Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Silavin
Kousuke and his group finally entered the royal capital of the Tausen Kingdom. While completing the usual task of submitting how they had cleared up the bandits
They were worried that there might be some trouble at the checkpoint upon entering the capital, but nothing of the sort happened. They managed to cross the checkpoint without any issue.
The merchant convoy that entered the Royal Capital was able to safely get to the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce as scheduled.
Since, Reine and the other merchants were responsible for the rest of the business negotiations, and they had completed their task, Kousuke and the other adventurers were supposed to disband. However, before that, the chairman of the merchant association, who had come out to see that the offerings had been delivered, turned to the adventurers and smilingly said, “Thank you very much for your hard work.”
“It is thanks to your efforts that we were not robbed along the way. We’re having a party tonight to celebrate.”
“Will it be on you?” Before Kousuke could say anything, Claire responded.
Kousuke had been the leader of the escort during the trip, but that role had already ended.
Kousuke looked around and saw Claire’s party, as well as the other parties, looking at the chairman, Heino, with expectant eyes.
Heino nodded without cracking a smile, as if he had been expecting it from the start.
“Of course. The details will be given later by the Chamber of Commerce, so please let me know where you will be staying.”
Heino then turned his gaze to his subordinate, who was standing aside.
For the drinking party, it was clear his subordinate would handle it.
“Oh. I’ll come back to let you know when it’s decided.” Claire said and left the place with her party members.
The other parties were also heading in the same direction.
The request had been completed, and they were probably going to the Adventurers’ Guild to complete the formalities.
“Well then, we should go too.” Kousuke said to Kouhi and Mitsuki, who were waiting for him.
Reine, noticing this, paused the business meeting and spoke to Kousuke.
“Ah. Kouhi. Thank you for your hard work. You are going to attend the drinking party, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Well, from the looks of things, I don’t think I’ll be able to turn it down.”
Kousuke said with a laugh, and Reine smiled as well.
If Kousuke were to say he would decline, it was obvious that Claire and the others would try to force him into it.
Kousuke was not averse to the adventurers’ flirtation with the idea of partying, and he had no intention of declining in the first place. So, he readily accepted.
“Alright. Then, let’s talk about the details at that time.”
What Reine meant was how they should talk about what happened during the trip in retrospect, with no particular other deeper intention in mind.
“Sure.” Kousuke knew this, so he nodded and replied.
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After going through the same procedure for the completion of the request as Claire and the others, Kousuke and the others were looking around for a place to stay for the night.
This time, they decided to stay at a somewhat more expensive lodging.
The purpose of this trip was for Kouhi and Mitsuki. So, it was acceptable to splurge a little.
Kousuke earns as much as a country’s budget from the development of his magic tools. And this was just one source of income. Naturally, he could afford to stay at such luxurious lodging.
No one would object, and if Schmidt or the others found out, they might ask him why he was staying at cheap inns in the first place.
Kousuke and his group entered the room where they would be staying, and were surprised to find something.
“Whoa!”
“Oh, no!”
Kousuke and Mitsuki were the ones who shouted, but Kousuke was also surprised and looked up at the ceiling of the room.
“Oh. You are very discerning, aren’t you? Do you know what that is?”
Noticing Kousuke and the others’ gazes, the employees looked somewhat proud.
Their gazes were directed to the room’s lighting, which was a magical tool.
Despite how expensive the room was set up, it should still be without imports from outside the country. Then again, the Tausen Kingdom has direct dealings with Razek Amamiya. It was just that Kousuke did not expect such exports to reach the lodging here.
“Oh. Those are lights made by Razek Amamiya, aren’t they?”
“Yes. Normally, I would have given priority to the nobles. It seems there are many nobles who prefer old-fashioned lighting, and they come to places like ours.”
Hearing the employee say this, Kousuke nodded in understanding.
It was because some people prefer old-fashioned lighting, which was the same in Razek Amamiya.
The town on the fifth layer was a newly built town, so the new lighting Kousuke developed had spread out. However, some of the mansions in the old town stick to the old-fashioned lighting.
Kousuke also thought that since each has their own style, there was no need to exterminate one or the other as long as they all could be maintained.
He believed that diversity was important in everything.
“I see. Well, I guess we should be happy because we have a brighter night because of it.”
“Ha ha. Yes, that’s right.”
The employee left the room after explaining how to use the room.
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“Oh. Is Ko-san staying at that inn?” When Kousuke told Reine about the inn at the drinking party, Reine made such a comment.
“You know about it?”
“Yes. It’s a little pricey, but it’s a nice place to stay.”
Reine had stayed there before.
The last time he had stayed there was because a peddler friend of his had offered it to him.
“It’s too expensive for me to stay there now. If I have an income as high as you, I would certainly stay there.” Reine, who knows Kousuke could earn quite a bit as a C-rank adventurer, as well as this request, said without hesitation.
With Kousuke and his party’s abilities, he believes that they can handle C-rank requests with no difficulty.
If that was the case, he could easily estimate how much they could potentially earn.
In addition, it was also known that this request would be paying quite a lot of money. So much that they could stay a week in that inn without worry.
While Reine and Kousuke were conversing, Heino came over to them.
Heino, who had been busy, was finally able to make time to come to this venue.
Incidentally, the place where they were drinking was a place that the Chamber of Commerce usually uses for meetings. Right now, it has been specifically prepared for this occasion.
Food and drinks were brought in one after another by the Chamber of Commerce.
“Thank you for your hard work. Thanks to you, it looks like we’ll be able to deliver the goods safely to the royal family… We can’t let our guard down until the very end, though.”
For Heino, his game begins here.
He could not let his guard down until he had completely delivered the goods to the royal family.
Incidentally, the offering that was in Kouhi’s item box was properly given directly to Heino.
When Heino learned of this for the first time, he was impressed; he even considered if he could do the same thing.
Personally, Kousuke did not know if Heino managed to do the same thing after that. Regardless, he must have taken some kind of countermeasure.
Still, that was no longer a matter of concern to Kousuke and his group.
“No, no. It was our job.” When Reine said this, Heino shook his head.
“No, no. I don’t think we could have accomplished what we did without you guys.” Heino seemed to really mean what he said. He even added, “I’m not being modest here.
“You should say, if it weren’t for Koh and his team, rather than ‘us’.”
“Yes. I heard what happened in the report.”
Reine and Heino said as they looked at Kousuke and the others, thinking about the difficult path they had taken to get here.
Kousuke, who met their gaze, thought that if he were to be modest here, it would just sound sarcastic. Thus, instead of saying anything, he just chuckled.