184 Episode 184: Men of those days (1/2)

”Welcome, this is my shop”

After handing over the pirates to the guards, I came to his shop to thank Mr. Qing Wei once again.

The store structure is very large and I can clearly tell that Mr. Kiyobui is the owner of the big store.

And the sign said Yokoya in Eastern language.

”Ethigoya......?

”Yes. Welcome to Echikaya, Mr. Rex.”

That? That must have been the name of the store that receives the requested product we received.

When I take a note from Nostalgia with details about the request and confirm the name of the store, I give him a letter from my guild telling him to give it to the dealer.

”Well, actually, I'm here for this shop.”

”Oh, did you! I didn't know you helped our store customers with their lives and products. This is already fate!

No, no, that's an exaggeration.

”Come on, let's go inside.”

When Qing Wei receives the letter, he leads me inside the store.

”” ”Welcome home, sir” ”

Upon entering the store, the clerks who confirmed the appearance of Mr. Qing Bingwei bow their heads simultaneously.

”Hey, I'm home now.”

”Sir!

And from behind the store comes a man who looks panicked.

Compared to the rest of the clerks, the piercing figure is probably the heavy town of this store?

”I was worried that you were late.”

”Oh, I'm sorry, Yoshiyoshi. There was a storm and the ship was wrecking.”

”Hey, what the hell!?”

The man known as Yoshiyoshi blues his face when he hears the circumstances from Mr. Kiyobui.

”So what happened to the ship!? Young people!? What happened to the load?”

”Don't worry. Thanks to Lex here for the street, we're all safe.”

”Oh, oh! Thanks for that...... su?

And Yoshiyoshi, who turned to me and thanked me, was interrupted at the end of the story and looked around.

”Uh...”

”Yoshiyoshi, I'm pretty sure it's this way. Mr. Rex is a young, brilliant wizard.

”Eh!? Ko, sorry for this!!”

Knowing that it was a young man like me who helped the ship, Yoshiyoshi apologizes while bluing his face.

”Damn you. Will you stop judging things by their appearance? Excuse me. Hey, Mr. Rex. He's still immature.”

”No, never mind. I haven't been an adventurer in a while.”

”Adventurer, you must have been talking about anything on the continent.”

Does the continent mean that this country doesn't have the concept of adventurer?

”Excuse me, Mr. Rex. Please check the contents of the letter you received and give instructions to your employees, so please wait in the back room for a moment.”

”Okay.”

”Hey, you, take this one to the guest room. He's a benefactor of the store. Be polite.”

”Heh, heh! This way, sir. Take off your footwear here before you go up.”

A young clerk instructed by Mr. Kiyomori will guide me.

”Please wait here”

The room shown was a rare interior room with only a short table and cushions around it.

Instead, the walls are wide open, and the beautifully appointed gardens are spreading like paintings.

The fact that civilians who are not aristocrats can maintain this many gardens sounds like a pretty good merchant to Chiang Bingwei.

When the clerk who led me down, now the young lady clerk comes with tea and sweets.

”Coarse tea, though.”

”Thank you”

The tea and sweets you prepared are delicious, and I'm unwittingly relieved. [M]

I can see that the sweets are modest but firmly sweet, and I have prepared something quite superior.

Honestly, I feel better than when I was invited to the noble mansion in my previous life.

Back then, I could see clearly the desire of the person I tea with, so I wasn't about to enjoy a meal.

Delicious tea and treats for a beautiful view, this is a first-rate treat!

”Thank you for waiting”

Enjoying the view over a cup of tea, Mr. Kiyomori arrives.

”I'm sorry. It's a trade item, but it's going to take a while for the convenience of purchasing.”

”I don't mind. Even from the client, that's assumed.”

Because I get a lot of necessary expenses for that.

”Thank you for understanding. Apologize, but stay with us until you have purchased the product.”

”Huh? That's bad.”

It just doesn't make it that sweet. The client pays for the accommodation.

”No, Mr. Rex asked me to save the load with his men. I want you to thank me for that.”

Mm-hmm. It's just a story we met passing by, so I wish I didn't have to worry about that much.

I honestly feel like I got enough thanks for the tea, the treats and the garden landscape I got served.

I don't know what to do...... oh yeah.

”I'm sorry, but I have to find a friend who got caught up in the storm.”

”Do you have company?

”Yes.”

If purchasing a product takes time, in the meantime, let's explore the neighboring towns and villages to find Liliera and the others.

I think we're all reaching nearby towns and villages.

”As long as it's done, then let the people in my shop find it!

”Huh?”

”Perhaps Mr. Rex's people are looking for Mr. Rex as well. If that happens, if everyone moves around looking for each other, they may go wrong.”

That's well, maybe you're right.

”But this town is where Mr. Rex's boat arrived. We rarely have ships from outside countries these days because of that storm, so this town will be a good landmark when ships from outside countries arrive safely.”

Well, if that storm is indeed what caused the ship not to come back that I heard in the Adventurer's Guild, it certainly might be the perfect landmark for everyone.

”By the way, what the hell is that storm?

I asked Mr. Kiyomori about the storm.

Because I felt something artificial about that unnatural storm.

Whose intent was it caused by that?

If we don't know what's going on around here, we'll be hit by a storm again on the way home and the ship could sink.

”That's what we don't even know.”

”Don't you see?

”Yes, there was a sudden storm a few months ago when a ship leaving the harbor arrived offshore. At first, I decided to set the day for bad luck and sail again, but once again, there was a storm. At that time, I thought bad luck would continue, but then, no matter how many times I tried to sail, there was a storm when the ship went offshore, and I realized it wasn't a coincidence.”

Seems intentional, after all, that Kiyobu and the others thought so.

It's bad that I don't know the cause.

”And the storm isn't just around here, it's like it's happening in the ocean across this country.”

”All over the country!?”

That's outrageous!? The East is by no means a big island country, but it's still an enormous size that can be called a country. It's a lot of work to cover that whole thing!?

”It's the same with ships coming from outside, and our country is no longer able to enter or leave. When it comes to what you can do, you can travel around domestic ports while maintaining a critical distance from storms. Thanks to you, business with the exotic is perfect.”

Apparently, Mr. Kiyomori's shop is also in trade.

But now we can only sell domestic transport.

”Has anything else gone wrong?

I wonder if there's any other trouble like that involving the cause of the sea going rough?

”Well, other than the fact that the ocean is rough, there's something particularly troubling... oh, yeah, there's been one big incident.”

”What is that?

Mr. Kiyomori tells me about the incident in a way that I don't really feel comfortable with.

”I just don't think this has anything to do with it. I hid from you. The general of our country.”

”General? What country are you a general in?

Did some kind of military operation cause the storm to start?

Hiding is missing... No, from the look on Mr. Kiyobui's face, you don't seem to mean what you say.

Probably means dead.

”No, my country's generals are like kings to your exotics.”

”The king of this country!?”

”Technically, no, but it's something similar.”

I see, is the king dead? That's a big case for a human being in this country.

”But it doesn't seem to have anything to do with why the ocean gets rough.”

”That's right”

Um, is this particularly irrelevant?

”Furthermore, shortly after the general went into hiding, the young man went missing, and the people upstairs are making a fuss. So I think it would be better if we let our young people look for people who have purchases rather than Mr. Rex being moved around.”

”As long as it takes...”

Seems to me that Ching Bingwei told me that he would have a room for me because of those circumstances.

I'd like to go find everyone soon, but I'm guessing this would be more likely if people with land prospects could help us find them sooner.

”Okay. If that's the case, I'll take care of you.”

”Oh, thank you for that! I'll order the young people to find your people and show them to you soon!

Having thus reached the goal of ”Echigoya”, I decided to look for everyone who was distracted with the help of Mr. Kiyobui.

I hope everyone's okay.

... but I'm also bored waiting all the time in the meantime.

◆ Gyro ◆

”Taaaaaaaa!!”

I'll turn the giant demon that was attacking the village into two pieces with a magic sword with a flaming attribute enhancement.

”You're all right now!

I give voice to the girl who was dressed in white and trembling.

This child is a sacrifice offered to protect the village from that demon.

Everything. It seems this village has been vandalized by demons for years.

I was surprised to hear that too, because this country can't hire adventurers in the village because it doesn't have an adventurer guild.

So if the demon attacked me, I'd have to leave it to the lord, but the lord who's partitioning this neighborhood has been a hipster, and once he fought this demon and lost, he's ignored the call for help from the village for a reason.

I can't keep my mouth shut if I hear you talk like that! I heard that today was the day of the sacrifice, so I sneaked in and waited for the demon to come.

”You were a snug, no big deal demon. It would have been no big deal if we had dragons and demons!

”Oh, um... oh, thank you. Me... Me”

A sacrificed girl clogs her words in tears.

Well, you were desperate to endure being eaten by demons until just now. I can't help but sort out my feelings.

”Don't worry! I took out that passage. There's nothing to worry about anymore!

I'll stroke your head when I hold the girl.