Instead of whining about how much I wanted to run away, the correct answer here is
to stand my ground and fight. I also feel pretty bad about myself after the fact, because
I realized that I have exposed my ugly, hideous self before Roxanne and Sherry, but
now that it has already happened, there is nothing that I can do about it aside from
accepting it and moving forward, knowing that no matter how shameful my conduct
might have been, Roxanne and Sherry are always going to accept me no matter what I
say or do.
I just defeated another group of enemies, thanks to which my MP has gone back to its
full value, and then we were on our way back home.
"This is the Palmasque Mirror."
When we got back home, this is what Sherry said as she peeled off the wrapping made
out of papyrus that the mirrors have been packaged in. It was a pretty mirror of a good
size that was just right for our personal use here at home. There was no frame or stand
attached to it.
"Thanks to all of the money that Master gave us and the written commission from the
Duke of Hartz, we were able to get our hands on a pretty good mirrors without any
decorative frames that would only elevate the price."
"I only ever heard stories about such mirrors and did not have a chance to ever see
one for myself, but now that I look at it, this mirror is every bit as beautiful as the
stories about it were telling."
I can totally see that, however, how does a Palmasque Mirror compare to the modern
mirrors that can be commonly found all across not only Japan, but also the entire
world? Well, If I were to give my honest opinion, then I would have to say that this
mirror is pretty… normal, and of acceptable quality. I do think that it is looking a little
bit dull, but it is definitely miles ahead of the polished metal sheets that were trying
to pass for mirrors like the one that we had at home up until today. It definitely shows
much more than those polished metal mirrors, so for that alone I think it is definitely
going to be worth replacing.
"Yes, this is indeed a good purchase that you have made, girls. I am absolutely proud
of you."
"Thank you very much, master. We are glad that you like it as well."
"So tell me, how much did you have to pay for them?"
"The price for a single mirror was thirty five silver coins per a single mirror. However,
when we were negotiating the price, the one from whom we bought the mirrors
agreed to sell us eleven undecorated Palmasque Mirrors for the price of three hundred
and fifty silver coins, and since we agreed to pay for all of them up front, we saved up
to three gold coins!"
Oh, so they also managed to cut down on the final price? Great! As expected of Sherry
and her intellectual mind! I can always count on her and her smarts whenever it
matters the most!
"Hou…"
"Making such a good purchase was only possible thanks to you, master, because you
decided to trust me with the gold coins that were in your possession. We also went to
order the Duke of Hartz's request in one of the most renowned mirror workshops in
Palmasque, and judging by the opinions given when we asked while we were looking
around to decide which workshop we should be going to, I think it would be safe to
assume that the craftsmen who work there are not going to simply take our money
and escape with it, because supposedly if the word of such practice ever reached the
ears of the Palmasque City Council the craftsmen who has committed such a crime
would have been done for in Palmasque."
"I definitely hope that this is going to be the case. Because if they do try to escape with
our master's money, I can guarantee you that money is going to be the last thing that
they are going to have to worry about once I get my hands on them, since I had their
smell memorized, so I will be able to track them no matter where they might try to
run to, and when I do, then…"
Roxanne was smiling cheerfully the entire time, but her words were anything but
cheerful! "And when I do, then…"? And when you do, then what?! Roxanne, say
something, because you are scaring the shit out of me when you stay all silent like that!
I do not like it! Not at all!
If there were thieves and frauds who would be masquerading themselves as legitimate
craftsmen, then the tried-and-true tactic of: get the client to pay as much up front and
then disappear with the money without even performing the task that they have been
paid for. It is a cowardly, vile and despicable tactic well suited for the absolute scum of
society who are in the same boat as Outlaws and Bandits. I am sure that such deceivers
and con artists are aplenty in this world, but luckily for me, for as long as I am in this
world, I have yet to happen upon such schemers.
"And what about the sizes of the mirror? Is it going to be a problem to have them made
in different ones, or is it not going to be the problem at all?"
"The size of these particular mirrors is the large one, but the craftsmen said that it will
not be a problem to make the mirrors of various sizes across the span of that
commission, and he also mentioned that the sizes of the mirrors are not going to
change the price at all."
"And with that, I think it can be said that the request from the Duke of Hartz has been
successfully cleared."
"While we were also at the workshop that is going to take care of the production of
the mirrors, we also saw that they do decorations there as well, which is not at all
surprising since practically every workshop in Palmasque that takes care of making
mirrors is bound to be dealing with the decorations of the frames as well. The
craftsmen said that they are going to add a small table mirror with a stand to our order,
even though they normally do not tend to create products like that, but they said that
they are going to make an exception and attach that additional mirror to the largest
regular mirror that they are going to be making for us."
"Oh really? I see."
.
In that case, the largest mirror of the bunch is going to be the one that we are going to
take for our personal use. It is also good that apart from that table mirror with the
stand, the price is going to stay the same regardless of the sizes of the mirrors.
"Since it is only going to the one in the whole eleven mirrors set, it would seem that
the stand is going to be attached as a special service at a later date, and it will also be
done without any additional charges."
Wait, so you are telling me that the price of attaching a stand to the table mirror that
is going to be added to the largest mirror out of the eleven that we ordered to be made
is already included in that fee that Sherry and Roxanne paid? Oh wow. As, as expected
of Sherry I guess, and for the second time today no less.
"Great job, Sherry."
"Oh, I forgot to mention that, but this particular thing has been negotiated by Miss
Roxanne."
"Really, Roxanne?"
"Yes. I asked him if it could be done in such a way and he agreed to do it."
"In that case congratulations to you as well for you bartering skills."
Who would have thought? I was convinced that Sherry was the one who negotiated
that particular thing as well, but the one whom I have to thank for it is actually
Roxanne. She is a girl of many talents besides dodging and smelling enemies in the
Labyrinths, it would seem.
"And what about the amber situation in Palmasque? Did you manage to learn anything
about it?"
"Yes, actually. In the very same workshop to which we went with the commission. The
craftsmen there said that since his workshop is dealing in decorating mirrors as well,
he would be willing to buy amber, but he mentioned that he would prefer the rough
stones instead of already processed ones so that he could process them freely himself
according to his preferences."
"So that means that there actually is a possibility for us to do some amber-based
business in Palmasque, right?"
"Yes, definitely. From what we could gather, amber seems to be quite the coveted
resource in Palmasque for the purpose of processing it into decorative ornaments, but
amber itself is quite rare in the region of Palmasque, most likely because Palmasque
itself is located pretty far from the Northern Sea, where amber is usually being
harvested, so I think that if we were to deliver amber to that craftsmen, it might be a
lucrative business opportunity for us, because if he really wants to get his hands on
amber to use it in his decorations as much as he was saying that he wants it, then he
should be able to offer us enough money for it to actually make giving it to him
profitable enough for us."
As expected of Sherry's knack for information gathering, there is nothing that can
possibly sneak past her. That being said, can amber really be harvested from the sea?
Because I thought that it is fossilized resin, then it would have to be dug up from the
depths of the soil. But if it is not the case, then how is it harvested? Kinda like from an
undersea oil rig? Maybe I should ask Sherry to give me a proper explanation about it
later?
"If you do decide to sell amber to that craftsmen from Palmasque, then I think it would
be good to go to that amber-selling place in Bode that you mentioned the Duke of
Hartz giving you a letter of introduction to."
Yeah, the girls are definitely right about that. Now that we have two Palmasque
Mirrors on us, it would be a good idea to deliver them to the Duke's castle in Bode
tomorrow morning. But before we do that, I think it would be best for us to pay a visit
to the amber merchant first. That way, I would be able to immediately consult the
Duke about it if I am going to have any trouble with that merchant and his willingness
to do business with me at all.
"I guess you are right about that."
"Well then, do you want to come with me next time?"
"We can? Are you sure about that, master?"
"I mean, the two of you were the ones who bought the mirrors and took care of all of
the formalities, so I guess that would only be fair."
Also, Roxanne and Sherry are going to be handling any kind of deals involving the
selling of the amber we would get from Bode in Palmasque, because you know,
Intelligence Card checks, me not actually being an Adventurer and all of that other
stuff that I have already mentioned multiple times.
On a side note though, I would have very much liked to see how exactly would they
handle doing business and the prices negotiations with various merchants like the
amber one in Bode, since the two of them have apparently gotten some practice at
talking to the merchants while they were discussing the details about the Palmasque
Mirrors commission with the craftsmen back at Palmasque.
"We understand. Thank you very much, master."
And so, just like I promised them, I took Roxanne and Sherry with me on my next trip
to Bode. We quickly stopped by the castle so that I could ask for the directions leading
to Bode's Adventurer's Guild, and after that we have made our way to the castle town.
When we finally arrived there, I saw that the Duke was definitely telling the truth, and
the shop of the amber merchant really was situated right next to the Adventurer's
Guild's building, so we did not even need to have to look for it, since all that it took to
reach the guy's establishment was a short walk across the tranquil cobblestone road.
It was right next to the sign of the Adventurer's Guild, which was a motif of the world
on a square mark right at the Guild's entrance. I think that either Roxanne or Sherry
explained to me before why is the symbol of the Adventurer's Guild that one in
particular, and if I remember correctly, it was all about the symbolism that Adventurers
can go pretty much anywhere they want on this earth.
The building right next to the Adventurer's Guild looked perfectly ordinary, just like
any other building around it, so if I did not know precisely what I was looking for, I
would have most likely simply gone past it without looking back. All right, since we
are already here, then I guess there is nothing left to do for us but to go inside, huh?
And that is exactly what we did.
"Welcome, esteemed customers."
A courteous, cat-eared female clerk welcomed us.
Oooooh! Cat ears! Genuine cat ears! They look incredibly good on her. They make her
look both playful and cute at the same time. As I thought, Roxanne's doggy ears have
their own unique charm to them, but nothing is ever going to best cat ears in terms of
their sheer cuteness value.
"Is this the place that deals in selling amber?"
"Indeed. If it is amber you want, then you have definitely come to the right place."
All right, so it looks like we are exactly where we needed to be, even if this place is
looking more like an office than a shop in a typical sense of the word, not to mention
that I do not see any amber on the display anywhere here. Well, if it is really as valuable
of a jewel as everybody is saying that it is, then it would stand to reason that they
would not be keeping it displayed in the shop proper in order to prevent any attempts
at stealing it.
"Forgive me for being too direct, but I was under the impression that you were going
to be an Elf."
"An understandable assumption since Bode and the Hartz Duchy are considered to be
an Elven territory, but amber is found near the sea, and it just so happens that the
lands where it can be harvested belong to the members of the Catkin race, so it is only
natural for the Catkin to run such a shop, do you not think, Mr. Customer?"
She said so in a mild, matter-of-fact voice, after which I felt dumb for speaking so
casually about something that might have insulted her.
.
Yay, my ignorance is on full display yet again.
There are many things about this world that I don't know and this is one of those
things. Anyway, the words of the cat-eared female clerk basically confirmed what
Sherry was telling me earlier: that amber is indeed harvested from near the sea. If that
is the case, then maybe what they are dealing with here is not actually amber, but
pearls instead?
"I often find myself travelling to faraway places, so I have decided to sell amber during
those travels of mine. I heard about this place from the Duke of Hartz and the leader
of the Knight Order of Hartz Duchy, and both of them advised me to come here in case
that I would ever want to buy and sell amber."
I then showed her the letter of introduction that the Duke has written for me.
"Please, sir, if you could wait here for just a little bit while I confirm this letter's
contents, that would be much appreciated."
The cat-eared clerk then bowed to me respectfully as she took the letter of
recommendation from my hands and then walked away to the depths of the shop with
my letter in tow. And after a short while…
"This letter of introduction… It has been penned by the hand of the Duke himself!"
A bitter-looking old merchant appeared immediately from the back of the store where
the cat-eared female clerk was supposed to have taken the letter. I was hoping for an
another appearance of a cat-eared servant, but what I got myself instead was a cat
man who apparently was the one responsible for an entire shop. And exactly like I
thought, cat-ears do not look good on older guys. In fact, they do not fit him at all,
making him look as if he was some kind of a poor excuse of a cosplayer.
"Yes, that letter of introduction has indeed been penned by the Duke of Hartz Duchy."
He gestured me with his hand to come with him to the room in the back of the shop.
When I entered that room, the female cat-eared clerk from before even offered me
herbal tea. I guess this has to be the power of the letter of introduction prepared by
the Duke of the entire Duchy himself.
The merchant gestured me to sit on the sofa that was placed in the room, so I sat in
the middle of it while having Roxanne and Sherry sit at the either side of me. Then, the
female clerk with cat ears came to the table and placed four cups on it, pouring the
herbal tea not only for the merchant and myself, but also for Roxanne and Sherry as
well. So she is treating them as full-blown customers as well, instead of just something
of an accessory to my own person? That is good. Very good, even.
"Thank you, and sorry for the trouble."
"Yes, thank you."
Both of them thanked the cat-eared clerk politely.
"So, let us hear it then. What is it that brings you here, exactly?"
"I would like to get myself involved in the business of selling amber."
The old merchant gazed at me from beyond the other side of the table that was placed
in between the two sofas. In the meantime, he nodded at the cat-eared clerk, signaling
her that she might leave. Oooh, no, do not go, you can stay here a bit longer! Damn,
what a waste of a perfectly good cat-girl that I could have used to feast my eyes upon
her cuteness! Anyway, I guess it is now the time to switch into the business mode and
start the talks with this guy here in all seriousness.
"The Duke and the leader of the Knight Order of Hartz Duchy advised me that if I ever
wanted to start dealing with amber, this store should definitely be the place that I
should visit, and so I came here with their encouragement."
In my opening statement, I chose to further emphasize my connection to the big shots
of Hartz Duchy. There is always a possibility that it might not mean much in the end
due to the Duke's light-hearted and free-spirited nature being widely known in these
parts, but still, if I managed to get myself a connection to the two of the most important
people in the entire Duchy, then why not make use of it whenever I get the chance?
Maybe it is going to work like a charm, or maybe it will not work at all. Whatever the
case may be here, I guess I am about to find that out for myself.
"I figured as much. Since there are not that many customers who come to my shop
with a letter of introduction written by the Duke himself, then that has to mean that
you really must be someone who is in the Duke's good graces, and that is why I and
the personnel of my shop are going to treat you with the same level of esteem and
respect as we would the Duke himself."
"I see."
"However, before we start talking about anything that is going to be business-related,
there is one thing that I want you to understand: as an establishment, this shop
operates primarily within the borders of Hartz Duchy, Imperial City and its vicinity,
and because of that I would have preferred it if my business within those regions
remained undisturbed so that it could continue as is. So, if the business that you want
to have with me is not about doing anything in these regions, and if your order is going
to be something that could be fulfilled from the remainder of our stock that we have
right here, I would be more than happy to help you out with that. So, what is your plan
going to be exactly, sir?"
So, it seems that this shop is still going to do business properly, even if they are not
going to be lined up with amber in the store directly. And I can definitely see where
this man is going with what he said about having his area of operations and not
wanting that region to be disturbed. If I was in his shoes, then I definitely would not
want some unknown upstart to just barge into my field of business disturbing the
stability of what has already been established, and it would have been a huge problem
for him if his business got ruined because of such an unexpected influence from the
outside. Of course, my primary goal is buy amber from him at the lowest price possible
so that I could then sell it in Palmasque at the highest possible price for maximum
profits, but even if I manage to buy it at relatively cheap price by getting it directly
from this shop, there is also the problem of transportation costs that I need to take
into consideration. Since carrying it from Palmasque to the Imperial City results in
essentially doubling the original cost of the Palmasque Mirror, then I am afraid that it
might just end up being exactly the same with amber and the costs of its
transportation, and that would be pretty bad for business from my perspective. Or
rather, it would have been, since Adventurers, in other words those who have access
to "Field Walker" or in my case, to "Warp", the superior version of "Field Walker", can
essentially dump all of the transportation costs thanks to them having access to those
skills.
"I am planning to do a bit of business in Palmasque this time, and because it is only
going to be an occasional thing, not a regular trade I do not plan on selling amber there
in large quantities."
"I understand. If you really plan on selling amber only in small quantities, then it does
not really matter where exactly you are going to be selling it, because it will not end
up destabilizing the market, but if you say that you want to do it in such a distant place
as Palmasque, then I have no reason to refuse selling the amber from my shop to you,
so it is going to be perfectly fine for us to do business."
As he was saying that, the old cat-eared merchant produced a wooden box from
somewhere and placed it on the table. Does that mean that he liked my answer so
much that he is going to do business with me with no further questions asked from
now on?! Because it would certainly be great if he did that, as it would make things
much simpler and cause them to move on at a much smoother pace.
.
When he finally opened the box, I saw that inside of it was a transparent gemstone
with a color that looked like a mixture of orange and yellow, with a slight tinge of black
to it. Yes, this is amber. Not a pearl, definitely amber. This is such a distinct color that
there is no way for anyone to mistake that gem for anything else.
"Uwaaaah..."
"It is so beautiful..."
Roxanne and Sherry expressed their amazement at the sight of amber from both of
my sides. Just like any other girl in the world, they seem to really like beautiful,
sparkling jewelry.
"A small amber gemstone like this can cost from a thousand to several thousand Nars.
A necklace made from amber can cost tens of thousands of Nars. The price of the
necklace right here is fifty five thousand Nars, while the one here is fifty thousand
Nars. As for why the price of the both of them is so high, it is because large grains of
amber, which are pretty rare in and of themselves, have been used to make them. So,
how about it?"
Perhaps it was because he immediately smelled a possible business opportunity, but
the cat-eared merchant immediately recommended the necklaces to Roxanne and
Sherry after seeing how lively they reacted to the piece of amber that he shown to us.
*Sigh* merchants will be merchants no matter where you go I guess.
"No, we…"
"Well, I see no harm in looking at them, so feel free to do that if you want."
"Understood. Then, we would like to take a look, if it is not a problem."
I urged Roxanne and Sherry to check out the Amber Necklaces if they wanted. Roxanne
took the one that was worth fifty five thousand Nars, while Sherry checked out the one
worth fifty thousand Nars.
I also took this opportunity to see from up close exactly how Amber Necklaces are
made.
Oooh, I see. So they are made like that, huh? Well, that might be a simple method, but
I cannot say that it is not an effective one.
The Amber Necklaces that the girls were looking at now were made from dozens of
oval-cut and polished egg-shaped chunks of amber connected via a piece of string that
was threaded through the middle of each individual stone. Is that how such a necklace
would have been made in modern day Japan as well, or perhaps this method is a little
bit old-fashioned? I cannot say with absolute certainty, because I do not really
understand jewelry and other types of decorations like that, because in my previous
life there was no need for me to bother myself with these things, since there was no
need for me to be wearing them when I was spending the days in my room all the time
and I did not have a girlfriend who would wear such accessories.
"Necklaces are not the only things that can be made with amber, since it can also be
used to make brooches that can be especially valuable if the amber used for the
purpose of making them is of exceedingly good quality that can be cut into large
pieces. This particular brooch right here had its price set to approximately twenty
thousand Nars."
The merchant said while also passing an Amber Brooch to me so that I could inspect
it closely to my heart's content. A brooch, huh? It looks like one of these fancy ones
that you could occasionally see men and women alike wearing while having it attached
to their coats and mantles. Until now, I was under the impression that only women
and men with specific tastes would be wearing something like that, but maybe in this
world they are something that men can wear without worrying about being branded
in a particular way by the rest of the society.
"Hm..."
But honestly, such accessories are not really my cup of tea, and so I am not interested
in them in the slightest.
"Palmasque is a town famous for its arts and crafts, so it might be better for me to sell
rough amber stones there, because I heard that a lot of craftsmen prefer them that
way because then they can have the freedom of working with them however they see
fit. Do you also sell rough, unprocessed amber here?"
"I see. Yes, definitely. Since Palmasque is such a city, then it really might be a better
option to bring them rough gemstones to sell, since they will be in much higher
demand than the already processed stones."
"Yes, I think so as well, and that is why I asked about them."
I already heard all about that from Sherry, who in turn heard it directly from the
craftsmen who is going to be making the Palmasque Mirrors for us and the Duke of
Hartz, but there is absolutely no need for this guy to know about that, and there is
definitely no need for me to reveal every ace that I have up my sleeve.
Sherry was looking at the amber necklace quite intently, which indicated that she was
greatly interested in it, even though she was trying her best to look like she was not
interested in it at all, but she was doing an exceptionally poor job at deceiving all of us
who were here in the room with her, because while she might have tried to control her
facial expressions, she could do nothing to control that bright shine that she had in her
eyes whenever she saw something that picked her interest. She then exchanged
necklaces with the one that Roxanne was holding and was examining it with even
bigger interest and attention to every single detail, no matter how small it was, but
Roxanne was also looking at the necklace curiously.
"Thank you very much for letting us see the necklaces."
"Do not mention it. Well? What do you think about them?"
The merchant asked Roxanne when she returned the necklace to him after she
stopped examining it.
"Well… these necklaces are unquestionably beautiful… But to be honest, I would have
preferred something with a lighter coloring."
"Do not worry then, because I have just the product like that."
Not allowing Roxanne to let this matter go after her words which normally should be
taken as a refusal that should end all talks here and there, the cat-eared old guy
continued to pressure her by taking out another wooden box and showing her yet
another necklace that was inside of it.
"Eh? Eeeeeh?"
"This necklace right here is made out of a highly transparent amber, which gives it a
light color that is quite refreshing for the eyes, and it is one of the last few that I have
for sale purposes here. Price-wise, it is going to be cheaper than the other two that
you looked over because its colors are not as vibrant and intense, but thanks to that it
should be a pretty good deal to be had."
"No, I..."
Roxanne was even more hesitant than before, but the merchant did not let go his
assault. He definitely is a true businessman, not allowing any potential prey to escape
once he set his sights on her.
"And what do you think about them Miss Customer?"
"Hmm, let me think… I think that both of these necklaces are good-looking and
exquisitely made."
After the old man merchant spoke to Sherry, she returned the necklace to him as well.
She praised the products that he has shown to us, but the tone of her voice was as cold
as ice. And that glare of hers… This is a glare that is very different from the usual one
that she is giving me whenever I say some dumb or questionable shit. I have a feeling
that I should be uncomfortable looking at her staring daggers at someone like that,
but this time… this time that glare of hers caused me to feel good, mostly because I
was not on the receiving end of it.
"Does that mean that you like them?"
The merchant asked her, seemingly unfazed.
"Maybe I would have, if it was not for the fact that I am a Dwarf, and the necklaces of
this length, which are typically made with humans and the tall humanoid races in
mind, making them a more than a little bit too long for us."
"You are absolutely right. Most of the things here are made with Humans, Elves and
other tall races in mind because they tend to like the necklaces of this length, but for
the clients who do not fancy the long ones we also have something like that."
.
The cat-eared old fart said while taking out yet another necklace. Just how many of
these does he have stored in here? This time, it was a necklace with just one big chunk
of amber in it, but the string was constructed in such a way that its length could have
been freely adjusted according to one's needs and tastes.
"A necklace with adjustable string length? I see."
"And here in this box are all the rough amber chunks that I currently possess."
The merchant pushed the necklace towards Roxanne and Sherry and addressed me
this time. Inside of the box that he just took out were some reddish stones. Is that also
amber? Because it surely does not look like that. Noticing the question mark floating
above my head in mass quantities, the merchant took one of said reddish stones out
and handed them to me for inspection.
"This is how a rough amber gemstone looks."
"This is a rough amber gemstone? It looks different from what I have expected."
"That is because rough amber chunks look different from the ones that have already
been polished and worked around with. On the other hand, what you see right here
are the fragments of the larger lumps of natural amber that was formed on the sea
floor and then washed ashore. See those scrapes right here? These markings are the
signs that it has not been that long since they have been formed and harvested and
they are the sign that these pieces of rough amber are of the highest quality possible."
"I see."
These chunks of amber certainly look as if they have been scraped in many places.
"Mr. Customer, do you know what kind of amber you would like to do business in when
you go to Palmasque? Or rather, do you know what kind of amber is the best to trade?"
"No, unfortunately I do not know."
Yes, I do not know that, because there was no way for me to know about any of those
things before. Back when I was still living on Earth, there was no need for me to be
interested in amber, its price, properties and all of those other things related to it, and
even if I knew about it, there is always a chance that the amber of this world might be
different from the one from my old world, meaning that all of the knowledge that I
could have possessed about it would have been no good and could be thrown out the
window.
"Basically, the general consensus is that the raw gemstones are better for the purpose
of trading, especially the ones with high transparency and reddish color. Roughing is
used to separate the shades from one another to some extent, but that method is not
always an absolutely effective method."
"Oh really? Why is that?"
"Whenever you polish the raw amber chunks, there is always a possibility that there
might still be traces of the foreign substances left in it. According to one of the legends,
amber was actually created by one of the Goddesses through magic as a means to deal
with the plague of insects that were ravaging the lands, and that is why the corpses of
insects can be found contained within pieces of amber. The ones that contain a whole
intact insect, like an ant or a mosquito are the most beautiful, very valuable, and they
also have a great value for the collectors of such peculiarities of nature, but
unfortunately, whether or not a piece of amber with the remains of insects in them is
going to be of high value or not cannot be determined at the rough cutting stage."
Huh? But I thought that amber was a perfectly natural mineral made from hardened
sap of the trees such as pine and the like that is turned into its gemstone form after it
fossilizes after much time passes! Now I definitely think that I am going to have to ask
Sherry to give me a crash course on amber of this world, its history and the myths that
surround it, because at this point in time there is just too many things that I seem to
not know about it, even though I am supposed to be passing for a resident of this world
just like anyone else around me.
"So amber came to be because of a Goddess's magic? That is the first time I am ever
hearing such a thing. Back where I came from, we have a completely different
explanation for its origin."
"At least that is what the story says. Some of the Dwarven scholars even wondered if
amber can actually act as medium and the catalyst for the purpose of utilizing the
magic power of that Goddess in the process of fusing weapons and equipment, but so
far I have not heard about anyone who would actually be able to make that happen,
and the general consensus on the matter seems to be that amber cannot be used as a
weapon and armor strengthening material because it is something that came to exist
naturally and not because a monster dropped it."
So, just like with most of the experiments conducted by these Dwarven, scholars, it
ended up in spectacular failure, huh?
"Really?"
"Yes. But supposedly, one of the great scholars of the past and few others who came
after him claimed that they have managed to extract the Goddess's power from the
amber in form of lightning by rubbing two pieces of amber together."
If it really was exactly like Sherry has described and they managed to extract
"lightning" from the amber by rubbing two pieces of it together, then what they
encountered was probably not the magic of the Goddess, but static electricity, to which
amber seems to be prone to, as was discovered by the people of the ancient Greece,
mainly Thales of Miletus, who observed that when amber was being rubbed with a
piece of cloth that has been made from wool or a material that is similar to it, it gained
the ability to attract small pieces of leaves or dust to itself, which was due to it
generating static electricity because of the friction.
I turned to the merchant and returned the rough amber gemstone to him.
"It would seem that it is pretty difficult to assess the quality of an unrefined amber
gemstone, at least the way I see it."
"Yes, it is impossible if you do not have at least several years experience in this field of
work, and even then the proper assessment of amber's quality might be pretty hit or
miss depending on the exact condition of each individual piece and a number of
external circumstances and factors that we oftentimes cannot foresee or predict, but
you can rest assured that my shop is always going to strive to bestow the products of
the highest quality possible to our clients."
At first I was wondering why he was talking about all of this, but maybe that was his
way of communicating the anti-complaint measure that this shop is employing to
ensure that none of the potential clients would be storming the shop at a later date
while demanding a refund of the money that they have spent here if they ever found
the product to be lacking or not up to their standards?
"I understand."
"When it comes to the raw amber gemstones, all of the ones that are currently left in
stock are about the same size as this one right here, and they all cost eight hundred
Nars per piece, and since the processing of the raw gemstones is actually done in a
separate place form here, it means that not all of the raw stones that we possess will
be immediately available, but right now, I could accommodate you with up to ten
pieces of them."
Ten pieces of raw amber, eight hundred Nars each. It might not seem like much, but
you have to understand that this is a price for a raw, unrefined stones, and the cost of
refined amber can jump up to seven thousand Nars for one piece. Well, considering all
of the hassle that the craftsmen have to go through in order to obtain, refine and then
polish each and every stone they manage to get their hands on, I guess it can be said
to be pretty understandable
"Oh well, since the Duke recommended you and went through the trouble of giving me
a letter or introduction, then I guess I will take all that you have to offer."
I do not know how much would it cost at the shops in Palmasque and how many
gemstones I would be able to buy from them.
.
But if I had the option to buy amber here instead of in Palmasque, then I am going to
take that option, but not just because it would definitely be cheaper that way, oh no.
That is not what I am about here. I am about something different entirely. By bringing
a certain amount of amber with me when I will go sell it in Palmasque, I would be able
to show the craftsmen there that I am not just some upstart off the streets, but
someone who legitimately means serious business. I do not need to sell all the of the
raw amber gemstones at once, but I definitely need to bring more than just one of
them with myself, otherwise I might not be treated seriously.
I do not know what is going to happen in the future or how the things are going to turn
out, but just to be on the safe side, it would be better for me to buy everything that this
merchant has to offer so that I would not end up regretting it later. And since Gozer
said that the price of the Palmasque Mirrors can go up to twenty thousand Nars, then
it means that I can make quite a nice profit by selling them to the Duke. And in the case
that the cost of the eventual failure would surpass the limits of what I currently have,
then I am just going to go and drop the idea altogether.
I have already earned enough profit from selling three mirrors to the duke.
If the cost of failure surpasses my limit, I'll just drop the idea.
Even though I already finished talking to the merchant and thought that it was about
time for me to be on my way, Roxanne and Sherry were still pretty much absorbed in
looking at the amber necklaces. In fact, they are looking as if they were so entranced
by it that they might not have even registered what the merchant was saying about
the raw amber gemstones costing eight hundred Nars per piece?
Ugh, now that I think about it, bringing them both here with me might have been a
mistake after all, because it seems like even Sherry does not know much more than I
do when it comes to amber. Well, no use crying over spilt milk now that it is staining
the floor already, right? And besides, Roxanne and Sherry might now have been that
great of a help in providing me information about amber, but they certainly seem to
be happy looking at it.
They are both girls after all, and what girl does not like pretty, shiny things, am I right?
This seems to be true especially for Roxanne, because she is staring at the necklace
that she was given earlier quite enthusiastically. It must have really stricken her fancy.
Since I had literally nothing to lose by doing so, I tried to imagine her wearing that
necklace on her pretty neck...
Oh dear. Oh damn. Oh my God!
Mind blowing. The sight that I have imagined is simply mind blowing! I just could not
stop thinking about the amber-colored transparent stones resting on top of Roxanne's
rich bulges, and it was… Definitely a stimulating sight that I would appreciate from the
bottom of my heart whenever I would have had the chance to do so at every waking
moment of my day.
I want to hold them. I want to rub them. I want to squeeze them in my hands and bury
my face firmly in between them. I am talking about the amber necklace and its beady
segments, of course. That is definitely something that I would have loved to see
Roxanne wear while going to the bed with me.
Well, I guess there is no other choice for me but to go and buy it for her now. Roxanne
is definitely going to be pleased with me if I will buy it for her, so I have to do it for
her... or do I now? Yeah, do I… do I really need to do it for her? No, come on now
Michio, do not be rash and do not panic. For all I know, this might just be a clever trap,
a cunning ruse set for me by this cat-eared merchant. Yeah, it has to be. After all, he
would not be so forceful about presenting all of these necklaces to Roxanne and Sherry
if his ultimate goal was not gaslighting me into buying it for them even if that was not
my original intention at all. I have to keep a cool and calm head, or else I will be playing
right into the enemy's hands.
I avert my eyes.
My gaze falls upon Sherry. She is still looking at the necklace as if she wanted to make
a hole through it with her sight alone, and she is even frowning a little. I can only hope
that this is just my imagination and nothing else, but she definitely does not look like
the usual Sherry that I know and love.
"I wonder if this one would look better on you than that one after all?"
The merchant muttered to himself loud enough so that we could all hear him loud and
clear, and then he produced yet another necklace. The new one was dark-red in color,
and it was made of amber gemstones that were definitely larger than the one s from
which the previous necklace that Sherry was looking at was made of. Initially Sherry
was a little hesitant, but eventually she took the necklace and tried it on. The entire
time she was struggling with tying the string at the back of her neck her heart was
beating so fast and so loud that even I could hear it from where I was sitting, and when
she finally managed to tie the string and looked down on the necklace that was now
resting firmly around her neck, her face became flushed and she exhaled with
admiration and a beaming smile bloomed on her lips.
"Oh wow!"
"Oh wow indeed."
Those were the simple words, but at the moment, I felt that they would be the ones to
best describe how Sherry was looking right now, because the necklace shines
gorgeously on her neck and chest.
"Definitely."
I never thought that it could look as good as it did on her, but it really looks
outstanding, and apparently the merchant thinks so as well
"B-But… I-I do not really…"
Even though Sherry clearly liked the necklace, she looked as of she wanted to decline
it.
"The dark-red colored amber that this necklace is made of is a favorite color among
many female customers, and most importantly, it is priced at forty five thousand Nars,
while the other necklace that you looked at was priced at fifty thousand Nars. The one
that Mr. Customer is holding is thirty thousand Nars."
The merchant told me the price of the necklace. I feel annoyed at the fact that the price
that he stated is not something greater, which would automatically mean that I would
have an excuse not to buy it… And there is also the matter of me feeling a little bit
disgusted with myself, because if I do end up buying that necklace for Sherry, then not
only would I also need to buy a necklace for Roxanne as well so that she would not feel
left out, but even if I did that, Sherry's necklace would still me more pricey that the
one that I would have gotten for Roxanne, even though she is my Number One Slave,
which might cause her to become hurt and jealous, thinking that I no longer care about
her, and such a misunderstanding is something that I have to avoid at all costs!
Is there no escape from this situation for me? Can I not do anything to have a cookie
and eat the cookie at the same time?
What is going to happen if I do not buy that necklace for Sherry after all? Is she going
to be mad at me? Or perhaps disappointed? God damn it, why did this merchant had
to show the more expensive necklace to Sherry of all people?!
"Really? I see."
"And I would recommend this one for the lady over there."
When I was pondering over what I should do and how should I proceed to salvage this
seemingly hopeless situation, the merchant brought out another necklace and puts it
in front of Roxanne. My God, seriously, where is he keeping all of these things?!
"Hou?"
"Although its color is faint due to high degree of refining, it's one of the few necklaces
our firm takes genuine pride in. The large amber in the center is especially well made,
because you rarely see a gemstone this big that would be this transparent at the same
time."
.
He was right. The amber in the middle of the necklace was definitely bigger than the
rest and more transparent.
There is a big jewel in the center of the string, with several smaller ones lined up on
both sides of it.
"How is it, master?"
Roxanne showed me the necklace after she finally put it on.
There are three mountains on her chest now: the amber one in the center, and her
own big mounds on the either sides of it.
Because it has faint color, it does not assert itself too much, but just sits quietly in the
valley of Roxanne's chest, surrounded by her two bountiful hills.
Oh, you have to be shitting me! This means war! I can do nothing but watch while it's
sitting on her chest. This truly means war!
"It… It looks good on you, Roxanne."
"Thank you very much, master!"
Her smiling face looks so dazzling.
"Do you like it?"
"It surely looks better than the previous one."
"This one is priced at fifty thousand Nars."
So it is actually five thousand Nars more expensive than Sherry's necklace.
In other words, this is the escape route that I was so desperately seeking.
"T-Then, I will be taking these two necklaces, please."
"Are you sure about that, master?"
Roxanne asked me when I finished placing my order with the merchant. Of course, she
kept the necklace with the big amber in the middle of it on her, meaning that the big
amber was still lodged firmly in between the safety of her chest, which was basically
an equivalent of her forcing me to buy it. Without anything else to say or do, I simply
nodded at Roxanne's question, causing her to smile and nod back at me happily.
"Now then, about the price for your purchase. With the price for the raw gemstones
and the letter of introduction from the Duke himself… Let us call all of that a special
service and make it seventy two thousand Nars."
The old man merchant nodded with a big smile on his face. Damn it! Even with my
thirty percent discount Bonus Skill active, it still feels as if I was doing exactly what
this guy wanted me to do, making me dance at the palm of his hand to the tunes that
he was playing. I mean, do not get me wrong, it it nice to see that the letter of
introduction given to me by the Duke apparently acted as yet another source of
discount, but even with that in effect, the price that I have to pay for these necklaces
an draw ambers is still astronomically high. Well, I guess that right now there is not
much more that I can do about it. It cannot be helped. I do not know exactly what
cannot be helped, it does not change the fact that it cannot be helped. What matters
the most right now is the fact that I managed to get my hands on the amber necklaces
that are going to be adorning Roxanne and Sherry's necks.
"Well, I guess this concludes our business then."
As I was telling him that, I coughed up the dough and paid it to him without complaints
or any attempts to haggle in order to get the price down any further than was it already
was, because something was telling me that haggling and bargaining would not do me
any good at this point.
"Yes, we certainly concluded our business here, and I hope that our partnership is
going to be the one that is going to be beneficial for the both of us."
"Yes, definitely. I am going to be in your care when it comes to amber."
"The next time when you come to pay a visit to Bode we are going to have your raw
amber gemstones ready… Is what would like to say in order to not needlessly keep you
on the edge of your seat for too long, but since they are not the kind of product that
can be picked up immediately, preparing them all properly is going to take some time,
so I would like to ask you to be patient."
"Sure, no problem. Do whatever you have to do, just as long as you will make sure that
everything is done right."
That might have sounded a little cheesy, but these are my honest thoughts on the
matter of doing business with this guy. But now that our business here in this shop
was concluded, we went back home. For a moment I thought about going to
Palmasque, but ultimately I did not want to travel that far for once, and for twice, there
is no need to show ourselves to others as greedy individuals.
Even though I do not completely trust those craftsmen from Palmasque, as long as
Sherry and Roxanne paid for a deposit of the mirrors that were being made for us, we
do not need to get hem right away. I thought that maybe we should have went there to
show off Roxanne and Sherry's new Amber Necklaces, but since that might have been
seen as a fraudulent method of rushing a sales contract, so we should exercise a
healthy dose of restraint so hat these craftsmen could see us as serious business
partners.
"Thank you so very much, master."
"Yes, thank you, master."
"But… Are you sure that was really okay? Buying us those necklaces, I mean?".
When we got back home from the shop of the amber merchant from Bode, the girls
thanked me for buying the jewelry for them, but not before confirming once again
whether or not that purchase was really, really okay with me.
"Yes, I am really fine about it. Since the two of you are going to be responsible for the
selling of our amber in Palmasque, I thought it might be a good idea if you were to
wear some kind of amber accessory yourselves, so you can think about it as a
necessary business expense to increase our chances of everything going smoothly."
Yes, if you think about it, that is exactly right, even if these might not have been my
original intentions when I was buying these necklaces. This is going to be a kind of
exhibition, where Roxanne and Sherry, as the two people responsible for the selling of
our amber need to be wearing something made out of amber themselves, that is
simply how it has to be.
"Okay, then we will be borrowing them from you, master."
"Borrow? Why would you borrow from me something that has been bought
specifically for you?"
Sherry said something pretty strange
Says Sherry while I was putting the necklace around her neck, so I asked her about
that particular matter.
"Everything that an owner buys for his slaves is the owner's property. Well, aside from
consumables, undergarments and other items of daily use."
Sherry replied to me. Is it really so? I honestly had no idea about that. So you are telling
me that even if I buy equipment or accessories for these two, then from the standpoint
of the law of this world, any such items belong solely to me, and I am only borrowing
them to my slaves?
I mean, I guess this is kinda understandable since I am their master and all, but that
still kinda sucks, if I am to be honest. And by the way, I feel like I have heard a similar
thing being said to me back when I was buying clothes for Roxanne back in the day.
I know that in the understanding of this world such a thing is going to be just right
because slaves are nothing but another commodity in the hands of their masters and
they are not treated as living beings but rather as objects, tools to be used until they
get broken down and replaced, I still think that they should at least deserve that much.
If I am buying accessories for them, then at the very least I want them to know that
the accessory that I bought is well and truly their, and not just something that they are
going to constantly have to ask for permission to wear.
"Well, in any case, if you do your best to sell the raw amber, then you are going to get
the money right away. Even though I do not know how much is it going to be in the
end."
Even if the mirrors are going to be sold to the Duke and the leader of the Knight Order
at a cheaper price, we are still going to be selling them quite a lot of them, so we should
still be able to make quite the profit out of them, and we can always recover the rest
of the money by selling the raw amber, and even if that were to fail for some reason
and Roxanne and Sherry would not be able to do it, then I will find a way to recover
the costs somehow.
But for the time being, I think we should assume that the selling of the raw amber is
going to be successfully conducted, allowing us to earn some fast and easy money off
of it. And while we are still on the subject of the Duke and his Knight Order, then since
we are already selling the mirrors to them, then would it not be possible to sell them
some amber as well?
Because amber is easier to carry than mirror, it should not be as expensive as mirror.
Mirrors and amber cannot be kept in Item Box because they are not items dropped by
monsters, nor are they used as materials in making equipment. Not only that, but
mirrors are quite large, so their transportation is almost always guaranteed to be
problematic since due to their innate fragility the possibility of them getting broken
for whatever reason is going to be quite large, much larger in fact then with other
objects and instruments of similar size, and because of that it is impossible to be
carrying more than one of them at once.
When Roxanne and Sherry bought the two mirrors that we carried back home with
us, they had to do it by one of them holding each mirror with both of their hands and
while having them lean on the entirety of their body weights, and even then it did not
look like that was the safest of methods that could be used to carry these mirrors, but
if there was a different, safer method of transporting them then I am sure the
craftsmen at the workshop where they were buying these mirrors would have
informed them about it, so apparently that is the only way in which they can be
carried, or at the very least, the only known method of how to transport them.
Amber, however, is just a small stone, so you can easily carry some of it in your
backpack, and there is virtually no way for you to trip over it even if it were to
somehow to fall out of your backpack, because let us be honest with ourselves for a
moment here: you would have to be a very special kind of touched in the head to trip
on something as small as a pebble at best, and a small rock at worst.
"Yes, master! W-We will try to do our best!"
Awww, just look at them, ensuring me that they are going to do everything in their
power to meet my expectations of them. If having such slaves by my side cannot be
called a pure blessing, then I do not know what can.
"You do not have to be so worried about it. Since it is the incidental product, then I am
going to be satisfied just as long as we will not end up getting into the red because of
it."
I am looking forward to seeing exactly how much is it going to cost.
On that day, we did not end up going to Palmasque. Instead, we went to the Labyrinth
of Vale and spend our entire evening hunting monsters there so that we could get
ourselves some of the items that would then be exchanged in the Adventurer's Guild
for some quick cash that we would use to buy the ingredients which we would then
use to prepare the dishes that would constitute our supper, but also so that I could
recover the MP that I have expended for the purpose of taking all three of us from
Quratar to Bode and then back to Quratar from Bode.
I did not spend as much MP for it as I did when I warped us from Quratar or Vale to
Palmasque, but it was still an amount that I wanted to recover, because I was planning
on taking a bath with the girls after dinner, and I knew that I would still have to make
at least one or two trips to the Labyrinth in order to fill the bath with hot water, so I
wanted to have as much MP as possible to limit the amount of additional trips that
would have to be made.
When we got back home from the Labyrinth, we had ourselves some dinner, and then
took an extra long bath to ensure that our bodies will be thoroughly cleansed from all
the grime, sweat and dirt that accumulated on them throughout the entire day, and
when we finished bathing, the time has finally come for the girls to wear their
respective Amber Necklaces, which I have volunteered to help them put on. Seen from
above, Roxanne's boobs were just as magnificent as they were when I was looking at
the from below during the nightly fun activities or when I was looking at them
normally during the day.
When I tied the string of her necklace behind her neck, I had her turn to me to show
me how it looked, and I have to say, the bead of the necklace looked absolutely
magnificent in the valley of Roxanne's breasts, which were still shiny and glossy after
the bath that we took.
Yes, buying that necklace for her was a correct choice after all.
Next, I did the same thing for Sherry.
The gorgeous red amber looked absolutely breathtaking against her white, slightly
flushed skin.
Oh yeah, Roxanne and Sherry adorned with their Amber Necklaces were truly a
superb dish, and I partook in every delicious bite of it.