CH 349.1

「Well then, I’m going outside. Please look after the house.」

With a bag full of potions strapped to my shoulder, I turn around at the entrance and tell my familiars.

Imosuke and Dangorou answered by lifting the front half of their bodies and shaking them from side to side on the bath towel on the living room floor. Zaratan, on the other hand, was sleeping with his chin resting on the bath towel.

(He must be tired.)

I think with a wry smile on my face. Until a few minutes ago, this turtle had been continuously going back and forth between shipwrecks, ruins, and underground tombs.

All in order to hide the harvested pomelos. The means of transportation is transfer magic, but it seems to deploy such magic so many times in a row was a burden even for the Great Spirit Beast.

(It seems he’s having a good dream too.)

It was hard to tell because of his reptilian face, but he looked very happy in his sleep.

I opened and closed the door quietly and headed for the merchant guild.

「I’ve been waiting for you. Thank you for the potions as always.」

I am now at the reception counter of the merchant guild. The man in front of me with a big smile on his face is the chief of staff, who is now solely in charge of me.

I’m used to him, so I don’t mind it, but anyone else who sees him on the street would probably avert their eyes.

「Well, I will take a look at it.」

As he continues, he puts on one pair of glasses, holds up one bottle of potion at a time to the lamp in his hand, and inspects it.

The way he didn’t cut corners, even when dealing with a familiar client gives a sense of security to those who see him doing his job.

『Even though I trusted you!』

Receiving the items without even looking at them, and when there’s a problem, they shout and make a fuss about it. With the tough-looking chief, such a thing would never happen.

Even if it did, he would handle it as his own responsibility.

「I heard it, you know, Tauro-kun. Looks like you’ve spent your money very daringly recently.」

As I was watching the professional work with admiration, a very familiar voice reached my ears.

Searching for the owner of the voice, I find a petite old man who looks like a goblin standing behind the chief behind the counter. The chief lifts his back a little from his chair and bows to the guild master.

「There’s no point in just saving money after all. Above all, I didn’t want to lose it… that place.」

Goblin Jii-chan smiles gently at my reply and squints his eyes. The topic of conversation is the case of saving a brothel that almost went bankrupt by investing with personal funds.

『Uniform Specialty Store.』

In fact, the store had actually been closed due to a loss of reputation after a joint event held by a low-class brothel that used a 『Thumb-sized stick that vibrates when hit by an arrow of light emitted from a toy wand』.

『A beautiful girl commander with huge, cannonball-shaped tits who led a group of brothel workers to shoot down a group of male customers.』

The one who was active and made the store famous was braid-haired Busty-chan. However, she had already retired and only participated in the event.

『It’s different from what you told us!』

The super-sized twin cannonballs, swinging up and down and from side to side, caught the men’s attention. It was only natural that the customers would be in an uproar when ttheyfind that the girl they were aiming for wasn’t on the platform.

『Just stay quiet until things cool down.』

The concierge gramps tried to calm down as time passed, but the investors, pessimistic about the future, departed in the meantime.

As a result, by the time it subsided, they had lost the strength to stand up.

(And there’s where I come in.)

I’m getting tired of looking at the door to 『Uniform Specialty Store』 which never opened since that day, so I went around the lobby of some brothels and gathered information from the gentlemen there.

They couldn’t get anyone to lend them money to pay the rent. And just as they were about to go out of business, a thirty-something White Knight, rushed in and offered them a helping hand.

(It’s more of a donation than an investment, though.)

I never demanded interest on the money I gave out, nor did I ask for a dividend. All I said was, 『Please don’t stop and keep the store going』.

This single statement shows that it isn’t something I did out of business, but a hobby.

『……Did I perhaps miss any clauses somewhere?』

The old, skinny concierge, who had been told a too-good-to-be-true story, had to reread the paper-thin contract line-by-line more than a dozen times.

(But there really is nothing more I wanted from them.)

I can live a good life just by making potions that literally don’t cost anything. There is no need to save up gold coins for just-in-case scenarios.

Besides, I am the kind of person who feels more pleasure in diving headfirst into the Uniform Specialty Store than watching the numbers in my bank account keep increasing.

「By the way, the store reopens today. Would you like to join me, guild master?」

When I tried to invite him, Goblin Jii-chan folds his arms and closes his eyes. After a short pause, he opens his eyes and mouth and speaks while stroking his chin.

「You know those school uniforms that have been popular in schools lately? I think those are great.」

He must be talking about sailor uniforms and blazers. Both of these were introduced to the brothels by me as an alternative to the one-piece dress worn by the girls on the platform.

Brothels became the originators of fashion, and they were also adopted by schools. This is a world where working in brothels is a dream come true for women after all.

(I’m glad that he like it, but the uniform in that store is a real thing worn by a real student.)

I raise my eyebrows and think.

If a girl goes out to the store wearing a school uniform, she must be a current female student at her school. If there was a woman in a merchant guild uniform, she was definitely a guild employee.

(A schoolgirl with plenty of life experience, huh?)

Goblin Jii-chan is not a fan of youngsters, and he prefers long-aged, more mature flavors.

She needs to be at least fifty years old to be on his radar.

(Setting aside the teachers, is there a student with such criteria?)

A student in school uniform would be in her early to mid-teens.

Then, I imagined an elderly woman with a well-developed face in a sailor uniform. If mid-teens are fresh fruits, they would be overripe fruit that has passed their full maturity.

The sweet alcoholic smell of fermentation may attract some people.

(I understand. I will try to find them.)

The guild master, who only replied back with “I’m counting on you”, disappeared into the back of the first floor, looking in a good mood.

Perhaps waiting for the conversation to end, the tough-looking chief raised his monocle at just the right moment.

「I’m sorry for the wait. The quality of your workmanship has been excellent and unwavering as always.」

I pull out my guild card as prompted and receive my payment.

If the counter was empty, I could have chit-chatted with him for a little more, but today the counter was busy with both people selling and buying. I stood up and hand the seat over to the next customer, said goodbye to the chief, and left the building.

(It’s too bright.)

Stepping out onto the central square that faces the street, the sunlight that pours down hurts my eyes.

The smell of burning garlic in the air was probably due to people having an early lunch at the food stalls nearby. In fact, the simple tables set up here and there were filled to capacity.

(Let’s have a meal first and then stroll around the red-light district.)

As usual, I’m not going to go straight to brothels as soon as they open at noon. I would like to conserve my ammunition for the decisive battle that will take place later this evening.

(Ahh I really can’t wait.)

A stern-looking girl with her hair in a ponytail, wearing the pilot’s uniform of the Kingdom knight order. The front of my trousers begins to point up at the thought of the way she sits on the bed while glaring at me.

(Ah, whoops, this is bad.)

I moved the empty shoulder bag of potions to the front of my body and began to walk across the central square while slightly leaning my body forward.