CH 84

“The second part of Greg's struggle to make a living as a humble peddler.”

Translated by Dawn

“The second part of Greg’s struggle to make a living as a humble peddler.”

After parting ways with Rolando, the adventurer and hero of Rendark, I decided to head straight for a certain place. Incidentally, the payment for the purchase of the six bracelets was deferred, and when they were sold, the merchant would be paid from the proceeds of the sale, which was a very nice arrangement for a merchant.

First, I headed for a place I always visit when I come to Orargrand. The place was a certain mansion in the nobles’ district, where nobles live.

“Well, well, Greg-sama. It has been a long time.”

“Long time no see, Gordon. Is Ragiel home?”

“Yes, of course, he is. Please come this way.”

The butler of the mansion, Gordon, led me to the office, where I found my childhood friend wrinkling his brow as he frantically sorted through the paperwork. He seemed to sense that someone had entered the room, and he stopped his paperwork and turned his head to look at me.

When he recognized me, his eyes widened in surprise for a moment, but then his face immediately broke into a smile, and he shouted out in a lively voice.

“Ohh, isn’t Greg! It’s been a long time. Since when did you come to Orargrand?”

“Yeah, I just got here today. You looked terrific, by the way. Do you really hate paperwork that much?”

“I’m not used to it. Honestly, if I knew I had to do this, I probably wouldn’t want to be granted a peerage, you know?”

“Hey, hey, stop saying that, okay? You can’t be a noble even if you wanted to be.”

As we said so, we both laugh aloud to each other. The man in front of me was my friend since childhood, Baron Ragiel von Stresemann.

He was the lord of the Stresemann estate, and a full-fledged noble, but there was one thing that made him different from the other nobles. That was that he was a person who had risen from the ranks of the commoners.

In the first place, a noble was a person who was given a title and fief in recognition of some achievement by His Majesty the King, or a person who inherited such a title and fief. A noble who was granted a fief was entrusted with the discretionary power of that fief and became a lord. Basically, the lord could rule the land as he saw fit.

Of course, if there was maladministration, rumors would spread and an inspector would be dispatched from the royal capital. If the fact of maladministration came to light, there would be some sort of penalty in the name of His Majesty the King, so even if discretionary power was granted, the lord could not do as he wished.

And the Ragiel in front of me was a newly risen nobly who had just been granted a title in recognition of certain achievements and had been a commoner until recently.

“So what’s gotten into you today? Just saying hello?”

“Well, yes, but I have something I want you to buy for Ragiel.”

“What do you want me to buy? What’s that?”

“This.”

As if to answer my friend’s question with a quizzical look on his face, I pulled out the item from my pocket. What I took out was, of course, the bracelet that Rolando had given me. It was not just a bracelet, but an amulet with an amulet effect.

When Ragiel saw it, his eyes widened and a look of astonishment came over his face. It was no wonder. After all, the amulet was what Ragiel had been wanting for the past few months.

Ragiel had a wife, Marie, whom he had been with since he was 14 years old. Naturally, Marie was also an old friend of mine, but she had always been frail and often fell ill in bed.

Although Ragiel took pity on her, he could do nothing about it and could only pray for her recovery. However, now that he had been appointed as a nobleman, he had some money in his pocket.

So Ragiel wanted to do something about her frail constitution and learned of the existence of amulets. Popular as a talisman, amulets could heal minor ailments using their purifying power. Hearing this, it was natural for him to seek an amulet for his wife.

However, he was not the only one who wanted the amulet; many wealthy people and nobles also wanted it, and its popularity was so high that even Ragiel, a nobleman, could not afford it.

It was hard to believe that such a much-needed item was now right in front of him.

“H-hey, where the hell did you get this!?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that, no matter how much you want me to. It’s a matter of trust with my supplier.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“So, will you buy this for me?”

“Of course! Let me buy it!”

Seeing RAGIEL with a big smile on his face as he said so, I was inwardly satisfied that I had brought the product entrusted to me by my little boy. To tell the truth, I would have given it to him for free if I could, since he was my childhood friend, but since this product was sold on consignment, such a selfish act was not allowed.

While feeling sorry for this, I offered him five medium gold coins, the appraisal value I had told the boy. When I told him my asking price, Ragiel looked puzzled.

“Are you sure such an amount will do?”

“Yes, I discussed this amount with my supplier. There’s no problem.”

“But I hear that the market price in the royal capital is ten times that amount, and it’s getting harder and harder to get it. Are you sure about that?”

“You’re so stubborn, Ragiel. If you like this, I’ll really sell you five large gold coins.”

“Thank you, Greg. Let me get the money right away!”

After the conversation with Ragiel, Gordon, who had left the office to prepare tea after showing me to the room, returned to the office. Ragiel instructed Gordon to take over serving the tea with the maid and left the room again to prepare the money. After chatting with Ragiel over tea for a while, Gordon returned with a leather bag in his hand.

“Greg-sama, here is the payment. Please confirm it.”

“Excuse me then.”

I was sure there was no problem since Gordon had prepared them for me, but I checked them carefully because there was a possibility that they could have been mistaken by accident. Then, inside the leather bag were seven medium gold coins.

It happened often that the amount of money was not enough, but it was rare that it was more than the specified amount, so I was a little puzzled.

“I’m a member of the nobility. I’d like to wrap up two or three large gold coins, but we don’t have a lot of money to spare either. Please spare me with this for now.”

“I’m sure my supplier will blame me for the extra two medium gold coins.”

Thanks so much, Greg. I hope this helps Marie’s condition…….”

“Right. Let’s hope it does. Well then, I still have places to go, so I guess I’ll take my leave for now.”

Then, politely declining Ragiel’s enthusiastic invitation to stay the night, I left Ragiel’s mansion for my next destination.

The next place I came to was the Chamber of Commerce, a place I frequently visit when I came to Orargrand to stock up on goods. However, my purpose this time was not for the owner of the trading company, but for his wife.

“Please wait here.”

I told the clerk who greeted me that I wanted to meet the madam and was taken to the reception room. I had met the wife of this merchant several times, so if she was not busy, I was sure she would meet me.

I moistened my lips with the tea offered and waited. She was a beautiful woman of about the same age as me. She had pale green hair, blue eyes, and an intellectual air, and she was the wife of the merchant who represented this merchant’s company.

“Welcome to our establishment.”

“I’m sorry to just barge in on you like this.”

“No, no, it’s all right. Please have a seat.”

As I sat down on the sofa, she asked me at the right moment what I had come for today, to which I replied.

“I’m here today to ask madam to buy a certain item.”

“Oh, really? So, what’s the product?”

As soon as I proposed a trade, her eyes turned to those of a merchant. Since she used to be a daughter of a merchant family, she herself wears an air of a merchant when it came to business matters.

I managed to hold myself back from being swept away by the atmosphere and took out the object from the small leather bag I had in my pocket. The madam, while looking at the item I took out, asked me about the details of the item.

“A bracelet. Is this what you want to trade this time?”

“Yes. Please take it in your hand and see for yourself.”

As if she had been waiting for me to say something, she picked up the bracelet and began to check its condition. Her eyes were serious, like those of a beast hunting its prey.

(W-what elaborate craftsmanship! How much technology has gone into this mere bracelet!?)

Apparently, from the look on her face, she was aware of the anomaly of this bracelet. Yes, this was not just any bracelet. That little boy had something to do with it.

While the madam was engrossed in the bracelet, suddenly there was a knock at the reception room and someone entered the room. That person was the merchant who represents the Chamber of Commerce, in other words, the husband of the madam, who was now engrossed in the bracelet.

“Well, well, GREG-sama, it’s been a long time.”

“Yes, it’s been a while. It’s been about two months, hasn’t it?”

“Has it been that long already? The time flies by so fast, doesn’t it?”

“Indeed.”

After exchanging a few casual greetings, he quickly got down to business. His eyes were sharp, as is typical of merchants, and he looked as if he might bite me if I showed him the slightest sign of weakness.

“I heard that you have something to do with my wife today. Is it a secret to me that you are visiting my wife and not me?”

On the surface, it was a casual question, but his eyes were overtly appealing. “You’re not bringing me a profitable business without telling me, are you?”

“I just felt bad that you had to take time out of your busy schedule for me since it wasn’t that important. I have no other intention.”

The other side made a strange hunch, so I softly denied it, and the battle had already begun.

“Then you have no problem with me being present?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then I won’t hesitate to do so. By the way, is the item in my wife’s possession the one you wish to deal with today?”

“Yes.”

When I affirmed, he inspected the bracelet as if he were devouring it after receiving it from his wife. Apparently, he too realized the value of this bracelet, and his eyes widened for a moment, but he quickly corrected his expression and feigned composure after years of experience.

“It’s a great product. So, how many more of these do you have?”

“I’m sorry. I can only offer you one of those today.”

“What do you mean?”

In the contract with the current partner, the little boy, several conditions were placed regarding the sale. There were three main ones.

First, the product must be sold to a person who will actually use the product, not to a person for the purpose of selling it. Second, the number of items sold at one time must be limited to one per individual or group. Three, sell at a price that does not deviate greatly from the market price. These were the conditions that were agreed upon with the little boy.

“I see. Now let me change the question. Will you be able to supply this product in the future?”

“I can’t say for sure. It may be only this time, or I may be asked to do it again. This time it was meant as a trial to see my skills, so I can only say that any future transactions would depend on the outcome of this one.”

“I see. Then, if there is another opportunity to purchase from you, would you be willing to make it convenient for me then?”

“I am sorry, but I can only say that it is difficult to make any promises at this time. For the time being, we will have to wait until after we have successfully completed this transaction…….”

These were my honest words. I didn’t know if this deal would continue in the future, and since I didn’t know where the little boy was getting those accessories from, it was not a good idea to make a bad promise here.

Being a merchant was a profession where trust was important, and one should not make promises rashly. Promising to supply a product that you did not know whether you would be able to purchase would result in a big loss if you were unable to do so.

“Then, madam. Would you like to purchase this item?”

“Yes, of course, I would like to buy it. How much is it?”

“Five small silver coins.”

“Ara, that’s it? I don’t know if I should tell you this, but two medium silver coins are still considered cheap.”

“I have a contract with my supplier, so that much won’t be a problem.”

When I said this, the madam’s face broke into a smile and she instructed the servants to bring the money. No matter how much money you have, you always want to get good things at a reasonable price.

After receiving the five small silver coins for the bracelet, I left the trading company. Of course, I should add that afterward, the president of the association made some vague inquiries about my supplier, but I evaded them and kept my mouth shut. As a merchant, I could not reveal information about important suppliers, so I resolutely kept my mouth shut.

Then, while keeping to the conditions of the little boy, I was able to sell two to each of the two madams of a merchant house of about the same size as the previous one, one to a dancer at the best tavern in town, and one to the signboard girl at an inn called [Summer Sunlight Through The Trees].

I offered three small silver coins for the last signboard girl, but she almost refused because it was too much money for a child who had not yet reached adulthood, but the proprietress, her mother, who was watching her, liked the bracelet and agreed to share it with her daughter.

Thus, I was able to fulfill my promise to the boy and sell all the products.