And the next morning.
"Well then, today we'll do our best too!" (Reina)
"Ohhh!" (Other 3 + Arly)
"..." (1 of them)
"......" (2 of them)
"........." (3 of them)
"……………………" (4 of them)
"…………………………" (All)
"Why is there one more person?"
Yes.
Four replies came to Reina's call.
One was too many...
Is this the entrance exam for Space University[1]?
And Mile, as always, was thinking about something the others didn't quite understand.
"This is where we roast unauthorized intruders..." (Mile)
"The extra one is definitely Arly!" (Reina)
Mile, who had been excited at the prospect of playing detective games, is disappointed by Reina's cold, firm response.
"We're about to go to work as a hunter, so why are you, a merchant, following us? No, even if you were a hunter, there would be no reason for you to follow us!!" (Reina)
"That's right! And if you think about it, she's a merchant and a miser. Aren't her character traits exactly like mine? Is she trying to threaten my position?!" (Pauline)
Following Reina, the voice of a displeased Pauline came...
Oh, I didn't realize their characters were similar... And she was aware that she was a miser... (Mile, Mavis, Reina)
Moreover, Reina was also a "self-proclaimed merchant."
If three out of five people were merchants, their individuality would be buried.
Reina, who had a strong personality, didn't seem to mind at all, but for Pauline, who considered herself plain and inconspicuous, it seemed to be a big problem.
The members believed that Pauline had strong enough personalities due to her being "miserly," "big breasts," and "sinister"...
"Well, it's not really a problem for us if she come along... The storage magic has already been made public within the Hunter Guild, and the reason we were low-ranked was because we hadn't registered as Hunters until now. Since we always hunt Orcs and Ogres, everyone knows that our skills are on par with upper C-rank to B-rank... That as well, we're now C-rank. So, if there is a problem, it is whether Arly can withstand the danger of the hunting grounds we are going to..." (Mile)
Mile says "It's no problem," but it would be bad if she found out the true nature of Pauline's hot magic... that it extracted capsaicin, the spicy ingredient. It would definitely be a triple combo of money, the source would be investigated, and money-grubbers would gather.
But Mile didn't seem to notice.
"Eh……" (Arly)
Arly's face turned pale as she heard Mile's explanation.
Arly, a farmer's daughter aiming to become a merchant, naturally had no experience fighting monsters. Therefore, it was almost certain that she would be killed instantly even by goblins or kobolds.
And the hunting grounds that the C-rank Crimson Vow was heading to was not a place where only monsters for novice hunters, such as slimes, kobolds, and goblins, appeared.
It was by no means a place where an ordinary girl who wasn't a hunter could move around safely.
"Well, if you think about it, a merchant's job is to buy and sell catch and materials! It's not good to intrude on or steal the work of people in other industries!" (Arly)
It seemed that Arly was in "high tension mode" in order to behave like a merchant, and she spoke quickly.
"...Then I'll be waiting here for you all to return!" (Arly)
"There's no need to wait!!" (Reina)
Reina shouted, and Mile and the others nodded in agreement...
"...So, what should we do, that..." (Reina)
Reina spoke in a troubled tone as they headed towards the forest where they were hunting.
"Even if you tell me what to do..." (Mavis)
Mavis also answered with a troubled look on her face.
"In order to avoid causing trouble to other hunters or the Hunter Guild, we can't break our promise with the Guild Master, but we can't exploit loopholes in the agreement and sell directly to a commercial guild or store. And even if we did, we could just sell it directly to them, so there's no reason for us to have to use her as an intermediary and have her take a cut of the profits, right?" (Reina)
"Of course, that's true! We at Crimson Vow have a person in charge of sales, after all!" (Pauline)
Pauline seemed adamant on that point.
"In the first place, she's just a small-time merchant who came here with the aim of getting some cash for Mile-chan. So, what do you think would happen if we let them profit from our sympathy without any benefit to us?" (Pauline)
"Small merchants and fledgling merchants from around town are gathering..." (Mile)
"No, that's not it." (Pauline)
Pauline denies Mile's reply.
"All sorts of merchants from around town, as well as other money-grubbers, will flock here. Of course, it's like a magic wand that, if you just persist a little, will easily spit out material that will make you a huge profit. So, if we don't want to get into any trouble, we shouldn't deliver to anyone other than the Hunter Guild, whether we have an agreement with the Guild Master or not... It would also be best to stop direct transactions with the Merchant Guild. There will likely be an arrangement with the Hunters Guild to divide up the work, and it would be difficult to resist pressure from powerful merchants. The Merchan Guild's probably not going to be like the Hunter's Guild..." (Pauline)
"Hee~..." (Mile)
Mile's eyes widened as he listened to Pauline's explanation, but he seemed to understand.
"So, Arly-san is completely ignored, you're not going to pay her any attention? I feel a bit sorry for that too... She was the only one who noticed something that the other merchants hadn't noticed, and she stuck to it, risking her life for it, right? In order to show her respect for her talent, even if it doesn't go as far as the Zojirushi Award[2], she should at least receive a Best Effort Award or a Best Passion Award..." (Mile)
"Again, something incomprehensible..." (Reina)
Reina was shocked, but this time it was better than usual as she was able to understand everything except the mysterious word Zojirushi Award.
"It seems that the other merchants haven't noticed yet, so what about a one-off, where we let her make a little profit and then cut ties with her?" (Mile)
Mile suggested this, but...
"You're being naive. Even if we think that way, it's unlikely that a merchant will give up and let go of a lucrative business once he has it in his hands. They'll be following us around forever, that's for sure!" (Pauline)
Since it was Pauline who was saying it, it was all too convincing.
"That's a problem..."
"That's a problem..."
"That's a problem..." (2 of CV)
A normal Hunter would quietly deal with anyone who discovered their secrets and started stalking or blackmailing them, but of course, Mile and her companion had no intention of doing such a thing.
That's why…….
"After all, how about we give her something valuable just once as a congratulatory gift, and then say, 'This is the first and the last time. If you don't want it, then we won't give you anything and we'll cut ties.' And then we'll say that we won't accept any requests from anyone else in the future..." (Mile)
That's what Mile suggested.
"Hmm, I guess it can't be helped... We don't really need to do that for her, but we have a policy of giving rewards to those who work hard... Well, that's fine with me. If anything trouble occurs after that, we can just quickly leave this town and head for the royal capital. The penalty for her in that case will be for the story to spread throughout the Hunter's Guild and the Merchant's Guild that 'a party with a large capacity storage user left this town because she was following us around.'" (Reina)
"...Does that mean she won't be able to make a living as a merchant in this town anymore..." (Mile)
Mile said worriedly in response to Reina's words, but...
"It's a penalty for something she did wrong, so of course it's going to be severe. Besides, if she goes to another city or the royal capital, she can continue being a merchant." (Reina)
Hearing this, Pauline nodded enthusiastically.
"I have no objection to that either."
"If that's what you say, then I have no problem with it."
Reina, Mavis, and Pauline also agreed with Mile's idea.
Author's Note
This is an announcement. (^^)/
...
Translation Note
[1] 宇宙大学 (Uchuu daigaku), literal translation: Space University
[2] 象印賞 (Zoujirushi shou)
I don't know what those mean.