Chapter 185 – Merchant Miriam

“It’s about time, isn’t it?”

As I was lining up the items to take with me by the entrance, Grace asked.

“Yeah. It’s probably about the right time.”

“I hope the discussion goes well,” said Ashley.

“Yeah. But well, since it’s Alfred’s introduction, I don’t think it’ll be too troublesome. I don’t have any other plans, so I’ll be back by dinner at the latest even if it runs late.”

“Understood. We’ll spend today relaxing at home as well.”

“Lately, I’ve been doing embroidery too. I’m planning to learn a new stitching method from Grace,” said Claudia. Marlene would probably be joining them too. They were exchanging cheerful smiles.

“Sheila-chan and I will probably practice our instruments. Since Cyrille-chan is good with the bagpipes, I thought we could try playing together.”

“…Bagpipes, huh. With a Centaur, that would make quite the picture.”

Miss Cyrille is a Centaur girl. She seemed to have been eagerly listening to Irmhild and the others’ performances in the recreation room, so I thought she might be interested, but since Irmhild was originally from the Labyrinth Village, they apparently hit it off quickly and she joined their circle.

“Sheila was looking for an instrument, right? Have you decided?”

It seemed Sheila also wanted to play with Irmhild and had been looking for an instrument that suited her.

“Yeah. I decided on drums.”

I see. Indeed, since she’s dexterous, she’ll probably improve quickly once she gets used to them. Adding percussion would likely broaden their musical range too.

Maybe it would be interesting to make a full drum set while we’re at it. Probably, Sheila would be able to handle it.

“Sheila-chan improves so quickly.”

“She’s really accurate,” said Seraphina, perched on Irmhild’s shoulder. Seraphina might also spend today listening to their practice.

“Before meeting Theodore, life didn’t have much leeway, so I couldn’t really think about things like this. I’m grateful.”

“Yeah.”

Hearing Sheila thank me so directly like that, I lightly scratched my cheek.

“I will proceed with the staff training. I believe the beginning is crucial,” said Cecilia.

So Cecilia is handling the servant training. Since the Labyrinth Village residents lived self-sufficiently, they have almost no issues with household chores like cooking, laundry, and cleaning. So apparently it won’t be too much work. In that sense, Mihaela mentioned it felt similar to when Grace joined.

It seems both Mihaela and I plan to provide some self-defense training for the Labyrinth Village residents as well. Apparently, it’s so they can protect themselves if they encounter trouble when going into town in the future. It’s certainly necessary, so I’ll let them proceed with that.

I use Levitation to load the billiards table, dartboards, and other items I prepared by the entrance into the carriage.

The alarm device, carbonated drink maker, shaved ice machine, and such are supposed to be prepared and brought by Alfred.

“—Well then. I’ll be heading out for a bit.”

“Yes. Have a safe trip.”

Seeing me off, everyone watched as I boarded the carriage. The Golem driver set the carriage in motion toward the North District.

The meeting place with Alfred is a room in the Commerce Guild assembly hall.

The assembly hall is a sturdy-looking stone building. I stopped the carriage in front of the assembly hall and used Levitation to float the necessary luggage inside. Since a familiar carriage was parked there, Alfred had probably already arrived.

This is apparently a place where master craftsmen and merchants gather when something comes up to hold discussions.

“I’m Theodore Gartner, scheduled to have a meeting here today.”

“Yes. I’ve been informed.”

An elderly man nodded. He seemed to be not the receptionist but rather the assembly hall manager.

He offered to guide me to the meeting room, and when I floated the items I brought with Levitation, he looked somewhat surprised.

“Ah. Theo-kun, you’re here.”

When shown into the room, Alfred smiled. Talcott, his bodyguard, was with him too. Then there was one person I hadn’t met before. Probably, she was Alfred’s acquaintance.

A woman with an eyepatch. She had more the air of an adventurer than a merchant.

“Pleased to meet you, Ambassador. I’m Miriam.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Theodore Gartner. I look forward to working with you today.”

After introducing ourselves, we shook hands. Apparently, I was the last to arrive.

“Hmm. Was I late?”

“No, you’re still a bit early for the appointed time. Miriam-san also arrived early, you see.”

…I see. Well, it’s good that things can proceed smoothly.

“Miriam-san is a merchant… and she hopes to eventually establish a base in Termwills. It’s fortunate she happened to be back in Termwills now. Otherwise, this discussion would have been much later. It was also Miriam-san who found Viola injured after being attacked by monsters during her travels and entrusted her to a master blacksmith acquaintance in Termwills. I got to know her when I was looking for skilled craftsmen.”

Ah. So they became acquainted through the connection with Viola. She seems well-connected and likely understands adventurers. She probably has connections with the Adventurer Guild too…

I understand why Alfred is introducing her to me.

“I’ve accumulated considerable funds through merchant work, so I’ve been thinking about opening my own shop soon. Doing merchant work while fighting off monsters and thieves with adventurers forever would require more lives than I have. Though the lifestyle itself is enjoyable,” said Miriam half-jokingly—but the impression that she’s close to an adventurer probably isn’t mistaken. The feel of her hand during the handshake suggested it, and her movements too. She likely has martial arts training.

Being on good terms with adventurers… she probably has considerable understanding of friendly monsters as well.

“Is that so. Well then, I’d like you to take a look at the items I’ve made.”

From my perspective, I want someone trustworthy who can handle sales, business operations, accounting, etc., to get the things I make into distribution.

Considering the connection with Viola and the fact that she helped her and took care of her afterward, that aspect should indeed be fine.

Well, there are various other factors like whether she understands what I make or if her thinking aligns with my goals. Anyway. I’ll have her look at the items I brought while letting her try them out and interact, I suppose.

“You put a block of ice here, and when you turn the handle… it becomes like this.”

I operated the shaved ice machine, put the shaved ice in a bowl, added syrup, and handed it to Miriam.

“…Thank you.”

Miriam brought the shaved ice to her mouth with a spoon. She had a very serious expression.

I wonder how it feels. We played with the cards, darts, and billiards just enough to get a feel for them, then proceeded with presentations of the alarm device and food-related items. At first, Miriam seemed impressed, but gradually she spoke less and her expression grew more serious.

“Did you say… the Ambassador made these?”

“Regarding the Magic Tools, Alfred and Viola helped give them form.”

She seemed to be thinking deeply about something, but suddenly Miriam looked up.

“This is amazing… This is truly amazing! I’ve been to many places and handled various items, but this is the first time I’ve seen so many new products at once! And to think the Ambassador made them!”

Saying this, she suddenly leaned forward.

“C-could you really let me handle these!?”

“Y-yes. I was hoping to find someone who understands their value, but…”

“P-please, I’d like to request it! I want to devote my entire being to this task!”

Ah—… Seems there’s no problem. Miriam’s eyes are shining like a child’s.

I expected merchants to be more about feeling each other out, but she seems to be a somewhat different type than I imagined. She had a cool first impression, but apparently has a surprisingly childish side too.

“Please calm down, Miriam-san.”

“Ah… my apologies.”

Alfred intervened there, and Miriam released my hand and timidly sat back in her chair. Perhaps thinking she made a spectacle of herself, she seemed to shrink a little.

“What do you think, Theo-kun?”

When Alfred prompted me, I gave a wry smile.

“Yeah. If Miriam-san is willing, I’d like to ask her.”

“Really!?”

“Yes. We’ll work out the details from here on. I look forward to working with you.”

“Thank you…!”

We shook hands again.

“Glad things worked out,” said Alfred with a smile.

“Well, I thought it would since it’s Alfred’s introduction. But I had one more surprise prepared—seems the decision was made before I could show it.”

“…What did you bring?”

“Well, I’m going to make it now.”

I took out a bag of sugar from my luggage. A demonstration would probably have more impact.

“Sugar…?”

“Yes. You do this with it…”

I nodded to the tilting-headed Miriam. Using Fire Magic to heat and melt it, then Wind Magic to spin it up, making it thread-like and winding it around a wooden stick.

The melted sugar, stretched like thread, wrapped around the stick—completing the cotton candy.

The principle itself is simple, and making it into a Magic Tool shouldn’t be too difficult, I think. Well, there might be several aspects to refine regarding materials, shape, etc.

“And so, like this, you can eat the sugar like cotton. You could probably change its appearance with coloring too.”

When I showed it to everyone, they all had wide eyes.

“This is…”

With a somewhat cautious manner, Miriam accepted the cotton candy from me.

She tore off a small piece and put it in her mouth. She nodded repeatedly, her eyes widening while her mouth formed into a smile. Quite a good reaction.

“I’ll have to think about how to turn this into a Magic Tool when I get back to the workshop,” said Alfred with a wry smile.