Have You Ever Seen the Sea?

While traveling by carriage, Yohane noticed something.

The earthen road he'd had Alexia create—shrewd merchants had already started using it, just as he'd expected.

It was obvious at a glance, so there was no helping it.

The fatigue on horses and mules was drastically reduced, and there was no risk of them stumbling, tripping, and breaking a leg.

The people riding in carriages benefited from less jostling too, so it was all upside.

Fragile goods like wine, which had a high breakage rate and normally required a very well-built carriage to transport, could be carried along this road with just a little care.

"Feels like there's money to be made here."

When Yohane said that, Alexia shrugged.

"In practice, mages get used more for infrastructure than for combat. A military unit of mages could build a small fortress in a single day."

"Come to think of it, there was a quest at the Adventurer's Guild for road construction. Do mages never have to worry about money?"

"It depends on your proficiency and element, but if you reach the intermediate level, you won't go hungry. Starting out is tough, though."

She wrapped up her point with that.

"I'm envious."

"It's not all roses. You get worked to the bone, after all."

"Being needed is a good thing."

Azu turned to face Alexia as she spoke.

Since the road they'd built was being used by others, Alexia was sitting on the cargo bed, actively constructing more road as they went.

"If we tried charging a toll for a road we built without permission, the local lord would probably come to kill us."

"Well, yeah, it affects commerce. There's no excusing that one, Master."

"True enough. Not on someone else's land, at least."

For Yohane, who was just a merchant, it was an idea he could think of but not execute.

"But it might be worth thinking about this kind of venture."

"I'm a slave, so I can't exactly refuse. But if you go that route, at least hire proper people first."

"Alright, alright."

Yohane gave Alexia her answer.

Now that things were finally gaining traction, he had the luxury of entertaining new prospects.

A business that required no capital was naturally lower risk than one that did.

The shop would remain the core operation with its solid customer base and steady turnover, but he did want to dabble in a range of low-risk, low-return ventures.

The whole setup of buying slaves and having them work as adventurers was part of that—essentially a slave-based business.

He'd invested more than what he'd call low-risk, admittedly.

Given the nature of dealing with people, the costs went beyond expenses alone—management, support, and everything in between demanded attention on countless fronts.

At first, he'd considered recruiting in bulk and earning through sheer numbers, but he'd abandoned that idea shortly after buying Azu.

Hiring a manager would mean additional payroll, and there was no guarantee said manager wouldn't do something to the slaves.

Finding trustworthy people was difficult.

In the end, he hadn't added any slaves after Alexia, and here they were.

He'd expected to need more patience, but the results had exceeded expectations.

Expenses included, the venture had turned a profit, and this latest haul was set to push those numbers even higher.

The shop had just been expanded, and they'd acquired a carriage appropriate for their scale, so they were still well short overall—but things were moving.

There wasn't much to do while riding in the carriage.

He and Azu chatted idly to pass the time.

"That Dragon was incredible… I never imagined you could actually talk to one."

"Yeah. I'd rather not get involved again if I can help it, but it seems like there's history with the Church of the Sun God."

According to Elza, apostles of the Creator King faith were involved in how dragons came to be.

For Yohane's group, who had an unreasonable number of ties to the Creator King faith, dragons were unlikely to remain strangers going forward.

Once they got back, he had no plans to visit the Empire for a while.

Profitable as it was, it was also exhausting.

He wanted to unwind. He needed a refresh.

"Hey, how about we go to the sea?"

"That sounds great! But where'd that come from all of a sudden?"

"A lot happened, but we got through it without any injuries. Figured we could go to the seaside for a change of scenery."

"The sea?"

Azu asked.

For someone raised in the mountains—a poor village at that—it was a place she'd never seen or even heard of.

"It's a place where water stretches as far as the eye can see. There are fish, too. You can swim. It'll be a nice change of scenery."

"And the water's salty if you lick it."

"Well, it is where salt comes from…"

"Not a bad idea, actually. You do come up with a decent suggestion every now and then."

Azu had gone quiet after hearing the part about salty water stretching out everywhere.

She seemed unable to picture it.

Elza stroked Azu's head.

"You'll be blown away when you see the real thing. Something to look forward to, right?"

"Is it a fun place?"

"Well, yeah. Worth seeing at least once. I've been a few times."

"Okay. I'm looking forward to it."

"Good."

Alexia pulled out a map.

A cheap one that showed only rough geography.

Proper maps were state secrets and didn't circulate, so you had to make your own.

"If we head back first, then the sea is to the northeast."

"Yeah. The route there is easy, and the area's been developed for tourism. Perfect."

Incidentally, heading southeast would take them toward the Church of the Sun God's headquarters.

"Then we'll need swimsuits. Right?"

"Yeah. I doubt they sell them anywhere except on-site, so we'll buy them once we get to the coast."

"How generous. That's one of the things I like about you, Master."

Elza said that and tried to cling to Yohane from the cargo bed, but Azu quietly slipped between them.

Azu ended up getting hugged instead, but Elza didn't seem to mind.