Chapter 34

A heavy silence now hung over the Count’s drawing room.

“I-is… is that truly the case?”

The Count’s voice trembled ever so slightly.

“It is. We are denizens of another world, sent to Clara-sama’s side by the God of Space-Time. We do not belong to this world.”

Truth be told, it wasn’t just Clara-sama—Ria could call us forth as well. I had strictly reminded Ria not to reveal the summoning formula to others without good reason. Instead, I told her to summon us immediately if she ever found herself in trouble. Still, I wondered what would happen if Ria tried to summon us while we were already summoned by Clara-sama? That part remained a mystery.

“Then, these tea sets and glassware are…”

“Items from another world. However! They are not available in great abundance.”

Mostly due to our limited capital, you see. Also, we had to restrict the numbers to maintain their scarcity value.

“Hmm… But is there any proof that you are indeed messengers of the God of Space-Time?”

Like I’d just have something like that on me.

“In this matter, we can only ask for your trust. If I were forced to provide evidence, I suppose these items would serve.”

I gestured with my hand toward the goods spread out across the table.

“…Certainly, the craftsmanship of these things is so exquisite it’s hard to believe they are of this world.”

The stares from the Count’s family were piercing. It’s a bit awkward being gazed at like that. I was fine thanks to “Courage x6,” but it was rough for Yoshioka, who was naturally shy around strangers. Look at him—he’s just staring at the floor.

“Very well! I shall believe you, Master Kota.”

Ah, I’ve been promoted from just ‘Kota’ to ‘Master Kota.’ It seemed he really did believe us. The Count purchased the 4-million-Marque tea set and two 350,000-Marque brandy snifters, while his son bought a small flat-cut glass for 420,000 Marques.

That brought the grand total to 5.12 million Marques!

I was happy about the profit, but I was genuinely shocked that they could drop that kind of money on a whim. I guess wealth really is concentrated in certain places. At first, I’d felt a small twinge of guilt about the twelve-fold markup, but it didn’t seem to be an issue. Seeing the Count’s family beaming with pure joy at acquiring what they wanted made me feel that way. Everyone looked incredibly happy.

The Count generously wrote us three separate letters of introduction. He even went so far as to see us off at the gate. He hadn’t even done that much for Clara-sama.

“Master Kota, Master Akito, please travel safely. I plan to head to the Royal Capital myself soon. Let us meet again there.”

“Count, your kind words are deeply appreciated. We shall never forget the favor you have shown us today.”

The farewells finished, and I started the bike’s engine.

“W-wait a moment!”

Hm? What is it, Young Master?

“I-is that Golem yours?”

“Yes. However, this is not a Golem. It is a machine called an ‘Autobike’ that runs on a special fuel.”

“Hooh…”

Wait. What? You want a ride? Just a short one, then. I let the son hop into the rear car and took him for a lap around the city. In areas with fewer people, I kicked it up to over 30 kilometers per hour for him.

“M-Master Kota.”

“Yes?”

“I wonder… how much would something like this cost?”

I looked at Yoshioka, who shook his head before pointing a finger upward. Was he telling me to jack up the price as much as possible? The out-the-door price for this was about 370,000 yen, but…

“Ah, Yoshioka-kun, how much was it again?”

When in doubt, rely on Yoshioka.

“Let’s see…”

Crap, I forgot he had no idea what the retail price of a bike was.

“Was it around 15 million Marques?”

Wh—! He just slapped a forty-fold markup on it!

“Ooh… as expected, it is quite expensive… However, if we have the revenue from the copper mine this year…”

He’s actually thinking of buying it?!

“U-um. Do you truly intend to purchase one?”

“Indeed, that is my intention.”

That said, even after placing an order, it would take at least a week for the bike to be delivered to my house in Japan. We spent most of our time here, and while we were away, time back home remained frozen. Moreover, there was no one in this world capable of performing maintenance or repairs.

It looked like a chance to make a massive fortune, but I had to explain the situation and get him to give up.

“Um, these things can break down, and I don’t think any engineer in this world could repair it…”

“How frequently does it break?”

I was at a loss for how to answer that. It would depend on how it was used and how often. There’s also the matter of individual vehicle luck—some units are just lemons. I explained all of this, but…

“If it breaks, I shall simply purchase another; I do not mind. From what I hear, it doesn’t sound like it will fall apart immediately. Can we not make this work somehow?”

Are you serious? Is this how rich people think? Normally, you repair things and keep using them. If some old bike enthusiast back home heard that, he’d probably fly into a rage.

…Still, I could understand the yearning for a motorcycle. If I translated a simple maintenance manual and handed it over, maybe they could manage? I could probably even transport replacement parts in a worst-case scenario. I could sell them gasoline regularly, too, so maybe it was fine…

“Well, you see… these require an extremely complex process to manufacture. I believe it will be quite a long time before I can deliver one to you.”

“I do not care! I would wait a year, or even two!”

It’s a bit overwhelming when someone looks at you with such intense eyes.

Wait, what? You’re giving me a down payment? Then, for 500,000 Marques…

He just casually handed over the cost of a brand-new bike. The remaining 14.5 million Marques would be paid upon delivery… right.

Ah, I’ll throw in the translation of the maintenance book and the tools as a bonus. I’ll even include a full-face helmet as a courtesy…

Yes, thank you very much!

…I need to call the bike shop the moment I get back.

Yoshioka’s voice came through the intercom attached to my helmet.

“Senpai… when are we handing in our resignation letters?”

“You’re getting ahead of yourself,” I said, though I understood the feeling. “Let’s wait a bit longer. It’ll be fine once we’ve saved enough money to live off low-risk investments, right?”

Still, I couldn’t think of a better investment than buying goods in Japan and selling them in Saxens. This was a world where a 125cc bike could sell for 15 million yen. I wondered how much a luxury car would go for? Then again, a car wouldn’t fit into the small room in the gap. Would a k-car¹ fit? I’ll have to measure it next time, just in case. Though I don’t think I could carry one.

“Senior, we’re having a victory toast tonight.”

“Yeah, let’s open that sparkling wine we bought.”

If I’d known it would go this well, I wouldn’t have minded buying actual Champagne.

Before noon, we caught up with Clara-sama, who had been traveling ahead.

“How did it go?”

“He wrote us three letters of introduction. Furthermore, he purchased some of the goods.”

Clara-sama was struck speechless when she heard the sales figure of 5.12 million. Currently, we were selling all the items at a twelve-fold markup. Our total investment this time was 1.19 million yen. When I calculated the profit for Clara-sama—who had invested 100,000 yen of that—it came to approximately 430,000 Marques.

“Is this… truly alright?”

Clara-sama looked troubled when she heard the amount. I’d had my own doubts about whether it was okay, but everyone had been so happy.

“The Count and his family were in excellent spirits the entire time.”

“Is that so? Then I suppose it is fine.”

Clara-sama seemed unconvinced to the end. However, she seemed to pull herself together when she thought of Ebba-berg.

“With this, we can finally fortify the defenses on the eastern side of the village—an issue that has been a concern for a long time.”

That was the direction the goblins had come from.

“Come to think of it, the goblins aren’t sealed within the labyrinth, are they?”

I had heard that most monsters were confined within dungeons. That’s what I’d been told when we discovered the new dungeon.

“That is correct. Because they have such high reproductive rates and fled into the forests, the attempt to seal only the goblins ended in failure. It is one of the reasons Ebba-berg has struggled to develop.”

Unlike normal monsters, goblins boasted extraordinary breeding capabilities. I heard it cost a staggering amount of money to eradicate them since they lived deep in the woods. Clara-sama certainly had a lot on her plate.

If I could help her gather funds, start industries, and ensure safety, it would surely ease her worries. I found myself hoping I could be of help in that regard.