I forgot how quickly translating goes by when the chapter is easy and fun to read... Not those super long block texts of minute finger movements, hand signs, and kamehame waves.
I do hate this chapter for making me google all those food names to double check them though... I"m so hungry now.
Oh and like five more chapters between now and tomorrow...Maybe? at least two, still skipping over SS until they become relevant to plot or I feel like doing them.
Year 7443, Month 3, Day 10
The one knocked on the door was a waiter of the restaurant. Since my two guests have arrived he wanted to confirm if it was alright to let them pa.s.s. Since it was a group of two a male elf and a female dwarf I said to let them in.
Akdam and Kalastan entered the room from behind the waiter. While looking around curiously at the extravagant interior they said admirable things like "sorry about this" or "thanks for the meal". Akdam seems to have changed, her clothes are pretty neat but Kalstalan is still working slightly dirty clothes. I"m glad I paid the waiter a bribe.
"Ah, excuse me but is it fine if I go to the toilet really quick? Kalstalan how about you join me? It"s quite amazing."
I went to the toilet ahead of time to check it out. There"s a urinal that was carved out from a stone like marble, and they"ve put a bag of perfume or something into the drainage pipe so it"s an insanely luxurious toilet for Orth.
It was a bit coercive but I invited Kalstalan and brought him to the toilet. After we entered the toilet I started talking to him.
"You said your name was Sema Yousuke right? What is your relationship with Akdam-san?"
"What"s with the sudden change in tone? Well it"s fine though."
What"s he saying. The first time we met and even just now the one who"s been using a crude way of speaking is you right.
"I think I got to know her around one month or so ago? I saved her when she and her parents caravan was being attacked by Orks. It"s just that but what about it?"
Ho~ Thank goodness...I"m relieved.
"I see..That"s great...I can finally relax. At the very least you don"t have any sort of romantic feelings towards that girl right? I just wanted to confirm that."
After I said that and while Kalstalan didn"t see to get the meaning it seems he thought of something.
"Ah, that sort of thing. It"s true that for a dwarf that girl is shapely and cute after all. I do feel sorry for her but I don"t have any sort of romantic interest in her so you can rest easy. I won"t interfere between you either."
It seems he"s misunderstanding something. And it seems that going off the way he"s talking Akdam might be interested in Kalstalan? Or is this guy just too self-conscious?
"Ah, it"s not that sort of thing. What I wanted to confirm was just your feelings. Yousuke-san. In addition please let me confirm one more thing. You, do you have a woman?"
After I said that and this time he started to slowly back away from me while saying.
"I"m not a h.o.m.o so don"t hold any hopes in that direction. I have a woman I"m in love with. I need to search for her."
Who"s the h.o.m.o, this b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Well it"s fine. I grin and smile and
"I see. Also I"m not a h.o.m.o either."
and I just said that shut away my parts into my pants. I took a glance to the side. Ah, this guy is smaller than me~ Not to mention it"s still covered the same as me. This is a weird place for it but after all I thought he was the same j.a.panese and got a bit happy about it.
"I"m happy now that I was able to hear that from you. It"s fine if you look forward to it."
I scooped some water out of the water jug and washed my hands while saying that and,
"Look forward to what? It"s true I"m happy to have met another j.a.panese and I thought I wanted to ask various things but..Ah, is the food here that amazing?"
He washes his hands the same as me and wipes them with the towel hanging on the wall before I pushed his back while saying,
"Well it"s fine, in any case look forward to it."
that and we returned to the private room. Akdam was alone and looking kind of uneasy at the table but after Kalstalan and I returned to the room she made a relieved expression.
"Ah, that"s right. Akdam-san, you should look forward to it as well."
"Eh? What?"
After I said that and she made a strange face while looking at me and then looked at Kalstalan.
Kalstalan said,
"I don"t really know either. It seems the food here is amazing."
and said that.
"I"ll go order the course really quick. Wait just a moment."
After saying that without taking my seat I went out the door and closed it.
I quickly went to the room where Bel and Ralpha were waiting and opened the door without knocking. The two of them were just standing opposite of the door each looking at me with different expectations in their eyes. It"s not my taste to put on airs here.
"Bel, sorry for the wait. Isn"t that great. You should go to him right away."
After hearing partway Bel pushed me aside and ran off. Her expression I saw when she pa.s.sed by was overflowing with delight.
"Now, Ralpha, let"s go as well."
"Yeah."
Ralpha made a smile of relief as well. I"m sure I"m smiling as well. After I turned around and Ralpha was about to leave the room,
"You-chan!!"
and we heard Bel"s scream. After Ralpha and I exchanged glances we walked towards the room we heard the voice.
............
We entered the room and Bel and Kalstalan were embracing each other. I had predicted it but since they"re not kissing I"ll forgive it. Ralpha pushed me away as I was entering the room with a grin and yelled.
"Wakana!"
Come to think of it there was this side as well.
"Eh? Who are you?"
Huh?
"It"s me, Misa. It"s Ono Misa!"
Ralpha is hugging Akdam. I guess it"s only obvious since she suddenly jumped into the room and hugged her there"s no way she could see her face. Akdam was making an expression of confusion but her eyes were looking towards Kalstalan. Ah, after all is this a troublesome pattern? But, after Ralpha named herself it seems she was surprised.
"Eeeh!!? Misa? Really!?"
"Yeah! Yeah! It"s Misa!"
Wait just a moment. Bel and Kalstalan, Ralpha and Akdam. And me. Why am I the only one alone? It can"t be helped though you know. Using the six-person table sitting in the center of the room as border I look at the groups of two trembling and stifled up from the joy of their reunion on my right and left.
Bel and Kalstalan are embracing and half-laughing, half-crying while their faces are so close you might think they"re about to kiss any moment. Ralpha and Akdam aren"t kissing but they"re holding hands a happy with their reunion. Seeing the cheerful faces of my allies Bel and Alpha and I felt a warm feeling surge up while thinking, "That"s great."
Well I guess it can"t be helped. But, close to five minutes or so has already pa.s.sed. While they"re enjoying their reunions I"m shifting the position of the chairs where there"s three on each side of the table. If you look at the room from the entrance I"m trying to get Ralpha and Akdam to sit on the left side and Bel and Kalstalana to sit on the right.
I move one chair to the right most side and sit at the end of the table on the birthday seat. Obviously this seat of honor is mine. While I"m at it I"ll call out to them.
"You all, it"s fine that you"re delighted and all but it"s about time that the waiter of the restaurant will enter the room. How about sitting at your seats already?"
I"m sitting at the birthday seat with my legs crossed as I say that but almost as if my voice has a filter on it or something it doesn"t seem like it reached their ears. Akdam is occasionally glancing at Kalstalan but even then it seems she"s happy she met with Ralpha. It seems to be certain that she"s happy. However you know..It"s really started to get a bit painful.
"Hey, how long are you all intending to keep at that? It"s about time to come to your senses already."
No matter how you think about it, its about time right. I need to try and hire these two who seem useful. Since Bel previously confidently told me that Kalstalan should be fine, so putting him aside, it"s hard to ignore Akdam as well. If she signs the contract right away then I don"t care if she stays here squealing with Ralpha forever though.
Well I guess I"ll do what I can while I have the chance. Since I originally only thought there would be one reincarnated person I only prepared one set of three contracts. Just in case I did prepare several extra pieces of paper. While these guys are still squealing I should borrow a pen and some ink from the restaurant and prepare another set during that time I guess. Since it"s a high cla.s.s restaurant in the capital, I"m sure they at least have that much prepared.
After getting of from my seat and leaving the room, I called for the waiter and while telling him to wait about 20 minutes to bring the food I also asked him to prepare a pen, ink, and since I"m using a contract-use magic stone to bring a plate as well.
In two or three minutes the items I requested were ready. Even though I didn"t say it he even prepared a pin for p.r.i.c.king your finger. Well I"m sure he wouldn"t know that I"m holding a knife. While Bel, Ralpha and the others are still continuing their endless conversation I start preparing a new contract. The wording itself is the same as Ralphas. Since there"s not much wording I should be able to finish writing it up right away.
Without mistaking a single word, in a short period I was able to finish produce another set of three contracts. By the way, around the time I was finishing up with the third contract as expected these guys started to calm down.
I take the contract use magic stones of equal value out of my pocket and start rubbing them together on the plate I received, making an appropriate amount of magic stone powder. They went out of their way to prepare a pin but without using it I take out my knife and cut my pointer finger on my right hand to let blood come out. It"s easier to get blood out with a knife after all. With the blood still coming out of the pointer finger on my right hand I hold it over the magic stone powder on the plate and mix in about 1/3 and then use the pointer finger on my left hand to rub that on a total of six contracts with my name and thumb print.
Everyone was watching the work I was doing. In the end I used healing magic to fix the cut on my right hand and wiped away the blood on my finger with a handkerchief that store prepared as well(the only reason I didn"t use water magic was to prevent the floor from getting wet), and for the most part it"s done. I use drying magic on the contract and with the six of them overlapping I put them on the right side of the table in front of me and above that the plate with the magic stone powder, ink, and pen before opening my mouth.
"Is it fine already?"
After I said that and Bel nodded shyly, Ralpha said "Eee~ I couldn"t help it. Sorry" while scratching her head and stuck her tongue out. Kalstalan and Akdam seem to be surprised how I used magic so casually.
"Then, I think it"s about time for the food to come and we"ve finally met some other j.a.panese people. Let"s talk for a bit."
Thanks to Ralpha the mood has gotten a bit softer and it"s easier to talk.
"I guess let"s start from introductions. I think you already know but my name is Alan Greed. I was born Bakuddo Village of Marquis Webdos territory in the Kingdom of Rombert. In j.a.pan my name was Kawasaki Takeo, and I was a 45 year old salary-man when I died. My Unique Ability is "Magic Acquisition". It"s fine if you call me Al."
I said that while holding both of my hands out to Kalstalan and Akdam. Kalstalan just looked at my left hand amazed but Akdam nervously touched my right hand and used {Status Open} to check my status. After seeing that Kalstalan touched my left hand in a hurry and checked my status as well.
I guess she thought it was her turn next, Bel opened her mouth.
"My name is Bernadette Koloil. I was born in Ralail Village of Duke Stahlz territory in the Kingdom of Devas. In j.a.pan my name was Soma Asuka. I was a 21 year old college student when I died. My Unique Ability is "Shooting Intuition". Please call me Bel."
She said it primarily to Akdam. She sticks her right hand out to Akdam.
"I"m Ralpha Firefreed. I was born in Ralpha Village of County Hentil"s territory in the Kingdom of Rombert but I was an abandoned child so I don"t know my parents. The one who picked me up and raised was a dwarf named Zenom. I was a 17 year old high school student when I died. My Unique Ability is "Spatial Understanding". It"s fine to call m Ral."
Ralpha sticks her left hand out across the table to Kalstalan while saying that.
"Hn, then, I guess next is me. Name"s Tolkelis Kalstalan. Born in Yogutte Village of Count Rozenhaim"s territory in the Kingdom of Rombert ow"
It seems that Bel pinched Kalstalan"s hand.
"I"m sure it"s the first time in a while but talk politely. Starting from the beginning."
Really now. After being scolded by Bel Kalstalan coughed with an "n..n" and,
"My name is Tolkelis Kalstalan. I was born in Yogutte Village of Count Rozenhaim"s territory in the Kingdom of Rombert. My name in j.a.pan was Sema Yousuke. I was 21 years old and a college student the same as Asuka when I died. My Unique Ability is "Scale". It"s a Unique Ability that isn"t very useful though...It"s fine if you call me Toris."
After saying that Toris stretched his left hand out to Ralpha and his right hand out to me.
"Umm, my name is Gulinel Akdam. I was born in the King"s direct territory Rombertia of the Kingdom of Rombert....I was born in this town. Misa..I was together with Ral on the same bus when the accident happened. I was 17 years old. My Unique Ability is {Mapping}. Please call me Gwine."
Gwine stretches her right hand out to Bel and her left hand out to me while introducing herself. When our introductions had ended, three of the restaurants waiters knocked and entered the room. Two of them held something like a lunch mat or napkin and spread it out on the table and then started lining up the tableware. The other one is distributing gla.s.ses to everyone. In the end they asked if it was alright to start distributing food so I nodded and they left. I,
"Bel, is it fine? You"re going to at least eat before going right?"
and asked her and with a clear face,
"Yeah, of course."
replied like that. Then, it seems like it would be good to start talking right away. In the next moment the waiter"s brought out the appetizers. It looks like ratatouille or some kind of cold vegetable salad with ham, and some kind of sweet berries or nuts on it, lamb meat carpaccio, and a plate with seven varieties of appetizers served on it. At the same time white wine was poured for us. After it was distributed to everyone the waiter was still here so,
"Then, since it"s this occasion, let"s do a toast. Congratulations to the miracle that you all were able to safely meet. Cheers."
and said that before drinking the wine. Yeah, this is pretty delicious wine. I don"t really get it though. But, it"s really easy to drink. Each person is saying "cheers" and putting the wine to their mouths but just Akdam was bewildered.
"Umm..It"s true that we"re adults but..Is it okay? It"s my first time drinking alcohol."
Ah, so she was raised in a house with that sort of curriculum? Come to think of it I want wonder what she said to her parents to come here? I guess I"ll try talking about things around that area. Since the waiter has already left, and t"s troublesome, it should be fine in j.a.panese.
"Hn? I won"t say to force yourself on it, if you"d prefer juice or water then should I order some of that?"
"Eh...it"s fine."
After Gwine glanced at Bel and Ralpha drinking the wine like it was delicious and she put it to her mouth.
"Huh? It"s delicious..Nn...What, is this...Nn..."
..I wonder if it"s the dwarf blood? After just one sip she noticed how delicious it is and after looking at the gla.s.s once she started to drink it down, and emptied the gla.s.s.
"Wait just a moment..Wakana, don"t drink too much and get drunk."
Ralpha got worried and warned her.
.............
After drinking some soup like a consomme, and by the time the main dish beef (!) poivre and tanvirumu (a type of fish that lives in shallow ocean like flounder) meuniere came out everyone had gotten to know each other and there was a harmonious atmosphere around the table. It seems it"s been about a month since Gwine and Toris met.
When she was peddling with her parents and two escorts, a total of five of them they were ambushed by a group of orks on a mountain road, and leaving only Gwine were nearly wiped out, at that moment Toris gallantly appeared and saved her from her peril. I guess it"s only obvious she"d fall for him. The way she looks at him reminds me of a subordinate of mine, in my previous life who died young, he was a Johhnys-type good looking guy named Inoue, and even though he had two children he would seek an illicit love with a female employee from a different department.
Gwine was brought to tears when she started talking about the attack by the orks. It was an incident that occurred only a mere month ago. She lost both of her parents at once (they were killed right in front of her, which is a pretty shocking method to lose them, so it"s not unreasonable) and she wasn"t even able to succeed the white Type-3 Second Variety license for Akdam Company so it can"t be helped that she was driven into a corner. Even if it came to continuing business she would have to pay 1,000,000 Z to buy the license again. If she were to have applied for a license with no connections or anything it would have taken several months for it to be issued I"m sure.
Well stuff in that regards is convenient for me but it"s true that being pleased over other"s misfortune somehow feels uncomfortable. At the very least she was able to dispose of all of the goods she had in her carriage at that time and earn some money and it seems she still has some stock of grain and vegetable seeds remaining at the company. Well since the season is good if she were to try and dispose of them right away she could do it. If a white license holder dies in an unforeseen accident to something like monsters then they"ll offer some lenience in paying the taxes on the remaining stock.
In Toris case he left his house at 13 years old, it was two years ago from now. In the short one minute period he had to ask questions of G.o.d he came to know of Bel"s reincarnation and was able to confirm there"s some distance between reincarnated people as well it seems. Thanks to that he wasn"t able to confirm much of anything else.
Just when I was thinking he was quite intelligent, it seems that when he was shown the news report video during the first explanation he noticed Bel"s name right under his. He immediately confirmed Bel"s reincarnation but G.o.d didn"t respond to where Bel was located. I was only able to confirm my own name surrounded by a flashing red square and a couple of other names that had two or three character family names.
But, just like me after hearing the method the place where reincarnated people are born at is decided and after finding out that we"re separated by some amount of distance, he asked what amount of distance that was and he was told it was at least 100 Km.
Since that was the case he decided to avoid searching large towns where it would be difficult to search for someone and traveled around focusing on small villages it seems. Just when his traveling expenses were starting to get low he happened across Gwine"s carriage being attacked.
We all talked about our encounters as well. It"s entirely focused on Ralpha and Bel"s stories and I sometimes add on to that. After hearing that it took the shape of me saving both Bel and Ralpha from peril the way Gwine looked at me changed. Up until now it was a "what"s this piece of goldfish p.o.o.p" kind of feel compared with now I clearly feel like I"m being looked at the same as Toris. I don"t think this is probably just me being too self-conscious though...What is with this girl?
After Toris heard how Bel and us met, when the story ended he stood up from his seat and deeply bowed to me offering his grat.i.tude. What the, isn"t quite honest?
We continued talking after finishing the main dish and changing the taste by eating the salad with steamed chicken in it. About the usefulness and danger of reincarnated people. It seems that neither Toris nor Gwine took those sorts of things into consideration at all and listened to it seriously. I only intend to talk about the advantages of being a reincarnated person, body level, and such after they sign the contract.
By the time the dessert that was some kind of fruit jelly was brought out we were close to reaching an end to the things to talk about.
"Now then, is everything up until there fine...Yeah. Right now, it"s in the form of me employing Bel and Ralpha. Other than them there"s also the dwarf that"s Ralpha"s adoptive father and my combat slaves a Laios man and a Dog-warrior woman, we"re challenging the dungeon in Baldukk with a total of six of us. Toris, Gwine, how about it? Will you come along with us? Of course, I"ll pay you proper wages just like Bel and Ralpha."
I looked between Gwine and Toris while talking. Ralpha entered the conversation there.
"The wages are 200,000 Z per month. When there"s a lot of earnings we also receive bonus pay on those days. Al and I arrived in Baldukk around June of last year but I"ve earned an average of over 500,000 Z per month since then."
Why are you holding your chest high there? And then Bel continued to add to the conversation as well.
"And, we have days off on Wednesday and Sat.u.r.day afternoon. Well I think this will change when we start exploring deeper floors though. Also, Gwine, that is..We get one day off extra per month. Though I get two a month, since mine are light.."
Ah, menstruation days off...If Gwine joins us as well then those sorts of days off will increase as well...Well, it can"t be helped. It"s fine though.
"Of course, please let me accompany you. Asuka..I was told by Bel that she wants me to come along as well and I don"t have an occupation so I"m quite grateful for it. Al-san, please allow me."
Toris immediately said that. As expected of Bel saying with confidence that it would come to this. However, you could say he"s simply jumped at it because he doesn"t have any money as well though.
"Ah, your welcome to join us. Then, please sign the contract. The details are the same as Bel and the others. Here"
After saying that I handed him one set of three contract doc.u.ments. I wonder what Gwine will choose. If she"ll sign together with him then it will be less annoying and a big help though.
"Waka, Gwine, what do you intend to do? You can"t start your company up immediately right? Al has a company as well. Also, since Al is extremely strong I don"t think there"s very much danger even in the dungeon."
It seems that Ralpha is encouraging this side.
"U...But, an adventurer huh..Even if you say strong, about how strong? Also what license does his company have?"
Gwine asked Ralpha those questions.
"Hmn, near the end of last year he won against some person that was the sub-commander of the first knight group in a practice mat"Eeh!!? Isn"t that a lie?"
Do I not look that strong? I think I have built up quite a good figure for my age though...
"Yeah, I saw it in front of my eyes. Also, Al"s older sister is in the first knight group as well. His older brother is super strong and cool!! Right, Bel, Al"s older brother Farne-san is super cool right!!"
Ralpha suddenly threw the conversation at Bel while she was reading the contract together with Toris just in case.
"Eh? Farne-san? Yeah! He was cool."
After raising her face from the contract Bel replied. Toris is still looking at the contract without even glancing at Bel"s face. I wonder if it didn"t enter his ears, he was originally not all that much of a jealous type, or he might just trust Bel. I can"t really tell. Gwine continues.
"And what about the license of his company? Since it seems he"s from Marquis Webdos territory, if it"s a Type-3 it"s not even worth mentioning."
I went to open my mouth and reply but Ralpha replied again.
"I don"t know his license but he"s directly doing business with the King. He was directly called out to by his majesty Rombert and her highness the Queens after all."
This time Gwine started looking at me with a doubtful expression.
"I don"t have it with me right now but my Greed Company has a Type-2 First Variety red license. If it"s inside of Rombert I can do whatever business I please as much I want. Have you heard about the rubber products from Bakuddo?"
After I said that I"m sure that Gwine recalled it.
"Ah..Rubber products..I"ve heard about them..Though I haven"t seen them..But, that"s amazing. Putting aside Type-2, something like a Type-2 Variety One is completely impossible for us.."
She might not know that n.o.bles have a special right in regards to the price of the license. Well, it"s fine though. If it"s a normal person that"s not a n.o.ble and they have no connections, in order to make a Type-2 First Variety company it would cost them 150,000,000 Z after all. In the end it only cost me the handling charge of a mere 500,000 Z though. It"s all thanks to the mightiness of rubber protectors and condoms.
"Since you have experience doing business on Orth, I would definitely like for you to join us. This year or next year I intend to create a headquarters for the company in Rombertia. It"s no good if I don"t search for a building that would be a good candidate as soon as possible."
I smiled while talking to Gwine.
"But..I can"t even use the spear very well..That is..Fi..fighting is..a bit, scary..or rather.."
Well, that"s right. On the other side of the table Toris has started signing the contract.
Finis.h.i.tfinis.h.i.t.
"What are you saying~ Even I can do it so it"s fine. Even my father said that the axe or spear are best for dwarves. I"m sure you"ll be able to use it right away. And I"m here, and Al will protect you as well."
Ralpha smacks Gwine"s back while saying that. Alright, you, even though you"re an idiot you"ve been doing some decent work lately~ I"m sure it"s the results of Bel and my discipline. Like that"s the case.
"Well try reading it. The details are exactly the same as the one I gave Toris, and it"s the same as Ralpha"s as well. Ah, though Ralpha"s contract was combined two into one with Zenom?"
I say that while handing her the contract. She nervously received that and started looking at it but I wonder if she"s the type that"s weak being pressured? since she saw Toris has already started signing in front of her, she raised her face without even properly bothering to read it. It seems she"s waiting for Toris to finish signing.
After she received the pen and ink plate from Toris who finished signing and she started signing the contract. I hand Toris the knife and shifted the plate with magic stone powder on it over in front of him and,
"Mix in some blood for about half of the amount of magic stone powder remaining and then do a thumb print. The wound will heal right away."
I said that and watched where Toris pushed his thumb print. It seems that Gwine has finished signing as well.
Alright, I"ve gained another two valid pieces, it"s fine to think of it as if they"ve become my subordinates I"m sure. Out of the three contracts they signed I gave one to each of them and healed their cuts with magic.
Out of the remaining two contract doc.u.ments one of them I"ll keep and the remaining one will..be kept by the government office. It"s one of the reasons why formal contracts are expensive. If you do a thumb print using magic stone powder and your blood then you can use status open on it.
With this they can"t escape from me so easily.