Volume 8 - CH 3

I want to buy the Flame Sword for less than 1.5 million gold.

That day, I went back to the inn and told the members of the First Army about it in my room after dinner.

It is a secret to the Black Cat Clan under the second army. They don't have that much trust in me. I don't want them to get upset about a high-priced deal.

If it's normal equipment, each of us can buy it with the proceeds from the split, but the Flame Sword is too expensive for one person to buy.

It was necessary for the party to come up with a budget.

"Well, 1.5 million gold wouldn't be too bad."

Serina, who seemed to be a strong opponent, surprisingly seemed to agree.

"I'll pretend that I didn't hear about this, because it's quite expensive."

Luka gets off easily, but well, she's so broke that she's having trouble even getting equipment now.

The bikini armor she's so proud of hasn't kept up with repairs, and the scratches are starting to show.

But even if one of them drops out, we can still reach them.

Meena, Ione, Nene, and Saki would almost unconditionally agree with me.　

"I'm with you!　It's going to take a lot of work to beat that snowman!"

"Uhm, I'm sorry, but I can't afford to pay for it. ......"

Fianna made a painful offer, but she didn't count on it from the start.

She's a kind-hearted priest who came to Grandsword after falling into slavery in order to bring her childhood friend Dill something back to life. If I try to take money from her, I'll be punished indeed.

"Don't worry, Fianna. I know you don't have any money, and I won't make you pay for it."

"Is that so, thank you."

Fianna looked relieved, but I want to make her rich as soon as possible.

"I agree with you, but I don't want to pay for it."

"Die, Lily!"

"Eh?"

"Sorry, I agree with you, brother, but I don't have the money to pay for it."

"No, Jouga, don't worry about it. You don't need to worry about that right now. First, you need to get your adventure back on track."

"Ah!　I'll do my best!"

"I'm against it."

Well, I knew Letty would say that. She's the party's magician, and she's determined to do something with her magic.

"That's fine, but have you found a way to do something about it?"

"Ugghhh. Not yet, but I'm sure there's a way!"

"No, calm down. I didn't mean it as an insult.　If there's another way to do with magic, that's where I'll spend my money. Don't get me wrong, as a member of this party, you have every right to disagree with me."

"Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm."

"I'm all for it. I'll give you about 300,000. If it's not enough, I'll have my father send it to you."

"No, no, no, no, Ione, we can't rely on sensei."

I don't want to do anything weird since I'm the one who messed with his daughter even though Welbard-sensei entrusted me to take care of her. I don't think he has that much money.

"I think he can easily get 100,000 or so."

Ione continues to say.

"Nothing."

"You're right. I think none is fine. I'll give you 500,000, If Ione's give 300,000, combined become 800,000, plus 100,000 each from the others in favor, and 500,000 from Alec and that will be enough."

She gave me 500,000 gold, but now she wants me to pay the same amount.

"Serina, I don't have that much money on me right now. I can put out 100,000 right now. I'm going to add more, but first, let's calculate how much cash we'll have."

Lily, who was reluctant to pay, ended up going the other way, while Meena offered 300,000, bringing the total to 1.4 million gold.

Now we just need to get them to wait a little longer for the payment deadline, and then we can make it work.

"All of you, it's good that you're willing to pay for it, but please don't stop from paying your own bills or anything like that. There's nothing to force you to buy anything, and you can take your time in making money."

"But I'd like to put an end to the cold layer as soon as possible. I heard that the only cold ones are the fourth and fifth." Lily said, but that's irrelevant if you're not paying.

"That's right. The sixth layer is normal. The seventh is hot this time, though..."

Luka said. It's cold, it's hot, well, we'll need equipment for each layer, so we'll have to make sure we have enough money.

"Okay, I'll try to contact Doria. Don't talk about this to the second army. They'll get into trouble if we talk about selling or buying expensive items."

"""Okay!"""

The next day, Meena and I went to the library at the same time again and told Doria that we had found the money.

"Oh, you're fast. I thought it would be a bit longer, but it's a rich man's party. Okay, I'll talk to Bard about it later today. I checked with him yesterday, and he still has the Flame Sword. He said he'd be happy to meet with you if you want to discuss a deal."

The other party seemed to be interested in the idea, and since the former members of the party were willing to talk about it, I thought there was a good chance that it would work.

"Then, please."

"Yes, I understand. And ......, no, let's not do that."

"What is it?　If something's bothering you, just say it."

"It's about your money management. There's a lot of money at stake here, and you need to be careful."

"I know. You don't have to worry about it. I'm taking care of everything. I've already collected the cash."

It's all in gold and it's all in my item storage. It's a separate, interdimensional pocket, so there's no risk of it being stolen or snatched.

"Okay. I guess the money's safe then. Just don't brag too much when you get it."

"I know. I saw an adventurer get killed over it once."

"Yeah. The more expensive the rare item, the more troublesome it is. ...... Who's there!??

Doria tensed up, as if he sensed the presence of others.

Meena also twitched her nose.

"Um, excuse me, it's me. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard it..."

Sophie, the blue-haired librarian, poked her head out from behind a bookshelf. I'm sure she didn't mean any harm, but her timing was a little awkward.

"Ah, Sophie, don't worry about it. It's okay, Alec. She's a serious librarian, and our librarian is only hired by people with good credit."

"I'm sure you do. No, we don't mind either."

"Excuse me."

With that, my business was done, and I left the library. Meena stayed behind to try to find a book, but as for me, I think the Flame Sword will take care of it. If that thing doesn't kill the snowman, we can retreat again.

"Oh, there's Alec."

"Alec!"

As I was heading back to the inn, I saw a pair of twins with familiar faces running towards me from a stall on the main street, waving.

"Misha and Sasha, have you been buying and eating again?"

"Yeah, that's right!"

"Food is justice!"

"Hmm, well, if it's a holiday, spend it as you like."

"" I got it, Onii-chan♪ ""

The two of them smiled and both held out one hand towards me.

"What's with your hand?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to buy us a drink..."

"Alec is rich."

"I'm a little strapped for cash right now myself. Look elsewhere."

"Oh! Hey!"

"You dirty old man!　Cheapskate!　Behh!"

I'd better not give them any money, though.

"Oya, it's Alec-san, isn't it!"

A skinny man in black armor walked by, accompanied by a swordsman with a sword.

It's Janatha and his escort, the hero Mitsurugi.

"Hello, Janatha. What a coincidence."

I really don't want to meet these guys, but I've made a gentleman's deal with Janatha, so we greet each other as normal.

By the way, this guy's armor doesn't suit him very well. He told me that he was always armed to protect himself, but I guess he doesn't train himself much, leaving the fighting to his guards and slaves.

"Yes, I'm glad to hear that your adventure is going better than expected. We were also taken care of during the recent disaster, you know. If you don't mind, would you like to have lunch? I'll buy you a drink.

"No, thank you, but I just ate a while ago. I'll just accept your kindness. And ......, I don't remember taking care of your store, is there something wrong?"

"No, not really that special, but the day I can't use the Labyrinth of No Return is the day my business goes down the drain."

The "Disaster of July," the one where I made a big batch of pork soup. Well, I'll keep my mouth shut about who the culprit is. I'm a hero who saved the world. That's what I'm going to say. However, I also had the help from Elisa and the other temple knights.

"I see. Well, it's not like I could have done it alone, and I guess that's what adventurers do for each other."

"You're so humbled. So that's how you build up your reputation among other adventurers and prepare for future store openings. You're pretty good at that, aren't you?"

I meant what I said, but it seems that everything turns into a business conversation with this guy. He's a troublesome guy.

"Maybe. See you later."

"Yeah, excuse me. Oh, and Alec-san."

"What is it?"

"If you're looking for a Flame Sword, I know a lot of arms dealers. I may be able to help you."

"What?"

I don't know how he knows that story.

I've got a bad feeling about this.

Afterword

Additional information about the distribution of income in Black Cat of the Wind (read only if you interested)

The distribution of income is split evenly among the party members who are participating in the adventure at the time of the dive.

The rest of the slaves are in the form of borrowing money for equipment from the party expenses as a necessary expense.

That was a bit confusing. The first group is making a lot of money, but the second and third groups are basically out of money.

Basic principle

[Income] - [Party budget] = [Take-Home pay]

[Take-home pay] is distributed fairly among the party.

The second and third party borrow money from the [Party Budget]. It is used to repair and purchase equipment.

Since the Flame Sword is quite expensive equipment this time

As a special case, it is decided by the discussion of the party members.