After the day's business ended, I called everyone together to relay what I had heard from Ronald-san.
"Hmm, I don't think an old man like that would do something like that," Mio said, her voice laced with skepticism.
"Ronald-san has always been worried about us every time we meet... I think it's a good opportunity for Mio, but I'm a bit uneasy," I conveyed my uncertainty.
"Is that so? I think it sounds like fun, and I'm curious about what the frontier we've heard rumors about is like," Iko chimed in with her usual cheerful smile.
While Mio looked anxious, Iko wore her usual cheerful smile. These sisters were truly the complete opposite of each other, and someone who didn't know them would never guess that they were twins.
"I think it's okay to go to the frontier and check it out. From what I talked with Neil-sama, he doesn't seem like a bad person, and it was Ronald-san's proposal, right? So I don't think it's a bad thing," Moona said in a soft and gentle voice.
"Ronald is a good person, so if he brought him, then he must be a good person too," Momoka added, her tone confident and assured.
"Momo-chan... isn't that a bit too naive of a thought?" Moona's skeptical voice questioned Momoka's optimism.
"Well, but everyone was watching you and Neil-sama's conversation, right? I don't think he looked like someone we should be very wary of," Momoka reasoned in a calm and level voice.
"That's true... I thought he was quite different from what I had imagined while watching him," Moona agreed, her tone thoughtful.
"Wait a minute," Iko raised her hand and interrupted the conversation. "I didn't know that information. Did you forget about me?"
"No, I just didn't share it with you on purpose," I said, my voice tinged with annoyance.
"Why not!?" Iko's voice was incredulous.
"If I shared it with you while you were working, could you have focused on your work?" I asked, my tone firm.
"That's impossible, you know!" Iko's voice was resolute.
I couldn't help but feel frustrated with Iko's confident response. While I have been helped many times by Iko's unwavering brightness, I wonder if there is any way to fix this part of her.
"So what? Did I miss seeing Moona getting cozy with that nobleman?" Iko's voice was teasing.
"Don't phrase it like that. It's not like I shared it to show you their actions," I said, my tone admonishing.
"I know that, but come on... it's not something you can see so easily, right?" Iko's voice was lighthearted.
"What do you mean by 'right?' Geez." My tone was exasperated.
Despite feeling exasperated by Iko's behavior, I continued with the conversation.
"I do think that going to the frontier itself is not a bad idea," I said, my voice measured. "However, the fact that we are going there now comes with some risks that we cannot ignore."
Iko furrowed their brow. "What risks?"
"We have scheduled our journey," I explained patiently, "and we have given our regular clients a copy of our schedule."
"I see," Iko said, their tone skeptical. "So if we go to the frontier, we will be deviating from the schedule, and our regular customers may be worried about us not showing up."
I nodded. "The scariest thing is that if we don't show up as planned, customers may leave us for that reason," I said, my voice tinged with worry. "Even if we want to start traveling again because we're unhappy with life in the frontier, there's a high chance that our customers will have left us by then."
Iko rubbed their chin, lost in thought. "If that happens, we'll have to start all over again," they said, their voice resigned.
We continued to discuss and came to a conclusion.
* * *
Main Character's Perspective
The next day, I ended up playing at a brothel as a matter of course, and I was on my way back to the frontier with Ronald-san's carriage.
"Sigh...In the end, I didn't negotiate anything and just played around."
After playing with Moona-san and being in a daze, I was taken to an inn by Ronald-san, who had already finished negotiating with Niya-san, and I was going back to the frontier without even negotiating properly. I was worried about how to explain this to Diana, as it seemed like I had only come along to visit the brothel.
"Well, it's not so bad, is it? Even with conditions, we were able to secure the invitation."
At Ronald-san's words, I leaned out of the coachman's box and looked back to see three carriages following us.
"If I had been present at the negotiation, I wouldn't have had any objections."
"But you did participate towards the end, didn't you?"
"Can I really say that I participated in the negotiation for that?"
This morning, Niya-san presented us with three conditions to head towards the pioneer land to hear our response. The first condition was to ensure that they could live a minimum life while staying in the pioneer land, which in other words, meant that since we had invited them there, we needed to provide them with living expenses. Considering the current state of the pioneer land, it was a precaution in case they could not obtain any customers. However, the amount was only equivalent to the cost of food for five people, so I immediately agreed since it was a reasonable demand, given that we had invited them to a pioneer land with few people.
The second condition was that they would stay for a maximum of only Beginning month's period and not settle down permanently. They did not intend to immediately settle down in an unknown place like the pioneer land. I also agreed to this condition as it seemed reasonable.
The last condition was that they could leave the pioneer land anytime without waiting for the trial period to end. They would not want to be held back by any circumstances in the pioneer land. When I asked why they were in such a hurry, Niya-san seemed to fear that customers would leave while they were in the pioneer land. They wanted to ensure that they could return to their original life immediately if they decided that there was no future for them in the pioneer land. It seemed like they were already making a request that was a stretch, so I had no right to keep them there. Well, I wanted to settle things peacefully as much as possible, so I accepted all of their conditions.
I confirmed only the conditions for their arrival in the pioneer land, and I did not negotiate anything.
"Thanks to your arrival, it ended quickly. If you had stayed in the pioneer land, I would have had to come back to confirm again," said Ronald.
"Isn't there a branch of Harvest Hoe's in that city?" I asked.
"Oh, now that you mention it, there is."
"Then, why don't you confirm through there and be done with it?"
I let out a deep sigh as it seemed that my personal purpose for coming was entirely meaningless. In the end, I realized that there would be no answers until my underlying doubts were resolved.
"Diana, will she be angry?"
"Well, even though there was no one else who could be entrusted with the new territory, I suppose she’s dissatisfied that she couldn't come as your servant."
"From an outsider's perspective, I'm just a worthless man who abandoned his duty as a nobleman to visit a brothel..."
In short, I was just a scumbag.
As I thought about what excuse to make when I returned to the new territory, I realized that the carriage had already arrived at the narrow mountain road leading to the new territory.
"We have arrived..."
"Yes, we have. Please get off."
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Edited Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Thanks for reading.
