< Chapter : 3 The Giant Slave of a Small Village (3) >
“Hmm…….”
Normally, it was difficult to guess the age of the small race known as the Shai just by appearance.
But in the case of Valentine, the village chief of Florin Village, whose long white beard stretched below his chest, anyone could immediately sense his years of experience.
Behind his large-lensed glasses, his constantly moving eyes were examining none other than mushrooms.
And not just any mushrooms, but extremely high-quality truffles.
“This is truly amazing. I haven’t seen truffles of this quality since I was young.”
“Right?”
Satisfied by the chief’s reaction, Rotem chuckled and pulled over a chair to sit down.
Not only the chair, but even the ceiling and the house itself were far too cramped for a Giant like him,
so every time Rotem moved even slightly, he worried about accidentally breaking something.
Which was understandable, considering Valentine’s house was filled everywhere with shelves packed with herbs and potions.
“The ones you brought yesterday weren’t bad either, but these are on a completely different level. Where did you get them?”
“I happened to find a mushroom colony.”
“What? Near our village?”
“Yes.”
“That can’t be right. If a place like that existed, there’s no way I wouldn’t know about it. I’ve spent years here……”
Valentine’s round eyes narrowed sharply.
“……Hey. Don’t tell me you went into that cave?”
“Hmmm.”
Rotem gave an unclear answer that was neither confirmation nor denial.
In response, the chief suddenly jumped to his feet.
“Hey! How many times have I told you not to go anywhere near that place?! It’s not just dangerous because of monsters!”
“I know, I know. If I had really wandered deep inside there, would I be standing here perfectly fine right now? You’re the one who said a truffle colony is so valuable you shouldn’t even tell your own child about it.”
Rotem spoke casually, but it was not enough to remove the suspicion in the chief’s eyes.
“……Really? I’m serious, so I’ll say it again just in case. Never go near that cave. Understand?”
“Ah, alright already.”
Even after hearing the young Giant’s answer, Valentine continued staring at him for a while.
Then the chief’s gaze finally returned to the mushrooms on the desk, and at last they could move on to the main topic.
“Well-. So, you want to sell these to me?”
“More accurately, I want to sell them to the village. Didn’t the Adventurer’s Guild in Calpheon send a request for a bulk elixir order last week?
Wasn’t that why everyone suddenly started looking for these yesterday?”
“What about supply amount and delivery schedule?”
“That depends on the requested order.”
At Rotem’s bold reply, Valentine laughed in disbelief.
“No, just how large of a mushroom colony did you find?”
“Come on, stop trying to fish for information-. So, are we making a deal or not?”
“…….”
The chief silently looked back and forth between the mushrooms and Rotem’s face.
Rotem thought the old man was calculating profits and losses,
but that assumption was wrong.
“Rotem, you. Are you suddenly trying to save money because you’re planning to leave the village?”
“Huh?”
“You remember what that adventurer who left you with me said, don’t you?”
“…….”
Of course he remembered.
And because he remembered clearly,
Rotem nodded without hesitation.
“I know. Don’t worry. I don’t plan on leaving this village anytime soon.”
“……Well, if that’s the case, then that’s good.”
“So, how much?”
Rotem smiled slyly.
Valentine let out a short sigh and carefully inspected the mushrooms once more.
“……250,000.”
“300,000.”
“270,000.”
“300,000.”
“280,000.”
“Come on, Chief. You know better than this. Who do you think taught me? 300,000.”
“……290,000?”
“300,000!”
“Fine, alright! 300,000! But you have to guarantee at least similar quality to these.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
Grinning with satisfaction, Rotem stretched out his large hand.
Valentine stared at it briefly before reluctantly accepting the handshake.
Though with his tiny hand, the best he could do was grip Rotem’s index and middle fingers together.
“Ah, Chief.”
Rotem, who had crouched down to leave through the doorway, suddenly turned back.
Valentine stopped packing the mushrooms into a bag.
“Hm?”
“That dwarf man who came with the Xian Merchant Group the other day, is he still staying at the inn?”
“The dwarf…… you mean the weapon merchant? He’s probably still here. Why?”
“Oh, there’s something I want to buy. Thanks.”
“Buy something? From a weapon merchant?”
Rotem closed the door before hearing the chief’s final question.
Valentine also pushed aside any further curiosity and placed the remaining truffles into the bag.
They truly were excellent truffles.
[Done.]
As usual, once the “work” was finished, the soft, damaged low-grade mushrooms had disappeared,
and in their place, smooth top-quality truffles rolled around atop the rock.
“Good. Nice work.”
While the Black Spirit performed the “work,” Rotem had stood guard with a tense expression, constantly watching the surroundings.
In his hand, the hand axe he bought from the Xian Merchant Group’s weapon dealer absorbed the dim light, ready in case another “possessed one” attacked.
[If you’re that worried, you could just leave it to me.]
The shadow’s advice clearly saw through Rotem’s anxiety,
but Rotem shook his head roughly while placing the mushrooms into the herb bag.
“I told you already. I hate fighting. And I hate it even more when someone else controls me.”
[……Well, if that makes you comfortable.]
The Black Spirit floated lazily above the rock while watching Rotem pack the mushrooms away.
Once Rotem finished counting them, the spirit suddenly spoke again.
[How much have you saved so far?]
“You mean money?”
[Yeah.]
“Let’s see-. If I deliver everything from today too, probably around 20 million.”
[Hmm.]
The Black Spirit stopped floating and lowered itself in front of Rotem.
After a short moment of thought, its red eyes glowed faintly.
[Still far away, but things are going smoothly.]
“How much money do we actually need before reaching the ‘next stage’ you mentioned?”
[The more starting capital, the better. If we want to do this safely, we should gather as much as possible before starting.]
The Black Spirit answered casually,
but Rotem’s reaction was unusually serious.
“……So basically, you’re not satisfied with how fast the money is coming in.”
[The speed is lacking, yes. But for now, this is still the safest method.]
“What if there’s a way to make money faster while being just as safe?”
At Rotem’s words, the Black Spirit’s previously dim eyes suddenly burned brightly.
[What method?]
“You know the Xian Merchant Group, right?”
[Those merchants from the big cities who come here to buy potions and elixirs.]
The Xian Merchant Group of Calpheon.
Centered around the great merchant Enrique Encarotia, it was one of the largest merchant groups in Calpheon, the greatest city in the western continent.
Their influence covered normal trade, guild-produced goods, and even money lending.
Recently, they had also signed an exclusive contract to supply Florin Village’s high-quality herbs, potions, and elixirs to the Adventurer’s Guild, bringing prosperity to the entire village.
After signing the contract with the Xian Merchant Group, the number and quantity of products Florin needed to supply exploded so much that the village had to hire outside workers to keep up.
In a way, the reason Rotem ended up working here at all was because of the Xian Merchant Group.
“First, I get personally acquainted with one trustworthy merchant from their group.
Then I tell him there are some items I want to purchase separately from the village contract. And I’ll say I’m willing to pay above market price.”
[Items? What items?]
“Well……”
Rotem’s explanation continued for quite a long time.
He carefully explained his plan and what exactly he was aiming for.
“……So, what do you think?”
Its white teeth had already been visible before,
but now the Black Spirit smiled even wider,
answering Rotem’s question not with words, but with a bright grin.
“Hup!”
After loading the final pile of herbs onto the wagon, the dwarf wiped the sweat from his blunt nose and let out a deep breath.
“34…… 35…… Yes, that’s everything. Mr. Tulkas, thank you. Even though this isn’t your job.”
At the merchant’s words from inside the wagon, where he was checking the supplies the dwarf had loaded, the dwarf Tulkas laughed loudly and waved his hand.
“Haha! We’re all part of the same group, so what’s yours and mine? If you ever need muscle work, just call me anytime!”
“Thank you!”
After receiving his companion’s thanks with a cheerful laugh, Tulkas brushed off the herb leaves and dust covering his body before sitting heavily on a chair in front of the inn.
The loading work was finished, but there was still a meeting and contract adjustments between their representative and the village chief, so there was still plenty of time before they returned.
Normally, he would simply head to a tavern and wet his dry throat with beer,
but for some reason, this village did not even have a proper bar.
Even after all his sweat had dried, he still could not think of anywhere good to spend time.
“Hello, sir.”
A huge shadow suddenly fell before Tulkas while he sat there blankly passing time.
Following the familiar voice, he looked up and saw the large hand of a young Giant holding out a mug of beer.
“Ohh! You’re the young man who bought the axe before! Sorry, what was your name again? Ro……”
“Rotem.”
“Ohh, right, Rotem. What brings you here? Using the axe well? No, actually, it’s probably better if you never have to use it.
Haha, how about it? Isn’t it about time to sharpen the blade? Since we know each other now, I’ll do it for free.”
The beer was lukewarm and half-flat,
but to Tulkas, who had been suffering from thirst, it was more than satisfying.
Rotem sat beside him while the dwarf drained the mug as if drinking cold water and thanked him for his kindness.
“It’s alright, but thank you. When are you heading back today?”
“Ohh, our representative still has things to discuss with your village chief, so we’ll probably return a little later.”
“You’ll come again next week around the same time, right?”
“Ohh, well, probably.”
Rotem naturally took back the empty mug.
At the same time, the Giant subtly glanced around to make sure nobody was paying attention to them before leaning slightly closer to Tulkas.
“Mr. Tulkas, um…… there’s a personal favor I’d like to ask.”
“A favor? What kind of favor?”
“Well-. As you know, I’m tied here by contract, so even if there’s something I want, I don’t really have time to leave and buy it myself.
So I was hoping you could buy a few things for me next time you come. Ah, of course, I’ll pay extra.”
Considering how cautious Rotem had acted, the request itself was surprisingly ordinary.
Tulkas laughed loudly and nodded.
“Well, that’s easy enough. So what do you need?”
“I wrote it down here.”
Rotem pulled out a small piece of paper from his clothes and handed it to Tulkas.
The dwarf brushed the remaining dust from his hands before accepting the paper and slowly reading the list written on it.
“……Hmm, this much should be easy to get.”
“Ah, and there’s one more thing I want to ask separately from what’s written there.”
At Rotem’s lowered voice, Tulkas immediately realized this was the young Giant’s true purpose all along.
“What is it?”
A brief hesitation.
The Giant glanced around once more.
And finally, Rotem carefully opened his mouth.
“I’d like you to buy me one of each type of comprehensive medicine box sold in Calpheon.”
