Volume 9 - CH 1

One of our troops seems to have fallen for a strange scam.

A coin from the Cacoo Empire, 2,000 gold in damages.

It's not a lot of money to me, but to my slave Zeed, it must be close to his entire fortune.

What a mess. I think I'll demote Zeed from the leadership.

While I was waiting for Zeed, Lily and Jouga arrived.

"Oh, it's the lewd old man!"

"Huh? Oh, it's Brother!"

"Lily, don't make misleading statements in a busy place."

"What? It's not a misunderstanding, but the truth!"

"Even if that's true. You're guilty of defamation, remember that."

"Huh?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but you're having lunch too, brother?"

"Yeah, but it's breakfast."

"Buy me a drink!"

"Fine. What do you want to eat, Lily?"

"I want that."

The small Lily stretched and pointed to the dumplings on a skewer.

"Then, Old man, give me three of those."

"Aiyo."

"Then, here."

"Thank you. Mmm, delicious!"

"Thank you, brother. Mmm."

"By the way, I'm going to ask you guys, do you have any of these wooden coins?"

I picked up a toy that was left broken and discarded on the spot and showed it to them.

Then Lily and Jouga both nodded at me with proud smiles.

"Oh, it's a Cacoo coin, I have it! Look!"

"I exchanged it for 10,000 gold yesterday, too, brother!"

"Huh?　Are you stupid?"

"Why is it?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me how much you have."

"No, it's mine!"

"I've got about 20,000 gold now. I had 1,000 gold a week ago, and now I have 20,000.　I can't believe it."

"You guys....do you think it's that easy to make money?"

"No, I mean, it's really increasing."

"You know what?　Evidence is better than loli." (?)

Lily and Jouga don't seem to have any doubts.

"You know what they say about the raccoon dog that won't take the bait? You can only get carried away with the valuation while you can".

"The same thing was said by Serina, but after she found out that It could be used, she changed her attitude!"

"What?"

...... Hey, hey, hey, how far is the damage to our Clan expanding?

I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this.

However, I thought that Serina was a ...... someone who was smart enough to know what she was doing.

"Lily, go back to the inn now and notify all of our troops. No purchasing of Cacoo coins."

"What? Why not?　They're so profitable, so light, so easy to use, and so convenient."

"Just do as you're told. You don't even know who issues them, and they're toys."

"But it can be used."

"It's Clan leader's orders."

"But no!"

"Tch, Jouga, you go tell them."

"All right, brother!　When it's your order, even white is black!"

"Noisy, Go tell them quickly! All of them."

"Yes!"

Jouga ran off, for the time being, measure were taken. First aid.

"Alec-san!"

Zeed is back.

"Zeed, did you bring all the money?"

"Yes, I've collected everything. This is all I have."

He holds up the bag and smiles radiantly, but let me see.

I took a look at the contents of the bag, and it was all wooden coins.

"Hmmm ......"

"Isn't it enough?"

"No, not really. Then let's go to the accessory store."

"Yeah!"

"Ah, I'm coming too!"

"Yeah, you go with me."

With Zeed and Lily in tow, we'll start by entering a high-class store that caters to the nobility.

"Stop there."

However, as we approached the door, we were stopped by a full-plate gate guard soldier.

As expected, it's a store that seems to have a dress code or something.

No, let's give it a try.

"Can you let me through with this?"

I pull out a thing from my pocket.

"What are you... oh, this is!　Excuse me, sir. Please come through."

The platinum pass I got from the king is convenient. But next time I come here, I'll make sure I'm dressed properly.

"Wow, amazing, Alec!"

"You're the man, Alec-san!"

The two guys behind me are impressed, but that's okay.

"Welcome. You are an adventurer, aren't you? What kind of goods are you looking for?"

An elderly shopkeeper dressed in a bartender's uniform greeted me, and I knew he had a good eye for people.

If that's the case, it might be better to have this clerk choose for me.

"I'd like to get a gift that's worthy of this guy's girlfriend."

"Excuse me, but is your friend partner is a nobleman?"

"Oh, no, it's not. She's just an ordinary town girl. She's a baker's girl. ......"

Zeed answered hesitantly.

"If that's the case, I think this necklace would be good for her."

"No, I was thinking giving her a ring."

"But if she's a baker, a ring might be inconvenient for washing her hands and kneading bread."

"Oh, I see!　That's true, too. Well, then. No, the price is ......"

"It's 3,000 gold."

"Oh, no, my limit si 2000 gold. ......"

"I'm sorry, we don't have anything cheaper than that. ......"

"Yeah."

"Then I'll rebuild what you're missing. Zeed, see if you can use that money."

"Yes, well, can I pay you with this?"

"Hmm, it is Cacoo coins? I'm sorry, sir, we don't accept these coins in our store."

"You can't huh............"

"Then I'll use this silver coin."

"Yes, thank you for your purchase."

I would have been a little freaked out if it went through, but it looks like they can't exchange it for high value items.

"Okay, Zeed, I'll give you this."

I'll just give the necklace to Zeed.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. But I'm going to need you to return it to me, One silver coin."

"Yes, sir. I promise I'll return it."

"Okay. Let's go to the next store. Lily, if there's anything you want to buy, let me know."

"Hmm, Anything is fine as long as Alec will buy it for me."

"Then, let's check out the next store."

Next, we went to a store that even commoners can usually enter. However, it was a high-class store, and they didn't have any cheap stuff.

"Which ones can I buy for just 2,000 gold?"

"If that the case, this is it. It's a real silver ring."

The clerk held it out to me, and I appraised it, but there was no problem.

The appraised value was 1,000 gold, and I couldn't help but feel a little ripped off at this point.

"Then, Zeed, I'll ask you to return the 2,000 gold first. Give me the bag you just gave me."

"I understand. But can it be used here?"

"May I see that?　Oh, the Cacoo coins. We're accepting these."

We can use Cacoo coins here?

"See? You can use it right?"

"Well, I guess..."

"What should I do about the packaging?"

"No, just leave it as it is."

"Here you go, then."

I'll give the silver ring to Lily.

"Here, I'll give it to you."

"Wow. Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you!　Alec!　I love you!"

Lily hugged me. She seemed to be honestly happy. It's nice to have a gift once in a while.

We leave the store.

"Zeed, I'm sorry for making fun of you earlier. It seems that this coin can be used in a very wide range of ways."

Contrary to my expectations, it's been used in some decent stores.

"Yeah, I don't mind. We couldn't use it in a high-end store, though."

"You should apologize to me too."

"I'm not apologizing to you."

"Huh?　Why not?"

"Because I think you deserve to be able to discern authenticity because of your upbringing."

"Mumurghh."

I feel like she and I both forgot all about it, but she's a former princess.

"Well, that's enough Zeed. But don't buy any more of those coins."

"Yes, sir. Thank you very much for the necklace, Alec-san. I'll go give it to her right away!"

"Yeah!"

Zeed left with a happy face, and the damage was averted.

"Lily, stay with me a little longer."

"Okay. Where are we going?"

"Merchant's Guild."

The fact that we were able to use it at the mid-level accessory store earlier means that the merchant guild is probably involved.

We need to look into that.