It feels like it's been an awful long time since I've been home...

　A day and a half after the encounter with the unicorn, we were able to reach the city of Seigen. Since that encounter, we hadn't seen any powerful monsters; on the contrary, we had so much time on our hands that we didn't have any time to spare. That's why I often stop by to collect medicinal herbs and the like for a change of pace. So now we have enough medicinal herbs to be able to do herb peddlers.

'But the way things are going, it's going to take some time.

　Jin blurted out as he looked at the line in front of us. Originally, adventurers of C rank and above could enter through the exclusive entrance, but to my surprise, there were two of us who were outside of that privilege.

''I'm sorry...''
I'm sorry, I made a mistake.

　The ones who apologized were Amur and Grandpa. Grandpa hadn't been active as an adventurer for quite a while, so his guild rank was suspended, and until he finished the process, he was no different than a normal person, and as for Amur, he wasn't old enough to register with the guild in the first place (he was currently fourteen).
　That's why he was quietly standing at the end of the line. The Sword of Dawn has gone out of its way to accompany us since we came all the way here together.

''I'm not blaming you, please raise your head!
'Ugh I made Master Merlin bow down, this guy...'
Are we free to go too, or...?
Mr. Temma! Please intercede! He said it had nothing to do with me, Mr. Menace and Mr. Garratt. He said the only one to blame is Jin-san!
Whoa!

　Jin hurriedly tells his grandfather, but the other three are teasing him behind him. Jin, unable to contain himself, shouts out in protest at the three of them' betrayal. Seeing the four of them, Grandpa starts laughing, followed by Blanca and Amur.

'It's about time you stopped playing miko. People are looking at you.''

　The people who were looking at us around them all looked away in response to my voice. Jin and the others, as expected, didn't want to draw any more attention to themselves, so they became more docile and mature.
　After everyone had quieted down, I decided to prepare a tea made from the medicinal herbs I had collected. The tea is a simple matter of lightly roasting and boiling several kinds of dried herbs.

It's a shame we don't have any sweets, but it's better than nothing. It also has a calming effect, which is just right for Jin right now.

　We handed them a cup of tea, and we all took a break to drink it. Then, after about an hour of waiting, we safely set foot in the city of Seigen.　
　We all got together and made our way to the guild, but for some reason the people coming in front of us unnaturally veered off the path. And there are generally two kinds of people giving way. One is the person who looks at you as if he or she is looking at something unusual. The other is the person who looks away and avoids them as if he or she has found something dangerous. Incidentally, many of the former were ordinary people, and many of the latter were dressed like their peers (adventurers).

　When they arrived at the guild, the djinn first went to return the carriage. Although the djinn's carriage was borrowed from the guild in King's Landing, there was no problem in returning it to Seigen's guild. This is because there are many adventurers who travel back and forth between Seigen and the capital, which is why this system has been established. In addition, if a carriage is over-subscribed, it is sometimes sent out as a request from the guild, which is popular as a reasonably priced job. However, since the guild trusts him more than a certain level, the number of adventurers who can accept his request is limited because it requires a certain amount of strength and experience.

''We're going to sell you some medicinal herbs.

　Me, Blanca and Amur left Grandpa, who was going to process the adventurer's return, and headed to the guild's purchase counter.
　The medicinal herbs will be divided into three equal parts for me, Grandpa, Sword of Dawn, and Blanca and Amur, and we will receive our share of the highly effective herbs. However, the highly effective herbs are also very valuable, so we will have to balance our share with the other two groups' shares after checking the selling price of each.

''Here are the purchase results. Here's the purchase price for each of them.''

　The total sales price of the herbs was about thirty thousand g, of which the most effective herbs were about twenty thousand g.

''Thank you. I'll talk with everyone for a bit before deciding how much to sell.''

　We decided to talk it over once for all and left the buyback counter.

We're done here. I've heard that you'll be returning to your old rank without any penalty. It seems that Alex has made a move. Normally, this would be from the beginning.

It's done. So, Temma, how much did you get for it?　

　At the right time, Grandpa and the 'Sword of Dawn' came to us at the same time. We immediately talked about the purchase price, and then they brought chairs and desks that were nearby and started discussing what to do... but within five minutes, we came to a conclusion.

''Then you can sell all the regular ones and I'll add 30,000 G to that amount and give it to Jin and the others and Blanca and the others.

　After thinking about it, I remembered that I was richer than those nobles now, so I proposed it to everyone and they immediately agreed.
　My share of the herbs was worth more than 20,000 G in the market, and if I could make and sell a potion with it, my profit would easily exceed 30,000 G. So, even if I paid 30,000 G to the djinn and the others, I would still be able to make a profit. Therefore, even if they paid 30,000g to Jin and the others, they wouldn't lose anything.
　Since the conversation had been settled, it was decided to finish the sale procedure at the purchase counter and disperse on the spot.

Then, if we have a chance, let's accept the request together again!
Don't attract any more dragons then!
Next time, we'll ask you to join us.
Please make some more sweets for me!

　The 'Sword of Dawn' then returned to the inn that they had secured. It is difficult for an ordinary adventurer to secure an inn for a long period of time, but when you have the money and trust like they do, it is not so difficult, apparently.

''Oh, see you later!''
It's been so good to me, you know, having a drink with me.

　I parted with them, but the problem was Blanca and the others.

'I didn't think there was any room at the inn...'
It really doesn't count.

　After separating from the djinn and the others, we went around to the inn together, but there were no vacancies anywhere. The reason for this was due to the fact that the martial arts tournament in the royal capital was over.
　After the tournament was over, those who participated in it but ended up with nothing to show for it, those who lost bets and lost their money, and those who spent too much money at the auction, flowed to Seigen, which is rather close to the capital and has a dungeon in the city.
　Because of this, they filled up all the lodgings in Seigen, which had few vacancies to begin with. Moreover, some of the adventurers who couldn't get in even went so far as to sleep in the square and dungeons.
　According to the townspeople, there were many who visited Seigen after the tournament every year, but this was the first time there were so many of them. It's a blessing for the innkeepers and adventurers, but for the rest of us, it's more of a disaster. There are some adventurers who are almost criminals, as long as they have the power (money) to do what they want, or are allowed to do what they want.
　Perhaps that's why some of them were looking at us with glaring eyes.

I'm sure all of them will be wiped out if they don't have this much. It's no use, let's go to the place I've got it. At worst, even if there's no room, I'll try to negotiate a room for you to sleep in mine.

I'm sorry, thank you.　
Live together! Live together! Ugh.....

　Blanca held Amur's head down as he bowed to me, flailing next to me. The pressed down Amur seemed to bite his tongue with the bounce of it and was holding his mouth with tears in his eyes.
　I cast a recovery spell on Amur's mouth and he almost took my lips away the moment I got close, but Branca had caught me and protected my lips.

'You'll see me soon, or I'll tell you I'm going to borrow you since you're not there! Ra?

　I was almost to the apartment when I heard shouting coming from the direction of the apartment. I hurried over there with a bad feeling and found Arie-san and Karina at the entrance to the property, where the men were confronted by a group of men.

'So I'm telling you that the tenants of that room have paid us in advance. That means we have a resident! If you understand, go somewhere else!

You old hag!　

　One of the men, as it happened, tried to put his hand on the sword at his waist.

'Shiroumaru, protect them both!

　I took out my training stick and ran off at the same time as I instructed Shiroumaru, spreading the mouth of my bag.

'Grrrrrr.'
Huh!
Okay, that's enough. You can take it from here, I'm the tenant.

　Shiroumaru, who has returned to his original size, moved in between them and the men and threatened them, while I moved behind the frightened men. Incidentally, the tip of the stick in my hand is thrust against the neck of the man who tried to put his hand on the sword.

''Teeeee, don't think you can do this in the city and get away with it for free!

What's wrong with you? All I did was save a good townie from a bunch of thugs. If you want to turn me in to the MPs, give it a shot. I can't wait to see what kind of results you get.　

　I warned the man who was talking about the joke in as low and scary a voice as I could muster.

'I'll let you off the hook this time. But if you do this kind of joke again don't think you can leave this city in one piece.

　As soon as I finished my words, Blanca came up to me in an amazing way. The men left, shaking, probably because they saw Blanca after my words.

'Those guys looked like they thought Blanca would kill them more than me.

If that's the case, they're rude. No one is as nice to me as I am to them.

'Blanca, have you ever seen your face? There's a mirror, do you want to see it now?

　Amur gives a wry tweak to Blanka's lighthearted comment. Blanka's forehead seems to be twitching, but he seems to know that his comment is the cause, and his fist bone didn't fall on Amour. Incidentally, the look he made when he approached was made out of air. By no means is Blanca's normal face the kind of face that would make a crying child cry and pee even more.

'Welcome back, Temma-san,' she said. And I'm sorry for coming back so early. Thank you for that one as well.

No, I'm glad Arie and Karina are okay. And we just got back. This is my grandfather, and these two are the two adventurers I met in King's Landing.

My name is Merlin. My grandson was very helpful to me.

　When Grandpa greeted him, Arie was surprised to see him.

''I'm Blanca. I'm a tiger beastman who met Tenma at the tournament in the royal capital and accompanied her here.''
'Amour. Tenma stole something important at the convention, and now I'm playing a lover!

"What!

　Arie-san and Karina-san looked very surprised at Amur's outburst. Then they looked at me all together, but I shook my head and denied it.

''Mmm,''

　I'm sure Amur is not happy with my attitude, but I can't be vague about it because if I don't deny it exactly, troublesome people might fly in from the royal capital.

So, are there a lot of guys like that recently?

There are a lot of them. I've heard from the innkeeper I know that there are more adventurers than usual who act like they own the place and cause problems for others. Moreover, I've heard that they've been fighting with other adventurers who have been active in Seigen for a long time.

The security situation is getting pretty bad. Military police are increasing their patrols, but they haven't been able to keep up with them. It's not only dangerous to go out at night, of course, but it's also dangerous to go near unpopular places even in the daytime.

　Arie-san and Karina-san told me about their peers and the recent state of the city.

''Ahhh.......maybe I'm not unrelated to the increase in the number of idiots in the city.

　I told them both of the possibilities that I had sensed in the thin air.
　That someone who had caused a huge stir by winning the individual and team competitions in the King's Capital tournament and who had lost a lot of money on a bet by helping the King's Capital crack down on criminals, or who was trying to do bad things in the King's Capital, might have chosen this city of Seigen as their next place of operation.

'But even so, Temma-san is not responsible for this. After all, it is wrong to gamble to the point of destroying oneself, and criminals deserve to be punished in the first place. If you're afraid of punishment, then you shouldn't commit crimes. And Mr. Temma has no obligation to catch criminals. That's the job of the state and the rulers.

　The words to Arie-san made me feel a lot better. As it was, I was about to talk into it, when I saw Blanca at the edge of my vision as if she wanted to say something.　

''And what's more, is it possible to use a room with this many people? These two had to stop by Seigen in a hurry, so we couldn't get a room.

'Let's see, do you mean Temma-san, Lady Merlin (...), Blanca-san and Amur-chan, and Slarin, Shiroumaru and Solomon will use it?　

'I think it's a bit difficult. Originally, that room was designed to be used by two or three adults, so four people would be at the very limit, and with three more animals, it would be difficult to secure a place to sleep.... I can be warned by

　Karina says in a roundabout way, but it doesn't seem to be possible to use it with Blanca and the others. However, this is what we have predicted so far in advance. So I'll make the next move.

Then, can you rent the space next to the room you are renting? I'll put my carriage there and use it as a room. Of course, I will pay for the place, just as I would pay for a room.

　At my suggestion, Arie-san and Karina-san were discussing it a bit.

'That's possible. But once we have to submit the paperwork to the union, we'll have to have a contract written for that.

　What I suggested is actually a method I learned about in King's Landing.
　There are several parking lots in the capital where noblemen and merchants park their carriages, and I heard that servants and guards sometimes sleep in carriages, so I thought we could use that method here as well. It's also the method I had considered as a last resort when I came to Seigen before.
　However, according to Arie-san, in order for an innkeeper to accommodate guests in the same way, they need to submit a report to the union. Some guests come by carriage, so they can get a permit without any problems, but if they don't report it, they will be cautious or even fined in the worst case.

I'm sorry, but please sign this form with the purpose of use of the place and the last column.

　I wrote down what I was told on the paper that was handed to me, and at the end I wrote my signature 'Tenma Ootori'.　

'Ootori you had a last name, Temma?'

　Ms. Carina looked at me curiously, and she agreed when I told her that I had won and that I got it as a reward.
　Then we got the keys from Arie-san while Karina-san went to deliver the papers to the union, and arranged a place to put the carriage.

'Speaking of which, where are Aimee and Eee-chan Shieh-chan?'

Amy has gone to the schoolhouse. Eee-chan and Shi-chan are with her. They don't have it every day, but they've been studying more diligently lately than before.

　As we were talking about this, Amur jumped on my back. Amur himself is light, so it's not a big deal to be jumped on, but he's hugging me pretty tightly, so my body was sore in places.

'Who's Amy?'

　Amur said something in a blaming way, but when he asked Blanca to collect it and explained that Amy was Arye's grandson and Karina's daughter, and that she missed him for teaching her how to tame more, he agreed with her in a manner.　
　Later, as I was about to lightly clean the room and let Blanca and the others use it, Amur didn't put his bags in the room, but instead started trying to get them out into the carriage that was left outside. I hurriedly grabbed the back collar and lifted it up and carried it outside, and he gave me a very strange look.

'Why? I don't understand.

　Amour, who felt like he wasn't saying anything wholeheartedly convincing, became more mature with Blanca's persuasion (including physical language). Arie-san only smiled as she watched him.
　Just as she finished packing up her things, Karina-san returned and told me that her papers had been accepted successfully. She also told me that she was told by the union to not let them cause as much trouble as possible.

'Sir~! Welcome home!

　As I listened to the warning from Karina, I heard Amy's cheerful voice. Behind her, followed by Eee-chan Shih-chan, who has grown up from before. The two birds don't seem to be able to fly for long yet, and they are flying and running, flying and running.

''Wow!''

　Shiroumaru barked a single bark when he spotted I-Chan Shih-chan, and they all landed on Shiroumaru's back.

I'm home, Amy. Here's a gift for you. This is Amy's, and this one is for everyone. And here's one for you, shhhhhh.

　I gave him some small items that I bought in the royal capital, as well as some magic stones and magic nuclei that I had saved for Eee-chan and Shi-chan. The magic stones and magic cores are small but there is quite a bit of them, so they should not be a problem for two to three months.

''Thank you! So, what about Jeanne and Aura? And who are your people?

　Amy looked at Blanca and Amour, who were behind me and had a hatena mark on their heads.

''I left Jeanne and Aura at the royal capital. I have to take care of my grandfather's mansion, and Aura's sister works in the royal capital, so I can rest easy. So, these are the adventurers I met in King's Landing, Blanca and Amur. I heard that they're going back in almost the same direction, so we're going to stay in Seigen for a little while.

'I see. Aura, it's nice to meet your sister. It's nice to meet you, Blanca-san, Amour-san, my name is Aimee. This is my family members, Eee-chan and Shie-chan!

'Wow, you didn't freak out at the sight of Blanca!　

　Amur was surprised that the kid wasn't afraid of Blanca on his first visit. And he was getting fist-f*cked, as usual.

'Since we're going to dive into the dungeon tomorrow, we'll finish dinner early today and get some rest. It's more like free time until dinner, okay?

　Grandpa and the others nodded at my suggestion and we were free until dinner... but...

'Well, that's what happens when you're new to a place...'

　Since I was the only one who had never stayed properly in Seigen, we all had to move around. It was a bit embarrassing to move around with everyone else, as we were all moving around together, and we got a lot of attention from people on the street.
　First we looked at the shops selling medicines, then we looked at the foodstuffs, and finally we went to look at the armor.

''As expected, there's a lot more armor-related stuff here than in the royal capital.

　Weapons and armor sold in each city are very distinctive. For example, in the case of the royal capital, there are many aristocrats and so on, so many flashy things, and weapons sell better. In Seigen, there are many highly functional items with little decoration, and there are many blacksmiths who focus on armor.
　This is because many people in King's Landing are vain and the surrounding grasslands are wide open, so a variety of weapons can be used, but since Seigen has dungeons, many people assume they will be attacked as a result of attacks from blind spots, so armor is more important.

Did you find anything good?

No! The one I had Temma make for me is a few steps better!

You didn't find me either.

　Amur said as he spun around to show off his equipment, and Blanca answered immediately.

''Well, I'll take you to my friend's place next time. But do you think we have most of what we need for the dungeon?

　I bought the medicine that was running low, vegetables to eat in the dungeon, and things I needed to take care of my armor, so I've accomplished my goal. In addition, today's dinner is being bought by Amur... well, I bought more than I could eat in the stall, and it was left over... but because of that, today's dinner was all about strong flavor!