CH 72.1

Summer has arrived in Torquiva as the shadows of the grass and trees in the garden have darkened a lot.

On this day, the Schenker Street in front of the Magical Schenker Group headquarters was extremely crowded.

As for why, the Torquiva-Tarababara trading party, which had gone far north, has returned home.

It was a successful adventure as they returned with treasures.

Amidst the booming music and cheers from the assembled crowd, a group of battered and thin adventurers walked toward the center with their five carriages.

They are in a completely different state from the musicians who returned from the royal capital by train just the other day in crisp formal wear.

Some were wounded, some were coughing up blood, and some had been bundled onto the carriage but they all had a gleam of life in their eyes.

「The Torquiva-Tarababara trading party has completed its mission and all members have returned safe and sound!」

Jiren, the representative with long black hair tied up in a messy braid, knelt down in front of me and held up a catalog.

I nodded and accepted it as I shot healing magic to the whole trading party.

「You’ve done well. Everyone, rest up today and get ready for the big feast……tomorrow!」

There were cheers from all over the place and gorgeous music was playing to enliven them but the members of the trading party did not show their teeth until the goods in the carriages were fully loaded into the warehouse.

I look forward to Jiren’s report on what in the world these girls have been through.

-0-

Three days later, I was at the Magical Schenker Group headquarters when I received Jiren’s report.

I heard that a tremendous amount of food and liquor went to waste at the big feast yesterday but our warehouses were literally overflowing with food and liquor so I’m not going to be stingy with it.

Jiren, who had cut her hair and looked refreshed, told us about their great adventure on their way and back to the north while looking at a journal she must have written along the way. However, it seemed that she managed to get very little information about the Japanese which was the most important task.

It was disappointing but it was a world where the literacy rate is low and the commoners pass on their culture and history by word of mouth.

「So, sister in law Rina Rina’s hometown, Kandinnava, didn’t even pass down their tradition orally?」

「Yes. It seems like the lineage tradition of their family was cut off around a hundred years ago. Only culture and origin have been passed down to the present day.」

I sip my cup of persimmon leaf tea and look down at Jiren’s report.

The information aside, the results brought back by the trading party this time were enormous.

They had brought back several barrels of soy sauce, miso, camelia and persimmon saplings, soybeans, and long-thin brown rice in their hulls that have been valued as medicine.

To be honest, I was shaken to the core by this.

I shouldn’t be able to remember the taste of rice anymore but just smelling the aroma of brown rice made my heart ache uncontrollably.

I’m sure Ryuzouji-shi must have been madly happy when he found rice in this world.

「There was also an amulet statue that should be placed on the roof but I gave up getting one because I was told it would take too long to make. There were also some sword-like crafts but they were so fragile and crudely made that we only bought one set of them……」

「Well, thanks for your report. What you brought back were enough accomplishments. Mince, get that.」

「Yes」

Jiren, who’s wearing new clothes and got a haircut, looked much fresher compared to when they just arrived. I gave her around 10 gold coins in the purse handed to her by Mince, who was standing next to me.

「Thank you very much, I will share them with everyone.」

「No, that’s your reward alone, Jiren. From now on, you’ll be in a position where you need to look like a good example for everyone.」

I had Mince add an additional fifty gold coins on the desk and push them to her, asking her to divide them evenly to the trading party.

The trading team is already paid with regular salary and if this bonus was added, it will be a moderate amount.

「Thank you very much.」

「Good work needs to be compensated. If you ever doubt about how to compensate the people under you, talk to Chicken.」