Volume 3 Chapter 61 Negotiation And Contract
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Sarah spoke quickly without taking a breath and added a self-deprecating remark after a moment.
”How about that? This is what the woman you once loved kept inside her.”
”I understand now. Thank you for telling me.”
”No, don’t mention it.”
”The oddness you felt is my problem. You see, I’ve been struggling with a dual personality for a while now.”
”──Huh!?”
It was not an act; Sarah’s eyes twisted with concern.
”I don’t know why, but I can have conversations with myself. I think the source of my oddness is that my personalities switch places regularly.”
”Is… Is that okay? Dual personality isn’t something to take lightly…”
”If the mind is burdened, something will give way. I analyze that my other self was born from trying to create allies where none existed. I may seem proper, but that other guy isn’t bad either. So, well, it would help if you could overlook the slight oddness.”
”Kian… I’m truly sorry. I really put you under that much pressure.”
Sarah’s voice grew thin.
Her kind eyes twisted as if facing deep pain.
Kian smiled gently.
”Even in this state, I’m trying to be positive. My current goal is to climb up to advanced-rank as an Adventurer and then become a noble in the Franz Kingdom. I dream of living peacefully like that.”
”Yes. A truly pure──Adventurer-like dream. We’ve disrupted your peace for our own reasons. That’s unforgivable.”
”There were reasons on your side, so it can’t be helped. This is just a guess, but the moment you abandoned me, you couldn’t turn back, could you? Serving your house. If you don’t stick to that, it would only hurt Kian Vahid.”
”…!?!?”
”But if you ever felt that way, it was a mistake. I had fun adventuring here, and there were sights I could only see because I left Azrael. Now, I think all those experiences were worth it.”
”That’s not true! To be happy about being exiled, Kian, you’re too kind! That’s why you always end up being a fool! You always get taken advantage of! How long will you keep doing this…! …Um… I’m sorry for speaking so arrogantly.”
”No, your words aren’t wrong, so there’s no need to apologize. I was definitely thinking like a loser.”
”――――.”
The servant was bringing the dishes, so he raised his hand.
Kian handed a cup of wine to Sarah.
”That’s enough about me for now. Next, tell me about yourself. What is your goal and how do you plan to achieve it? If you haven’t thought about it, just say ‘I don’t know.’”
”You spoke so seriously, so I can’t just dodge your question. My goal is to rebuild the Nakash family. Even if it’s difficult, I want to buy land where everyone can live together and gather those who fell into theft or slavery. Once it’s all done, I will journey east to bring my mother back.”
”What if when you gather land and money, everyone has been killed or died?”
”Then I will search for their descendants. If even one exists, I will take responsibility to protect and raise them.”
”What if you can’t find any of your vassals or their descendants?”
”I will keep searching until I find them.”
”So you really plan to use them for life.”
His face naturally showed disbelief.
This was why Sarah was easily used by those above her.
She really was too kind.
It was frustrating not being in a position to say anything.
Sarah wetted her tongue with wine and continued.
”One option was to kill Oswald. I would weaken him using you all, then deliver the final blow and escape with the ‘Holy Sword of the Sun.’ My treatment would definitely be different after that.”
”I see. What other options do you have?”
”As an adventurer, I’ll strike it big with a mountain. Once I reach advanced-rank, I’ll have quite a bit of wealth. From there, I’ll expand my fortune and buy land. It’ll be like living in a cabin and farming. I’m thinking of hiring people on that land. I’ve got a farm management plan. I know a few merchants, and if I reveal my true identity to reliable folks, I think they’d help. I can even show them the benefits.”
”And?”
”I was considering asking you to beg the Princess of Izerland to hire me. The Archbishop rejected it. If you don’t know, let me tell you, Homolka is about to join the ranks of the cardinals. While I was asleep, it’s about time I head to the Royal Capital. I could serve as his Church Knight and earn a hefty salary, but since I’m Azraelian, they won’t give me land near the Royal Capital, nor let me buy it.”
”Well, if they gave land and you created an Azraelian kingdom in front of the Royal Capital, that would be dangerous.”
”Kian,”
Sarah raised an eyebrow.
”You shouldn’t use ‘dangerous’ like that. It makes your vocabulary weak. You should articulate properly.”
”Are you my education mama?”
”……I’m sorry. I was just a stranger.”
”Your 3 plans weren’t bad, but I think they need more scrutiny.”
As he spoke, Kian offered pasta to Sarah.
Sarah seemed momentarily distracted by the cute design of the grain, perhaps having an image of ‘vegetable-eating’ Châtillon.
”For example, the first plan has too much reliance on Azrael’s upper echelons. Firstly, the holy sword isn’t something you get by defeating the wielder; there are other conditions to obtain it. Even if you bring back Oswald’s head and the holy sword, the upper echelons might try to kill you. At least the Lee Family of the new Twelve Divine Generals won’t recognize your existence.”
”Yeah, huh…”
”The second and third plans aren’t bad. We can control the flow to some extent with your achievements. But we should make them more specific.”
”Specificity at this stage? Shouldn’t we just get things moving?”
”Before you start running, you need to set small goals to reach the final target. And you must decide on deadlines, like when exactly you aim to achieve them. For instance, if you’re an adventurer aiming to build wealth, how much gold do you need to earn? And by when?”
”I’m thinking of buying land that can support a small farming village of 40 people. It might not be profitable for a year or 2, but enough to sustain everyone… I don’t know the timeframe… it’s hard to predict. But at least I have a vague picture of the future. I’m looking at the increasing demand for grain, so I’ll grow oats, wheat, and maybe some vegetables like cabbages. The place is the untouched Dacia Plain. There’s fertile alluvial soil there if you use Earth magic to dig. Ramsey is in chaos right now, so if I can set up a farm on the Dacia Plain, it should be quite profitable unless monsters gather into an army to attack. Everyone in the family knows martial arts, and I have a magician (shaman) qualification, so I think we can manage defenses somehow. Ideally, I’d like to eventually expand into brewing with the grains.”
”In Franz, there’s a unit called a ‘Voragate,’ which is the amount of land needed for a family to live on for a year. I’m not sure about the productivity of the Dacia Plain, but neighboring Ramsey has land so rich that about ten hectares is enough to support a family. The northeast hilly area of Ramsey that Her Excellency Maribel plans to seize has arable land of 144 hectares, pasture land of 64 hectares, and grazing land of 12 hectares. If you’re going to house 40 people, and considering children will be born, you’ll need at least as much land.”
”…Where did you get such information?”
”From a witch I’m on good terms with. In her bed, actually.”
”That Witch might not be cut out to be a politician. I mean, did you sleep last night?”
”Well, it’s not really strange, is it? I’m not a child anymore.”
”Yeah, well… you did sleep. That’s right. You’re 30 now, after all, you know.”
”Sarah?”
”Oh, no, it’s nothing.”
Sarah waved her hands in a fluster and dug into the pasta dish. Smiling, she said, “This is delicious!” with a big grin.
A bit of tomato sauce was on her mouth’s corner.
”Back to the main point. First, we buy land for 15 families in Dacia. If possible, 20. About 40 people, by the time you reach advanced-rank Adventurer, should be enough to support yourself. I know the Head Magician of Izerland, so I’ll ask her to find out the exact land value in Dacia. But it’s safer to prepare at least 5 thousand gold coins for everything. Since we’re starting from 0 while managing monster damage, it’s better to be prepared to spend even more.”
”Five thousand… it’s not impossible, but it feels far away for me now. Can I gather it before everyone gets hunted down and killed in the leftover hunt? No, I have to gather it──Sarah. Giving up is not an option!”
”Considering expenses like gear wear and taxes, 5 thousand coins is something you aim for once you become an advanced-rank Adventurer capable of accepting large personal quests. There’s no need to be stingy until then. Even with small rewards, prioritize points. That’s why, for the Adventurer route, it’s crucial to be promoted to advanced-rank Adventurer by a certain time.”
”You’ve become a true simple now. By the way, who should I serve──Princess?”
”It started with me suggesting it, but maybe it’s better to stop now. That Princess has no money at all. No matter how capable you are, she won’t pay easily──they’ll find some excuse.”
”I was always closer to the Adventurer path, so if Princess is too much, that’s fine. Well… the points needed for promotion are… So, in a party of 4, we will only take on Rank 2 and above quests. At first, I’ll leech off Kian to level up, so that’s the boost.”
Sarah quickly moved her fingers to do the mental math.
”By next month, I’ll be Lower-rank. The month after that, I’ll rank up to intermediate-rank.”
”Now that you know what to do, it’s clear. If we go to Izerland fortress, we’ll have a good chance of getting individual requests up to Rank 4 constantly. Ranks above 3 will have monsters like Griffins, so they won’t just pop up everywhere. Just think of the time it takes to go from Rank 5 to Rank 4. It should take 6 months to a year──be flexible with that. By the way, I once boasted I’d reach advanced-rank in a month, and Rufna scolded me.”
”Hehe, that’s so you. You’ve always had some crazy dreams. I felt you were brilliant like that.”
”Once you know what you need to do, please stop getting distracted. For example, don’t try to use us to take Oswald’s head. Breaking into Guy’s vault to steal land deeds is also a no-go, or we’ll all get dragged into trouble. If you bring us harm, it won’t be just being kicked from the party.”
”Just for reference, what will happen to me?”
”Well, I think I’ll take your soul. Hehehe.”
”Pfft… Hehe, you sound like a demon. Don’t worry. Now that I have my goals, I won’t look elsewhere, and I promise I won’t do anything bad to my old friend Kian. Just like you’re trying with all your might to help me, I will cooperate with you as best as I can. ──I’ll write the magic contract now!”
”Also, please fill out and sign the Adventurer application and party membership forms. You can do it after you finish eating.”
”I’ll write it now. I’m confident I won’t get any tomato sauce on it.”
Sarah set her plate aside, took the documents and quill from Kian, and started moving her hand across the paper.
He looked at it and couldn’t help but let out a small, soft smile.
”What’s wrong? You only need to write in the Western common language, right?”
”No,”
Kian gently shook his head and leaned back in his chair.
”You still write so messy, huh?”
”…!”
Sarah widened her almond-shaped eyes and puffed out her cheeks.
”I’m just being careful not to crush the quill!”
”That comeback isn’t very lady-like, don’t you think…”
”Yeah, I finished. But if I had used Azrael’s language, I could have written much cleaner. I swear. Sorry for my messy handwriting!”
”Haha hahaha!”
Kian laughed, but Sarah didn’t look annoyed or upset at all.
Afterwards, both of them relaxed and started chatting happily, their faces more calm than when they first entered the shop.
They both avoided talking about old memories on purpose, but the conversation kept going without breaking.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply