Volume 6 - CH 2.16

There seems to be just one raw amber gemstone left in the Amber Merchant’s stock, which is a shame, but nothing too terrible in the grand scheme of things.

Just like I thought, even though amber trade is dealing in gemstones, it must be pretty difficult to earn some big money in this kind of trade where so much is dependent on so many factors that us mortals have no way of influencing whatsoever. And even if by some miracle amber could be mined and gathered in large quantities all the time, this one  Amber Merchant would not be the one who would receive all of by himself.

But just like I said, for now, even one rough amber gemstone is going to suffice for my plans, and since my thirty percent discount is going to be effective, then I am going to receive a preferrable price anyway.

I let Roxanne and Sherry choose the necklace that we’re going to buy. After all, the more opinions on the matter, the better.

「Well then, here are the wooden cases made from Talem wood.」

The cat-eared Amber Merchant brings the wooden cases that I asked him to make earlier along with the necklaces. They are beautiful cases made from white, decorative wood, but they are not so simplistic, because thay have also been adorned with subtlebrown, circular patterns that make them look like a really high-class product that could be deemed quite valuable even in the modern day Japan.

「It looks really good.」

「I know, right? However, these ones right here are only the prototypes. But because sir was the one who suggested making them in the first place, then as a show of my gratitude I would like you to accept them as a gift from me.」

「Ah, really? You didn’t have to. Thank you very much nonetheless.」

I receive two cases from the merchant. For something made out of wood, they are quite heavy, much more than their looks would suggest, actually. Also, the wood doesn’t look like it has been painted white, so that must mean that the Talem wood is naturally white in color? In that case, I have to admit that it looks even better than what it seemed to be at first, and I can say that I am most positively surprised with it.

Its weight only adds to its luxurious feel, so it’s a welcomed addition.

「Which one looks better? This one or this one?」

「Both look pretty.」

「If you had to pick one, which one would you pick?」

「This one, I think.」

These two seem to have decided on the necklace. Sherry finally picks one of the two. This is probably the same necklace which he showed me on my first visit to the store. It was priced at fifty-five thousand Nars if I remember correctly. Because it was showed to me on my first visit, it’s probably this store’s most prized necklace.

Well, I don’t know much about jewelry, so I’m not sure about it myself. Sherry, however, shares same opinion as the store’s owner, so I’m going to go with that one. Sherry may have a keen eye for those things, because she bought a book in her grandfather’s days when she was still a kid, but even if she didn’t have a keen eye, she has established good relationship with the craftsman’s wife already, so it’s best if Sherry picks it.

「Well then, I would like to buy this necklace and the raw amber gemstone.」

「Thank you. Because you received letter of recommendation personally from the duke, I’ll give you special price of fifty-nine thousand and sixty Nars.」

Influence of the duke’s letter of recommendation is incredible. I feel embarrassed for having it sold to me so cheaply.My thirty percent discount is effective as well, so I pay even less that I was prepared to pay. Beside gold coins, I gave the merchant ninety silver coins and sixty copper coins.

「Is the price correct?」

「Yes, of course. The price of the case has been included in it as well. Although it costs about two hundred Nars, it’ll not be charged this time, for you were the one who gave us this idea in the first place.」

The amber merchant removes the necklace from the cloth bag, puts it in the case and passes it to me, and I receive if from him carefully so as to not damage it in any way. It’s great that I don’t have to pay for the cases, but if they have beencharged , it would have been discounted by thirty percent anyway. But they were given to me for free, so it’s even better.

After returning home, I hand the two their necklaces and take them to Palmasque next. When we reached the Labyrinth of Zabir, we made a short stop there so that I could put the necklaces on their necks as well as handle them one silver coin meant to pay the City Entrance tax.

「You’re not coming with us again?」

Sherry asks nervously, and she was also looking awfully uneasy. Is she still that hung up on me not going to Palmasque with them, even though I have already told them that I have my own reasons for choosing not to go there? Or maybe it’s about something else entirely?

Wait, could it possibly be that….. yeah, that has to be it.

I told Roxanne and Sherry to sell the Amber Necklace to the wife of the craftsman if they’re going to be able to do so, and now that I think about it, twenty-five gold coins is also exactly the price that I have paid in order to buy Sherry from Alan-san’s Slave Shop, so if they do end up selling that Amber Necklace, it’s going to be as if Sherry herself sold something as expensive as her. But then again, it’s actually going to be more than the price that I paid for Sherry, because the price that I’ve paid for her was already the one to which the discount of thirty percent has been incorporated.

In that case, I guess it would make perfect sense for her to be nervous about carrying and then selling the item that is more expensive than she herself was at the moment of her purchase. And to top it all off, she is wearing that very necklace herself right now, so if she ever decided to run away from me with it, then she wouldn’t have to worry about the money to pay for her living expenses for….. I wanted to say for the rest of her life, but looking at it more realistically, I guess it would last her a solid few months, maybe half a year, or an entire year at best.

「It’s alright, Sherry. Master trusts us to handle that task, and he doesn’t have to go with us precisely because he trusts us to handle it in the best way possible. Isn’t that right, master?」

「Y-Yes, of course it’s exactly like that.」

「Oh. Okay then, If master trusts us to do it, then we cannot betray the trust that he has decided to put in us now, can we?」

Once again, Roxanne knew exactly what to say in order to dissuade Sherry’s worries. That being said, she still seems to have an unnecessarily high opinion on me as their master, and honestly, I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. But let’s not think about that for now. The important thing here is that thanks to her Sherry has regained her courage and good spirits, so we can go on with proceeding with Gozer’s request without any further interruptions.

Now that everything that needed to be said has been said, I took Roxanne and Sherry to Palmasque’s Adventurer’s Guild and saw the two of them off until they disappeared from my line of sight when they walked out of the Guild’s building and into the city proper.

When they’re going to come back carrying two more Palmasque Mirrors, the mission of procuring ten of them for Gozer so that he could use them as a Gift Item is finally going to be over, and I will not have to make any long, MP-draining travels from Quratar to Palmasque ever again…. Or for the forseeable future at the very least.

Whatever the case is going to be, I am finally going to be free when all is going to be said and done, and I cannot help it but to fell this unspeakably pleasant feeling of competition and fulfillment welling up inside of my chest when I think about it, and no matter how hard I try to keep those feelings in check, they just refuse to go away and keep on tugging at my heartstrings, and it was precisely because of those feelings that I have failed to notice something.

That in the meantime while I was on cloud nine absorbed in my own thoughts, there was quite a big commotion currently taking place in the Palmasque’s Adventurer’s Guild.