CH 23

October 29th, 2022

When I went to the creek early in the morning, I found Captain Milano there washing her face.

Louise and Leanne were still in bed. I peeked in when I was passing by and saw they were still asleep with cute sleeping faces.

Leanne was wearing only a shirt, so I was quite disturbed to see her in such an unprotected state.

“Good morning, Captain Milano”

“Good morning, Okami. Looks like today would be a good day to fly” [1]

The sun had just risen, and the air was still a little chilly, but the sky was clear.

“Are you returning to the capital today?”

“Yeah. The dungeon discovery report is a top priority after all. We might finally return to our home tonight”, Captain Milan said while showing a happy smile. It must be hard being a working mom.

“You must be looking forward to meet again with your son after a long time”

“Yeah. If I don’t remind him of my existence once in a while, I’m afraid he might forget his mother’s face”

She really seemed to be a devoted mother.

“By the way, Okami, about what will happen from now on…”. The captain looked thoughtful. “Most probably, a survey team will be dispatched soon. The scale should be around 100 people… I think”

“That’s a lot! Um… my place is only able to accommodate four people. If we hurry up and make preparation we might be able to make more housing for more people but…”

Maybe I should order the golems to create log cabin?

“No, you don’t have to worry about their place to stay. The soldiers will bring their own camp tent, and they should be able to make their own food. However, there will be few officers; they probably would like something good for their meals”

Well, if it’s that much then I should be able to prepare.

“But I can only provide them with something similar to what I served yesterday, you know?”

“That is good enough. The food you served for lunch and dinner was so good, I don’t think even a Senior officer with a discerning palate would have any complaint with it. Oh, and by the way, I’m a Senior officer myself”

It seemed that Captain Milano is a knight. Dragon Riders are elites, right? So, Captain Milano must be an elite knight. Which means that Leanne is an elite too. [2]

Even though she’s a flirt, it seems she’s quite a distinguished woman.

“I think they will inform you on how things will develop, but just keep that in mind”

“I understand. I will make preparation to welcome everyone from the empire”

“And also…”. This time, Captain Milano’s face was clouded with uneasiness.

“Is something wrong?”

“’Yeah, many of the soldiers being dispatched will be young women. Some of them might try to make a move on you, Okami, just like Leanne did”

Hell yeah! Have at thee, Imperial Soldiers. [3] I will not run; I will accept your challenge! Well, no, actually I don’t want to if they’re being forceful like the previous soldiers in the prison, but if it they approach flirtatiously like Leanne was, then I don’t mind.

“I want you to be careful and stay conscious of yourself as much as possible. Always keep the golem nearby. I’ll make reports as well”

“Thank you for your concern. But I’m sure I’ll be fine”

“No, Shiro, you have too many gaps. Last night, you took a bath in the middle of the night, right? I’m sure you noticed that Leanne was peeking…”

Well, that’s because I let her peek…

“That would make the young soldiers uncontrollable. Make sure there will be walls in the bath next time”

But, but… I was starting to get a kick out of being peeked on… Alright, let’s make special peeping holes on the walls, since I design my building with the customer’s convenience in mind!

———————————————————————————————————

Breakfast was over and it was time to check out.

“As for the payment, I don’t know the market price. How much usually for one night with two meals?”, I asked them honestly.

“Is that so, hmmm… Usually one night with two meals is around 4000 to 6000 Lehmens…”. The price that the captain told me is not for hotel but for guest house.

“If it were me, I would be a regular guest even if the price is 6,000 Lehmens. And I’d ask for Shirou-chan all the time”

Leanne, my inn is not a cabaret place… However, from the way she’s speaking it seems that 6,000 Lehmens can be considered a bit expensive. If that’s the case, then let’s go with 5,000 Lehmens.

“Then it will be 5,000 Lehmens per person for one night with two meals, would that be fine with you?”

The three of them accepted the price, and even said that it was a good deal. Well, this is fine for now.

“Ah!”, Louise let out a regretful voice when she’s about to pay. “Captain, can I borrow 1,000 Lehmens?”

“What’s the matter, you don’t have enough money?”

“No, I have enough in form of magic stones, but I left most of my coins at home”

…

…wait, did Louise just said magic stones?

“Excuse me, what’s a magic stone?”

“A magic stone is a crystallization of magic. It’s something that comes out of a monster’s body. It’s used as a source of energy for magic items, so it can substitute as currency in Imperial Capital”

“Um, may I see what a magic stone looks like?”

Louise took out a glass ball-like object about the size of a confetti.

I see, so that’s a magic stone. It’s said it can be used as source of energy for golem, right? If so, I think it would be better to have a stock of it.

“Well, I don’t mind receiving payment in magic stones”

“What a relief! Then, the rest of the payment will be using two of Tri-magic stones, is that okay?”

The magic stones are graded differently based on their size, which from smaller to larger as Mono, Di, Tri, and Tetra. Mono is worth 100 Lehmens, Di is worth 500 Lehmens, and Tri is worth 1,000 Lehmens. [4]

Louise was then paying with three 1,000-Lehmens copper coin and two Tri-grade magic stones. [5]

“Thank you very much”

And the moment Lousie drop the magic stone onto my palm…

Ding ♪ Ding♪

Condition met       Medicine Production is available

Condition met       Some of the requirement for the creation of magical tools have been released

Oooohhh!

So having contact with a magic stone was the condition for unlocking Medicine Production. And there was also the possibility of making magical tool.

This was all thanks to Louise.

“Thank you! You really helped me!”

I was so happy; I feel like I was going to kiss her then and there.

“Oh? That’s not fair! Fine, I’ll pay with magic stone too”

Leanne, who had already paid, was making a fuss.

“Ah, either way is actually fine, you know. I was only happy because it was my first time seeing magic stone”

“Then, that means you won’t hold my hand like you did to Louise?”

“If only holding hands, I’ll do it for you as much as you want”. And so, I held her hand tenderly.

“Shirou-chan…”

I didn’t want her to get carried away, so I quickly dismissed Leanne whose eyes were sparkling like puppy eyes and gave Captain Milano a hemp bag that I have prepared beforehand.

“Captain, please take this with you”

“What is this?”

“A souvenir”

“Captain’s the only one who gets souvenir! That’s unfair! I want it too”. Leanne was behaving like a child.

“It’s for your family. Inside are mangoes and bananas from the island, and a rare shell. If it’s alright with you, please give it to your son”

The shell was a beautiful shell with blue stripes on a white background found on the beach. It’s something that can’t be found easily on this island, so I think it’s rare. Since Captain Milano’s son was six years old, I thought he’d be happy with something like that.

“Thank you. This is a very nice souvenir”. Captain Milano looked pleased.

—————————————————————————————-

When the three of them were leaving the island, I waved at them until I could no longer see the wyvern in the distance.

“Goku, Iwaos, get ready! We’re going to be busy from now on!”

Of course, there were no chorus of replies from the golems, but I was fully motivated.

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1   Okami means male version of inn’s proprietress.

2 Wyvern is (according to lore) a type of dragon, so in a way, Captain Milano and others are dragon knight.

3 He’s actually saying ‘Come On’ in katakana

4 Mono, Di, Tri, etc is numeric prefixes usually used in naming chemical structures, so I’m guessing the founder of the Empire was an Isekai-ed Chemist. Also, following the price pattern, Tetra-grade probably worth 5,000 Lehmens

5 In original WN source it says two Di-grade, but I’ll assume that it is typo