Chapter 29

The moment we stepped outside the castle gates, Yoshioka whispered to me.

“Senpai, my hands won’t stop sweating.”

“Don’t worry. My armpits are a swamp.”

After walking for a few minutes, the laughter finally bubbled up.

“Pfft… hehehe!”

“Heh… ahaha!”

Yoshioka clearly felt the same. Despite Clara-sama’s presence, we ended up doubled over in laughter.

“I can’t believe it went that well.”

“I expected a profit, but I was nervous until the very last second.”

Clara-sama, looking down at us from atop Blitz, simply shrugged.

“Honestly… you two just brought in half a month’s worth of Ebba-berg’s revenue in a mere two hours.”

So, the monthly tax revenue for Ebba-berg is around 2 million Marques? Clara-sama uses that to run the entire territory. It doesn’t sound like she has much breathing room.

“Senpai, let’s have a debriefing session later,” Yoshioka said.

“Right. We need to plan our next haul.”

Our war chest was now over a million Marques. This time we got lucky, but there’s no guarantee it’ll happen again. We needed to hold a serious “strategy meeting” tonight.

Since it was already past noon, the plan to depart for the Royal Capital today was scrapped. Leaving now would mean the sun would set mid-journey, forcing us to camp in the wild. Even though we had the tent and gear, for safety’s sake, we decided to push the departure to tomorrow.

“So, how shall we spend the afternoon?”

Clara-sama gave a sharp, mischievous grin. Even her “wicked” smiles were stunning.

“This afternoon shall be dedicated to training. Everyone, take your weapons and meet outside the city walls.”

With that executive order, the afternoon became a martial arts drill. Come to think of it, I’ve never had proper combat training. My only experience was some mandatory Judo in middle and high school.

“Yoshioka, any martial arts experience?”

“I only ever took piano lessons.”

Being able to play music is pretty cool, honestly.

“How about you, Senpai?”

“I was in the Volleyball club in high school.”

“You don’t mean the dancing kind, right?”

“I heard ballet dancers are actually tough in a fight.”

Apparently, the late Masutatsu Oyama, founder of Kyokushin Karate, secretly studied dance during his training years and was quite keen on researching ballet. It’s supposedly effective for developing the rhythm, core, and leg strength needed for karate.

But I played six-person volleyball. It has absolutely nothing to do with martial arts. I recall some ancient volleyball manga featuring a move called the “Murder Spike,” but I’m pretty sure you can’t actually kill someone with a volleyball.

We returned to the inn to regroup with Fiene and then headed to the outskirts of town. We had been issued standard equipment by Clara-sama: a spear and a short sword. Normally, this would include a bow, arrows, and armor, but we were making do with our own cross-bows, bulletproof vests, and helmets. Fiene was using her own familiar hunting bow, so like us, she had been bought a spear and a short sword here in Bremen. She was also outfitted with standard leather armor.

In daily training, the highest priority is the bow. Combat begins with long-range exchanges of arrows. Today, we were taught how to use a shield in conjunction with a bow—repeatedly practicing the motion of blocking incoming arrows with the shield and returning fire.

Hitting a target with an arrow’s parabolic arc is incredibly difficult. While Yoshioka and I struggled, Clara-sama and Fiene were hitting the mark with high accuracy.

Next was spear training. After being coached on the basic grip and thrust, we moved on to drills involving lunging with the spear while running.

“Your movements are becoming much sharper.”

Hearing Clara-sama praise me made me happy. If I had a tail, I’d probably be wagging it like crazy.

“But, since a spear requires both hands, I won’t be able to cast my Paralysis Magic while using it.”

“Hmm. It is possible for some to channel offensive magic through their weapons, however.”

As Clara-sama swung her spear in a horizontal arc, a massive icicle manifested and slammed into the earth.

“Incredible!”

I should give this a try, too. I focused my consciousness on the tip of the spear, gathering my magical energy.

Oh, I think I can do this!

I managed to manifest a “Paralyze Ball” about the size of a golf ball at the very end of the spearhead.

“Splendid,” Clara-sama remarked.

After that, the afternoon passed with Clara-sama and me practicing spear forms, Yoshioka working on his magic, and Fiene off hunting rabbits.

Once the sun went down, Yoshioka and I got permission from Clara-sama to head out for a drinking session that doubled as both a debriefing and a victory celebration. The sour beer, at 6 Marques a mug, tasted exceptionally good tonight.

However, we had plenty of points to reflect on; we couldn’t just spend the whole time celebrating. I sat down with Yoshioka to discuss our future strategy.

“Personally, rather than selling small things here and there, I’d rather sell high-profit items in one big burst,” Yoshioka said.

I felt the same way. We didn’t have the time to play at being petty peddlers.

“Agreed. I think we should limit our target audience to the wealthy.”

Wealth in this world seems even more concentrated than on Earth. The rich are incredibly affluent, while the commoners have almost no disposable income. If that’s the case, we should provide things the rich crave at premium prices.

“What would be good?”

I didn’t have much experience with luxury goods myself… My first thought went to my hobby, mountain climbing. Some winter climbing boots can cost around 200,000 yen. But I didn’t think there was much demand for mountaineering gear here. Besides, we had to avoid anything that would disrupt the military balance between nations. It’s better to stick to things that are relatively harmless and keep the power balance intact.

“Maybe luxury goods or ‘lifestyle’ items?”

“Right. For example, if we bought a high-end tea set for about 200,000 yen, how much do you think it would go for here?”

“Ah… I see. Come to think of it, I don’t recall seeing any white porcelain even in the Count’s castle.”

Brands like Wedgwood, Royal Copenhagen, Minton, or Meissen—items from Earth’s prestige manufacturers. Back on Earth, the nobility used to scramble to acquire porcelain. I had a feeling it would fetch a high price here, too.

“There’s a non-zero chance we could get a price tag of several million Marques.”

“Senpai, you’re brilliant! In that case, crystal glass is an option too, right?”

Baccarat, Swarovski, Schott Zwiesel—those came to mind. Since beer is heavily consumed in the Kingdom of Saxens, high-end beer glasses might also be in demand. If a 100-yen wine glass sold for 6,000 Marques, a 10,000-yen glass might sell for 600,000. Even if that’s a stretch, it should at least hit 100,000, right?!

That night, we shared many rounds while dreaming pleasant dreams. We ended up having seven beers each, yet the total bill was a mere 84 Marques. The alcohol content was low, but seven glasses were enough to make our legs heavy. Neither of us has a particularly high tolerance.

We walked back to the inn through the night streets, arms over each other’s shoulders. To the locals, two staggering drunks probably looked like easy prey. Suddenly, someone lunged at us from the shadows. I managed to catch a club aimed at my head with my arm.

“Ow!! What the hell are you doing?!”

Without thinking, I fired my Paralysis Magic at the attacker. The man collapsed to the ground, stiff as a board.

“Senpai… these guys are thieve-sh!! Punish ’em!” Yoshioka slurred, his tongue heavy as he cast a recovery spell on me.

Looking closely, there were two other muggers besides the fallen man.

“Curse you! Take this!!”

I whipped the flashlight out of my pocket and blasted the thieves with light.

“Gah!”

“My eyes! My eyes!”

“Are you okay, Muska?!”

The blinded thieves writhed on the ground. Yoshioka and I were completely hammered.

“Did you hear that, Senpai?! He called him Muska!”

“I heard it! I heard it! That’s hilarious!!”

Just then, a whistle suddenly pierced the air. We were all rounded up by the Bremen City Guard. After they heard the details, Clara-sama had to come pick us up—and she gave us a legendary scolding.

Fortunately, the thieves turned out to be wanted criminals with priors, so we were released with a stern warning. Even though we were the ones attacked, Clara-sama scolded us again, saying, “Exposing yourselves in such a shameful state that invites attack is a fault in itself.”

Needless to say, once we got back to the inn, we held a very different kind of “Grand Debriefing.”