LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 102 - Chapter 102: Arranging for Shop Duties and the Villagers
Chapter 102: Arranging for Shop Duties and the Villagers
“Why don’t I just handle the shop like usual?”
“We’ll keep an eye on things, so it’ll be fine… But it’s lonely not seeing Kuro around…”
“Gyaa~u~?”
“Yeah, Kuro is adorable…”
Returning to the stall, when I talked to Melanie about the expedition, she immediately volunteered for shop duty as if it were natural. For some reason, even the regular old men joined in on the conversation with familiar faces. They mostly just sit around, chatting endlessly while watching Kuro, Shiro, and Gisella, so they’re not exactly reliable. Well, while they may not be the leaders of the town, they seem to have some influence, so maybe they’re useful in some way…
“It’ll be fine! There shouldn’t be anyone foolish enough to mess with the infamous Bonus Company, right!?”
“Boss, get back to work already… Lately, you’ve been spending more time lazing around here than working, haven’t you?”
“I’ve been bored lately…”
“Bored… Ah, I got it! If you’re bored, how about doing some overnight work?”
“Oh, that expedition you mentioned earlier. Alright! I’m short on cash anyway!”
“I invited you, but… you’re surprisingly casual about it…”
I almost forgot, but Oscar is actually a carpenter. And a pretty good one at that. Despite always seeming a bit absent-minded, he does have his own solid shop. He’s big and his work is fast. Since he’s not the type to pick and choose his jobs, it’ll be convenient to have him along.
“Well, even if it’s ten days at most, I think we can manage the stall…”
“Probably, Mary from the tailor shop will help out, is that okay?”
“Yeah, the second daughter, right? She seems well-suited for customer service. Well, I’ll leave all the decisions to Melanie, including that. If it seems too tough, we can just close the shop.”
“Got it. I’m getting better at making coffee too. Let me handle it casually.”
“Thanks!”
“Hey, Bonus. When and where should I go? And how much will I get paid?”
“Oh, we leave in six days at dawn from the East Gate. Bring all the tools you think you’ll need. If they’re heavy, I can carry them for you. As for the payment, it’s mostly a daily allowance――――”
“――――Got it!”
With that, Oscar finished his coffee and left with light steps. What about his shop and the employees and the imps there? Surely he’s not bringing them along… I invited him on a whim, but is it really okay…? I’m starting to feel uneasy about various things.
“Bonus, let’s go to Mil-chan’s place soon.”
“That’s right. Depending on the situation, things might get complicated…”
…
“――――So, we’ll stay in the city!”
“Don’t mess around! We need manpower from now on… and you’re just going to abandon your hometown!?”
Ah, it’s becoming troublesome after all… There seems to be a dispute between the young singles who don’t want to return to the village and the ones who want to rebuild the village quickly. Fifteen people want to live in the city. Three of them are women. It’s not that many, but… losing about ten percent of the population, especially young talent, hurts. I expected something like this, but I thought things would have been settled to some extent by the time I arrived. Unfortunately, it seems like it’s gotten quite complicated… Mil has a grim look, but she’s not participating in the conversation. If it were her usual self, she could have handled this kind of conversation smoothly. But she’s one of the people leaving the village. She’s already explained and understood that, but it would be difficult for her to join this discussion… The village chief and Miles also have bitter expressions, but they don’t seem to take either side. Miles probably lost his influence after messing up before. The village chief seems to be planning to watch over the situation to some extent… I can’t really interfere with this either. Even if I were a villager, I’d probably want to go to the city… But still, it’s painful just to watch this turn into a fight without doing anything about it.
“Hey, you guys. Do you have a place to sleep in the city? What about money?”
“G-Gisella-san… Of course, we’re thinking about it! We found a cheap inn with a room where five of us can sleep together. As for money… we’ll earn it through mercenary work from now on. We’ve even taken down imps and black wolves in the village. Plus, I borrowed some money from a guy I got friendly with at the inn, so we should be able to get by for a while!”
“Where is this inn located? And by when do you plan to repay the money?”
With a slightly stern expression and a somewhat unfamiliar, slightly cold tone, Gisella continues to ask questions. It’s rare for her to stick her nose into this kind of thing on her own.
“At the back of the Dogor Underground Market. It’s not very comfortable, and there are some weirdos around… But as long as you move carefully, you’ll be fine!”
“You just have to repay the money within ten days. They did mention that if it goes beyond that, they’ll ask for a bit more… But they also said they’ll introduce us to some work if that happens.”
“Is that so? Hey, what do you think, Bonus?”
So she’s turning to me for this… Well, let’s consider it a rare moment of her being dependent on me. But there’s really no need for us to take on such a role voluntarily. It’s common for young people to recklessly self-destruct, while only a few lucky ones succeed. Personally, I think we could just leave them alone… But if Gisella has something on her mind about this, I’d like to understand and accommodate it as much as possible.
“All of these guys will probably be dead within a few months, Gisella.”
“I wonder how many will last a month…”
“W-Why! We’ve thought about where to live, money, and work!”
“Borrowing money from the black market is no different from a slave contract. Basically, the money is set up so you can’t repay it, and if that happens, you’ll end up doing hard labor until you die.”
“Eh… Th-That’s…”
“Not if you take mercenary jobs!”
“Not all fifteen of you can fight, can you? And don’t you lack weapons and armor? Do you even know the going rate for rewards?”
“Uh, well… I’m not sure…”
Whenever Gisella asks, the young people who were so enthusiastic gradually become more anxious, and now they’re discussing among themselves with uncertain voices. Well, there might be various ways to handle this, but it’ll require quite a bit of luck to make it work. And borrowing money already… that’s quite bad.
“Gisella, if our company covers their debt, will it cause any trouble?”
“Huh? Trouble… hahaha. There’s no way~. Right now, there aren’t many organizations foolish enough to antagonize the Bonus Company in Savoia, right?”
“Eh? Is that so?”
“Well~ It seems like you’re quite feared around the black market area yourself, and Kuro, Shiro, and Zamza are quite noticeable too. You’re even on good terms with famous mercenaries like Marie and Hajiramu in Savoia. Once, the leader of the Bonus Company got into a fight with the leader of a mercenary group who offended him, hahaha. That was fun~. Plus, we have the acting lord backing us now, right? Well, if you think about it normally, no one would want to antagonize us intentionally~”
“I see… Well, I’ll go talk to them later about taking over the debt then.”
“Huh… It’s not like we…”
“Thank you!”
While the reactions among the fifteen vary on the surface, most of them seem relieved. As much as I hate to admit it, they’re quite clueless bunch…
“So, here’s the deal――If you guys want to live in the city, that’s fine. But in exchange for covering your debt, you’ll actively work on transporting goods between the city and the village, as well as escorting and guiding villagers who come to the city. There should be an increase in such requests in the future. Also, I will take over your original homes in the village, repair and renovate them, to be used as a base for the village’s reconstruction work. The current village needs a place for mercenaries to stay, and it’d be better to have facilities available for when you guys come to the village for work as mercenaries.”
“I-I see… Thank you…”
“Got it!”
“So, you guys will be called the Vaintz Mercenary Corps. Basically, you’ll prioritize jobs in Vaintz Village. Most of you will probably want to quietly live here someday. Even if that happens, as long as you haven’t abandoned the name of Vaintz Village, it’ll be easier to return to the village to some extent, right?”
“I don’t want to quietly live… I’m more suited to city life. I don’t intend to return to the village… I think…”
“Well, just think of it as not losing your hometown, okay? Even if you guys want to quietly live here someday, having a contact point for someone from the city wanting to settle in Vaintz Village would be helpful for the village. You know it’s difficult to maintain the population in a frontier village, right? While you work, increase your allies in the city, expand the mercenary corps, and if someone in the city gets tired of living there, you can introduce them to the village. It’ll also serve as a receptacle for those in the village who want to go to the city.”
“Thank you very much! Thank you!”
“Yeah, if that’s the case…”
It seems not only the young folks who want to live in the city but also those eager to rebuild the village are understanding the situation. It’s quite an optimistic estimate, but if I left them unattended, it’ll just end in a falling out. Compared to that, this proposal should offer a far brighter future. There are gains for me too. The lent money may not come back right away, but having readily available talent in the city is quite helpful. Perhaps I could even put them to work at the stall. While it’s gratifying to see the popularity rising, the shortage of manpower is a fact. Plus, relying solely on the hideout for harvests has its limits. Eventually, I’d like to expand the variety using crops from Vaintz Village. With that in mind, I’m willing to contribute money positively. Anyway, we need to appoint a leader for this promptly.
“All right, um… Sarah! You’ll be the captain of the Vaintz Mercenary Corps!”
“Yes! …Huh? Captain?”
Amidst the mumbling and excuses from the men earlier, she’s the only one that thanked me crisply. If she’s to be the liaison, someone like her would be better. While not particularly beautiful, her big, almond-shaped eyes, reddish hair, and freckled face have a certain charm. I remember she used to raise goats and sheep in the village. She’s only twenty, but she lost her parents early and lived alone in a large house adjacent to the livestock shed on the outskirts of the village. With the Black Wolf attack, her livestock would undoubtedly have been wiped out. I see… Is that why she decided to leave for the city? There are reckless ones, but there are also those with circumstances like hers. It’ll be difficult to offer new jobs in a village starting from below zero… Perhaps the village chief sensed that and didn’t try to stop her.
“Bonus… Is it really okay for me to be the leader of the mercenary corps?”
“You’ll do fine! Well, I’m not sure…”
“It’s okay. Just say you’ve been appointed by Bonus of the Bonus Company.”
“I agree. Sarah may not look it, but she’s quite savvy. She’ll manage the men skillfully like sheep.”
“Useful as sheep~. Well then, Sarah, please take care of them.”
“Yes!”
“Sheep…”
It seems Gisella and Mil are fine with it. Despite the men muttering earlier, they don’t seem to have any particular objections to Sarah being appointed as the leader. Maybe she’s unexpectedly suitable for the role. Is this decision for the best…? While thinking about that, Gisella wraps her arm around me from behind and leans in quietly. I don’t know much about her past, but perhaps she too had a reckless and naive period in her life…
Kuro and Shiro seem to have gotten bored quickly and are now entertaining the bored children. Shiro is surprisingly adept at holding and smiling at babies. Kuro is playing some sort of soccer game with slightly older kids, and they seem to be having a blast. No matter how many gather, it seems difficult for the kids to take the ball from Kuro…
“Let’s leave the detailed discussion about the expedition for tomorrow and deal with the debt quickly. If it takes too long, Elizabeth might come worried about Kohaku. Well then, Sarah, could you show me around?”
“Y-Yes, of course!”