Published at 20th of November 2020 10:34:26 PM
Chapter 55
Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
After taking a bath and freshening up, I promptly put on my imperial military uniform . Man, wearing a long-sleeved military uniform after so long actually feels kinda weird . And to think wearing this was the usual norm before getting caught up in our current predicament .
Our ride should be coming soon . I went down to the dining hall, where we would all meet up to catch the carriage once it arrived .
“Oh my! You look quite dashing in that outfit, Alan-san! What’s the occasion?”
The inn proprietress Kirsan looked very surprised when she saw me in my get-up .
“We were invited to attend a dinner banquet by the Commerce Guild’s Silas-san in his mansion later tonight . That’s why I dressed up like this . Are you familiar with Silas-san?”
“There’s practically no one in this city who doesn’t know of Silas-sama . But those sure are some elegant-looking clothes, Alan-san . You really resemble a noble with those on . ”
“It’s my only good suit . Can I get some tea?”
“Yes, of course . Please wait for a moment . ”
I told Kirsan that we didn’t need dinner tonight and waited for the girls to come down . Before long, Cleria and the others went down to the dining hall as well .
“What’s with those clothes, Ria!?”
I got surprised when I saw the dress Cleria was wearing .
Instead of a military dress, the clothes Cleria was wearing were something lots of imperial citizens often bought when they go to Earth for a vacation . I think it was called something like goth loli cosplay fashion . Since it was something fairly novel to imperial citizens, it caught on and became an overnight fad, but I didn’t think someone from the Iris Conrad actually bought a set .
“Are you surprised? It’s a really stylish dress, right? Sharon and Selena told me they weren’t going to wear it, so I borrowed it for myself . ”
Sharon and Selena were both giving me an apologetic look . Maybe it wasn’t their idea to bring it but the dress was pushed onto them by Iris .
The black and white frilly dress looked quite extravagant and did suit Cleria well, but it was still a cosplay item . But since Cleria, who looked fairly knowledgeable about this world’s fashion trends, seemed to approve of the dress, I guess it should be fine .
Sharon and Selena both wore imperial design one-piece dresses, which were staples at social events like parties or weddings . In other words, they weren’t worn for business but to enhance a girl’s loveliness in social gatherings . Both of them wore dresses of similar design but different colors . Sharon’s dress was wine red and Selena’s was navy blue . They both enhanced their individuality and put emphasis on their being twins . Both of them were still young ladies, but the dresses gave them a sort of adult charm while not diminishing their cuteness . It was pretty nice .
Elna also wore a dress of imperial design, and although it wasn’t strictly a formal dress, it still looked quite prim and proper when she wore it . The dress was dark green and suited Elna well, but she wore a leather belt on her hip with the electromagnetic bladeknife sheathed on it . Well, she did leave her sword, but having a combat knife equipped while wearing a party dress was still a weird combo .
Since everyone’s all dressed up, I should probably give a compliment or two .
“The dresses look great on you, everyone . You’re all very pretty . ”
“I-I see . Well, it does feel nice to wear these sorts of foreign dresses along with Elna, Sharon, and Selena . ”
“You have a visitor, Alan-san,” Kirsan informed . A dressed-up Karinsan was standing behind her .
“I’ve come to fetch you, every…”
She froze up in the middle of her greeting . Were imperial dresses no good after all?
“Excuse me . I’ve come to fetch you all . If your preparations are done, please come up to the carriage,” Karinsan continued .
“Thank you very much . Shall we, everyone?”
The carriage waiting outside was pretty fancy, which was to be expected for something that was used by a wealthy household . It was several notches above our own carriage . We promptly boarded it and went on our way . Karinsan kept scrutinizing our outfits even after we boarded the carriage .
After five minutes or so, we arrived in front of a large mansion that was pretty much akin to a small castle .
“Please come this way, everyone . ”
We were guided inside by Karinsan and were brought to a spacious reception room .
“I will check up on the dinner preparations . I’ll have them bring you some tea, so please relax and wait here for a short while . ”
Karinsan went out of the room and a guy who looked like a butler brought us tea .
“Hou, this is quite a splendid room . ”
The dress-wearing Cleria, who was now in full-on noble lady mode, toured the room with Elna and inspected the furnishings . Us imperial folk sat quietly on the sofa and enjoyed the tea .
“Aristsama, I’ve guided Alan-sama and his party to the reception room . ”
“Thank you . The preparations for the banquet are proceeding well… Hm? What’s wrong, Karina?”
“…It’s about the clothing of Alan-sama and his party, milady . ”
“Oh, it’s fine Karina . Even though tonight is a banquet, it’s still catered toward adventurers . It’s fine to overlook the way they are dressed even if they don’t fit a dinner banquet . ”
“No, that’s not it milady . Rather, it’s quite the opposite . ”
“I see . I understand what you’re trying to say . You are concerned that father and I will make them uncomfortable with the way we are dressed when we go out to meet them later, correct? But of course . Why didn’t I think of this earlier!? Whatever should we do? Father would be fine, but should I change my dress into something more simple?”
“No! That’s not it, milady! Alan-san and his party are dressed in noble attire . I cannot even imagine just how much those clothes are worth . Even a single article is fit for royalty! That is especially the case for Alan-sama and Risama . ”
“Eh?”
“They do look quite exotic, but I am quite sure even Silas-sama will find it difficult to procure such splendid articles . ”
“………So even father will not be able to purchase them easily, you say… It can’t be helped . In any case, we cannot keep them waiting indefinitely . Please lead them to the banquet hall . ”
“Yes . ”
After a while, the man dressed as a butler finally led us to the room where the banquet will be taking place . The room had a long rectangular table placed in the middle of it that could probably seat about thirty or so people . There were several men and women standing by on both sides of the room who were probably this mansion’s service staff .
Before long, Aristsan, Natalie-san, and Karinsan all entered as well .
When she saw our get-up, Aristsan’s eyes widened and she froze up . Are these clothes really not suitable?
“Thank you for tonight’s gracious invitation . ”
I should give my greetings first as the party leader .
“No, it’s our pleasure . Thank you all for coming . We are grateful that you’ve accepted our invitation for tonight’s banquet . Actually, my father received an unexpected visitor earlier, so he is still busy entertaining them . We apologize for the delay, especially since we were the ones who invited you all in the first place . ”
“We don’t mind at all . It was something unexpected after all . It could happen to anyone . ”
“I do not know when they will finish, so how about we start without him?”
After the staff led us to our seats and we made ourselves comfortable, Silas-san entered the room as well . He was also surprised when he saw our outfits .
“Oi, oi, you all sure put on some really fancy clothes . ”
Man . His being frank and easygoing like this sure was a relief and served to lighten the atmosphere . It looks like Silas-san was the straightforward type . That’s cool with me .
“We heard it was a dinner banquet, so we dressed up for the occasion . ”
“……I see . I’m sorry for being late . I received a sudden guest, you see . ”
“Was there any problem, father?”
“No, well, a General Orc was actually taken down after so long, you see . Kevin went over and asked if the Commerce Guild was willing to buy its head . That fellow was really enthusiastic about it too . ”
Oh! That was probably the head we brought to the guild . Kevin-san was pretty good . If he manages to sell it for a nice sum, our reward will probably go up as well .
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“My! Well, isn’t that wonderful? Wasn’t someone from the royal family asking about it a while back?” Arista exclaimed .
“That Kevin knew of it and went straight to me . How vexing . I managed to see the article, and it was truly a splendid specimen . …You look like you’re quite amused, Alan . Do you find this story interesting, perhaps?”
This is bad! I was grinning from ear to ear while thinking of the reward . Instead of clumsily making excuses, it would be best for me to come clean, I guess .
“No, it’s just that the General Orc head was probably the one we brought to the Adventurer’s Guild . I was just glad about the prospect of our reward going up . I’m sorry . ”
“What!? You say you all managed to hunt down a General Orc?”
“Yes . Oh, but I’m not entirely sure if the head Silas-san saw is really the same one we brought to the guild . But it’s true that we did bring an orc head to the Adventurer’s Guild yesterday . ”
“A General Orc is actually pretty rare . There’s no doubt it’s the one you all defeated . However… you managed to hunt down a General Orc by yourselves?”
“That’s right . We hunted it down with the five of us . It was quite a huge fellow . It was probably more than three meters and twenty centimeters . ”
“Wh!? It was that large!?”
“Yes . It had a really fierce face too . Oh, but I guess you’ve already seen it as well . ”
“You did really well on hunting such a thing . A General Orc doesn’t normally set foot outside of an orc settlement after all . ”
“I guess . The one we hunted down also holed up in the middle of an orc settlement . ”
“Hm? If it was holed up inside a settlement, then just how did you all hunt it? Were there no other orcs present in the settlement so you took advantage?”
“Eh? Oh, there were a lot of orcs alright . ”
“They attacked us fiercely, right?”
“Yes, they did . ”
“……Wait . In other words, you managed to defeat a large number of orcs while simultaneously hunting down a General Orc? Is that what you’re saying?”
“That’s right . Actually, we were there to hunt down regular orcs, and the General Orc was just a bonus of sorts . ”
“B-Bonus…… Uh, how many orcs did you defeat, by the way?”
“Seventy-four orcs all in all . ”
“Oi, oi! That’s a number that only a full company of knights can handle!”
“Well, it looks like we find it easier to hunt down orcs compared to most folk . We’re all mages, you see . Even if there were a great number of them, we were able to handily dispose of them with spells from a distance . When we got discovered, we’ve already reduced them to manageable numbers . It was certainly quite an experience . ”
“Well, of course, it was! Hahaha, how bold! I didn’t think there really were people who would dare to do something so reckless . ”
“I’m sorry for interjecting father, but shouldn’t we start the banquet already…?”
“Oh, right, of course . Let us begin then . You’re my kind of guy, Alan! I’ll bring out my special stash of alcohol just for you . Don’t hold back and drink your fill . ”
“Thank you very much . I’ll take you up on that offer . ”
“Haa… It turned out like this after all . ”
The banquet finally started with hors d’oevres, followed by several fancy-looking dishes . I was worried about proper table manners, but judging from how Cleria and Elna ate, it didn’t differ much from what’s used in the empire . Well, since we ate with a knife and fork, I guess that’s no surprise .
The special alcohol Silas-san offered me was a wine that had a higher alcohol content than regular wine . It should be about 20% or so .
The alcohol content was probably raised via distillation and then added to regular wine . Regular fermentation will not be able to reach this level of alcohol content after all . It’s been a long time since I’ve drunk my fill . This evening’s turning out to be really enjoyable after all .
“This sure is some fine alcohol . It’s my first time to drink something like this ever since we came to this country . ”
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It wasn’t really all that great compared to the ones I’m used to drinking back home, but since Silas-san boasted about it being his special stash, I just gave an appropriate amount of lip service .
“Well, of course . This isn’t something you can find in just any regular tavern . It’s something I’ve obtained from the far away Gates kingdom after all . Its price will make your eyes pop out in shock, I tell you . ”
“So that’s the case . I’m sorry . I ended up drinking quite a bit . ”
“It’s fine . I did tell you not to hold back after all . And I also want to let go like this every once in a while . But you’re quite the experienced drinker huh . ”
“I don’t usually drink all that much, but I do love some good alcohol . By the way, does this country have alcohol that, um, makes you drunk easier like this one as well?”
“Alcohol that makes you drunk easier?”
“Yeah . Just like this wine that probably had that substance that makes one drunk added on to it even more than usual . ”
“……Say, Alan, do you actually know how they managed to produce this kind of alcohol?”
“I’m not entirely sure just how they made this particular kind of alcohol, but I do know of a method to produce something similar . ”
Silas-san suddenly stood up excitedly . Aristsan and the others also sported shocked expressions .
“Eh? What’s wrong, everyone?”
“You know Alan, that Gates kingdom I mentioned earlier treats the production method for this wine on par with a national treasure . According to rumors, the winemakers are confined somewhere secure and are not allowed to go out to maintain secrecy . There, they produce this alcohol all their lives . And now you’re telling me you know of such an extremely precious production method?”
“Well, yes, I do . I’m not an expert, but it was pretty widely known back in my home country . ”
Well, the ones we made were even more high-quality distilled liquors though .
“What!? From my knowledge, the only country that is able to produce this type of liquor is the Gates kingdom…… Hey, Alan, can you try making some alcohol for me? That’s if it’s alright with you, of course . ”
“…That sounds interesting . Sure, I can try . But I’m primarily an adventurer, so I’ll probably make one only if I’m free . ”
“I see! Yosh, I’ll cover all the expenses for you . Once we’ve confirmed the production method, I’ll give you… Mm . How about 500,000 Guineas?”
500,000 Guineas was quite the sum . But since the production method wasn’t widely known, I bet the resulting profits won’t amount to just that much . Actually, I bet it’ll be several times that . Even if they gave me several hundreds of thousands of Guineas, I bet they’ll be able to recoup that easily and then some .
It would be more profitable for me if I produced the liquor and obtained a certain percentage of the profits from their sales, but I don’t have the time to get involved in that kind of stuff .
“How about 2,000,000 Guineas?”
“What!? That’s too much! 750,000 Guineas . ”
“Oh, but what if I tell you I know of a method that produces even more delicious liquor compared to this one? 1,500,000 Guineas . ”
I’m sure we’ll be able to easily figure out a way to produce even higher-quality alcohol if I leave it to Iris .
“What did you say!? An even more delicious alcohol than this one? …Alright, I understand! 1,500,000 Guineas it is . ”
“I’ll also need you to introduce me to a skilled and trustworthy blacksmith as well as helpers . ”
“…Alright . But what do you need a blacksmith for if you’re making alcohol? Well, fine . We have a skilled blacksmith affiliated with the Commerce Guild . I’ll introduce you later . ”
“Glad to be working with you then . ”
I and Silas-san got carried away with our conversation, but the rest of the banquet proceeded smoothly . The next dish that was brought out was a meat dish .
“This is–!?” Silas-san exclaimed in surprise .
“This is something our head chef procured from the market . It’s the meat of a very rare monster . If I remember correctly, this is Blue Serpent meat,” Arista informed .
“It does seem to be Blue Serpent meat, but the slices are larger than what I’m familiar with . ”
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“If so, then this is probably the meat of a Big Blue Serpent . ”
“What!? A Superior monster?”
“This is probably from the monster we slew this morning . But man, what a coincidence this is . I didn’t think we would be able to eat the meat of a monster we hunted here of all places . ”
“This morning, you say? But this isn’t just any monster you can hunt down just because you want to…”
“Well, yes . We were quite lucky to find this one . It was being surrounded by Gray Hounds, so we hunted it down along with them . This was also a fairly big monster, you know . It was more than ten meters in length . ”
“What!? No, wait! What about the skin?”
“No idea . We left it to the Adventurer’s Guild . ”
“Well, of course, you did . Can’t be helped . I guess I’ll check it out tomorrow morning . ”
“So it really is valuable?”
“Yes, quite . It’s rare to find something that big as well . If we process them into bags, it’ll make quite a tidy profit . ”
“I see . ”
I then went ahead and tried the Big Blue Serpent steak in front of me . The flavoring simply consisted of salt, pepper, and various herbs . It didn’t have any gaminess even though it was snake meat, and was very juicy . It melted in the mouth . So if the ingredient was good, even simple flavoring would do it enough justice . Rather, something simple like this may be the most suitable for this kind of meat . The head chef of this house was quite skilled .
“This is delicious!”
The rest of the party looked quite satisfied with the food as well .
“Yeah, it’s delicious alright . It’s been five years since I had the chance to eat something like this again . As expected, the meat of a Superior monster truly is in a league of its own . What else did you manage to hunt today, Alan?”
“We only managed to hunt Gray Hounds . ”
“I see . How many did you get?”
“Um, sixty of them . ”
“Sixty! …And you did all this in just one morning?”
“That’s right . ”
“What can I say? I can’t believe you’re all still C-ranked after all that . ”
“Oh, well, we all got promoted to B rank just this morning . ”
“…Well, of course, you would . It looks like that damn Kevin isn’t slacking off at least . ”
After the meat dish, we were served dessert . The dessert consisted of cookies sprinkled with powdered sugar . They were also baked along with dried fruits that were soaked in alcohol . They were quite delicious as well . They also served us tea, but Silas-san and I continued enjoying the alcohol .
It looks like the course meal was finished with this .
“That was a splendid array of dishes . I greatly enjoyed them . ”
The rest of the party also gave positive comments one after another .
“I was worried if we would be able to satisfy a first-rate gourmand like you, Alan-san . But hearing you say that makes me quite happy,” Arista beamed .
“Of course I was satisfied! Each dish was created with absolute care and artistry and showcased the skills of the chef to the utmost . ”
“Thank you very much . I will be sure to tell our head chef of your praise . ”
“Now then, since we’ve managed to eat our fill, let us move on to business . It’s about the reward for Arista’s rescue I mentioned yesterday . ”
It looks like we’re moving on to the real topic for tonight . Of course, I already had an idea this wasn’t going to be a simple dinner . Now then, how will things go, I wonder .