Year 7447, Month 7, Day 19After returning to the surface just like that we all returned to our inns.
Putting aside Zenom, Giberuti, and a small number of exclusions like Ralpha and Gwine, everyone"s steps are somewhat heavy.
Ah, for it to be two out of eight reincarnated people then that"s 25%. I guess 1/4th isn"t a small number but a decent sized faction.
In any case the primary cause is that we learned about things we never would have expected going into the dungeon this time.
Of course, it"s not that the mood is dark but the amount of things we found out is just too many that everyone is a bit confused.
The other members of the {Slaughterers} are supposed to return from the dungeon tomorrow so I want to organize everything by then.
There"s a lot of positive topics after all.
During dinner whenever everyone was gathered together we all went over things again.
In the first place, even if aliens came along in the distant past there"s no relation to us right now at all.
If we mention that they were gathering some kind of cultural data from the Earth and Orth, all I can say is so what?
Even if they were trying to modify the environment, in the end thanks to that it"s a fact that we"re able to live here, so normally it would be something to be grateful to them about. Somehow it"s vexing though.
"In the first place you know~ Orth, no, Rugu 3 was it? Isn"t it doubtful that it would be the central planet of the star system?"
There were those who nodded at the question I raised and those who made confused faces at it as well.
"Why?"
The representative of those who were making confused faces, Ralpha replied.
"Why you say? You, stars are normally unreasonably heavy you know? The diameter of the sun is over 200 times larger than the Earth and it"s weight should be some tens of thousands of times greater. There"s also the fact that the star isn"t shining but normally they"re "pulsar" after all. In that case gravity and such.."
Toris started a lecture.
In other words, if by chance Rugu 3 Orth has the same size as the Earth, then thinking about the ma.s.s and it"s extremely unnatural.
For a fixed star(the normal meaning of a fixed star is that it"s constantly in place and doesn"t move around. It"s not just a planet that gives off light) that acts as the primary star of the star system it has too small of a ma.s.s.
We also mixed in the conjecture that the sun of this star system is probably about the same size as the sun from the solar system.
After all stars that shine are extremely big and heavy.
Interruptions joined in from multiple sides over this.
It"s because in that case we"d need to a.s.sume that the distance between the Earth and the sun in the solar system and that the age(?) of the sun on Orth are about the same.
If the distance is closer then it"s fine if the sun is much smaller and even if the ma.s.s of Orth is heavier then it doesn"t hold true.
Although, if it"s far heavier than the gravity would increase as well so the same kind of carbon based lifeforms as Earth wouldn"t be able to grow.
As the alcohol started to make it"s rounds we kept repeating discussions like that.
Rather~ you know. Why are we always bringing up the Earth as the comparison? What was it again? Ah, that"s right, even in astrology there are countless things we still haven"t found an explanation for right? Couldn"t Orth just be that sort of planet we can"t explain? I don"t think there"s much meaning even if we knew the size or ma.s.s of the planet though."
Ralpha started questioning the meaning of learning itself.
Of course, she received quite a few retorts but asked in a carefree way, "Then explain magic and monsters and such to me. We might be able to explain magic as super powers so just monsters is fine. I can"t understand how something like undead could exist even less." and shut them up.
Hearing that said and it"s certainly true.
Putting aside undead, things like Minotaurs I really don"t understand how they could exist. How in the world could they have evolved to become cow people? Even the {Wyverns} flying through the air with that body size completely goes against the laws of physics. In the world there"s even giants with a height of over 5 meters and {Frost Lizards} that spit out frost. Something like a Treant that"s a tree walking around, no matter how I think about it"s a phenomenon close to a nightmare. That fellow, even after disa.s.sembling it we couldn"t find a single trace of anything like internal organs, even the structure of it"s body after death no matter how I looked it couldn"t be anything other than wood.
It"s true that monsters themselves are the much closer mystery.
"It ends up that there"s no meaning in thinking about it right? Let"s just stop. For starters, it wasn"t a s.p.a.ceship, and even if it was I can"t imagine that we"d be able to repair it."
Bel closed things up by saying that.
It seemed like Toris and Ralpha hadn"t had enough of arguing but what Bel said was what Bastoral and I had been saying all along and since Rodrick and Miduchi stopped partic.i.p.ating the topic gradually changed to a different direction.
About the {Magic.Items} that we obtained in the control room(?) of that gathering terminal this time.
Remembering that we suddenly obtained a large number of treasures all at once and everyone"s faces loosened up.
Though you know, I don"t want you to misunderstand but things like the {Fire Ball.Wand} and the {Lightning.Wand} had no charges left.
Even the method to charge them is unknown so unless we use them for fraud or something they"re dirt cheap right.
After I said that they objected saying there were things with charges still left and things that are unrelated to the charges.
Yeah.
That"s true.
My bad for throwing cold water on your conversation with such a boring topic.
Right now, the amulet we have an auction going for is expected to land a considerable price so the topic gradually shifted to what the final price tag will be.
However, it"s already in the middle of investigation so when I mentioned that we should get news on the initial estimates soon they started getting excited over this and that again.
........................................
Year 7447, Month 7, Day 20
Afternoon, before the {Butchers} and {Exterminators} returned from the dungeon the caravan from my family arrived. One day sooner than planned. Sean the squire leader was leading the caravan again.
Around the same time as the caravan arrived a messenger from Tukerin the healer in the capital arrived as well.
The survey of the four territories along the northern parts of the Dirt Plains must have finished.
It was right before our allies return from the dungeon so I told the messenger that I"d go and listen to the report after I finish making deliveries to the castle tomorrow and let them return, then suggested Sean and the others have a night"s rest in Baldukk.
After talking about how we finished off a {Wyvern} on the 11th floor and starting with Sean all of the squires were considerably surprised and pleased as if they had done it themselves.
"However, to bring down a {Wyvern}, as expected of Al-sama."
"We wanted to see the head as well."
"Eeeh..Is it really that big!"
"Ho~hou~ So it"s become that popular even in the capital!? Doesn"t that make you a hero!"
They started making a lot of noise again praising me for defeating the {Wyvern}.
But, honestly speaking it feels good.
By the way, are Kuro and Mary still not coming?
I think they"re also doing something like a newly-wed trip so it"s fine even if they take their time a bit but I hope they at least come within the year.
As expected I"m sure it won"t take that long huh?
..................................
Year 7447, Mont 7, Day 21
After delivering the armor, Miduchi and I went to Tukerin"s clinic.
Of course, we"re bringing along some sausages as a gift.
This time it isn"t the usual five varities but some new products that still aren"t being sold yet with crushed nuts, liver mixed in, and 100% beef.
After we arrived, we were politely lead further inside.
In the inner room other than Tukerin there was a good-looking man with a good physique and a sharp glare sitting on the sofa.
A tall dark elf.
Deep purple skin that"s close to pure black.
His hair that"s white as snow is trimmed up short but the border at the back is grown out long and braided as it looks extremely well on him.
The clothes he"s wearing are simple linen but the design is loose and it"s clean as if it had just been washed.
On the parts of his arms coming out from his sleeves I can see quite a few old wounds similar to Miduchi, in comparison to his beautiful face without a scratch.
There"s a considerably high quality long sword on his waist.
The moment she saw that man Miduchi jumped up in surprise and lowered her head.
"Ch..Ch..Chief warrior! It"s been a while!"
Chief warrior? I guess that means he"s an important person.
"It"s nice to meet you. My name is Alan.Greed."
After entering the room and greeting him the good-looking man stood up from the sofa to greet me by stretching out his right hand.
I stretched out my right hand and said {Status Open} while using {Identify}.
Edomarin.Zageruforu/12/3/7422
Male/9/10/7409.Dark Elf.Lail Kingdom Commoner Lilac
Condition: Normal
Age: 38 Years Old
Level: 17
HP: 128(128) MP: 290(290)
Strength: 19
Speed: 26
Dexterity: 24
Endurance: 19
Special Skill: Infrared Vision
Special Skill: Inclination Sensing
Special Skill: Earth Magic Lv. 6
Special Skill: Water Magic Lv. 6
Special Skill: Fire Magic Lv. 6
Special Skill: Wind Magic Lv. 6
Special Skill: Void Magic Lv. 7
Experience: 769256(810000)
Uho~ this is quite impressive.
He can put up a good fight against the commanders of the first knight group!
Even his MP is extremely high on the same cla.s.s as Tukerin and Miduchi, and close to my older brother.
If older brother"s level were to go up I wonder if it would be like this?
Listening to his conversation and it seems this chief warrior called Zageruforu lead several subordinates himself to investigate the Dirt Plains.
Hearing that and Miduchi started lowering her head again like subordinate.
"Rank one warrior Chizumagurol. There"s no need to humble yourself to that extent. We accepted a job and just accomplished it accordingly."
He said with a quiet smile and a calm tone of voice.
But, even though it"s not anything important when this kind of handsome person says it it sure sounds cool.
In comparison to Toris who has the blood of a j.a.panese person mixed in and you get the impression of a delicate and beautiful elf but still the overall balance is good in combination with his age he gives off a cool and tasteful aura.
"Tukerin-san. This, it"s nothing great but it"s the new product of our company. If it"s alright please enjoy them."
"Hohou! A new product is it!?"
When I handed over the package Tukerin"s expression loosened up.
Sausages are one of his favorite foods after all.
"Yeah, I think they"ll be delicious again this time. They"re still products we have yet to put up for sale but please try them."
Tukerin accepted the package and immediately started to confirm what was inside.
Take your time eating them later on.
The chief warrior looked at that Tukerin with a slightly bitter expression.
I"m getting along with him reasonably well after all.
Please don"t hold that much against him.
The chief warrior handed over a booklet.
"Now then, Greed-san. This is the report you requested. Please confirm it."
The booklet was made up of several tens of pages of cheap parchment with a decent width gathered together.
It"s lighter than it looks but it"s certainly a width that has some feedback to it.
"I"ll take a look at it then."
I flip through the pages glancing at them.
Ho? So that place was like this...
He~ that territory, so it isn"t making tobacco...
Mu. 70% tax rate..Seriously?
An? Damage from Centaurs..Those Centaurs?
Hmm..the words written down have quite a few strange usages of words just like Miduchi used to speak but it still feels like they did a good job investigating. Though I can"t say much without taking a better look just from a glance it seems pretty well put together.
There were several places where I thought, "they investigated this much but why is just this part missing?" but I think the details in the report are still plenty useful. It doesn"t seem like there"s any problem with the amount and quality of information.
Several minutes after flipping through the pages.
"I think it"s a sufficient investigation. Thank you very much."
I lowered my head and thanked him.
The amount of crop that can be harvested per area is completely missing(when I asked Miduchi about it afterwards because they aren"t knowledgeable about field crops she said they were probably satisfied with just investigating the types of crops. However, she didn"t think they had enough time to investigating the area of the fields) and most likely the local information like the distinction between the kingdom knight group, the local knight group, and the local squires hasn"t been done either.
However, I"m sure Kuro and Mary will keep an eye on those things so it should be possible to complete the data.
"No, please raise your head. Our country has been greatly in the care of Greed-san"s company so we want to maintain a good relation going forward as well."
Ah, come to think of it, Miduchi said they were struggling quite a bit to obtain foreign currency.
I guess they think I"m a good customer to earn a stable amount from investigations and such from here on out?
That must be why the chief warrior himself came out...
Though I say that something like surveying isn"t done all that..No, periodic surveys are necessary right.
"Of course, I"m also receiving a great amount of help. These are important pieces of information."
I made a friendly smile and continued speaking.
"Also you know, this is about after next year..Depending on the case it might be a bit later but I would like to ask for another investigation different from the one this time."
"Ho? What is it?"
Zageruforu and TUkerin both leaned forward.
Both of them are putting up faces almost like a Noh mask to not convey their expressions but the only one succeeding is Tukerin while Zageruforu is giving off a pleased, "Alright!" kind of feeling.
"There"s two requests I"d like to make for the time being. First, I"ve heard that in your country those who break the law are sold outside of the country as slaves as a punishment. If possible please tell me the information on where they"ve been sold in the past. Also, it"s fine if I buy them from here on out. In regards to this it"s fine even right away. The other one is.."
I watch their expressions while speaking.
There"s no impression on either of their faces that they heard something unpleasant.
I couldn"t see anything particularly unusual.
Although, I heard from Miduchi that something like a criminal being sold outside of the country as a slave almost never happens in Lail Kingdom where the public security is high and there"s almost no crimes. It seems it barely even happens once every 10 years or so.
However, even if they have a bit of a problem with their personality if it"s an adult dark elf then there"s a considerably high chance they"ll be able to use magic. On top of that taking into consideration they have MP in the triple digits and there"s no way I can miss them.
If they"re hopelessly beyond my ability to manage then I"ll just kill them to prevent future trouble.
In that case, I"ll end up wasting quite a bit of money(it seems that fundamentally when dark elves are sold as combat slaves they have a considerable price) but if any other foreign reincarnated person sets their sights on them it"s much better than them cooperating. Rather than their combat strength including their magic skills, my main objective is preventing Lail Kingdom"s efficient method of raising warriors from spreading around.
Well in regards to this after I obtain my territory I"ll have Miduchi return to her country once then I intend to have her give out the prohibition from selling others off as slaves so it"s just something like insurance.
According to Miduchi and if she uses Lilus to give out the command then there"s pretty much no problem with prohibiting it after all.
"I"d like to enter a stable mercenary contract. The warriors from your country are extraordinarily excellent after all. Even as an adventurer I think being together with people like that makes it somewhat easier to relax.."
Their expressions moved a bit.
"I was thinking of carrying out the contract over a span of years. If it"s possible that is..I guess so, setting within half a year as the target I"d like to ask for an estimate on the price."
The rank one warrior cla.s.s? I think it was? that underwent harsh training to be a.s.sa.s.sins just like Miduchi are probably without a doubt impossible. When it comes to the second and third ranks then the compensation drops quite a bit as it seems there aren"t many who receive more than 2,000,000 in wages per year.
It should still be considerably cheaper than employing knights.
After that we went over the small conditions like their age and commander cla.s.s while I conveyed my simple requests and then left Tukerin"s clinic.
Incidentally, I received a polite letter of thanks for the gift of sausages with both of their signatures on it at al ater date.
Supposedly Zageruforu was moved almost like when he first ate a Baldoggie.
It was that they would definitely love to purchase them the day we start sales of the products.
Well, it seems he"s got quite the high salary so he should be able to purchase them without a problem.
.....................................
Year 7447, Month 8, Day 5
Miduchi and I, the two of us have come together to the Sandak Company in the capital.
Yesterday was the cutoff date for bids on that amulet.
While I said the two of us, Zulu, Angela, Henry, and Mekku, my four combat slaves are along as escorts as well.
They"re waiting at the entrance to the company.
Obviously we"re not empty handed.
We"ve brought along a reasonable amount of luggage.
"Welcome and thank you for coming."
The company president politely welcomed us.
"Now then, about the bidding on that but.."
Miduchi and I both gulp.
"The winning bid was 7,050,000,000 Z."
Ooooh!!!
Miduchi and I spontaneously exchanged looks.
"Please confirm it."
He showed us a copy of the proof of sale.
I took out the sales proof for Greed Company from my pocket and with a trembling hand wrote down the price of 5,992,500,000 Z, 85% of the 7,050,000,000 sale amount. Since it was such a high price, my fingers were trembling from excitement so the characters looked like earth worms squirming around. Furthermore, in regards to a thumb print it already had a wax seal ahead of time.
After going through the paperwork when I finally thought we would receive the cash I went to hand over the proof of sale that we just made and I was stopped as he laughed.
As expected the opening of the bids only just finished so it seems they haven"t received the payment for the goods yet.
Thinking calmly about it and that"s only obvious.
I doubt there are very many people out there that could pay that amount in full on the spot and even if there were if they live in a foreign land it"s necessary to transport it over. Even if they"re in a nearby area the amount was only decided yesterday. Yesterday and today, not to mention in the morning there"s no way the payment would already be finished right...At best they"d be going over to the shrine to take out money by now.
The proof of sales is something you hand over in exchange for the money so it would be strange to hand it over ahead of time, so it was a bit embarra.s.sing that I couldn"t think that far(I even brought along the slaves as escorts) as I tried to change the subject to something else.
"By the way president. Today we"ve brought along some different items. Is it possible to auction them again?"
I turned red while saying that and the company president was slightly surprised before happily laughing that it was fine. Since there"s the people who missed out on the bid this time there"s no reason to overlook a chance to profit.
What I brought out was two of the {Invisibility.Rings}. The one with 47 charges remaining and one with no more charges left.
The president looked at the status very interested and used the spell {Detect.Magic}.
"These two both have the same name. However, I can feel mana from one of them but I can"t feel any kind of mana from the other."
I didn"t mention how there"s charges on them.
"Hm~mm.."
After confirming the ring the president made up his mind and put it on his finger.
For a lot of the {Magic.Items} you can equip you can understand how to use them after you put them on after all.
"I see..It"s true I can understand the method to use even this ring.."
Even when it comes to the {Invisibility.Ring} with no charges left if you put it on your finger the method to use it will float into your head when you focus on it. Of course even if you attempt to use it nothing will happen though.
"Obviously we tried using both of them. When you use one of them you can become transparent for a considerable period of time and can"t be seen by other people. Nothing happened for the other one. It"s strange right?"
I tried saying that. It"s testing out whether he knows about the concept of the "charge usage count" but I"m trying to appeal that I "have no knowledge" of that concept.
"Mwu..What in the world is this..."
Seeing the confused president and I felt a bit disappointed and just a bit of dark happiness.
Of course the disappointment is that "it seems impossible to recharge" and the dark happiness is because I think "there"s a high probability that the {Fireball.Wand} that"s considered a national treasure probably has a charge count to it".
"As a matter of fact, there"s still more."
Next what I took out was the {Loincloth.Of.Daring}.
What kind of evaluation this will get I can"t even imagine...