Mina

We're here!　This is the port city of Omitsu!

　When we reach the town, a look of relief crosses my face as I see that Kouki has finally arrived.
　'But you shouldn't be relieved here.

''Don't let your guard down. You're a target, you're going to be targeted, so go into your uncle's mansion and relax after you're safe.''

'Hmmm. Well.....

　Kouki visibly pisses off when I point it out to him.
　It would be nice if gyro was as honest as this.

'Miss, can't you take it a little easier on him?

　And for some reason, Gobun gives Koki a sympathetic look.
　What?　A sense of solidarity between men or something like that?

Anyway, I'm glad we've arrived in town safely. Let's keep our guard up and head for the Lord's side.

　Likewise, Haruomi suggests that we go to Lord Pan's mansion while following Kouki.

''Right. What's a clan lord by the way?''

'Uh-huh!　A clan lord is the one who is entrusted by the shogun to rule the clan!

"Clan?

In your country, it's called a lord's domain.

　Goven will whisper in your ear.
　This guy is surprisingly convenient.

Let's get going!　Follow me!

　We are led by a strangely tense Kouki, and we head to the lord's residence.
　Well, even from here we can see a large building that is clearly recognizable as the lord's residence, so it seems that we don't need to be guided by it.

　◆

It's pretty big up close.

That's true.

　When we came to the front of the lord's house, we were overwhelmed by the unexpected size of the house.
　We were overwhelmed by the unexpectedly large size of the clan lord's residence.
　The walls surrounding the mansion were about the size of a small village, and they told us that the grounds of the mansion were quite large.
　From a distance, you couldn't tell how big the grounds were because the surrounding buildings were a wall.

''What do you people want with our house!

　The gatekeeper who was guarding the entrance to the mansion said in a voice of alarm at us, an unfamiliar human being.

This is the residence of the Mimitsu family. This is the residence of the Mimitsu family. If you don't want to be suspected, leave immediately!

　Hmmm, of course, I can see how unwelcome it is.
　Then Haruomi-san goes under the gatekeeper and secretly shows him something.
　Then the gatekeeper's face turns soooo blue.

''.........This, this!　I beg your pardon!　I will open the gates for you in a moment!

　Where's the caution from earlier?
　It's as polite as if the owner of the house had arrived.

"Please come in.

"Mm.

　Kouki responds hawkishly, as if to say it's a given, and walks into the grounds.
　I witnessed it and said goodbye to him.

Then I guess our work is done here.

Hm?　What do you mean by that, Mina?

　However, Kouki nodded his head, oblivious to our intentions.

You are right. My job is to take you to your uncle's house. So my work is done here.

　Yes, I was asked to drive Koki to his uncle's house in Mimitsu.
　I won't take any more jobs. I don't want to have anything more to do with the nobility.

''No, no, it's true, but.......................that's right!　I would have to pay a gratuity to you as well!

Then we'll rebuild it for you.

　And then one of the gatekeepers ran to the choke point that had been erected inside the gate.

'Oh, well, wait!　Don't wait!

Is that all right?

　The gatekeeper, who returned soon after, held out a bag that would contain money to Haruomi.
　And after checking the contents, Haruomi nodded that there was no problem.

It's a very good idea to be able to say that this is a suitable amount of money for the benefactor who protected the young master. Mina-dono, please accept it.

　I received the bag from Haruomi-san, and I checked the contents.
　I had expected it, but I knew it was money I hadn't seen before.

'That one bag is enough money for a commoner to live for six months without working.

　When I was wondering what to do about the value of the money, Haruomi-san told me roughly how much it was.
　I see, it's roughly half a year's worth.
　I'll check later on in comparison with the prices in town.

I'll see you later, Yuki.

'Oh, ah...'

　We left the mansion with a strangely pissed off-looking Kouki at our backs.

　◆

Well, let's get a place to stay first, shall we?

　After we left the mansion, we decided to look for an inn to use as a base first.
　The sun was getting low by now, so we had to get a room quickly.

　That's when we heard a scream from deep in the main street.
　The street became strangely noisy just as we thought we heard a scream from deep in the main street.

'What is this...?'

　People are rushing in as if they're running away from something.

'Thieves!　Somebody catch me!

　It looks like we have a thief.
　It's getting dark, but there are some very bold people out there.

"Out of the way, out of the way, out of the way!

"Don't want to get hurt, try to stay downstairs!

　The number of bandits is surprisingly large, nearly 10.
　It's a bit of a bandit group at this point.
　You can find a lot of people who have a lot of experience in this field, but you can't find a lot of people who don't have a lot of experience in this field.

But that's about the extent of it, so it's a margin of error.

　I stand deliberately to stand in front of the bandits.

'Get out of my way, girl!'

　The bandits at the front of the line don't hesitate to cut me down, and they rush in with their weapons at the ready.　

''But my dear sir, we have no intention of having a proper fight. Stanmist!

　Magic is activated and a fog envelops the thieves.

Magic?

It's only a distraction!　Go straight ahead and we'll be right out!

It's not just a distraction. Blow up.

　A moment later, the fog thundered out.　

''Gwaaah!''

　The bandits were hit by a sudden lightning strike, and every single one of them fell down.

''Gaff........''

Well, it looks like you guys aren't the only ones who got hurt.

　Stun Mist, a lightning-based capturing spell directly from Rex. A magic that traps the enemy in a mist that generates lightning, and neutralizes them by electrocuting them while taking away their vision.
　It is difficult to avoid this magic because it spreads around and envelops the enemy unlike bow and shooting magic that can be avoided.

"Wow, amazing........I only defeated the bandits without involving the town's residents.......

　Yes, Gobun is right, this magic can change its shape at will, so it can attack the town's inhabitants without involving them.
　And the enemies who are swallowed by the fog are subjected to direct hits from lightning coming from all directions, like prey being digested in a snake's stomach.

　Hmmm, that's still a pretty nasty magic.
　Because it's a fog, it can penetrate the house as long as there's an opening, and it's convenient that you can adjust the timing of the electric shock here.
　It's a good idea to have this kind of tame spell on your hands, because I feel like the firepower is increasing too much these days.

I'm sure you'll be able to find out what's going on in the world.

　I'm not much more than Lex, though.
　In any case, if Lex used the same magic, he would have created a fog the size of an entire city.
　A fog of that size, you have no idea how much magic it would consume.

''Thank you!　Thanks to you, we were saved!

　The people at the store who chased the bandits thanked me for defeating them.
　I quickly retrieve the stolen goods, and while I'm at it, I tie up the thieves with the rope I brought with me and take them somewhere.
　Maybe they'll turn it over to the officials.
　Hmm?　Handing them over to the officials?　I think I forgot something...
　Oh, well. It's no big deal if you've forgotten.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just passing through.

　It's a coincidence, really.

No, you saved us from losing a new product. Please allow me to thank you. Otherwise, the Grand Master will scold us.

　But the shopkeeper bowed his pecking head to thank me in any way he could.

''If you say so much........''

Thank you!

　It's kind of weird to say thank you and be thanked for it.

"Come on in, my place is just around the corner.

　I followed the shopkeeper and soon we saw a shop that looked like it had been attacked by bandits.

'Huh, that's pretty big,'

　Yeah, this place is really big.
　Looks like it was a pretty big place.

"Huh?　Isn't this the branch of Echigo-ya?

　And that's when Goven saw the name of the shop and spoke up.

'You know it?'

Hey. It's the largest merchant family in the East. They are so famous that every merchant who comes from outside has to do business with Echigoya at least once.

　Wow, it was actually quite a famous person, or rather a famous restaurant.

Hahaha, best in the east is an exaggeration. Of course, we're all trying to be, but...

　But the shopkeeper is humble enough to say that's not true.

'My name is Tatsukichi, I'm in charge of the Echigoya Omitsu branch.

　The person at the store who called himself Tatsunichi bowed deeply.
　He's in charge of the store, does that mean he's the branch manager?　Isn't he a pretty big shot?

Let's see, I'm Mina.

I'm a gobbler, you know.

...Mina, and Mr. Gobun?

　Hmm?　It's like you're looking at me in a strange way...?
　Maybe I'm too pretty to care because I'm a beautiful girl?　Yeah, that was a stupid thing to say.

But you sell a lot of stuff.

　I look around the store, trying to shake off my stupid thoughts.

'We pride ourselves on our selection,'

Wow.

　I wonder if it's not a specialty store, but a general store.
　I can't understand what the products from the east are all about.

Oh, that's right!　Let's give them a new item from our store as a thank you!

　Maybe it was because I was looking at the store with interest, or maybe it was because Tatsuyoshi-san said something like that.

''New products?''

Yes, the Grand Master of the shop had a skilled craftsman from a foreign country make these for us.

　Oh, you're a foreigner.

A foreign country?　Does that mean you're from a continent like ours?

Yes, it was so good that it came into our shop and became very popular right away!　Well, that's how I ended up being targeted by a couple of bad guys who got wind of the rumors.

Yeah, the guys who were there.

Embarrassing.

　Hmm, I see. If it's a popular product bought from an outside country, it would be worth a pretty good price if sold in another town.
　Does this mean those thieves decided it was worth the risk?
　It's amazing how much money can be made selling mundane items in a foreign country.
　Supply and demand, right?

In any case, I'm confident in the quality, so please take a look.

So let's see it.

　Let's take a look.
　Even though they're from the same continent, there might be some items that would be beneficial to me in different countries.

''Yes!　These are some of our new products.

There's a lot going on here.

　The many items that are daringly separated from the regular sales floor really say that what they have here is a valuable new product.

'Yes, this is a high-grade recovery medicine. "Yes, this is a high grade recovery medicine, not only for deep wounds, but also for old wounds that are decades old and completely healed.

"What?　Isn't that awesome!

　Speaking of potions, it's common knowledge that a wound that has passed for a long time can't be healed again.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work for you, but it's more of a magic tool than a potion.
　It's just like a magic tool to drink.

That's not all. Our antidote is an all-purpose poison remover that is effective against all poisons!　With one of these, there's no need for several antidotes!

Hmm?

　Something tells me this sounds familiar.

How can I help you?

'No, no. So, what other items are on offer?

Yes, this is an amazing fertilizer that, when applied to the field, will produce an extraordinary amount of crops very quickly. And the crops that you can harvest will grow several times larger than the original crop!

I remember hearing about this somewhere...

　For some reason, I feel like I know so much, even though I'm not supposed to know. Maybe I heard someone else talking about it?
　Maybe I'll ask someone else about it later.

''Plus, this is armor with dragon scales and a shield!　I don't know how they did it with the hard dragon material, they work it as freely as if they were working iron!　Thanks to this, it's much easier to move than just sticking scales on the armor!

"Armor made of dragons...

　I don't know, I feel like something inside of me is setting off alarm bells...?

And this is the highlight of the show!　It's a genuine modern magic sword created by a craftsman, not one excavated from the ruins!　The craftsman in question is not only an apothecary, he is also a very good blacksmith!　I've been in this business for a long time, but I've never seen a blacksmith who can make magic tools before!　Of course, the magic sword's performance is real!　Because when I tried it, the rock broke in half!　I couldn't believe it myself!

What do you think?　Isn't that a beautiful piece of art?　Honestly, I don't blame the bandits for going after them!

'Oh, yeah, well...'

I'm sure that's what Lex is made of.

　Obviously, it was unusual, and yet the performance of these items was something I'd heard of before.
And when I heard that they were made by a single craftsman, it was clearer than ever who that craftsman was than the fire.