Next chapter today.
Year 7444, Month 12, Day 28
We finish up making deliveries and it was when we were taking measurements for next time. When I returned from the inner citadel to a room in the outer citadel where the measurements were being done the squires of Bakuddo were politely taking measurements of the sizes of people from the knight group. Reynolds was helping Rozural with the male knights and Jamie was helping Wendy with the female knights measurements. Sean was writing down the sizes Rozural and Wendy spoke out while sister-in-law Shani was smiling and overseeing that.
Miduchi seemed bored on her own but from a slight distance away she was restlessly looking around the castle with interest. When I went to Miduchi"s side she started talking to me.
"Hey, this place is amazing..It"s even larger than the largest lobby in Lail"s royal palace and the ceiling is reasonably high as well..It really has the feeling of a castle.."
What is she saying? While I"m confused since I heard something strange she continued talking.
"Really~ Rombert"s castle is amazing. The roof is gilded as well and there was some castle towers as well, this is the "outer citadel" right? It"s really big and the inside is extravagant as well.."
"That is, since it seems Rombert has the highest national power around this area after all..I"m sure they would make the castle huge. I don"t know about other countries but I"m sure they aren"t as big as here..Most likely it"s on the level of "Osaka Castle" or "Edo Castle"."
"Ah, if you put it like that..if I remember correctly Osaka Castle had gold leaf used for it"s roof tiles at first as well..Did you already know?"
"Yeah, I"ve heard about it. I thought the same thing the first time I saw it."
It seems the measurements are almost over. The only one remaining for measurements is the Wolf-people of the second knight group, Viscount Rakkusu. I can"t afford to be standing around here. I get Miduchi to help me out as we count the money. I pay sister-in-law Shani the cost of the rubber protectors and then sign the proof of sales before handing it over.
We were able to finish up the deliveries without problem and able to take orders for next time as well. After this we just need to return to the company once more and fill the empty carriages with the provisions and military supplies I had prepared in advance and we"re done.
...............
"Then, sister-in-law. I"m praying for your fortune on the battlefield."
"Thanks. Miduchi-san, please take good care of Al."
"..Wa, yes!!"
After all the provisions, spare underwear and such, and military supplies were packed away sister-in-law and the other four in total from Bakuddo village"s Dirt Plains dispatch task force departed the capital of Rombertia.
After I went to the government office to finish paying the luxury tax and then returned to the company again, I started organizing the stock that sister-in-law and the others carried in last night in the back yard. It seems that Dianne has recovered quite a bit as well and wanted to help me out but I just used the spell {Cure All} on her in exchange for her feelings and chased her back up to the second floor before taking care of the job with Yotlen and Miduchi.
After we finished up most of the jobs, Anna put on some bean tea for us and I spent a short while staring at the account books for the company. Rozural and Wendy went to make deliveries of condoms we received to the brothels we"re in contracts with and Ruku returned to the workshop to repair the goods that need repairs that were brought in. It left an impression on me when Yotlen happily said, "Since we"ve restocked on Saya I"m sure it will spread around in rumors by the day after tomorrow and things will get busy." Ooh~ just like that continue increasing our profits.
"Ah, that"s right. I don"t think it will happen right away but in the case that the royal family sends forth a messenger saying something like hand over the new model of Saya then hand them this. Also, the remaining portion can be offered as promotional goods. Don"t sell them to stores but rather only give them out to individual customers without taking any money. If they say they want some more than investigate what kind of price they would pay and how many they would be interested in buying. It"s fine if you don"t take money that time as well. Limit the other party to older men who are either rich or n.o.bles. Fundamentally I"ll leave it to you who you hand them to but only good customers who come a number of times. There"s no need to hand them to a single person over three times. Limit it to just twice."
I said that while handing Yotlen the box of studded condoms (97 packs remaining) and I decided to return to Baldukk once before evening. There was something I was bit curious about as well.
When I returned to "Boil Manor" and Zenom and the others had already returned to Baldukk. Since Zenom was sipping away at some expensive looking alcohol and already bright red as he ate some smoked fish so I quietly closed his door. Ralpha and Gwine seem to have gone out drinking. It seems like Toris and Bel are off somewhere as well, while he was in his room alone, he was practicing writing down notes until a piece of paper changed pitch black, and even then without getting bored of that he laid some sand out on a plate before practicing writing letters with his fingers, I caught Basutoral in the process of that before going to eat dinner with him and Miduchi.
"No~ it was easier than I thought. Thanks to you, I"ve already completely gained confidence that I can remember the letters."
Bastuoral happily said while smiling. If you can speak it then without much trouble it"s pretty easy to learn the letters. That"s great isn"t it.
Together with Basutoral and Miduchi the three of arrived at "Rosun" in about three minutes. We made plans to eat dinner together with the slaves.
When we arrived at "Rosun" and the three slaves had secured a table in the back and were waiting.
We each ordered our own food and beer before starting a report meeting.
"And, how did things go?"
I asked Angela who was drinking beer as well. It"s not like they"re big but her four bowl shaped b.r.e.a.s.t.s stand out in the thick beige color shirt. The bottom two seem a bit small. Come to think of it there"s no bra.s.sieres. It seems that some n.o.ble women of the upper n.o.ble rankings have started to use them but since they"re all something made at specialty stores I heard from Bel in the past that they"re not so easy to get your hands on. I wonder if she already bought one?
"Yes. I think it"s most likely the same as yesterday but just as I heard from Miduchi-sama, I was able t oconfirm them entering the dungeon with the same group of two the day before yesterday. They came out before noon and after returning to their inn, neither of them stepped even one foot outside. It seems like they"re having meals carried into the inn as well. When they came out of the dungeon yesterday, both of them were walking in a strange way so I think it"s most likely an injury...They didn"t enter the dungeon today and most likely they"re confined to the inn other than meals."
"I see. What about the other group of two? Were you able to grasp their tail?"
This time I asked Zulu.
"That is..I"m very sorry. I wasn"t able to gain any positive proof. At the very least as far as Larry and I could tell we weren"t able to confirm any contact with {Sun Ray}. Since they returned to their inn from the dungeon yesterday it seems they haven"t taken a step outside. I think that this side was injured as well. However, if they were to meet inside of the inn then we can"t tell."
Certainly that"s true...Since it seemed like Faruergaz and Hirosukol could use magic, I"m sure both of them can at least use {Cure}..and maybe Hirosukol could barely use it huh? In that case it"s probably difficult for their wounds to fully heal in just one day. Even if they keep using {Cure} while resting they"re probably prepared for it to take a full day and it"s unlikely the adventurers who entered together with them are skilled at magic either.
If it comes down to Hirosukol being the only one who can use healing magic and furthermore it"s only the spell {Cure} then..I can"t remember Hirosukol"s MP but it was at most 20-30 so if all of them were injured, then he used it 1-2 times on each to close the wounds before retreating, after that using {Cure} a number of times over a while in the inn. While enduring the pain. And in the first place if Hirosukol were to suffer a large wound then I don"t think he would be able to use magic. The only one who can manage that is about me.
Ah, since they"ve learned the incantations then my party members, as long as it"s not such a large injury that causes them to panic I think they can use it. In any case, those sorts of special cases aren"t worth taking into consideration.
"Hn..I see. Then Miduchi you take the Faruergaz pair tomorrow and Giberuti and I will take the adventurer pair. Even though they"re injured, if they were able to walk on their own feet them they might be able to heal themselves with magic by tomorrow."
I doubt that the Faruergaz pair will split up and act on their own so one person as lookout should be fine. I want to make sure my slaves have some days off as well. However, I don"t know the two adventurers that they"ve supposedly hit it off with. Miduchi just saw them from a distance and obviously doesn"t know either. The only ones who know are Zulu and Giberuti who saw them come out together. Giberuti..has quite a bit of free time even when we"re in the dungeon so pull the unlucky number at times like these.
""I understand.""
I listen to the reply of the slaves while carrying some of the meat stir fry I ordered into my mouth.
"Al-san..I"m very sorry."
Bastuoral lowered his head apologetically.
"Don"t worry about it. I"m just curious about the movements of some people I"ve made a connection with."
Ah, really this is annoying. Isn"t it already fine to tell Giberuti about things regarding the reincarnated people? I guess it"s still too soon. It"s certain that I want to at least keep an eye on things for a year before making a decision. There was a chance so I bought him but the reason was because he didn"t look at Bel in a weird way, and mostly just that. Though he was actually a pretty amusing fellow.
................
Year 7444, Month 12, Day 29
I finished off my running in the morning and after buying some sandwiches Miduchi started to seclude herself to her room in "Boil Manor" right away. The entrance of the inn that Faruergaz and the others are staying can be seen from the window in her room. Since our faces are already known to Faruergaz we can only keep an eye on the entrance of their inn. I don"t think there"s any need to follow them. But, just in case, I have Miduchi observing them. Since Miduchi herself said following people was her specialty and since I thought that was actually the case as well. Even in the case it develops into combat, as long as she doesn"t get ambushed, I doubt there"s anyone who can injure Miduchi.
Giberuti and I sat down in an open restaurant across from the inn where the two adventurers are staying so we can sip some bean tea and chat while observing it. It was just as we were eating some roast duck with eggs over oatmeal for lunch.
"Master, one of them came out. It"s him."
Giberuti caught my attention. When I looked at the target and it was someone I don"t know. Sannose.k.u.miru. Human. 21 years old. Level 11. His level is reasonably high for his age. He"s wearing some reasonably durable leather pants and a cotton kimono above that. Completely normal plain clothes. He"s holding his flank down and every step he takes his face turns into a frown. His HP is over 20% gone. After all it seems they were injured. He walked over here with some unsteady steps and entered the store where Giberuti and I were relaxing away in.
"Give me some sandwiches. 8 of them. The ingredients can be anything but limit the doubles to two. Also, put some bean tea inside of this."
After ordering from the waiter like that he looked down with a pale face and a cold sweat breaking out.
"..That will be 680 Z."
He handed the waiter money while saying "I"ll come and pick it up in about an hour" before k.u.miru left the store. I think I should follow him here. I signal to Giberuti with my eyes and after leaving a silver Shu on the table I counted to 20 after k.u.miru left the store and then left following after him.
Since k.u.miru is staggeringly along while holding his side I"m sure his vigilance is distracted from the pain. He isn"t paying any attention to me while I"m following him from about 10 meters behind. After walking for about 10 minutes k.u.miru entered a store. It"s a store that deals in drugs. I wonder if he"s going to buy something for the wounds. After about 2-3 minutes he finished shopping and after reading his mood when he came out I started concentrating. I"ve practiced a reasonable amount against Miduchi but it still takes about 10 seconds for the spell to complete and requires concentration. Taking the duration of the effect into consideration I used about four times the normal mana to extend the duration.
After k.u.miru left the store and started staggering my way I intentionally b.u.mped into him and while he was crouched over I stretched my hand out while apologizing and finished the spell. My current level is 24. I used Identify to check the sub-window of Condition while using the same spell on Miduchi and was able to confirm the success rate of the spell. If there"s this much of a level difference between us then I can succeed at 100%.
When his hand reached out for my mine, the moment we met eyes..I caught him.
"Is it you, Sanno? Sannose.k.u.miru?"
I called out to him with the tone of voice of b.u.mping into an old friend in an intersection.
"A, Ah, Hn...What the so it was just you? Don"t scare me like that, ouch."
"Ah, it"s me. Sorry about that, it"s been quite a while right~"
"Yeah..that"s right."
k.u.miru doesn"t hold any doubts about it even though he doesn"t know my face at all. If he"s an adventurer then I thought he might know my face but..Since I don"t have my rubber protectors or helmet on. Additionally I"m not even equipped with a weapon right now. He might not be able to tell. Or maybe this is also an effect of the spell {Charm.Person}? Either way is fine.
"What is it? Is your condition bad?"
"Hn? Yeah, I screwed up in the dungeon the other day. I had a guy I was exploring with use {Cure} on me but it"s still far from completely recovered."
"Here, show it to me."
"Eh? Why, I don"t want to."
"You idiot. I"m saying I"ll use {Cure} on it. Or did you already forget that with your sponge head? {Cure} is my specialty."
"Ah? Eh? Ah, was that the case? No, that"s right wasn"t it. I"m begging you, do it."
I pulled k.u.miru to the edge of the road and after he pulled up his shirt I saw the wound. There"s a mark remaining where he was stabbed in the ride front side with something like a spear. There"s still some pink flesh showing around the wound but the skin still hasn"t stuck together. I quickly used {Cure Critical} on it.
"O..Oh, as expected. I feel like it"s gotten quite a bit better. I"m saved."
k.u.miru said like he was really happy.
"We"re friends right? Don"t worry about it at this point. But you know, I feel like my mana is about out thanks to that. By the way, are you still teaming up with that guy? That, what was his name again?"
"Ah, Ruttsu huh? That"s right. And we"ve also made two new allies as well. Of all things both of them are knights of that Faruergaz Knight group! Even more so one of those is the eldest son of Count Faruergaz! We"ve been exploring together with them for the past few days!"
Since it got a lot more comfortable k.u.miru smiled while he started bragging.
"He~? That"s pretty amazing~ I guess that means luck is coming your way. But then why did you get that kind of wound even though two knights were with you?"
"Yeah, just listen to this. It"s certainly true that since they"re knights they"re used to the army. They"re young an strong~ But you know, it was completely obvious how much of beginners they were.."
"He~ What does that mean?"
"For starters their movements are completely those of amateurs.. They"re just walking around like normal. Ah, they"ve finally started to walk around without making noise and remaining cautious. And then, just because they can use magic they"re underestimating the dungeon. Just because it"s a little bit dark they use the spell {Light} right away..If it"s like that, it"s like telling the monsters to please come and aim for us."
"That is quite.."
"Well, even then there"s some good points as well. If that wasn"t the case we wouldn"t party with them."
"Ho?"
"The commoner knight can even use healing magic. Even yesterday, even though I was done in by a gnoll in the dungeon, Ruttsu and Rodrick-sama...Ah, Rodrick-sama is the eldest son of Count Faruergaz though. In any case I started bleeding while being protected by those two. After that I somehow managed to stand up and we defeated about half of the gnolls before they ran away and after we gathered the magic stones we made a run for it. We earned about 50,000 per person but since everyone was injured. We ended up having to push the dungeon on hold until next week."
"I see. But, isn"t it great that you made some good acquaintances?"
"Ah, but, after all your {Cure} is completely different. It"s no surprise you brag about it. I bet you can make a living as a healer."
"Idiot, you, did you already forget? Isn"t it you who told me I could earn in Baldukk?"
"Ah, that"s right, that is how it was wasn"t it..I said it?"
"Really your head sure is like a sponge Sanno."
"No, sorry~ sorry~"
"Then, I"m heading off, stay well."
"Ah! See you again. I was saved today!"
k.u.miru and I split ways there, I took a detour around before returning to the restaurant where Giberuti was on standby.
"Master, just now that person returned and after picking up his food went into the inn."
"N, got it. It seems that he went to buy some medicine for his and his partners wounds. I don"t think they"ll move anymore today but it might be possible the guy from just now will move. However, it should be fine already. Let"s stop here for today. You"re free to do whatever you want."
I had Giberuti go back and then I spend a bit of time thinking while on my way back to "Boil Manor" but I wasn"t able to arrive at the conclusion that k.u.miru and Ruttsu were connected with {Sun Ray}. I wonder if there was any movement on Faruergazs end? It"s definite that Hirosukol can use the spell {Cure} but as long as he isn"t deeply wounded then it"s possible he can use healing magic today.
Well even then I think it will take quite a bit of time for the wound to completely heal so they might be resting for another couple of days, with this I"m sure they"ll have been given some things to think about for a bit and wait carefully until they"re completely healed and make even more thorough preparations before entering the dungeon next time.