That's quite a lot for your average adventurer... will this be okay?
While fifteen kilograms of pasta and ten kilograms of barley was normal
for a merchant intending to resell the product, it was a rather large amount for
an adventurer to buy for personal use. On top of that, pasta was still a new
product — most of the general public had no idea how much was needed in
one serving. Only merchants and nobility really had any sort of
understanding of its weight.
Since there had been many cases where misunderstandings had brought
conflict to discussions pertaining to business, Lotte double checked that the
numbers were correct.
"500 grams of pasta will feed five or six people. Fifteen kilograms will
be quite a large amount for one person to consume... Are you sure that this all
right with you, sir?"
"Yes. Fifteen kilograms would feed roughly 150 to 180 mouths and cost
four small silvers and five large coppers, correct? Those are indeed the
numbers I intended." Rio gave a faint smile, immediately calculating the
numbers in his head.
"My apologies, sir. We will prepare fifteen kilograms of pasta and ten
kilograms of barley for you immediately." Lotte bowed her head deeply,
impressed at Rio's instant arithmetic skills.
Just then, a store attendant in her late teens brought in a tray of tea.
"Excuse me," she said in a quiet voice, and began to pour the tea. The
mellow fragrance of the high quality tea leaves wafted through the air,
tickling at Rio and Lotte's senses.
Rio nodded to the attendant in gratitude. "Thank you very much."
"Please help yourself, sir." Lotte offered him the tea.
"Thank you. Then, if you don't mind..." Figuring it would be rude not to
touch the offered tea at all, Rio accepted the cup.
The table was a fair distance from the couch, so he picked up the saucer
together with the cup and admired their color and design first. Then, after
appreciating the color and fragrance, he took a sip of the tea. Lotte found
herself unable to tear her eyes away from Rio's graceful movements.
"Do you enjoy tea often, Mr. Haruto?"
"Yes. I have a female acquaintance who is very fond of drinking tea, and
I picked up a lot of relevant knowledge drinking with her." Rio nodded with a
fond smile. He recalled the times when he would drink tea and chat with
Celia almost every day. Thanks to those experiences, he had perfected tea-drinking etiquette to a point where he could easily attend a tea party hosted
by a noble daughter without any kind of awkwardness.
"Oh, that's wonderful to hear, sir. People often say that tea is a drink for
women to enjoy, so not many gentlemen are interested in it. Might you know
what kind of leaf is in this tea?" Lotte asked, expression brightening like a
blooming flower.
"Judging by this unique scent and faintly bitter taste, I'd say it is a leaf
produced in Lis?"
"That is correct."
"Then you're using good quality tea indeed. And I see the tea set is also
of wonderful quality. Forgive me for saying this, but from what I can see of
the couch, as well as the table... Isn't the furniture a little too high-quality to
be used for greeting small trade customers?" Rio asked, trying to draw out
more on the topic from Lotte.
The space they were sitting in was set up with partitions to imitate a
private room. The couch and sofa placed there were both of such high
quality, they could easily be used in a conference room for high profile
guests.
Lotte's face lit up with a happy smile as she answered Rio with pride.
"Fufu, the best business transaction starts with the perfect business
environment! That's our guild motto, sir. And it doesn't change depending on
the scale of the transaction."
"...I see. That must be one of the secrets to the Ricca Guild's sudden
growth. With attendants as young and cute as you, Miss Lotte, I can
understand why people feel inclined to empty their wallets."
"Oh, you flatter me." Lotte covered her mouth with a hand in refined
bashfulness.
"No, I truly believe that. I have some other items I am in need of, which I
am thinking of purchasing here as well."
"Fufu. In that case, how about we resume our business discussions? It is
the job of a merchant to meet the demands of the customer, after all. We will
gladly prepare all the items you need for your journey."
Thus, Rio and Lotte resumed their talk.
Rio still needed preserved food and various ingredients, as well as the
utensils to prepare them, and he was able to purchase all of the items he
needed through the Ricca Guild's service. Some of the items were somewhat
pricey, but other items he wouldn't have been able to find elsewhere, like many of the spices cultivated and imported from the southern islands. And
with his main purpose of purchasing pasta accomplished, Rio was extremely
satisfied with the outcome of his visit.
"Is there anything else you require?"
"No, that's all I need. But if your guild also offers mail delivery services,
I would like to request that too..." Rio made one last inquiry once all of their
business discussions had wrapped up.
He couldn't leave the Strahl region without sending a letter to Celia.
"We do have that service available, but we don't deliver to certain
regions. Where do you wish to deliver your mail?"
"The capital of the kingdom of Beltrum." Her favorable answer prompted
Rio to tell her his letter destination.
"That won't be a problem. Your items will take a moment to prepare, so
would you like to write your letter during that time?"
"Yes, please."
Rio paid for his purchases with coins and Lotte left the meeting room to
make a few preparations. Not too long after, a female store attendant
appeared with some parchment, quill, and ink for Rio to write his letter. Rio
accepted the equipment and — after a moment's hesitation — slouched over
the table and dipped the quill in the ink. His hand moved steadily over the
parchment and scratched out neat characters.
The letter spoke of his journey so far: that he was in Galarc at the
moment, and other little things that happened on the way. He signed it off as
'Haruto' at the end. After he finished writing, he waited a while for the ink to
dry, then rolled the parchment into a scroll. He used the candle on the table to
melt the sealing wax and drip it onto the scroll before sealing it. With the seal
of the Ricca Guild on the scroll, the letter was finally complete.
Having the merchant guild that was run by a duke's daughter responsible
for delivering the letter was a lot more reassuring than asking any random
organization or individual, as there was a much lower risk of losing the letter
or breaking confidentiality.
Rio called over a nearby attendant and informed her that he was done
writing. The attendant retreated to the back for a moment before returning
with Lotte and the tea-serving attendant from earlier. All of Rio's purchases
had been prepared and left outside the meeting space.
"Please deliver this to Professor Celia Claire of the Royal Academy of
Beltrum faculty." Rio handed the important letter to Lotte.