The ship was four nights and five days.


　I was bored to death on the ship and I was all alone, so I was killing time reading and playing cheap gambling. ......


'Huh? Husband? Isn't that Master Aega?


　It was while I was eating curry and rice in the cafeteria when I was approached.


　When I looked back at ...... I knew I had seen it all before.

　The grin on his face, with its prominent dimples, is very familiar.

　He was two or three years younger than me.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find it.

　This is the familiar "travel merchant" from my adventuring days.

　I'm not sure what his name is.


'Oh no, I knew it! It's Aiga-sama from the Miracle Five. Odd!

　The merchant who came up to me in a loud voice and took a seat next to me in an unaccustomed manner.


　Ah. Incidentally, the embarrassing name he calls 【The Miracle Five】 is an alias for the heroic party.

　However, that 'five' are the aforementioned brave Cross, Tiana, Emma, Derry, and me ......, as I would like to say, but that's not the case.

　There is another genius in the party, the [aggressive wizard] 'Morier', and the last one is that guy.

　In other words, I'm not in the 'miracle'.

　That's super ugh (crying).


　But ...... is the Morier one.

　The other day we were on a solo expedition, so it's a good thing we were separated, but when he comes back and finds out that I've been fired, I'm sure he's going to storm the party again.


　Zawa ...... zawa zawa!


　Now, as I was thinking about this, I noticed that the cafeteria was buzzing with people.


"Hey, that guy. "Hey, that guy, he's from the Miracle Five.

Oh, really? The brave one? Maybe I should go get an autograph.

I know you're a fan of Mr. Derry's.


　If you listen closely, it goes something like this.


"Hey, man. Don't mess with the other customers. I mean it.

　I glare at the Ekbo merchant sitting beside me.

''That's fine. It's the truth.

'Tch ....... You know I'm not one of the five.

I know that! That's why he's the phantom Sixth Man, right?

　No, I don't know what you mean.

"Sir, by the way. Are you alone? And Tiana?

...... I'm alone. I'm just a tourist now.

Wow. So adventurers do a lot of sightseeing too?


Well.

Aren't you supposed to be with Tiana on your way to bed?

　I thought, "Tiana, Tiana," as I repeated, "Tiana, Tiana," and I thought, "What the hell is this guy talking about ......," but then I quickly realized with a huff.

'Oh ....... Tiana's guy, he's dating Cross now.

'What? Husband, did you get dumped?

　It really irritated me that you're assuming that I was the one who got dumped, but I thought it would be better to keep it that way for the sake of Tiana's honor, so I kept my mouth shut.

I see, sir, it's just a heartbreak trip. Then it is better not to interfere. I was wondering if you have any work to do. ......

　The merchant tries to get up from his seat, saying.

'Wait,'

Yes?

　I grabbed him by the arm.

　Yeah.

　He's a dumbass, but he's got some real talent as a merchant.

　See. Even if you look at my cultivation skill [Goddess's Eye], you still have the job description of a 'merchant'.


　By the way, there aren't many cases in the world where 'actual professions' and 'innate job characteristics' match like this.

　For example, a man with a job title of 'fisherman' could be a 'lumberjack', or a man with a job title of 'sake brewer' could be a 'priest'.


　Well, this guy looks silly, so he just happens to be a merchant, and he just happens to have the job title of a merchant ......, but if you get a large population, there are some people who are lucky enough to have that kind of luck in the world.


　It's a good idea to be able to have a good time with them.

　It's a good idea to be able to have a good relationship with this kind of person.


''Well, don't be so panicky. Just go along with the small talk.

Yes, that ......

　But the merchant doesn't seem to be getting into it.

'What? What's your problem?

No. I just don't want the whole story of my rejection bothering me, you know?

'Don't call me creepy! ...... I'm not going to do that. It's not a good idea to go sightseeing this time, but I have my reasons. I'm not sure what I'll be asking you to do.

What, you mean business? Why didn't you say so?

　And the merchant who firings.

　You change so quickly.


　I spent the rest of the ship in the company of this merchant.

　It seems that he had visited the Far East several times and had a good knowledge of the land, and he was also a good conversation partner.

　He was a good friend of mine, and we got along quite well with each other, as we had surprisingly good taste in gambling and billiards.

　But this guy. What is his name? ......



　◇



　Bo......


　This is how the ship arrived at the port city of the Far East [Skahama].

　After getting off the ship and going through the town for a while, I found that I had seen something familiar.

　A house made of wood and paper.

　The people on the street wore complicated clothes with a collar and an obi tied to a piece of cloth.

　Everyone seems to be very particular about their hairstyles, especially the women, whose black hair is tied up in a heap, and even the hair ornaments of the townswomen are delicate and pretty.

　The hair ornaments of the girls in the area were also delicate and cute.

　The place had a unique cultural flavor, didn't it?


　Well, that's just it.

　Normally I should have gone to the Imperial Capital of the Far East to complete the formalities and greetings before going to the territory, but I haven't decided to rule the territory yet, so this time I'm just going to pass as a "tourist".

　That's why I decided not to stop by the 【Emperor's Capital】 from 【Suka-Hama】 and head straight to the 【Territory】.

''What's your husband's destination, what's the destination?''

Well, I heard it's called "Tokumo".

Apparently ...... Speaking of Tokumo, isn't that where your husbands defeated the Giant Snake of Ghidorah?

　I see.

　So the party was given the area where that quest took place as it was, as a [territory]?

　Well. The King of the Far East wouldn't suddenly give away a land that has nothing to do with him, so that's obvious if you think about it.


But I don't remember what I've seen on the way to ....... How do I get there from here?

Ship again. It's a domestic ship. But .......

　The merchant flipped through his notepad as he said, "I'd better spend the night in [Skahama].

There are no more boats today, so we had better spend the night at 'Skyhama'. This is my business card, so you should go to an inn called 'Yellow Crane Building'. And tomorrow, there's a ship leaving at 9:00 a.m., so we'll go to the West Boat Landing for domestic ships.

...... Oh, hey. What about you?

I'm going to stay one night. But I've got some business to attend to, so I'll be leaving now.

　And then the merchant left.


　...... That guy is useful," I thought.


　I checked his name on his business card to make sure it was correct.