CH 97

The next morning,

I somewhat recovered after my night’s sleep. I then went about my morning routine and prepare to go to the town. I loaded the swords and knives we made inside the cart. Thankfully I can do the work around here even if I’m half asleep.

As I load them, I always put them together by type and wrap them in a large piece of cloth. I then place them on the cart and I secure them with a rope. As for the knives, I just put them in a box without a lid. This box is also used to carry back small things (like pepper, etc.) that I bought at Camilo’s place so it is quite useful.

This cart has been useful to me each time but it is also a second-hand one so it is starting to show some signs of breaking. Though it’s not something that can happen in one or two round trips, I still think that I need to fix it. I feel like I can make one with my cheat, but the ball bearings and torsion bar suspensions would be an overkill.

Even today, it is me and Rike who pull the cart while Samia and Diana served as our escorts. The cart rattles through the green landscape. Other than the bird’s chirp, only the rustling of the leaves can be heard when the wind blows so the sound of the cart is especially loud.

Since we only come and go once a week, and because the soil in this forest is originally hard, there are no ruts left in this forest road even if we pass here almost every week. With the fact that there are no ruts on the way, there is probably no problem even with the foregoing “usual condition”. However, I can’t help but wonder if it’s really a good idea not to maintain the road for the sake of the occasional customers coming here. Besides, it’s not as if the wild animals won’t come close to forest road. It may be better to consider maintaining the road even if it’s only halfway from the house.

With a break in between, we made it safely to the entrance of the forest. On the way here, Samia changed the course several times, probably because there was something ahead. Considering that, it would be difficult to construct a road on the entrance side. It might also be more troublesome to deal with if we encounter other people on the road.

From here, we will go along the main road as usual. It is not paved with cobblestones like those in the Roman Empire in my previous world, but, it is sufficiently hardened to make it easy to walk. The area also has a nice view and with the guards patrolling on the main road, there are hardly any bandits. However, the fact that there are few means that there are occasional bandits so we cannot be too careful.

As usual, we continued on the way while being on alert.

Today as well, we arrived at the entrance of the town without any incident. The guard is checking the passersby with his usual sharp look. I don’t have the courage to ask, but I think he can recognize the criminals even if they are acting normally. I exchanged greetings with the guard, who glanced at me and relaxes his gaze somewhat, and then we entered the town.

We walk along a street that has been well trodden by the feet of the people coming and going here. Wagons and carts just like ours are running smoothly and the area is quite lively. Of course, our cart felt lighter compared to when we were on the main road. I wonder if there are cobblestoned pavements inside those walls. I thought about this as I looked over the wall that had originally been the town’s outer wall.

Unlike last time, we did what we usually do after arriving at Camilo’s store. No, it wasn’t that different last time either. Like before, we talked about what we wanted to buy, the amount we are going to wholesale to the store, and then we still chatted afterwards. However, there’s something a little different today.

“When it comes to making a huge number of swords, how much can you make?”

Camilo asked me.

“If we were to lower the quality and only focus on one type, we can make almost six times as many swords as we do now. The amount of production will increase if we don’t have to make the high-end ones.”

If I were to make general model swords with priority on mass production speed, they can probably be made at about twice Rike’s speed. Meaning, if I do it with three times Rike’s speed and we use the time to make knives to forge swords instead, our production speed would be doubled so it would be 6 times in all.

“I see……”

Camilo ponders over it after hearing that.

“If you need it, I’ll do it. However, I will have to give up the other item for delivery.”

“Yeah, that would indeed be the case…”

“Hmm”, Camilo thinks about it seriously. It seems that he’s not just retailing our products so he might be thinking about what to do about that. If he buys all of my items every time, it means that they are selling well. Camilo is not that easy-going as to buy such quantity every time and just have them gradually added to a bad inventory….That’s what I think. Or rather, I do have confidence in Camilo’s talent as a merchant to make money.

“Hmm, hmm”, Camilo thought about it for a while, and then eventually,

“Alright”

He then looked up and said that. It was unusual for Camilo, who usually makes prompt decision, to think about it for a long time.

“For the next delivery, can I request for all of the items to be longsword? The larger the quantity, the better.”

“As I said earlier, it’s fine with me. Next week’s delivery will all be general model longswords, right?”

“Yeah. Ah-, give me a minute. I’ll be back quickly.”

After saying that, Camilo left the room. I was curious why such quantity was necessary, but if he said that he needs it, then I guess it’s really needed. I didn’t dare ask why. As what he had said, Camilo returned shortly after. He has two sheets of paper in his hand. It is not a parchment but it’s made of flax or silk. There were several sentences written there.

“After confirming that the two are the same, take the other one.”

Camilo said that while he is presenting the paper to me. I then read the document. Here’s the summary of the document’s content, “Prepare as many longswords as you can by next week. I will pay you adequately for that work. Payment is to be made in exchange for the longswords and this document.”

Camilo’s signature is also there. So to speak, this is a purchase order. The reason why the compensation amount is not written specifically is because the quantity for the delivery is up to me. It would have been nice if he had specifically stated the quantity, for example, 50 pieces. However, I think that he did that to cover in case of any unforeseen situation. It’s quite ambiguous for a purchase order but I guess it’s what you can call give-and-take.

“Sure”

After reading through the contents of one of the purchase order and confirming that the other one was the same, and that the thumbprint which was stamped as a  seal over the edges of two sheets is indeed Camilo’s, I kept the purchase order in my pocket.