A Charity Event?

With Finn's test of strength concluded, they all made it back home safely.

What an ordeal this had been…

He'd never expected to end up hovering between life and death from a monster's venom.

He hadn't meant to drag Azu and the others down, but he'd been careless.

That he was alive and well was thanks to all of them.

The absence of the Wind Elemental Stone, which had stood out as a distinctive objet d'art in the house, left things feeling a little empty.

Finn's mood had improved considerably.

From Yohane's perspective, Finn's physical abilities were already so high that he couldn't tell the difference the blessing made, but according to Azu and the others, the boost was substantial.

He'd noticed she'd been troubled by something for a while, so if the spirit's blessing had resolved some of that, he was glad.

Overthinking led to unexpected injuries and mistakes.

Struggling in pursuit of growth was important, but being able to go about one's days with peace of mind mattered most.

With that, the burning stone shortage was fully resolved, and he'd confirmed through the market that supply had reached the entire kingdom.

Even come winter, prices should settle back to their usual seasonal levels.

It was especially important that Alsarm, the city on the front lines of the war with the Church of the Sun God, received an uninterrupted supply of burning stone.

Duke Baroba absolutely had to succeed…

Still, running a burning stone mine was clearly no small feat.

He'd considered getting into the business if the opportunity arose, but it seemed out of reach.

Having Azu and Alexia fill up a bag was a completely different matter.

You had to recruit and assemble a large workforce of miners, keep them working, and take care of them.

Each individual miner produced less than Azu's group, but they worked the mines day after day, hauling burning stone.

All to supply the entire kingdom.

And that wasn't all. Even if the mine hit a slow period, the operators didn't let the miners go. They kept providing drink, meals, and lodging.

Enormous profits came hand in hand with enormous labor and expenses.

Environmental considerations were necessary too.

Even though it had been a misunderstanding, the environmental issues at the root of this incident were real.

Runoff from mines contained toxins, and letting it flow unchecked would lead to mining pollution.

Even if he acquired the rights to a small mine, his current capital would guarantee bankruptcy.

He'd need roughly ten times what he had now.

In other words, it was completely out of the question.

Knowing that much was a worthwhile takeaway from this whole affair.

He'd also come away with some impressive diamonds as spoils.

They'd be a decent size even after cutting.

He could sell them, or he could have them set into something for Azu and the others.

Dressing them up was one of his pleasures. If he ever truly needed the money, he could always sell them.

After returning home, he had Azu and the others take on Adventurer's Guild quests while he spent his days at the shop with Kazusa and Orleans, brainstorming campaigns and promotions.

It seemed Azu's group was about to move up an adventurer rank, which would open up new locations and quests.

Higher adventurer rank came with plenty of benefits, so he was having them focus on that for now.

Since they were under an exclusive contract with his shop, he could screen out bad requests beforehand. They didn't have to deal with the garbage assignments that unaffiliated adventurers often got saddled with, and their earnings were consistently solid.

Adventuring really was profitable once you hit your stride.

Requests from nobles had been increasing in particular.

Noble requests tended to fall into two categories: collection jobs for rare items, ingredients unavailable on the market, or dungeon-exclusive gems; and escort jobs for overland travel where portals couldn't be used, or accompanying noble sons and daughters on their dungeon experiences.

Being an all-female, high-ranked party had given them considerable name recognition, and they were frequently requested by name.

Little did those nobles suspect it was a party of slaves and a former assassin.

Not that he thought there was anything to be ashamed of.

Their rank went up without incident, and with it, rank-based restrictions on where they could go within the kingdom all but disappeared.

High-difficulty dungeons were now accessible.

Some of those dungeons reportedly earned enough in a single run to build a mansion.

Until now, they'd mainly been working dungeons with bad reputations or ones that paid through volume of collected materials, but that was about to change.

He could safely say they'd achieved the success he'd aimed for as adventurers.

The path hadn't been what he'd imagined, but the results had exceeded his expectations. No complaints there.

Finn, the scout.

Azu, the vanguard.

Elza, the healer and mid-line.

Alexia, the rear guard who could switch to the front.

Those four could hold their own anywhere.

As he was thinking all this, Lady Anatia arrived at the house with her maid in tow.

He scrambled to receive her properly.

He served the most expensive tea and sweets the shop carried, but would they suit her palate?

What could she possibly want?

Had something happened in Alsarm?

Setting those thoughts aside, what came out of her mouth was something he hadn't expected at all.

"A charity event?"

"That's right. Could I borrow your help?"

"I'm happy to help, of course, but…"

"I think your girls would be perfect for it."

Lady Anatia had finished dealing with her immediate responsibilities, and her attention had turned to the state of mind of the common people.

The biggest blow had obviously been the meteor incident, but now that the dust was settling, new problems were surfacing.

"A significant portion of the commoners' emotional stability had been provided by religion, by the Church of the Sun God. When that was swept away all at once, and then the incident in the Royal Capital happened on top of it, they lost their anchor. The royal family is trying to serve as a spiritual pillar as well, and those girls are doing their best, but… faith is a different thing entirely."

The Church of the Sun God had once extended its reach throughout the kingdom.

Behind the scenes, they'd been involved in kidnappings and the like, but on the surface, they'd been woven into the fabric of daily life.

When people hit hard times, it was human nature to seek something to cling to.

And the thing they'd been clinging to had suddenly vanished, leaving them adrift.

"The Church of the Sun God systematically destroyed every other religion. So there's no organization that can step in as a replacement. A small number of people have even been confirmed to have voluntarily moved to the Church of the Sun God, the very organization that caused the disaster, seeking salvation."

"I see. That's certainly a serious situation, but why a charity event?"

"Everyone just needs a distraction right now. The kingdom has decided to revive spirit worship. Spirits inhabit nature itself, so they're the most relatable figures to rally around, and I think it'll work. But until that takes root, we need to let people blow off steam."

"Blow off steam… And what exactly did you have in mind for my people?"

He was thinking street performance, maybe…

"I've been considering various options, but… what about having them play instruments? Music soothes the soul, and I could teach them myself. The kingdom can't bring in musicians from abroad given the current political situation. And the domestic musicians were caught up in the meteor incident."

"Instruments…"

He glanced over at Azu and the others.

Azu had her arms crossed in an X, shaking her head.

Elza wore an enigmatic smile. She smiled like that whether she could do something or not, so there was no reading her.

Finn wouldn't meet his eyes.

Alexia looked confident.

Orleans had hidden behind a book.

… Would this actually work?