"Hey, can we hold hands?"
Ann presented her paw to me after she was done packing everything, and had the bags up on her back.
"Sure, something the matter?"
A warm and fluffy feeling enveloped my hand as I held hers.
"You looked pretty sad just now."
"I see... Thanks. You're so kind, Ann."
Right. If I only thought about the fact the ending was closing in, I'd end up squandering what precious time I had left.
The bag on my back was pretty heavy with all the corn and meat stuffed inside; not to mention the headless lizard that hung from it. And so, we headed to the place where the peddlers were.
◇
I found the peddler the mayor told me about right away. It was a cart with a curtain attached to it you wouldn't find anywhere else around the village. The goods were lined up on the ground near the cart's roof rack. It was to be expected, but the variety and amount of products was really different from the rest of villagers. But I guess that's what sold the most around here. New jute bags, iron hoes and axes, plain colored cloths and everyday appliances---nothing too showy all in all.
Seemed like the villagers made their rounds through here today already. The cart was filled with jute bags of various produce and live lizards.
"Nice to meet you. Can you show me the goods?"
Perhaps the peddler had gotten enough customers for the day. He was relaxing and smoking a pipe that let out a sweet mint-like scent, when I called out to him.
"Oooh? I don't recognize you... Are you a new villager, boy?"
His physique was way more rugged and wild than a normal kobold. The male wolf-faced merchant took the pipe out of his mouth and responded. He seemed to be a canine type, but not exactly the very same as a kobold.
---Maybe he really was a wolf, or a human beast, or something?
He had a pretty big scar across his left eye that looked like it was caused by a sharp object---it was quite striking. The rough tone of his voice gave me the impression he was no youngster either.
"Yeah, the name's Aoi. I'm kind of a hermit that lives close to the village. Nice to meet you."
I was a labyrinth manager, but I couldn't recall that set of stairs leading down to a shabby cabin inside of a ravine labyrinth without feeling embarrassed.
I didn't live quite the life of a farmer, so I couldn't come up with anything besides hermit. This wolf man looked sharp though, like nothing amiss would get by his watch. The atmosphere about him was akin to encountering a worthy rival in a game tournament.
"Hmm. Kwaharharhar, what's with that? Well, you wouldn't have been too convincing if you told me you're a villager with that getup anyway. I'm a peddler, Fez's the name. Nice to meet you, Mister Hermit."
I shook hands with Fez and noticed the strength of his muscular arm. The palm of his paw had a pad just like Ann, but his was rather rough, and kinda painful to touch.
"Fez, can I use DL to do business with you?"
"Getting paid with money is really appreciated. Oh, so that's why you came to me?"
"Yeah, every deal with the villagers involves goods, so using currency is a bit hard. But you accept money, right?"
The hoes and sickles were insanely valuable in the village. It was kind of hard to ask them to pay them in cash. Even if we bartered, exchanging large quantities of fragile expensive goods like leafy vegetables or eggs would be difficult. However, once something got into a peddler's cart, it should have a set price tag, so I was expecting there to be no problem with just paying with money upfront. My hunch looked to be true.
"Ann, choose what we need to get by for a while with a budget of around 30000 DL. Don't worry if it goes over that buying iron cookware or things we really need, okay?"
"Yes, leave it to me!"
Ann dropped her bag and headed to look at Fez's lineup, with a serious expression on her face. I was in trusting 'Ann Mode' once again. She seemed really happy that I trusted her, but trusting everything to her made me feel kinda bad, too.
"Digging into the matters of the village is a little odd, to say the least. You're an odd one, man. You seem kind of uninformed if you don't even know if you can pay with money, but you don't seem that odd. I'd believe you if you told me you're a noble that got kicked out his mansion, or something."
It might feel kind of wrong coming from Earth, but in a meritocracy where nobles rose in power depending on their physical strength or wisdom one after the other, family lineage awareness was still something to keep in mind, huh?
"You look pretty sure of your skill as a peddler, Fez. Have your worked as mercenary or something like that?"
The rift I could feel between me and Fez was less like that of a merchant feud and more like... of a gamer standing in front of another player in a match.
"Heh, you've got quite the eye, don't you? I did work as a mercenary for a while, enough for my name to spread a little, at least. I was called Fez, Berkud Frontier's Red Spear..."
"So you run your business alone because you're confident in your strength, huh? Why become a peddler if your name was so famous anyway?"
"Ah. Well, that's a long story."
That looked to be a touchy topic for Fez, but I wondered about where he got that scar on his face.
"You see, I was kind of having some fun with a widow working in the peddler business, and the daughter of a merchant... And both of them got pregnant at the same time..."
Well, that was as valid of a reason to retire from the mercenary work as taking an arrow to the knee was...
"I don't really know what to say, but... do your best."
I couldn't do anything but place my hands on the shoulders of the crestfallen Fez as he told his story with a gloomy tone. This wasn't a battle he could win with his mercenary experience alone. He was probably told to stop pursing that line of dangerous work as soon as he had children.
"Oh yeah, I have some rare items on me, wanna take a look?"
I took out a bluelight moss lamp out of the bag Ann had carried all the way here to shake off the heavy mood.
"What's this blue light you've got there?"
I brought the lamp closer to Fez. Since it got bathed in sunlight from being taken out, it didn't take long for it to return to its normal state.
"It's not that bright, but it's a lamp that lets off a blue light in the dark. It'll work as long as you keep it watered, so it's good for saving oil."
"Now that's something I've never seen before. I haven't seen a lamp that doesn't need oil even in the big cities."
"It's something that needs a really valuable material. I have ten of these. I'll sell them to you for cheap, so how about trying to sell them to the villagers, eh?"
"I don't really mind, but why don't you do it yourse--- Ah, I see. They're expensive, huh?"
"Yeah, I use a glass container for it, so it's kinda difficult to exchange for meat or vegetables. One of these is worth 120000 DL, but since it's an unfamiliar item, I can sell 'em to you for 30000 DL. That'll be 300000 DL for all of them."
"The offer is quite nice, but it's still pretty expensive. The fact it doesn't need oil is pretty good, but a clay oil lamp is still cheaper than this."
I checked the price of lighting equipment in the Tundra catalog beforehand, but it was just like Fez had said. A simple oil lamp made out of pottery and cloth went for as low as 1500 DL on Tundra. And if you used fish or tallow it was kinda smelly, but cheap.
"Right... Then how about I hand them to you so you can try and sell them? I don't mind if you sell them for cheaper, and we can decide on a final price later. How about half and half?"
"Those are some pretty nice conditions. I don't mind them, but are you sure?"
"Yeah. I need a little bit of advice, could you help me with that? See it as a consultation fee."
"That's fine by me, but I won't help you with problems about money or women."
---Hey, why did you look at Ann when you said that?
"No, it's not that! I just ca
me here recently, so I want to fit in with the village quickly."
I couldn't slack on my social relationships with the locals if I wanted to pursue about the expansion of the labyrinth, and employment of manpower for it.
"Well this is a pioneering village, so you have a bit of luck there, but even then it takes time to fit in."
"Being helpful around here is the best way to fit in, right? So, that's why I made this."
I took a potion out of my bag and handed it over to Fez.
"Ohohoho, a potion... No, a magical potion. So you're a hermit that knows about alchemy as well, huh? What does this little guy do?"
"That's a Grade 6 recovery potion."
"Bwah!?"
---Hey, there. Now that's a puff.
A big round, white cloud of smoke came out from the tip of Fez's pipe as the surprise made him blow unexpectedly.
"I... (cough)"
"Are you okay, Fez?"
He choked over that pretty badly, but he was so small I didn't wanna overdo it by patting his back.
"Are you stupid? It's hard to come by these even in big cities. A Grade 6 recovery potion can sell for way higher than any jewel!"
Hmm, so it was that rare, huh? It did sell for 1.5 million DL when I put it in the delivery box; it also sold out as soon as I took a look at the catalog afterwards.
"Figures... I was thinking of selling it to the mayor, but I don't think he could just buy it off me since it's so valuable."
"Well, you've got the right of it... Do you have more stuff?"
"I have Grade 6 vitality potions and Grade 5 stamina potions as well."
"The whole village would get wrung dry if they bought this from you."
"That's why I wanted your advice. I'm not really looking to make a profit, but it would be bad to just give it over for free, wouldn't it?"
"Of course. Oh man, now that's a harder consultation than I thought."
Fez was so confused he couldn't help but scratch his head.
"It would be better to talk it out with the mayor. Everyone's gonna close up shop by noon, can you wait till then?"
"Yeah, I sure can," I told him. "Hey, Ann, are you ready?"
"Yes, I managed to spend around 20000 DL or so."
She chose some porcelain cutlery, jute and wool cloths, a cord to hang laundry, and a frying pan. She also got daily goods, like some eggs, leafy veggies, and pickled vegetables to cook. Pretty practical choices overall.
"Hey, Fez. You wouldn't happen to have cute accessories for girls around here, would you?"
"I don't have much in the way of variety, but how about this?"
Fez took out a beautiful silver ring passed through a leather strap.
"A necklace? Is this silver?"
"Yeah, a real silver ring. Finger rings get in the way of work in a village like this, y'see, so there's a lot of folks that put a strap to it and hang it on their necks. Just put it around the girl's neck if you chose her. Since we're doing business now, how about we leave it at 40000 DL?"
"Not a bad deal. I'll take it."
I took my wallet out of the bag and handed over four 10000 DL coins.
"You don't have any small coins? You're pretty stacked for real, huh?"
Fez put all the things Ann chose inside the bag. We ended up making it even heavier. Well, Ann had gotten strangely strong as of late, so there probably wouldn't be any trouble.
"This is for you, Ann. You're always doing your best, so here's a little something."
I handed the silver ring necklace to Ann.
"Oh... Umm. Thank you!"
She seemed a little confused at first, but it didn't take long for a radiant smile to take over her face.
---Ann's really a girl, huh? I suppose accessories would make any girl happy, though.
"So I put on like this... How does it look?"
She put it around her neck right away.
"It really suits you. You look like a princess."
"Ehehe~"
I think I exaggerated a little, but she seemed happy, so whatever.
"Hah!"
Fez was a married man, and a peddler at that. How about complimenting clients a little more?
Around noon, I visited Mayor Hopper's house along with Fez after he was done wrapping up his stall.
"I see... A magic potion would be a great help, but it is pricey, indeed..."
The Mayor's face lightened up when he heard vitality potions could heal wounded people and recovery potions could cure most diseases, but as expected...
"If you were to sell this in a town..."
And his mood deflated as soon as he heard the price.
"But missing this chance is indeed a shame."
What Fez proposed was to make a potion deposit in the mayor's place for use in an emergency. I'd have to come around every six months or every year to refill the potions, check that they haven't deteriorated, or replace them outright if they couldn't be used anymore. As payment, the village would have to keep giving me a periodic supply of crops and meat even if I didn't need it. It was very close to the way medicine was sold in Japan a long time ago. I was surprised Fez could come up with something like that, but it seemed this kind of arrangement was quite common when a doctor settled in a remote village where medicinal plants could be gathered to cover their life expenses.
"Hey, Fez, I really have a lot of vitality potions, so how about showing the effect?"
The remuneration was specifically to deliver food to me every three days. At present, they'd just be giving enough for Ann and me, but the deal included them giving us enough food for up to eight people if our numbers increased. With the current state of the village, feeding only two of us was still quite a hit.
I proposed trying the potion out when I noticed the mayor was doubtful of the proposal. While the fact the number of people could increase was written in the contract, it still seemed kinda bad that he was thinking so hard about it.
"So we need someone that's injured, huh...? Little Gen injured his forearm a while ago."
When we asked whether there was a person like that in the village right now, he guided us to a young man from the giant race living in a corner of the village.
I thought 'Little Gen' was a cute nickname for a giant of about 3 meters, but it looked like he was still a little rascal in the mayor's eyes. Interspecies social relationships in another world were difficult.
"Is it just an arm injury or a broken bone?"
"I was looking for plants and rock fell. My left arm is swollen and hard to move."
The young giant spoke with the same accent as the mayor's, and had a very particular speech pattern as he said his arm was swollen. It was obvious that the wound itself was deep, so assuming it was a bone fracture was pretty reasonable. Yet the only thing he complained about was that he couldn't move it anymore? Was this the power of a giant's genetics?
"Is there a cloth around? I'll pour half of the bottle on the wound. It might sting a little, but do your best to endure it. You'll have to drink the other half of it as well."
As soon as he applied half of it to the wound, and drank the rest, the wound started to heal. The caved in flesh started to fill out, and a minute later there wasn't not even a hint of a scar.
"This is amazing... So this is how the Grade 6 ones work!"
Both the mayor and Fez were visibly impressed, but my impression after seeing the actual healing up close was that it was kinda grotesque, honestly.
I knew it was something common in fantasy settings, but actually watching it was way too raw. Maybe it was because games fooled you with sparkly effects...
"I can't believe it. You could ask for food delivery every single day with this kind of thing."
Seemingly impressed by the potion's effect, the mayor accepted the contract immediately. Now there would always be a vitality, stamina, and recovery potion in his custody.
"Say, I'm kind of short on cash right now, but I'll bring the real deal next time. Would you mind selling me some
of those then?" asked Fez.
"I can't hand over that much, but I guess five of each would be okay."
I also decided to sell them to Fez to thank him for mediating the contract. My favorite item was the lamp, though...
I said goodbye to Fez in the mayor's house and headed off to take cooking lessons at Jenny's place. I took the ingredients I got from exchanging this morning with me. I was really pleased we got more to eat than we could even ask for. Jenny taught me all about them, and different ways to cook them as well.
In other news, even though I disliked the idea of salt-seasoned lizard, it turned out to be quite tasty. It tasted like bird thigh, although it had a certain elasticity to it. The tasty smell of the lizard cooking up in its own juices made me eat two of them in the end. It seemed Ann was also starved for meat, because she completely forgot her table manners and was eating with her hands alongside me.
◇
"Well then, now this is a problem... It doesn't taste like anything, but this is how it really is?"
"Yeah, it was always like this when I ate it back at the village."
A problem arose when we tried out the ingredients we got from exchanging with the villagers in the market. Since the lizard meat turned out to be so tasty, I was expecting something along the same lines out of the crops and corn, but that didn't seem to be the case. I tried having a taste of the ingredients with a simple method of boiling the cabbage-like leafy crop and the demi corn I'd gotten from the ogre with water, but they weren't tasty at all. It honestly surprised me.
Strongest Gamer; Let's Play in Another World Volume 1 Page 14