Welcome to Shipland!　I haven't seen you around. What are you doing for a living?

Yes, it's been quite a journey.

In the boat. You have a good arm. Must have been tough getting attacked by sand beasts.

I'm more than capable of fending it off.

Okay. Here in Shipland. Earned sailors are respected. A man who makes a lot of money carrying goods, no matter where he comes from. The best traders in the Shipland are also the poorest of the poor whose ancestors were horsemen, but they made it with their bare hands. A good sailor deserves to be respected. A good sailor deserves to be respected, and even a stranger can rent a landing place if he arrives in town with a large cargo of goods. Being a stranger doesn't mean it's expensive. Anybody can put down a ship for a fee. A ship of this size costs 20,000 dollars a day.

Okay, one week's worth.

Yes. I hope you'll get a good price for your cargo.



　Shipland was a very large oasis.
　Surrounding the oasis were docks where many large and small sand drifters were moored, and we deposited our ship in the small boat harbor.
　There is a daily mooring fee, but anyone can stay on board for a fee, and they provide security to prevent theft.

　I've heard that there's no greater scoundrel in Shipland than someone who steals a ship.
　Ships and the cargo they carry are the source of Shipland's economic power, so stealing a ship is punishable by death, no questions asked.
　If the ships stop, the town will be dead.
　Given the population, it's impossible for the town to be completely self-sufficient in food, so anyone who steals a ship, the lifeline of the residents, is treated as a murderer.

'So it's a small ship because it has a magic box.

If I could, I'd like a bigger boat so I can make more money.

Yeah. You know, three of us would get around a lot easier on a bigger boat.

　After talking to a middle-aged man who appeared to be a mooring staff member and gathering information, we decided to move into town as the ship was safely deposited.

'Isn't it hot in that mask, Larabell-sama?'

'Don't worry. This mask doesn't get too hot. It's also the magic of Mew. Mew, are you the one who's hot?

It's a far cry from the masks I used to wear.

　I bought a plastic mask from 'online shopping', so it shouldn't be hotter than my old metal mask.
　

'I guess magic is useful.'

That said, we need pretty precise control, so we're limited to three people.

If it's too hard, I'm good to go.

'No, that's not how it works, and it's easier to control the magic if it's put together.

It's hard to control your magic from a distance.

　I closed the distance between me and Mew.
　Because Mew's magic is cooler and it's easier to have magic if possible.
　Since I'm an old man, my tolerance for the heat has gone down.......not so much due to the leveling up.

''Like I don't have to hide my face...''

We don't have a face that the men of this world love to see.

'At the same time, we are famous because of this face. Especially among hunters.

　The reason why Lalabelle and Mew hide their faces with masks.
　They are treated as very ugly women in this world, so if they walk around with their bare faces, they will inevitably draw attention from the people around them, and also because they are both famous in their industry because they are strong hunters.

'I'm an ugly princess who will go down in the history of Bart's kingdom, and I'm also famous as a hunter, and I'm even more prominent because I'm still a dope. Of course, Shipland must know about me, so I'll have to hide my face.

'Ditto below. 'The twin-skinned Dobbs wizard who accompanies such a princess is me, you know. And I can't guarantee that I won't have anyone I know.

....

　For these reasons, they gave me a reason to hide my face.
　As for me, it's painful, but they are convinced that they can't talk about it because they are convinced.
　In a different world, on the contrary, these two are too beautiful to attract the attention of those around them, so I feel discouraged.

'We must avoid unnecessary trouble.

The world won't take kindly to your lamentations, you know. It's lucky if you can hide it and not be told about it.

'Depending on how you think about it, I should think you'd only show me your beautiful face.

I mean, how embarrassing is that?

Yes, it's not fair.

Sorry, sorry. Let's go sell the sugar, then.

　I carry the magic box and the two of us escort it around town to avoid theft.
　Shipland is a town where many people who want to earn money gather.
　Naturally, there are many people who have broken their dreams and become slum dwellers or turn to crime, so Mew told me that security is worse than in the royal capital.
　They are free to rise and fall.
　There are many successful people, but it's also a place where the gap between the rich and the poor is great.

''Lord Taro, where do you sell your cargo?''

I was going to ask Mew about that.

Is it me?

I'm just wondering who's the biggest trader in Shipland.

Then it's definitely the Garcia Trading Company. Even the great aristocrats in the snooty royal city look out for each other. We're also very close to the Viscountess of Shipland, the lord of this Shipland.

　So the last name of the Lord of Shipland is still Shipland?
　That's easy to understand.

''But the lord of all these oases is a viscount........''

''It's to fend off unwanted jealousy. It's almost an independent territory, and the Baat Kingdom doesn't currently have a hand in it, but it's a place where they can send out troops if they want to.

　Even if the Baat Kingdom forced itself to attack this Shipland, the ship would not be able to move while they were at war.
　So no one would benefit from it.
　That's why the lord of this place remains a viscount, and his pride in the royal capital is the only thing he cares about for the great nobles.

''Rich people don't fight.

'Is that the language of Mr Tallow's world?　It's an odd thing to say. That's about it. The cargo is for sale at the Garcia Trading Company?

It's the quickest and safest way to do it.

Is that what it is?

You'll know it when you see it.

　We had a passerby tell us where the Garcia Chamber of Commerce was, and we hurried over.

'There's a lot of people here,'

You're the head office of the biggest merchant in the Shipland.

　The Garcia Chamber of Commerce had a large store in the center of town.
　It was crowded with regular shoppers, shipowners bringing in their cargoes, and a large number of employees who used it.

'Is this the reception desk for the cargo?'

Hello, sir. Are you selling your cargo? You have a magic box.

I want to sell you the contents of this box.

What is your cargo?

White sugar.

That's a very expensive item ... this way, please.

　We were escorted by a young male employee to a room behind several reception areas.
　Apparently, our sugar is appraised in a separate room.

'You're appraising in a separate room?'

'White sugar is a luxury item. There are many fakes.

　According to the young male employee, sugar is imported from other countries, not only in the Kingdom of Baht, but also in Shipland.
　Hence the high price of the sugar itself, along with the cost of transporting it, which he says is frightening.

'Some poor quality criminal-modeling shipowners in nearby oases bring in fake white sugar.

　As soon as I said that, I felt the presence of many humans from outside the room.
　Even I could feel them, so Larabell and Mew seemed to notice them earlier than that.
　Lalabelle had her hand on the sword at her waist, and Mew was soon ready to cast magic as well.

''You suspect me of being a fake sugar seller?''

'I suppose it wouldn't be a problem if it was proven to be real sugar. There are so many fakes out there, so please don't be rude.

　So the shipowners who come to sell fake goods are detained by the guys out there?　
　What are the charges for attempted fraud in Shipland?

You can check it out.

　I took a bag of white sugar from the magic box.

'The burlap bag is of good quality too,'

It's a foreign product.

You'd be hard pressed to find a burlap sack of this quality in our country.

　If the paper bag was still intact, they would be suspicious of it because it said 'Kamishirasugasa' in Japanese.
　So we bought a jute bag for packing sandbags, and filled it with white sugar.
　It was a cheap jute bag, but by the world's standards, it seemed to have a reputation for being a well-made jute bag.

Well, let me check it out.

　The young male employee untied the burlap sack, took out a small amount of white sugar inside and put it in his mouth.

''This........''

Was it white sand?

'No, I've never had sugar of such white quality before.......I'm sorry. So, how many more bags of this do you have left?

About 500 bags.

One moment, please.

　The young male employee left the room in a hurry.
　Is he checking the warehouse?
　I don't think so.

He must have gone to call the big boys.

There are so many of them.

　Since there was this much white sugar, the purchase price was naturally enormous.
　A young male employee could not judge the amount of money, so he must have gone to call for a big shot.
　After a few minutes, a man who looked not much older than me came in.
　Unlike my average looking counterpart, he looked very capable.

''My people beg your pardon, sir. I am the head of the Garcia Trading Company. My name is Tarrant Garcia.

This is the master himself. I apologize for the trouble I have caused you.

　I didn't expect the head of the family to show up.
　I thought he'd be the foreman.

Long time no see, big sugar business. It would be remiss of me not to show my face in person.

　After we finished our greetings, I was led further back to a warehouse.
　There are dozens of jute bags piled up there and the air feels dry.
　It must be a special warehouse to keep the sugar from getting damp.

'As you can see. That's about all the sugar we have in stock. Oh, we have more sugar that isn't white.'

Taro, this is a fortune in itself.

　People in this world really do like sweet things, don't they?
　But neither sugar cane nor sugar beets can grow in a land full of deserts.
　There are not many flowering plants, so we can't even get that much honey.
　The production is extremely low in relation to the demand, so it naturally becomes more expensive.

　I was told that there are plants and sand beasts from which sugar can be extracted, but most of the sugar here is used to brew the adults' favorite alcoholic beverage, making the sweet stuff more and more expensive.
　'Only honey and sugar, can you say it's unusually expensive?

'With all due respect, let me inspect it. May I?

Of course I do.

　It's likely that only one bag of sugar is real sugar and the rest are fake, filled with white sand, so they'll be careful to check it.
　It's all real sugar anyway, so you can check as much as you want.

　The five hundred bags of white sugar we took out of the magic box were all recognized as real by the head of the Garcia Trading Company and his employees.

''It's wonderful. But still, how can you have so much white sugar?

It's a form of debt.

'A form of debt...'

Yes, it's a form of debt.

　I'm a man from another country, a resident of an independent lord's oasis that the Kingdom of Zarnia claims as its territory as home.
　I was earning money to buy a ship, and when I had saved up the money to buy a new one, I lent it to an acquaintance.
　However, the acquaintance couldn't return the money and ran away.

　When I complained to the parents of that acquaintance, they paid me back with this sugar.

　Even if I sold it in the Kingdom of Zarnia, where the sugar originally came from, it would never reach the money I lent it, so I thought I could take it to Shipland and build a ship there.

　That's all, when Mew told me that the sugar comes from the Kingdom of Zarnia, a northern country called Zarnia, I lied that I didn't have complete control of the oasis in the desert that this country also claimed as its territory, and that I came from an oasis ruled by an independent lord.

'My name is Turlough Cattoo,'

　His name, his background, and the circumstances that brought him here are all lies.
　The fake name is pretty much covered by his real name, though.
　A lot of sailors are of dubious origins anyway, and it's still pretty cute that they came out of a family dispute in their hometown, he says.
　In some cases, people who were kicked out of their hometowns for misbehaving are forced to become sailors, and the industry and Shipland still think it's a great thing to be a sailor who carries cargo.
　So even if I use an alias or hide the fact that I'm a 'changer', even if Larabell and Mew hide their faces, it's a real trader who doesn't dare to pursue that.

''I see. Who are the two of you there?''

'He is my fiancé. He's a good friend and a good friend.

''........I see......''

　The head of the Garcia Trading Company is well acquainted with the nobility of the Kingdom of Burt.
　He may be aware of them.
　But if he were a real merchant, he wouldn't be here to tell us who they are.

'Thank you for coming all the way. The whole thing is worth 5 billion dollars.

　As I recall, Mr. Larabell said before that a spoonful of white sugar would cost about 100,000 druk.
　As expected, it would be a tablespoon, not a teaspoon, so one tablespoon is nine to ten grams.
　The terminal price of white sugar is 10,000 yen per gram....

　It's a price like stimulant.
　The white sugar we brought in was fifteen tons for five hundred thirty-kg bags of white sugar.
　At the end of the price, it's about fifteen billion yen.
　Selling it at that price would be a huge loss for the Garcia Trading Company, so I guess a third of that is fair.
　Taxes would be high and other costs would be high.

Five billion dollars? It's worth it for all the trouble you've gone through.

'If you say so. Oh, yes. I understand you are considering buying a new ship?

'Yes. I want to return home in a new ship.

In that case, I can recommend a good shipyard. I'll write you a letter of introduction.

I'm sorry to bother you, sir.

No, no, it's just that we've been doing a good business with you.

　We received five billion dorks and a letter of introduction to the shipyard from the head of the Garcia Chamber of Commerce.
　I would have been troubled if he had told me to transfer the money to the church's account, but I'm glad he gave it to me in cash.
　Because I would have been surprised if the five billion druk deposit, minus the cost of the ship, was suddenly converted to Eidolcs and disappeared.
　Because of the earlier twenty million druk, it would be better to be quiet now.

'Well, shall we go to the shipyard next?

'Right. Let's get a new ship.

　We put the five billion druks in the magic box and headed for the shipyard that the head of the Garcia Chamber of Commerce had told us about.