Chapter 56 – Dinner Banquet 2 Part 2
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Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
“By the way, Alan-sama. We’re sorry for the delay, but please receive this. It’s your reward for those bandits you handed over to us,” Karina said as she handed me the money.
The Guineas was placed inside a small leather pouch. I opened the pouch and checked the contents. There were exactly six gold coins inside.
“Yes, I’ve certainly received them.”
After that, we finally bid farewell to our hosts since the dinner and the talks were essentially over. We were brought back to the inn via carriage by Karina-san as well.
“Well then, Alan-sama. Since there will be a need to check with the craftsmen’s schedule first, shall we depart for the base at ten o’clock in the morning?”
“Of course. I’ll match your schedule.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
Karina-san left with the carriage.
“Let’s talk a bit while having tea, everyone.”
We had Kira-san serve some tea as we sat around a table in the dining area. Since there were no other guests present apart from us, our current outfits posed no problems.
“I ended up settling the discussions earlier without talking it over with you all, so I want to ask if you have any objections. Um, do you?”
I asked a bit nervously. I did end up making decisions all on my own so it’s probably too late, but still…
“I don’t have any problems whatsoever. I’m actually very happy that you considered the circumstances of the Royal Guards as well, Alan.”
“That’s right, isn’t it, Ria-sama? To think you were able to make a 1,500,000 Guinea deal with the chief of the Commerce Guild and secure a Clan base as well as an exclusive request. Making you our leader really wasn’t a mistake, Alan.”
Oh! Cleria and Elna both gave rave reviews!
The thing with the liquor just seemed really interesting, and I brought up the base because I thought it’ll be hard to house all of the Royal Guard members in an inn. I’d also feel sorry if we were the only ones who get to stay in an inn with a bath. And I also brought up the bandit hunting thing because I simply thought it would be a lot more profitable than monster hunting. I should probably not reveal my real reasons though. All’s well that ends well, as they say.
“Do you guys have no problems with it as well, Selena, Sharon?”
“Of course. It all turned out well, so I have nothing to complain about. Just like Elna said, you were wonderful, Alan.”
“We wouldn’t oppose anything Alan decides in the first place.”
I just went with the flow, but it looks like there are no problems. I’m on a roll today.
“I see. So I guess there are no problems. We’ll check out the base tomorrow then.”
“I’ve returned, sir.”
“Oh, welcome back, Karina. Since you’re back, how about we discuss what happened tonight a bit with Arista and Natalie?”
Before long, Arista and Natalie also joined the two.
“Now then, what do all think about those adventurers?”
“The first thing I was thoroughly surprised about were the clothes Alan-san and his party was wearing. Just how did they manage to procure such splendid articles?” Arista began.
“Yes, that’s right. I didn’t want to seem rude, so I stopped myself from staring too much, but those certainly were uncommon articles, weren’t they?”
“I was able to observe up close while sitting alongside them inside the carriage. All of their clothing had a certain unique style to them, but they were all so intricate to a somewhat terrifying extent. Or rather, I could not even imagine they were weaved by human hands because of their extreme intricacy,” Karina added.
“You’re right. I also had that impression. There’s also their design. The designs of Alan-san and Ria-san’s clothing were, as Karina described, so intricate and sophisticated that you couldn’t help but feel their magnificence. The clothes of the others were quite wonderful as well, but those two were just on a league of their own. Ah, to think such divine-looking clothes existed in this world…”
“What’s clear from this is that Alan and his group possess clothes that are far superior to anything our company produces. That also goes for the made-to-order clothes exclusively sold to royalty.”
“That’s right. They were definitely even more magnificent than the clothing worn by the royal family, or even the king himself.”
“Another point is the abilities of Alan and the others as adventurers. They are even more impressive than what you three described. They can be said to be top A rankers, or maybe even S rankers.”
“They are that skilled?”
“Yes. It’s definitely not normal to successfully bring down an entire orc settlement along with a General Orc with just five party members. Usually, you would need over a hundred skilled knights for that. Orcs are quite dangerous when they attack in groups. One orc probably won’t pose a problem to seasoned adventurers, but if five or ten of them swarm you, that will be a different story. And they defeated seventy-five! Alan looked nonchalant as he related their feats, but that just goes to show how confident he was of their skills. In other words, he didn’t even consider seventy-five orcs as a problem at all.”
“I’m also quite curious about the fifty-eight individuals who will be forming a Clan with Alan-sama and the others.”
“Oh, that’s right. Normally, a Clan is something that grows in strength and influence gradually over the years. But they will be creating a Clan with over sixty members all at once. Well, if other guys attempt such a thing, I’m sure they will run out of funds sooner or later and collapse under their own weight.”
“But Alan-san and the others looked quite wealthy, so I suppose that doesn’t apply to them,” Arista observed.
“It’s not just their wealth. If you don’t have the charisma to attract others to follow your lead, you won’t be able to create a successful Clan. Well, after getting a glimpse of Alan and the other’s abilities, I can understand why people would be compelled to follow them. I’m sure Alan and the others would not group up with average folk, so those comrades of theirs should all be considerably skilled as well. Perhaps we will get to witness the birth of a brand new strongest Clan.”
“Father, what about the matter with the alcohol? Is it really possible?”
“Yes, I was also quite shocked. But judging from his tone, he was pretty confident about it. There’s also the commission he brought up. That was something he mentioned while being completely aware of just how much money you could potentially earn from selling a newly developed type of liquor. Even with that knowledge, he only mentioned such a paltry sum as his commission.”
“Eh!? 2,000,000 Guineas is a paltry sum!?” Arista exclaimed in surprise.
“Yes. If he does manage to make a brand new liquor that surpasses what we brought out tonight, then earning several million would be a simple affair. No, perhaps even tens of millions is a conservative estimate. It’s so big of a deal that it may potentially endanger our lives if we make the wrong step. And even then, he actually agreed to lower the payment to 1,500,000 Guineas. …In other words, what he’s after isn’t money per se.”
“Come to think of it, I managed to notice something while we were having dinner. It seems Alan-san, Sharon-san, and Selena-san aren’t from this country. The way they handled cutlery was somewhat different from ours,” Arista revealed.
“Hou, so you managed to notice such a thing.”
“They tried to follow after what the rest of us were doing, but all three of them have certain habits ingrained which they couldn’t completely discard. However, they were far from inelegant. Rather, they were impressively refined. Their basics are fundamentally different, but they were still quite the sight.”
“I see. Well, if their country treats producing alcohol on par or better than my special stash as commonplace, then it’s not hard to imagine their basic table manners to be exemplary as well. So the three of them are most likely from one country huh?”
“On the other hand, Ria-san and Elna-san’s table manners were completely similar to our own. They should be citizens of this country or other neighboring kingdoms.”
“I see. They are comrades hailing from different countries huh. I’m now quite curious about how they came together as a party.”
“Silas-sama, don’t you think the bandit subjugation request will be difficult even for a party of Alan-sama and the rest’s caliber? Though they did seem to know how to go about it when they rescued us…” Karina asked in concern.
“Oh, that matter huh… I also thought so earlier, but they might actually pull it off.
Normally, groups that go after bandit gangs try to match or exceed them in numbers in order to ensure success.
But if such a large group went out, the bandit’s scouts will be able to easily spot them and allow their comrades to flee or hide.
But what about them? If their group approaches a bandit-infested territory with just one carriage, I’m sure those knaves will just think of them as easy prey.
But the one waiting for them is a group with enough strength to completely decimate an entire orc settlement all on their own. Who will win out, in the end, goes without saying.”
“So, you really will have Alan-sama and the others…?”
“No, it’s not that simple. Even if there are a lot of incidents involving bandits within the general area, they won’t always be present on every road, and there’s no guarantee they’ll walk into the trap either.
There are many winding paths along the roads after all. This may sound strange, but under such circumstances, you just wouldn’t be able to ensure you’ll run into some bandits even if you actively search for them.
It would be a different story if you knew the location of the bandits beforehand, but since that’s not possible most of the time, it probably won’t go so well in the end.”
“That’s… Yes, that may be the case.”
“Well, they did say they wanted to have a go at it first. If so, then why not let them?”
“But they really are such a mysterious group, aren’t they?”
“Yes, certainly. I was actually thinking of inviting them to be our Commerce Guild’s exclusive contracted adventurers, but they don’t seem to be the type to accept such a thing. I still can’t see their depths. In any case, I sure became acquainted with some pretty interesting folks after so long. Karina, sorry to dump this on you, but please look after Alan and the rest for me for a while.”
“Understood, Silas-sama.”
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