NOVEL NEXT Chapter 8: Merchant Girls and Scale Atelier
Narrator POV
It has been more than 3 weeks have passed since the class has been summoned into another world.
The students who are good at fighting were training with the soldiers in the training area of the castle in the capital city of Artesia.
On the other hand, those who are not good at fighting are not required to participate.
One of those who had given up on training and was Asano Reno.
A girl wearing large glasses and braided hair.
She was the top student in the class.
Back in their world she excelled in academic stuff and was always at the top of all the students in the same year as her.
She would often score almost perfect scores on the test and took the No. 1 in all academic subjects except Physical Education.
This was because she has a naturally weak body so she dedicated all of her time to studying.
Asano Reno did not have the aptitude for fighting.
Her body got stronger compared to how she was in their world.
She was still one of the weakest of the 28 who were summoned.
She looked for other ways of improving herself in this world aside from training her body.
As an answer, she had been spending her time in the library of the imperial castle for the past 3 weeks.
Out of nowhere, a cute voice came buzzing beside Reno.
"Reno, aren't you tired of reading books?" <Cute Voice>
"Not really" <Reno>
"Don't you want to go out once in a while?" <Cute Voice>
"Not really" <Reno>
"Come on Reno... Reno! Reno?" <Cute Voice>
A girl with short brown hair started talking to Reno as she was reading books.
This girl was Reno's longtime friend, Ueda Emika.
Emika has been with Reno ever since they were in middle school.
She has been following Reno since then and became her self-proclaimed best friend.
Back in the old world, Emika was the daughter of a trader in a market that sells various kinds of vegetables.
She was good with people and was easy to get along and with that, she became close with Reno.
"Give it up Emika, just leave her alone for now"
A girl said toward Emika
It was Chino Akemi.
Akemi was a cool-looking girl with very short hair.
It was a kind of hair that would confuse people if she is a boy or a girl when she wears male clothes.
She was also wearing glasses just like Reno.
Akemi was one of the top students in the class just like Reno.
She did not excel as much as Reno but Akemi was on the smarter side when categorized as a student.
She became close with Reno and Emika since Reno was her seatmate in the class.
Reno and Akemi were on the same wavelength, the two are both "A student who takes their studies seriously".
The two naturally became friends.
Akemi also became friends with Emika since she was easy to get along with.
Because Emika and Reno were almost inseparable the three became friends.
Where Reno goes, Emika follows like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Ever since they became friends the three had always been together.
This did not change even when they got transported to another world.
"I'm so bored... Reno let's go out" <Emika>
"..." <Reno>
"Akemi..." <Emika>
Emika turned her gaze toward Akemi as Reno did not respond to her.
"Well, I am starting to get bored myself." <Akemi>
"Then!" <Emika>
"But where would we go? It's not as if we have somewhere to go" (Akemi)
"I suppose you are right but still." <Emika>
"Hmmm... Reno what do you think?" <Akemi>
Akemi asked Reno who was so immersed in reading books.
Reno did not react.
It was a habit of Reno to get so immersed in things that she forgets everything around her when she was in a trance.
A few minutes later.
Reno closed the book she was reading.
"ALRIGHT!" <Reno>
Reno suddenly spoke.
Her eyes were sparkling.
"What?" <Emika>
Emika reacted to Reno who suddenly talked without warning.
"I have decided! I will explore this world myself!" <Reno>
"wha...?" <Akemi>
Akemi's jaws dropped at the words that came out of Reno's mouth.
"OHOHOHO!!!" <Emika>
Emika was also surprised but she was a bit on the happier side.
Akemi stood up and walked toward Reno who was pumped with the idea of exploring the world.
"What's up with that sudden idea?" <Akemi>
"I just want to see the world!" <Reno>
"Eh? I can't follow... would you mind explaining? What exactly are you talking about?" <Akemi>
Reno explained why she had thought of such a thing.
"So, making the long story short... you simply wanted to see and experience the things that you have read from those books?"
"Exactly" <Reno>
Reno replied.
"Hoooo, Reno I am moved." <Akemi>
Emika said as she listened to Reno who had expressed her thoughts.
Akemi on the other hand made a problematic look on her face.
She gave up thinking too much and made a grin.
"How are you planning to do that? ... do you plan to be an adventurer?" <Akemi>
Akemi asked while looking in Reno's direction.
Reno went silent for a moment before she replied.
"Well..." <Reno>
"I am not trying to scare you but we suck at fighting. Out of the three of us, Emika is the best in that matter and she still sucks at it." <Akemi>
"Hey! why are you making it sound like that?!" <Emika>
Emika reacted strongly to Akemi's comment quickly after hearing her.
Reno leaned forward while using her left hand as a rest for her head.
She was in a thinking pose.
"Let's see..." <Reno>
Reno looked at Emika and then toward Akemi.
"Hmm... It is not as if we could invite our classmates to join us, we’ll just become a burden for them." <Reno>
"...It's not as if we could join the hero party as well." <Akemi>
"Yeah, we cannot even contribute in battle anyway." <Reno>
"I don't want to become a bother for the soldiers.” <Emika>
“To be honest don’t like the idea of them following me around like I'm some sort of a high-ranking noble" <Akemi>
“So that makes asking for escort a NO then…” <Reno>
The three started thinking of something but their lack of ability to fight and protect themselves was holding them back with their plans.
“Do we have no other choice but to ask the soldiers to escort us…?” <Reno>
Reno gave another look at Akemi and Emika while thinking of their status.
First, she remembers her status.
Reno got the title, bookworm but it does not have any effect.
When she asked Orga about her title.
Orga explained that her title is given to a person who had read 100 books from this world from cover to cover.
When Reno first checked her status bar, she had 3 skills.
Reno had 3 skills but those skills are useless in battle as is.
(Memory I): a Skill that Increases memory, it was still in level one so it just increases Reno's ability to memorize things for just a little bit.
(Calculation I): It increases mathematical skills. Reno was originally excellent with her mathematical skills; the skills had only increased her calculation speed to some extent.
(Parallel Thought I): It increases her ability to think about multiple things at the same time.
For Reno, the only skill that she sees as useful was the skill, (Parallel Thought).
It was because she tends to ignore things around her when she is deep in thought.
The Parallel Thought skill gave her the ability to lessen this from happening.
Despite having this skill, she still sometimes gets too immersed in things and ends up doing her old habit but this time while having 2 separate things to think of.
Then she looks at Akemi and thought of her skills
She already knew what Akemi's skills were and tried to remember them.
Using her memory skill, she remembered Chino's status like it was a saved picture in her mind.
Just like Reno, Chino Akemi had 3 skills when she was summoned
(Search I): Was a skill that can be used to find an item within a radius of 10 meters. Orga said that the range increases when the level of the skill increases.
(Item Appraisal I): This checks information about a target item. Since it was still in level 1 it only displays the name of the item.
(Quality Check): Check the quality of an object.
Her skills were also useless in combat just like Reno's skills
Then Reno remembers Emika's status just like what she did with Chino's status.
Orga said that Emika's skills were default skills for a merchant.
Magic Bag: A skill that can make 1 bag that Emika possesses to have space storage that can store items depending on her INT. 10Kg/INT
Haggling: Increases Emika's skills in Haggling
She stared at Emika for a moment.
Emika gave her an idea.
She remembered the time when they were still back in their original world.
Selling...
(Merchant)
Reno became silent for a moment.
"That’s it! We don’t have to become adventurers!" <Reno>
Akemi and Emika looked at Reno who had thought of something.
"Oh~ Reno have you thought of something?" <Akemi>
Akemi asked Reno.
"We can just become Merchants!" <Reno>
"Merchants? but only I can have a Merchant job out of the three of us." <Emika>
Emika replied to Reno's words
"No that is not what I mean... we can become merchants; we'll sell things!!" <Reno>
"Ohhhh" <Emika>
"Oh... I see!" <Akemi>
"Oh! that's an option!" <Reno>
********************************
Some time passed...
The girls looked for a way to become merchants.
Thus...
"... then Old Man Orga recommended you to us and said that you could help us in one way or another." <Female Merchant>
The female merchant seemed to be annoyed.
"I see... I got it. So that is how you ended up here. That old man really loves to bother us..." <Female Merchant>
Reno, Akemi, and Emika had explained how they ended up in this place.
"So, you wanted to become merchants so you can travel the world?... Hmnn A traveling merchant huh..." <Female Merchant>
The girl who listened to their circumstances said after lending her ears.
"YES! Being a merchant is just an excuse. We just wanted to see the wonder of this world." <Reno>
Reno replied while clearing their true intentions.
"I used to be a traveling merchant myself until 3 years ago... I see so that is why that old man recommended me to you." <Shaina>
The black-haired girl replied.
She walked toward the workshop and took something on the table in the smithing area within the room and took a goggle on top of the table there.
She wore the goggles over her head like a hairband.
She tied her hair to the side making a side ponytail.
It was Shaina Stirling.
"We'll be in your care, Miss Shaina!" <Girls>
"Well if that is the case... What are the things that you plan on selling?" <Shaina>
"Yes?" <Akemi>
Reno, Akemi, and Emika looked at each other trying to find an answer.
The look in their eyes was asking each other.
Shaina look at Reno and asked again since she thought that Akemi did not know anything about the thing she just asked.
"The things you want to sell..., what is it?" <Shaina>
"... Yes?" <Reno>
Cold sweat dripped from the 3 girls who asked for Shaina's help.
They made a forced smile toward Shaina acting like they knew nothing of such information.
Shaina frowned after noticing this fact.
"Don't tell me you wanted to become a merchant without knowing what to sell?" <Shaina>
"Ahahaha! Do we have to?" <Reno>
Said Reno whose words became softer as it gets out of her mouth.
Shaina had the "Are you serious" expression on her face.
Reno knew that she sounded like a fool.
She was perfectly aware of that herself which made her laugh at herself from within.
Shaina could not help but to shake her head.
"Of course, you don’t..." <Shaina>
She became angry at the girls after confirming their lack of plans.
Shaina was shocked after knowing that the girls who wanted to become merchants did not have any plan.
"What are those eyeglasses for?! I remember Orga saying that you girls are smart?" <Shaina>
"Ahahaha we haven't thought of it ourselves." <Akemi>
"-Sigh- OK I'll forgive you for now. But you have to think of something." <Shaina>
"Hahaha, sorry" <Emika>
"Ah... wait... you don't have to do that..." <Shaina>
Shaina realized something and made a big smile on her face.
"You did say that you guys have the Merchant, Scholar, and Appraiser jobs, right?" <Shaina>
Reno, Akemi, and Emika looked at each other and answered Shaina
"Yes?" <Girls>
Shaina placed her hands under her chin while carefully observing the three girls.
She was in deep thought for a while until...
Shaina looked and pointed at Reno.
"You! What skills do you have”? <Shaina>
"Skills?" <Reno>
Reno was flustered by Shaina’s sudden question.
"Yeah, something like a magic bag... and such" <Shaina>
"I have, Memory, Calculation and Parallel Thought" <Shaina>
"I assume you are the scholar... What level are your skills?" <Shaina>
"ah yes! they are all level 1." <Reno>
"Level 1 huh… I see as expected... but that would do." <Shaina>
Shaina shifted her gaze toward Emika
"How about you?" <Shaina>
"Me?! Ah, Yes! I have (Magic Bag) and (Haggling)" <Emika>
"Haggling?! Really! Hmnn...<3" <Shaina>
Shaina became happy after hearing Emika had the Haggling skill.
Shaina her smile contorted into a mischievous smile.
"I can use you..." <Shaina>
And lastly, she looked at Akemi.
Shaina did not have to ask.
Akemi quickly said her skill before Shaina even had a chance to ask.
She knew that Shaina would be asking about her Skills as well so she answered without hearing the question.
"I have Search I, Item Appraisal I, and Quality check." <Akemi>
"Oh, Quality check that's a bonus..." <Shaina>
Shaina squinted her eyes at the three girls while thinking deeply.
She looked away and made a big smile.
"He, Hehe, Hehue hue, Huhuhue, I can use them... Hue hue hue" <Shaina>
"uh miss Shaina..." <Emika>
Emika tried to talk to Shaina who was been making creepy giggles.
"HEY! You guys said that you wanted to go around the world, right?!" <Shaina>
"Uh, basically that is the plan..." <Reno>
"Don't you want to work for me then? Since you don't have anything to sell why not sell my products instead!" <Shaina>
"Sell your products?" <Akemi>
"Yeah, Like a reseller." <Shaina>
"Reseller..." (Emika)
"Yeah, you will sell my products in many places. You can travel the world with just that! Of course, you will profit from this as well." <Shaina>
"Wait a minute... I have to discuss this with these two." <Reno>
"Sure..." <Shaina>
The three discussed things with each other.
They discussed for a few minutes while considering the pros and cons of working under Shaina.
"We agree!" <Girls>
Reno, Akemi, and Emika ultimately decide to work under Shaina and sell her products.
"That is great! Now we have to discuss the things that I need you to do on your trips." <Shaina>
Shaina stood tall toward the bunch of weapons and armors displayed in her workshop.
She stood tall and raised her arms while presenting the weapons and armors behind her.
"As you can see! I sell armors and weapons. I am not bragging but my works are actually of the highest quality!" <Shaina>
"Ahuh...you’re bragging though" <Akemi>
"There is a reason why I managed to start a store here in the capital with my works! It is because my works are that of the best of the best!" <Shaina>
"Okay..." <Emika>
"Now! I will be needing you three to sell my products to other places! IS THAT CLEAR?!" <Shaina>
The three nodded at Shaina
The air around Shaina changed.
Her tone suddenly became serious and talked in a more formal way.
"OK! Miss Scholar!" <Shaina>
Reno was shocked at the sudden change in enthusiasm from Shaina.
She could not think of a response properly and answered "yes" instinctively.
"I need you to memorize the prices, effects, materials, features, and selling points of my product! You will be the one who will do the calculation in selling and buying for materials that I can use to make more things in your travels." <Shaina>
"Ah right" <Reno>
Shaina ran happily toward a cabinet that was in her workshop.
A shining effect took place before it opened.
It seemed the cabinet itself was protected by magic.
She took several scrolls out of the cabinet and close them.
She then went back to the three girls while holding several scrolls, paper, a pen, and a knife in her hands.
"Take this and use it." <Shaina>
“What is this?” <Reno>
Reno asked Shaina
Shaina explained what were the skills for.
"Ah, this? This is called a skill scroll. It is a very valuable item that can give specific skills to the one use uses them." <Shaina>
"Why are you giving me this precious thing!?" <Reno>
"I need you to learn the "scribe" skill for the transaction and other complicated stuff for your job." <Shaina>
"Oh..." <Reno>
"NOW USE IT" <Shaina>
"Eh... wait..." <Reno>
"No waiting! open the scroll and place some of your blood on it" <Shaina>
Shaina took a small knife took Reno's hand and made a small cut on the tip of her index finger using the knife on her hand.
"Owc! ok ok wait! I'll do it myself!" <Reno>
Reno took the scroll and placed her bleeding index finger.
She smeared her blood on the scroll.
The scroll rolled into itself before it burned with blue flames and disappear into thin air.
"And you! Appraiser!" <Shaina>
Shaina pointed at Akemi who was staring at them frozen in her place.
Her shoulder twitched as Shaina shifted her attention towards her.
"Eh, what?" <Akemi>
"Since it would be a bother to teach you all materials, I will need you to learn this." <Shaina>
Shaina gave Akemi a Skill Scroll as well.
"That skill is called (Flavor Text). It’s an appraiser-specific skill that will give you information about any item in this world." <Shaina>
"Ohhhh~" <Akemi>
“Your job is to check the quality of the materials you would buy. Also, use the Flavor text skill to look for unique items that I can use as material. You can also use it to confirm if the item being sold to you is useful or not. Your job is to check all of the items that you guys would cross upon during barters.” <Shaina>
"And lastly YOU!" <Shaina>
"YES!" <Emika>
Emika became stiff after getting her turn to be noticed by Shaina.
"I need you to learn these two skills." <Shaina>
Emika received two scrolls from Shaina.
She received the skill scroll without even thinking.
Shaina offered the knife to Emika so she could learn the skills within the scrolls.
Akemi took the knife from Shaina and pinched her index finger to make it bleed.
She used the skill scroll and learned the skills within the Scrolls that Shaina gave her.
Akemi passed the knife to Emika and Emika did the same thing with the two scrolls that Shaina gave her.
Just like what it did when Reno and Akemi used the Skill Scrolls
The scroll rolled into itself before it burned with blue flames and disappear into thin air.
"Oh, miss Shaina what Skills did you give me?" <Emika>
"Ah, it is the skill, (Con Artist) and (Bluff)" <Shaina>
"I see... Con Artist?" <Emika>
"Yep" <Shaina>
Shaina replied to Emika with a smile.
Emika tried to understand what the skill might do.
Honestly, she already has an idea of how it works as it was obvious.
"... just in case what does that skill do?" <Emika>
"Hmnn? Oh, it makes you better at trick other people." <Shaina>
"As I thought... this skill sounds like bad news..." <Emika>
Shaina went close toward Emika.
Shaina was right in front of Emika's face.
She came even closer with her face almost touching Emika's.
Her expression changed into something sinister and started talking while emitting a dark aura
"OH, DON'T WORRY… EVERYTHING IS FAIR WHEN IT COMES TO BUSINESS, I WILL HAVE MY HOPES UP WITH YOUR PERFORMANCE. YOU WILL NEED IT"
Shaina said in a seemingly lower tone than she usually speaks.
“Your job is to milk as much money out of the merchant who transacts with you. I don’t care about the method you would use.”
Out of her fear, Emika agreed with Shaina who was overwhelming her with her presence.
"I-I-I, I ... I understand..." <Emika>
"GREAT! Now, we're done." <Shaina>
The three let out a breath of relief after the tense atmosphere was gone.
Shaina took a piece of paper from her workshop
She started writing the terms and clauses of the contract.
Shaina gave the contract to Asano Reno, Chino Akemi, and Ueda Emika to confirm its content.
The contract has 7 simple clauses.
- Asano Reno, Chino Akemi, and Ueda Emika shall be working as exclusive merchants to resell Shaina's works.
- Asano Reno, Chino Akemi, and Ueda Emika shall be given 5% of the profits of all the sold items and an additional monthly wage of 2 gold to Asano Reno, Chino Akemi, and Ueda Emika individually.
- Asano Reno, Chino Akemi, and Ueda Emika shall be under the responsibility of Shaina Stirling. Their safety during their travels as merchants will be her responsibility. All injuries related to their work would be compensated by Shaina Stirling.
- Asano Reno, Chino Akemi, and Ueda Emika shall not be responsible if bandits would rob them in-between travels. Goods lost in such an event are considered lost profits. This is under the premise that they are not working as conspirators in any way or form after all proper investigation has been made.
- Asano Reno, Chino Akemi, and Ueda Emika shall treat Shaina as their superior and must prioritize her orders over anything else. This is under the premise that her orders are work-related.
- Both Party is required to fulfill their responsibility to each other without fail.
- In terms of terminating this contract. Both parties can leave anytime they like provided all depth and responsibility are resolved.
The three read the contract and had no problem with it in any way.
"We have no problem with this contract" <Shaina>
The three girls nod in response.
"Okay~ if you don't have a problem then just put some of your blood on it." <Shaina>
The three had placed a drop of their blood on the paper just like what they did with the skill scroll.
Shaina did it as well.
The paper which was in Shaina's hands flew into the air and burned with blue flames before it disappears into thin air.
"Alright, the contract is complete! I will be looking forward to working with you... Reno, Akemi, Emika" <Shaina>
Shaina gave the three a bright smile while offering her hand
The three gave Shaina a bright smile,
Each grabbed and shake hands with Shaina’s one at a time.
"yes Miss Shaina, we are looking forward to working with you too!" <Girls>
"Oh, before I forget..." <Shaina>
Shaina said as the three were going out of the room happily.
"Hmnn??" <Reno>
"You owe me 7,000 Gold" <Shaina>
"Huh?" <Akemi>
"You owe me 7,000 Gold" <Shaina>
"HOW?!" <Reno>
"The skill scrolls, it’s something precious you know." <Shaina>
"Wha..." <Emika>
"WHAT!" <Akemi>
The girls realized their mistakes and their faces turned pale. <Shaina>
"You can’t back down now" <Shaina>
Shaina gave them a scary smile. The type that would induce a chill in the back.
"You girls are my slaves now..." <Shaina>
"That can’t be! you tricked us!" <Reno>
"Hahaha, there's nothing anyone can do now! since you have signed our contract already. No one can save you. This should serve as a lesson for you girls to never blindly trust a person! You heroes are truly naïve." <Shaina>
"No! no! no! no!" <Emika>
"This can't be..." <Akemi>
Akemi falls to her knees.
The other two followed as if seeing Akemi fell to her knees and the other two followed.
Then the three girls fell to their knees.
Their eyes began to moisten.
They could not believe that they were deceived and became slaves.
"KEKEKEKEKEKE!" <Shaina>
Shaina maid a creepy high-pitched laugh.
"Alright you had your fun, that’s enough… Stop teasing them Shai?"
A cool-sounding voice of a female interrupted Shaina.
The door opened and a person appeared from there.
"Ahahaha~ come on Kazue, why would you ruin my fun like that! My acting was perfect! At least let me have fun for a bit more." <Shaina>
The three looked at the girl who was leaning in the opening of the door while crossing her arms.
"Reno, don't believe her she's just messing with you." <Kazue>
She said toward the kneeling Reno and the 2 girls
"well sure the skill scrolls are precious but it's not something that I need. Well, since you'll be working under me you need these skills anyway… But I did manage to scare them! HAHAHA! That was funny… really funny.” <Shaina>
"Shai... you scared them... that was a bad joke." <Kazue>
Kazue walked toward Shaina and gave her a light vertical chop over her head.
-bonk-
“Owc...” <Shaina>
Reno, Akemi, and Emika looked at Kazue and Shaina back and forth as they listen to their conversation.
They knew instantly that they knew each other and seemed to be very close.
After a few minutes of talking the 3 calmed down and realized that Shaina was joking.
It seemed that she knew that all of the 28 heroes still lack commonsense about their world.
She had a sudden urge to play a trick on them.
She wanted to teach them a lesson to not be easily tricked in this world.
In this kind of work as being a merchant.
Things like deceiving people were normal and Shaina wanted to teach the girls just that.
It was their first lesson from the girl who had succeeded as a young merchant herself.
The three had treated this lesson to heart and got out of Shaina's store in a bad mood.
Shaina on the other hand was laughing her heart out.
"Come back tomorrow, I'm going to teach you about our business OK!" <Shaina>
With a tired voice, the girls replied to their new superior.
“Ok….” <Girls>
The girls had been coming back to Shaina's shop to learn the things they have to know.
Shaina thought them lots of things.
They learned a lot about their work.
They would come to Shaina's store to learn from Shaina from morning till night.
They would often go back to their inn tired and on the verge of crying.
3 days later
"Ok~ I think you are ready to go!" <Shaina>
"Yeah, this is our first job." <Reno>
"We'll do our best!" <Akemi>
"We will not disappoint you miss Shaina!" <Emika>
"Alright! I've thought you the basics already all thing that is left is how you manage things on your own now. Well, it all comes down to experience from now on. Well, I did give you an easy job for now." <Shaina>
A two-white horse with a coach was waiting for them just outside the store.
At the back of the coach were the goods that they would be selling.
They went toward the eastern gate of the capital and met up with other carriage forming a caravan.
Adventurers were with them working as their escorts.
The coach was being driven by a coachman that was also a worker from the Scale Atelier.
At the gate of the town, a girl was waiting for them.
She wears a black coat, her hair was tied into a ponytail.
She was also an adventurer but her distinct look of having two katanas in her waist was what separated her look from the rest.
It was Mizusawa Kazue.
Shaina had asked Mizusawa Kazue to join them as their escort on their journey to another town.
These past few days Kazue would take jobs at the guild.
Kazue wanted to have a break since she had been chased by 4 adventurers who seemed to be treating her as their boss.
She wanted to avoid them as much as possible.
Kazue went to the guild and took an E-rank escort quest from the guild that was specially requested by Shaina herself.
If Kazue can finish this job, she will automatically raise her Rank to E.
Kazue has been finishing the F-rank quest left and right and was also able to finish 3 E-Rank quests while at it.
She only needed another E-rank quest or 9 more F-rank quests to rank up.
Kazue knew this as the guild card that was given to her when she registered as an adventurer shows her progress.
It was early in the morning.
Lots of carriages were about to leave the Capital city of Artesia.
Kazue rode a carriage.
"Did you wait long Kazue?" <Kazue>
"Hmm?? where are your dogs?" <Emika>
"I will not be taking them with me on this trip. I left them in Shaina's care until I return." <Kazue>
"ehh~ what a shame." <Emika>
"I really wanted to bring them along but we'll be staying in Inns over there, they are not allowing familiars to sleep inside the inn. I can't leave them outside the town since they might become targets for adventurers or scare people in the town." <Kazue>
"I see..." <Emika>
The two girls were also disappointed with the fact that Kazue's pet wolves would not be with them.
Emika started a conversation once again by pointing out that it was their first adventure as Merchants.
"Oh~ It will be our first trip as merchants! I hope we do well!" <Emika>
Kazue scratched her cheeks very lightly.
"This is the first time I would be going away from the capital myself too." <Kazue>
"Really?! I thought that you have tried to leave the capital at least once or twice now." <Akemi>
"Haha~ No... I can't there are a lot of strong monsters out there. Maybe I'll do that when I get to D or C rank. <Kazue>
Kazue voiced her thoughts toward her former classmates.
Kazue has been very careful in her ventures in the forest in the capital.
She would not wander too deep into the forest.
When she encounters strong-looking monsters, she would retreat right away when she had no reason to fight them at all.
Kazue never left the capital in all her explorations.
She has been feeling excited about her first escort job.
Not only did this quest would allow Kazue to advance to E rank but it was also her first experience leaving the Capital City of Artesia.
They went on the journey while having fun girl talks with the 3 girls.
Kazue did not feel out of place with the three girls while traveling with them.
Kazue was the type of girl that would easily get along well with girls but had a hard time getting along with the opposite sex.
It was not because she was shy or anything, she had no fears of men, and she’s not into lesbianism either, it was that she had a hard time opening up to people, especially to men.
Her sharp-looking eyes seem to also intimidate males that are trying to approach her.
She knew that for a fact but she was fine with it.
She was even thankful for this feature of hers.
The girls travel through the rough road.
At times like this, the main character would get involved with bandits or encounter monsters in the way.
Unfortunately, these girls are not the main characters.
In the end, their travel was disappointingly peaceful.
There were some slimes on the ways but that was it.
Reno, Akemi, and Emika found them amusing when they first saw them, for some reason Kazue looks to be disgusted by just looking at slimes.
Two days had passed since they have left the capital city of Artesia.
They arrived at their destination without having any problems.
"It seems that we're here. Missy look there's the city." <Coachman>
The four girls looked in the direction the coachman had pointed.
Looking over a bit of an elevated plain, they could see the entirety of the city from far away.
The city was protected by stone walls.
This wall made an almost square shape around the city.
Beside the west and east side of the city walls was a large field of plantations.
When you look further beyond the city there was an empty field leading towards a mountainous area.
The city was not as big as the capital.
This city was about half of the size of the capital but it was a large city non the less.
No castle can be seen from within the city but you can see from afar that the quality of structures is better in the center of the city.
The feel of the town was very similar to the capital.
This land is being controlled by a Duchy and has been thriving for years.
At one look the city seems to be on par with the capital's quality of living.
It was the closest city to the capital as well.
The building design was mostly the same as that of the capital.
The city of Altus
"Were here." <Kazue>
"Wow, so this is the city of Altus huh..." <Reno>
The girls looked out of the coach and saw the inside of the city.
The houses were built mostly of wood.
Toward the center of the city, stands buildings made of concrete.
It almost had the same city planning as that of the capital.
Arriving at the capital the guard did not thoroughly check the cargo the caravan was carrying.
It seemed that they had been notified in advance and the entrance of the caravan went smooth.
As they got into the center of the city.
There was a wide square and found empty makeshift stalls.
It was the stall that they would be using to sell the things in their caravan.
As explained by Shaina...
This business trip was already been planned by the scale Atelier to advertise its product to this city.
They would be staying here for a week to sell their products to the locals and the adventurers in this area.
There were even Inns reserved for the merchants and adventurers who escorted them from the capital.
The Inns were paid in advance.
The coachman excused himself to guide their horses toward the stables designated for them.
He left the 4 girls on their own after positioning their carriage beside an empty makeshift stall.
People of the city seemed to be looking over them as the people in the caravan set up their stalls.
Some adventurers were tasked as guards in this place.
The soldier of the city was also keeping an eye on the merchants in the plaza and was all over the place.
Since Kazue only had to escort the girls to Altus and back to Artesia, she excused herself and freely explored the place.
Kazue had left the girls to set up their stall in the open plaza.
"All right first stop. To the Adventurer guild! I want to do some quest." <Kazue>
Mizusawa Kazue said to herself while looking around the square.
And so, their eventful stay in the town of Altus begins.
Author Note:
>.< the new cover page is ready!
I'll change the cover once I get to chapter 10
It's Eudom and Ledia!
but because it's ready I could not sketch the new girls and the boys from the last chapter.
I still have a lot of ideas about the world but I still can't add them right now!
mostly because the chapter does not need to insert such a random thing from nowhere...
Oh well since it will be touched in some way or another in the future but hopefully I won't forget about them.
Oh, It seems that the next chapter would involve a lot of my girl Kazue although I won't be doing a Kazue POV for that!
I want to finish all of her classmates' introductions before I focus on Kazue's adventure!
Once I pass chapter 25 most of the story would revolve around miss Kazue once again.
thanks for reading this series that I made for fun!!
I hope you are having fun as well