Chapter 51
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I arrived at the orphanage, as requested by Frederica, to take care of sorting the magic stones.
Since Frederica’s carriage wasn’t outside, it seemed she hadn’t arrived yet.
So, without worrying too much, I rang the doorbell… and Ms. Monoka came out shortly after.
”Welcome!”
”…”
”…Ah, please come in.”
*Click*
I raised a hand in response to Ms. Monoka, who welcomed me with a smile.
Remembering that I couldn’t speak since I was still outside, she opened the gate and invited me inside the building.
As I entered the grounds, pulling the cart behind me, Ms. Monoka finished locking the gate and leaned in close, pressing her chest against me, and asked in a low voice about the cargo.
”Um, is the stuff for today in the wooden boxes on the cart?”
”Yes. Both are almost full, and there might be some blood stains, so I think it’s better to take them to a place where the smell won’t be a problem.”
”Wait, both of them? Um, then… would it be okay if you go around to the back? There’s a locked storage shed, and there’s a well nearby, so we can start working right away.”
”To the back? In this outfit, I might scare the little kids.”
This orphanage only accepts girls, so I heard they try to keep the place deep inside to hide from people with bad intentions.
If there’s a well, it wouldn’t be strange if some kids were using it, and even if there weren’t any, they might come while I’m moving the boxes.
Since I’m fully armored, it would be hard to keep my secret if I had to talk.
In other words, a silent and rugged suspicious person will appear on the spot in front of the little girl.
If you think about it normally, there’s a high chance of trouble, and I don’t really want to get involved, so I’d like to avoid that.
After saying that, Ms. Monoka seemed to understand and suggested a compromise while saying she was worrying too much.
”I’m not saying you can’t go outside at all, so I think a little bit is okay… Ah, then Nero and I will take care of it, so Mr. Mose, please wait in the reception room.”
Those girls, huh.
I had no objections, so I left the cart there and entered the orphanage with Ms. Monoka, parting ways with her in front of the office.
”Well then, see you later…”
”Yes, see you later.”
”…”
*Step, step, step… glance, step, step, step…*
I noticed Ms. Monoka looking back at me as she left, but… whatever.
I passed through the office and opened the door to the reception room.
*Click.*
”Could you at least knock?”
Frederica greeted me with those words.
I didn’t know the guild’s closing time, but since more adventurers were coming back from the dungeon, it should still be early for the staff to go home.
So, it was unexpected that she was already here, and I was genuinely surprised.
For now, I entered the room, closed the door, and took a seat across from Frederica to check the situation.
”You were here. I didn’t see your carriage.”
”I had them return to the guild for a bit. My house is a little far, so it’s closer that way.”
”I see. But is it okay for you to be here when it’s a busy time at the guild?”
”Not really. More customers come to my place during busy times.”
”Isn’t that your job to handle?”
”I’m not worried because another staff member will take over the reception when I go home.”
At least, it seems like she doesn’t have the right mindset for customer service, so I ask her a question.
”Why are you working at the dismantling area reception?”
”…”
After I asked, Frederica falls silent for a moment, then lifts her long skirt, revealing her thighs.
”…If you come closer, I might tell you.”
Her face is getting redder, and the heat in her gaze is clearly inviting.
But I have no idea what she might ask for in return.
I still haven’t heard the details about selling the magic stones to “Hooters,” and Ms. Monoka could come into this room at any time.
Just as I was about to refuse, she seemed to sense my hesitation and changed her approach a bit.
”I’m not trying to eat you or anything. I don’t have the power to do anything to you directly, and if you don’t like it, you can just resist, right?”
”Then it shouldn’t be a problem to stay like this, right?”
In response, Frederica raises the hem of her skirt a little more.
”You know we’re about to negotiate, right? If I can’t focus on the conversation, it might work to your advantage.”
”So you think it’s okay to mess with your body for that? You really believe you can convince me like that?”
I wondered if she was actually experienced, but her reply only raised more questions for me.
”Well? Just so you know… you’re the first one I’ve kissed and the first one to touch my chest. And the first to pinch me too.”
Pinch me?
…Oh, she must mean the tip.
I realized it was about what happened yesterday in the dismantling area, so I asked her again.
”That kind of woman using her body to negotiate is definitely a hassle. There are already too many of those women around, and I don’t want to deal with any more trouble, you know?”
”It’s not like the magic stone issue is that much of a hassle. Without the guild’s fees, you’ll make more profit, and Wendy can buy the magic stones cheaper, that’s all.”
Frederica, exposing her white thighs, dives into the main topic of the day.
I continue to ask questions while looking at her thighs.
”Isn’t there some kind of punishment from the guild?”
”Not really? Who you sell to is basically up to you. Otherwise, in places without a guild, no one could cash in.”
”That’s true, but then why do adventurers here deliver to the guild?”
”To put it simply, it’s to raise their evaluation from the guild. This isn’t just about magic stones, but if you deliver to the guild, your evaluation goes up, and you won’t lose out in negotiation deals. That’s why everyone leaves it to the guild.”
Evaluation, huh.
If that raises your rank, you can get better-paying jobs, and your earnings will improve…
I understand the reasoning, but I still have doubts about the negotiation part.
”What about big companies? They probably have dedicated people for negotiations.”
”Big companies have a lot of earners, but at the same time, they also have many who don’t earn much. Especially newcomers and support staff. And in this city, the taxes for adventurers are based on their rank, so the company has to cover for those who aren’t earning.”
”Support staff is one thing, but newcomers can’t even join if they don’t have the skills, right?”
”That’s up to the company. Some places have tests, and if you have useful titles or skills, you can join easily. Big companies need extra hands for chores in the dungeon, so sometimes they just want people who can move around properly.”
”That sounds like a new person could mess up and ruin the reputation.”
”They might be held responsible, but big companies have a lot of strong people, and they’re usually quiet because they fear private punishments within the company. It’s more likely that smaller groups, where responsibility is unclear, will cause problems.”
”Don’t teams usually choose a leader?”
”Well, the good ones do. In a team, the important thing is not to betray each other, so they often consist of long-time friends or acquaintances. They do choose a representative, but unless there’s a huge difference in strength, that person usually can’t use their authority, and they often don’t have the power to take responsibility if something goes wrong.”
So, basically, teams formed from original friends don’t have a clear hierarchy.
Because of that, when a member causes a problem, they tend to brush it off and avoid taking responsibility.
I wonder if those kinds of people are the ones who target Iris and Seria.
It makes sense that a company made up only of women could form.
But…
”Don’t big companies do anything about those kinds of people?”
If a company has a lot of strong members, they should have some influence outside and could keep an eye on those people.
When I asked Frederica this, she shook her head.
”Well, it’s not that they can’t do it… but if they handle one thing, they’ll expect them to handle this and that too. If that happens, they’ll have to allocate more manpower to those tasks, and then they’ll need to secure more inexperienced workers who can’t earn much. That would just increase the tax burden even more…”
”That’s why they don’t want to do it. Well, there are guards, so it’s better to only handle what they can manage to avoid more problems.”
As I was coming to that understanding, Frederica lifted the hem of her skirt just a little.
”Got it. Now, back to the magic stones… You seem to not care about the guild’s evaluation, so selling them to Wendy shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
”That’s true, but if Ms. Wendy buys the magic stones cheaply, won’t the guild look down on her? She might also need to buy other things like materials from the guild, right?”
Frederica made a slightly uncomfortable face.
”That’s why we do it quietly, without drawing attention. Since we have various items delivered here, we can just pack the sorted magic stones into the empty wooden boxes when we take them back.”
So, that’s how we secretly deliver the magic stones to “Hooters.”
”Ah, so I only need to come here when sorting, right?”
Picking up the sorted magic stones here and taking them to the guild for appraisal as “Koji” is quite a detour.
Not having to do that isn’t a bad thing.
”I feel bad for Monoka and the others who are waiting to meet you… but it should be fine.”
”As long as we can meet when you’re in charge of sorting, it should be okay. So, if you’ve thought that far ahead, does that mean you’ve already talked to Ms. Wendy?”
”Yeah. Actually… Wendy has been asking me for a while to introduce her to good people.”
”Huh? Does she really want to buy magic stones that cheaply?”
”Well, yeah. Magic stones are needed to use magic items, but usually, only powerful people have them. So… there are some who try to haggle or say they’ll pay later.”
”Oh, I see… Can’t you just refuse those deals?”
”If that happens, I won’t be able to do business in the area they control. It’s tricky because they negotiate just enough to make a profit.”
In a world like this, or rather in this era, it must be hard to find new business opportunities.
You need permission from the local ruler to do business, and their power is heavily influenced by their own will compared to the past.
So, even if you can’t expect big profits, you can’t just give up the places where you can already do business. It seems like you have to deal with those kinds of transactions.
It’s a problem that comes from being a big merchant guild that can expand into other areas.
”So, what do you think?”
As Frederica asks this, her skirt rides up even more.
The hem of her skirt has risen to her lower abdomen, and if she weren’t crossing her legs, her underwear would have been visible.
She should be a powerful noble’s daughter, but if she’s doing this much… Ah, maybe it’s because Frederica has been relying on Ms. Wendy for help with this orphanage.
Since Frederica is personally supporting it, the benefits of her family’s power are probably weak or nonexistent.
In that case, the fact that Ms. Wendy continues to do business with her is likely due to her kindness, and Frederica might feel guilty about continuing to rely on that kindness.
I thought about it and answered Frederica, who was staring at me, waiting for a response.
”Well… it’s not like I’ll be at a disadvantage, so as long as you manage the money properly, I’m fine with it.”
”Really!? Since I’m a merchant, I can handle the money just fine. The money transactions will be done through Mose.”
”Ah, I see. If Koji can also withdraw, it might get known that the two of them are the same person.”
As for the guild… I have to pretend to work as “Koji” just enough to not get kicked out as an adventurer.
There’s also the tax issue… Huh?
”Hey, what about the taxes on the money I got as ‘Mose’? If they investigate, they’ll find out that the payment for the magic stones is going to me, and if I don’t pay taxes, wouldn’t that be tax evasion?”
”Don’t worry. We’ll say that ‘Mose’ is under ‘Hooters’, so they will handle the taxes over there.”
”Wait, can Ms. Wendy decide that on her own?”
”To some extent, yes. Oh, and that means you can buy things a bit cheaper as a member of that merchant guild. It’s not everything, though.”
So there’s a system like employee discounts; that’s not a bad deal.
I have to make sure that anything visible to others is bought normally, except for underwear.
If it gets found out that what I’m wearing is made from “Imitation,” I’d be suspected of counterfeiting money.
”I see. Then I guess there’s no problem.”
”Then, is it settled?”
”Huh? Yeah, I guess so.”
”Alright then…”
At my answer, Frederica lifted her skirt a bit more, hesitated for a moment, then uncrossed her legs and opened them to the sides.
There was, of course, underwear present, and since she was a lady, it had some pretty elaborate designs.
It was a thong, just like other women wore.
However, even though I understood her intentions, I tried to refuse.
”Wait. This deal benefits you too, and you don’t need to go that far. Besides, Ms. Monoka could arrive at any moment… huh?”
I realized as I said it that even though the wooden box was packed full of magic stones, I had entrusted the whole cart to her, and the heavy lifting was just moving things from the cart to the storage, so it shouldn’t take that long.
Which means…
Noticing that Ms. Monoka was taking her time, Frederica answered my question with a mysterious smile.
”Hehe, looks like you figured it out. Monoka won’t come until I call her. Right now, she’s busy preparing dinner, and thanks to you, she has more time and resources, so she should be occupied over there.”
”Uh…”
As I let out a confused voice, she continued to explain her intentions clearly.
”And about saying I don’t need to go that far… it’s not that I need to do it. I’m just doing it because I want to.”
With that, Frederica reached for her chest and smoothly untied a red scarf.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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