Aquarius in Full Swing

In the end, we had a few things left unsold, but we closed up the stall and stayed at the inn.

I checked how full the inn was; there were still lots of vacancies.

I made small talk with the innkeeper.

Apparently, Baron Aarg hadn't returned.

Several notables were currently discussing the city's future.

Unlike our city's prodigal son, Baron Aarg had apparently been paying his taxes to the Empire, so there was nothing from the Imperial side so far.

It also hadn't been that long since the incident.

I wrapped up the conversation at an appropriate point and returned to the room.

The three of them were relaxing, so I just told them tomorrow's plan and went to bed early so I wouldn't disturb them.

The next day, I looked around for anything worth buying here.

A merchant who only sells and never buys earns a bad reputation fast.

"Pottery might be a good option."

"Pottery, huh. Fragile stuff makes me nervous."

"Proper packaging would take care of that."

Following Alexia's suggestion, I bought up a batch of pottery.

We used the leftover fabric as cushioning and packed them into wooden crates.

I'd chosen ones with good designs, so we could sell them at our shop.

"Normally, barley and such would be good too, but that's still difficult for now…"

"They have large granary regions, right? If we could buy it cheap, that'd be good business."

"That's still a ways off."

"Yeah."

"I've loaded everything. Should we leave now?"

"That's the plan, but is anyone still tired?"

Azu finished loading the last piece of pottery onto the carriage bed.

I checked just to be safe, but there seemed to be no problems.

We set off in the carriage.

Having Alexia make the road had been the right decision.

The horse's fatigue was completely different, and with hardly any shaking, we were able to transport the pottery safely.

"It was nice that my butt didn't hurt. Actually, on the way there it was stinging…"

"I was secretly healing her."

"Well, that's good."

Azu said that while rubbing her backside.

Come to think of it, the first time it was bumpy and pointlessly tiring.

Given my line of work, I really don't want lower back problems.

And so, taking breaks in between, we devoted ourselves to peddling for a while.

In terms of trips, we must have made about ten round trips between Aquarius and Kassad.

The Imperial pottery sold reasonably well at the shop.

If I bought pottery every trip, our inventory would pile up, so when I was worrying about what else to buy, the innkeeper recommended kampyo.

I tried eating some. It was a strange food.

Apparently, you peel a gourd fruit into long thin strips and process it to make this.

When he showed me the gourd fruit, it was a melon-like plant.

When simmered sweet, it was quite tasty.

Since it was dried, it seemed to keep well.

They couldn't eat it during the drought because it was dried, so apparently there was quite a surplus.

I bought a load.

It was something I'd never seen in our city, so with the right approach, it could sell.

In Aquarius, my stall had sparked the plaza to start becoming a market.

Proof that word was spreading that Aquarius's water shortage had ended, other merchants were showing up too.

The goods that had been flying off the shelves were now selling at a moderate pace.

The apples still sold out instantly, as always.

Were our city's apples actually better quality than I'd thought?

At this rate, once food was being produced again in the granary regions, Aquarius would regain its vitality before long.

"Hey, I've been thinking."

"What is it?"

"If your family had just focused on internal affairs, wouldn't it have been fine?"

"… I was planning to do that in my generation. And it wasn't quite this prosperous before."

Alexia's voice when she said that was downcast.

She'd been so close. History was full of things like that.

"… Merchants are impressive."

"That's where you're supposed to say I'm impressive."

"Yes, yes. Master is impressive."

It was a halfhearted way of praising me, but whatever.

The market forming made procurement easier, which was helpful.

It was deeply moving that it had started with just my stall.

Where people gather, commerce naturally arises.

I understood it in my head, but when it actually happened, it was gratifying.

Most importantly, it was profitable.

Silk cloth and tea were guaranteed sellers back in our city, so I stocked up.

It took two days to sell everything we'd brought.

Setting aside procurement, selling was starting to take more time.

I'd need to work out a strategy once we got back.

The timing was perfect though. The carriage should be finished, and the shop expansion should be done too.

I placed a wooden crate packed with dried tea leaves on the carriage bed.

Azu, who was on the bed, pushed it to the back. That completed this trip's procurement.

We departed from Aquarius.

Carriage traffic had increased.

The inn was filling up more too.

The special boom was over, but the economy felt like it would get even better from here.

The absence of a lord was a concern, but that was the Empire's call to make.

We traveled by carriage at a leisurely pace for a while.

This had become a very familiar road.

Word had spread about us making a road, and surprisingly this road was being used quite a bit.

"Is making roads tiring?"

"Earth magic's advantage is that it has low consumption, so it's surprisingly manageable. If I did something like creating a golem, that would consume a lot, but just hardening earth is fine."

I see.

Handy stuff.

But a convenient road becoming known wasn't all good things.

Bandits could target it.

Varying routes to avoid bandits was a commonly used tactic, but when traffic increased like this, it attracted them.

Even now, bandits were heading our way, targeting our carriage.

"Bandits are a merchant's enemy. Do it."

"Understood."

Azu and the others dismounted from the carriage and took their weapons in hand.

I pulled back so I wouldn't be in the way.

Right person for the right job.