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(6/20)
Chapter 5 – The Power of Money
I asked Camille and the others at the Castle to choose a product to take to the western continent. I had planned to ask them to choose a rare item, if possible, and extend the time until we could go to the Aquamarine Kingdom by searching for that item. However, the competent Camille-san and the others calculated the risk and reward and simply selected products that were easy to obtain, less risky, and more profitable. I never thought that the day would come when I would regret having been able to scout for competent people.
“Wataru. I hope you will give us this product as well. Or rather, hand it over!”
“I beg you, Wataru. I’m afraid of my wife and daughter’s eyes. Please give me some of these cosmetics. And some liquor too, please.”
“I’m begging you, too. I don’t feel like living because of those souvenirs. I can’t stand it when people ask me every day if I got the cosmetics, and when I tell them I didn’t, they look at me like I’m a garbage bug!”
I am now being interrogated by the guildmaster of the Merchant Guild, a beautiful witch with a devilish expression on her face and threatened with a threatening negotiation, or rather, intimidation.
And to my left and right, Luke-san, the guildmaster of the Adventurers’ Guild, and William-san, the architect I hired to design the town, are also making desperate appeals to me with desperate expressions on their faces.
Hey Ines, members of Girasole. You’re my bodyguards, right? Why are you looking at me like you have no choice?
Felicia, Carla-san, and Claretta-san are trying to help me, but for some reason, Alessia-san and the others are stopping them. Why is that?
The guildmaster of the Merchant’s Guild is strangely powerful. Please help me. Please.
…Apparently, they can’t help me. When did the meaning of the word “bodyguard” change?
Since my level is high and my body has been strengthened accordingly, I can take it, but it’s still pretty hard.
If I hadn’t leveled up, my neck would probably be torn to shreds, right?
“Don’t just shut up, answer me. It’s obviously yes, isn’t it?”
I want to answer, but I can’t because my clothes, held in her hands, are exquisitely tightened around my neck, trying to suck the life out of me. Please notice.
“…I thought I was going to die.”
If anything, it was the biggest crisis I’ve had since I fell into this world. I think I saw someone waving at me from across the river.
“Fufu. You deserve it. Women can be deadly when it comes to beauty pranks. You learned your lesson, didn’t you?”
As I trembled with fear, Alessia-san laughed and spoke to me.
“Yes, I learned a lot from the bottom of my heart. But you could have helped me a little earlier, couldn’t you? Alessia-san and the others are my bodyguards, aren’t they?”
“It’s true that we are Wataru’s bodyguards, but it’s difficult to determine whether the cause of the pranks falls within the scope of bodyguarding or not. It feels more like an attack or a divine punishment, doesn’t it? But, well, rest assured that we will protect you if your life is in danger.”
In short, she seems to want me to deal with the consequences of my own mischief by myself.
I guess that’s only natural, but I’m very concerned about the fact that she thinks that being strangled is not a life-threatening situation.
Also, I don’t agree with the word “divine punishment” either.
It is true that I harassed her a little, but compared to the bad behavior of Creator God-sama, it was too cute to be judged, even as a prank.
It would be too unreasonable to be punished by the heavens for it.
…But even so, I was careless.
I was so preoccupied with the hell of paperwork that I forgot that I had played a prank on them as repayment for the hell of paperwork I had given them the last time I was about to leave.
As a result, all I could think about was escaping the hell of paperwork, and I entered the capital only to be strangled by the guild master and the others who flew in.
Yes, it’s sad to say, but I was just a careless fool.
I should at least remember that I played a prank on them.
“Wataru-san, can I hear your answer?”
I hear the voice of the Merchant Guild’s guildmaster from behind me, and my body reacts with a reflexive twitch.
Huh? Am I being traumatized by the guildmaster of the Merchant Guild?
…Even if I didn’t think about it, even if it was an irresistible force, if I were to be strangled by a beautiful witch with a demonic expression on her face, I would at least be traumatized.
The sight of monsters being slaughtered is so commonplace that it has made my senses go haywire, but being strangled, even if not on purpose, is a rather unfashionable situation.
On top of that, Dorothea-san and the others admonished them to calm down, and on the surface, the guild master and the others are calm, but even though they are smiling, their eyes are not smiling, and I think there is something in their voices that is hard to resist.
If I make the mistake of answering, I will probably end up in a terrible situation. I have to answer carefully…
“…Of course, yes. Well, I left it hoping that you would like it, but it seems that you liked it more than I expected, and I am happy too. Although there is a limit to the number of pieces, since it is indeed a valuable item, I will gladly wholesale enough for the guildmaster and the others to use.”
After much deliberation, I decided to surrender almost completely.
Pride? This word is not in my dictionary.
“Ara, thank you very much. Let’s have a meeting and sign the contract right away.”
“…Yes, of course. Please be gentle with me.”
A meeting… I hadn’t reckoned with the possibility of another hell before the hell of paperwork.
＊＊＊
“…Freedom is wonderful.”
After that, I was surrounded by guildmasters and had to face a bully who had called a meeting.
In addition to the first three, the guildmasters of the Blacksmith, Lumberjack, and Cooking guilds had also joined the group, and I could only tremble like a little rabbit when surrounded by the higher-ups.
But I did my best.
I was almost completely at their mercy, but I defended my last line of defense with my own strength and with the help of Dorothea-san and Ilma-san.
Even the Castle, which I had left to Camille-san and the others I had recruited directly, had placed restrictions on the products, but I resisted, saying that it would be unfair for us to sell unlimited quantities of wholesale goods.
I confronted the guildmasters, who threatened, cajoled, and persuaded me, and I succeeded in limiting the number to a level that would be sufficient for their personal use but not enough to be treated as merchandise.
I think I can be proud of this result against the crafty old foxes of the guildmasters.
Well, I wouldn’t have had to go through all that trouble if I hadn’t pulled a stupid prank to pay them back for all that paperwork… All the guildmasters seemed to be affected to some degree, and I heard a lot of bitter complaints.
Eventually, the negotiations came to an end, and the room I was taken to for tea was filled with documents.
I later found out that while the guildmasters and I were in intense negotiations, documents from all the guilds involved had been gathered for me to confirm and finalize the deal.
They knew that I had been holed up on the ship the last time, and I easily fell into the trap of the guildmasters, who wanted to make me work without letting me go.
I was so exhausted from all the negotiations that I was treated like this. I think the guildmasters are devils.
I appealed to them that the work should have been done without me, but if the owner of the construction company had made the decision, there would have been less checking of documents, and the work would have been done more quickly because decisions requiring delicate judgment could have been made. And most importantly, they denied that the level of trust was different.
I asked Alessia-san and the others for help, but when I was told that a huge amount of money and many people involved in the project would be in trouble, neither I nor Alessia-san could resist until the end.
I asked to return to the ship at least once, but they silently refused. It was as if they didn’t trust me at all.
And so began the hell of paperwork.
The investment of 2,500 platinum coins is an extraordinary amount in this world.
The merchants, encouraged by the money, seemed to be in high spirits, working furiously, and as a result, the number of documents increased at a furious pace.
Dorothea-san, Ilma-san, and Claretta-san, who are good at paperwork, help out, but as the number of documents decreases, more documents are added.
The seemingly endless repetition… makes me want to puke just thinking about it.
I’ve just escaped the hell of paperwork. I’m going to seal those memories that make me want to vomit in the depths of my memory and enjoy the present.
By the way…
“The power of money is amazing, isn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s right, it is amazing.”
Alessia-san agrees with my words.
We are now on an inspection tour of the nearest village to the planned construction site of Beastman City.
In this village, we plan to build a dormitory for the beastmen gathered from other places and a yard for the construction of the city, and we also plan to build a road to the proposed site of the Beastman City.
The Beastman City will be built in an inconvenient location in the Aquamarine Kingdom.
As the closest village to the city, this village is also not in a good location, and I had heard that it was a small village with a delicate environment.
In fact, this was probably the case before the construction of Beastman City began.
However, there was no trace of such a village in front of me.
The road was well-maintained, wide, and reconstructed to transport a large amount of materials.
Many beastmen must have been gathered from relatively nearby areas as an advance party.
Many buildings had been constructed to provide sleeping quarters for the beastmen.
Merchants who have gathered to build the city and do business with the increased number of beastmen.
Less than half a year has passed since the decision was made to build the beastmen’s city, and the village that should have been desolate has been transformed into a village full of vitality and hope.
The scary thing is that this village… is no longer the size of a village, but a town.
The scary thing is that this town is only the foundation for building a city of beastmen
I know that the foundation of everything is important, but right now, we are still in the process of building a road to the proposed location of the Beastmen’s City.
In the future, many more beastmen will gather, and materials will be gathered to build the village that will serve as a satellite for the construction of the city, as well as materials for the actual construction of the city.
In other words, the village will become a city even though it is still in the preparation stage.
There’s no doubt that I came here to inspect the situation, but I didn’t expect to understand many unusual things even before I entered the city.
…There are so many people and funds moving around that a village can turn into a city in a very short time. It’s a ridiculous amount of paperwork.
I just put in the money to spend on charitable expenses, and in that initial stage, I realized the awesome power of money.
I still plan to make more investments, and I wonder what will happen when the construction of Beastman City is in full swing?
Anyway, what I understand now is that the power of money is awesome! That’s it.
Thanks for the chapter
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Thanks for the treat.
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