NOVEL NEXT C56
C56: Hippopotamus Trading Company
The second client of the G-class clan “War Maidens”, Hippopotamus Trading Company, is based in Jido town and sells leather goods. Apparently, their main products are armor, clothes, and bags made from monster leather.
In fact, there are a number of armor shops in town that are funded by the Hippopotamus Trading Company. The armor shop where we bought Lucia’s equipment is one of them.
The request this time was to transport goods for them to open a new store in the Ozoso city. The store itself is already set up in Ozoso, and they will be operating by transporting goods from Jido town for the first time.
I don’t want to get into details. What we’re here to do is to protect the goods.
Recently, there have been many bandits in the Kingdom of Fauve, and carriages loaded with goods are often targeted. That’s why merchants always hire adventurers to protect them when they travel.
Kutone explained to me in the carriage on the way to the Hippopotamus Trading Company.
“They are a young business association that has only been in existence for a few years. The main area of activity is the Fauve Kingdom, but we also do business with towns in the Magicalize Kingdom.”
“Oh, leather goods——”
“Yeah. Hippopotamus leather goods are reputed to be of high quality. It’s a young business, so it can’t compete with the big guys, but I think it’s a business that will grow in the future.”
“I see——You two know too much.”
“Sensei, we will be arriving shortly.”
The carriage will soon arrive at the Hippopotamus Trading Company.
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The Hippopotamus Trading Company was a simple, two-story building.
It was a large building, and the first floor was used for leather goods.
We parked the carriage and went inside. We stopped the carriage and entered the shop, where we were greeted by an elderly woman who seemed to be an employee.
“Welcome. What can I do for you?”
“We are the Clan War Maidens, commissioned by the Adventurer’s Guild. We’re in charge of escorting you to Ozoso city.”
“Yes, yes. Please wait a moment. I’ll go get the chairman.”
I handed the request form to the older woman and she went straight to the back. Shortly thereafter, she brought in a man, who was——surprised.
“Oh, you’re here, adventurer!”
“Hi, we’re the War Maidens and we’ll be your escort to the Ozoso city.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Tamapon, the representative of the Hippopotamus Trading Company.”
I was indeed surprised.
Mr. Tamapon, the representative of the Hippopotamus Trading Company, was a hippopotamus, no matter how you looked at him, in other words, a hippopotamus beastman.
It would be more accurate to call him a bipedal hippopotamus. He looks exactly like a hippopotamus, about two meters long, with five fingers like a human, and I think he weighs about a ton.
The clothes he wears are leather and unadorned, and his speech is slurred, making it difficult to follow his pace. However, I find him strangely friendly.
“Please come in so I can confirm the details of your request.”
Mr. Tamapon showed me to the reception room. There, we confirmed and discussed the details of the request, and received the fee in advance.
It seemed that he was in a hurry, so he decided to leave right away.
Their carriage was already prepared and he was waiting for the escort. In the worst case, they were thinking of leaving without adventurers.
So, this is where we said goodbye to Jido town.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
After confirming the request, I quickly went outside and was——surprised.
In front of the store, there was a huge carriage——no, a hippo carriage. It was three times the size of our carriage, and it was pulled by a hippopotamus. It was a hippo cart, not a horse cart.
“Okay, let’s go.”
“Yes, sir. Sage, we’ll take turns as planned.”
“Okay.”
We moved in two vehicles, our carriage and Mr. Tamapon’s hippo carriage.
We took turns keeping watch with two people on the hippopotamus and two people in the carriage. Mr. Tamapon was also in the hippo carriage with me.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
While Lucia is in charge, Mr. Tamapon and I will be alone.
Since he’s the client, we should have a little talk. As a representative of the business association, it’s good to establish a connection.
I said to Mr. Tamapon, who seemed to be in a daze.
“Tamapon-san’s company deals in leather goods, right?”
“Yes, we do. Our leather products are the best in the world. Please come to our shop to buy them.”
“Of course. Our member’s equipment was also bought from your shops.”
“Thank you for your purchase!”
I don’t know why it’s so hard to talk with him…….There are a lot of pauses.
I don’t dislike the calm atmosphere but I wonder if it’s safe to have such a laid-back person as a representative.
“By the way, Mr. Adventurer, you’re a human. Why did you accept my request?”
“Well, because the reward was good, of course.”
“Huh~……I’m a beastman~?”
“Is there a problem?”
“It’s not often that an adventurer accepts a request from a beastman. Besides~, although Ozoso is not as big as the Fauve Kingdom, it is a city where beastmen who hate humans gather.”
“Oh, that’s no problem. We’re going to the Fauve Kingdom. Rather, we can proceed while earning money, for which I am grateful to Tamapon-san.”
“Huh~ ……Hmmm, adventurers are good people~”
“No, no, they’re just naive. From my point of view, beastmen and humans are no different. Tamapon is also a very nice person.”
“I’ve never heard anyone say that before.”
Yeah, he’s a good guy.
When he smiled, his mouth opened and it was so big that he could swallow me whole. It was a little scary, but I hadn’t talked to a beastman like this since the cat-eared maids of the Ostrode Kingdom.
Mr. Tamapon and I enjoyed chatting and laughing.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
The day ended without encountering any bandits or monsters. We were in the wild, but Tamapon was also there. So I decided to hunt for a monster that I could eat using Holacty. Of course, the one to hunt was Brunnhilde.
I left the hunting to Brunnhilde, and the rest of us prepared for the encampment. I thought I’d ask Tamapon-san to relax since he was the client, but he actively helped me prepare the tent.
“Thank you, Tamapon-san.”
“No, no~ I have to do this much~”
I set up the tent with Mr. Tamapon, while Lucia and Kutone prepared dinner. If Holacty’s information was correct, we should be able to expect a good dinner today.
Brunnhilde came back.
“I’m back, Sensei.”
“Welcome back, Brünnhilde. You made it!”
“Wow, a big bull!”
Brünnhilde came back with a bison that was five meters long. His neck was slit open and the blood drainage seemed to be complete.
“Oh, wow!”
“Tamapon-san, we’re roasting the whole cow today. Kutone, take care of the fire!”
“I’m on it!”
“Brünnhilde, you’re good at hunting big bulls.”
“No problem.”
Mr. Tamapon was the client, but he was comfortable with everyone.
I and Lucia took care of the internal organs, Kutone roasted the whole thing with fire magic, and Tamapon-san brought out a barrel of sake, and the day became a banquet.
“Mr. Tamapon, does your business have any other employees? I can’t believe that Mr. Tamapon, who is the representative of the company, is the one who has to deliver the goods to Ozoso.”
“Oh~, I have my employees ready at the store in Ozoso~. The store in Jido town has the least number of employees, and since it’s a new store, it’s more convenient for me to go there myself.”
“I’d like to see the new store.”
“Hmm, I’m interested too. Sage, if we have time, could we stop by and have a look?”
“Yeah, I want to see it too. I’d like to see it too.”
“Adventurers are always welcome!”
Tamapon-san opened his big mouth and laughed hysterically.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
The journey with Mr. Tamapon was fun.
Kutone and Lucia could talk easily with him, and although Brunnhilde hardly spoke, Mr. Tamapon was not particularly offended and relaxed.
In the evening, we drank happily and feasted on the prey that Brunnhilde had killed.
Five days after we left Jido town, Ozoso city finally came into view. We stopped the carriage and gathered at the hippo cart.
“Oh~ that’s Ozoso~. We’ve arrived!”
“Finally arrived……. You didn’t do anything resembling escorting Kutone.”
“It’s a good thing, Lucia. And I had a lot of fun.”
“Fun”? I don’t really understand……….Sensei?”
“What’s wrong, Sage?”
“Sage-san?”
“Hmm? What’s the matter, adventurer?”
I couldn’t move as I looked at the Ozoso city. The large stone buildings stood out in a strange way. If my guess was right…Could it be ruins?
I had a premonition of a new encounter in Ozoso city, which I had thought was just a passing point.