Thereafter of An Exiled Magician - CH 81

“Hm?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Isn’t that Raquel-san?”

“Where?”

As we arrived at the immediate vicinity of the village, I noticed the silhouette of human nearby.

Looking closely, it appeared to be Raquel-san, who was the adventurer that escorted the merchant Sieg-san here the last time.

“If that person is here then does that mean Sieg-san’s here too?”

“I think so.”

Well, this isn’t a place where adventurers would come visiting all the way, and the fact that he’s coming must mean that Sieg-san, who is the target of the escort, also came.

“Ooooi!”

While discussing this and that, Raquel-san also seemed to notice us, and started waving both his arms while approaching us.

Him waving his arms likely shows that he had no ill will.

We also wave our arms.

“It’s been a long time, Raquel-san.”

“It has been a long time. Sieg-san has brought over the ordered goods. Is it alright if we carried it all inside?”

“What’s with the polite tone all of a sudden? Please talk normally like you did before.”

“Oh? Really? Thanks that really helps. Maaan, this winter’s really been eventful.”

Raquel-san says that while scratching his head.

“Eventful?”

“You can heat about all that from Sieg-san. I’ve been told not to interact with you all too much.”

Racquel-san showed a bitter smile.

It seems like something troublesome had occurred.

It also sounds like it’s confidential, so it’s better not to pry too much.

“…Is that so. Then I’ll be going to open the main gate. Please let the merchant know… isn’t it quicker to go through the rear gate with us?”

“Thanks, but it’s not that much of a roundabout, so I’ll go around the outside. See ya.”

Raquel-san leaves us with those words and runs away.

“We’ll be working in the workshop so Milia, I request that you deal with the merchant.”

“Understood.”

Milia, who couldn’t bear watching Aria handle all the negotiations last time, said she wanted to handle them this time.

Aria also realized that she wasn’t cut out for negotiations, and immediately requested her to do the same.

Today will be Milia’s first job.

We headed back to the village with Milia in the front, who appeared more enthusiastic than usual.

***

“Haah.”

“What are you sighing about, Sieg-san?”

As I sigh deeply, the one in-charge of my escort, Raquel-san calls out to me.

We are currently on our way to the pioneering village.

Established in spring of last year, it was a place that shouldn’t have had this much profit dripping from it.

The situation changed in the winter of last year.

Apparently, a traveling alchemist had settled in the village.

That alchemist is capable of making the purest Earth Extract, of which even a vial wouldn’t go for less than a few million Ganes in the market.

This is the knowledge I received from an alchemist associate of mine.

I immediately went to the village thinking that I should take a bite out of it, but when I returned to my shop, I was surrounded by Margravine-sama’s private army and got taken away.

It seems that the village was under her wing.

We were carrying that large an amount of Earth Extract, which could also serve as military supplies.

Of course someone would notice.

“…Raquel-san, how do I put it, I’m really sorry you had to get involved in this mess.”

“Are you still saying such things? It’s fine already. Our salaries are already secured and in a way, this could be considered an outing.”

Raquel-san and the others followed me as my escort last time, so we ended up getting caught by the Margravine together.

Luckily, I was only doing honest business, so there was no reprimand.

Besides, since I had received their orders already, I was given the role of direct trade with that village.

Raquel-san was also hired by the Margravine, in the form of my escort.

I guess he also serves as a monitor.

“Still, doing honest business while not leaking as much information from the outside as possible, Margravine-sama has stuck us with quite the tall order.”

“There’s no helping it. If that much Earth Extract ended up in the hands of the Second Prince, it would undoubtedly lead to war.”

“I’m aware of that.”

It seems that the equipment of soldiers under Margravine-sama had greatly enhanced using the Earth Extract.

Most of the magic tools and equipment that were broken and unusable until now could be repaired by using the village’s Earth Extract.

The alchemist teacher who taught me about the village doesn’t even have time to sleep because of all the work.

He, who had stubbornly refused to take any apprentices up until now, took on a mid-level alchemist as a disciple, which goes to show how busy he is.

If that Earth Extract could be obtained regularly, there will be no worries about repairing equipment in the future.

If such a thing were to happen, the supposedly belligerent Second Prince would surely start a war.

It is said that among the southern aristocracy that supports the Second Prince, there are even belligerent aristocrats that are in contact with neighboring countries.

If the alchemist in the pioneering village finds out that we are in such a situation, he may shift his saddle to the second prince faction, which would be more useful to him.

It is also possible that he might leave in case he felt annoyed by it.

That’s why we were told to keep a lid on happenings outside of the village.

“Oh? We can finally see the village.”

“…There’s nothing strange this time.”

While I was talking with Raquel-san, I noticed the pioneering village.

At a glance, nothing had changed since we last came here.

“We’ll definitely have to stay overnight this time, but will it be alright?”

“We have the letter from Margravine-sama, so surely we will.”

Our luggage was quite heavy this time, so it ended up taking much longer than before.

Since we’ve arrived at such a time, we have no choice but to stay a night near the village.

Still, we have that introduction letter from Margravine-sama, so we’ll probably be allowed to stay inside.

I headed for the pioneering village with both hope and anxiety about this business meeting.

==========

This took longer than a few hours -_-

I’ll be careful when making commitments in the future.