Chapter 96
A few days later, in the afternoon .
Kazura had taken Zirconia with him to visit an upscale commercial district in Isteria .
The two of them were dressed differently than usual, in simple, plain, commoner clothes .
They wore a cloak on their shoulders and held a sack in their hands, looking like travelers .
Zirconia ties her hair into a single knot at the back of her neck and disguises herself, if only for comfort .
Her face is cracked as she usually travels to military-related facilities, but she rarely comes face to face with civilians .
A different outfit or hairstyle will give a completely different impression, so even if you’ve seen Zirconia’s face once or twice before, there’s little danger of your face is exposed .
This is a trick that is possible only in this world where ma.s.s media has not yet been developed .
“This is the general store . When I visited here before, they bought some items from me before . ”
“… Even though you have such a magnificent store, it is fraudulently bypa.s.sing the laws”
Last night, Kazura told Nelson and Zirconia that an old woman in the grocery store had bought an ocarina and a red gemstone from him .
He wanted to explain that she was someone who had the resources to sell even the most unusual items without starting a rumor, but after hearing the explanation, Nelson said “he wanted to find out about the other person’s character before offering them a deal . ”
The original plan that Kazura and Zirconia had made was to give the name of the Isteria family first and offer to negotiate with them .
But before that, Nelson said, they needed to see how the old lady would respond if they offered the same kind of negotiations like last time with her ident.i.ty hidden .
If the old lady responded in the same way as last time, then she would have only that much of a head start .
If she didn’t have enough intelligence to either disclose some information ahead of Kazura or offer some goodies to us, considering the possibility that Kazura might be getting information elsewhere, she wouldn’t be able to use it, although it wouldn’t be very useful .
Incidentally, I’ve also told Nelson and that Kazura visited Isteria with Valetta and the others before .
They asked me how I came to visit the store, so I answered, and Zirconia looked very surprised when I told her that I had encountered Liese and the others in the process .
Nelson remembered Eira’s reaction when she had come face to face with Kazura before, and nodded in agreement, ‘So that’s what happened?
“No, we still don’t know if she’s committing fraud on a regular basis . ”
“That’s true, but there’s no doubt that this is a shop that is making a profit by running a scam . I’m not too keen on taking advantage of someone like this…”
“’That’s true, but you should use whatever you can at this point . You should meditate on a few things . ”
When Kazura said that to Zirconia, whose expression was cloudy, Zirconia showed a momentary puzzled expression .
But soon, she chuckled happily .
”Hm? What’s wrong?”
“Huh, it’s nothing . Kazura-san is right, we don’t have time to pay attention to the details, right? But…”
Zirconia said, and put a hand on her back hip, hidden by her cloak .
“Be careful when negotiating, just in case . I don’t think there is any, but there is a chance that the other party may try to intimidate you roughly . It’s the kind of place that runs a scam, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they had a bouncer or two on hand . ”
Just in case, Zirconia has a dagger tucked under her cloak .
If the negotiations don’t go as well as they should, and a disturbing stream of bouncers come out of the woodwork, she said she would be the one to deal with them .
Nelson tells me that not many people can compete with her with weapons, but I’d like to avoid a tumultuous turn of events if I can .
The reason why Zirconia, not Isaac or Havel, is accompanying him is simply that she’s much more skilled than them .
Since her number of experience in actual battles is incomparable to the others, she is said to be able to deal with things on the spur of the moment .
On top of that, she also believes that her companions would be less wary of their opponents if they were female rather than male .
“I understand . But even if that happens, let’s think about running away rather than fighting back . It would be terrible to get injured doing this . ”
“Yes . Well, if there’s a commotion, the private soldiers waiting in hiding are supposed to rush in, so we’ll be okay first . I think so . Unless we’re being held, hostage . ”
With that, Zirconia smiled softly and walked into the store .
“h.e.l.lo . I have something for you to buy . ”
Kazura walked into the shop and went to the back and called out to the old lady who was sitting on the ledger as she had done on his previous visit .
”Yes, welcome … oh, you are, I believe …”
The old woman looked up and raised her eyebrows in surprise when she saw Kazura’s face .
‘ ‘Yes, I’m the one who sold some jewelry for you the other day . I’ve come here with some more things I’d like you to buy for me…”
All right, all right . I’ll buy from you outright, you can count on me . Is this your sister, by the way?
Zirconia, who had been running her eyes around the store, smiled at the old woman who gave her a snarky look .
“This is my wife and she forced me to bring her along . ”
“Well, you have a very pretty wife . Regardless of your appearance?”
“Yeah, that’s right, thanks, so let’s talk about jewelry . ”
“Wait a minute . ”
The old lady said, and took the sign that had been placed in the corner of the store that read ‘Preparing’ and placed it at the entrance of the store .
“There we go . Let’s talk in the back room, just to be sure . ”
As the old woman walked into the back of the building, Zirconia stopped Kazura from following her .
”Well, I’ll go first . Please don’t ever leave my side . ”
With the caution of that, Zirconia followed the old woman into the back of the room .
Kazura followed Zirconia through the door .
”You guys, I think we can call it a day,”
There were six girls in the back room .
They ranged in age from about six years old to their mid-teens .
The girls sat on the floor with needles and knives in their hands, working on leather goods such as shoes and gloves .
A long table was set up in the room, and a fireplace was also set up .
”Yes, but…”
At the old lady’s words, one of the girls raised her voice as if she was confused .
The other girls also turned their anxious eyes to the old woman .
“Hmm? …Oh, don’t worry about it, I’ll give you your wages for today . ”
The old woman took out a cloth bag from her pocket and handed it to a girl who was close at hand .
The girl immediately opened the bag and checked the money inside .
“It’s still past noon, why don’t you go down to the river to pick up those round stones I taught you about? You can take the basket there with you . ”
“Yes, thank you . Let’s go, everyone?”
The girls bowed to the old lady and left, taking the basket that had been left in the room .
“Sit down at any of those chairs over there . Let’s see, let’s get you some tea . ”
The old lady waited for the girls to leave and then recommended a chair to Kazura and Zirconia .
“No, I have some urgent business to attend to after this . I would like to begin the transaction immediately . ”
“Oh, okay . Well, Let’s get this started . ”
When Zirconia quickly declined the tea, the old woman sat down in her chair without seeming particularly bothered .
Following the old lady, Kazura and Zirconia sat down in their chairs .
“Well, what did you bring me today?”
“I’ve got some of the same kind of jewelry I sold you last time . …… . . By the way, who were the girls just now?”
Kazura asks while taking out a small bag of cloth from the Sack .
“They have a day job of running errands for me . Kids are much more affordable to hire . ”
As she said this, the old woman picked up the sachet and took out a piece of jewelry and placed it in her hand .
“Ho, this is another fine piece of jewelry . ”
Looking at the jewels on her palm, the old woman nodded with satisfaction .
This time, Kazura brought the gems with him: lapis lazuli, turquoise, and red crystal cut into a perfect circle .
Unlike the items he sold the old lady last time, they were darker in color and not as transparent as the ones he had sold her .
“Okay, I’ll buy them for 6,000 al each, 18,000 al for three . ”
“What the f.u.c.k… what?”
“It’s 6,000 Al . It’s too scarce to offer anything but a rough sum, but it’s not a bad sum . ”
The old woman smiled at Kazura, who was rolling her eyes and smiled at her .
Zirconia, who was sitting next to her, listened intently to the two of them without any particular change in expression .
”Um, that clear pink gemstone I brought last time wasn’t 2,500 al, I believe”
“I’m sorry, I bought it a lot then . I’ll buy this time at a fair price . And of course, we’ll continue to do so . ”
The old lady, who replied without seeming to be offended, gives Kazura a snide look .
”Why didn’t you fluff it on me again this time?” If you could sell it for that high, you could have ripped me off again . ”
“Of course it’s because I want to continue to make money . Even if you get fooled again, if you find out later and go elsewhere, it will be the last time . . It seems you have the wherewithal to continue to get the jewelry . We thought it would be better for both of us to make a profit . ”
“But I’m still getting ripped off . ”
“I’ll show you the books . Give me a minute . ”
When Kazura gave her a doubtful look, the old lady quickly stood up and went back to the store .
”Well Mrs . Zirconia, it looks like she could use it . ”
“Yes . It doesn’t seem to be enough to just cheat and make a profit . I’m concerned about the number of transactions you can make at one time and the sales channels…”
“Sure, I’m wondering where they’re selling out to… who on earth is buying them?”
As they were having this conversation, an old lady came back with a book in her hand .
“’I’ve kept you waiting, here’s the selling price of the jewels you bought last time . ”
The old woman sat down in a chair and opened the ledger and held it out to them .
The ledger, bound in leather paper, was filled with the names and prices of the items they had sold and bought .
Zirconia traced her finger over the ‘pink obsidian’ section of the ledger .
“I wonder if it’s this one . The selling price is at…”
“…What, 35,000 Al?”
“Yes, 35,000 Al . I swear, I had a hard time selling it for that price . ”
The old woman sighed with a look of relief as Kazura looked at the price and stared at her eyes .
”You sold it for fourteen times the amount you bought from me? That’s highway robbery, isn’t it?”
“It was a bit of a struggle to come up with a price because I’ve never seen this kind of jewelry before either . I’m glad I was able to sell it for a good price . ”
The old woman said, then pulled the ledger back to herself and turned her attention to Kazura .
“So, from now on, no more lies in our dealings with you . And the amount of money I made you lose in the last transaction I guess, 7,500 Al, right here and now . I’ll make it up to you . In return, you’ll continue to bring all of those jewels to me in the future . Let’s make this work for both of us, shall we?”
“Well, thank you, but who did you sell it to? Who can pay out this much money…”
“Wait . ”
When Kazura asked, the old woman interrupted him .
“I don’t ask you anything . You won’t ask me anything either . If you can’t do that, then there’s no deal . ”
“Oh, no, actually, that’s what I’m talking about . ”
“I’ll tell you from here . As a matter of fact…”
“Clair! She’s not here!”
When Zirconia was about to cut to the chase on behalf of Kazura, a woman’s voice rang out from the entrance of the store .
”Hmm, wait a minute . Don’t come out . ”
The old woman – Claire – left it at that, and got up from her seat and walked out to the shop .
“It sounds like things are going much better than I expected . Buying and selling an item of such an amount of money and then selling it for such a large sum of money, that person is quite skilled . ………Umm, what happened?”
“’No, I just heard a voice…”
Zirconia is staring at the door that Claire has left slightly open, with a snorting expression on her face .
When Kazura also turned his attention to the door, the sound of the woman who had come to the store and Claire’s conversation could be heard faintly echoing through the doorway .
The two of them listened and listened closely to the conversation .
“If it isn’t the miss . It’s been a long time . ”
“It’s been a while . I’ve been so busy lately . How’re you doing?”
“It’s the same here . It’s good to see you, Eira . ”
“Miss Claire, it’s been a long time . ”
At the name Eira that was heard, Kazura and Zirconia looked at each other .
”Eira…that means…”
“Oh, um, Mr . Kazura, you told me not to come out, and I’m going over there now . ”
“No, but I’m in the store right now because…”
Zirconia quickly grabbed Kazura’s arm as she sat up from her chair and made him sit back down .
Her expression showed a bit of impatience .
”You look much more tired, is something wrong?”
“That stupid merchant was so insistent . He insists on seeing you over and over again, and when he has a chance, he touches me…like the other day, he almost got me . You know how they tried to take you out of the house at night? I don’t know what they would have done to me if they had taken me like that . I really wish that guy would have died . ”
“Well, let’s just say thanks for your help . Are you going to trade in the stuff he gave you today?”
“Yeah . I’d like you to buy this for me, but how much is it worth?”
“Oh, let’s see, you’ve got some good stuff here . ”
“That erotic old man is always first-rate at giving gifts . That’s the only thing I admire about him . ”
“Have at it . I’ll add a little color to the mix this time, too . … . By the way, have you cleared up the ident.i.ty of that man you mentioned before?”
“Probably a Clayrats’ leader . Commoner in status, I guess . ”
“Oh, Crayrats . You’ve got a good personality, and he is pretty rich, right? Just what you need for a marriage proposal . You gonna settle for that guy?”
“Yes, I think he likes me a lot and I’d like to go out with him tonight . He seems to have a girlfriend in his home country, and he’ll probably go home sooner or later if I shouldn’t let him go . Right?”
“’Oh, Master Liese, does that mean you’re going to have a night visit with Lord Kazura?”
“Seriously?”
The tremendous content of the conversation that could be heard, caused Kazura to freeze with a shocked expression on his face .
Next to her, Zirconia’s expression was tense .
”I see, I had the feeling that something was strangely pressing on me lately, but that’s what it was about?”
“He isn’t the same person like you! Where do you think you’re going? Please sit down for now!”
Kazura got up from her chair and left the room, dragging Zirconia clinging to her arm .
”Yes, no matter how influential you are, if you make it a pre-existing fact against the lord’s daughter, you’ll have to marry her . … The first move is winning, the first move is winning . ”
“Oh, my, you’ve grown up, haven’t you?”
Claire chuckles with a dumbfounded expression at Liese’s confident answer to Eira’s question .
Liese has been coming to this shop for years and has always been very straightforward with Claire .
The first time Liese visited the shop, Claire saw through Liese’s nature as soon as they met and pointed it out to her and they have been exchanging this kind of tone ever since .
“There aren’t many good properties like that . Ah, I’m starting to feel nervous . I wonder if I can do well…”
“What, you didn’t have time to prepare?”
“I hear from my daughter who has experience with it from time to time, but I only know enough about it when it comes up in chit-chat . I hope you’ll be nice to her, Kazura-sama . ”
“Why don’t you ask Eira to show you how to do it? You’ve had a guy or two . ”
…
What? Are you sure you’re a virgin at your age?
Claire gave a surprised look to Eira, who was awkwardly keeping her mouth shut .
”I’ve never even been in a relationship with anyone…”
“Oh, well . Well, to each his or her own . You can buy a pendant like the one you showed me the other day for a pretty penny . You can keep it for as much as you can get it . ”
“Yeah, I’ll have you falling all over yourself and giving me a ton of money, so you can count on me . ”
“Ha, haha . ”
Eira, who had been laughing hollowly at Liese’s dialogue, suddenly turned her attention to the gap in the door at the back of the store and froze .
”Hmm, Eira, what’s the matter…… . . ”
Liese choked on her words as she noticed Eira’s complexion and followed her gaze to the door .
“Hey,”
A smiling Kazura peeked through the doorway, a smug smile on his face .
”Hey! I told you not to come here! … . hmm? Do you guys know each other?”
Claire, who had yelled at Kazura, tilted her head curiously when she noticed Liese and the others .