Five days before the auction.

　There is a town called Lonsk in the northeastern part of the Kingdom of Selroa.

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　It overlooks Lake Asur to the west, and is close to the borders of the Kingdom of Klein to the northeast and the Kingdom of Franz to the northwest.

　Further north is the town of Leinen.

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(Now, you said that this area has a certain smell, didn't you?)

　The 5th Quinta, who received the order from the old man, is Deneb 20, a.k.a. , who is in charge of the northeastern part of the Kingdom of Celuloa.

　She is now disguised as a chubby woman in her early twenties.

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　She has short blonde hair and blue eyes. She has a charming face with freckles.



　Char runs a bakery in the town of Lonsk.

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　The specialty of the bakery is the "soft and fluffy bread". It was made with yeast from Horaijima and boasted of being 20% fluffier than other breads.

　Thanks to this, the store thrived. Deneb 21, aka , who co-owns the bakery, is her younger sister.

　Maria, unlike Char, is disguised as a very slender woman. She has blond hair and blue eyes. She is in her late teens.

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　Char is in charge of management, and Maria is a baker.

　There is another sister, Spica7, a.k.a. , and they are supposed to be the three sisters.

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　Maimi is in her mid-teens, of medium height and medium build. She also has blond hair and blue eyes. Her hair is short.

　She is the youngest of the three sisters and is in charge of the store.

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　Since it is a small store, Char helps to bake bread, and Maria also serves customers in the store.

　The name of the store is . The name of the store is ...... with a wish that the store will be so busy that it will be a cat's hand.

　And there is one more .......

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　There was <'s signboard girl ...... or signboard cat, <>, a cat golem. Him?　She?　is a black cat.



* * * *

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　< is very busy today.

"Maimi, give me two loaves of bread.

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Yes, thank you very much.

"Maria, your bread is soft again today.

"Thank you very much."

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Where's Tama-chan?

"She's on the eaves today."

　Tama, the signature cat golem, naps in front of the store or on the eaves during the day.

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"You were very busy again today, weren't you?"

"Yes, it was. I'm glad ...... is so popular.

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"I'm sure the master's assets will grow even more."



　In this way, there are many <> who are doing business among the common people, helping to increase Jin's assets as well as collecting information.

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* * * * * *

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"First, let's get Tama to work for us."

"I'll get her to work.

　Even though she is a cat golem, she can speak. However, the cat's mouth is a bit slurred, but that's to be expected.

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　Because she is a black cat and her body is small, Tama is the most suitable for activities under the cover of darkness at night. Even if Tama is discovered, she is a cat, so she is not easily alarmed.

"Ittekimasu!"

　With these words, Tama disappeared into the darkness.

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The cat was not to be found.

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　It is not an easy mission to find a clue in one night ......, but the old man had a rough idea with his .

　A trading house on the outskirts of town.

　It was a century old building, but its owner was a newly emerged nobleman.

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　The Kingdom of Cerroa is a huge state, which has the disadvantage of not being able to pay enough attention to the rural areas, and is therefore prone to corruption in many ways.

（So he lives in a renovated trading house.)

　The control core of Tama is more than that of an ordinary golem. (But, it was a former trading house.) Tama's control core is more than that of an ordinary golem.

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(But, as a former trading house, it seems to have a ...... basement.)

　It is common practice to build basements for storage. Tama took notice of it.

　He leaps over the wall and lands in the courtyard.

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（There are no wards.)

　He crosses the courtyard.

　There was a field mouse, but Tama ignored it and attached himself to the wall of the building.

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(<>...... was there.

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　We searched the basement and found a large basement.

（Now, how to get in?)

　These basements always have vents, whether retractable or open all the time, I do not know.

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　Tama circled the house and found it.

（Here it is.)

　<

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　There was a net to keep out the trash, but he used his engineering magic to

a hole in the net, and passed through.

　Then he landed in the basement.

(hmmm ......)

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　The eyes of the ball are equipped with night vision.

　In the room where he landed, he saw many boxes piled up.

(Sake of the Kingdom of Cerroa, this one is from the Shoro Kingdom, and this one is from the Franz Kingdom .......)

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　Basements are suitable for storing liquors like wine caves because the temperature and humidity do not change easily.

　So this view is not strange.

　But...

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(Not necessarily the contents of the boxes are liquor.)

　Tama taps one of the boxes with her paw.

　If it were a liquor bottle, it would make a slightly muffled sound because it is somewhat hollow. .......

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(What's this?　......<<>)

　Since it sounded heavy and resonant, I decided to examine the inside again with engineering magic.

(Hmmm... ......... it's metal inside, and a very heavy one at that...)

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　Now, I use the built-in <.

　It is not fixed and its focusing accuracy is poor, so it can be used only at short distances, but this time it is good enough.

(Gold ingots, or ....... Smuggling.)

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　I checked the other boxes and found mithril silver and magi crystals in them.

(So far, the old man must have known. Then, what is this new aristocrat up to?)

　Tama made use of her soft paw and went up the stairs without making a sound at all.

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　At the top of the stairs there is a door.

　As expected, the knob cannot be turned by a cat's hand. But..,

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（But there is someone on the other side.)

　<
"What?"

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"Is someone there?"

　As expected, the door is opened for confirmation.

　Tama, in her , passed under the feet of the man who had opened the door, and slipped through to the other side.

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（Now what are we going to do?)

　Tama looks around and considers what to do.

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