Translator: Nefarian
「Fuaa…….. As expected, I'm sleepy.」
Olivia returns from the secret passage and only had time for a little sleep. Even though it was morning, Sara had just woken up and fell from the bed, she then quickly put on the uniform she received from Olivia which was to be her new working clothes.
Even though she was placed near the borders, her job required her to wake up quite early. Count Ebram is a morning person and seems to finish his duties by the afternoon……….In saying that this was only the administrative portion of his duties.
Documents that have been approved are sent to Ebram's officials and from there they are distributed to various places.
Olivia also mentioned that it was not limited to the clerical work, but also things like diplomacy with neighboring cities, meeting with noblemen and meeting with other important people were all part of the job.
Thus, Sara had to go to the castle at least once before noon.
For someone like Sara, who had gotten used to living her life in the dungeon which had no concept of day and night so she had trouble adjusting…… Perhaps I should dispatch Dahlia which barely needed much sleep to function or even Shiro who was able to control her internal waking timer quite proficiently.
After making Sara practice honorific language I sent her off to the castle. I locked up the place and headed towards the old part of town……… This place I left from wasn't my house; it was Sara's house, who was known as the Magician of the court so I should try my best not to be seen publicly going out of this house.
In the future, it would probably be better if I can use the underground tunnel…..
The old town is an urban area where the city of Ebram originally existed. There were many narrow and clustered sections around the place. A new city plan was to be established. A water way will be built and there are plans to gradually shift the commercial section to this side.
Still, the old town is centered around river and the castle and the plan is to utilize a waterway that is connected to the high-class residential areas, aristocratic houses, merchant houses so that it stretches out like the shape of a spider web encompassing the place.
Rather than walking in this city, it is characteristic of this city for the people to travel via the waterways using small gondola boats.
Chana's pleasure quarters which doubled as the stronghold for the assassination guild was also within this old city. Furthermore, there are many adventurers hanging out in the new town as there were many adventurer inn's, furthermore, there were plenty of red-light districts over there as well.
I obtained permission to run set up my shop within the old town.
The reason is simple. Although the underground waterway is very convenient, the waterway is not connected from the old town to the new town. Also in order for me to build a dungeon within the town, it was necessary to place my base of operations in the old town as it had a castle.
「Master, I've been awaiting you………As expected, if I am not given directions, I won't be able to make a clear decision….」
Dahlia welcomed me into the house, this house was located in a place where only one road was connected to the old town and was the only house on the block. Seems that this was originally a merchant's house and there is a large door facing the road with an exchange counter upon entering from the entrance.
The family members seemed to use the back door as there was a small path leading to the house that was located on the side of the entrance.
「Goshujin-sama, judging from the smell, I feel like the place may have been a bakery of some sort.」
Shiro appeared from the back room and seemed as if she had been exploring the place. Perhaps there was a lot dust as she was covered in it.
「Shiro-san, your hair is full of soot……」
「Ahh, I thrust my head inside one of the baking pots a while ago so…. Dahlia come take a look as well, do you think we can still use this?」
…….Oh, I see. Now that she mentions it I can understand. The moment I enter there is a space enough to fit several people and also several low shelves. The counter isn't that tall either but had more depth to it.
If this was previously used as a bakery, I can understand it. If I redecorate this place a little bit, we should be able to use it as a store.
「How is the room arrangement?」
「There are a few documents to peruse, but not much….」
I receive an old document from Dahlia and look out the window.
There is little light coming into this house. A bakery is supposed to show their goods so this would have been troublesome for them. No, perhaps they used the smell of the bread to draw customers in. When I looked around, although the building is short there is a second floor, moreover there is also a basement in the underground level below.
The front was the shopping area of the bakery, the back and narrow room is probably where the landlord would have been and the kitchen is the place where they place the bread burner……..If I adjust it just a little bit, I can probably pass it off as a magician's workshop.
Or rather, it might become an even more convenient place then the house I had at the mining village.
The basement at the bottom seems to have been used as a storage compartment, the walls were formed from a thin layer of stone so that it kept the moisture out, the roomed seemed to have been soundproofed quite well.
Although there is a fair distance away from the waterway, it's confirmed that the house is connected to the underground waterway that was used by the assassination guild. If a little work is done, it should be possible to make it easy to get in and out.
The second floor is probably the family's dwelling area and the room was enough to fit 3 or 4 people if it was only to be used for sleeping. Well, it is a little lacking in comparison to the dungeon in the mining village, but considering it's just me, Dalia and Shiro, it should be more than enough for the three of us to live together.
Although I'm embarrassed to say that there isn't enough space to place a horse-drawn carriage, only merchants or big stores are capable of getting approval to use carriages in the city of Ebram anyways.
Whether this is a blessing or not is unknown, but there was only a few orcs remaining and they are currently hiding in the underground vegetable garden owned by Chana.
Astarte was given a different instruction and right now, she was performing various tasks along with both Diana and Chana behind the scenes of the assassination guild. Well, to be more precise she was monitoring the brothel that the assassination guild owned.
On the face of things, our group was pretending to be a group of adventurers, mercenaries and magic store owner. And behind the scenes, I was the man who controlled Ebram city in the night; a dungeon master.
To be honest, it's also good if Olivia can take care of the transparent side of things, moreover, the current Count of Ebram is still quite healthy but isn't trying to do anything drastic. Therefore, even if I mention the word control, I am more like a parasite living in this city. My main goal was to simply live nicely whilst being hidden from any dangers. At least that's the goal for now.
Cleaning up the room, setting up the furniture and arranging things so that the goods can be displayed for sale is what I should do next. Well it will probably take around a week before I can actually open up the business.
Remembering the time when Gustave took care of me, I currently have enough property to last me for several years even with the amount of members I have.
But then again, it's necessary for me to build a big business and stockpile magic resources so in the end, I will still have to work to earn more money.While thinking about such things as I unpacked my luggage, I heard a voice coming from the street.
「……Oh? Have you moved here recently?」
Looking to see who it was, it was a lady that seemed to be a little older than me. The quality of her clothes were quite fine, but it didn't really show much skin.
She was a little bigger than most women and it was obvious from the way she moved that she received combat training in the past. Perhaps she was a mercenary or an adventurer, in any case she looked rather wealthy.
She had a bundle of brown hair going down towards her shoulders and her facial features were balanced. Rather than saying that she was cute, it was more accurate to say this girl was dignified. Also rather than saying she was like a flower, her beauty was more akin to a stone sculpture.
「Yeah, I am thinking of setting up a small shop from today. For various reasons, I have decided to settle in Ebram.」
I showed her a business like smile. I wasn't sure what this woman's background is, but it's likely that she thinks I'm just an ordinary citizen. I don't want to raise any suspicions needlessly.
「Indeed, this neighborhood is certainly suitable for opening a business…. The last store was a bakery; what type of store do you plan on opening? If it's alright, would you be so kind as to let me know?」
Ahh, she's probably asking me merely due to her own curiosity. She is polite and I don't sense any malicious intent. From her tone of voice, she seems to be a person that with a difficult occupation.
…….If I got unlucky, she might even be a knight or a soldier working at the castle.
「My name is Elliot and I'm working as a merchant, this is my servant Dalia. Is Oneesan working as some sort of fighter? Judging by the way you walk, it looks a bit like a mercenaries.」
「Ahh, now that you mention it, I haven't introduced myself. I apologize. My name is Lyla. Well, it's nice to be acknowledged as a knight….. But in actuality I'm not that big of a deal. I don't own a horse and all I really do is walk from my own house to my lords manor, I'm a worthless knight.」
Hearing her words, it felt like she was slightly ridiculing herself but at the same time, unable to completely throw away her pride. Certainly a knight can find employment for a lord or noble and in return for their services they enter into this type contractual relationship.
Nevertheless, you needed to be quite wealthy to become a knight. Although I can tell that she has received some combat training, my eyes aren't good enough to see the extent of her strength.
Even so, while I cannot accurately judge her abilities, being able to become a knight is difficult and it means that she must have a decent family backing. Or it could also be that one of her ancestors performed a very meritorious deed.
A knight without her own horse…… There seems more to her circumstances than meets the eye.
「You're Lylsan? It's nice to meet you. Are you perhaps patrolling this area of the town for today?」
「No, today is coincidently my day off. Because I didn't have much to do, I decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood. I'm sorry for the intrusion, I have taken your time.」
Does that mean that this woman is living close by? As a knight? …….It seems that some things just happen so coincidentally.
「My store is different from a bakery……. It's probably more relevant to Lylsan's field of work? It's a magical goods store.」
After saying this, the expression on her face changed. But it wasn't something that looked dangerous, she was just filled with pure interest.
「A magical goods store, magical equipment?」
「Yes, well it's a trade secret so I can't divulge too much information, but I do have connections with magicians. Although you won't be able to purchase goods that a wizard of the court usually makes, but you will still be able to purchase weapons and armor that are relatively handy. There are also pots that don't burn for cooking though.」
「…… Oh, in that case aside from the pot… I would love to see the equipment. If the price is right…..」
That's a pretty good reaction. She doesn't seem like a bad person; shall I give her a discount? It may also help to promote my goods to the public.
「Well, even if it's not perfect, they are after all magical equipment. I can't guarantee an extremely cheap price. But well, you are my first customer before I opened the store. Lylsan, shall we go take a look at the goods?」
Because she was a knight, she will probably have to attend some event's in the castle of Ebram, so it will be helpful to me if she gets to show off my goods over there.
If I use Olivia's influence for publicity of my store, there is a risk that our relationship will be revealed. Besides…. I also want to prove that I can expand my business with my own hands. In terms of fighting battles, I am considered to be pretty useless, in this case, I at least want to fulfil my role even if it's about being successful in my upfront business.
I am not willing to live with just my darker identity as a dungeon master. Astarte will probably complain, but if I succeed on my legitimate front, this should be considered a good thing.
The magical tools I trade in are mainly weapons and armor for mercenaries. If I were to say, I would say that armor is more often ordered then weapons. That's because armor is almost always worn on the battlefield and there is less chance for people to lose them.
To begin with, magical items are generally expensive.
After all, there is rarely anyone who uses magical arrows, daggers or short swords as consumables in a fight.
The magical items I can make doesn't really have any drawbacks, but it was only at the level of making the item a little more useful.
A sword that looks shorter than it actually is, or armor that is about 10 % lighter than normal, or a chain mail that reduces the sound it makes when hit by half.
Of course it is also possible to make goods that directly increase the power or add a different function to the weapon, but my skills as a magician are still insufficient to create such items with reliability.
Incidentally speaking, the most sold goods is this steel helmet which was sold to Gustave's mercenaries in bulk. Its function was to make the inside of the helmet considerably less stuffy.
In a battlefield where arrows were raining down on you, it was a necessity to be equipped with a helmet and if you spend a long time wearing a helmet out in the sun, it was going to inevitably get really stuffy.
It can only be disadvantageous when sweat gets into your eyes and above all, the sense of discomfort was a major thing. ….. When I was telling her such things, Lyla became out of breath.
「….. Hang on a minute, I, I can't breathe…. My stomach hurts….! Haa, Haah……. It's true, a steel helmet can get really heavy and covering the whole face made it really stuffy.」
「Yeah, from my prediction the mercenary group is planning on coming to this part of town some time in the future…. and because many of them are older men who are older than myself, most of them had thinning hair and I always wondered if they were concerned about their hair becoming thinner….」
Although it's more like a joke at this point, it is true that Gustave-ojiisan was concerned about his head become more and more bald in these recent years.
「Ahahahaha…… Haa, That's mean! Even if that were true, you really shouldn't say such a thing Elliot-kun.」
Apparently, she has attached the honorific "kun" to address me. Although it's good that she has started addressing me with more familiarity, it would seem that Lyla has a merry laughter, she was leaning herself up against the wall and holding on to her stomach so that she wouldn't fall over……..She probably laughed so hard she became thirsty. Although she seems to be like a serious person, there is this unexpected side to her as well.
This was how my relationship began with the knight Lyla, just a day before my store was to officially open.
It will only be a while later before I realized just how much I valued her brilliant laughter.