Shaneport Forest
After that, the soldier who had left to report upon hearing my identity returned and handed over the entry permit.
On top of that, he said a high-ranking official had told him to pass this along as well, and held out another sheet of paper—an entry permit for Shaneport Forest.
I had declared that entering the forest was the whole point of coming into the empire, yet they were even giving me a forest permit on top of it.
The empire sure was thorough with its hospitality, wasn't it?
From their perspective I had done something a little naughty, after all.
Apparently they weren't dwelling on it too hard.
I wanted to ask whether they handed these out to everyone like this, but the coachman was already urging us along, so I had no choice but to climb into the carriage without asking.
And so the carriage raced on and on until we arrived at one of the satellite cities surrounding the empire.
It had taken less than an hour by carriage, but on foot it would have been quite a trek.
Before the coachman left, I really ought to thank the soldier who had managed to reach us just in time.
More importantly, though, it was time to settle the fare.
We had delayed him quite a bit, so the fee was probably going to be steep.
"How much is the total fare?"
I asked while rummaging through a coin pouch in my Inventory.
The coachman pulled out a small notebook and pen, scribbled a few calculations, then nodded.
"The base fare has already been covered by the mayor, so five silver coins will do."
"Oh? That's cheap."
Right.
This carriage had been arranged by the mayor in the first place.
I could thank him a hundred times and it still wouldn't be enough.
Before heading back to the Western Continent, I would have to pay my proper respects.
Since he had waited so patiently for us, I pulled out fifteen silver coins in total and held them out.
Coachmen split their earnings with the carriage station, so they always lit up at unexpected tips.
The rental fee for this carriage was forty silver coins, which meant the coachman's own cut was around twenty.
After expenses, his net profit was only about seventeen, and with the delay from our late entry, it would have been even less.
"Th-this much..."
"We made you wait quite a while, didn't we?"
"Goodness, no! Thank you so much!"
"Then take care on the road."
I always got along well with coachmen.
It was the motto of my travels, so I waved him off with a bright smile until he was out of sight.
"Lumine! Time to head in!"
"Yes~ ♬"
Lumine had climbed down from the carriage and was crouching under a nearby tree, doing something.
If we didn't enter the city soon we would miss the gate hours and end up camping outside, so I called to her, but...
What was this?
Her arms were full of unfamiliar plants.
"What's that?"
"These are herbs used to make mana potions!"
"Potions..."
Come to think of it, this world did have things like that.
I seemed to recall people in the expedition force drinking them a few times.
For reference, in my case I could recover mana infinitely, so mana potions and the like were completely unnecessary.
Stamina recovery cost a fair bit of mana, but I could restore that infinitely with healing magic too, so it was pointless.
Of course, that only applied to me.
For adventurers and explorers, stamina potions and mana potions were apparently the absolute basics.
"These herbs are scarce on the Western Continent, so they're really expensive. If we harvest a huge amount here and take them back, we can make a massive profit!"
"Because of the high temperatures?"
"Probably because there are so many deserts that there aren't many places they can grow naturally. Most of what comes in is either dried or already made into potions..."
I got the picture roughly.
Drying them reduced their effectiveness, so it wasn't worth much, and bringing them in as finished potions made them heavy and bulky, driving the price up.
But?
If I stuffed them into my Inventory, freshness wouldn't be an issue and we could haul an absurd quantity, so the profit would be huge.
I hadn't planned on doing business this way, but Lumine was impressive.
That settled it.
"I'll gather as many as I can, so could you store them in your Inventory and take them with us!?"
"Don't worry. I'll help with our Lumine's money-making scheme."
Lumine had left every last bit of her fortune with the Alliance Lord's family, so she was completely broke.
She was earning some money through adventuring, but her income still wasn't much.
That was why I kept looking after her in various ways.
Spending money on a companion never felt wasteful to me.
But... Lumine seemed to feel terribly guilty about it.
She kept berating herself for freeloading off the benefactor who had even saved her life.
On top of that, being a proper adult with no money of her own must have been a constant source of anxiety.
When I nodded and told her I would do everything I could to support her plan, Lumine looked up at me with an expression that said she might burst into tears at any second.
"Esilly..."
I wiped away the tears that were about to spill and gently stroked her cheek.
Crying here would look strange, after all.
"Come on, no crying here, okay? Crying is only allowed on the bed."
"......Pervert..."
She enjoyed it herself and still called me a pervert.
How rude.
Empire: Ameltz City
A massive city that served as a satellite of the capital and handled distribution for the entire empire.
At the same time, because Shaneport Forest lay right next to it, the place was crawling with all sorts of monsters, making it the fourth-most active city for adventurers in the empire.
The Mana Stones and monster spoils procured here were all high-quality goods that were popular across the world.
And the most popular among them were Griffin spoils.
Demand was high but supply was low, so they always sold for a fortune and were said to be one of Ameltz City's main sources of income.
I had even heard it was basically the emperor's personal pocket-money business...
Well, all we needed was to get the eyes, process them, and head home, so I had no intention of digging too deep.
"Still, the eyes must be pretty expensive..."
"Why? Aren't eyes basically useless and not even considered spoils?"
"Griffin eyes are used as an aphrodisiac."
"An... aphrodisiac..."
"They say if you take one, it's pshhh pshhh pshhh... at least three rounds as the baseline?"
Sticking something unmentionable into a place so warm and soft it would melt around your fingers, then pistoning away for three rounds...
I had been a virgin in my previous life and was a woman in this one, so I could never experience it myself—which was a real shame.
"Ey... eyeballs as an aphrodisiac..."
"Apparently they boil them thoroughly and mix in all sorts of other ingredients."
"H-how do you know that so well, Esilly!!"
"Some old guy who used to sexually harass people back when I was in the knight order told me."
I wondered how that guy was doing these days.
He had said every perverted thing under the sun to me, but he had still been an incredibly reliable and kind old man.
"More importantly, we need to figure out which way Shaneport Forest is."
When it came to finding directions, the guild was always best.
Even a satellite city like this almost always had an adventurers' guild, so it paid to make good use of it.
But Lumine shook her head left and right, then grabbed my hand.
I knew that was what she did when something didn't sit right with her, so I tilted my head as well.
"Esilly. Why don't you rest well for today and start tomorrow? You look a little tired."
"Mm, if Lumine says so, then it must be true."
Just listening to Lumine was already half the battle.
If she said I looked tired, then I was definitely wearing a tired expression with 100% certainty.
I really was exhausted.
I had been so worried about whether we would even be allowed into the empire properly that I had fretted myself half to death.
I had already planned out every contingency in my head in case they simply drove us out or attacked without asking questions.
First, drop a small Inferno on the border...
"Esilly...? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. Then let's rest well today..."
"Yes!! Let's go rest right away!"
Maybe she was happy I had listened to her.
Lumine beamed and pulled me along by the hand.
But we hadn't made any reservations or anything, had we?
We had nowhere to go.
"Then the most expensive-looking hotel in this city... looks like we'll have to visit the guild after all."
No place gave more reliable information than the guild.
This was why people said unplanned travel was dangerous.
At the guild I found information on a decent hotel.
I also looked up details on Shaneport Forest in advance, so tomorrow we would be able to head straight out without stopping by the guild again.
"It's surprisingly close."
Lumine had already memorized the location just from the rough map they had drawn for us.
As long as Lumine was around, we would never need a map or compass no matter where we wandered.
"Yeah. And they said we might be able to get Griffin spoils at the market, so shall we stop by?"
"Let's go!"
You never knew.
Maybe the market would have Griffin eyes for sale.
And from what I had overheard earlier, the aphrodisiac worked just fine for women during sex as well.
It heated the body and made it extremely sensitive.
Maybe I should buy about thirty of them.
"Pervert..."
"You like that kind of thing too, don't you? Beast play?"
"I don't know!"
Oh no, she couldn't just claim ignorance like that.
I would have to sneak some into her drink later.