Chapter 17: The Merchant
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 17: The Merchant
I had a nightmare. A nightmare where something enormous was crushing me.
‘…So heavy.’
Something weighing about 50 kilograms was pressing down on my entire body. Even with my eyes closed, I knew what it was. I slowly opened my eyes and looked at my Teacher, who was lying on top of me.
Perhaps it was a reaction to her secret being revealed. It seemed my Teacher wasn't content with just showing me her face; she seemed determined to make me memorize her down to every last pore.
“Teacher… it's morning. Teacher?”
“Uuungh…”
“I know you're awake.”
“Hnnngh-!”
She buried her face in my chest and started to whine. A clear sign she didn't want to leave my side. But I couldn't start my day while holding onto her.
When I forced her off, she looked up at me with an expression of despair, like an abandoned child.
“Y-Yohan… are you abandoning me right now…?”
“Yes. If you don't want to be abandoned, Teacher, you should hurry up, wash your face, and come eat.”
I had to be firm at times like this. I couldn't indulge her whining forever. Hearing my firm tone, she stopped whining and, as if giving up, headed to the bathroom.
While she quickly washed up in the bathroom, I prepared our meal. Using the ingredients I'd bought in the city, I made dishes we didn't usually get to eat.
Before the food was even ready, my Teacher, having finished washing her face, came out to the living room, rested her chin on her hand, and watched me cook.
“Yohan, how do I look?”
“Yes. You're beautiful.”
“Heehee, how beautiful?”
“The most beautiful in the world.”
Ever since I learned her secret, she'd started demanding compliments at all hours. It was as if she never tired of it. She pestered me for praise every day, every hour, every minute, so much that my tongue felt like it would cramp up.
But it wasn't empty praise, and it was true that she was beautiful, so I was happy to compliment her. Besides, seeing how happy she got whenever I praised her made me happy too.
“…What are you two doing?”
“Ah, Margaret.”
Just as I was showering my Teacher with praise, Margaret came out of her room, frowning as she glared at the two of us.
I explained what happened last night to her as she stared at us, her expression clearly asking what on earth we were doing so early in the morning.
After hearing the story of what happened last night, Margaret froze and glanced cautiously at Evangeline.
“…I told you not to tell him.”
“Ah, right. You did.”
“…Tell Evangeline… it wasn't on purpose.”
“Um, Teacher. Margaret says—.”
I relayed Margaret's words to my Teacher. Margaret, perhaps thinking my Teacher would fly into a rage, swallowed hard and tensed up.
In truth, she didn't need to be that nervous. And just as I thought, upon hearing Margaret's message, Evangeline simply tilted her head, acting as if she didn't see what the problem was.
“What's wrong, Ritz? Do I look like the kind of person who'd get angry over something like that? Ehehe, you think too poorly of me, don't you?”
“…You're not mad?”
“Nah, people make mistakes. Right?”
With that, my Teacher asked me for another compliment on her looks. I obliged. Only after seeing that did Margaret seem to realize why my Teacher was acting this way.
‘As if she'd get angry right now…’
If the Teacher of yesterday had found out that Margaret revealed her secret to me, she might have flown into a rage, just as Margaret feared, and kicked her out of this cabin.
But the Teacher of today was different. The Teacher of today, who had grown even closer to me thanks to Margaret revealing her secret.
‘All's well that ends well, I suppose.’
Thanks to Margaret telling me the secret, my Teacher no longer had to hide her face from me. I was happy because I could always see my Teacher's beautiful face, my Teacher was happy because she no longer had to hide it, and Margaret was happy because she revealed the secret and faced no punishment.
Everyone's happy, so it's all okay.
“Ah, Teacher.”
“Yes? What is iiiit-?”
“I'm going to head to the village today.”
“Oh, is it that day already? Okay. Have a safe trip.”
Having gotten my Teacher's permission, I finished my meal and prepared to go to the village. My backpack was filled with the hides and carcasses of the monsters my Teacher had dealt with.
Today was the day the merchant caravan visited the village.
Several carriages made their way up the mountain path.
Before long, having spotted the mountain village, Elesis asked the merchant.
“Is this the place?”
“Y-Yes! It is…”
“Good. Once we're inside, don't do anything stupid. Act natural. Just like always.”
Following her orders, the merchant led the carriage into the mountain village. It was the one day a month the caravan came to visit, so the villagers were waiting for them with money and produce in hand.
The head merchant, just as Elesis had ordered, acted naturally. He laid out his wares and started his business, just as he always did.
“Come on, come on! This isn't an everyday opportunity—!”
At his call, the villagers approached and began to look at the goods. Among the items the caravan brought were things the villagers had specifically ordered, so more than half of their goods were sold in an instant.
The empty space was quickly filled with vegetables and fruits grown by the villagers, as well as monster carcasses.
And then—seeing the monster carcasses, Elesis's eyes lit up.
“…Village Chief, these items. Where did you get them?”
“Hmm? And who might you be?”
“—Ah, ahh! Village Chief! She's my daughter! My daughter!”
“This is the first I'm hearing of you having a daughter.”
“W-Well, as you can see from her looks, I've kept her hidden away, doting on her. Yes.”
The merchant acted desperately to keep Elesis's identity from being exposed. The village chief scratched his beard as if finding it strange, but he answered her question nonetheless.
“Why, our village hunters caught them. Aren't they skilled?”
“Yes. Very skilled. I think I understand why my father comes all the way to this village to trade.”
It was a lie.
Elesis realized the village chief was lying.
Any other Holy Knight would have revealed their identity right then and there and beaten down all the villagers. Then they would have called the soldiers waiting below and had them all arrested.
But she couldn't do that. She was too soft-hearted to be a witch hunter.
‘…If I just had more concrete evidence—.’
This was enough, and yet, for her, it wasn't enough.
Feeling a pang of conscience, Elesis threw several more questions at the chief.
“Could I meet the hunter who caught these?”
“Hmm? No. He's out hunting right now…”
“I see. How many hunters are there? One? Several?”
“Hoho, sometimes one person catches them, and sometimes a group does.”
As the questions continued, the village chief began to feel as if she were interrogating him. His intuition was quite sharp, so the chief realized the woman before him was not the merchant's daughter.
Subtly—the chief shot a fierce glare at the merchant, then let out a hollow laugh before suddenly starting to cough.
“Cough, cough! Khek-! Cough! Cough!”
“A-Are you all right!?”
“Gahak! Keck, couuugh-! …Phew— M-My apologies. Now that I'm getting older, I get these coughing fits from time to time…”
“If you're not feeling well, shall I give you some medicine?”
“Ahaha— Thank you, but I'll be fine if I just go home and rest.”
“Oh dear… I understand. Please take care on your way—.”
While Elesis watched the chief with a worried expression, the eyes of the villagers who heard his coughing began to change.
The chief had no such illness. As the wealthiest person in the village, he was healthy enough to never suffer from minor ailments.
The cough was a signal. A signal to announce that Elesis was a threat to the village's survival—.
“Oh dear, I think I left the pot on the fire—.”
“S-Suddenly I'm tired— Hey, wanna go grab a drink?”
“S-Sure, why not?”
One by one, the villagers began to leave. At a glance, it seemed natural, but Elesis felt an unidentifiable suspicion. She sensed that they were all leaving too suddenly.
“Do they always disperse this quickly?”
“They're mountain folk. Once they buy what they need and chat a bit, they tend to leave quickly.”
“It's suspicious…”
However, without any solid evidence, she couldn't just turn the village upside down. In the end, concluding she wouldn't get any results this time, Elesis turned and boarded the carriage to leave the village—.
“Oh, are you done already?”
A new customer had arrived.
An individual who couldn't be found on this village's roster. Elesis's eyes sparkled as she looked at him.
—Found him.
The caravan that came to the village wasn't stocked with as many varied goods as the fancy shops in the city, but it was full of items the villagers desperately needed.
It was like an isekai version of a golden carriage. Though it was a bit different, since this wasn't the army and it came monthly instead of weekly.
I set down the bag full of monster carcasses and greeted the merchant.
“Are you finished already?”
“…No! We're still open for business!”
“Oh, really? Then I was just hoping to sell this—.”
“Ch-Charles!”
Just as I was about to speak with the merchant, the village chief, who had been heading home, suddenly ran over and greeted me.
We weren't on such friendly terms, so I frowned at him.
“What's with you, old man? What's going on?”
“H-Hoho. Charles. I know it's been a while, but isn't that a bit harsh? You should speak respectfully to your elders…”
“Respectfully? Did you eat something bad…?”
The village chief, whom I hadn't seen in a while, started spouting strange nonsense at me, as if he'd eaten some poisonous herbs. He even called me by the wrong name.
I pushed him away slightly, annoyed.
“And who's Charles? I told you, it's Yohan. Why can't you remember?”
“H-Hahaha— What are you talking about! Charles! Did you hit your head or something—.”
“Enough.”
As the chief was shouting, the red-haired woman who had been in the carriage carefully cut him off and approached.
Approaching with a bright smile, she gazed intently at the backpack I had set on the ground.
“Did you come to sell something?”
“Ah, yes. I did.”
“Then may I see your goods for a moment?”
“Of course.”
“Ah, no…”
Hearing that I was going to trade directly with the caravan, the chief let out a sigh of despair. This is why you shouldn't have been so greedy. How long did you think you could keep skimming off the top?
She took the backpack I offered and, after seeing the carcasses and hides inside, her eyes began to shine.
“—Monsters, are they? And very high quality, at that.”
“Yes, that's right.”
“Did you catch all of these by yourself?”
“I did.”
“I see.”
The red-haired woman began to look back and forth between the village chief and the merchant.
The two men, meeting her gaze, started sweating profusely and lowered their heads.
‘What's with these guys?’
Not understanding the situation, I could only tilt my head in confusion.