Chapter 60

I was praying at the graves of Eneto, his wife, and his child in the courtyard of the guild headquarters.

It has been a week since I defeated the demonized Torias.

During that time, we confirmed the stolen assets and renovated the inside of the guild, preparing for the restart of the Eneto Guild.

Almost all of the Eneto Guild's assets had indeed been stolen by Torias. Some items had already been sold, but we managed to recover the expensive items like warehouses and ships.

The ships can be used when we go to Mirel. We need to hire crew members, but...

In any case, we were able to recover all the assets that could be reclaimed.

The renovation of the headquarters is already complete.

The store part on the first floor should be able to open tomorrow.

As I lowered my hands, Elicia, who was standing next to me, said,

"Now we can restart the business anytime."

"Yeah. I was able to report that all the assets were successfully recovered."

The promise I made to Eneto's son—to recover the stolen items—has been fulfilled.

Next, I need to restore the reputation of the Eneto Guild.

I'm not sure what it means to restore it, but since this is a guild, it will only be considered restored when we can conduct business normally.

I don't know if customers will return even if we restart operations tomorrow.

However, the fact that Torias stole the Eneto Guild's items has already been reported in the imperial capital's newspapers.

The demonization of Torias became an extra edition of the newspaper on the same day. It was also reported that Eneto said he was not a demon just before Torias demonized.

The bad reputation of the Eneto Guild should gradually disappear.

Well, it ultimately depends on the products.

If we stock items that everyone wants to buy, customers will naturally return.

"Alright, let's go back inside."

I returned to the building with Elicia.

The part near the courtyard is set up as a workshop, separated from the store area. This is because there is a transfer pillar in the courtyard, and we don't want customers to see the transfer process.

"Ah, Master Alec!"

"Master Alec!"

Just then, Tika and Nate came from behind. They must have teleported from Ars.

For a few days after Torias demonized, I had them take turns monitoring Burius' movements.

As expected, Burius was desperately trying to regain Louvel's trust.

He refused to meet with merchants and nobles and brought gifts to Louvel's room every day, apologizing for introducing Torias.

On the other hand, Louvel apparently refused to speak to Burius and his noble followers. Instead, he was focused on destroying targets in the training ground with holy magic.

It seems like the days ahead will be uneventful.

So I told Tika and Nate to stop their surveillance of Burius for now. In the future, I will have them check periodically, a few times a month.

I asked them,

"Were you in Ars?"

"Yes! For the test firing of the new product!"

Tika said this while looking at the large crossbow Nate was holding.

"Apparently, the ones we use can't be sold as is... so we made it with as little mithril as possible."

The long crossbow Nate used to snipe Torias had a mithril bowstring and was enchanted with wind magic, allowing it to shoot bolts at high speed over long distances.

The bolts were also made of mithril and enchanted with holy magic, which is why Torias' wings were burned.

Even with such a powerful long crossbow, I added the Invisibility enchantment to the bolts, making them invisible.

After all that, we created what could be considered the strongest long crossbow possible... but I hesitated to sell it as a product.

"If we sell it to someone, they will definitely misuse it..."

Tika nodded at my words.

The one Nate is holding now only has the wind magic enchantment on the bowstring.

It is still extremely powerful and can be sold for ten times the price of a regular crossbow.

Tika said, still looking uneasy,

"Even this has considerable power... I think it's because the craftsmen who made it are skilled."

"It's stronger than my old one. If an assassin uses it, it will be troublesome."

Nate also answered.

"I see. Maybe it's better not to sell weapons that use magical minerals or magical devices."

We should keep them for our own use.

We will only sell iron weapons in the store.

"There are other products too... honestly, just the seafood from the coast of Tialus would be enough."

The types of fish caught off the coast of Tialus and the imperial capital are different. Therefore, Tialus fish can be sold at a high price.

Moreover, what normally takes two weeks to air transport from Tialus to the imperial capital can be delivered here in less than an hour.

Elicia asked me,

"Wouldn't it be suspicious if the fish is too fresh?"

"We can say we transported them live by ship. We don't plan to sell that much anyway."

The International Street is a place where unusual items are sold, not everyday items or food that citizens usually buy. It wouldn't be strange to have Tialus fish here.

"Anyway, the store can open anytime now."

I called out to the people in the workshop.

"Everyone, listen. We will open the store tomorrow. I plan to have a party tonight to celebrate."

The blue-haired people and ratmen in the workshop cheered, and the slimes jumped up in joy.

"Selena is buying alcohol and food. Let's all enjoy ourselves tonight."

In the midst of the cheers, Elicia said with a worried look,

"Is it really okay?"

"We have the money. Besides, I plan to have Selena run this guild. It's not bad to see what other stores are selling."

"Ah, I see... everyone will be happy."

Not only in the imperial capital, but we also have subordinates in Ars and Lobrion. We plan to have parties in all three places.

However, Tika said worriedly,

"Is Selena alone okay...?"

"Something might happen."

Nate also answered.

"It's fine. Yuri and the blue-haired people are with her."

As I said this, the door to the store opened with a bang.

"I just got back! I bought a lot of things for the party!!"

Selena's voice echoed, and the subordinates all cheered.

I also went to the store to see what was happening.

"Welcome back, Selena... what's that?"

I was surprised to see Selena wearing a mask and a hat with impressive feather decorations.

Next to her, Yuri looked apologetic, and behind her, the blue-haired people were unloading items from a cart.

Yuri said,

"I'm sorry, Master Alec. I bought the alcohol and food, but while I was distracted, Selena bought strange things!"

"What do you mean by strange! It's a party! It's normal to dress up and dance!"

Selena, wearing a bear mask, answered hurriedly, but Yuri said,

"Also, instruments and other things... we could have made them ourselves. She bought them because it was convenient. Well, it's not a rip-off or anything..."

Elicia glared at Selena.

"You! You spent Master Alec's money on these things!! Master Alec, Selena can't run the guild! ––!?"

Elicia was surprised by the balloon that suddenly extended from the mouth of Selena's mask. It inflated and deflated, making a loud "pi" sound.

Selena, seeing Elicia's surprise, said happily,

"See, you were surprised! I thought Master Alec would like it!"

Only a very young child would be delighted by such a thing.

I was speechless, but Elicia shouted,

"Master Alec wouldn't be happy with such a childish trick! The only one who would be happy with this is you, who laughs at a rolling spoon!"

"Ah, I'm sorry!"

Selena immediately bowed deeply, and Elicia forcibly took the mask from her.

I quickly said,

"Well, well! There is some truth to what Selena says. Music and dancing are part of a party. It's also a good reference to see what's popular in the imperial capital. It's fine."

However, the mask doesn't seem to be popular in the imperial capital. It looks like she was forced to buy something that wasn't selling well...

Selena, still wearing the bear mask, bowed her head and said,

"M-Master Alec... you are so kind... I apologize. As Yuri said, at the store where I bought the alcohol, they said that for a party, this would be good too..."

"You don't need to say any more..."

I could imagine Selena being talked into it by the smooth-talking merchants on International Street.

"Well... it was a good lesson in how to do business on International Street. The merchants here are skilled, as they have stores in the imperial capital."

"Yes... I didn't realize my wallet was open. I am truly ashamed... to have wasted Master Alec's money."

Selena bowed, and Yuri also bowed, saying, "I failed to supervise!"

Looking at Yuri, I saw a suspicious mask in her hand. She must have been thinking of wearing it if the reaction was good...

"Both of you, don't be so down. It's a party, so it's okay to have some useless things... let's have fun today."

"Y-Yes! Then I, Selena, will do my best to liven up the party!"

Selena answered loudly.

That night, we had a party.

The masks and instruments that seemed useless at first were actually well-received, especially by the ratmen.