Chapter 3-9 : Sea Monster Materials (part 2)
As soon as we arrived at the harbor, we looked around for the fishermen who had returned from the sea.
「Kako ojou-sama, there are some fishermen over there.」(Thea)
Looking in the direction Thea was pointing, I saw a group of fishermen on the pier a few meters ahead.
They were taking out large amounts of wooden boxes from their ship, and judging from how busy they were, it seemed like they got a big haul last night.
Without wasting time, I approached them.
「Good morning, gentlemen!」(Kako)
They stopped working and turned to me when I greeted them.
「Huh? What’s a kid doing here?」
「It’s not a place for a kid to play.」
「Ojou-chan, you might slip and fall into the sea if you’re not careful.」(fishermen)
「I’m not aー …Ahem!」(Kako)
I remember I was told the same thing yesterday. It frustrates me, but I have to be calm.
Calm, Kako… Be calm…
「Pardon me, gentlemen, but I’m not here to play. I have an important negotiation with you.」(Kako)
They tilted their heads and looked at each other in confusion. They must have never thought a child would have an important business with them.
No, I’m not a child.
「An important negotiation? Do you want to buy something from us?」
「If it’s fish you want to buy, then you’re too late. We’ve sold all our fish to the inn owners and fishmongers.」
「You can buy fish at the market, but be careful. Not all of the fish they sell is fresh.」(fishermen)
I see. Seems like I have to be careful when I buy sea products from the market.
I’ve learned a good lesson, but it’s not fish or any other sea products I want to buy.
「No, it’s not that. I want to buy sea monster materials.」(Kako)
「Monster materials? Really?」
「Oi, oi, Ojou-chan, it’s not something a kid can afford, you know?」
「Besides, what are you going to do with them? They’re not a plaything.」(fishermen)
They’re still treating me like a child…
「Umm, gentlemen, I’m notー」(Kako)
「ーYou fool!」(??)
When I was about to say firmly that I’m not a child, another fisherman came out of the ship and yelled at them.
「She may be young, but she’s talking real business. Don’t you see she has a maid and a catto bodyguard with her? Either she’s from a rich merchant family, or… she’s the merchant herself. Right, Ojou-chan?」(wise fisherman)
Oh? Looks like we have a smart adult here.
I replied to him with a smirk.
「It’s the latter.」(Kako)
「I see. It’s rare to see a merchant at your age.」(wise fisherman)
「Seriously!?」
「A small girl like her is a merchant!?」
「She’s even smaller than my daughter!」(fishermen)
Grrr…! First, they treated me like a child, and now they said the S word!
Noticing I was glaring angrily at the other fishermen, the wise fisherman apologized to me.
「Sorry about them, Ojou-chan. You can take this as my apology.」(wise fisherman)
He handed me a pack of dried fish. I appreciate his sincerity, but I can’t take this.
「No, thank yー」(Kako)
「ーThank you-nya!」(Nyat)
But, before I could refuse it, Nyat swiftly snatched the dried fish away from his hand.
「*Munch munch* It’s so good-nya~!」(Nyat)
This cat…
「I’m sorry about him.」(Kako)
「Hahaha! You have an energetic bodyguard!」(wise fisherman)
「Kako, don’t be so upset-nya. Here. You can have one-nya.」(Nyat)
「…..」(Kako)
Nyat handed me one dried fish while he ate the rest of the pack.
I took a bite of it. It surprisingly tastes good!
「Ahem! Anyway, now that you understand that I’m a merchant, would you sell your sea monster materials to me?」(Kako)
When I asked that, the fisherman scratched his head, looking somewhat troubled.
「We’d love to, but I’m sorry, Ojou-chan. We’ve already sold most of them to the blacksmiths and the adventure shops. What we have left now are the ones with very low quality, in other words, junk.」(wise fisherman)
I thought I came at the right time, but apparently I was too late.
Well, it doesn’t matter. Who needs high-quality materials when you can use Synthesis Skill?
「I’m okay with junk. Can I buy all the junk you have?」(Kako)
「What? Are you serious?」(wise fisherman)
「Ojou-chan, I don’t recommend you buy that trash.」
「They’re the lowest-quality materials, you know?」
「They’re only useful for making fish bait. You don’t want them.」(fishermen)
These fishermen were rude for treating me like a child, but they’re actually good people. They tried to stop me instead of scamming me into buying them at a high price.
「It’s fine. I’m going to use them for experiments anyway, so their quality doesn’t matter.」(Kako)
「Experiments? I don’t know what you’re going to do with that junk, but if you insist, then you can buy as much as you want. Please follow me.」(wise fisherman)
Now that they agreed to sell the leftover materials, they took me to their ship and showed me a pile of sea monster body parts.
「Uhh… This is…」(Kako)
「This is what remains after we sold the edible monster flesh and usable materials. We usually make them into fish bait and throw away the unusable ones.」(wise fisherman)
What’s left here are the bones, innards, heads, and tails of fish-like sea monsters.
For me, it was quite a grotesque sight, but not for the big white cat next to me.
「It barely has meat on it, but these huge fish bones look delicious-nya~ It makes me want to lick them-nya~」(Nyat)
「Really…?」(Kako)
They don’t smell bad at all since they’re still fresh, but they don’t look edible at all to me.
Well, Nyat has a completely different opinion, though. Maybe I’ll let him lick the bones a little before synthesizing them with my skill.
The scent of fish wafting through the air made Nyat drool, but to me, the smell was too strong. It reminded me of the smell of the fresh fish section in the supermarket in my neighborhood in Japan, only several times stronger.
「Well then, I will buy the bones, the fins, and the tails. I don’t need the rest.」(Kako)
「Alright. We’ll sort it out for you. Wait a moment.」(wise fisherman)
The fishermen started separating the parts that I wanted to buy from the rest and then put them in several wooden boxes.
「So, how are you going to carry all this?」(wise fisherman)
「Don’t worry about that. I have this.」(Kako)
I took out one of my magic bags and put the materials in it.
「Oh? That’s a high-quality magic bag you have. I know some successful merchants who have this bag, but I never thought a young merchant like you would have it.」(wise fisherman)
「Ahaha…」(Kako)
High-quality magic bags are super expensive, and only a few rich people have them.
Though in my case, I made it myself by synthesizing some old, broken magic bags I bought cheaply.
「So, how much do I have to pay?」(Kako)
「Hmm, honestly, it’s hard to decide the correct price for these junk items since we rarely sell them, but… I think five silver coins is a fair price.」(wise fisherman)
Five silver coins for all this? That’s much cheaper than I thought.
「Alright. Here’s the money. Thank you, Sir.」(Kako)
I took the money from my pocket and handed it to the man.
「Ou, you’re welcome. By the way, we usually arrive at the harbor before sunrise, so if you want to buy high-quality materials, you have to come at dawn. Well, if you can wake up early in the morning, of course.」(wise fisherman)
「I’ll keep that in mind. I have no problem waking up in the early morning.」(Kako)
「……」(Thea)
When I said that to the fisherman, I felt a blank gaze from Thea. She seemed to doubt me.
I might never beat Thea when it comes to waking up early, but I used to get up early when I had club activities at school. I would need an alarm clock, though…
「Thank you, everyone. I will come again.」(Kako)
Now that I’ve got the monster materials I need, I have no reason for staying any longer here.
I was thinking of leaving, but the fisherman stopped me.
「Wait, Ojou-chan, you’re not from this city, right?」(wise fisherman)
「Hm? Yeah, I came from the eastern capital.」(Kako)
「I see. Since you’ve come all the way here, why don’t you take a tour boat and enjoy the sea?」(wise fisherman)
「A tour boat?」(Kako)
So there’s a tour boat here? That sounds interesting.
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