Chapter 18

"Wow! It's been a long time since I've seen such a big city!"

Standing on a high hill overlooking the largest commercial city in the southern region, Breichburg, which is governed by the Margrave of Breichreider, I was deeply moved by the sight of a big city I hadn't seen in a long time.

The population is said to be around 200,000. In the cities of my previous life in Heisei Japan, this wouldn't have been much, but after living in a small village with only a few hundred people for over a year, it looked like an incredibly large city to me.

Moreover, it took me a week to reach here.

The mountain range between the Baumeister Knight's territory and Breichburg is traversed by caravans every few months, so there is a mountain path. However, even using this path, it apparently takes them about a month for a round trip.

I couldn't help but think, "How do they come to trade when they don't even have decent local products?" But apparently, this is almost a public service with little profit.

The Margrave of Breichreider, the most powerful noble in the south and the one who oversees the southern nobility, regularly sends caravans to the Baumeister family and its people, even at a loss.

I heard this from my older brother Ehrich before. The Baumeister family also suffered significant human and financial losses from a forced military expedition five years ago.

Moreover, this expedition was requested by the Margrave of Breichreider. While my father's greed was a significant factor, there were also circumstances that made it difficult for the foster child to refuse the foster parent's request. After this expedition, the number of caravans increased from twice a year to three times a year, which seemed to be a form of apology or a way to silence criticism.

Ehrich told me all these details.

Thanks to these circumstances, there is a path through the mountains. I enhanced my physical abilities and proceeded along the path while keeping a lookout for my surroundings. Apparently, there are quite a few monsters in this mountain range.

While it is considered a monster territory, for some reason, they rarely appear along the mountain path. However, they are not completely absent, and ordinary bears and wolves frequently show up, so vigilance was necessary.

Another reason I didn't use the flying magic is to avoid being seen flying by my family and the villagers who might be watching from the mountains.

Additionally, it was a bit of exercise to strengthen my body.

I moved as far as I could in a day and then used instantaneous teleportation to return home. The next day, I teleported back to the point I had reached the previous day and continued moving. This extra effort made the journey take even longer.

However, thanks to magic, I managed to cross the mountains in about half the time it takes a caravan.

"What's up, kid?"

"I'm here on an errand to buy things in town."

After the initial excitement, I moved to the entrance of Breichburg. Since there is a large forest, the Monster Territory of Breichburg, where adventurers gather nearby, Breichburg is surrounded by a defensive wall about three meters high.

However, there has never been a case of monsters invading from their territory, so this wall is probably for human defense. While there has been no war in the Helmut Kingdom for a long time, there are still occasional conflicts. Small-scale disputes over land and water rights between nobles occur every few years.

Especially, there are more such disputes between nobles whose territories border each other. The Margrave of Breichreider also has a few noble families with whom he has poor relations in the vicinity.

Incidentally, the Baumeister family has no such noble to dispute with, as they are physically isolated by the mountain range.

"Do you have an ID, kid?"

"No, I don't. I'm thinking of getting a membership card from the Commercial Guild."

"I see. Can you pay the one copper coin entry tax?"

"Yes, I can."

Actually, I do have an ID, but if it were known that the eighth son of the Baumeister family, an eight-year-old, appeared in Breichburg, it would be a big problem.

So, I planned to enter the city as a child from a nearby farming village. Almost all residents of the city have IDs, but in rural areas, there are few people who have them because there is no place to issue them. To get one, you would have to go all the way to Breichburg.

Then, how do people from the countryside who want to enter the city for shopping or other reasons do it?

The answer is to join a guild. The Adventurer's Guild would be the most suitable, but there is a rule that you must be at least fifteen years old to join. In a world without birth records, a little age fudging is possible, but it would be futile for me to claim I'm fifteen.

So, the remaining options are the Craftsmen's Guild or the Merchant's Guild.

In the world of craftsmen and merchants, it's common for children my age to be apprentices. Moreover, it's not uncommon for them to be sent to Breichburg on errands by their masters or bosses, making it relatively easy to get an ID.

"I see. You're selling those rabbits, then."

The guard confirmed that I had a few rabbit skins hanging from my waist. I had obtained them along the mountain path.

"Yes, I heard that I need a Commercial Guild membership card to sell anything."

Actually, an ID was required. City residents have IDs from the start, and if you belong to a guild, your membership card serves as an ID.

When selling items, you are required to show this for security reasons. It's surprisingly strict, but apparently, there are shops in the back alleys that allow transactions without IDs, and there is a trap where anyone from outside can easily get a guild membership card.

Thanks to this, I was able to easily get a membership card and was all set.

I paid the one copper coin entry tax to the guard and stepped into Breichburg. This entry tax must be paid every time you enter the city.

It's not a large amount, just one copper coin.

Incidentally, the currency system in this world is unified across the Lingaia continent. While the designs of the coins differ between the Helmut Kingdom and the Arkart Holy Empire, the amounts of gold, silver, and copper are standardized by treaty, so it doesn't matter which you use.

As for the types and values of coins, the unit of currency is the cent. However, in our Baumeister Knight's territory, where we mostly barter and only deal with money a few times a year when the caravan comes, it's a term we rarely hear.

One copper coin is one cent, ten copper coins are one copper plate (ten cents), ten copper plates are one silver coin (one hundred cents), ten silver coins are one silver plate (one thousand cents), ten silver plates are one gold coin (ten thousand cents), ten gold coins are one gold plate (one hundred thousand cents), ten gold plates are one platinum coin (one million cents), and ten platinum coins are one platinum plate (ten million cents).

One copper coin can buy an apple, and since the entry tax is the same amount, one cent is probably about 100 yen in Japanese currency.

"Welcome to the Commercial Guild. You want to get a membership card, right? Please fill out this form with the necessary information."

I entered the large building where the Commercial Guild is located, as the guard had told me. The place was bustling with people visiting for various reasons. When I spoke to a young lady at the window marked "Membership Card Issuance," she gave me a form to fill out in a polite but routine manner.

The form required only my name, place of origin, and age. I wrote my age normally, put down the name of a distant village near here for my address, and used only the first name Vendelin, pretending to be a commoner's child without a last name.

While the information was false, it apparently wasn't a big issue. Some people even lie about their names.

"The first membership card is free. However, there is a one silver coin fee for reissuance, so be careful not to lose it. Also, when selling items at the bazaar, you must get a location assignment from the responsible person and pay ten percent of your sales to the guild. There are strict penalties for breaking the rules."

After leaving the receptionist, I headed to the bazaar. Following her directions, I entered a slightly narrower alley that leads to the main street, where hundreds of people of all ages were selling various items on mats at the side of the road.

Among them were children not much older than me, which is why the receptionist didn't seem surprised when I asked for a membership card.

"Kid, are you helping your father?"

When I spoke to a middle-aged man from the guild who was overseeing the bazaar, he seemed to think I was a filial son selling game hunted by my father and greeted me kindly.

"I set the traps and caught them myself."

There was no need to reveal that I can use magic, so I said I had set traps near the village where I live and caught the rabbits. Looking around, I saw other children selling rabbits they had caught with traps.

"Wow, you're good at this for your age. That empty spot over there is good. Rabbit fur and meat are always in short supply, so they'll sell quickly. The current market price is about five copper plates per rabbit, including the fur and meat."

That's about 5,000 yen in Japanese currency. On my way to the designated spot, I saw others selling rabbit fur and meat, and their prices were all around five copper plates, give or take a few copper coins.

So, it's about 4,500 to 5,500 yen.

I didn't want to spend time trying to increase my profit margin, so I set the price at five copper plates and arranged the four rabbits on the mat I had brought.

Soon, a man approached me. He looked like a typical merchant, in his early forties.

"Are you helping your father?"

"No, I set the traps and caught them myself."

"Wow, you're quite skilled for your age. The meat is fresh, and the tanning of the fur is good."

The bloodletting, butchering, and tanning were all done with magic, so while not as good as professional top-quality products, they were of decent quality. Learning the magic and overcoming the resistance to butchering the prey were the initial challenges.

In my previous life, I had only ever bought meat in pre-packaged form from supermarkets, so it was natural to struggle with the process of removing blood and organs. Let's just say it's not something a former modern person can easily get used to.

"I'll take them all. I'd be happy if you come back to sell more."

"Thank you."

The rabbits sold for two silver coins, and I paid two copper plates, which is ten percent of the sales, to the guild official.

"What are you going to do next?"

"My father asked me to buy rice."

"The current market price is about five copper plates for ten kilograms, but it can vary depending on the origin and variety."

I thanked the guild official and bought ten kilograms of rice for five copper plates from a nearby rice shop before using instantaneous teleportation to return home.

Of course, it was to cook the rice as soon as possible.