「Takato-san. This is the reward for hunting goblins.」
When I went down to the first floor, a female staff came over and handed me a leather pouch.
「I did not bring any goblin ears, you know?」
「Bringing that many ears would cause problems. Also, Takato-san, you are treated as a staff-affiliated provisional adventurer, so you do not need to bring ears. A report afterward is enough.」
「No, you need to check that properly. It will become a breeding ground for fraud.」
Turning a blind eye because it is someone on the inside leads to bad habits. They should investigate properly.
「We heard you make your living hunting goblins. The reward for hunting goblins is cheap and has a set upper limit. Even after defeating that many, the reward is only four silver coins.」
It is true. No one would want to do it for four silver coins, which is about forty thousand yen, after killing over a thousand. There is no real way to cheat either. For the guild, handing over four silver coins and being done with it is easier.
「Well, it is something extra for us anyway. I have no complaints.」
Actually, I would have preferred copper coins for crossing the bridge. I wonder if they would exchange if I asked.
「Ah, right. Please share these with everyone. These are donuts like the ones I left at the lodging house.」
I was not sure how many staffs were here, but I bought thirty boxes. Giving them five boxes like at the lodging house should be enough for all the staff.
「Bread? It has a very sweet smell.」
「Something like that. If you like them, I will bring more.」
I decided to save the silver coin exchange for later and left the branch.
「Kainzel-san. Your share.」
I took one silver coin from the pouch and handed it to him.
「Are you sure?」
「We do not have anything to buy anyway. Feel free to go enjoy the steam bath. We will look around the town.」
If I want to live in this world, I need to know the town. We usually do not have chances like this, so we should walk around until evening.
「True. I should take the chance to wash up.」
「Let’s meet at the lodging house this evening. Ah, just in case, please keep your radio switched on.」
「Got it. Contact me right away if anything happens.」
「Understood.」
Kainzel-san and I parted ways in front of the branch, and we headed toward the shopping district.
The town was big when traveling on foot, but the shopping district was not very large. While buying some small apple-like fruits from a stall, we asked where the market was.
「That turned into a ridiculous amount.」
I bought five copper coins’ worth for change, but it ended up being about two kilos. What am I supposed to do with this?
I tried one, but it was really sour. Do the locals actually eat something this sour? You would need to process it or something.
「Ladarion, how is it? Can you eat it?」
「I can eat it, but I would not choose to.」
She has turned into a picky eater. If I squeeze it into gin it might be good. I should try it tonight.
The shopping district, or maybe it was a marketplace, was full of energy.
There was nothing I particularly wanted, but the exotic atmosphere was interesting. I even ended up buying something like a strange craft that looked like a bamboo screen. What am I supposed to do with this?
I shoved it into my backpack and walked around the market. When Ladarion’s stomach growled, I bought some skewered meat from a food stall.
「Oh, this is good.」
It tasted like pork, grilled with salt, and it was good enough to sell in my original world. This was the kind of flavor that made beer taste better.
「This is delicious.」
Even Ladarion approved of the skewers.
It was three copper coins per skewer, more expensive than the other stalls, but the taste justified it. I bought one silver coin’s worth.
「Ladarion. Bring out the yakiniku sauce. I am tired of salt.」
Ladarion was the one carrying the apport pouch, so I had him bring out yakiniku sauce and poured it over the skewers on a plate made of grass.
「Yeah. Yakiniku sauce is justice.」
We finished one silver coin’s worth in no time. I knew it was a bad idea, but I had her bring out beer and ended up drinking it. This delicious skewer was to blame.
「Food in this place is not bad at all.」
Not everything was like that, but good food was good and bad food was bad. I should try things without prejudice from now on.
As we searched the market for anything else that tasted good, I noticed a girl sitting in a corner.
She was dirty and it was hard to tell her age, but she looked fourteen or fifteen. She had a piece of woven cloth in front of her with a wooden board on top that had some kind of writing on it. She only sat there without moving.
She was not a tax collector. She was not selling anything. She just sat there.
I wondered what she was doing, but I was not interested enough to talk to her. We moved on to look for the next food stall.
There was something like naan stuffed with tomatoes and cheese, something like pizza. It was good. If it had ham or salami it would be even better.
We went around the market, found good food and stuffed ourselves. Then a group of boys who looked like adventurers walked past us.
One of them had an injury on his leg and was leaning on a friend’s shoulder.
I followed them with my eyes without much thought, and they headed toward the girl from earlier.
They seated the injured boy in front of her, paid her a single copper coin, and the girl placed her hand on his injured leg.
A faint light shone from her palm.
Recovery magic?
When the faint light faded, the boy’s injury did not fully heal, but the open wound barely closed.
「You are still as weak as ever.」
The boys insulted the girl and left without a single word of thanks.
The girl showed no sign of sadness. She simply picked up the copper coin and tucked it away.
「What a waste of talent.」
Seriously, the future of the Margrave Koraus’s domain was looking bleak.
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