Chapter 204 – Merchant of Sarz

“It was delicious…”

We enjoyed a freshly cooked breakfast in the Wolf’s Tail Pavilion for the first time in a while and enjoyed tea after the meal.

“Umu. The food we ate while traveling was no less delicious, but freshly prepared food was exceptional.

Today, it was a bread like French toast without sweetness. It was soft, fluffy, and hearty, with a sour sauce of smoked meat and root vegetables, and somehow it tasted very comforting. The landlady smiles and says it’s a dish she serves for celebrations, and she says she’s glad we’re back safe and sound.

Last night’s dinner was also excellent. The main course was a wiener schnitzel-like dish of thinly and widely pounded meat, battered and fried in flavorful oil until crispy. It was topped with a gravy-like sauce and served with fried root vegetables that looked like French fries. A colorful root vegetable and seafood broth is simmered with shell-shaped noodles, and the taste is delicious. How many people does the landlady know?

By the way, I heard that from now on, the extra charge will be paid by the lord. As expected from a fat, plump man, Lord McKin. Well, I guess he wants to keep us that much.

“There are three of us. May we come in?”

“Please give me a moment while I clean up in the back.”

The restaurant was quite busy, although it had been sparsely populated before. Like last night, there was a steady stream of customers coming in and out of the restaurant for meals rather than overnight guests.

The landlady, Sandra-san, is an amiable and skilled cook, and everyone seemed pleased with her food, but I sensed something strange about the place.

“What’s wrong?”

“The tendency of the customers here. It looks like something I’ve seen before…”

“What, you haven’t noticed? They’re from the Commerce Guild.”

“Huh?”

“Not all of them, but when I first saw the people I remember entering the restaurant, I thought they were the merchants who belonged to the guilds that patronized this place.”

“That is…”

“Needless to say, you are the cause.”

Again? No, I don’t care anymore!? I just wanted to live a quiet life!?

“You are a hero who stirred up trouble in Sarz, destroyed the Roses, and saved the territory and capital. Gathering information is a fundamental part of being a merchant. Whether they saw a business opportunity or were looking for a connection, they might have heard about the inn and started visiting it.”

“Huh?”

“There is nothing wrong with that. It’s just that our inn, the Wolf’s Tail Pavilion, will prosper. No one will be troubled or unhappy. The landlady seems to enjoy it, even though it’s hard work, and if it continues, she’ll probably hire more people.”

Well, yes. At the moment, the landlady runs the place, with a girl and a middle-aged woman helping out at mealtimes. They both look a bit like the landlady, so I guess they are related or something.

“But how did you notice them, Myrril?”

“Observation is the foundation of an engineer.”

I see. But so far, the customers have not looked at me or made contact with me. They seem to be going about their business as usual. Or rather, they don’t seem to notice me at all.

“The only people who know our faces are the acting guild master and a few others who were nearby. Now…”

“If our faces were known, would we not be able to eat in peace?”

“I don’t think a man who can’t even show that much concern can make it as a merchant, but I’ll deal with it if it happens. There should be no problem.”

After breakfast, I decided to walk around the town of Sarz since I had nothing special to do. After all, I knew nothing about Sarz except for the Commerce Guild and the Adventurer’s Guild, and I had only walked around the commercial district a little. I also walked through the outskirts of the commoner’s district, where Calmon’s house was located.

The shops in the commercial district were open for business and were quite busy in the morning as if it was a busy time of the year.

“If there’s anything you want to buy, just let me know.”

“Nothing in particular, but didn’t you have something like that honey in stock before…?”

“Honey, huh? Yes, where I come from, sugar is not that expensive. I left honey and sugar in Casemaian because I thought they would be used for baking, but I can stock up quickly.”

“That’s… something to think about, isn’t it?”

Yes. It is possible to make a lot of money on the difference, but it will destroy some business here. It’s simple. And if I get out after the molasses business is no longer viable, the supply of sugar itself will cease to exist. And it’s not just molasses.

“Since we’re not hurting for money, I think we should rather buy replaceable items from the market here.”

“You’re talking about the outflow of gold, aren’t you?”

“Not only that but if we want to live as part of this society, we can’t just take and receive. Money is like a stream of blood, so if we don’t put in what we have, it won’t circulate, and the whole thing will weaken. And as a result, it’s not in our best interest either.”

We have killed too many and taken too much, even to protect ourselves. If we continue to be unaware of this, the Republic may die, just as the Kingdom died. If we continue to think that the rest of the world doesn’t matter as long as Casemaian is safe, the number of failed states on the continent will increase, and we will lose our long-term future as a subhuman paradise.

“I am surprised that you have thought so far. It is a reason I do not see. Maybe you are suited to be a merchant.”

It’s not “maybe,” but I am indeed a merchant, Mir-san. It’s just that my work as a demon king is part-time.

We bought some grilled skewers from a food stall and looked around the shops.

“This is delicious.”

Mir-san is chewing on a small round piece of fried bread skewered and covered with honeydew. It looks like a store selling molasses has set up a stall to advertise its products.

“Isn’t it sweet? The honey has a nice aroma too.”

“Oh, well, I’ll have two jars of that, then.”

Maybe I didn’t look like I had eight gold coins with me, but when I showed him my gold coins, he reduced the price to seven coins. They said it was a specialty of the suburbs of Sarz, so I’ll take it as a souvenir for Casemaian and Lafan.

Next, we ate fish skewers made into dumplings. I know meat, but minced fish is rare. It cannot be made from dried fish meat, which is impossible without a cheap supply of fresh fish.

“These skewers are very tasty, but how did you transport the fish?”

I asked the woman kneading the minced fish in the fish shop. Sarz is about 200 kilometers in a straight line from the sea. Not many merchants travel during the winter, and even if they did, the transportation costs would be high. She seemed to understand what I was talking about, so she laughed and told me.

“Oh, that’s the toothfish from the Witch’s Lake.”

The artificial lake created by the witch… Ecla-san. Around the time of Moff’s mother’s death, so it must be recent, but there are already fish in that lake, huh?

“This is the toothfish, huh? I see; it is so tasty.”

While munching on the fish dumpling, Myrril nodded with an impressed look on her face.

“Do you know about this, Mir-san?”

“You know, the thing you saw in the canal.”

“Eh.”

Is that the “man-eating fish” that is not a rain dragon? It’s about the size of a salmon, and it bites the flesh off the legs of anyone who gets in its water.

“The toothfish in the Witch’s Lake are fat and tasty.”

They are tasty, but I have mixed feelings about the source of their fattening nutrition. Probably some wild animals nearby. I don’t know. I don’t want to ask for details.

As we walked around and cooled off in the shops, I saw a boat sign across the street. I didn’t want to stop too close, so I casually turned around.

“I heard the Commerce Guild was in trouble, but it should be resolved by now…”

“…Not yet.”

“Whoa!?”

When I turned around, I saw a man with a somber expression looking at me and bowing his head. He was holding what looked like a document case, indicating that he was on his way back from some official business.

“Uh, you’re the acting guildmaster of the Commerce Guild…”

“Yes, my name is Inos. I am now the Guildmaster of the Commerce Guild.”

“That’s great, congratulations… is it too much?”

“Yes. As expected, it is hard to celebrate when your boss is sentenced to death. However, it is thanks to Your Majesty the Demon King and Queen that we were able to eliminate the evil and sickness from the Commerce Guild.”

“Oh, they found out about that too.”

“That’s right, the feudal lord is making a big deal out of it.”

Oh my… that fat little lord, he’s already taking advantage of the money he paid us.

“I don’t want to stand around talking, so how about a cup of tea at the guild?”

“Oh, um…”

“Don’t worry, I have nothing against you, and I will refrain from recruiting you both.”

We were too involved to just dismiss it here. Even if it wasn’t our fault. After all, we were tired of walking, so we decided to accept Inos’ offer.