Chapter 98: After the Festival

Three days had passed since the first mock battle tournament had ended.

Up until yesterday, I’d been feeling that same sense of emptiness you get after a festival wraps up, but today, I’d finally managed to switch gears.

Just as the peaceful, laid-back routine of daily life was settling back in — visitors arrived.

Now that I was back in the right mindset, I’d wanted to focus on farming today, but it’s not like I could just ignore them. When I headed toward the carriage, I saw two dwarves lugging huge loads: Rozzo and Sid.

“Huh? Rozzo-san, Sid-san? Did you forget something…?”

It didn’t look like they were here to pick up something they’d left behind, given the amount of luggage they had.

But it wasn’t like I’d asked them to do any work either, and they had charged the DVD player during the tournament, so that couldn’t be it.
As I tilted my head, trying to figure out the reason for their visit, the two of them — clearly pushing the responsibility of speaking onto each other — finally opened their mouths.

“Ah, well… actually, we’ve come here to ask if we could live here.”

“Exactly! I was talking to Sid, and honestly, coming here just to charge the DVD player every time was getting to be a pain. And it’s fun and lively here, so we figured — why not just move in?”

Their unexpected statement left me frozen, mouth hanging open.

Of course, I was happy to hear Rozzo and Sid wanted to live here — but the first thing that came to mind was their shops.

“What about your shop in the Royal Capital? Don’t you have a lot of regular customers?”

“I’ve got plenty of people who can run the place for me, so it’s no problem. Can’t say the same for Rozzo, though.”

“I’m actually planning to close up shop and move here! My place wasn’t all that big to begin with, and I’ve already let the regulars know I’d be relocating! Sid’s planning to build me a workshop here, so I’ll still be making weapons — just more for fun than business. Not much will change!”

“You’re closing the shop…? I always got the impression you had a lot of regulars, so it feels kind of like a waste.”

“It was bound to happen eventually — this just sped it up a little! Like I said, I’m still planning to make weapons, and I’ll take them to the Royal Capital to sell, so it won’t be all that different!”

When he put it that way, I guess it really wouldn’t change much.

I wasn’t about to meddle in their decisions. If Rozzo was okay with it, I’d simply welcome them.

“So, is it alright if we live here?”

“Of course — you’re more than welcome. But I’ll warn you, this place is still pretty inconvenient to live in.”

“We’ve already thought about that. It’s fine.”

“Exactly. If anything, you could say we came here precisely to fix that inconvenience.”

That was true. If Rozzo and Sid started building things here, this place could quickly become far more comfortable.

They could’ve kept going just fine in the capital, but they chose to come here — I was nothing but grateful.

“Thank you. I’ll make sure to compensate you properly, so I’d really appreciate your help with building things.”

“Leave it to us!”

“The first thing we’re planning to make is a carriage. It’s a pain that you can only get them from the capital.”

“That’d be a huge help. In that case, I’ll arrange for the beasts to pull it.”

“Right! You can make monsters your familiars, can’t you, Sato? While we’re at it, why don’t we make the fastest carriage possible? If we could cut down the travel time to the capital, it’d be super convenient!”

“No, no. It’s obviously better to focus on cargo capacity. You’ll be selling weapons in the capital, and Sato will want to sell the vegetables grown here too, right?”

“Even so, speed should come first! Building for speed is way more fun, too!”

“Building one that can carry a ton is way more satisfying.”

“So, Sato, which kind of carriage do you want?”

Rozzo and Sid had barely arrived and were already butting heads.

A fast carriage would be great, but being able to haul large loads would be just as helpful.

Honestly, I’d be happy with either… but it was clear the two of them each had slightly different visions of what they wanted to build.

They were clearly close friends, but I could already see this kind of small disagreement turning into constant squabbles.

“Either one would be great for me. There’s no rush, so let’s just take our time and decide. For now, I’ll show you the plot of land you can use. Feel free to build a house or whatever you like.”

I led the two of them — still locked in their debate — to a free plot of land.

I was sure Sid would build a house here, and even though Rozzo wasn’t exactly a specialist, he’d probably lend a hand too.

Until their house was done, they could stay in the guest house. I wouldn’t make them help with the farmwork — I’d rather have them focus on crafting. That would be much more beneficial for the growth of this place.

I still didn’t fully understand the reason, but two incredibly reliable people had joined us as residents.

And from here on out, I couldn’t wait to see how this place would develop.

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