Chapter 185: The Town of Omitsu

◆ Mina ◆

“We’ve arrived! This is the port town of Omitsu!”

Upon arriving at the town, Yukitaka floats a face of relief, finally having arrived.

But he shouldn’t let his guard down here.

“Don’t let your guard down. You are being targeted, so relax only after you’ve entered your uncle’s estate and secured your safety.”

“U-Umu. That is true…”

Being pointed out by me, Yukitaka becomes visibly downcast.

If only Jairo were this obedient.

“Sis, couldn’t you go a little easier on him?”

For some reason, Gobun directs a sympathetic gaze towards Yukitaka.

What? A sense of solidarity between men or something?

“A-Anyway, it is a joyous matter that we arrived safely at the town. Let us head to the Domain Lord’s side without letting our guard down like this.”

Similarly, Haruomi proposes to go to the Domain Lord’s estate while following up for Yukitaka.

“Right. By the way, what is a Domain Lord?”

“U-Umu! A Domain Lord is someone entrusted with the governance of a domain by the Shogun!”

“Domain?”

“It refers to the territory of what we call a feudal lord in our country.”

Gobun secretly whispers in my ear.

He’s surprisingly useful, this guy.

“Then let us go! Follow me!”

Guided by Yukitaka, who is strangely enthusiastic, we head towards the Domain Lord’s estate.

Well, even from here, we can see a large building that is obviously the lord’s estate, so it doesn’t seem necessary to have him guide us, though.

◆

“Coming close, it’s quite large.”

“Right you are.”

Having arrived in front of the Domain Lord’s estate, we were overwhelmed by the unexpected size of the estate.

The reason being, rather than its vertical size, the horizontal size of the Domain Lord’s estate was on a completely different level.

The wall surrounding the estate was about the size of a small village, conveying that the estate’s grounds were quite substantial.

From afar, the surrounding buildings acted as a wall, so the vastness of the grounds couldn’t be seen.

“You there, what business do you have with this house!?”

The gatekeeper guarding the entrance to the estate raised a vigilant voice at us, who were unfamiliar people.

“This is the estate of the Omitsu family. If you do not wish to be suspected, leave at once!”

Hmm, it’s natural, but it’s very clear we aren’t welcomed.

Then Haruomi goes to the gatekeeper and secretly shows him something.

When he does, the gatekeeper’s face rapidly turns pale.

“…Th-This is!? Please excuse my rudeness! I will open the gates immediately!”

Where did the vigilance from earlier go?

It’s an extreme level of politeness, almost as if the master of the estate had arrived.

“Please, enter.”

“Umu.”

As if saying that was only natural, Yukitaka answers magnanimously and enters the grounds.

Having seen that through, I bid him farewell.

“Then our job ends here.”

“Mu? What is the meaning of that, Mina?”

However, Yukitaka tilts his head, not noticing my intent.

“Exactly as I said. My job was to escort you to your uncle’s estate. Therefore, my job ends here.”

Yes, the request I accepted was to escort Yukitaka to his uncle’s estate in the town of Omitsu.

I won’t accept any further jobs. I don’t want to get involved with nobles any further, after all.

“N-No, certainly that is true… Th-That’s right! I must also pay the reward to you!”

“In that case, we will advance the payment on your behalf.”

One of the gatekeepers runs to the guardhouse built inside the gates.

“Ah, w-wait! Will you not wait!”

“Will this much suffice?”

The gatekeeper who immediately returned holds out a bag, likely containing money, to Haruomi.

Then Haruomi, having checked the contents, nods saying there is no problem.

“Fumu, this should be an amount befitting the benefactor who protected the Young Master. Lord Mina, please accept this.”

Receiving the bag from Haruomi, I check the contents.

I expected it, but it really is currency I’ve never seen before.

“That single bag contains an amount that a commoner could live on for half a year without working.”

As I was troubled, not knowing the value of the currency, Haruomi gave me a rough idea of the amount.

I see, about half a year’s worth.

For now, I’ll compare it with the town’s prices later to confirm.

“See you, Yukitaka.”

“A-Ah…”

Leaving behind Yukitaka, who looked strangely downcast, we departed from the estate.

◆

“Now then, shall we get an inn first?”

Having left the estate, we decided to first look for an inn to serve as our base.

The sun is starting to set, so we need to get a room quickly.

It was at that moment.

Just as I thought a scream arose from the back of the main street, the street became strangely noisy.

“This is…?”

People were surging forward as if fleeing from something.

“Thieves-! Someone catch them-!”

It seems a robbery occurred.

Even if it’s dusk, there sure are bold folks around.

“Move move move-!”

“If you don’t want to get hurt, stay back!”

The number of thieves was surprisingly large, close to ten.

At this point, it feels like a small bandit group.

Moreover, the way they run down the street slightly scattered, acting so they can’t be taken down all at once by magic or arrows, is quite shrewd.

“But well, that level is within the margin of error.”

I intentionally stand in a way that blocks the thieves’ path.

“Out of the way, girl!”

The thieves at the front charge at me with their weapons ready, without hesitation, intending to cut me down.

“But unfortunately for you, I have no intention of fighting you fairly. STUN MIST!”

The magic activates, and a mist envelops the thieves.

“Magic!?”

“It’s just a blinder! If we run straight through, we’ll get out immediately!”

“It’s not just a blinder, you know. Burst.”

In an instant, the mist released lightning.

” ” ” “Gwaaaaah!!” ” ” “

Taking direct hits from the suddenly generated lightning, the thieves fall down, not a single one left standing.

“Gah…”

“Fufu, it seems the ones who didn’t get off with just injuries were you guys.”

Rex‘s directly imparted lightning-system capture magic, STUN MIST. A magic that traps the enemy in a mist that generates lightning, robbing their vision while electrocuting and neutralizing them.

Unlike arrows or shooting magic which can be dodged, this magic spreads around and envelops the enemies, making evasion difficult.

“A-Amazing… You defeated only the thieves without getting the townspeople caught up in it…”

Yes, exactly as Gobun says, this magic can freely change its shape, so you can attack without getting the townspeople involved.

And enemies swallowed by the mist receive direct hits from lightning striking from all directions, like prey being digested inside a snake’s stomach.

Hmm, even so, it’s quite a nasty magic.

Because it’s mist, it can invade houses as long as there’s a gap, and it’s convenient that the timing to electrocute can be adjusted on this end.

But well, I feel like my firepower has been increasing too much lately, so magic like this where holding back works is appreciated.

“Boss Rex was also something else, but you also have outrageous abilities, Sis…”

I’m nothing much compared to Rex, though.

After all, when Rex used the same magic, he created a mist large enough to envelop a whole town.

A mist of that size, there’s no telling how much magic power it consumed.

“Thank you very much!! You saved us!”

The people from the store who were chasing the thieves thanked me for defeating them.

And immediately taking back the stolen goods, they tie up the thieves with ropes they brought along and take them somewhere.

They’ll probably hand them over to the officials.

Hm? Hand them over to the officials? I feel like I’m forgetting something…

Oh well. If I forgot, it’s not a big deal.

“Don’t worry about it. I just happened to pass by.”

It really is a coincidence, after all.

“No, thanks to you, we were spared from having our important new products stolen. Please allow us to thank you. Otherwise, we will be scolded by the Grand Master.”

But the store people bowed their heads repeatedly, saying they wanted to thank me no matter what.

“If you insist…”

“Thank you very much!”

Saying I’ll accept their thanks and being thanked for it feels somewhat strange too.

“Please, our store is right over there.”

Following the store people, the store that seemed to have been attacked by the thieves soon came into view.

“Heh, it’s quite large.”

Yeah, this store is actually large.

It seems to be quite a major establishment.

“Huh? Isn’t this a branch of Echigoya?”

Then Gobun raised a voice, seeing the name of the store.

“You know it?”

“Yes ma’am. It’s the largest merchant house in the Eastern Country. It’s so famous that merchants coming from the outside always do business with Echigoya at least once.”

Heh-, so it’s actually quite a famous person, no, a famous store.

“Hahaha, number one in the Eastern Country is an exaggeration. Of course, we are all striving to become so, however.”

But the store person humbly denies it.

“To reintroduce myself, my name is Tatsukichi, entrusted with the Omitsu branch of Echigoya.”

The store person calling himself Tatsukichi bows deeply.

Or rather, being entrusted with the store means this person is the branch manager!? Isn’t he quite a big shot!?

“Umm, I’m Mina.”

“I’m Gobun.”

“…Mina-san, and Gobun-san, is it.”

Hm? I feel like he’s staring at me strangely…?

Could it be he’s intrigued because I’m too much of a beautiful girl? …Yeah, I said something stupid.

“Even so, you sell various things.”

As if shaking off my stupid thought, I look around the store.

“Our store prides itself on its assortment of goods, you see.”

“Heh.”

Not a specialty store, but a general store, I wonder?

Or rather, I have no idea what the goods of the Eastern Country are.

“Oh, that’s right! Since you are here, allow us to present you with our store’s new products as a token of gratitude!”

Perhaps because I was looking around the store with deep interest, Tatsukichi-san said such a thing.

“New products?”

“Yes, through the connections of the Grand Master at the main store, we have items made by a skilled artisan who came from a foreign country.”

Heh, a person from a foreign country.

“Foreign country? Does that perhaps mean people from the continent like us?”

“Yes, their magnificence is such that they immediately became massively popular upon stocking at our store! Well, thanks to that, we were targeted by villains who caught wind of the rumors, though.”

“Ah, the guys from earlier.”

“It is shameful.”

Hmm, I see. Popular goods procured from a foreign country would probably fetch quite a price if sold in another town.

I wonder if those thieves judged it was worth taking that much risk?

Even common items can sometimes bring in considerable profit when sold in a foreign country, after all.

Was it supply and demand?

“At any rate, we are confident in the quality, so please, have a look.”

“Then I suppose I’ll have a look.”

Since I’m here, I might as well have a look.

Even if they are items from the same continent, if the country is different, there might be items useful to me too.

“Yes! These are the various new products of our store.”

“There are various things.”

The items intentionally separated from the normal sales area eloquently convey that the items placed here are valuable new products.

“Yes, this is a high-grade recovery potion. Its efficacy is such that not only quite deep wounds, but even old scars from decades ago heal completely.”

“Ehh!? Isn’t that amazing!?”

Speaking of potions, it’s common sense that wounds where a long time has passed will never heal again.

Despite that, if they can be healed just by drinking medicine, that’s already in the realm of magic tools rather than potions.

You could call it a drinkable magic tool, I suppose.

“That is not all. Astonishingly, this antidote here is a universal antidote effective against any poison! With just this one, there is no need to prepare several different antidotes!”

“Hm?”

Efficacies I feel like I’ve heard somewhere before.

“Is something the matter?”

“N-No. So what kind of items are the other products?”

“Yes, this fertilizer here is an amazing fertilizer that, when scattered on a field, makes crops bear fruit at an unbelievable speed. Moreover, the harvestable crops grow to several times the size of the original crops!”

“I have a memory of hearing this somewhere…”

I wonder why, even though I shouldn’t know it, I feel like I know it very well. Could it be I heard someone talking about it?

Maybe I’ll ask someone later.

“Furthermore, this is armor and a shield made using dragon scales! I don’t know how he did it to the hard dragon materials, but he processes them freely as if processing iron! Thanks to that, it is remarkably easier to move in than simply pasting scales onto armor!”

“Armor made from dragon materials…”

I wonder what this is, I strongly feel like something in my heart is sounding an alarm bell…?

“And this is the centerpiece this time! It is not something excavated from ruins, but a genuine, modern magic sword created by an artisan! Astonishingly, said artisan is not only an apothecary, but an extremely excellent blacksmith as well! I have been in this business for a long time, but it is my first time seeing a blacksmith who can make magic tools! Of course, the performance of the magic sword is genuine! Because when I did a test cut, a rock split cleanly in two! Even I couldn’t believe it myself!”

“How is it? They are magnificent items, are they not!? Honestly, one can’t help but say it’s inevitable that thieves would target them!”

“A, yeah, that’s right…”

“…These are absolutely items Rex made.”

Various items with clearly abnormal, yet somehow familiar performance.

Moreover, hearing that they were made by the hands of a single artisan, who that artisan was, was more obvious than seeing a fire.