I shouted to the heavens and let out my frustration, and another voice came up.
「 Hand over the princess and Nia? I could’ve cut him down right then and there! Why didn’t you give the order even after such insults? 」
Chris clenched his fist and looked at me with a grim face.
I’m not sure if I should tell him that he was actually included based on Prostav’s look.
「 I feel the same way, but he’s the merchant of the Marquis isn’t he? That would be bad. Euphy’s not a noble right now. If you do that, they won’t just get angry, but they’ll arrest us 」
I made some pretty mad threats and complaints there, but if you ask me if I would do that, of course, I won’t do something that would get me in trouble that easily.
If I were thinking about what to be done in front of me, I would take direct measures without question, but those are just words.
However, I don’t know if Euphy will behave.
She’s staring at the three-floor building with cold eyes that she never showed me before.
I wonder what would’ve happened if his attitude took a step further.
While I was thinking and looking at Euphy, she noticed me and turned, her expression changed to the complete opposite, from a cold gaze to a smiling face.
「 He survived. If he insulted Daiki-sama further, his head would’ve flown off 」
「 Don’t say that with a smile. 」
The quiet Euphy is a thousand times more frightening than the bursting Chris.
I guess this will never be directed at me, I’m hopeful.
「 Well then. The business meeting failed, what now? Go home? 」
Since we lost our business negotiation, our later plans will have to change.
When I suggested returning to the mansion, Nia grabbed my arm.
「 Say, he said that it’s impossible with other merchants, but is that true? 」
「 I wonder? I don’t know the state here so I’m not sure. Hmm, right. Now that we’re in town, let’s hear what they have to say 」
That was the first thought I had when Nia asked, but reality isn’t that easy.
「 I’m very sorry. We don’t have enough room to carry your load right now. How about trying elsewhere? 」
Or something like that.
「 You think I have a team looking after this store? No way 」
And like that.
「 Did Prostav turn you down? That’s… I’m sorry but our company can’t handle it 」
We didn’t hear a good response.
They almost always refuse before showing them the product.
I guess having them listen from a sudden visit was already good enough.
Leaving the last shop that seems to be freaked out by Prostav…Nia lay down on me and shuffled her ears.
「 Uuu, not even other merchants want it. Daiki-nii, sorry 」
「 Why are you apologizing Nia? There’s no need for that, it’s good that you know the situation. Where’s your thanks instead? 」
「 It is as Daiki-sama said. Nia. Without suggestion, we would’ve done that at a later date, so we saved a lot of time. Well done 」
「 It is as the princess said, Nia did nothing wrong 」
Euphy, Chris, and I all comforted the depressed Nia.
I did it naturally, but Euphy’s also overly protective of Nia, and Chris was upset to see her depressed look since they get along well.
「 Really? It wasn’t a waste? I’m glad. I thought I made a mistake 」
「 Nia didn’t do anything wrong. That was a great suggestion. Okay, as a reward, I’ll buy you whatever you want from the stalls around the corner 」
「 Hooo?! Haa, t-then, I want that meat there! 」
Nia’s genuine response made me nod and drown out the conversation.
But you know, I think it’s a little too honest that it scares me.
She got in a good mood with one food.
If anyone tries to seduce Nia with some nice food, I’m going to kill them.
I bought a barbeque for four people while I was thinking that.
It was a hearty meal just before lunchtime, but it was fine for these girls, they were still growing
After finishing the herbally flavored meat on the plate of leaves, Nia collected the leaves and dumped them in the garbage.
When she came back, she took my hand and pointed at an alley.
「 There seems to be a shop there. Look, there’s a sign. How about we ask them too? 」
「 Oh, let’s go. You can’t make too many shots 」
It’s my cute Nia’s suggestion.
No matter how tattered the store looks, they have no choice but to listen.
I mean, it looks shabby up close.
Are they seriously doing business?
Well, it seems that they’re doing that kind of work, since I see a magnificent wagon behind the wooden lattice gate, so they might be trading.
When I offered to have a business meeting, the man who claims to be the owner of the store had responded.
The person I’m dealing with seems to be the same age as me based on looks.
When I showed them the products in the room, he looked at them with sparkling eyes.
「 Ooh, these are some superior goods. We would be grateful if you could wholesale such a wonderful product. However, regrettably, we don’t have the manpower to handle it if we have to transport them to other cities for buying and selling, and even within this city 」
Hmm, as expected, they’re lacking manpower.
I wasn’t expecting anything from this ragged-looking building, but I saw a good number of people inside.
「 Manpower. If we can solve that, would you be willing to buy it? If it’s a financial issue, then I’m willing to invest 」
「 I’m grateful for the proposal. However, financial assistance won’t be enough to solve our problem. We’re lacking in guards. Even though Marquis de Blaureite’s territory is relatively safe, there are still bandits and monster attacks. That’s why we absolutely need guards, and it’s not easy to hire skilled people for a long time. Besides, we’re recently surrounded by competent guards from the larger trading companies 」
I see. So that’s the issue.
Indeed, this world is filled with assailants that every city needs a wall
We were attacked during our trip too.
Speaking from experience, I think you need more than one guy with a skill level two or higher in combat, I’d be too scared without another guy with one level higher.
They’re pretty casual about taking carriages between towns but even those have a proper escort.
In that case, we can’t leave it to low-level adventurers, instead, we need experienced guards.
I guess these things need to be balanced with the value of the product, still, it’s not a job that you can let bad adventurers take, because if you make a mistake, it’s a huge loss.
They said that they were short on staff elsewhere as well, but I guess they’re having a hard time finding personnel everywhere.
But, you know…
I think we could solve this issue, right?
「 Hey, Euphy. I think we can move our knights in this case, right? I was going to ask them to take care of something else, but I wonder if we could ask them to be escorts or carriers on the move along with us? 」
「 Yes, they’re ready at your command 」
Euphy figured it out and replied immediately
I’m sure that she’s thinking about it, but there’s no sign that she’s rejecting the idea.
However, this is a knight operation from Euphy’s point of view.
So, let’s go check with the other party.
「 Chris, I want to ask you, how do you feel about moving knights to this place? 」
「 M-Me? I think the princess is right 」
「 Euphy’s opinion has the most respect, but I’d like to hear you, you’re the party in question. Do you think the Adicilton knights would accept it? 」
「 If you ask the knights of other families, they’ll refuse and laugh at it. But if it’s by the princess’ orders, everyone will obey without question. Even without that, we know that we don’t have enough leeway for our pride. So everyone will do it
「 I see. I should probably check on Gilbert-san in the meantime, but we’re in a situation where we don’t have a choice, so we can make a decision here, right? Euphy 」
「 Indeed 」
I gave my last check with Euphy, and her beautiful eyes cast down.
The merchant, watching the situation, speaks up, losing patience with the conversation.
「 U-Uhm, you mentioned knights earlier, who are you… 」
「 It may be rude, but before we explain, do you know about the Adicilton house? 」
「 H-Huh? I recall that they’re a count house from the Mugdam Kingdom. But the Nyhied Kingdom has caused a serious blow on them…no way?! 」
「 It’s late to say, but we’re actually part of that group, and the knights we were talking about are them. I see that you have a security problem, how about you let us take care of it temporarily? 」
There’s nothing to hide so I say as much I want.
I don’t know if that worked positively or negatively.
The merchant who heard the story looked at us in disbelief.
Oh right, this group isn’t so convincing.
He thought for a moment, then he looked up at me.
「 I’ll be honest here. The knights of the Adicilton house, though they’re just rumored, they’re objects of fear, and it’s inspiring to have such knights as escorts. If you can help us, then please do! These items will sell, We’d love to take the opportunity! 」
Ooh, he’s getting motivated.
I wasn’t expecting this great of a reaction.
It’s not a bad deal for him, so I guess he’s on board with the idea since it would be profitable.
He also had sparkling eyes when we showed him our products.
Even so, he did believe what I told him.
I feel that 90% of the reason is thanks to Euphy.
Looking at her sit next to me act elegantly and speak a few words, you can decide that she’s not a commoner.
As expected of my Euphy-chan.
She gives buffs just by sitting there.
Besides, she smells good nearby so it’s also calming me down.
Chris, who’s sitting in the chair behind us, also seems to be a good escort, so I think that might be a part of it.
As for Nia, she’s just listening with a serious face, and her cuteness is healing.
After that, I talked to the merchant and got a tentative contract done, so I was done for the day.
Let’s ask one of the knights in charge of work to discuss the details.
It’ll probably be Gilbert-san, and he’s doing a lot of things, so it’ll be hard for him.
Normally, I would like to wholesale the goods and end the business there, but I had no choice.
It’s Prostav or whatever the guy’s name was that is at fault.
While I was thinking that, a question came to my mind.
「 One last question, do you know where the big merchants get their guards? 」
「 Oh. You see, those were from Prostav’s company 」
「 I see. I get it now. Thank you 」
Well, I had a feeling.
Perhaps that’s how they sabotage the other merchants?
That’s likely.
You can tell how horrible his personality is after all.
I’ll have to notify them so they should be on the lookout for someone hindering, just in case.
Well then, let’s go to Japan tomorrow and make preparations.