Episode 0-a. The Advancer (6)
Saravati Duchy. A nation known as the holy land of adventurers, teeming with transients coming and going. It was the first place I arrived at after leaving the Ephrin Empire, and I'd made it my base for the past three years.
They say each race tends to stick to its own territory without mingling much, but in the duchy, you could at least spot other species here and there. Strangely enough, I hadn't seen a single dwarf amid all that—which was pretty intriguing in itself. Anyway, it was a symbol of freedom.
And right now, I was walking through the heart of Bina city, one of the duchy's regions, listening to someone chatter away nonstop.
"Commoner! Thanks to you, I've gathered all the funds! It is so!"
"Ah, yeah."
"I shall gladly praise you for going to the northern snow country in place of this Lucia Vicente Todorica Simeo and bringing back a massive load of timber!"
"Yes, thank you very much."
We'd sent all the wagons loaded with wood to the Simeo family estate and were heading back to our long-term lodging. Horn and Aberly had taken the wagons we'd ridden in and gone ahead to the inn, while I and the twin siblings had just planned to swing by the market for some food. But Lucia, whom I'd figured would grab the wood and leave, kept trailing after us, babbling on.
Her short legs hurried along with quick dodo-do steps to keep up, but she still hid her mouth behind her fan out of habit, her haughty gestures and speech unchanged.
"Truly, taking you as my subordinate was the right choice! This Lucia Vicente Todorica Simeo is the epitome of noblesse oblige, cherishing her subordinates with thrift and care!"
"If it's for the 10 billion dera you owe me, what's there I wouldn't do?"
"Ahh... There's still about 40 years left on that repayment period..."
"..."
"Pl-please just wait a little longer... It is so!"
But she was human in the end, so even she deflated the moment I casually brought up the debt she'd blurted out before. Money was just that essential and vital, even in a class-based society.
"I'm kidding. What 10 billion? You don't even look like you could cough up 100 million right now."
"..."
"...What?"
Of course, it was just a joke, but the reason I kept bringing it up anyway...
"How rude, commoner! To fix that vulgarity of yours, which lacks even basic etiquette, you need the help of this Lucia Vicente Todorica Simeo!"
"Then no need for that—just pay up the 10 billion dera and be on your way."
"B-but... Th-there's no such thing in this world as a commoner threatening a noble... You said we were comrades before, you can't just abandon me... It is so!"
...was to leash this noble lady, who kept twitching like she had rabies because she was so trapped in her own concept.
See? She'd called me her subordinate just moments ago, but now "comrade" was slipping from those lips.
"I'm kidding."
"A-anyway...! I've finally reached the point where I can tell Father I'm ready to form a merchant company."
"Yeah, took long enough."
"Hehe! Now just 40 years until the 10 billion is paid off... Not much time left at all! It is so!"
"...Ah, yeah."
Anyway. As she'd said, she'd been saving money to start a merchant company under her own name. The Simeo family might be nobles, but they weren't wealthy, so the youngest daughter stood to inherit next to nothing. To flash that haughty smile while preaching noblesse oblige, she needed the backing to match.
She had her reasons—or rather, her purpose—for needing to rake in a ton of cash.
But the noble lady's greed for money wasn't personal at all.
"The Lucia Merchant Company, for the common folk! Ahh... What a splendid role... It is so!"
"Ah, yeah."
It was a company filled solely with her desire to fulfill what she saw as a noble's duty.
"From now on, our company will stockpile aid supplies for the commoners and distribute them far and wide! It is so!"
"...Hold on. Then where does the profit come from?"
"Eh... Why chase profits? It is so?"
To me, it looked like a company that'd shutter before two years were up. And if it was just distributing supplies, it wasn't a merchant company—it was some nonprofit aid group.
So. Dear blockhead company head. If that thing on your neck is really a head, please think for once. It is so.
"Forget the greater good—companies go bust without chasing profits. And you said you'd repay that 10 billion dera for your life."
"Hm, of course we'd earn just enough to sustain the company, then use the surplus for aid supplies! And with 40-year terms on the 10 billion dera, it's totally doable..."
"Ah, what the hell are you on about?"
"This Lucia Vicente Todorica Simeo will create a company for the commoners out of a noble's duty! Profit isn't the main goal!"
"..."
I wondered if smacking this noble on the head right here would end my journey on the spot. After entertaining the thought for a moment, I let out a deep sigh and spoke up.
"Listen, noble lady with zero sense of reality."
"Not 'noble lady'—Lucia Vicente Todorica Simeo, miss."
"Whatever. Helping the common folk means employing people, and you gotta account for salaries, regular expenses, and spare capital. If you run without margins and trip buying a single batch of goods, the whole company folds."
"The one who needs to hustle hard is you, Ain! I'll plug those regular expenses! That makes labor free! It is so!"
"..."
Is this woman actually insane?
"Mm, what a perfect plan!"
"Hey, you little sh—... Sigh. I'm a commoner too, you know?"
"Yes, you're a lowly commoner! So you should obey this noble, Lucia Vicente Todorica Simeo! It is so!"
"..."
Hey, you crazy bitch. How's a "for the commoners" company gonna treat commoners like dogs? And I didn't take her on as a comrade to slave away like some lackey.
"Just pay the 10 billion dera and we'll go our separate ways."
"Ah... Don't abandon me... I'll run the company hard..."
Get lost, just. You deranged idealist.
And so. Lucia Vicente... whatever her full name was. Anyway, Lucia Whatsit Simeo's brainless nonprofit aid supply plan got scrapped for now. We agreed to run it like a real merchant company, chasing profits to aid our journey—though we'd still help where help was needed along the way.
"It's a shame... It is so."
"Shut that mouth of yours. It is so."
"Commoner, that's awfully rude! Mimicking a noble's speech is an insult!"
"If you don't really wanna pay that 10 billion dera, shut up and go play with the kids over there, noble lady."
"...This Lucia Vicente Todorica Simeo shall quietly go play with the children. It is so."
With that, I dumped Lucia—who'd been slinking after me like a ghost, grumbling about how unfortunate it was—on the twins.
It was ridiculous that she'd followed us straight to our lodging instead of her estate, but whatever.
"Whoa! Noble lady!"
"Whoa! Pretty big sis!"
"Hehe! Not 'noble lady'—call me Lucia Vicente Todorica Simeo! For I am the beautiful Lady Simeo! It is so!"
""Still noble lady!""
"Ah, no. Not noble lady—Lady Lucia Vicente Todorica Simeo...?"
""But that's too long, noble lady.""
"Listening to commoners is a noble's duty too...? Then I shall be noble lady...! It is so!"
""Whoaaa~""
They seemed to be on the same mental level at a glance, so she was perfect as a plaything for the bored kids.
And before long, Horn and Aberly—who'd been watching the scene from afar—approached me.
"Hmph, what a noisy woman. Like those damn elves, all racket."
"Haha... I was pretty shocked when I first saw her too... N-nobles don't mingle with the likes of us..."
"She's weird, sure. But a good person, all the same."
We stepped one foot into that scene, our lips curling into faint smiles.
Anyway. The steps I'd taken, the preparations I'd envisioned, had finally reached their starting point after three whole years.
A mid-rank adventurer without a scrap of mana. A quack plague doctor who kept failing. War-orphan twins. A deranged idealist noble miss. A fucking racist dwarf blacksmith.
...At a glance, it was a party straight out of a madhouse.
But even so, every one of them was pushing forward with uncommon goals.
Because they were uncommon people.
A gathering of the flawed and deficient.
The incompetent knew their own failings and sought to learn how to advance.
The children broken by the world's storms wanted to know how to shatter those storms.
The doctor, toppled by his many shortcomings, burned his soul's flame to save the dying.
The noble rotted by society wandered within it until she solidified what light she must embrace.
And the dwarf left alone by time stepped forward to achieve what he desired.
Our goals were all uncommon, each filling the others' lacks.
It was a greater cause.
Different greater causes, yet converging on one path.
Seeming to run parallel, but gazing at that distant, hazy goal made it all one story in the end.
I reached out my hand, and they grasped mine.
That's why I hoped.
At the end of this journey without signposts.
That we would reach our goals, embrace our light, and meet our ends.