Afterwards, I left the guild and visited my store, which I hadn’t done in quite some time. When I did, Chef Naraba noticed me and called out.

“Oh, Lark. Luck-san told me he has something to discuss with you. He’s probably at the Dursley Trading Company now. If you’re not busy, please go see him.”

“Eh, really? Thank you, Naraba-san.”

I briefly thanked him and headed towards the Dursley Trading Company, which Mr. Luck managed. Upon arriving at the trading company, I asked the receptionist, “Is Luck-san in?”

I was told that he was in the president’s office, so I quickly headed there. Upon knocking, I received a response and entered.

“Excuse me, Luck-san.”

“Welcome, Lark. Did you receive my message? I feel bad for having you come all the way here.”

After the introduction, Mr. Luck started discussing the main subject.

“In fact, we have decided on a location for the new store, and I thought I’d report it to you.”

“Really? That’s great news.”

“Also, I previously got permission from you to serve the two dishes you created, “Grilled onigiri” and “Fried Rice Yakimeshi (pan-fried rice)”, at my diner. Is it really okay?”

Ah, I remember having such a conversation with Mr. Luck.

“Yes, I don’t mind.”

“Good. I was worried about what to do if you said no at this point…” Mr. Luck exhaled in relief and deeply sank into the sofa.

There’s no need for him to be so tense.

“Ah, but this means we will have to increase our rice procurement in the future, right?”

Currently, the rice dishes we serve at my store use rice harvested from a village called Nihori. It’s easy to say we’ll increase our procurement, but it’s already at maximum production, so increasing it any further might be difficult. It seems that Mr. Luck is aware of this issue as well, as he showed a complicated expression.

“That’s the problem… It’s not realistic to increase rice production in a short period of time, and it’ll likely be a few years before we can serve it at my diner…”

Hmm, indeed, even if we cultivate new paddy fields or increase labor, rice won’t increase immediately… 

As I was wondering what to do, the sight of a large amount of rice I had seen recently came to mind.

“Luck-san, I think we can manage it!”

“Eh?”

To Mr. Luck, who looked surprised at my voice, I introduced a certain individual. This person was Weed and Sevis, whom I met through my uncle Idel’s introduction. Weed and Sevis live alone in a mansion deep in a place called the Forest of Death, and there they cultivate a large amount of rice all year round because they “have nothing else to do.”

Looking back on it, they are indeed strange people. In fact, Weed is the first prince of the Holy Kingdom and Sevis is a butler, but there’s no point in telling Luck-san that, so I only mentioned that I knew someone who cultivates rice all year round.

Then, Mr. Luck said in surprise, “I see, there’s someone like that…”

“Yes. They should have surplus rice from overproduction. I will go ask them if they are willing to share.”

After bidding farewell to Roeck’s father and leaving the trading company, I headed back to the guild.

I eagerly asked Father, who was relaxing at the reception desk, “Father! Do you know where Uncle Idel is right now?”

“Whoa, Lark, you’re back… Idel is in the Guild Master’s room right now, do you need something from him?

 “Yes, a little. Thank you!”

I hurried to the Guild Master’s room. As I climbed the stairs, I locked eyes with Uncle Idel who was coming out of the Guild Master’s room.

“Lark, why are you in such a hurry?”

“Oh, thank goodness, you’re still here! Idel-san, you usually teleport away so quickly!”

“Ah, well, I was thinking of grabbing a meal at your shop later. It’s within walking distance, so I was just about to set off. Do you need something from me?”

“Yes, could you please take me to Weed-san‘s residence right now?”

“Weed’s place? Sure, no problem.”

Without asking for any further explanation, Idel put his hand on my shoulder and activated his teleportation magic. The scenery before my eyes changed instantly, and we arrived at Weed’s mansion. At the front door, the butler Sevis was waiting, unphased by our sudden appearance, and began to speak.

“Oh, it’s been a while, hasn’t it, Lark-sama?”

“It has, Sevis. I have something to discuss with Weed-san. Is he available right now?”

“Yes, he is.”

With that, Sevis led us to Mr. Weed’s private room. First, Sevis entered, followed by me and Idel. We then explained our situation and asked Mr. Weed if we could purchase his rice. Mr. Weed readily agreed.

“You need rice? Sure, I don’t mind. But about the rice, it’s actually Sevis who grows it. So, it might be strange for me to give permission. What about you, Sevis?”

“I have no problem with it either. In fact, we have an excess, so this helps us out.”

“That’s great, thank you so much!”

We then determined the amount of rice to be purchased and the price, and bought the excess stock on hand, putting it into the “Useful Box”. We decided to make a formal contract for future transactions, and promised to bring the contract at a later date. Using Idel’s teleportation magic, we returned to the royal capital.

I parted ways with Idel and headed back to the DursleyTrading Company. There, I told Mr. Luck that we had managed to secure the rice, and he taught me how to draft a contract. By the time we finished, it was getting dark, so I went home.

Before leaving, I stopped by Leticia’s place and asked her to meet at my house the next day. She said she would pass the message on to Asura. When I got home, I spent the evening playing with Noir in the living room, waiting for Rin and Father to return.

That night, during my daily prayers, something occurred to me. I strongly concentrated and visited the divine realm where the god Samady resides. It’s pretty simple thing to do during prayers.

“Good evening, Samady-san.”

“Hello, Lark-kun. What can I do for you?”

“I was wondering…what happened to the goddess who was wreaking havoc in the Holy Kingdom and got arrested?”

“Oh, that. Her punishment is still being debated among the gods, so it might take some more time to reach a conclusion…”

Thinking that there’s nothing more I could do, I immediately returned to the mortal world. Laying on my bed, I began to think about tomorrow.

“The earrings I commissioned from Forno-san will be ready tomorrow. I’ll pick them up, head home, and after reviewing everyone’s abilities, decide whether or not to challenge the labyrinth…”

I have a lot on my plate. Excited about the earrings, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

◇

The next day, I went to Forno’s shop to pick up the finished earrings. The earrings, all identical in design, sparkled beautifully in silver. The effects bestowed upon them were apparently those of “Enhanced Regeneration.” With these equipped, it was said that the speed of natural wound healing would dramatically increase.

“I thought it would look cooler if they were all uniform. What do you think?”

At his words, I nodded in agreement. “They’re nice. I think it’ll deepen our party’s bond. If our party members increase in the future, may I ask you to make the same ones again?”

“Sure, leave it to me. In return, make sure to provide me with the scales.”

“Yes, I still have plenty, so no worries.”

With that, I stored the newly crafted earrings into my “Useful Box”. I left Forno’s shop and returned home to wait with Rin for Leticia and Asura’s arrival. Soon after, the two arrived, and I ushered them into the living room.

“Now then, I’m going to appraise everyone’s status. I’ll only focus on the ability values.”

Saying so, I used the “Appraising Eye” to assess Leticia and the others’ ability values. Then, I began jotting down the numbers onto a prepared sheet of paper. The first one I recorded was Leticia’s. I remembered her previous ability values, so I wrote down how much each value had increased as well.

【 Level 】20（＋2)

【 S P 】140（＋14)

【 Strength 】1008（＋108)

【 Magic Power 】480（＋48)

【 Agility 】764（＋81）

【 Dexterity 】845（＋89)

【 Luck 】61

“Wow! My strength is finally in four digits!”

Leticia joyfully reacted to the paper detailing her ability values.

“Congratulations, Leticia-chan.”

“Congrats, Leticia-san.”

Rin and Asura congratulated her. I also congratulated Leticia and then recorded Rin’s ability values, with the increases noted as well.

【 Level 】20（＋6)

【 S P 】150（＋48)

【 Strength 】646（＋198）

【 Magic Power 】687（＋211）

【 Agility 】855（＋267）

【 Dexterity 】821（＋261)

【 Luck 】49

“My agility and dexterity are a bit higher, but overall it seems to have increased fairly evenly…”

Rin seemed a little down as she looked at the paper. But then Leticia and Asura came to her aid.

“But I think that’s better. Even if your strength increases like mine, there will be times when that alone is not enough.”

“That’s right. I, on the other hand, am weak, so I’m jealous of your balanced increase in ability values.” 

“Both of you… thank you.”

Rin seemed to have regained her spirits. I thought to myself, good fellowship is indeed a wonderful thing, and proceeded to write down Asura’s ability values. This was my first time appraising Asura’s abilities, so there were no additional notes.

【 Level 】20

【 S P 】120

【 Strength 】562

【 Magic Power 】893

【 Agility 】643

【 Dexterity 】721

【 Luck 】53

“My magic power seems to be high, as expected.”

“That makes sense, Asura. Since you specialize in magic, it’s better that way,” Rin responded to Asura’s statement.

“Now, about our future strategy… What do you think, everyone?”

The moment I started speaking, everyone surprisingly gave me a look of confusion, so I couldn’t help but ask.

Rin was the one who spoke up.

“Aren’t you going to show us your stats, Lark-kun?”

“Huh? No, I mean, everyone’s been leveling up recently, but I haven’t been doing anything, so I haven’t really changed much, right?”

As I said that, this time it was Asura’s turn to speak. “I haven’t seen your stats yet, Lark. I’d appreciate it if you could show us.”

Come to think of it, he might be right.

“Okay, hold on.”

I checked my stats with my “Appraising Eye”, quickly wrote them down on paper, and showed everyone.

【Level】57（＋1）

【SP】560（＋10）

【Power】5606（＋29）

【Magic】6473（＋31）

【Agility】5995（＋29）

【Dexterity】4246（＋24）

【Luck】51

“…”

Everyone froze when they saw the paper.

“Well, you see, I’ve been trained by my stepfather since I was young…”

“Really, when I see your stats, Lark-kun, I really feel the difference,” Leticia sighed.

“Oh, right. I have something to give to everyone!”

Feeling somewhat awkward, I took out some earrings I received earlier from my “Useful Box” and laid them out on the table to change the subject.

“Are these earrings?”

“Yes, they are. What’s the deal with these, Lark?”

Leticia and Rin tilted their heads in confusion.

“I made these accessories thinking they might be useful if we’re going to explore the labyrinth. Plus, we’ve been a party for quite some time now, it might be nice as a symbol of our camaraderie.”

Saying that, I distributed the earrings to Leticia and the others.

“These earrings are made with scales from Shafal, and they have an effect that increases ‘Regeneration.'”

After I explained, everyone fell silent.

“…Lark,”

“What is it, Asura? Don’t tell me you don’t like it?”

“No, it’s not that… Do you know that dragon materials are rare?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Right, then you understand that if you used scales from Shafal, a legendary dragon, it would be incredibly rare, right?”

“…Ah.”

As I began to understand the meaning of Asura’s words, I looked at the earrings again.

“These earrings are equivalent to a national treasure.”

“…”

I messed up. If I wore these and someone recognized the materials, it could cause a big problem… 

Dejected, I slumped down in my chair. “I didn’t realize… I thought it would be helpful for everyone and just…”

“W-well, they look like silver accessories, so probably no one will notice if we don’t say anything.”

Leticia backed me up, and we decided to wear them for now as long as no one suspected anything.

From now on, I’ll be careful when making equipment with Shafal’s materials…