Chapter 3-23 : Raising Money Ⅰ

 

Seeing her father’s desperate face, Iris-san frowned and turned her gaze to me.

「Store Owner-dono… Umm… It’s hard for me to ask, but… Do you think your master will lend us money…?」(Iris)

「My master…? Umm…」(Sarasa)

When I folded my arms and thought, Adelbert-san and Katerina-san gave me strange looks.

「Sarasa-dono, even though your master is also an alchemist, I don’t think she will easily lend us that amount of money.」(Adelbert)

「Father, actually, Store Owner-dono’s master is a master-class alchemist.」(Iris)

「Master-class, you say!?」(Adelbert)

Adelbert-san looked so surprised.

Certainly, Master has a lot of money. I’m pretty sure 65 million reas is not a large amount of money for her.

Well, even if you’re not a master-class alchemist, you can still make that amount of money as an ordinary alchemist if you work hard enough.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible for me right now.

「If I ask her, she will probably lend me money, but…」(Sarasa)

For some reason, I have a feeling that she will take me back to the royal capital and force me to work for free at her store until I can return her money…

No. It’s my master we’re talking about. She will definitely do that for sure.

「It’s not my place to say this since I still have a debt to you but I promise we will return the money! So please, Store Owner-dono!」(Iris)

「Store Owner-san, please!」(Kate)

Iris-san and Kate-san bowed, putting their foreheads on the table.

Next to them, Adelbert-san and Katerina-san looked confused. They didn’t know what to say. Both of them just met me today, so I can understand that it’s hard for them to ask me to lend them money.

After thinking for a moment, Adelbert-san shook his head and looked at Iris-san and Kate-san.

「Iris, Kate, raise your heads. We can’t trouble Sarasa-dono.」(Adelbert)

「But, Father, we don’t have anyone else to rely on…」(Iris)

「Hmm…」(Adelbert)

Adelbert-san glanced at Katerina-san. Katerina-san then replied to him by shaking her head as if she knew what he was trying to ask.

「I don’t have any acquaintances who have a lot of money. I’m sorry, Adelbert-sama.」(Katerina)

「I see…」(Adelbert)

This is bad…

Should I ask Master…? But… I can’t just ask her to lend me money. Besides, I don’t want to leave this village.

Aahh! What should I do?

I wonder if there’s a way to make money like when we hunted Ice Fang Bats… Hmm…

Hold on… There IS a way!

「I don’t think we have to borrow money from my master.」(Sarasa)

「But…」(Iris)

「I know a way for us to make money without borrowing from anyone.」(Sarasa)

「Really!? Do you have a good plan?」(Iris)

Iris-san looked happy.

I nodded to her and started explaining.

「Iris-san, Kate-san, you are Collectors. What do you do to make money?」(Sarasa)

I think making money by doing your job is better than doing something you are not used to, like borrowing money from someone else. After all, doing your job is the best way to make money in my opinion.

Iris-san and Kate-san looked at each other and answered me.

「Umm… Collecting materials?」(Iris)

「Yup!」(Sarasa)

「But 65 million reas is not an amount of money that we can make just from collecting materials like usual.」(Iris)

「If Mama, Papa, and Adelbert-sama join us, maybeー」(Kate)

「No, even if they join, as Iris-san said, you can’t make enough money to pay the debt by only collecting materials like usual.」(Sarasa)

「So…」(Iris)

I smirked and looked at Iris-san.

「We’re going to collect rare, precious, uncommon materials that not many people can get!」(Sarasa)

「Rare materials, huh…? Aa! Don’t tell me…」(Iris)

「Store Owner-san, do mean Salamanders!?」(Kate)

「Correct! If we can sell materials from Salamanders, perhaps we can get enough money to pay the debt. The problem is we have to find a buyer, but I will ask my master later. Maybe she knows people who want to buy them.」(Sarasa)

It’s easier to ask Master, “Do you know people who want to buy Salamander materials?” than ask her, “Can you lend me 65 million reas?”

In the first place, the reason why Master sent me to this village is so that I can sell her rare materials.

「But, Store Owner-san, you said that they were very strong and dangerous. Can we really defeat them?」(Kate)

「She’s right. I heard that those monsters were hard to defeat even by professional Collectors. I’m sorry, but I can’t allow Iris to hunt such dangerous monsters.」(Adelbert)

「I can’t allow Kate-chan either…」(Katerina)

Adelbert-san and Katerina-san shook their heads at the same time with uneasy faces.

「Don’t worry. Of course, I won’t ask them to fight Salamanders. It will be a suicide after all.」(Sarasa)

「Eh? Store Owner-dono, are you planning to fight by yourself? But… No, I know how strong you are. I think you can defeat a Salamander in an instant easily.」(Iris)

「I’m not that strong, you know? I can’t defeat a Salamander easily. However, if there are people who support me and if I use my ‘trump card’, I probably can defeat one. But before that, I need to ask my master first.」(Sarasa)

If Master says it’s possible, then it’s worth trying.

I’m relieved that Adelbert-san no longer seems to want to marry Iris-san to Hou Baal but I don’t want their house to be ruined because of that.

I want to help them as much as I can.

「I’m grateful that you want to help us, but are you sure you are going to be okay fighting such dangerous monsters?」(Adelbert)

「Don’t worry. As long as I have people to support me, I think I’ll be fine. I probably won’t be able to move after using my ‘trump card’, so I need someone to carry me. I also need someone to help in the fight. I may be able to fight alone but I think it’ll be safer if I have someone helping me.」(Sarasa)

「You won’t be able to move…? It reminds me that you couldn’t move after fighting the Hellfire Grizzlies… Store Owner-san, don’t tell me…」(Kate)

Kate-san looked anxious. She probably remembered when I was bedridden for several days after I killed the Hellfire Grizzlies that tried to break into my house.

At that time I was desperate and worried about Lorea-chan’s well-being, so I unconsciously used too much power.

「No, I won’t let that happen again. I just won’t be able to move my body for a few minutes, so I’ll be fine as long as I have someone who can protect me in the meantime.」(Sarasa)

It was very hard for me to do anything when I was bedridden. I couldn’t even go to the bathroom by myself.

I don’t want that to happen again, so I’ll be careful next time.

「If so, let me do it for you. I can protect you while you’re resting.」(Adelbert)

「If Adelbert-sama is joining, I’ll join as well. Besides, this is our problem in the first place. We will feel bad if Sarasa-san does everything alone.」(Katerina)

Adelbert-san and Katerina-san offered their help, but…

「Umm… Actually, I want to ask Iris-san and Kate-san if possible…」(Sarasa)

「Of course, I’ll gladly help!」(Iris)

「Store Owner-san, you don’t need to ask us. We don’t know how much we can help but we’ll do our best!」(Kate)

Iris-san and Kate-san responded energetically, but Adelbert-san and Katerina-san looked a little dissatisfied somehow. Perhaps they were worried about their daughters.

「Why does it have to be them? I may be a little old, but my swordsmanship is way better than Iris’.」(Adelbert)

「Me too. Not only am I good at archery but I’m also good at magic. I’m more reliable than Kate-chan.」(Katerina)

「Is that so?」(Sarasa)

「It’s true. My father is a strong knight after all. My swordsmanship is nothing compared to his.」(Iris)

「It frustrates me a bit but Mama can use a bow better than me. On top of that, she can also use magic…」(Kate)

Hoo… Somehow I can tell that Adelbert-san is better at using a sword than Iris-san, but Katerina-san can use a bow better than Kate-san? Isn’t that amazing?

Kate-san’s archery skill is impressive enough for me. I can’t imagine how good Katerina-san is at archery…

Adelbert-san and Katerina-san remained calm when I looked at them with an impressed face but they couldn’t hide the smirks on the edge of their mouths.

 

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