Departure And A Promise (1)

Hey, Shun here!

I don't have any driver's license, even in my previous life. I have tried driving at a special driving course before but since I'm still young, I'm not allowed to use a car.

As someone who lives around the center of our city, using public transportation is more than enough. If we ever needed to go somewhere else, we could also ask our father and mother's employees but, we've rarely troubled them.

Now that I have the [Divine Warp Feather], I doubt we'd need a lift if we already visited that place, anyway.

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(Shun's POV)

The girls are currently out, along with Liza, to buy some extra things that we would need for the trip to the labyrinth city. I also have to run some errands later but, I decided to wait for the girls to return before proceeding to that.

Why did the girls go on an errand of their own, you ask? Why not? They could properly take care of themselves right now and, given all the skills that they have gained through the [Group Chat], I'm pretty sure they'll be able to protect themselves against some random hooligans.

Anyway, it's been three days since we've arrived in this place and I'm currently outside the inn, watching the passersby as they went about with their business. While there would be some occasional folks who would look back at me and nod their head in greeting, many would just entirely ignore me and/or stare at me in animosity, as if I killed their entire clan or something.

Behind me, three little girls are busy trying to tend to the horse of the new visitors of the [Gate Inn]. These three who are namely; Pochi, Tama, and Yuni, are busy scrubbing the horses with their brushes.

They went, "Yoisho~, yoisho!" as they cleaned the horse in a very trained manner, as if they're already used to doing this.

"Horsey-san is so behaved nanodesu! There there, good boy nodesu!"

"Hnng! Hmm, where is the stool that I brought here? Ah, there it is!"

The three of them couldn't completely reach the back of the horse when they are just standing so they have to go on their tippy toes. If they still couldn't reach it, they would use the stools that Yuni specifically brought with her for such purposes.

Ah! I'm healed! Bless them and their cuteness.

You must be wondering why I'm not helping out these kids. Trust me, I tried multiple times. However, my help was turned down multiple times as well.

It seems like, since I am a 'guest', I wasn't allowed to help them out. The inn lady, Ms. Mosa, might scold her, Yuni said. Since I didn't really want her to lose here job during the second day of her working here, I backed away and watched the passersby instead.

A few minutes later, Pochi and Tama arrived to help, in which Yuni did not refuse. Based on what I saw these past few days in this city, orphans and demi-human children could often be seen wandering around the streets looking for jobs, and are doing their jobs together.

This is why the human children have no discrimination against the beastkin. This is why Yuni instinctively allowed Pochi and Tama to help out in cleaning the horses, forgetting that they both are guests as well.

Oh, wait, speaking of horses, how would we supposedly 'travel' to the Labyrinth City without any carriage to carry us there? We would need it as cover, as well as some supplies so that we would look like some real merchants.

Hmm… Where should I buy some horses, as well as the carriage though? Right, we came across that station-like place where it looks like it's a stable at a location near the gate entrance of the city. Maybe I could ask them if they're selling horses there?

On hindsight, though, wouldn't that be like asking a group of taxi drivers where to buy cars? However, it's not like I have any other choice. Well, it's better than nothing I guess.

As I watched the three do their work, a mature woman who seems to be around 20 or something came outside the inn. Since I was just outside the inn, our eyes met.

This lady here, according to Ms. Mosa, is a regular customer of this inn. It's not really some important information but, I saw her working at a tailoring shop.

The lady nodded her head at me as a form of greeting, all while showing a soft smile on her face. Since she greeted me, I also bobbed my head slightly while saying, "Hello…"

After that… there wasn't anything after that. She left while I went back to minding my own business.

At some point, Martha-chan came outside and started a conversation with me. We chatted for about an hour or so before Ms. Mosa came outside to tell her to work.

"Martha, go help Yuni upstairs. She's been doing the cleaning all by herself right now."

Ms. Mosa then looked at me before saying…

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation Shun, but Martha needs to go back to work now."

"Ah, it's completely fine, Ms. Mosa. I'm sorry for obstructing her work."

It didn't take long before the girls finally came back. The first to welcome them back was Pochi and Tama who seems to have sensed their arrival long before they even arrived.

They were carrying a whole lot of stuffs when they arrived, that includes some dress, fruits, vegetables, and etc. We still have lots of those things in stock inside my and Tsuka's inventory but, I don't think I mentioned that to them so…

Eh, my bad.

Anyway, I'll tell that to them later. And so, I decided to procrastinate and left the inn without them knowing my blunder.

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I wasn't in any hurry so I walked towards the stagecoach station leisurely while observing my surroundings. Tsuka is also with me, curiously looking at the passersby and observing them like what I'm doing.

Even though I was walking in such a leisurely pace, we still managed to arrive at the station after a few minutes. Both the [Gate Inn] and this place are nearby the gate entrance of the city so of course it will only take me a few minutes to arrive there.

Once I arrived, I looked at the men who are gathered at one spot and is playing some board games, trying to figure out who I should ask for directions. It was then that my gaze landed at an old guy who's standing behind the middle aged guys who are playing board games.

Thinking that it would be a safe bet to ask this elderly, I directly approached him.

"Excuse me sir, can I have a bit of your time?"

"Hmm? What is it, kid?"

Oh, I feel like I chose the right person to ask already. He seems to be the sort of no nonsense kinda person so it would be easier to ask him questions.

"Do you happen to know where they sell horses and carriages in this city, sir? We are in need of one right now so, if it's not an inconvenience could I ask for directions?"

Sure enough, the moment I asked this question, the elderly man immediately referred me to a certain location.

"If you're fine with used ones, the Merchant Guild should have them. They're looking for buyers right now, if I'm not mistaken."

Merchant Guild, huh. Why didn't I thought of that? Of course there will be a Merchant Guild in a fantasy world.

I immediately thanked him. After exchanging a few more words with him, I asked him if he could bring me there, in which he immediately agreed.

Thus, I rode on his carriage cab, the destination being the Merchant Guild. When we arrived there, the coachman who escorted me to the merchant guild kindly acted as a bridge between me and the guild, mediating between us.

"We don't usually sell to people who isn't a member of the Merchant Guild but, since you're introduced by Yosagu-san, I'll make an exception for you."

Yosagu-san, that's the name of the kind elderly coachman who escorted me here and mediated between me and the Merchant Guild. He's really been a great help to me, like, seriously.

By the way, the name of the merchant who's talking to us is Sunuva-san. I don't mean to be blunt but, he's an ordinary looking middle-aged man with a slickback hairstyle that doesn't suit him due to his wide forehead.

Sunuva-san aside, I was led around the Merchant Guild before arriving in front of two carriages. One of them is a covered wagon, while the other one is a box-shaped carriage that is about 2 meter high, and with a luggage space on the ceiling. The space inside the two carriages are both around 4 tatamis, or 6.48 sq meters.

I was told that the two costs around 10 and 30 gold respectively, which is really quite expensive.

"Hmm… What to do… We really need a carriage right now…"

As I was thinking whether or not I should buy it, I suddenly remembered that we have a [Dimensional Shop]. I should just buy a carriage from there!

"I'll pass on the carriage for now, mister. But, can I buy two horses instead? Also, I'd like to buy some goods from your guild. If it's alright with you, could you introduce me to some products that I could maybe sell at the Labyrinth City of Celivera?"

Sunuva-san showed a bit of disappointment when I didn't show any interest on the carriages but, when I told him that I would like to buy other products, his eyes lit up for a second before returning to normal. As expected of a merchant, he's good at hiding his emotions.

"Right, then, we could prepare two Gontsu horses from the guild for you. As for the products, I think that crossbow and bolt would have demands in the Labyrinth City. Since the crossbows from Seryuu city are made to shoot the Wyverns who often fly on the sky, its specs are higher than from other regions so it would most likely sell like hot cakes over there too. Also, since it's currently cheap to procure goat leathers and furs due to the season, I think it would be easy to profit on it."

Oh, right, I heard about the leather stuff from the girls earlier. Huh, I should procure these things then. It would be a nice side profit. We can never refuse easy money now, can we?

I could also go back and forth this city and that Labyrinth City if I wanted to…

Just as I was thinking about such things, I was suddenly hit with a question that I'm not very familiar with.

"Excuse me but, does Shun-sama have commercial right?"

What's that? A permit? I think it is.

"I don't have one right now, unfortunately."

Of course. How could I overlook that a permit is necessary?

"That's unfortunate, we can only issue a permit for 10 gold coins."

"That's quite expensive." Should I take it? If I take it, would I even make a profit once we arrive at the Labyrinth City?

Sunuva-san seems to have noticed my questioning gaze as he began to explain.

"One doesn't need a permit to do trades in small quantities inside the city but, if you enter a city without one, then you won't be exempt from the tariff tax. This would then mean that the profit that you will be getting from doing business will be next to nil…"

"I see…"

Now, the question is, should I try to make profit illegally(by putting the items inside my [Storage]) or should I just buy what Sunuva-san is offering?

Well, this isn't really a hard choice to make. Since there's no real reason for me to do anything illegal here, I'll just buy the permit.

"If you don't plan to go to other cities, then there's an item that is exempted from tax in the Labyrinth City. However, since the tax for it in other cities is quite high, there's really no meaning to selling it to somewhere else other than the Labyrinth City." Sunuva-san added.

I was curious, so I asked.

"What kind of item is it?"

"Because there is no demand in this city, they don't have a name here but, it's in constant demand in the Labyrinth City. It's an alchemy material called Dragon White Stone."

What a fancy name for just a stone.

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※~To be continued~※

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Author's Remarks:

※ Finally done with the chapter! It was fun though xD!