Day broke.
Guided by the merchants, Solacius headed to the building housing the Kalt Merchant Company.
‘Were they planning a surprise?’
When Sola arrived at the Kalt Merchant Company, he gave a short laugh.
It was a gentle smile—one that could seem faint, but was still filled with satisfaction.
“Sir Roan Shalut, allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Kalt, the head of the Kalt Merchant Company.”
A man dressed in splendid silk clothing greeted Sola.
Kalt, the head of the merchant company. He had a familiar face. His arm was no longer wrapped in a bandage.
Only a deep scar, dark as a tattoo, remained on it.
“Does the head of a merchant company travel personally to conduct business?”
“I apologize for revealing my identity only now, Sir Roan. In times like these, I must act personally and in secret.”
“So the mercenaries fleeing together was not a coincidence.”
“That is correct. It was a mercenary company hired by a competing merchant company. Some of the bandit attacks were likely their work as well.”
Kalt answered through gritted teeth. He was likely devising revenge and retribution in his mind.
“If not for you, Sir, I would have lost my life. Even if I had survived, I would have lost my property, my reputation, and one arm.”
Kalt touched the deep scar on his arm and thanked him once more.
Beside Head Merchant Kalt, Dominic—who until then had been known as the merchants’ representative—stood quietly like a secretary.
‘It feels as though the true divergence begins in Oski.’
Sola sensed it. Many things had changed, from entering Oski more easily than expected to the survival of Head Merchant Kalt, who would likely have died in the original game.
“Sir Knight, you are the savior of both Kalt and our Kalt Merchant Company.”
The eyes of Kalt and the merchants watching the blond wandering knight shone.
“And we are merchants. Just as knights swear loyalty to their lieges, and mages and witches pursue truth, merchants are a profession that swears always to pay the proper price.”
With those words, Kalt turned his eyes toward the company employees.
THUD!
The employees then carried over a massive chest with great effort, set it before Sola, and threw it open.
“This includes the amount owed to those bastard mercenaries who fled, along with the value of your achievements, Sir. We have added the value of the loot as well.”
The chest, larger than a person’s torso, was filled with gold and silver coins. By proportion, silver coins made up eighty percent, and gold coins made up twenty percent. There was not a single copper coin.
“With this money, you could buy two decent mansions in the royal capital and still have plenty left over.”
Sola nodded with satisfaction at the mountain of money. Because he had vaguely understood the value of gold and silver coins in this other world through the game, he could be even more satisfied.
‘At least I will not lack operating funds. The problem is an inventory for storing it all.’
The problem was how to keep it.
“This is not the end, Sir.”
But that worry vanished when Kalt placed a magical artifact on the table.
“And this is the price of my life, as well as the price of the treatment method you taught us.”
Kalt handed the magical artifact on the table to Sola with a meaningful smile.
It was a golden bracelet inscribed with an intricate magic circle. At its center was set a red gemstone the size of two thumbnails.
“A dimensional inventory?”
“That is correct. For your information, it also functions as an identity plaque.”
It was a top-tier magical artifact that an ordinary person might never see in an entire lifetime. But Solacius recognized it at a glance.
‘So this is how things change. It was an item obtained only around the middle of the game.’
A dimensional inventory. And a high-grade one, at that. It should hold a dimensional space about the size of an ordinary wagon.
“This is the most valuable magical artifact possessed by our Kalt Merchant Company. It was merchandise that even I, the head merchant, considered too precious to use.”
“I am very satisfied. I will use it well.”
The reward seemed excessive, but Sola accepted it readily.
He put the dimensional inventory on his wrist.
Click, click!
The moment he held it to his wrist, it adjusted to his size as though recognizing its wearer.
Sola then gripped the nearby coin chest with the hand wearing the bracelet.
And he thought of placing the chest inside the dimensional space.
Hummm.
A magic circle appeared like a hologram from the bracelet’s red gemstone, swallowing the chest into the dimensional space.
This was what made medieval fantasy interesting. The lower classes lived exactly as they would in the Middle Ages, while nobles, witches, and mages enjoyed magical artifacts that were, in some ways, better than modern technology.
“By the way, what do you mean by the price for the treatment method?”
Having received his satisfying reward, Solacius asked Kalt.
“Yes, Sir. We would be grateful if you would permit us to use the treatment method you shared to heal my arm.”
“You intend to make and sell it as a kit?”
“Precisely.”
“Do as you wish.”
“Thank you! We will name this kit the Roan Kit after you, Sir, and praise your name for generations.”
Sola looked at the dimensional bracelet on his left wrist and nodded.
‘The reward seemed excessive, but this is how they are thinking it through.’
It was an age filled with blood and iron. If they sold it properly, they would recover the cost of this magical artifact in less than a year and still have plenty left over.
‘Besides, I did not create it in the first place.’
He did not feel it was a waste or a loss. This was a world without the concept of copyright, so claims to royalties would hardly be honored anyway. More than anything, he had no intention of living in this other world forever.
‘It seems they intend to advertise it as a treatment kit used by the imperial family.’
They seemed to have misunderstood it that way after hearing him speak briefly before. Well, it did not matter.
After that, the merchants’ repayment continued.
He received a sword and dagger enchanted with a Dwarven whetstone spell. He also received spare underclothes, clothing, and shoes made from the finest fabric.
He received leather armor said to have good ventilation as well, but since it had not been magically enhanced, he likely would not wear it.
He was also given all kinds of travel necessities, all of them high-quality.
‘It feels as though I am receiving tribute.’
He suddenly remembered the various sponsorship gifts he had received from fans and companies when he was a Hunter on Earth.
He placed all the gifts into the dimensional inventory.
After finishing that mutually satisfying time of repayment.
Sola put on the silk clothing gifted by Head Merchant Kalt. Then he set out to meet the Mayor of Oski.
***
Oski, a city in southeastern Luhan, was located within the Moonlight Margravate.
But Oski was not a city ruled by MarquessMoonlight.
The city of Oski itself was a royal demesne, and an official dispatched from Wintella, the royal capital, served as Mayor and governed the city.
For that reason, the Mayor of Oski had no choice but to be sensitive to the atmosphere in the royal capital. Especially to messages from the Palace of Pure White, where the Queen resided.
― If a wandering knight named Roan Shalut arrives, receive him.
― Never show hostility toward him.
― Cooperate with and spare no support for everything he requests.
― All these matters must be carried out secretly and must never be disclosed.
A secret order directly issued by the Palace of Pure White—by Her Majesty the Queen herself.
Queen Lucifurne was a saint-like figure beloved by both commoners and nobles.
To an official like him, she was more than a Saintess. She was like a god.
“Sir Roan, what is your relationship with Her Majesty the Queen?”
It was no wonder that, upon seeing Roan Shalut, the exiled imperial royal, he asked this rather than offering a first greeting.
“None in particular?”
Solacius tilted his head at the Mayor’s question.
“Is that so? Strange…….”
“What do you mean?”
“No. It seems I was mistaken. It appears that your feats have already spread all the way to the Palace of Pure White in Wintella.”
“Are you saying the Queen knows about me?”
‘Did things become this big just because I killed a lot of bandits?’
Sola tilted his head.
“I-It is only speculation, so please do not misunderstand. In any case, coming to Luhan as an exile means you intend to seek an audience with Her Majesty the Queen, correct?”
“That is correct.”
Remembering the Queen from the game, Sola nodded with a stiff expression.
“When you receive an audience with Her Majesty, please speak well of me. I will spare no support for anything you desire, Sir.”
“……I will.”
A request had been unexpectedly pressed upon him. Sola nodded with an awkward expression.
Once he left this city, he felt that he would naturally forget the Mayor’s face.
After the strange first greeting with the Mayor, a banquet hosted by the Mayor of Oski was held. Its name was, “A Banquet Celebrating the Safe Return of the Kalt Merchant Company and the Achievements of Sir Roan Shalut, Who Subjugated the Bandit Groups.”
It might seem strange to wonder since when Oski had taken care of a small-to-medium merchant company, but it was the Mayor’s desperate trick for carrying out the Queen’s command to help Roan Shalut.
‘Even for a Mayor, a banquet of this scale must be burdensome.’
Holding the cold crystal glass in his hand, Sola looked at the foods set upon the table.
Meats from land, sea, and sky were prepared in abundance—steamed, grilled, and simmered into stews. They had also generously used spices such as pepper, which was precious in Luhan.
‘There is even fried food.’
There was even fried food he had not expected to see in this other world. Food like fried meat, dipped in batter containing breadcrumbs and cooked in boiling oil.
‘The taste…… is not as good as chicken.’
Still, he enjoyed the crisp texture, which he had not tasted in a long time.
‘Why, though? Was Head Merchant Kalt more influential than I thought? Did I kill that many bandit groups?’
He also had doubts. Even nobles did not eat this extravagantly every day. Although he had not been in Luhan long, he had played Luhan’s Royal Consort for several weeks and seen its bad ending. In addition, he had Solacius’s memories.
“Allow me to pour you more.”
A servant assisting with the banquet approached and poured a drink into Sola’s empty crystal glass. It carried a rich apple scent. Since drinking alcohol would make his body heat up and feel hotter, he had chosen apple cider instead.
POURRR.
As the drink entered the crystal glass, a magic circle faintly glowed at the bottom. Then it chilled the apple cider inside the glass.
It was a magical artifact.
Not only the crystal glass, but several pieces of tableware on the table faintly glowed with magic circles. They were magical artifacts that maintained the food in the condition it had been in immediately after cooking.
‘The cost of the mana stones must be higher than the cost of the food.’
No matter how he thought about it, this banquet was strange. But strange was strange, and food was food.
Sola decided to enjoy the unprecedentedly luxurious food and cool drink for now.
Meanwhile, not far from Sola’s seat, the Mayor of Oski and Head Merchant Kalt were having a serious conversation, leaving the banquet behind.
“There was an order from the royal capital to prepare a Second Subjugation Force to defeat the necromancer.”
“Did the First Subjugation Force fail?”
“It did.”
“What a shame…… The Imperial Army outside, and a necromancer within. It truly is a chaotic age.”
“Perhaps the necromancer’s rampage was caused by the Empire as well.”
“Have those bastards found a way to commit slaughter within the Blessing of the Snowfield?”
Kalt’s eyes filled with concern.
The place where the necromancer had gone on a rampage was between the inner and outer regions of the margravate.
Even if it was a boundary where the Blessing of the Snowfield weakened, it was unsettling that such large-scale slaughter had occurred without any sign of a response.
“Looking at the current necromancer, it could be so. We can only hope there is no connection to the Empire.”
Even as the Mayor spoke seriously with Kalt, he occasionally turned his gaze. He watched the wandering knight enjoying the banquet.
‘He does not drink alcohol. Does he like fried food? There is more to add to the report.’
He had to prepare and submit a report about the knight to the Queen. A knight in whom Her Majesty, who usually lived an almost reclusive life, had taken an interest. A direct report to Her Majesty—an opportunity that came only a few times in a lifetime.
Nothing was unimportant. In a way, his life depended on it.
‘Secretly! I must help him secretly!’
In his heart, he wanted to approach the knight and strike up all kinds of conversations. But Her Majesty had told him to help secretly.
‘Earlier, I was too careless.’
The Mayor was belatedly regretting how he had immediately asked about the knight’s relationship with Her Majesty.
‘Even the name of this banquet is somewhat troubling. But I cannot ignore Sir Roan’s achievement in subjugating the bandit groups……. Yes, it would not have been obvious.’
There were a few things that bothered him, but he came up with a reasonable excuse and consoled himself.
‘How should I help him so that I can show I helped him well?’
The Mayor continued to worry even as he conversed with Kalt.
‘Should I send him a woman to attend him at night?’
He even considered mentioning it to a brothel he visited from time to time.
‘No. He is a man in whom Her Majesty has taken an interest. I must not overdo things. That is why I did not invite my daughter or the daughters of the city’s nobles to the banquet.’
He soon discarded the thought. Unless Roan asked for it directly, he decided not to act rashly.
‘The Mayor’s full attention is on Sir Roan.’
Kalt’s eyes also shone as he watched the Mayor. He was, after all, the head of a merchant company. He could not fail to notice the Mayor’s eyes openly shifting back and forth in front of him.
‘Sir Roan must be a far bigger figure than I thought.’
His skill, character, and status—none of them were ordinary.
‘The Mayor clearly mentioned Her Majesty the Queen before Sir Roan.’
It was unexpected that the Queen also took such a particular interest in him.
‘It is not interest born of wariness or hostility. It is close to goodwill. What could it be?’
Imperial royals were not welcome in Luhan. Even less so by the Queen.
‘There is no need to overthink it. The conclusion is simple. Sir Roan is truly an extraordinary person, and our Kalt Merchant Company owes him a debt of life. We need only do our duty toward him.’
Kalt made a firm resolution.
‘What could Sir Roan like besides the dimensional inventory I gave him earlier? That is right, a mount! I should prepare a horse!’
‘How can I satisfy Sir Roan without making it obvious? I need to submit a report to Her Majesty with pride…… This banquet is not enough.’
Both the Mayor and the head merchant fell into thought over how they could treat Solacius even better.