CH 99

The girls decided to immediately depart from the western fishing village that day in a forced march. When they finally made it home, the sun had already set long ago, so Ellis and Maria agreed to meet with Flint tomorrow at the Workshop Guild in the morning.

Then the next day.

Ellis left the mansion with Claire in tow to meet with Maria at Flint’s workshop. Ra-chin and Pi-tan came with them. Ra-chin wanted to head out into town too, so “Take me along too Ellis,” he pleaded to be picked up and carried along. Pi-tan wasn’t going to take that lying down, and with his sense of rivalry burning hot, he cried out as well until Claire picked him up and carried him with them as well.

“Ellis, are you trying to kill us?”

Flint took one look at the blueprints Claire had thrown together for the Merchant Guild and began to groan.

“Silly Uncle, that’s why you need proper construction management.”

Despite his muscular and youthful appearance, Flint was still over sixty years old, yet here he was being lectured about proper work procedure by an eight year old. And unfortunately she was right, so he couldn’t even say anything in response.

Warren was currently going through a huge construction boom. Between the ever-growing Cross Town, the maintenance and add-ons for Lily Garden, the new suburban apartments, the refurbished hotels at the city’s center, and the renovations to Ellis’s mansion, the Workshop Guild was officially short on staff.

“Right now all the people in the fishing village need is a place to trade fish right? As long as they have that, then everything can be a tertiary worry.”

Any way Ellis tried to look at it, there was no way for any sightseeing or vacationing to begin immediately. The village was still poverty-stricken and what was most important was making sure the people living there would be able to start living more well-off. If somebody were to travel their for relaxation and find a village with dead fish and fish heads littering the street, they would question if they were in the right place.

The feeling of soaking in a hot spring or sunbathing on the beach was a pleasant, luxurious act most people wouldn’t be able to understand unless they could afford it. To be able to recognize the raw shellfish that Goro had displayed as a delicacy rather than something you ordinarily eat. To be able to say that a hot spring or taking your time to sunbathe is a treat. Until the residents of the fishing village are able to understand this, they will never be able to efficiently separate their rich visitors from their ril.

So Ellis argued that the more extensive redevelopment of the village could be put on hold for the moment.

“I see. Hm? However, would that be possible? Those villagers might end up waiting awhile, so how about getting some outside help?”

Flint put forward the proposal of hiring out the Marsfield Workshop Guild as a subcontractor.

First of all, Flint would finish up the apartments in Crosstown as soon as possible. Using those as a lodging space, the Marsfield workers could stay in town. Then while they were handling the additional construction work for Cross Town and Lily Garden, Flint would have time to finish up the city’s hotels and work on the western fishing village.

“It’s all business. Even if we take into account the cost of hiring them, we’ll still turn an impressive profit. Well little lady?”

Ellis figured if he was willing to absorb the cost, then there was little reason for her to object. There was the development of the fishing village like they had originally planned, but there was also the need for a market, work on the hot springs, new restaurants, incidental facilities….. As it grows, there will be an increasing need for carriage rides from the Adventurer Guild. Grow the fish market at first, then the village can become a tourist attraction, and finally it will develop into its own full resort.

“Let’s build it up Uncle Flint.”

Ellis then began to negotiate the development process for the western fishing village with Claire and Maria while drawing up a schedule for Flint to work off of. All the while Ellis was petting Ra-chin as Claire unconsciously scratched Pi-tan’s stomach.

Then the afternoon

Ellis could not help but be preoccupied with thoughts about the Storm Dragon in the south.

Reeve had accumulated a lot of promises with Maria, and it would soon come time to collect.

Frau was preoccupied with experimenting the different ways to cook the salt water fish she had brought back with her from the fishing village.

Claire has been focused on developing the new Mogemoge-kun No. 2.

And as for Katie,

“Ellis! Today is that comic singer’s performance nya!”

“No! I forgot!”

And so any plans Ellis tried to make concerning the Storm Dragon were being hampered by the fun of the girls’ daily lives.

Ellis and Katie left for the live house at a breakneck speed.

And so the three people left behind had to think about how they were going to spend their time.

“I’m sorry. I promised Maria I would teach her some tips about Warren Numbers,” and Reeve left just like that.

So there were two left.

“I’ll have to draw up some more designs for the western fishing village,” Claire said while Pi-tan crawled up onto her lap.

“Then I guess I’ll spend today traveling around the city.”

Thus it was decided that Frau would spend the day with Ra-chin while taking a walk.

“Mr. Guardian Dragon, do you mind me carrying you?”

“Just Ra-chin is fine Frau. Also, I have no problems with you hugging me.”

As a matter of fact, Ra-chin quite enjoyed being carried around, and after all of his competitions with Pi-tan, he had become completely engrossed in the pet lifestyle.

Their first stop was the Jewelry Box Cake Shop run by Hanna and Ken.

“Hello,” Frau let out a greeting as she opened the shop door, and the sweet smell of cakes and pastries rushed her nose all at once.

“Oh, come on in Frau. Hm, that’s, that’s not Pi-tan, is it?”

Hanna walked up to the front of the store to greet them, but when she saw Ra-chin in Frau’s arms, she became markedly confused.

“I am of the Land Dragon race although you may know me better as Warren’s guardian dragon. You may carry on as usual,” Ra-chin tried to stoke Hanna’s curiosity by speaking directly into her mind.

However Hanna was more inclined to listen to the first part of what Ra-chin was saying than the second. Jumping into the back, she reemerged into the front of the store dragging Ken, and her sister Nina and Rhonda along with her. The four of them stood in a line before Ra-chin, their voices unified in a single message.

“Reverent Guardian Dragon, thank you for your kindness in protecting our city!”

Despite what he was saying before, this type of reception was starting to put Ra-chin in a good mood. Overlooking the whole of the inside of the store, he spotted a stool in one corner. Ra-chin instructed Frau to put him down where they stood and walked over to the stool himself with his chest puffed out. He skillfully climbed up the stool himself, and when he reached the top, he stood up tall like a statue of worship.

“Ah,” the pleasant shadiness of the stop made him leak a pleasant sigh.

“From now on this will be my seat, and we shall call it, ‘The Guardian Dragon’s Spot’.”

In this way, Ra-chin secured his seat in the Jewelry Box Cake Shop for the future.

Next up was Shin and Nonna’s Warren Specialty Steamed Bread Store.

When Frau opened the door, another sweet yet salty smell carried over.

“Ah, hello Frau.” Nonna greeted her as soon Frau walked in, running up to her with something in her hands. “Frau, Shin developed this himself a little while ago. Please tell me what you think of it.”

What Nonna had was one of Shin’s newest prototypes from the kitchen. It was a mass of meat wrapped and cooked inside a thin layer of cow skin. It certainly wasn’t the most orthodox dish.

Frau hesitated a moment, but she clenched her fists and took a bite, thoroughly chewing to analyze the taste. Yes, the stench of the animals was still sticking to the meat, but if you were to season it properly it could turn out quite delicious. She told Shin and Nonna about her thoughts, but a voice spoke into her mind stopping her.

“Hey Frau, you have to introduce me.”

Frau had completely forgotten about Ra-chin, and in a panic, she spun around and introduced Warren’s guardian dragon to the two business owners. They both immediately dropped to their knees on the spot and began almost worshipping Ra-chin.

“Well, you don’t have to be so stiff,” Ra-chin told them using words he obviously didn’t mean.

Walking around the inside of the shop, Ra-chin eventually dove into one of the baskets where customers would usually leave their luggage before taking their seat to eat.

“From now on, you shall call this basket, ‘The Guardian Dragon’s Basket’. Also, be sure to leave a soft cloth on the inside.”

The third shop they traveled to was Aiful and Credia’s.

“Welcome Frau. We will have your tea and sweets prepared right away. Oh my, and you’ve brought our guardian dragon with you as well.”

As expected of the former high noble Aiful. She was able to discover that Ra-chin was the guardian dragon right away and showed him a level of respect without downright worship. It was quite frustrating for a certain someone.

“Mu,”

All that egotism that had been built up over a short period of time was shot through, and he wasn’t sure what to do next. But then the smell of the tea came to his nose, and all of his other thoughts were blown away. His eyes locked onto the tea set Credia was bringing out to Frau. This was comfortable.

“Frau, put me down on the table for a moment.”

Frau did as she was told and put him down on the table, and Ra-chin ordered Credia to bring him a cup of the tea she was carrying as well. Credia was shocked to have someone talking directly into her head, but Frau came forward and helped her get through the experience.

“Does Ra-chin drink tea?”

Monsters basically don’t need meals. The only reason Pi-tan eat metal was from some kind of internal instinct, and Ra-chin only ever ate humans as a form of attack. So Ra-chin is certainly capable of eating, but does that mean he finds the taste of tea agreeable? Apparently not.

“This fragrance is wonderful.”

When Credia placed the cup on the table, Ra-chin shoved his whole face into the rising steam and then sat there motionless with his eyes half closed. Frau was able to pick up on the situation pretty quickly  and enjoyed her own tea and confections while watching Ra-chin imitate a statue.

And when the tea cooled down and the steam dissipated, Ra-chin finally showed some signs of life.

“Frau, this tea, it’d be a waste to just throw it out. Put it in my bath tonight. I want to bathe in it.”

“Certainly Honorable Guardian Dragon,” Frau responded with a smile, but on the inside, Ra-chin couldn’t look any less like a guardian dragon.

Thus, Frau and Ra-chin’s walk around town came to an end for the day.