Inn Level 4

I was briefly startled to hear that one of the slaves Grace had purchased was a dragon out enjoying herself in human form — but only briefly.

Well, it happens.

The world is a big place. There was bound to be a dragon whose idea of a good time ran in that direction.

Having reasoned as much, I accepted it without further fuss. Or perhaps I simply gave up trying to make sense of it.

At this rate, aren't all twelve Jewel Dragons going to end up living at this inn?

Given how things had been going, it didn't seem far-fetched at all.

"So — what's your name?"

Finished with my private musings, I put the question to the silver-haired woman in human form.

"I never expected anyone to recognize me as a dragon just by looking… And this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pressure… You're not a Dragon Slayer, but do you have some kind of dragon-related title?"

Instead of answering, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dragon in question muttered to herself, studying me as if I were a specimen under glass.

Had Grace not explained anything about me?

"Unlike Rain and me, Diamond isn't bound by a Dragon's Contract," Grace said. "I deliberately left the details out for security reasons."

"I was wondering why Garnet was working under a human… so you're bound by a Dragon's Contract? I have no idea what could have led to that."

Diamond murmured in open astonishment, then finally introduced herself.

"Since you already know I'm a dragon, there's no point hiding it. I'm Diamond — commonly known as the Vajra Dragon. While I'm out playing around, the world knows me as Silver Rowen. Just call me Silver."

"Silver…"

An alias, plain as day. Chosen for the silver hair, no doubt. And Rowen was the sort of surname you could find in just about any country.

"Ah! We should—"

Once Silver had finished introducing herself, the two people standing behind her — who had been staring blankly into empty air — snapped back to attention and hurried to introduce themselves as well.

"I'm Eliona! Before coming here, I was trained in household management — cleaning, laundry, that sort of thing!"

"I'm Riaen…. I'm good with numbers…. If you need someone to keep the books, I can handle that…. Though I still don't know the local language very well…."

Hmm. The two of them looked like sisters. Their personalities, though, seemed quite different.

"Master. Here are the contracts for the three of them. Please take a look."

As if only just remembering, Grace handed me the slave contracts. Magic must have been woven into them — the moment they touched my hand, they unfurled neatly on their own.

Hmm…

For slave contracts, they were rather unusual.

Having read the contract through, I turned to Grace.

"The clause about not inflicting harm — what's the standard for that?"

"Generally, it covers physical injury, or any contact made with the intent to cause it."

Sexual exploitation would almost certainly fall under "harm" as well. Not that I had any such intentions…

"Now I see why you said you still had money left even after buying three people."

Plenty of buyers had probably purchased the three of them before. All three were beautiful, after all. But those previous owners had almost certainly violated the contract — figuring that slaves were slaves, and they could get away with whatever they wanted. Of course, with Silver being a dragon, those attempts had ended in failure, and the three of them had been returned.

Returned slaves are assumed to have problems, so their value drops.

Having pieced the situation together, I put a question to the three of them.

"Cleaner, pub bartender, or room attendant. Which of the three do you want?"

"…Huh?"

"Pardon?"

"Pardon?"

All three tilted their heads, clearly not following. My explanation had been far too thin. Come to think of it, Grace had said she'd deliberately left things unexplained for security reasons. It seemed she hadn't mentioned my abilities either — only the Dragon's Contract.

"First, let's get you registered as employees… All three of you, come over here."

I registered them as staff and brought up the interface for the Inn Management skill. The three of them looked mildly startled.

"This… isn't like a normal status window, is it?"

"What… is this…?"

"Hmm… Aha? So you're a transmigrator."

Eliona and Riaen stared at the interface in confusion, but Silver — being a dragon — immediately recognized it as a transmigrator's power and looked delighted.

Come to think of it, I hadn't even mentioned that I was a transmigrator, let alone explained my abilities. Well, that could wait.

"Right now Grace is assigned to the kitchen, so she gained an ability that occasionally improves the quality of the dishes she cooks. Rain is assigned as a guard, so she can sense anyone approaching the building right away."

"Aha — so when you're assigned as an employee, you gain an ability suited to that position?"

"Sometimes you get the ability the moment you're assigned. Other times, you gain it by raising your employee level through work."

Riaen, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

"Um… what's this sparkly thing…? A quest…?"

"Hm?"

At her words, I checked the quest.

Ah, right. Hiring these three as employees meant I could clear this quest now.

Without delay, I completed it — and the next one in the chain.

Confirming there were no more quests I could complete, I closed the quest window and verified that the inn's upgrade conditions had been met.

"Oh — so that means level four now?"

"Aha…? Like that?"

"At level four, the blacksmith and commissions unlock, right?"

I nodded at the dragons' remarks and announced that I would raise the inn's level.

"The inn's going to shake pretty hard, but don't be scared. It won't hurt us."

After reassuring Eliona and Riaen, I upgraded the inn. Just as I'd warned, the whole building shuddered violently.

"W… whoa…?"

"Mm…"

Quite violently, in fact. Even Grace, Rain, and I — who had known it was coming — staggered for a moment. The reason…

The basement?

Apparently the construction had extended underground as well, because the floor itself was shaking. Was the blacksmith going to appear below?

"…Is it over?"

Once the tremors stopped, Eliona asked. Looking around, I could feel how much the inn had changed. This was…

"You should apply the skin, Master."

"Yeah, I'd better."

It no longer felt like a medieval inn so much as a modern one, so I dialed the exterior back to its previous appearance. After that, I upgraded the kitchen and the pub to level four as well. The guest rooms still lacked the ratings needed for an upgrade… which left one thing.

"A blacksmith… I have no idea how that's going to work. Do inns in this world ever sell weapons or armor?"

I asked as I began constructing the forge. Grace answered with a somewhat ambiguous look.

"Inns on major thoroughfares certainly don't. But inns like this one — far from any town — or inns in small villages that double as general stores? You can find those if you look."

The same went for blacksmiths.

"When there's no forge nearby, an inn will sometimes sell goods in its place. Of course, in those cases the inn usually isn't making anything itself — just buying from a smithy in another village and reselling."

"Hmm."

So selling weapons at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an inn wasn't unheard of.

"A blacksmith doesn't only sell weapons, you know. Farm tools, metal household goods — all sorts of things."

"Is anyone going ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to buy farm tools or household goods out here?"

In the middle of the Dragon Canyon?

"…Probably not."

Grace accepted that point quickly enough. Meanwhile, as we talked, the blacksmith was completed. The condition for upgrading it to level two was simply to craft a certain number of items at the forge — meaning it didn't matter whether customers showed up or not.

"By the way…"

I looked at Silver, who had been staring at me with glittering eyes ever since the blacksmith came up.

"…What?"

"I've decided! Put me in the blacksmith! No — please put me in the blacksmith!"

Silver, who had been speaking casually until a moment ago, suddenly switched to formal speech. While I was still processing the shift, Grace, Eliona, and Riaen took turns explaining why she was acting this way.

"Diamond has always loved making swords," Grace said. "She just has no talent for it, so she switched her hobby to collecting them instead. That's also why she plays around in human form as a knight — famous knights tend to get their hands on good blades more often."

"When we were at the royal palace, if you visited her room you could see swords covering every wall," Eliona added.

"She said she put them all in something called subspace for now…," Riaen finished softly.

Ah. So that was why she was so desperate to be assigned to the blacksmith.

I didn't particularly mind, so I assigned her there.

And then…

"Wait — the royal palace?"

I realized Eliona had just let slip something rather significant.

"Ah…"

"Sister…"

Judging by their faces, it had been a slip of the tongue.

"Explain. 'When we were at the royal palace'… Don't tell me you two are royalty?"

Under my questioning, Eliona and Riaen shot furtive glances at Silver — or rather, silent pleas for help. But Silver was completely absorbed in the blacksmith and offered them no assistance whatsoever.

"You're not going to have pursuers trying to drag you back to some kingdom, are you? Or planning to return someday?"

"Th-that's not it at all!"

"We… can't go back…"

Hearing the two of them, I looked at Grace. Come to think of it, it seemed unlikely she wouldn't have known they were royalty. She would have confirmed that much during the purchase.

"As you suspect, these two are indeed of royal blood. But the things you're worried about won't happen, Master. According to Diamond, they come from a kingdom quite far from here."

"Well, in that case…"