Chapter 52

Cario, having finally taken the first step as a traveling merchant, immediately visited the trading shop with me.

By the way, I had Haru arrange a carriage. I gave him a rare medal and asked him to exchange it for money to buy a carriage.

Haru was puzzled, as it is not usual to let a single slave handle such a large sum of money, but I asked him to do it because I fully trusted him.

As a result, it's just Cario and me now.

Even if she is the daughter of a traveling merchant, the person we're dealing with is a seasoned trading merchant.

If I left everything to Cario, there's a possibility she might be cheated.

"What sells for a high price in Dacat?"

"Well, generally speaking, salt is said to be highly valued in Dacat. Dacat preserves meat by salting or drying it, but it is far from the sea, and the amount of rock salt mined is not significant. The salt from the salt lake to the east of this town is highly valued."

Salt trade, huh? It's like the trade during the Age of Exploration.

It's true that salt is a valuable commodity in inland areas, and I was thinking about transporting it.

"No, let's go with spices instead."

"Why?"

"This year, the dry season has come earlier than usual, and most trading merchants have already transported salt to Dacat. However, the dissection of monster meat and salting is scheduled after the horse chase festival, which is two weeks from now. So, for the next two weeks, the warehouses of Dacat's trading merchants will be overflowing with salt. If we go to sell it now, we'll be bought at a low price. On the contrary, during this period when many merchants transport salt, the amount of spices they usually transport decreases, but the demand for spices is high because they are used a lot when roasting meat at the horse chase festival."

Cario continued her explanation.

I was impressed by her explanation.

Spices, huh? It's getting more and more like the Age of Exploration. It's like the East India Company.

"You know a lot, miss. That's the right answer. If you go to sell salt now, it might not even cover your travel expenses. How about pepper and chili peppers?"

The middle-aged woman who was listening to Cario's explanation said.

"Yes, would that be fine, Ichino-sama?"

Of course... but I honestly don't know if that's the right decision.

"How much are you going to buy?"

I had already told Cario about my funds.

About 70,000 cents.

So, I told her to use up to 60,000 cents for trading.

From the looks of it, it seems fine to buy all spices.

I thought so, but...

"What's the maximum recommended personal amount?"

"Five Danni barrels, 25,800 cents."

"Then, I'll take that much. I also want to buy iron with the remaining 34,200 cents."

"Ingots or ore?"

"Ore, please. I'd like to see the contents."

"You must have a really good carriage. Here you go."

The woman ordered her subordinate to bring a box of iron ore.

Cario examined the iron ore, and the woman quoted a price.

"Seven Eguru boxes for 28,700 cents. We have limited stock, you see."

"I heard that a new vein was discovered at the western iron mine. The stock is low now, but I think the iron ore will soon flood the warehouses."

"I'm in a bind. You've done your research. How about 28,000 cents for seven boxes?"

"Let's make it 45,000 cents in total."

"Forty thousand... that's way too cheap."

"I've heard that the iron ore from the new vein is much purer than the current stock. If that's the case, the current stock might just sit in the warehouse. It would be better to sell it now."

"...I'm beaten. But the limit is 50,000 cents in total. That's it."

The woman said, sounding resigned.

54,500 cents became 50,000 cents.

4,500 cents... 450,000 yen cheaper in this short time.

Cario asked me if this was fine, and I nodded silently.

I handed her five gold coins.

I thought the transaction was over, but it wasn't.

We had to check the quality of the spices, the capacity of the barrels, and whether there were any ordinary stones mixed in the iron ore.

By the way, I asked about everything I didn't understand.

Cario apparently overheard the information about the iron ore while shopping last week. The dwarf race has very good hearing and is skilled at gathering information, and she said she had inherited that trait. Incidentally, the purity of the iron ore is apparently a matter of hearsay, which is quite impressive.

Danni barrels and Eguru boxes are the names of barrels and boxes. They are standardized, and their capacity is determined by them.

The maximum recommended personal amount is the weight that an individual traveling merchant is allowed to buy. While monopolizing is not prohibited, it can make other traveling merchants jealous, so it is recommended.

The reason for buying iron is that iron is needed for the production of weapons and armor in Dacat, where skirmishes continue. They decided to transport iron ore instead of ingots because the iron smelting technology in Dacat is superior, and selling iron ore would be more profitable. However, iron ore is heavy and contains impurities, so its price per unit weight is low, and it is not often transported except by large caravans. It seems they chose iron ore because of my item bag.

The word "End" used by the woman is a declaration that the price will not be lowered under any circumstances, and when a traveling merchant hears this, they are forced to decide whether to buy at that price or not.

Incidentally, there was a slight room for negotiation in the price of the spices, but she focused only on the iron ore, as her parents taught her that merchants who point out every detail and negotiate are skilled but disliked.

I was impressed.

I came to support Cario, but it turned out I was completely unnecessary and just stood there.

I even thought it might have been better to go with Haru.

We moved all the barrels and boxes to the back of the shop, confirmed that no one was watching, and stored them in the item bag.

It took longer than expected, so Haru must have finished buying the carriage.

At this rate, it might have been better to ask Cario to buy the carriage. She could have bought it at a lower price, I think.

Thinking that, we headed to the ranch to the west of the town.

And there, we saw a very impressive carriage.

Haru was brushing a white horse that was pulling the carriage.

According to Cario, a rare medal is worth 30,000 cents.

She said that if you try to buy a carriage and a horse for 30,000 cents, you would get a carriage that can barely fit three people.

I thought that would be enough since Haru and I were going to take turns on the driver's seat and we didn't need to carry any luggage, but the carriage there was a large one that could fit about ten people, and the white horse was also impressive.

So, this carriage is clearly not ours.

"Master, I have been waiting for you."

"Haru, did you buy the carriage?"

"Yes, this is the carriage."

This carriage turned out to be ours.

Huh?

"Oh, are you Mr. Haruwataru's master?"

The man who said this was a [Monster Tamer: Lv8].

Right, horses are technically monsters. It's a fitting profession for a ranch owner.

"Yes, about this carriage..."

"I apologize. This white horse was the most unruly in our ranch, and no one could tame it, so we were going to put it down. However, as soon as Haruwataru arrived, this white horse bowed in submission. I was moved by this sight."

"..."

"Moreover, Haruwataru is not a monster tamer. This means that the white horse instinctively recognized Haruwataru as its master. I thought it was fate and decided to give this horse to Haruwataru."

"..."

I feel like I've been saying "huh" a lot.

"Since you were looking for a carriage, I asked a friend's shop to prepare a carriage suitable for this horse."

It seems the budget for the horse was saved, and the carriage became quite impressive. Moreover, it seems a friend's discount was applied.

Haru, while brushing the horse, asked, "Master, what should we name this horse?"

I'm in a bind.

My companions are so excellent that I'm not standing out.

More than that... I don't want to handle such a large horse. I died from being kicked by a horse before.

But... seeing Haru brushing the horse and wagging its tail, I decided to buy it. My current status should prevent me from being kicked to death by a horse.

"...Ah, let's think about the name later. Good job, Haru."

I praised Haru with an awkward smile.