The week after the briefing, we visited the Hollow Bottom branch of the Hollow Bottom Fortress ...... as well as the Hollow Bottom branch to preview the site.

　My three companions were Garnett, who came as my escort, Sylvia, who came as a representative of Wakaba-Tei in the spring, and Sakura, who was also my escort.

　They are members who have known each other since before and after the start of the White Wolf Store's business, but it's not that they had any particular arrangement.

　It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for, but you'll need to be able to find a way to do it.

''It's been a long time since we've come this far. I don't know if it's been since everyone in town pulled out of the basement. ......

　Looking up at the exterior of the branch that had been converted from the fortress, Sylvia muttered sincerely.

　At the end of the Demon King's War--when the dwarven town that was being followed by the Demon King's army was destroyed as a scorched-earth operation and the Golden Fang Knights surrounded the Demon King's Castle, the residents of Green Hollow were also asked to join in the logistical support.

　Sylvia was one of those who responded, serving meals to the adventurers and other collaborators in the camp in the rear.

　After that, the Demon King's Castle was overrun and the collaborators withdrew, and about a month of time passed and here we are now.

''Today's purpose is to preview the rental properties, though, so we won't go to the underground 'Demon King's Castle Realm'.
I don't really want to go there even if I have to. It's dangerous.
If you need to go down again, I'll be there to protect you.

　Certainly, if a civilian like Sylvia was to descend to the 'Demon King's Castle Realm', it would be necessary to have an adequate escort, even if not as capable as Sakura.

　Well, since we're only visiting the facility on the forest side today, the situation where an escort is needed shouldn't happen.

　For now, the four of us will enter the branch and look around the facility together.

''Let's start with the area that Spring Wakabatei plans to rent, shall we go around?
Let's see... ...... three places in all.

　Sylvia looked at the notes in her hand and the plan of the branch and headed to the nearest destination.

''It's the fortress' dining hall and kitchen. Cooking is our selling point after all, and I thought I'd like to keep it here.''
It's the biggest company in town. It's quite a drastic way to borrow money.
Grandma trained me and my mother on how to do this kind of thing.

　Smiling somewhat nostalgically, Sylvia began to check the condition of the kitchen.

　It was as if there was no waste in her movements.
　It was proof that she had a firm grasp of which state of the kitchen and the dining room should be checked.

　A person who is not only the signboard daughter of Green Hollow Town's largest inn, but also a person who is responsible for cooking and other important tasks. That's Sylvia.

　You should consider that she is well trained to follow in her mother's footsteps as a landlady.

(......) "I can't believe I'm remembering my hometown at a time like this.

　By an association that seemed strange to me, I suddenly thought of the faces of my parents in my home forest of white wolves.

　My father was the chief of my home village.

　If I were to evaluate them objectively, I would say that both my father and mother were good parents.
　They trained me as the eldest son and prepared me to follow in his footsteps, but they never put too much pressure on me, and I never rebelled against them.

　But I left my hometown.
　But I left my hometown, not out of rebellion against my parents, my hometown, or the future that was in store for me, but out of longing to be an adventurer.

　In the fifteen years since then, I haven't returned home once.
　I hadn't even sent a single message.

　I don't know if my father is still the village chief, and I don't even know if my parents are still alive or not.

　When he was an adventurer, he hadn't even thought to care about such things, but since he opened the White Wolf Shop in Green Hollow and started his second life, his mind had slowly changed.

　There are so many causes in mind that I can't even determine which is the primary reason.

　...... While I was thinking about such things, the girls continued to check on their condition and talk to each other quite normally.

I'm sure your grandmother is the one who often falls asleep in the store. Do you look like that and are you strict?

　When Garnett asked this, Sylvia gave her a pouting look and then immediately clapped her hands as if she noticed something.

'Your grandmother over there is your father's mother. Now we're talking about your mother's mother.
It's a little complicated to say, man. The point is, it's not your father's side, but your mother's side. I've never seen your grandmother.
'I'm always flying around outside Green Hollow working, so I don't come home much.

　If you ask me, I only knew my grandmother there, too.
　I've been in Green Hollow for a good amount of time now, but I've never met Sylvia's maternal grandmother's side of the family.

　Of course, that in itself is not strange.

　If she had moved to either of her parents' hometown after their marriage, then her other grandparents would be living in a different land.

　Otherwise, it was quite normal for all of the grandparents to not be together because they had already passed their natural life span or had lost their lives in the previous war.

''What kind of work does Sylvia's grandmother do?''
All kinds of things, huh?
Is it too broad to identify various ......

　To Sakura's casual question, Sylvia thought about it for a bit before giving a long reply.

'You could buy goods from somewhere and take them to a place that will buy them at a higher price. You could ask for the goods you want and go find them, or conversely, find a place that buys the goods you want to sell. The rest of the time, they don't just deal in regular stuff, but land, labor, and ...... it seems like they really deal in a lot of things.

　It's really hard to describe in one word: "merchant".
　You could call it a merchant association version of an all-around shop.

So it must be a pretty big business association. What kind of name is it?　I might have heard of it, too.

　While exchanging casual conversations, we headed to our next destination, a place to stay.

　Originally, it was a place where many soldiers slept, but Spring Wakabatei and other inns are planning to rent it out and run it as an inn that targets adventurers.

''It's called Sun Dial Trading Company, have you heard of it?
Huh?

　Suddenly, Garnett let out a loud surprise, and Sylvia rolled her eyes, shaking her shoulders in a jolt.

'Hey you ...... ah, so that's what you mean!　The Sundial (Sun Dial) Trading Company was derived from 'Sundial Forest': ......!
'Yes, well. Is there something wrong?
It's not going to happen. The Sun Dial Trading Company is a group of people that the Golden Fang outsourced supplies to. They were probably the ones who made the most money from this Demon Lord's War.

　Just as Garnett said this with a complicated look on his face, he heard the voice of an old woman who was passing by from an empty room he was about to pass.

We're flattered by your praise. It's so flattering to hear a compliment," said an old woman who was passing by.
'Ah!　Grandma!

　Beyond Sylvia's smile, an old man with a hunched-up, energetic look on his face was smiling with a guarded attitude.