After a productive conversation with Craig, we decided to leave the jewelry store and head to our next destination.

　--The Sun Dial Chamber of Commerce Headquarters.
　It's a general trade association run by Dorothea of the Sundial Forest, Sylvia's grandmother, that deals in various products from all over the kingdom.

　Its job description is diverse.
　They find products that are likely to sell and look for buyers, find and purchase requested products and materials, mediate between workers and workplaces, and even look for land for the opening of new shops.

　The headquarters of the Grand Chamber of Commerce, which even the Knights used to procure supplies, was a large and splendid building, but as usual, it was not recognizable from the outside.

'The headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce or something like that are gathered on this street. It's a transport business that carries goods by canal, or a printing business with a stack of printing presses that have just begun to be sold, and they are all huge businesses.
As usual, it's just the headquarters for the whole operation, so it's not like you're running a business here.

　It's not so much the entire kingdom ......, but if you're going to do business over a wide area, it's self-evident that you'll need a specialized "head" to oversee the entire organization.

　It's not just a small scale organization, but it's inefficient to have a leader of a large organization do work other than leading.

　There are so many things to do that there must be no time to do anything else.

　The larger the organization, the more work the "head" has to do.

　Inevitably, the number of people who work there will increase, and a suitably large work area will be needed, and thus a large headquarters will be set up to lead the entire organization.

"After all, do you also want to make the White Wolf Store this big in the end?
'I'm not thinking that far ahead at the moment. We weren't even supposed to open a branch.

　He lightly denies Garnett's joking remark.

''At first I thought I'd just be able to relax and take it easy and live comfortably, just to make ends meet while I was off adventuring. Before I knew it, we ended up here.
You're too serious when it comes to your problems. If you want to live an easy life, you just don't have to respond to requests. Well, that's just who you are.

　He explains how he got to where he is now from an objective point of view, and there are no words left to return.

　The dragon riots that rocked Green Hollow Town.
　The construction of the Hollow Bottom Fortress.
　The Demon Lord's War.

　The various phases I've experienced so far, I've been thinking 'I have to do what I can do' and acting accordingly.

　Since I arrived at this point after repeating such a thing, it may be natural for the current situation to be like this.

But I don't always do that either. I didn't come to King's Landing because someone asked me to, nor because I felt I had to do what I could do: ......
Not ......?

　Garnett looks at me with a sideways glance.

　It's a look that might seem like a glare, but I could see the anticipation lurking behind it.

'...... Because it's something I really wanted to do myself, isn't it?'
I can't believe you're saying that about ....... That's what I'm talking about, dude.

　Garnett's brow is furrowed and she shakes her shoulders in an itchy manner.
　I knew right away that she was deliberately contorting her face to hide her embarrassment.

　If I hadn't decided to go to King's Landing of my own volition at that time, perhaps I wouldn't have seen this gesture.

　When I thought about it, I was able to reaffirm my belief that my decision at that time was not wrong.

　Even if it was a choice that would change my own way of life more radically than ever before.

'Come on, let's get the hell out of here, instead of standing around idly talking.

　Garnett, who was trying to cover up his reaction, rushed me out of my stand in front of the Chamber of Commerce headquarters, and went inside the building to ask the woman at the reception desk for an appointment.

By the way, do you have an appointment with someone to meet with?
'I checked on the first night, so we're good to go on that front. They have a rep on hand at this time of day.
'...... or that one. The one where they say they got the clothes for the nightclub ride: ......
Yeah, that's it.
............

　Garnett suddenly shut up and fell silent, as if remembering an embarrassing incident.

　A few moments later, someone came from the back of the ground floor of the headquarters to the entrance, and the receptionist called us in.

''Excuse me for barging in on you at such short notice ......, Chairman Dorothea!
Long time no see. How's Sylvia doing?

　It wasn't the person in charge of the chapter that had arrived, but rather the master of the chapter, the old lady, Dorothea herself.

　I hadn't seen President Dorothea in person since she came to Green Hollow when I had ordered an intermediary to work at the branch.

　She was still standing tall and had a vibrant smile on her age-marked face.

His grandson is doing well. But I heard that the person in charge of materials procurement will be answering your questions.
'I heard you did something interesting at the Count's evening party the day before yesterday. I just had some time to spare, and I wanted to hear what you had to say.
..........did you know that?
Of course you did. We did send someone to that nightclub.

　When you think about it, it was probably natural.

　That evening party was not a ball to which only noblemen were invited, but a meeting to which famous knights and leading citizens were also invited.

　If that's the case, there's no way the invitation hadn't arrived at the Sundial Trading Company.

It's not a good idea to go to a nobleman's party. I've sent a substitute to the party the day before yesterday, but this time it was a mistake. It's not a good idea to go to a party, but it's a mistake.

　Dorothea laughed merrily and led us to the parlor.

　I was just about to open the door and go in when Garnett grabbed me by the shoulders and put his face to my ear.

...... I'll be waiting outside. There's no problem in here.
'It's happened before and it's fine, but what's wrong with ......?'
So you're going to tell the story of the nightclub.　If you talk like that next to me, you can go to ...... oh, shit, you'll know the rest: ......!　You're good at that kind of thing!
"...... Okay, you got it.

　It may not be a very good thing, but it means that you can't be at peace.

　Indeed, showing such a reaction in the presence of a third party (Dorothea) might be a bad idea in terms of hiding your identity.

　Agreeing to wait, he and Dorothea sit alone at the table and face each other.

''Well, let's get this business over with and get down to business, shall we?