A Certain Merchant's Routine

The merchant looked out the window. Clear and sunny, with barely a cloud in the sky.

The sunlight felt pleasant, the breeze comfortable.

"Ahh. Nice weather today."

He squinted up at the sun through his office window.

On days like this, he couldn't help but feel something good was bound to happen.

"Coming through, yo!"

"Yoohoo～"

"'Sup!"

It was just a feeling.

… He knew it. Disasters always struck without warning.

His already thinning hair was shedding from the stress.

He was a merchant who couldn't leave the house without a hat.

What was it this time? Were they already looking to expand the ranch land?

Or maybe a complaint that all their digging turned up nothing?

… Well, hopefully his excuses would hold up. Just in case, he'd already split his assets up and hidden them away. He'd even given his son a letter with their locations, to be opened if something happened to him.

"… So, what brings you here today?"

"I wanna do an escort for a merchant heading to another town, yo. But they shot us down 'cause we wanted to hide in the carriage. So let us ride in yours, yo!"

"We wanna turn the fossil we dug up into a Golem. So we need a Golem grimoire. Stock one for us, please!"

"Hey, if I bring in stuff to sell, would you buy it? I've got a Home now, y'know."

Yes. Same as always, same as always.

The merchant pressed a hand against the bridge of his nose. Time to sort through the orders.

"I'll look into the grimoire, naturally for a fee. Whether I can purchase what you bring in depends on the items. But please, no stolen goods. This is a legitimate business. Now then, about the escort…"

The merchant answered each request in turn, same as always. And then.

"… Now, please don't get angry, and hear me out to the end, alright? The thing about escorts is, part of the job involves being visibly present to deter bandits… There's also the risk of the driver or horses being picked off by a surprise arrow… Taking turns resting inside the carriage would probably be acceptable, but…"

"Tch, you're a real stickler about that stuff, yo…!!"

"Therefore, might I suggest framing it as hiring a peddler and wagon as decoys to lure out the bandits? That would make things much smoother."

"Ooh! Smart thinking, yo! That's what I'd expect from you! So how much to hire you as the decoy, yo?"

Right, so she was asking him to play decoy and die.

Without his suggestion, he'd probably be dead already, and she was still pushing for it?

"… Ahh, unfortunately, as you can tell from my appearance, I'm getting up there in years, so I'm not exactly suited for the peddler role. Allow me to introduce a young traveling merchant I know. He's a promising fellow I've been investing in."

"Oh, yeah yeah! That'll work just fine, yo!"

Fine by her, apparently. Good. He'd just dangle a debt reduction in front of one of his indentured peddlers and foist the job off on them.

That said, doing just that would leave him with zero profit as a merchant.

"To make the decoy more convincing, it would be best to actually transport some goods. If you tell me which town you're headed to, I can arrange appropriate merchandise."

"Oh, that'd be a big help, yo. Any town except Wantos and Frirene works. Will this cover it, yo?"

With that, the black-haired twintailed disaster placed what appeared to be an enormous magic stone, roughly the size of a person's head.

Whoa.

"… Wh-what is this?"

"Apparently it's a magic stone from a monster called a Nega Great Moth, yo. Hunted it in passing on the way to a quest the other day."

Judging from the sheer size of the magic stone, this was clearly not the kind of monster you just hunted "in passing."

Just three of them had taken down the creature that produced this stone… These disasters truly were an overwhelming military force. No doubt about it.

"A-are the other two alright with this? Isn't this quite the valuable magic stone?"

"Huh. Never heard of that monster. Didn't know you'd taken one down, Alto."

"This is my first time hearing about a Nega Great Moth too! You should've told us! What kind of materials does it drop?"

"Huh, didn't I mention it, yo? It was just this huge moth that scattered scale powder everywhere, yo. Type advantage made it a pushover, but its colors were all glitched out and not something you'd wanna look at up close, yo…"

She'd soloed it. Ha ha… She was three times stronger than he'd imagined.

But right now, that was actually reassuring. The decoy peddler's fate aside, the merchandise would arrive safely, no question. Oh, he'd need to write a letter of introduction and a map to the shop in Suriad too.

"… Then let's arrange it as a trading run to the town of Suriad. I'll have the peddler transport as many goods as possible. Of course, we'll secure space in the carriage for you all to hide… In fact, shall we go with two or three wagons?"

"… Wouldn't it seem suspicious to have zero guards?"

"Mm, g-good point. If we're going for the look of some reckless peddler cutting corners, one large covered wagon would do… In that case, the amount after deducting expenses from the magic stone sale would be…"

"Put the change toward Penpen Ranch's land costs, yo!"

"Oh, you sure? Thanks!"

"You're always helping us out, yo."

… The change was going to be around five gold coins, though.

He'd better secure that land fast.

W-well, that was assuming the magic stone actually sold well, so he'd table that for now.

"… I'll get everything arranged, then."

"Alright, yo! We'll head out for today! Should we come back here tomorrow, yo?"

"Ah, I'll send the peddler to the ranch around midday tomorrow… You can meet directly there."

"Great service!"

As if he'd let them come here again…!

… the merchant thought, but kept it to himself. No matter how disastrous they were, badmouthing good-paying clients was something only a below-third-rate merchant would do.

These girls were now firmly established "business partners" and "valued customers."

Even if a stomach or two became riddled with holes, even if his hair fell out in clumps, a first-rate merchant had no choice but to keep smiling.

They seemed satisfied, smiles all around. Good. Looked like he'd survive this one too.

"Alright, tomorrow then! Let's go hit up the pleasure district! That place we went to last time!"

"Sounds great! Let's go hang with the ladies!"

And with that, the storm departed.

…

"… Now then, time to pick a sacrifice. By tomorrow…!"

The schedule was tight. He had to hurry.

The merchant began mentally listing tributes to the disasters… er, peddler candidates.