Episode 69

“Wh-what!?”

At the unexpected sound, Alicia screamed and stepped back.

Even I was startled by that sound.

Rather than thinking “Is it really a ghost?”, I suspected something like a robber.

Or perhaps there were rats inside?

Just as I thought that, the door slowly opened.

“Oh? Faik…?”

I was surprised to suddenly have my name called.

To my surprise, the one who opened the door and showed himself was Rig, the merchant who had often helped me.

Merchant Rig.

He was the merchant who frequently came when I had a shop in the market.

So I double-checked the paper I’d received from Lord Goral.

The paper listed the names of the merchants who owned each shop.

The person in charge of this shop… was listed as ‘Rig’.

I couldn’t believe that the Rig I knew and this Rig were the same.

Because it wasn’t an uncommon name, I hadn’t given it any thought.

Rig also looked at me with a surprised expression.

But he immediately looked at Alicia and wore an expression of realization.

“Rig, long time no see.”

“W-well… it’s been a while… Could it be that the noble blacksmith considering the purchase is Faik?”

Rig spoke in a tone more polite than usual.

…It was likely because he understood our standing.

I would have preferred he speak more familiarly, but it can’t be helped.

I told myself this was part of becoming nobility.

“Yes, well, that’s about right.”

“I- I see… Could it be that the one who usually wore the mask was… Lady Alicia?”

Rig kept his face stiff as he looked at Alicia.

As expected, Rig’s understanding was quick; he wasn’t a merchant for nothing.

Alicia’s frightened expression gradually returned to a natural one, and she smiled as she replied.

“Yes, that’s right.”

After confirming Alicia’s answer, Rig bowed deeply.

“I-I didn’t know. I’m terribly sorry! I may have been rude!”

Seeing Rig’s reaction… I once again thought that Alicia must be someone on a different plane to ordinary people.

The fact I can stand beside Alicia like this is simply down to luck.

“P-please lift your head. We were concealing our statuses. If we hadn’t been noticed until now, that would be considered a huge success for me.”

When Alicia said that, I continued speaking as well.

“She’s right. You may treat us as you normally would.”

“I can’t allow that.”

…So that’s not possible. Feeling a bit disappointed, Rig cleared his throat once.

Then he looked over at us.

“…Um, for now, is today just a viewing of this property?”

“Yes.”

“Shall we take a look around the building right away?”

“Yes, please. …However, I wasn’t told a merchant would accompany us; is Rig the one introducing it?”

Rig slowly nodded at my question.

“That’s right. I thought it would be better if the owner of the building were present.”

“…But you didn’t know when we’d come, right?”

“I didn’t expect you’d come first thing in the morning… I was actually planning to do some cleaning before you arrived, so I’m surprised. Now then, I’ll show you inside.”

Rig walked toward the building with a smile.

…This was likely his consideration as a merchant.

Even if he didn’t know when a customer would come, he must have kept the shop ready with them in mind.

From now on, as a tradesman, I want to emulate that thoughtfulness toward customers.

Beyond the door was the shop.

The stands, shelves, and fittings for hanging swords on the wall remained as they were.

“When it was open as a shop, they displayed items here.”

Rig explained each item carefully.

According to the documents, one could start business in this shop as it stands.

After Rig briefly introduced the shop, we headed down the passage beyond it.

The room beyond a single door was a smith’s workshop.

O-ooh!

My expression loosened without thinking.

There were facilities prepared there that were roughly on par with the workshop provided by the duke’s household.

The tools in the setup were generally on the older side, but all were perfectly usable.

Anything missing could be moved from the duke’s house or purchased anew without issue.

“These are incredible facilities… The previous owner must have really loved smithing.”

He was the sort of person who’d prepared all these facilities. Rig nodded at my words.

“Yes. The first person to own this building supposedly had skills to be called a legendary blacksmith.”

“A legendary blacksmith?”

I tilted my head at the unfamiliar phrase.

“Yes. He was said to be on par with the founder of the Barnast family, and the two apparently pushed each other to improve.”

“…Huh, Alicia, do you know about this?”

Alicia nodded in response to my question.