Chapter 48 -Preparing for the Journey 4 Part 1
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Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
After breakfast, Selena and Sharon immediately set off to recover the supplies from their respective escape pods.
They planned to go on foot until they reached an area wide enough for the drones to land.
Once the drones landed, they were to split up and head to each area where their respective escape pods were located. Sharon’s pod landed in an area within the Alois Kingdom.
Then, Sharon will take out all the supplies remaining on the pod and divide it between the drones that came with her.
Selena will pretty much do the same thing on her end as well.
They seem to have brought my spare uniforms and clothes as well, so I asked them to bring clothes and underwear with designs that won’t look out of place on this planet.
After breakfast, I, Cleria, and Elna went ahead to deliver the magic tools. I borrowed a cart from Verse, loaded the magic tools on it, and started heading for Tarus-san’s store.
Since I told them about the delivery yesterday, we found Jonas-san already waiting inside the store when we arrived. They started checking the goods straight away. They took them out of their boxes one by one, put in magic stones to power the devices, and started confirming if they were all working properly.
“There’s no problem with all of the goods. These boxes are also really nice. We can go ahead and put them on retail right now, actually. Well then, here is your payment.”
Then, Jonas-san handed me a money pouch containing exactly sixty regular gold coins. I verified the amount once.
“Yep, it’s all here. Thank you very much. We’re planning on departing by tomorrow by the way. I’m sorry to bother you, but could you make it so that everything is ready by tomorrow morning?”
“I understand. So, I take it that you plan to head to this store to collect the goods tomorrow morning, correct? We will have everything ready by then. If possible, could you greet Master Tarus before you head out tomorrow…?”
“Yes, of course. We’re thinking of visiting him after this actually.”
“I see. Thank you for your consideration. Shall we head for the mansion then?”
“Oh, uh, before that, it seems that Ria and Elna want to meet the horses as well. Are they here?”
“Yes, they are. They’re inside the stable out in the back of the store. This way please.”
Jonas-san guided us to the stable. He then had an employee take out the horses from inside.
“These are really splendid horses! They are young, and they can even serve as warhorses too. They are so fine that it feels almost like a waste to use them merely as carriage horses.”
It looks like Jonas-san was happy after the professional knight, Elna, praised the horses.
“What are the names of these horses?” Cleria inquired.
“The tea colored one is named Tarth. The black one is named Syrah.”
“They’re good names. There, there.”
It looks like Cleria really likes the horses. I also tried stroking the horses, albeit nervously. There, there. The two of them seem quite friendly.
We had our fill of petting the horses after about ten minutes or so. We then headed to Tarus-san’s mansion along with Jonas-san.
We were guided to the office inside the mansion, and Tarus-san came in soon after.
“Thank you for coming, Alan-san. And I’m really grateful for the recipe you gave us yesterday. It was a really detailed and easy-to-follow recipe, so it seems that my chefs will have no problems cooking the dish.”
“No, no, that was nothing. We’re really indebted to you and your family after all.”
“Rather, it is us who are more indebted to you all. But it does feel lonely now that you will be leaving this city, Alan-san.”
“I’ll be sure to send you a letter once we’ve managed to settle down over there. By all means, let us stay in correspondence through letters.”
“I understand. Let us do so. Cleria-sama, unfortunately, we have not managed to obtain any new information regarding the situation in Starveek. I am sorry.”
“No, I do not mind. Even if it is a neighbouring country of sorts, it is still quite far from here, so it can’t be helped.” Cleria replied.
“It isn’t much in the way of vital intelligence, but we did manage to find something out. I’ll have Jonas relay it to you.”
“First, apart from being renamed the Alois Kingdom, there was also a great change in the amount of taxes imposed on the serfs living in the kingdom.
When it was still the Starveek Kingdom, the serfs had to part with fifty percent of their periodic harvests as tax. But when it was changed to the Alois Kingdom, that tax had ballooned to seventy percent.
The same rule applies for poll tax as well.
Furthermore, there is a great difference in the taxes imposed on the nobles in different parts of the country. Compared to the southern nobles, the taxes imposed on the ones who have their lands located in the north are evidently harsher.”
“How much is the difference, exactly?”
“Unfortunately, we were not able to glean out exact numbers. However, in order to cope with that, it looks like the northern nobles implemented a special tax on their subjects apart from the regular tax. Due to this, the people are growing increasingly discontent with their feudal lords, as well as the country itself.”
“I see…”
Cleria’s gaze dropped down, and her face displayed a regretful expression. It isn’t like Cleria’s the one who implemented those harsh taxes anyway.
“Tarus-dono, I thank you for the valuable information. I will certainly repay this favor one day.”
“I do not deserve such a promise, Cleria-sama! This cannot really be counted as vital information at all. We shall continue trying to glean out useful information for you henceforth.”
After this, we made some more small talk regarding cooking, and finally left Tarus-san’s mansion.
Cleria and Elna’s moods dropped down by quite a lot after that earlier discussion.
“I was planning to go to the Magic Guild next. You can both go back to the inn if you want.”
“That won’t do. We have to finish greeting everyone who has taken care of us after all…”
It seems that they still planned to tag along, so we went ahead and walked to the Magic Guild for a visit.
“Hi there, chief. It’s been decided that we’ll depart tomorrow morning, so we came here to express our gratitude. Thank you very much for all your help.”
“I see. It really is unfortunate. I actually think you’re more suited to being a mage instead of an adventurer… But it can’t be helped. Oh, right! I tried assembling the magic tool you invented yesterday! That’s definitely going to sell! I can’t believe I didn’t think of it myself. Just why couldn’t I come up with such an idea, I wonder.”
I talked about magic tools with the chief for a while, and then finally bid goodbye. Lily also seemed down about me leaving. In the end, I wasn’t able to meet any other people apart from Lily and the chief in this branch huh.
“We’ll need to say goodbye to Ami-san from the Adventurer’s Guild too. I seem to remember it was required for us to give them a heads up whenever we move to a new area.”
Most likely, it was in order to avoid being unable to tell our location if ever a designated quest pops up.
And we’ll need to cancel that wyvern magic stone quest as well. Then, we’ll be able to get the retaining fee of a hundred thousand Guineas for the quest refunded back to us.
We proceeded to the Adventurer’s Guild and told Ami-san about our plan to leave this city.
“Is that so? That’s quite unfortunate. All of the members of the Shining Star party are very skilled individuals, so we were looking forward to introducing some quests to you… Understood. I’ll update your party information right away.”
“And we’ll be cancelling that wyvern magic stone quest we placed a while back as well.”
“Um, understood. ………Well then, here are the hundred thousand Guineas that we took as a deposit for the quest.”
“Thank you. By the way, does the guild have info regarding the characteristics of different monsters and such?”
“Oh, if you want to read up on such info, you can check all of the related materials inside the reference room for free. And this goes without saying, but these types of materials that contain vital info are really expensive if you want a personal copy for yourselves, alright.”
While saying that, Ami-san took out a thick and heavy-looking book from one of the shelves behind her.
“Can we take a look at it?”
“It’s fine, but be careful with that, okay. You’re going to have to pay for it in full if you end up damaging that book.”
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