cities of the Weiz Empire, so the amount of people walking along the streets was…… amazing, to say the least.
But Leo wasn"t paying attention to that. The old lady selling flowers, the nice uncle from the skewer shop… he missed this sight. They weren"t amateurs who decided to open a stand just to make some quick money during the festival. They were professionals. And like Leo, they could smell the scent of money lingering in the air.
Even some of the merchants affiliated with the Klingbeil family – Natalia"s household – were selling their products, which consisted mainly of wheat and fresh meat. But that wasn"t all. Some of the merchants were even selling clothes… and that"s why Leo loved Richard"s festivals. Diversity.
Richard was basically a commercial hub. You could buy anything there, or in Leo"s case, you could sell anything… as long as the price was fair. But to do that, one needed to consider the price of the Big Three: Eggs, milk and bread.
(Eggs, five copper coins… milk, six copper coins… and bread, three copper coins… I see, so there was a raise in the prices recently…)
Compared to when Leo was still living in Richard, almost everything was now more expensive due to the shortage of water in some places.
Leo then started asking around the market what was the people"s opinions on the raise of prices. Most of them said that the raise in prices wasn"t a problem, that they could cope with it… but the poor people were having a hard time… as they always had.
Leo wasn"t surprised though. These things happened everywhere, all the time.
But with the market in this state, Leo wouldn"t be able to make a lot of money, like he wanted. So he turned to look at Kai to ask for his opinion—
“Hey, Kai, what do, yo-wh! K-Kai—!?
—But his face was as pale as a sheet of paper.
“—are you, okay!?”
“I"m sorry, Leonorsama. The thing is-….”
Kai then told Leo what happened last night. He was still a bit hungover, but he couldn"t let his dear master go see the market by herself.
“I-I see, so you"re, feeling nauseous… I think, you"ll feel, better if, you vomit….”
Leo tried to urge Kai to let everything out, but the butler just shook his head and said that it was okay now, he had already swallowed it back. (Tl/n: I know that feeling, Kai… you"re not alone…)
(I"m really sorry, Kai! I was so engrossed on talking to the people, that I forgot about you! I am a failure as an older brother!)
Leo then left Kai under the shade of a small three and bought a lemon, a bit of honey, and a small jug of clean water from a kind old lady that gave him a wooden cup as a bonus. Leo wasn"t an expert in magic, but he could cast a simple heat spell to heat the water. Then he added the lemon and honey on the hot water, and gave it to Kai, who drank everything. According to his past experiences, Kai should start feeling better in an hour or so. (Tl/n: BTW, it works)
(Hmm… what now… I don"t want to leave Kai behind…)
Leo didn"t want to spend more money, but he couldn"t leave Kai in the shade of the tree for an hour, while he looked around the market. So he started searching for someone who was selling bread–
(Wow! That was fast, I already found someone!)
–And he soon found a woman with golden brown hair pus.h.i.+ng a food cart filled with bread…… but no one was buying from her.
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