"...And what makes you think those two were fake?" (Kaoru)
"Yes, that one, it's obvious!" (Mine)
Although her tone had been a little rough earlier, Mine was already completely back to normal.
Hmmm, good job, Mine...
Apparently, she was more shrewd and capable than I had thought.
Well, it was the case of "If you're not strong, you can't survive."
...And that, "If you're not kind, you don't deserve to live."
As for whether we had the qualifications… well, since the goddess (Celes) had given her permission, it was certain we had the qualifications to live in this world.
We had an A-class license, which allowed us to participate in races (and take on reckless challenges).
...It's a secret that in the past I thought it was a "permanent license."
With this qualification, I will make my way through this world and survive!!
...Well, well, let's leave that aside...
"First of all, the way the clothes were torn was unnatural. Orphans take good care of their clothes, so rather than looking like they'd been forcefully torn or cut with a blade, the clothes looked more like they'd been worn out. And it wasn't like it was dirty with mud, it smelled like it had been soaked in juice from leftovers and had rotten smell. And her hair was clean with no signs of having been scratched by lice. And the condition of her skin was..." (Mine)
"Okay, that's fine! I get it!" (Kaoru)
Apparently Mine was in an orphanage, so she shouldn't have lived like a homeless child—wait am I stupid?! It's not like I was born in an orphanage, so I must have been living a different life before that!
It's only natural that some people are put into an orphanage immediately after losing their parents, while others aren't. What are you going to do if you forget what kind of lives EMIIRU and the others in "Goddess's Eye" were living when you first met them!
And Mine, probably...
"Your successful exploits in uncovering the enemy's undercover agents are a great achievement, Mine and Aral! It was a great effort!" (Kaoru)
"Yes!" (Mine + Aral)
They both seemed happy that they had been able to help us.
Hmm, I guess I should give them some credit for your efforts. I'll think of a reward for them later.
For now, I'll make dinner tonight instead of having Mine do the cooking class. Maybe I'll even add some fruit cake for dessert after the meal...
Okay, now all I have to do is wait for Reiko to return...
"...So, how did it turn out?" (Kaoru)
"We have confirmed the identity of our enemy. The mastermind is one of the stores we did not choose to do business with.
Those two were chosen from among the apprentice children, and when the shopkeeper heard the news of their failure, they were beaten down." (Reiko)
Using invisibility magic (I didn't know if it was light distortion or light transmission), she was able to easily track the children and follow them into the store.
If there was a master of martial arts there might have been a scene where they sensed the presence and said, "Hmph, what a tricky one!", but there was no one like that in a mid-ranking merchant house.
"Hmm, I see..." (Kaoru)
Of course, that was to be expected.
"The problem is..."
"How can we make them settle this?!" (Kaoru + Reiko)
Yep, there's no point in a noble thief stealing a store's warehouse.
Unless the story of the fools who got what they deserved for meddling with 'Little Silver' spread, the promotional effect—no, no, the 'deterrent effect'—wouldn’t have occurred.
In that case...
"Eh? An apprentice from the Meldis Company ran away and tried to seek refuge in Little Silver?"
"I had heard that Little Silver was honest and cared about its employees, but to run away from their workplace and take refuge in a former orphanage? Just how cruelly do you treat your employees, Meldis Company?"
"Then, the owner of Little Silver persuaded the runaway apprentice to return to the shop and asked them to 'stop abusing employees'. They also asked the Commerce and Industry Guild to 'prohibit any acts of violence, abuse, exploitation, etc. that go beyond the scope of guidance and education and are simply bullying or used to vent frustration.'"
"Yeah, they exploit the employees, demanding rent, food, toilet fees, and so on from the live-in staff, and then taking money from their wages under the guise of training fees, or recording it as loans on the books… That’s terrible…"
"Yeah. I guess that's not what the apprenticeship system is about..."
"Rumors are spreading throughout the city. We've been asked a lot of questions, so we've told them that the rumors are all true." (Mine)
"Well, thanks for your hard work!" (Kaoru)
Mine and Aral, who had gone to deliver goods to a store in town, returned and reported this.
My orders were that the delivery should be slow, but that they should just gather information if possible.
Yes, the rumors floating around town were all true... on the surface.
After that, I went to the store in question and read the notice out loud in front of the store.
There was no point in handing the store manager a notice, because it was just going to end up in the trash.
That's why we read it out loud in front of the store. Over and over again.
A shop owner came running out immediately, his face red with emotion, but we rejected him, saying that since it was the owner of the store that had been inconvenienced who had made the effort to come out to apologize, it should be his turn to come out and apologize as well.
Of course, the owner didn't come out, but it caused enough commotion and there was a big crowd, so our goal was more than achieved, so it was no problem.
After that, we submitted a letter of opinion to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (the rural town's Chamber of Commerce and Industry LeBell) and distributed a report of the incident to prominent stores.
…The reputation of the Meldis Company was completely ruined.
Of course, there were probably quite a few shopkeepers who were aware of this fact.
He dressed up his own apprentices as orphans and sent them to Little Silver to teach them how to dry fish...but in reality, he wasn't aiming for such a small way to earn money, but rather for the underground business of spices.
Perhaps he bribed the employees of the three stores we chose, or perhaps he obtained the information through another route...
The stores that bought our spices would of course sell them somewhere, so it became public knowledge that those three stores were buying large quantities of spices at bargain prices from somewhere. So even if the store owners kept their promise to us and kept the source a secret, it was inevitable that somewhere down the line the source would leak out.
…Or rather, they were hoping that if something leaked out, it would reach the ears of large stores and nobles, so that’s what they were saying, "It’s within the realm of expectation"…
And because they only had partial information, perhaps they thought they could seize the spice import route, or that they could become the fourth store to do business with the company...
Anyway, the fact that the Meldis Company had tried to infiltrate our company by disguising its employees as orphans became known to many shrewd merchants who were sensitive to information, and rumors spread among other merchants and the general public that the Meldis Company was abusing its employees to the point that they were running away and seeking help from other business owners.
…Well, we spread that rumor, through various routes.
Money, connections, and hunters are all worth it if you use them.
However, the Meldis Company could not deny the rumors.
It was true that two of their employees asked for protection, I knew their names because Reiko followed them after she was disappearing magically, and several people saw them walking from the town dressed like orphans towards our house. ...There was no way they could have walked from near the town center to my house without being seen, especially since they didn't come in the middle of the night.
…Good, now no one will try to send in fake orphans.
First of all, we're not an orphanage. We're a for-profit business. We don't take in orphans just because they come to us.
Did the lord think it was a charity and made it tax-exempt?
No, that's just a misunderstanding on the part of the lord. I haven't lied, and I've been carrying out everything I explained to you back then. I'm providing housing for orphans with no relatives or guarantors, putting them to work, and paying them a salary. And I'm doing it on better terms than the market rate. I'm doing my best to "support the lives of orphans."
...it's just, this is a "business that provides support to orphans," not an "orphanage." That's all.
I didn't "adopt" MIINE and ARARU. I "hired" them.
...Well, I guess I didn't take into consideration that Mine used to live here, and that she'd desperately come back after helping Aral.
Those who were struggling desperately to survive and those who simply used their misfortune to ask for alms.
Who I gave what to was up to me.
You decide for yourself how to spend your money and how to live your life.
Author's Note
I will be taking two weeks off for Golden Week.
Therefore, the next update will be on Thursday, May 14th, at midnight.
I'm sorry, but thank you in advance. (^^)/