Chapter 28

After walking around the town of Mannowar for a while, I searched for a man named Gigoo.

I realized it only a few minutes after starting to walk.

This town is far more bustling than the town of Boarsel.

"What a lively town..."

"This town was apparently built by a former guild master of the Dragon Knights Guild."

"Really, Emma?"

I was surprised.

When I looked at Emma, she seemed surprised by my reaction.

"Y-Yes. The guild master in Lindwurm said so."

"That guy..."

I was taken aback.

I know the guild master of Lindwurm.

He was the one who completely rejected my philosophy of "living alongside dragons" and expelled me from the guild.

I no longer bear any grudge, but I found it a bit interesting.

"What did he say?"

"Um... he said that one day, he would acquire wealth and power and build his own town."

"I see."

I thought, "That makes sense."

Now that I think about it, he was a man with a strong desire for power.

Wanting to gain power and build his own town—indeed, that sounds like something he would think.

By the way, how did a former guild master manage to build a town?

I'm a bit curious about that.

I would like to build a town for dragons, not for humans.

I'll look into it sometime.

"Hey, look at that."

This time, Colette spoke up.

"What?"

"That shop over there, where the customers are standing and slurping noodles."

"Oh, that one."

Following Colette's description and gaze, I looked at a stand-up noodle shop a little further ahead.

It was more like a stall, and customers were slurping soup noodles under the eaves.

After finishing their meal, a customer actually smashed the bowl on the spot.

The simple ceramic bowl shattered with a light tap on the ground.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know..."

I also tilted my head.

After smashing the bowl, the customer paid and left.

The stall owner didn't scold him at all and completely ignored it—moreover, another customer finished eating and smashed the bowl as well.

"It seems that's the normal behavior here."

"Why?"

"I don't know... should we ask?"

Just as I thought that and was about to approach the stall,

a small boy carrying a furoshiki (a traditional Japanese wrapping cloth) came over.

He put down the furoshiki at the stall and opened it.

Inside were the bowls that the customers had smashed earlier—cheaply made bowls.

The boy handed them over to the stall owner.

The stall owner gave the boy a few copper coins.

"Here, 2 reals."

"Thank you."

The boy took the copper coins, folded the furoshiki, and ran off somewhere.

"I see..."

I nodded slightly and looked around.

Just in my line of sight, there were 4-5 food stalls, and almost all of them had customers smashing their bowls after use.

And from time to time, modestly dressed boys would come and replenish the bowls.

"What's going on?"

"It seems to be a disposable culture here."

"Why?"

"Probably because it creates more jobs."

I was a bit impressed.

With anything, disposing of it means steady work for the people who make it.

I thought it was a good system to have a steady flow of work.

"That might be part of it."

"Hmm? Do you know something, Chris?"

"Mannowar, you said. This land was a place where epidemics often broke out until a hundred years ago."

"Epidemics... I see, disposing of utensils can prevent that."

"Indeed, my dear friend, you catch on quickly."

I see.

I looked around again.

Mannowar.

It seems to be an interesting town in many ways.

☆

After walking for a while and asking some townspeople,

we arrived at Gigoo's shop.

It was in a less bustling area of the town, with fewer people passing by, and it felt somewhat desolate compared to where we had been before.

"Master, look at that. The lower right corner of that sign."

"Hmm?"

Louise pointed it out, and I looked at the sign.

There was a crest in the lower right corner.

It was the crest of the tally mark.

"The crest of the tally mark."

"Right."

"I see, then this is the right place."

I nodded and led the four of us inside.

It seemed that bringing a dragon was assumed from the start, so the entrance was made wide, and the area just inside was spacious.

It was wide enough to barely fit Chris, a medium-sized dragon.

When we went inside, a man appeared from the back.

"Who are you?"

He was a rough-looking man.

Upon closer inspection, he had a large scar under his chin, which was still fresh and pink.

Of course, there are quite a few men like this among dragon knights, so I wasn't surprised.

However, I responded appropriately.

"I'm Cyril Larousse."

"Hmph, you, huh. Where's the goods?"

"Colette, please."

I turned my head and said to Colette over my shoulder.

Colette nodded and spat out the boxes containing dragon tears one by one from her stomach.

She piled them up and showed them to the man.

"Check them."

"Hmm."

The man came closer, opened the boxes, and checked the contents.

He scratched the surface of the dragon tears with his claw and sniffed them.

Can he tell by the smell?

"Hmm... indeed, I'll take them."

The man nodded and clapped his hands.

Then, 4-5 men came out from the back and carried away the boxes containing the dragon tears.

In return, they left another box.

"That's the agreed-upon payment, check it."

I opened the box.

It was filled with silver coins.

By my estimate, it was certainly several tens of thousands of reals.

"Colette."

"I'll take care of it."

Colette swallowed the box.

"Don't you need to count them?"

The man asked.

"No, it's fine. Even if it's a bit short, it's not a big deal."

"What? Why?"

"It just means there won't be a next time."

"...Hmph."

The man snorted, looking unamused.

☆

We went outside the shop.

"Amazing, Master, you easily got 30,000 reals."

"Yeah."

"Hehehe, more than that, I found it interesting to watch my dear friend's composure."

"Composure?"

Louise tilted her head.

"Yes. Human negotiations, in the end, are a tug-of-war between 'do' and 'don't.' The strongest card is 'don't' for a powerful person."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed. My dear friend naturally played that card. At that moment, that man clearly re-evaluated my dear friend."

"That's so, Master."

Indeed, Chris is right, but it's a bit embarrassing to have it explained like that.

Well, that's fine.

"..."

"Hmm? What are you thinking, my dear friend?"

"Huh? Oh, about the dragon tears."

"Hmm?"

"They gave us 30,000 reals just for delivering them. That means they must be making a huge profit from them, right?"

"Probably."

"Wouldn't it be a better deal if we did it ourselves?"

"Hehehe, hahaha, indeed, you have a good eye, my dear friend."

Sure enough, that's the case.

Chris's words seemed to reinforce my thoughts.