"Oh no~"
"D-do something about that!"
The old men clung to her, but Mile refused to give in.
"Unless we accompany you, or you have a steel ship strong enough, there’s nothing you can do, right? Also, we are hunters, so we aren't always in this city, and how are we supposed to prepare the technology, shipyards, engineers, budget, large amounts of iron, and other things needed to build sturdy steel ships..." (Mile)
"……" (Old men, x4)
The old men were silence.
As expected, it seemed they were aware that they were asking for too much.
It was perhaps to be expected, as they had been fishermen for decades.
However, knowing and giving up were two different things.
The Crimson Vow seemed uncomfortable seeing how dejected the elderly people were.
…Yes, no matter what anyone said, everyone had a weakness for little girls, boys, cats, and old people…
"...Ah, I know! Until we leave this town and go far away, I'll accompany you a few more times! Is that okay, guys?" (Mile)
"Ohhh!!" (Other 3)
"Oooooohhhhhhh!" (Old men, x4)
The elderly people cheered with joy as they chanting "Crimson Vow."
Although Mile was trying to fit in with everyone else, she thought that as long as she was alone, she would be able to manage even if Crimson Vow was based in a fairly far away location.
Well, if she used the risky technique of "Falling horizontally" by controlling gravity...
Of course, Mile refrained from using that method of movement on Reina and the other two.
If she come by herself on a week's vacation and hired 4-5 high C-rank or B-rank hunters from the port town, and with Mile there, they should be able to manage one ship.
Besides, Mile's healing magic was probably the best in the world. Even if the Hunter they hired had his arm bitten off by a sea serpent, they'd be able to do something about it.
With such a dramatic injury, it would take about a month to heal, but if they only had crappy healing magic cast on them, even simple fractures, ligament damage, or internal organ damage would require that much rest, so no one would complain.
...In fact, they would probably be grateful and shed tears.
However, repairing missing limbs could be troublesome if rumors spread to the surrounding area.
(In that case, I'd strictly tell everyone who witnessed the missing limbs to keep quiet, and have the party immediately go on an expedition for about a month to avoid showing their injuries... And then, the injured person could stay in the inn while the other party members go out to earn money... Oh, maybe I should disguise myself in the meantime. Then, once they're better, they can come back looking normal. We, Crimson Vow, are supposed to be far away, and I can disguise myself optically, so I'll contract with the client directly without going through the guild and make it a free request, should that be a problem? It's highly unlikely that the people in the fishing village would sell information about me... If the information leaked, I just need to never come here again. …Hmm, but it would be troublesome if someone was injured and missing limbs… We absolutely must make sure that no one gets seriously injured...) (Mile's mind)
Mile was thinking far into the future and was worried about many things, but...
"…Well, we can think about the future when the time comes. The situation may change by then. Rather than worrying about it all the way up until that point, it's better to start worrying a few days before and only think about fun things until then!" (Mile)
"...You're being careless again..." (Reina)
"Mile-chan, I don't know what you're thinking, but I only make promises if I know I can make them happen!" (Pauline)
"Mile..." (Mile)
Mile looked down as the other three gave her suspicious looks.
"Anyway, I understand that ‘It is necessary to launch the second attack force.’ And when that time comes… well, we can’t come two or three days later, or four or five days later!" (Mile)
"……" (Old men, x4)
"Ahh! Why are you all looking away?! I see... If you keep delivering so many products in succession, it will cause problems for the trade guild! They won't be able to buy them anymore! At the very least, once this shipment has been sold, all consumed at the retail level, and the market is ready to accept the next shipment! Wouldn't it be a disgrace to a fisherman to let the sea serpents and fish they went to the trouble of hunting go to waste?" (Reina)
"Uh, that's certainly true..." (A fisherman)
The old men looked away when Mile pointed it out, but then Reina called them out, forcing them to admit it.
As Reina had pointed out, that was something that fishermen could not tolerate.
Putting aside sea serpents, ordinary fish were "The one who takes your life" in order for fishermen to survive. Letting them rot without any thought would be unacceptable.
...And while Reina didn't seem to care much for the Hunter Guild, she did seem to care for the Merchant Guild.
After the Crimson Lightning was destroyed, the girl had no choice but to put up a false front and become aggressive in order to survive as a Hunter on her own, but in reality, Reina was a girl who is considerate of others.
...Anyone other than those who make fun of Reina or those she considered to be her enemy.
And the old men returned to the village, thanking each other many times.
Mile had thought about escorting the old men back to the village in case anything happened to them as they brought back the large sum of money, but there was no need.
Mile and her party had thought that the old men would take the money from selling their prey back to the village, but the old men said, "We wouldn't do something so foolish."
It seemed that within the village, there was almost no buying or selling using money, and most of the time the villagers would use money in this port town.
So, what could they do to avoid being harassed by thugs looking for a little money on their way?
…That's right, they could just open an account at the merchant guild and deposit the money there.
The elderly people had their own personal accounts, and a joint village account. They deposited money into each account, and when they came to town, they could withdraw only the amount they needed.
What was put into the village joint name this time was a part of the villagers' earnings that was paid to the village as running costs, similar to a resident's tax. From this, taxes to be paid to the lord and money necessary for the running of the village were paid out.
Unlike rural areas where they could make payments in the form of wheat which had good preservation properties, fishing villages could make payments in the form of fish, which is a raw food, so there were various things to consider in that regard.
"Ah, that’s the end of the matter. Now, once every few months, we just need to go out to the open sea and go hunting together… Next time, it would be better to catch a moderate amount instead of a huge amount like this time. Once all the village elders have had their say, the enthusiasm will likely die down a bit..." (Mile)
Mile said this as she returned to the inn, but...
"I wonder..."
"I wonder if it will really fit..."
"Mile, you don't understand what humans are like... Well, it's a little late now, you know..."
Mavis and the other two muttered skeptical things in response to Mile's optimistic words.
Yes. Mile was not good at guessing what other people were thinking, both in her past life and this one.
And when they arrived at the inn...
"Oh, welcome back! What's your catch today?" (Arly)
"Ah~……" (Mile)
"There was, this guy..." (Reina)
"I completely forgot..." (Mavis)
"The original cause of this job..." (Pauline)
"Arly..." (All CV)
Author's Note
The 18th volume of the "Noukin" novel, the 3rd volume of the reboot comics, and the 1st volume of the "continuation" of the "Potion" comics... are the continuation of the 9th volume by Kokonoe-sensei, written by Futsuu Sonoshin. This is the 10th volume... and was published last week and is now on sale. Thank you for your support! (^^)/
In addition, to help you review and prepare for the "Roukin" anime, a special program will be broadcast that looks back on the first half and gives a sneak peek at the second half, "The barrage of bullets in the first half was thin! What are they doing?"
...or rather, it's already been released. (^^;
https://roukin8-anime.com/
And this marks the 600th installment of the "Noukin" series! (^^)/
It has been seven years and two months since the series began.
It is currently updated once a week, but in the beginning it was updated daily, and then for a while it was updated twice a week.
52 weeks a year. I take a two-week break three times a year, so I update 46 times a year now.
When I first started writing, I looked at my predecessors who had written 200 or 300 stories and thought, "Wow, that's amazing. I could never do that..." but before I knew it, I had written 600 stories... (^^;)
We hope you will continue to support both the novel and the comics! (^^)/