Chapter 07 – Request
Part 1
Canaan was worried about dirt on her body and wanted to wipe her body with water. Now that I thought about it, I remembered taking a bath two days prior. I barely bathed at all in the Great Borf Forest, but since this was a human society, I had to be careful about my appearance.
However, there was no bath in the inn, and there was no public bathhouse either. Because there was no other way, I decided to create a skill with [Equivalent Exchange]. If the cost of the skill that I wanted to create was high, it would be a big deal. I needed to be careful, since attempting to create a high-cost skill almost killed me once.
Actually, is it possible to use other skills for it, since it’s called [Equivalent Exchange]?
That would help me quite a bit because I could turn unnecessary skills into useful ones. The skill I wanted to create this time was [Clean] for removing dirt from one’s body and other things. It’s a common skill in light novels.
It would be a good idea to use [Intuition] for the exchange. That skill was an inferior version of [Wild Intuition], so it was useless for me since I already had [Wild Intuition].
You have learned the [Clean] skill by consuming the [Intuition] skill.
Oh, it seems to have worked. I’ll use [Clean] on Canaan right away.
“Huh? What did…? Master…?”
“I used magic to clean the dirt off of your body and clothes. That should be enough.”
“T-thank you very much!”
Canaan hugged me. Ooh, surprisingly… she’s really soft… hehehe. Actually, I realized she wasn’t even wearing underwear under those clothes. I appreciated how nice it felt, but I decided to make her some underwear.
“Ah, my apologies!”
“No, that was actually pretty nice.”
“It was?”
“No no, nevermind that.”
But she actually has a great body. So she’s the type that looks slender when wearing clothes, I see. I don’t even know what I was thinking about a moment ago, but I activated [Equivalent Exchange] again to make a bikini bra and panties with the Sleeping Sheep’s wool.
As soon as I gave it to her, she immediately wanted to try it on. Don’t take off your clothes when I’m still here! I mean, I was actually pleased to see that, but… let’s turn around. It’s a matter of self-control anyway.
“How is it, Master?”
When I turned around, there was Canaan in her underwear. The stunned nosebleed was instantaneous…
“Are you all right, Master?”
“Ah, it’s very stimulating for me, so please put your clothes on.”
“Y-yes…”
Black Mist chuckled.
(As I expected, you’re also weak against hot naked girls.)
(S-shut up!)
More laughter.
(Don’t be shy, don’t be shy! Why don’t you try to rub her chest, she wouldn’t mind, you know~)
(Shut up, you peeping tom!)
That’s too bad, Canaan. I regret it. However, I almost collapsed from blood loss, so I have to make you put on your clothes with tears of regret. But that fantastic ass I saw when you went to take off your dress was like a shot through the heart, and seeing a beautiful and shy-looking girl in her underwear is dangerous in a different sense!
“But this underwear you call a bra is wonderful. With this, my breasts will keep their shape, and it’s easy to move around!”
“That’s good. Please tell me if you have any problems or pain after wearing it for a long time. I’ll improve it.”
“I will, thank you so much!”
Canaan looks happy. Since she’s a human, she doesn’t have a tail, but if she did, it would be swaying right and left now.
I went to Sidele’s shop as planned. No one else showed up to donate to me like last night, but there were still people following me around since morning. I don’t feel any hostility, but it’s not a pleasant thing, either. I hope they’ll leave me alone by tomorrow.
I entered Sidele’s General Store. Because it’s such a big store, it would have a large variety of items, so today, I’m prepared to browse the whole store. I have to consult with Sidele about business, too.
As expected, I’ve spent too much already… well, half of it was due to buying Canaan. That little bastard Sidele still took the money even though he practically forced Canaan on me. You can’t be negligent when dealing with creatures like Merchants.
I looked around when I entered the store. I didn’t see Sidele around, but I could sense his presence in the building, so I knew he was here somewhere. Well, Sidele seemed interested in me, so if he found out I was walking around in his store, he’d show up immediately.
“Canaan, are you familiar with this store?”
“Yes, I’ve been here many times, so I’m familiar with it.”
“I’ll be needing your guidance, then.”
“Okay!”
The first floor to search was of course, uh, the first floor. It had grains, vegetables, meat, etc., all lined up in the aisles. I found the soybeans I wanted on this floor as well.
“That’s a livestock feed called soybeans.”
What? Soybeans is food for livestock? Guess even the animals are eating good food, huh?
“How much is it?”
“I don’t know exactly, but I think it’s about 500 Gold per bag. It’s cheap because it’s only for livestock.”
It really is cheap. I didn’t think such a large bag that seemed to be 20 or 30 kilograms would only go for 500 Gold. I bought two bags of it, and when I looked further I found some corn.
“This one is called corn.”
It’s completely the same, huh! I thought the name would be screwed up based on how things have gone so far, but it’s also called corn, just like in my world. I wanted some, but I didn’t have much money, so I’d just come by later when I had more money to spend. I got what I wanted, so I went around the store with Canaan’s guidance. While I was still looking around, I noticed Sidele approaching us.
“Ah, Master Sumeragi”
“Ah, you’re here, eh?”
“Yes. …Canaan! H-have you come back to your senses?”
Sidele was surprised to see Canaan standing by my side. Well, that was only natural. When I took her the other day, her eyes were glazed over, and you couldn’t even talk to her. Sidele was overjoyed, shedding tears and sniffling loudly.
“I can’t thank you enough, Master Sumeragi.”
“I don’t need your thanks, but I’ve come here with a little request.”
“A request? If there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it!”
Since I bought Canaan, I told him I needed to make more money. So I consulted with him about the viability of cooking and selling food to do it.
“You want to sell food, huh… What kind of food?”
Sidele’s face become firm when he heard that it was food. As I heard from Canaan in advance, selling food would require inspections and documentation from government officials and reports to the merchant guild.
The merchant guild wasn’t a problem since Sidele played the role of this town’s merchant guild, but he said that the government office might not give permission because of Canaan. It depends on how the officials view me for purchasing Canaan who killed a noble’s child.
“I-I didn’t kill him!”
“I know, I understand that, but the official who gives permission would probably prefer to please the noble, am I wrong, Master Sumeragi?”
“Certainly, for the officials, they wouldn’t likely do anything to offend the nobility…”
“I apologize… You just bought someone like me…”
Canaan was plainly depressed. If she hadn’t killed the child, she wouldn’t have fallen into slavery, that was just how people saw it. However, there was nothing that could be done about it now, and the officials also wouldn’t want to get into any trouble.
Nevertheless, I definitely can’t sell food in this town… so the only way to make money really was to register at the adventurer’s guild or mercenary guild and kill monsters, huh?
I don’t want to register at the adventurer’s guild or the mercenary guild since Canaan said there was a troublesome system like emergency requests. If possible, I just want to make a living by selling food in this human society.
And so, I came up with an idea.
“Hey, Sidele.”
“What is it?”
“Does this store have a license to sell food?”
“Yes, we can handle everything, and we have all the necessary permissions to do so. Ugh, good grief! That’s what you want, huh!?
“Eh? What’s the matter, uncle?”
As expected from Sidele. Being a merchant, he quickly recognized what I was thinking. On the other hand, Canaan, who didn’t, practically had question marks attached to her head.
“But is that alright, Master Sumeragi? It won’t be as profitable for you, right?”
“I’d rather entrust you with it, since I don’t know the ins and outs of running a business…”
“If that’s the case, I’ll accept, but what kind of food did you want to sell?”
I was confident that he’d hear me out ― it’s a rice ball! I put six kinds of rice balls on the plate in front of Sidele.
He was surprised to see that, and asked me nervously, “This… is?”
“This is portable food, made from rice.”
“Portable food, you say…”
“What’s wrong?”
Sidele showing a disappointed expression.
“I was kind of expecting something more amazing, after you talked about it so confidently… I was a little nervous.”
“Don’t say that, they may not look like much, but they’ve got it where it counts. If you’re a merchant, you must have an [Appraisal], right? Take a look with that.”
“Yes, I have [Appraisal], but… in this case…!”
He was rather surprised. Of course I didn’t make normal rice balls, they’re special, so pay attention to them!
“Th-th-th-these are―!?”
HP Rice Ball ⇒ If you eat it, your HP will increase for two hours.
MP Rice Ball ⇒ If you eat it, your MP will increase for two hours.
STR Rice Ball ⇒ If you eat it, your STR will increase for two hours.
INT Rice Ball ⇒ If you eat it, your INT will increase for two hours.
AGI Rice Ball ⇒ If you eat it, your AGI will increase for two hours.
DEX Rice Ball ⇒ If you eat it, your DEX will increase for two hours.
“This kind of food… No, but this… Ha, Hahaha!”
Did Sidele go insane?
“U-uncle?”
“Master Sumeragi! How much of this can you make in one day!? And how long can they be stored?”
He tore his gaze from the rice balls and looked at me. I could see dollar signs in his eyes, it was the first time I’d seen that!
“If I have the ingredients, I can make hundreds a day, and if you wrap them in leaves, they’ll keep for about 2 days.”
“I see, I see! And then, for the revenue share…” He muttered the last part quietly.
“Well then, how about I get half the sale price of this rice ball, but you sell me rice and salt at a low price?”
“Are you really okay with only getting half? Even if you wanted 70%, I’d accept it, you know?”
“I don’t mind, so instead of that, just let me sell it all every day.”
“I understand! So, I’d like to bring in a business negotiation right away, so could you prepare another set of them, if you like?”
“As you wish then, is this what you need?”
I presented another six rice balls to Sidele. He took them with him, and the detailed written conditions were stuffed into the bunch. He called out to one of the clerks, and disappeared into the back.
What a restless guy.
“Now, let’s go back to you showing me around the store.”
“Oh, yes!”
I asked Canaan to keep showing me around the store. Like I was expecting from this place, it’s just like a department store, there’s a tremendous variety in the products being sold. That afternoon, we left Sidele’s General Store and headed back to the inn. There was still a guy following me around, but I ignored him and went back to the inn.
As soon as we arrived at the inn, I took the soybeans out. Now I could make miso and soy sauce!
I put the soybeans in a pot, drew the water with [Spring Water], and washed them clean. Well, I didn’t actually have to wash them, but I felt like it. Then I took out another pot and left it empty. I took out some salt as well ― originally it was necessary to use koji* to ferment it, but I didn’t have koji.
Perhaps… no, I’m sure [Ultimate Cooking] can make miso and soy sauce, even without koji! I activated [Ultimate Cooking]!
Just like that, there was a brown paste in one of the pots, and black liquid in the other. First of all, I tasted the paste… This is miso! Alright, I can make miso soup with this… Ah, I forgot!? I need dried sardines and kombu* to make the soup… I haven’t seen that at Sidele’s store, either. I wonder if I could go to the river and take some fish and dry it. Sigh… I didn’t think I’d have such a hard time making miso soup.
I took my mind off of that and tasted the black liquid… Okay! It’s soy sauce! It tastes just like regular soy sauce, but if I can do this, I’ll be able to improve it as much as I want later!
Since I have soy sauce now, I want to eat sashimi… but there’s no ocean here, huh?
“Canaan, is there a sea nearby?”
“There’s a port town called Port that’s about one day’s travel by horse-drawn carriage.”
Oh, it’s closer than I thought. Let’s go as soon as possible! Also, what a simple name for a town.
Part 2
Since I finally managed to make miso, I used it in some grilled rice balls.
“It’s delicious.”
“Really? I made plenty of them, so eat as much as you want.”
“Okay!”
Canaan stuffed the grilled miso rice balls into her mouth with both hands. Isn’t it still hot?
I felt like basking in my return to human society, while enjoying such a relaxing time… and then I heard a knock at the door. I told Canaan to stay back and opened it. There was a familiar man wearing familiar armor, and another man I’d never seen before.
“I’m Rotten, the retainer of Count Abbas. I’m sorry, but could you come with us?”
The familiar man was named Rotten, one of the guards who was escorting the carriage I helped the other day.
“Have you not mistaken me for someone?”
“There’s no doubt, it was you.”
“I’d also like to bring my slave with me, is that alright?”
“I don’t mind, but… I don’t really recommend it.”
Rotten’s expression had clearly changed. He seems to know about Canaan.
“Let’s go, Canaan.”
“…Okay.”
The situation won’t change, even if I insist that they’ve mistaken me for someone. There was a lot to think about, besides ― Canaan had a gloomy expression on her face. We went down and got into the carriage Rotten had prepared.
After riding through the town for a while, we arrived at a large, beautiful mansion, where Count Abbas lived. The carriage stopped in front of the entrance, to let us out.
“Welcome to the Abbas mansion.”
An old gentleman with the appearance of a butler bowed gracefully to welcome us. He led the way, followed by me and Canaan, then Rotten, and two others behind him. I don’t know why, but it seems like whenever someone sees me for the first time, they look surprised. Is there something clearly different about me?
As was the case with the landlady and employees at the inn, pretty much any time I went somewhere brand new, people seemed surprised to see me. It’s still a mystery.
Canaan and I were taken to the ridiculously luxurious reception room. I sat down on the sofa while Canaan stood behind it.
“Why don’t you sit down too?”
“Be-because I’m a slave…”
“I don’t care about that, so please sit down.”
“No sir, even if you don’t care, other people will.”
“…If you always worry over such small things, you’ll go bald, you know?” [TLN: It seems the Author likes his bald jokes.]
“I-I won’t go bald!”
In the midst of my joking with Canaan, Rotten and another man in armor came in from the door.
“I apologize, but I’ll need you to hand over the sword on your waist, temporarily.”
“This sword?”
I flicked Black Mist’s handle while saying that.
(Stop flicking me! That hurts, you know?)
(No way!)
“That’s right.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not going to let anyone touch this.”
“You! Know your place!?”
The man in armor put his hand on his sword.
“Stop it!”
“B-but sir―!”
“I’m sorry. We just want you to know that we can’t let you meet our lord while carrying a sword with you.”
Rotten calmed down and stopped his colleague or subordinate from doing anything, but what he says is clearly only from their point of view.
“Black Mist is like a part of my body. I’d rather leave than hand it over to someone else.”
“That’s…”
Rotten was much better than the other guy, but the other guy had quite a lot of hatred toward me. No, wait, it’s actually toward Canaan. That’s pretty much the reason that guy turned on his killing intent, and I understood the situation, so I had originally decided to ignore it, but if they insisted that I hand over Black Mist to them, there was no longer a need for words.
(Didn’t you just said something nice? Part of your body… Hehehe.)
Black Mist was chuckling to herself for some reason, but I ignored it.
“What did you say, you lowly commoner!”
The armor man pulled out his sword and pointed the tip at me.
“You fool! Stop it!”
“But captain Rotten!”
“”Ugh!””
It was simply self-defense, after he drew his sword against me. He pointed a blade at me. He let out his hostility. Both the knight that pulled out his sword and Rotten were suffering on one knee under the pressure of my killing intent.
This wasn’t from a skill. Ever since I practiced my swordsmanship, I also became able to control my killing intent. Even a Hell Bear or Musk Leopard which exceeded level 200 would be unable to move if they received my full killing intent.
Of course, I didn’t let out that degree of killing intent in a place like this. If I did that, people at a distance who weren’t related to this matter would die, too.
“You pulled out your sword. That’s fine, I’ll be your opponent, so come at me.”
“No, he didn’t mean it like that, this is…”
“As I said, Rotten, I won’t forgive an enemy. He can’t expect to live after pointing his sword at me, so give it up. You can’t stop me, anyway.”
Rotten and the knight, unable to stand up, turned blue after I said that. I’m not serious at all, but I admire them for not fainting after receiving my killing intent. Still, I’ll be killing this knight.
The door slammed open, and a big gorilla-faced man in armor jumped into the room.
“Wait!”
His face had a big scar on it, and scrunched up from the effort of resisting my killing intent. Though it was clearly still affecting him, he was still able to move, and get between me and Rotten and the other knight.
“I’m Goliath, I’m in charge of the knights of Count Abbas! I apologize, but could you please suppress your killing intent!?”
I took a moment to mull it over before deciding to listen to Goliath’s request and stop releasing my killing intent. In actual fact, I’m not even revealing one percent of it, but I appreciated his ability to still move in spite of its pressure.
“T-thank you.”
When Goliath bowed to me, Rotten immediately stood up and bowed his head as well. The guy in armor that directed his sword at me had fainted, almost at the same time Goliath came in. What a sloppy guy. Goliath and Rotten didn’t know my true strength, but they seem to realize they can’t win even if they all attack me at once.
“All of the current responsibilities are mine, and the blame will lie with me.”
“You weren’t here. The responsibility lies with that person sleeping there, you don’t have to take the blame.”
“I will give him a severe punishment! Therefore, please, if you can!”
(Hahaha, what a passionate man. So, what will you do?)
(It’s fine already, this gentleman’s determination seems real.)
(Is it really? Why don’t you take one of the injured man’s arms as his resolution?)
(That would be troublesome. Moreover, I was distracted by this gentleman’s professionalism.)
(Hehehe, it’s supposed to be troublesome enough.)
Black Mist is definitely enjoying this situation. What a troublesome personality.
“That’s enough.”
“Eh? Enough?”
“Yeah, I said that’s enough. So, can I leave now?”
“Ah no, please wait!”
“What now? That’s enough, right?”
“You have to meet the lord…”
“I already said I won’t let anyone touch Black Mist, right?”
“No problem!”
There’s a dandy gentleman and a young girl with a lovely face about fifteen years old coming in from the broken door.
“Your excellency!?” The other guys all called out at once.
This dandy gentleman seems to be the lord of this mansion.
“I apologize for my retainer’s impoliteness. I’m Dengaro Abbas, and this is my daughter.”
“My name is Alterias.”
The girl bowed her head.
“Alterias-sama…”
Canaan muttering the girl’s name. They seem to know each other.
“It’s been a long time, Canaan. I’m glad you look healthy.”
The young girl smiled sweetly at Canaan. When I looked at Canaan, I saw she didn’t return the smile, or say anything back.
“There may be a lot of circumstances I don’t know about, but let’s hear why you called me.”
“Hey, you… We can’t let you speak to Count Abbas that way.”
“I don’t care.”
Goliath reprimanded me for the way I talked to the Count, but since the Count said he didn’t care, it was fine. Well, if they forced me to talk politely, I’d just go home. The Count and Alterias sat on the sofa, so I also took a seat again. At the same time, Rotten dragged the fainted knight out of the room, but came back immediately.
“So, what do you want from me?”
“I called you here because I wanted to thank you for saving Alterias. I also have certain obligations, so it would be helpful if you could understand.”
It seems likely that the guy who’s been following me since yesterday was the Count’s subordinate, assigned to investigate me. Is that an appropriate thing to do instead of examining me properly?
“I just happened to be passing by, so there’s no need to thank me.”
“I can’t do that. Like I said, someone in my position has obligations to uphold. I can’t appear ungrateful to the benefactor who saved my daughter.”
The Count laughed, making his dog ears twitch, but the ears looked slightly different from normal dog ears. When I could see his tail, it was fluffy and thick, so I felt he was probably a fox beastman. His daughter, Alterias, has a similar-shaped tail and ears, and her tail was swaying gently.
“…Is that how it is? Well, I don’t really understand it.”
“Such is the nature of creatures of nobility, you know.”
“Hmm. So, what is this thank you meant to be?”
The Count clapped his hands twice, and a butler appeared from the broken doorway along with two maids. The maid put a leather bag and a dagger on a gorgeous table that matched the sofa, and stepped back.
They must have received considerable training, since there was almost no sound when they did their work. Internally, I commented that it was really different from maids saying “Master” in a cafe somewhere while drawing a heart on an omelette.
Still, I want to experience that kind of situation at least once, if possible.
“Master?”
Eh, why is Canaan reacting? She’s a little frightening, isn’t she?
“It’s nothing… Anyway, what’s this?”
I forcibly changed the topic and look at the object in front of me.
“A small price to pay for my daughter’s life. 10 million Gold, and a dagger with the Abbas house crest.”
Ten million Gold… Since Canaan’s price was 500,000 Gold, it’s worth twenty Canaans?
I don’t know why, but the amount is too much.
“Thank you for the money, but what does the dagger mean?”
“If you have that dagger, you won’t be given any trouble in this town. If you find yourself in other towns within this country, you will be treated as a relative of mine.”
That’s a huge deal, you know! Seriously, I’ll be treated as your relative!?
“I’ve registered the dagger with your name. It’s already engraved on it, so you don’t need to return it.”
“Is-is that so…”
The Count, as I mentioned before, has a dandy appearance, so his smile is somewhat destructive. If I was a woman, I might have fallen in love with him.
“And then, I have a request for you.”
What now, was there a string attached!?
“And what might that be?”
“It’s about Canaan there.”
“…What’s the matter with Canaan?”
“Canaan killed my son, Dolce!”
Canaan looks puzzled with a blue face. Was the noble child that Canaan killed the Count’s child? That’s why the officials in this town wouldn’t look highly on me after I bought her. Nobody wants to make an enemy of the most powerful person in town.
The Count continued, “Well, that’s how the story goes, but I don’t believe it.”
“Eh?”
Canaan murmured. The degree of her confusion is increasing.
“Then why did you enslave her?”
“I couldn’t prove her innocence. She would have originally received a death sentence, but I made her a criminal slave instead and entrusted her to Sidele, her guardian.”
“Is it okay to say that?”
“Everyone here is of the same mind as me.”
In other words, Goliath, Rotten, and the Count’s daughter Alterias, all believe Canaan is innocent.
“So, what do you want me to do?”
“I want you to find the real culprit of my little brother’s death!”
Alterias spoke up instead of the Count. Then she stood and bowed deeply to me.
(Oh, this is an unexpected development. Now, what kind of decision will milord make?)
Shut up!
But really, it’s a troublesome situation. I’m neither a policeman nor a detective, you know. Shouldn’t the Count’s subordinates be the ones looking for the culprit? But if they can’t do that… it seems like they’re hiding something. It’s likely, at least, but what could it be, exactly?
“Of course, we will prepare a reward. I will pay 5 million Gold in advance, and 10 million Gold when you find the real culprit!”
I haven’t even received it yet, but I’m sure I won’t have to worry about money for a long time since there’s already 10 million Gold right in front of me. If I accept this request and find the real culprit, I’ll get another 15 million Gold more, but what can I even do? I don’t know the first thing about investigating crimes.
“Master…”
Canaan looked at me with misty eyes. In front of me, the fox-eared girl also looked at me with anticipation.
“Very well, I’ll accept the request. But I’m an amateur, you know?”
“I’m the one who asked you! And I believe you will surely accomplish it!”
How can he trust me so much when he just met me for the first time today? Upon receiving the request, I heard a brief summary of the incident from Goliath and Rotten. I don’t know if they’ll remember it, but I’ll also ask Canaan-related parties about the incident.
Sigh, it’s so troublesome. I’m just a fool who can’t refuse when two beautiful girls look at me like that!
(What’s that? You’re going to stick your nose into trouble anyway, huh?)
(Shut up. I don’t like this either, you know.)
Part 3
“Master Sumeragi!”
“You don’t have to shout so loudly, Sidele, I can hear you just fine.”
“Oh, right. Sorry about that.”
When I came to Sidele’s General Store first thing the next morning, he immediately approached me as if he was waiting for my arrival.
“Canaan is beautiful today as well.”
“Thank you very much.”
Sidele spoke to Canaan in good spirits. Something really good must have happened. Sidele took me to some kind of reception room and sat down on the sofa.
I was served a reddish-brown drink that resembled tea; when I brought it close to my mouth, it smelled lovely. I enjoyed the scent for a little while before I finally took a sip, and the flavor was just as pleasant.
“We’ll begin selling those rice balls tomorrow, so please, have them ready as soon as possible!”
“You seem quite excited. Looks like you made a good deal.”
“Yes, I decided to sell those rice balls to the adventurer’s guild. What’s more, I’ll be selling them for 20,000 Gold apiece!”
“Oh ho, you sold it at a very high price.”
“Even if it only lasts two hours, it’s food that can improve your attributes just by eating it! Even that kind of a price is still considered cheap!”
If he can sell them for 20,000 Gold each, my 50% cut would be 10,000 Gold.
Since I can make a hundred per day, that turned out to be big money. I could get a million in only one day, and 30 million in a month. That was a lot!
“Will you be selling all of it to the adventurer’s guild?”
“Yes, it’s an exclusive wholesale contract to the adventurer’s guild for 100 pieces a day for 30 days.”
“Would the adventurers actually be consuming 100 of them every day?”
“Even they can do that much, and besides, they can keep any excess since they have a large capacity item box.”
“I see, they don’t have to worry about the food spoiling even if they can’t sell all hundred pieces every day.”
“That’s right.”
“Will there be any problems with the mercenary guild if we only sell it to the adventurer’s guild?”
“Merchants like me have a stronger connection to the mercenary guild than the adventurer’s guild, so I already visited them, but the mercenary guild wouldn’t accept my best offer, so that’s why I went to the adventurer’s guild instead.”
“I see, you already behaved properly by offering it to them first, but they didn’t accept it.”
“Yes. It’s important to choose quickly when it comes to something like this.”
The mercenary guild unexpectedly rejected the opportunity to gain monopoly purchasing rights for the rice balls, so the adventurer’s guild was able to take advantage of it instead. If that rice ball’s effects ended up creating a gap in performance between the adventurers and mercenaries, they’d regret it.
I agreed to the production of 100 pieces per day starting tomorrow, and was about to leave the store, when Canaan spoke up. “Master, weren’t you going to tell uncle Sidele about that thing that happened?”
“Oops, yeah I was.”
“What’s she talking about? What happened?”
“Uh, Canaan and I were invited to stay at the Count’s mansion yesterday.”
Sidele opened his mouth absentmindedly for a moment. “Are you serious?”
I nodded to confirm it.
“But, what about…” He looked at Canaan.
“I’ll be fine. I have master with me now.”
Canaan, who supposedly killed the son of Count Abbas, had become my slave, and since I needed to investigate things there, I also took her to stay with me at the Abbas mansion. There was the possibility that hatred for Canaan would boil over, and someone who didn’t know the real circumstances would attack her.
I thought that would be the worst of it, but I decided to stay at the Abbas mansion because it would be a convenient place to investigate the true culprits. Of course, it’s also because Count Abbas himself had strongly requested we stay at the mansion in the first place, and asked us to conduct an investigation
~~
We were walking through the corridors at the count’s mansion when a familiar face walked toward us from up ahead.
“Why are you here!?”
I just stared at him quietly.
“This isn’t the place for a lowly person like you!”
“So, an annoying guy like you gets even ruder in a place like this.”
“Wha-!”
Dokum’s face turned bright red right before my eyes. The maid who was guiding Canaan and me was panicking, no doubt trying to quickly think of what to do, but at a time like that, I didn’t think there was anything a maid could do to suppress Dokum. Well, she’s a young woman, so she probably can’t do anything against him at all.
“You bastard!”
Dokum raised his fist and swung it toward me.
“Master!?”
I accepted Dokum’s fist with my face. It would have been easy to avoid, but such a weak fist wasn’t worth avoiding anyway.
“Gah!”
I’m over level 300, and with [STR (S)], Dokum is a complete small-fry compared to me. Needless to say, he was the one in pain, despite being the attacker.
Name : Dokum
Job : Magician
Level 30
Skills :
[Wind Magic]
[Mana Control]
[Mana Boost]
[Mana Perception]
Attributes :
HP [G]
MP [D]
STR [F]
INT [E]
AGI [F]
DEX [E]
LUK [G]
Since beastmen are said to be weak in magic, anyone with the [Magician] job is valuable in this country where there are so many beastmen. Dokum is actually of the human race, but he seems to have grown arrogant due to being a [Magician], so paired with his natural personality, he couldn’t maintain his composure.
Dokum’s face scrunched up from the pain of punching a solid object. His hand was already starting to turn red and purple, and cold sweat beaded up on his forehead. No matter how you look at it, he doesn’t even have the raw strength to inflict physical damage on me. Several soldiers who heard the commotion appeared around us.
“C-catch this guy!”
When Dokum gave the order, the soldiers pulled out their swords and turned them towards me. Canaan tried to move out in front of me to protect me, but I instead pushed her aside because she’d just be in the way.
“Tell me, what’s your reason for trying to catch me?”
“Don’t screw with me! You hurt me, isn’t it obvious!?”
“So, what exactly did I do to you?”
“Look at my hand! The bone is broken!”
“Listen to what I’m saying, what did I do to you? I’m asking you a question!”
“Hey, hurry up, and catch this guy!”
He must be ashamed to say he broke his fist from punching me.
“What are you doing?”
Rotten just showed up.
“Do you think you can freely point your swords at the Lord’s guest without any punishment?”
“Rotten! He smashed my fist, lock him up!”
Rotten asked me to explain with a troubled expression. Naturally, I said that Dokum’s the one who attacked me, and I didn’t do anything. Well, it’s true that usually the victim is the one who gets injured, rather than the attacker, but the current situation is quite troublesome because Dokum was the one who got injured.
Well, Dokum is Dokum after all, he claimed to Rotten that he was the actual victim. The reason Rotten didn’t ask the maid or Canaan is because Canaan is my slave, so she’s excluded, and the maid might earn Dokum’s grudge if she told the truth.
“I understand your side of the story. Then I’ll ask you, Dokum.”
“What do you want!?”
“Is it true that Master Sumeragi there swung his fist at you, and you stopped it with your fist?”
“That’s right!”
What a dumb lie. I hope I could make up something better if I was in his shoes.
“Well then, please show me your hand.” Dokum reluctantly showed his hand to Rotten. When Rotten saw it, he smiled knowingly.
“Dokum, I don’t think your fist really received Master Sumeragi’s attack.”
“Wh-what!?”
“Master Sumeragi is much stronger than me in the first place. If he hit you, your arm would have been blown away.”
“There’s no way that could be true!”
“You just didn’t know, Dokum. If you continue to think you can treat Master Sumeragi like you do anyone else, your injuries won’t be limited to just that. Apologize and leave him alone.”
Dokum continued protesting with a dissatisfied expression. Rotten tried to calm Dokum down somehow, hoping to somehow end this without a fuss, and appealed to me with his eyes to let him handle the matter. It was kind of annoying, but it seemed potentially more interesting, so I decided to leave Dokum to him.
Dokum was probably also the guy who sent those thugs after me, so I had to make him receive an appropriate punishment for that.
(Why don’t you just truncate him here?)
(I think it’s better for this kind of guy to die miserably rather than being cut down just like that, don’t you think so?)
(What’s that, it’s boring, hmph.)
I’d prepare a more interesting end for him than to be cut down and thrown away in a place like this.
Rotten, who managed to send away the sullen Dokum, expressed his apologies to me with a tired expression.
“I’m sorry. I promise to take measures to prevent this from happening in the future.”
“I’ll let it go this time, thanks to you.”
I was lying, of course. Inwardly, I was thinking about how I’d get back at Dokum for that!
“Oh, I know. I apologize.”
He’s a serious guy. He’d get mad if he knew what I was really thinking, not that I’m going to tell him.
* a mold local to Japan, a key ingredient in making sake, miso, etc.
*Kombu is edible kelp mostly from the family Laminariaceae and is widely eaten in East Asia. It may also be referred to as dasima or haidai.
Bound Pleasures 
Leave a Reply