Chapter 105
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Really!? Is that so?”
”…Well…”
”That is… um, congratulations.”
Ms. Wendy, who was surprised, congratulated me for answering her question positively.
Is it because of our physical relationship that she look uncomfortable?
The reason for this conversation is… after having a meeting with Iris in my room, we ended up deciding that I would return home as her fiancé candidate, and I told Ms. Wendy at “Hooters” about it.
The candidate title was added because of my resistance, and Iris reluctantly agreed.
”Do you dislike it that much…?”
Hearing her say this sadly made my heart ache a little… but I plan to return to this town, and if I don’t keep it as a candidate status, I will have to come up with a reason to return.
The plan is that her parents will oppose it, and I will break off the engagement and return to this town.
This way, I can have a natural reason to come back, so being a fiancé candidate became a compromise.
After explaining this, Iris seemed to understand… whether it was acting like a fiancé or not, she had been clinging to my arm until she took her seat.
Now, she straightens her posture and makes an order to Ms. Wendy.
”Yes. I would like to request supplies and transportation for returning home.”
Ms. Wendy showed a puzzled expression at this request.
”Supplies are one thing, but transportation too?”
”Yes. I want to return as soon as possible to stop the unwanted engagement from progressing.”
”…”
Iris responded with a made-up urgent reason, and Ms. Wendy narrowed her eyes slightly.
It seems that it is common for relatives to advance engagements without the person’s knowledge, not just among nobles.
So, this alone shouldn’t confirm that Iris is a noble… but then Ms. Wendy said this.
”Um… is having Mr. Koji as a fiancé candidate just to stop that engagement?”
It seems she suspects that Iris intends to use me for her own convenience.
It’s not wrong in itself… I thought, and when asked, Iris answered confidently.
”No, if there are no problems, I plan to go ahead with the marriage.”
”…I see. My apologies.”
Perhaps judging her words to be true, Ms. Wendy apologized for doubting her.
Wait, as someone who doesn’t plan to marry right now, it’s a problem if she’s not lying.
I want to believe Iris isn’t serious, so I’ll assume she’s just a good actress.
Meanwhile, the conversation between the two continues without me.
”So. Will you be able to prepare for that?”
”It depends on the journey… How far are you going?”
”To Gavrett.”
It seems Iris’s family home is in a territory called Gavrett, and her family name is the same.
Sometimes the ruler of the land changes, but to avoid confusion, both the family name and the land’s name stay the same. So, there are cases where the ruler’s family name and the land’s name are different.
If Iris’s family name is the same as the land’s name, it means her family has been ruling that land for a long time.
”It’s in the south, and with the cold coming, it’s just the right time. It’ll probably take about a month.”
”Yes. It’s about the time for snow, so I’d like to request supplies for 3 people, just in case we can’t restock along the way.”
”Supplies for 3 people for a month… You can get water in villages, but even then, one horse and one wagon might be a bit tight.”
”That’s not unusual for this time of year. Please prepare with that in mind.”
This is the season for winter preparations, so food and firewood prices go up, and sometimes there’s no stock left.
So, to carry enough supplies… Would it be 2 wagons or one larger wagon pulled by 2 horses?
”Securing the supplies isn’t a problem… But what about the wagon coachman?”
”That’ll be me. I’m not an expert, but I can manage.”
Nobles are expected to prepare for various situations, so they learn to handle horses to some extent.
However, some noble families are almost like commoners, and if they can’t afford it, they probably won’t receive an education.
Since she is receiving that education, it means Iris’s family is fairly well-off and has a high status.
Well, a family with enough political influence for a woman considering marriage to be a target of a curse must be quite powerful.
By the way, how does she plan to introduce me over there?
If I’m introduced as a candidate for engagement in such a family, it could lead to trouble.
Given that there are skills and titles that have unreasonable effects, including my own power, I must stay alert and would prefer to avoid any issues.
While I was thinking about these things, the conversation moved on.
”In that case, we will need a 2-horse cart. I will prepare it for departure 3 days from now.”
”Thank you.”
After listing all the requests, the order for the cart and supplies was completed, considering the time I needed to earn magic stones.
As for payment… because monsters exist in this world, livestock can only be raised in limited areas, making horses quite expensive, resulting in a significant cost.
The magic stones sold through Ms. Monoka’s orphanage to “Hooters” have a decent value, and they are kept in a similar way as if deposited with the adventurer guild, but that wasn’t enough.
Ms. Wendy offered to cover the costs, citing her involvement with the “Gem Snake,” but if my request to Princess Charlotte is accepted, it would actually be beneficial for me, which makes me feel a bit guilty.
So, since Iris has limited funds, I decided to pay myself and suggested that the shortfall could be settled next time.
Then Ms. Wendy thought for a moment and made this suggestion.
”If that’s the case, I would like to buy something from you.”
”Something, you say?”
”Yes.”
”What is it?”
Did I have something that Ms. Wendy wanted?
As I tried to remember, she answered while checking my mood.
”It’s something I took the other day…”
While saying this, Ms. Wendy made an OK sign with her right hand, indicating it was round like a ball.
…Ah, she means the black cherry tomatoes.
The vague expression was probably because Iris might not know about them.
That’s correct.
From what they tested on the monster, it seems to have an effect that helps the eater’s skills grow… I left about ten of them with her for investigation, confirmed with Ferris’s help.
However, so far, the investigation has only been on the monster, and it hasn’t been confirmed if it’s harmful to humans.
What does it mean to buy that?
”Why do you want that?”
”Um…”
Ms. Wendy looked away as I asked.
”…Did something happen?”
Realizing I sensed something was up, Ms. Wendy explained the situation awkwardly.
”Well… Ms. Ferris tested them on the people who were facing certain punishment.”
I heard that she offered a deal to a criminal who was facing a death sentence, promising them that they would be spared the death penalty.
It seems that even though the death penalty was abolished, the punishment would be increased accordingly, but there were still some who responded that nothing could replace life.
To carry out the deal, she needed to contact the prisoner, and she asked Frederica to help her through Charlotte.
It seems that Ferris did this as a way of repaying me for my kindness, and she didn’t explain the details to Charlotte or Frederica, so there’s nothing to blame her for.
The reason her request was granted was probably due to her special position.
It’s a little difficult to ask Ms. Meria for help now… I guess I should just say what I want.
But it’s a black cherry tomato.
”Well, eventually we were going to test it on a person, so that’s fine… but is there really no problem with a plea bargain?”
”That’s what Mrs. Frederica said; she seems to have talked to the higher-ups.”
She is keeping Charlotte a secret from Iris, so it seems she wanted to be vague about her… well, since permission was granted, I guess it’s okay.
”So?”
”After testing it on 3 people with no issues, Ms. Ferris tried the last one herself.”
Ms. Wendy apparently hadn’t told Ferris that I still had it, so she thought it was a waste to use it all in the experiment.
”It seems she claimed it was part of the experiment.”
”Huh? Is everything okay?”
”Yes. She said she would share the details herself, but she wants to investigate a bit more first.”
”Oh, I see…”
Well, if she’s okay, then that’s fine… huh?
Does Ferris need time to test that black mini tomato? Does that mean her skills are growing or something?
If it was confirmed safe, she shouldn’t have needed to test it herself, so if she ate it, it must be because she wanted to improve her abilities.
Does she need more power?
I can’t help but wonder, but considering what happened with the ‘Gem Snake’, I can understand wanting to grow.
As for Ferris, that’s fine, but I want to return to the topic of selling black mini tomatoes to Ms. Wendy.
”So, why does Ms. Wendy want to buy that?”
”I want someone else to try it. They are trustworthy, so it should be safe, and of course, I’ll pay for it since it’s for my convenience.”
”Hmm.”
We both have secrets about skills that could cause trouble if discovered, but if Ms. Wendy trusts them, I guess I don’t need to worry.
If it saves costs… there are still ten black mini tomatoes left, and if the rock mountain they were picked from hasn’t rotted, there might be more.
Then, I guess it’s okay.
”Understood. How many?”
”Thank you. One is fine.”
Ms. Wendy happily showed me the number she wanted since I agreed to the deal.
Just one, huh?
That thing shouldn’t be cheap considering its effects, but I feel uneasy thinking it can cover all the shortages.
The reason I started looking into black cherry tomatoes was to avoid questions about technology from my past life.
However, I couldn’t say for sure that it was completely safe, so I’m grateful that they confirmed that for me.
Also, I need to ask her to hire Ms. Meria later, so I shouldn’t claim that this one is enough for the shortage.
So, I decided to say it’s just part of the shortage and handed over the black cherry tomatoes I had in my bag on the way back, thinking it could cause trouble if I lost them.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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