Chapter 237

Thud

Thud

The hollow echo unique to the cave quietly reflected the sound of people’s footsteps.

The clattering of leather shoes was soon drowned out by the metallic clashing of iron greaves, and the cave became filled with the quiet sound of metal boots colliding with the floor made of an unknown turquoise mineral.

After walking for a while, the first to speak was Daria, the Holy Kingdom’s special saint.

“So… are you sure this is the right path?”

“Yes, yes… probably.”

“Probably? When I came here last time, there was nothing special about this place.”

“Last time…? The deeper parts of these ruins have been off-limits since Seiri and I first discovered them…”

“…Is that important?”

“Ah, no. It’s not important!”

Seiri stammered, flustered by Daria’s words.

Daria’s tone wasn’t particularly accusatory or hostile, but Seiri still felt intimidated in front of her.

‘Ugh… this is uncomfortable.’

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, it’s nothing!”

It was only natural, as she had just learned that a story once dismissed as an urban legend was actually true.

That urban legend…

‘Among archaeology enthusiasts, there was a rumor that if you investigated archaeology too diligently, people from the Holy Kingdom would come and make you disappear without a trace. Back then, I thought it was just a ridiculous, crude ghost story… Who would have thought it was real…?’

Seiri secretly made a pained expression and began guiding the way again.

“Don’t push her so hard. Aren’t you scaring her?”

“W-when did I ever scare her? I’m really being wronged!”

Seeing Seiri’s attitude, Kurt quietly scolded Daria, who in turn made a face as if she was being unfairly treated.

“R-right. Kurt, don’t be too hard on Daria.”

“Arisa…!”

“Hmph! But it’s true that you pressured Seiri when she first came, right?”

“That’s right. Is it a habit for people from the Holy Kingdom to threaten newcomers?”

“T-that’s…!”

Arisa, Yuri, and even Liche joined the conversation.

“Wow! This is the Ruins of the Ancient Empire!”

“It’s truly a mysterious place…”

“Did you really enjoy this place all by yourself until now, Kurt?”

Finally, Mari, Karina, and Serena each added their own comments, and the once quiet cave was instantly filled with various noises.

‘Ugh… how did it come to this?’

As the cacophony of noises began to mix, Seiri secretly held her head while walking through the chaotic Ruins of the Ancient Empire.

.

.

.

A few days after I finished helping the Coconut Company.

That day, Mina was supposed to pay the reward, and the members of my party and Arisa’s party gathered together for a meal.

“W-what? You can’t give me the VIP pass to the Silverheart Company’s auction?”

“Yes. It seems the commotion caused by the Coconut Company a while ago has reached the higher-ups, so it’s difficult to exert any influence within the company for the time being.”

Mina said this, adding that the VIP pass wasn’t the issue, but that it would be difficult for her to go out for a while, looking troubled.

It seemed the problem was that the cause of the commotion in the middle of the market, where guards and citizens got into a brawl, was because of me, who had just joined as a trainee that day.

No. It’s not our fault.

Mina didn’t do anything wrong, isn’t this too much?

“T-then what about my reward…?”

“Ah. Don’t worry about that. I can’t give you the VIP pass, but instead, I’ll give you the allowance I’ve been saving since I was a child. This is the allowance I’ve been saving since I was six!”

The money Mina took out was indeed a large amount, far exceeding the reward for the odd jobs I had done over the past few days.

It was enough to cover several times the amount I spent cooking Coconut Shrimp on the last day of the request.

“That’s great, Kurt! The VIP pass to the Silverheart Company’s auction is pretty useless for an ordinary adventurer anyway!”

“Actually, I consulted with Yuri, and she said that the VIP pass to the Silverheart Company’s auction isn’t very appealing to adventurers. So, instead of giving you the VIP pass, giving you cash would be several times more useful!”

“No… I…”

But honestly, I didn’t feel good about receiving the changed reward.

It was undoubtedly a huge sum, far beyond what I deserved for a few days of slightly annoying odd jobs, but my goal from the start was to get the VIP pass to the Silverheart Company’s auction.

“Wow! Kurt! Congratulations. Helping others with good intentions really brings good fortune!”

“Congratulations!”

“That’s great, Kurt!”

“Congratulations.”

“Congrats, Kurt!”

“….”

But the guild’s atmosphere, including Wendy, the receptionist in charge of the request, as well as Yuri, Mari, Karina, and Serena, his party members, was one of envy and congratulations for my changed reward.

“…Thanks, everyone.”

In the end, I had no choice but to respond like that.

Sniff. My VIP pass to the Silverheart Company’s auction.

Grumble.

But fortunately, my attempt to open up a route to purchase a wider variety of goods wasn’t completely in vain.

“Ah. And as a substitute, there’s a message from Tirmel.”

“From Tirmel?”

“Yes. He said that from now on, you can purchase any item from the Coconut Company at a discounted price.”

It was Tirmel’s way of thanking me for helping him.

A promise to provide Coconut Company’s goods at a cheaper price.

But what really caught my attention wasn’t the discount, but the information that followed.

“‘All’ items…?”

“Yes. Tirmel said he would open the warehouse to you, allowing you to purchase any item from the Coconut Company!”

Although I didn’t get the VIP pass to the Silverheart Company’s auction, I now had the right to purchase any item from the Coconut Company first.

In other words, it was like getting VIP privileges at the Coconut Company.

The Coconut Company was a relatively new company in Astram, so the variety of goods available was less than at the Silverheart Company, but among the items handled by the Coconut Company were unique specialties from the western continent that couldn’t be found anywhere else in Astram.

For example, tropical fruits like coconuts were only available at the Coconut Company.

“Well, when you think about it, the Coconut Company offers valuable items like fruits that you can’t even get at the Silverheart Company’s VIP auction, so it’s not a bad outcome.”

“Ah. Come to think of it, the coconut in the Coconut Shrimp is originally a fruit, right?”

“Yeah. The batter uses dried and thinly sliced fruit, but originally, it’s quite a tasty fruit. Thinking about it, the Coconut Company sells various other fruits from the western continent.”

If the lack of certain ingredients has been a complaint, maybe it wouldn’t be bad to go on an expedition to another region.

I’ve been so accustomed to settling in Astram that I hadn’t thought of it.

If I go on an expedition to another region, maybe I could even visit another country, like when I went to Mari’s hometown.

As I was thinking this, I suddenly heard someone swallowing next to me.

Gulp.

“…Daria?”

“Y-yes!?”

It was Daria.

“Why? Are you interested in fruits?”

“N-no, not particularly…!”

Daria outwardly denied it, but she avoided my gaze and occasionally glanced around, clearly reacting to the keyword “fruit.”

Thinking about it, each member of my party has different favorite foods.

Mari likes fried food, Karina likes boiled food, and Serena likes grilled food.

Arisa likes dairy products, and Yuri surprisingly likes strongly flavored dishes.

In that sense, does Daria like fruits?

And Aila, despite her stoic appearance, likes sweet foods like a child.

“B-by the way, what about other fruits…?”

“Well, looking at the items the company sells, there are fruits like mangoes and pineapples. They’re quite sweet and tangy.”

Gulp.

“I-I see.”

Daria, imagining the taste of those fruits, had a rare relaxed expression and seemed lost in thought.

Ah. Speaking of fruits, there was something I was curious about.

“By the way, how does the Coconut Company transport those fruits so fresh?”

“Ah. I know that. They use monsters, grafting the fruits onto plant-type monsters for transport.”

Karina answered.

“Plant-type monsters?”

“Yes. In my hometown, there are monsters that parasitize plant-type monsters to reproduce, so it’s not particularly special.”

Ah.

Come to think of it, Karina’s hometown is in the cold northern region, but tomatoes are a specialty there.

Tomatoes are crops that mainly grow in the temperate central region.

So, it’s generally impossible for them to grow in the northern region, but the tomatoes there have become monsters, forming a kind of colony to survive.

That’s why the barbarians in the northern region have a seasonal festival-like war with the tomato monsters that invade human villages every winter.

No. What kind of tomato festival is that?

When I first heard that tomatoes were a specialty in the northern region of this world, I was so dumbfounded.

“Especially in the western continent, unlike the eastern continent, the culture of taming monsters is highly developed. I heard they used trolls to tame treants to transport the fruits.”

“From what I’ve heard, the human species in the western continent generally have a lower aptitude for magic but are physically stronger than the average human species, so they compensate for the lack of magic by taming monsters.”

Serena added to Karina’s explanation.

Even though I’ve been reborn in this world for quite some time, there’s still so much I don’t know.

As I was chatting with the others about fruits, something suddenly came to mind.

Come to think of it, when I first met Serena, we caught an Awakening Species of the Fruit Tree Antlered Reindeer and buried the fruit it left behind behind the Adventurer Guild. I wonder how it’s doing now.

Maybe I should check on it later.

As we were chatting and having a peaceful meal as usual.

“Ah! Arisa! Kurt! I was looking for you!”

“…Huh?”

As soon as we entered the Adventurer Guild, we heard a woman’s voice calling for me and Arisa.

It was Seiri, the beastkin alchemist who hadn’t been seen for the past few days.