abcnovels
Chapter 99: Aide
Chapter 99: Aide
Chapter 99: Aide
I received a call from the royal palace and came to the designated warehouse district with nothing in my hands.
I was told that a warehouse was stocked with supplies to be taken to the new territory to which I was to be dispatched.
From what I heard, they’re apparently all important items, such as food and the bare necessities of life.
My first job as a lord will be to safely transport these supplies.
There are several large warehouses lined up on both sides of the road, but not many people can be seen.
As I walked towards the designated Warehouse No. 27, a middle-aged man was waiting for me.
[Hello, are you Yahagi-sama?]
[Yes, who are you?]
[I am Nakaram, Yahagi-sama’s appointed aide. I look forward to working with you.]
So he’s the aide who will help me manage my domain!
At first, that perverted King said “I’ll arrange a beautiful aide for you”, but I turned him down in a second.
Of course, what I was afraid of was Michelle’s jealousy.
The King is a brilliant man, but he doesn’t understand at all how frightening Michelle can be.
Baron Essel did admonish him though, telling him how doing that would burn down Luganda Forest, so that subject was dropped, and this man was dispatched instead.
It’s Michelle we’re talking about here, so even a beautiful Elven dude would also be an object of her jealousy, so I told them “The aide must be a man. A plain, yet dependable one would be even better.”, but then someone who looked quite peculiar came along……
I’m not sure how he actually is yet, but he looks amazing.
Nakaram-san must be…… nearly two meters tall, I think?
His whole body is covered with armor-like muscles.
And yet, the structure of his face looks plain, and the hair on his head is thin and looks like barcodes.
His square black glasses and deep smile lines reinforced his plainness.
If I were to describe him, he’s a middle-aged man with an extraordinary physique.
[Errr, is Nakaram-san affiliated with the military?]
[Just Nakaram, please. I’m a “civil official”. I have never served in the military. I’m good at arithmetic and filling out application forms. I could also cook a bit……]
[I- I see. I look forward to working with you.]
No matter how I look at it, he seems stronger and more intimidating than my regular customers.
However, looking at it in a different way, it might mean that he’s dependable.
If someone like him supports us, we can do well even in a frontier land.
[Well then, can we see the supplies right away?]
[Please come this way. We have quite a lot of supplies, so we may need to buy or loan a horse-drawn carriage.]
Nakaram-san opened the door of the warehouse with a large key.
Before my eyes were a large pile of burlap sacks.
[These are……]
[They contain wheat. Enough to feed a hundred people for a month.]
One person consumes about 35 kilograms of wheat a month.
If that’s enough for 100 people, that should be around 3.5 tons……
For the time being, we will be transporting this, and additional food supplies have to be ordered each time.
Luganda is a forested area, so self-sufficiency is still a long way off.
For the time being, we will have to sell the dungeon’s magic crystals and drop items to purchase supplies.
[If we have to transport all of this, it would result in a considerable additional expense, wouldn’t it……]
[If we were to buy a carriage with the horses, it would cost around 2.5 million rims. We are supposed to receive one set from the King, but just having a single carriage would make things difficult for us, wouldn’t it?]
Nakaram-san’s eyebrows knitted to a frown, he looked troubled.
However, I think this kind of expression of his kinda has its own charm.
Even so, 2.5 million rims per carriage set huh.
That’s like buying a car back in Japan.
[I also recommend buying a donkey to transport the adventurers’ luggage. A donkey can be bought for about 800,000 rims.]
[It’s alright. I’ll split it up into several parts and transport it.]
[Yahagi-san will transport it?]
Nakaram-san’s knitted to a frown again.
This seems to be a habit of his.
However, I suppose it would be quicker to show him how I’d transport it than to explain it in words.
[Please step outside for a moment. I’ll explain how we’ll transport the supplies.]
[Yes……]
Leading the frowning Nakaram-san outside, we moved to a slightly wider area.
[Watch what I’ll be doing, okay? Open!]
As I focused my thoughts, Dagashi Yahagi’s shop appeared.
What was summoned this time is the latest version of my shop that can be summoned after level-ups.
[Wha!?]
Nakaram looked up at the dagashi shop with an astonished expression, his mouth wide open.
What I have now is a three-story shop.
The 1st floor is the storefront, the 2nd floor is a storehouse, and the 3rd floor is a living space.
As for me, I prefer that stand-alone house with a retro Showa-era feel, but this one is superior in being able to hold lots of stuff.
[I- Is this the Lord’s manor?]
[It’s not something that great. This is my dagashi shop.]
[Come to think of it, I heard the public calling you Sweets Baron……]
Not that again……
The first one to call me that was Merle.
I’ve heard it spread because she and Garm were joking around about this, calling me that here and there, and it had apparently ended up spreading.
[I’m just a lord without a court rank.]
When I wearily said that, Nakaram-san smiled for the first time today.
[Now, now, you possess such remarkable power. I’m sure you will be a knight or a baronet in the near future.]
[Is that so?]
I’m not interested in that, so that doesn’t really matter.
[Anyway, the supplies will be transported with my shop. If we have a few people to help with loading and unloading the luggage, we should be able to finish it in two round trips. Let’s use the leftover funds to purchase something useful for everyone instead.]
[That’s really wonderful! I was feeling down, thinking I was demoted from the royal capital to a rural area, but it’s an honor to serve a man of such ability!]
Somehow, Nakaram-san’s eyes seemed to be sparkling.