Chapter 349: A Fleeting Rest
With an increasing population and a large influx of adventurers, Seatoh Village had changed. In this environment, many inns and eateries had sprung up. While the Bell & Rango Trading Company consisted basically of retail shops, the Mary Chamber of Commerce seemed to be managing restaurants as well. Perhaps because they had resources to spare, the Mary Chamber of Commerce was increasing its personnel every week.
Incidentally, the Bell & Rango Trading Company had no such leeway. They traded with the Adventurer Guild and the Mary Chamber of Commerce, bought and sold magic beast materials and resources brought in daily by adventurers, and even conducted regular peddling runs to Fortress City Murcia and Fortress City Cayenne. They seemed to be hiring quite a few new employees, but their training couldn’t catch up.
However, perhaps because a stable job is attractive enough in this world, no one quits the “Super Black Company” that is Bell & Rango. When things get excessively busy, everyone runs around laughing with bloodshot eyes. Ah, the vibrant Bell & Rango Trading Company. When these merchant apprentices become full-fledged merchants, the company will surely grow even larger.
Well, there is a possibility that the busyness will just accelerate by then.
When I look at Seatoh Village without work on my mind, people divide into the “busy group” and the “not busy group.” Basically, those working at their own pace are the adventurers and the Adventurer Guild. After all, they have Van-made special equipment, as well as weapons and armor made by skilled dwarves. If they can purchase those, they can adventure quite safely. Apart from them, agriculture and livestock farming also seem to be operating relatively leisurely.
In contrast, those who are incredibly busy are the trading companies, inns, restaurants…… and those managing the territory like myself, Esparda, and Murcia, along with their subordinates. The people in this category are exhausted from excessively harsh working hours.
On a side note, the school and hospital, for which I am responsible, are doing reasonably well. The fact that we were able to hire experienced staff was a big factor. The hospital was just built, but since there are so many adventurers, they gather more medicinal herbs than we can use, so there seem to be no problems.
Ah, I remembered the most peaceful people. The apkallus. The number of apkallus is constant and hasn’t increased much, but the jobs entrusted to them are few. They manage the sewers, clean trash and remove rocks from the river to the moat, clean the lake, subjugate small aquatic magic beasts, and conduct fishing. However, since there are more apkallus than necessary for the tasks, they have plenty of leeway.
Eventually, I want everyone to be able to work and live relaxedly like the apkallus. Of course, that includes me, Van!
“……Lord Van, is something the matter?”
I had frozen up holding a cup of my drink while thinking about various things, and Arte called out to me.
“Ah, oh, sorry. I was just thinking about work again.”
Saying that, I immediately brought the served drink to my mouth. The taste of tart fruit spread inside my mouth, and I felt the accumulated fatigue fading away with the refreshing sweetness.
“This is delicious.”
When I voiced my thoughts with a smile, Arte and Till made difficult faces.
“……I still think you are working too much, Lord Van.”
“That is right. Even if you are the lord, you are still only ten years old, Lord Van. Because you have been working non-stop without rest, your height is also……”
“Isn’t my height irrelevant here!?”
I retorted strongly to Till’s lament. I’m worried about my height stalling, so I wish they wouldn’t touch on it.
As I puffed out my cheeks to express my anger, Khamsin spoke up with a gentle smile.
“It will be fine, Lord Van. You will grow soon.”
“You’re already big, so it’s easy for you to say, Khamsin. I mean, you grew again, didn’t you? Are you trying to go over two meters or something? I wish you’d tear off a bit and share it with me.”
It is the composition of the haves and the have-nots. I involuntarily spoke out of jealousy at Khamsin’s composed attitude. Khamsin shook his head with a wry smile.
“No, I still have not caught up to Lord Dee.”
Khamsin said that and laughed refreshingly. Most likely, Khamsin will continue to grow like this, surpass Dee, and eventually surpass Talga as well. I will be conversing while looking up at Khamsin diagonally forever. Poor Van.
Being talked to about my height, which I’ve been most concerned about lately, made me involuntarily negative. This won’t do. Till and the others are laughing, so I should try not to be too nervous.
Disciplining myself, I looked up.
Then, the figure of Esparda sitting in front of me elegantly bringing red wine to his mouth caught my eye. Sure, I decided it was a holiday, but I didn’t think he would run to alcohol from the very first glass.
“……Fumu. Good wine is starting to enter the territory as well. This must be from the northern part of the Kingdom of Yelenetta.”
“……Ooh, we have a sommelier.”
While I was astonished by Esparda’s expert comment, the food we ordered was finally brought out.
“Lord Van, welcome!”
And at the same time, Rosalie from the Mary Chamber of Commerce appeared with a cup in one hand. She is incredibly cheerful for some reason, but why?
