Chapter 79 – To the Royal Capital Part 3

Translator: SFBaka

Editor: Thor’s Stone

Cleria and the others seem to have planned a shopping trip in the downtown area. I didn’t really need to buy anything, so I just went and returned to the Clan Home ahead of the ladies.

I would have come with them if they just didn’t take so long to shop. But since they did, I’m sorry, but they’ll have to pardon my hasty exit.

Oh, right. Guess I’ll buy a wine cask on the way. The white wine we had yesterday was quite delicious.

Ah, oh no! I completely forgot to check up on Karl. I’m not sure if he’s there, but I guess I’ll drop by the inn he stays at first.

This was it. It’s the inn named ‘Sunbeams’. When I went inside, I immediately spotted a woman who looked like the landlady of the place, so I called out to her.

“Is Karl from Gale present? If he’s here, then I’d like to talk to him for a bit please.”

“He’s here, however…… I’m sorry, but who are you again?”

“Ah, excuse me. I’m Shining Star’s Alan.”

“Shining Star’s Alan-san!? P-Please wait for a moment!”

The person who seemed to be the landlady hurriedly went up the stairs. Before long, Karl came down to the first floor. I could also see the landlady’s figure following from behind him.

“Yo, Karl! Sorry for dropping in on you all of a sudden. I have something I wanna talk to you about.”

“Something you wanna talk about? Then let’s sit over there first.”

We moved to the inn’s dining hall on the first floor. It looks like there were no other customers present.

“Here you go, Karl. It’s white wine. We drank it yesterday and I found it pretty tasty, so I bought some again today. This is your share.”

I gave Karl one of the two wine casks I bought earlier.

“Whoah! You didn’t have to, man. But I’ll thankfully receive it. Rita! Two mugs of ale please.”

Karl ordered some ale from the landlady.

“So what do you wanna talk about?”

“Actually, we’ll be heading to the royal capital tomorrow. There are talks about me being granted an aristocratic peerage, so we’re heading there for that.”

“A peerage!? That’s pretty amazing, man! I see…… Well, I guess it makes sense. But you’re going to become a noble huh……”

“Do you think it doesn’t suit me? Actually, I think so too.”

The landlady brought over the ale.

“Hey, Rita. See? I told ya Alan was my good buddy. She didn’t believe me no matter how much I insisted that I was good friends with ya, you see. Oh, and Rita’s my wife by the way.”

“Eeh!? This young and beautiful lady is actually your wife, Karl!?”

“Oh my! A young beauty, you say? Please wait a moment. I’ll bring you some snacks to go with your drinks.”

The landlady then excused herself. So Karl really was married huh.

“……I see. Then you’re not coming back to Gantz, are you?”

“Nah, I will. It hasn’t been finalized yet, but I’ve requested to have the right to develop part of the great sea of trees and make it my personal territory.”

“Territory? That means you’re actually gonna become a baron!? And the sea of trees, you say?”

“Yeah. We’re gonna open up the sea of trees and make it our very own domain.”

“Oi, no matter how you slice it, that’s freaking crazy! You know at least that much, right?”

“We’ll just do what we can. And I’m actually quite confident about it, just so you know. I have something to rely on after all.”

“Something to rely on…… I get it! You’re gonna have the dragon flatten part of the forest for you, right? But that’s… Hmm. Well, it could work if you have that dragon.”

“That’s right. We actually attacked an Orc settlement the other day, but Gloria finished them all off in less than thirty seconds you know.”

“Oi! Gimme more details regarding that story!”

Karl and I chatted for an hour or so and then parted ways.

I asked Karl to look after our Clan Home while we weren’t in Gantz, and he wholeheartedly agreed. Having a friend you can count on is nice after all.

When I arrived back at the Clan Home, I carried the wine cask up to my room first. Then I went down to the dining hall to drink some tea.

After seeing me, Ella rushed over.

“Big brother! Is it true that you’re going away!?”

Oh, right. I informed Sally-san who’s the leader of all our staff, but I haven’t told Ella and Teo about it yet.

“Yeah, that’s right. Everyone’s going to the royal capital for a bit.”

“I wanna go too!”

“Eeh!? But you don’t really need to go to the capital, right, Ella? And we’ll be coming back straight away once we finish our business there too.”

“……Really? How long will you be gone?”

I wonder? It would probably take about a month to travel to the capital via carriage. So a round trip will take about two months in total. We’ll also probably need to stay at the royal capital for at least a month as well.

“About three months, I guess. Be a good girl and wait for us properly, okay? I’ll bring you some presents once we get back.”

“…………Okay. I’ll wait.”

I asked Ella for tea and sat down on one of the benches inside the dining hall.

“Alan-sama, one of the attendants of Baron Volker came over while you were out. It seems Baron Volker will be fetching you at 7 in the morning tomorrow. He said that if you find that schedule inconvenient, you can get ahold of them at the inn they are staying at.”

“That arrangement’s fine. The time’s just right. Please inform everyone else about it as well.”

“Roger.”

Most Clan members have taken a shine to use ‘roger’ when replying lately. Selena and Sharon often used it, so I guess they were imitating the two. Well, having a uniform response term isn’t all that bad anyway.

Ella finally brought over my tea. Oh, that’s right.

“Thank you, Ella. Here. I’ll give you some pocket money. This is Ella’s portion, and this is Teo’s portion. Please give it to him for me.”

I gave Ella one silver coin, and Teo’s portion was two silver coins. Ella and Teo have just started working, so they were probably still penniless. They might suddenly need to buy something for themselves while we were away.

I’m sure Sally-san will handle it well, but it won’t hurt to give them a bit of pocket money.

“Thank you, big brother!”

Ella tightly squeezed the glittering silver coins and happily trotted away.

After a couple of moments, I heard a commotion outside, so I surmised that the ones in charge of procuring supplies must have returned. When I went outside to check things out, I really did find them in the middle of sorting out the supplies they bought so they could start transferring them to the wagon we’ll be using for the trip tomorrow. I decided to help out as well.

“Alan-sama, Katolle over here is young, but he’s a really good merchant already. He has a lot of knowledge regarding various goods, and he was able to buy them 30 to 40 percent cheaper than the regular market price.”

Katolle was praised highly by the supply procurement team and their leader Nils.

“It’s just easier to negotiate for discounts if you buy in bulk.”

“Even so, I still have to thank you. I’ll be counting on you from now on, Katolle.”

“Of course! Please leave it to me!”

After sorting out the supplies and cargo, the staff started loading them into the wagon. It’s probably best to leave it to them. I guess I’ll start packing my things as well.

Cleria and the others were talking animatedly about their shopping conquest during dinner. The prices of goods in Gantz city seem to have dropped considerably these past few days. It looks like the merchants who came for the auction also brought their wares with them, so that led to the price drop. As a result, the ladies were able to make better purchases than they expected and were very happy as a result.

That goes especially for Cleria. It seems she hasn’t been able to experience the thrill of shopping personally during her time as a princess, so she thoroughly enjoys the experience.

Well then. We’ll finally be leaving for the royal capital tomorrow. Let’s rest up early for tonight.

I woke up at dawn and took my usual morning bath. I wouldn’t be able to enjoy bathing for a while, so I’m gonna savor it while I can.

When I went down to the dining hall, I found that almost everyone was there already. It looks like all of them were pretty excited.

Today’s breakfast menu was a more luxurious lineup than usual. It looks like Sally-san and the others outdid themselves for us today.

I left the staff leader Sally-san 50,000 Guineas in emergency funds and paid for half a year of our Home’s rent in advance.

I told her to consult with the Commerce Guild’s Karina-san and Gale’s Karl if she ever encountered any trouble, so I guess they’ll be fine over here.

Tarus-san and company came over early in the morning to bid farewell to us, Katolle, Willy, and Peter.

Then, everyone lined up neatly in the square in front of the Clan Home a few minutes before the town bell rang to signify that it was 7 in the morning already.

A single carriage arrived precisely at the moment the bell tolled.

It looks like the baron and his attendants only traveled using a single carriage. It was on the baron and his two attendants riding the carriage. It looked like an ordinary carriage and not one used by nobles. And it seems our own carriage was actually a lot more fancy-looking compared to it.

The baron alighted from the carriage, so we dropped to one knee and greeted him.

“Ooh! Good morning, Alan-dono. It looks like we were blessed with fine weather today.”

“Good morning, Baron Volker. We really do have nice weather today.”

It certainly was suitable for going on a trip. Let’s hope that there won’t be a sudden downpour later on during the trip though.

“Well then, shall we depart?”

“Let’s do that. If you don’t mind My Lord, shall we lead the way for you?”

We of Shining Star were primarily the baron’s escorts and guards after all. We couldn’t just travel in front of the baron’s carriage without getting his permission first.

“Oh, would you? Well then, we shall follow right behind your carriage, Alan-dono.”

Thus, we departed from our Clan Home and started our journey toward the royal capital.