Right on the Money

We loaded up the carriage and set off.

The cargo was a bit heavier this time, so the slaves were a little cramped.

The new carriage's bed would be more spacious, so I asked them to bear with it.

We discovered that using Alexia's wind magic and Elza's blessing on the horse dramatically increased our travel speed.

"If we leveled the ground, it'd be even faster."

"That's certainly true…"

The routes we took were more or less fixed, so I had Alexia try hardening the ground as we went.

A little wider than the carriage, to be safe.

When I asked her to use wind magic at the same time, she glared daggers at me.

"No hunter pursues two rabbits at once."

Shot down. Lectured by my slave, no less.

Since we'd be making this trip regularly, I had her prioritize the earth magic.

Flat, hard-packed, easy for a horse to walk on.

Before long, the horse's gait seemed to change.

"Oh, the pace just picked up a bit."

"Really?"

"The horse seems less tired too."

"Then it's working."

We'd gotten a late start, but all these little improvements boosted our travel speed so much that we were on track to arrive sooner than expected.

It was still too far to reach in a single day, though.

With the carriage bed so cramped, we'd packed a tent this time.

We spent the night and crossed the border the next day.

After a bit more travel, the change in environment was noticeable.

"Quite a difference."

"No kidding."

The ground, which had still been parched when we'd left Aquarius, was back to normal here.

The water had permeated through the soil.

We pressed on and arrived at the city of Aquarius.

The same man was manning the gate.

I waved in greeting and he recognized us too.

I paid the toll properly.

Last time had been a crisis period, so we'd been allowed through with just water, but that wouldn't work this time.

A merchant's currency is trust. You have to do things properly in situations like this.

"Toll received. What's the cargo?"

"Mostly everyday goods. Want to inspect?"

"Yeah."

The gatekeeper visually inspected the cargo.

After confirming there were no issues, we entered the city.

I'd set up stalls here several times before, so I planned to do the same again.

"Yohane-sama, it's completely different from last time."

Azu said, looking around the city.

The biggest difference was the smell.

Last time, there'd been a sour, stagnant odor in the air. Now, nothing unpleasant at all.

The severe water shortage had been resolved, so the city's sanitation had improved.

The water giant collapsing and washing everything clean might have helped too.

I parked the carriage in the plaza and had Elza and Alexia get things set up.

This time I'd even prepared a banner to make us more visible.

Last time, water had been scarce, so a bit of calling out was all it took to sell. But that was exceptional.

No matter how in-demand the goods were, we still needed to make some effort to stand out or they wouldn't move.

I took Azu with me and entered the Adventurer's Guild. There was a modest flow of people coming and going.

I could see a few quests posted, though not many.

Proof that things were slowly recovering.

I bought a street vendor's permit from the receptionist.

She'd become more pleasant. That said, I still didn't fully trust the Empire's Adventurer's Guild.

Though maybe the bar had just been set too low before…

I also cashed in the monster materials we'd defeated during our travels.

That was why I'd brought Azu along.

Her adventurer's proof's achievements were getting close to a good level.

I could've sold the materials myself, but having them count toward her record was the smarter move.

"Almost there."

"I haven't been doing much adventuring work lately."

I glanced at the quest board while I was at it, but peddling was still the better option.

We left the guild building and returned to the plaza.

A small crowd had gathered around the carriage.

Elza was chatting with customers, buying time.

Alexia noticed me and frantically beckoned us over.

Azu and I ran over.

"Let's get selling already!"

"Yeah, got it."

We set up wooden crates as a counter and started selling right away.

Sure enough, everyday goods were in short supply.

I chatted with a customer after he'd finished buying.

"Caravans stopped coming, y'see. There are traders who've been making the trip from before, but there's only so much one person can carry on their back. A horse or donkey increases it a bit, but still."

"I see. What about the merchant guilds?"

"Ah, they've been prioritizing food. Can't complain about that."

So everyday goods had indeed been scarce.

It wasn't the massive queue we'd had during the water sales, but there was a steady stream of customers.

The most popular item was the apples I'd brought thinking they'd make good snacks.

A whole crate sold out in the blink of an eye.

The prices were marked up just slightly above what we sold them for at the tool shop.

Unlike with the water, this wasn't charity. I was adding a handling fee.

"Real lifesaver, these prices."

"I was running low on salt. Fill this container up for me."

"These two, then. That's five silver coins."

Business was brisk.

Since we were in Imperial territory, payment was naturally in Imperial currency.

I was running a proper shop, after all.

I handled Imperial currency regularly enough that making change wasn't a problem.

The Kingdom and the Empire clashed fairly often, but even so, they had a trade treaty and the exchange rate was stable, so having a surplus of Imperial currency wasn't much of a problem.

Converting to Kingdom currency meant paying a fee though, so it was best to convert the currency into goods when returning to the Kingdom.

The iron sold out in one shot.

A blacksmith had bought the entire stock.

"Can't get nearly enough of it. Bring more next time and I'll buy it."

"Will do."

Most of our stock sold out that very day.

Looked like we'd be spending one night at the inn and heading straight back.