Chapter 29

AN: The first is from the perspective of the receptionist.

Then it switches to the main character’s point of view.

“W-Whelchome!” ‡

Olive throws down her brush in a hurry and gives a biting greeting to her first customer in about a week.

“Welcome!”

Lize, who was working at the counter, also greeted the customer in an impatient tone with her eyes wide open, though she did not bite like Olive.

The man looked around the building and shifted his gaze to the two girls.

The girl, on the other hand, stared at Lize and Olive with half-lidded eyes.

No, it looked more like she was glaring at them.

The girl was so beautiful that her power was quite strong.

“Wh-What can I do for you today, dear customer?”

Olive, who was standing nearby, changed her demeanor and approached the two.

The man looked at Olive as she approached and said what he wanted.

“Oh, I’m actually looking to register with this guild to sell my wares in town.”

“I see! I’ll register you as a new merchant! This way, please!”

Olive grabbed the man’s arm and pulled him along languidly.

She’s excited to see a customer she hadn’t seen in a long time.

And it was a new registrant that she would be in charge of. Her tension was skyrocketing.

It was probably because of this.

The moment I grabbed the man’s arm, the woman next to him let out a chill of anger, but I didn’t notice it at all.

“So, first of all, please fill out this form, and then I will introduce you to some useful business partners and stores for each product you want to handle.”

“Oh, yeah. Please take care of it.”

“Yes! So, first of all, please fill out this form with your name and date of birth, and then…”

Olive explained the fields that needed to be filled in, and had him fill them in.

In the process, she learned that the man’s name was Alexei and that he was born in a village around the royal capital, far to the east of here.

“―――Is this enough?”

“Yes, let me check… Yes, it’s fine. But Alexei-san lives near the royal capital, doesn’t he? I’d like to visit the Royal Capital just once too!”

“Haha, even though it’s near… it’s not so different from this town after all. It’s in the mountains.”

“I see. Ah, I’m sorry, I got sidetracked. So, the products that we would like to handle from now on are mainly medicinal herbs, food, and materials for demons… If you have something for me today?”

Olive went on with her work, exchanging small talk with Alexei in a friendly manner.

The silver-haired girl in the corner of the store had been staring at Olive with a fierce look on her face for a while now, but all she could see was Alexei, the customer.

In a way, it was a blessing.

“I’m actually in need of some money right now. I’ve brought some things that I think I can sell…”

“―――!! I’ll appraise it for you right away and get you some cash!”

Lize leaned over from next to the counter and raised her hand.

It had been a long time since she had seen him, and he was not only registered as a merchant, but he also had something to sell.

There was no way she wouldn’t take the bait here.

“Hee, so this place buys goods too? I guess a commercial guild is very convenient.”

“Yes. But there’s a small commission for selling goods here.”

The goods purchased here were sold by the guild to the market and then to the general public.

As an intermediary fee, the guild would collect 20 percent of the purchase price.

It was a mechanism for merchants who had not yet secured customers, and also a source of income for the commercial guild.

“Commission…”

Alexei’s face grew sullen at the word “commission”.

When Lize saw this, she shouted in her mind, “This is not good!” and quickly cut him off.

“Usually we get a 20 percent commission, but this time I’m getting a first-time discount of 10 percent. No, we’ll take… 5 percent! What do you think?”

I was on the edge of my seat.

The guild’s stock of goods was running low because merchants were not visiting the guild these days.

The guild would not be able to operate without making money by selling goods.

Commissions are certainly a source of income, but the guild wanted to secure goods even if it had to let this new merchant suck the sweet juice out of it.

“Five percent… Well, that’s fine, since most of the profits are ours. Well, I guess I’ll ask you to buy it.”

“Yes! Thank you very much! Well, then, please come this way! Oh, Olive should have your merchant bill ready in the meantime. I’ll be assessing your goods.”

“Ah! Senpai, that’s not fair!”

“I don’t need her to do it for me anymore. Come on, come on.”

“Oh, yeah.”

This time, Lize grabbed Alexei by the arm and pulled him to another counter.

Immediately, a tremendous cold air was released from the edge of the guild, but of course, Lize was too focused on Alexei in front of her to notice.

“Then, let’s see what you’ve got. Since it’s your first time, I’ll add some color to it.”

“Oh, I’m glad to hear that. I don’t have that many, though. Here you go.”

With that, Alexei placed a bag made of leaves and vines on the counter and began to take things out of it.

“Wow, leaf bags are rare. But it looks pretty durable, doesn’t it? If you want, I can buy this one for you.”

“Oh, really? I guess I’ll sell it too.”

“All right. Okay, I’ll take a look at the item.”

Furs laid out on the counter and leaves of plants that at first glance appeared to be medicinal herbs.

Lize immediately tried to use her appraiser’s ability to start assessing them.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I have this and a few other things I want to sell.”

“R-Really? C-Can you take those out as well?”

I was tempted to say, “Why don’t you take those first?”

After all, he was an important customer who hadn’t visited in a long time.

I couldn’t afford to put him in a bad mood.

“Ah, actually, here’s something.”

The man took out a bright white fruit from his pocket and put it on the counter.

At that moment, Lize’s eyes widened and a look of astonishment appeared on her face.

“Eh? Alexei-san, this… ehh… is…”

“Can’t say this too loudly, but this is a real, genuine,【 Holy Apple 】.”

“―――?!”

Immediately, an electric current flowed through Lize’s body.

◆◇◆◇◆

“【 Ho, Holy Apple 】, you say?!”

“Yes. That’s right.”

I replied matter-of-factly, to the stunned twin-tailed girl at the reception desk.

The girl’s eyes widened in surprise.

She gently held the white fruit in her hand and stared at it in silence.

“I don’t think he’s lying, but I’ll look into it.”

“Okay.”

Perhaps she’s an Appraiser or something.

The fact that she’s here assessing items is proof of that.

“…………Lies. Is this real…? The real Holy Apple?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

A shiver escaped her lips, and she then turned her attention to the Kil Rabbit pelts and medicinal herbs spread out on the counter.

“This one is Kil Rabbit fur… and this one is medicinal herbs… huh? This can’t be the【 Elven Spirit Grass 】?! This one is…【 Etherleaf 】?! This one, this one, and this one… are all top-quality medicinal herbs on the market!”

She reacted normally to the kill rabbit fur, but as soon as she turned her eyes to the medicinal herbs, her expression turned astonished again.

Oh, shoot. I had judged that Holy Apples were visibly rare, but I didn’t think that even medicinal herbs were that much of a substitute.

I should have appraised it myself before I brought it.

I thought they were just ordinary medicinal herbs and brought them.

However, there was nothing I could do to stop it now, so I had to let it happen.

“Wa-Wait a minute! I’ll take care of all this!”

“Hey, hey! You?”

The twin-tailed girl took all of my furs, herbs, and Holy Apples behind the counter.

…She didn’t steal any of it, did she?

No, no, no, no, no.

This is a commercial guild, after all.

If he lost their trust, he wouldn’t be able to do business.

I’m sure they moved back to concentrate on the assessment. Yeah…

It’s all right, isn’t it?

I looked at the girl with the braids who registered me as a merchant, but she gave me a troubled look, said, “Please wait for a moment,” and went back to her work.

―――Then, after an hour of waiting. The twinkly-haired girl came back.

…Too long?!

You said it would take a while!

Isn’t an hour too long?

But I guess it’s better that she’s back.

While I waited, I was given a “bill”, a sign of a merchant registered at the commercial guild, and I waited for a while, growing anxious about the girl who still didn’t come back.

And when she came back, the twinned girl, with a flushed face and breathing hard, “Hahaha,” and put a bag on the counter.

“Ah, that was heavy… Ah, I’m sorry. Yes, this will be, your payment for this time, Alexei-san!”

“Ah, thanks… Can I check inside?”

“Yes, p-please…”

She was still breathing hard.

After stealing a glance at her, I opened the mouth of the burlap bag and checked inside.

Then, a dazzling golden glow entered my field of vision.

“Th-That’s a total of… 1.4 million gold!”

“Ha?! 1.4 million!!”

I shouted in astonishment at the high price of the goods I had sold.