Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 32: The Trading Company Representative
On the day they arrived in the capital, Tauro helped unload the Reversi merchandise, ate dinner at a place Paulo recommended, and then retired to an inn Paulo had reserved.
This was Tauro Satou’s first stay at a proper inn, so the experience thrilled him. He was also surprised by how luxurious it was.
“Inns in this world are rather lavish. Are they all like this?”
“Hm? This treatment is only for you, Tauro. They gave me the room next door because I’m your escort, but the other adventurers are staying somewhere much plainer.”
“Really!?”
“The inn I usually use costs one-fifth as much as this one.”
“This place costs five times as much!?”
“You’re about to instruct nobles in Reversi. Perhaps they thought that putting you in respectable accommodations would lend you some prestige.”
“So that’s how it works…”
“Yes. Probably.”
“Now I’m getting nervous…”
“If you’re nervous already, you’ll never last the coming month.”
“That’s right—a whole month… I want to go home with everyone in five days!”
“No whining.”
“…Yes.”
Tauro was thoroughly dejected, but his spirits soared when he learned that the inn had a bath. He bathed while humming and went to bed in a fine mood.
The next morning, Tauro greeted Meena cheerfully.
“Good morning, Meena!”
“…Good morning.”
Her energy was markedly lower than his.
“You’re not good with mornings, are you?”
“…It isn’t that I’m bad with mornings. I’m simply in a bad mood.”
“That still counts as being bad with mornings…”
After that fruitless exchange, they ate breakfast together in the inn’s dining room.
“…Meena, isn’t the white bread here rather hard?”
“Yasuragi-tei is exceptional. Even this white bread is a luxury.”
Tauro normally ate at the guild-operated Yasuragi-tei.
Without realizing it, he had grown accustomed to lavish meals because of the dishes he had helped develop.
“I want ginger pork…”
“…Stop. You’ll make me remember it.”
Meena was also a regular at Yasuragi-tei, and her palate had grown discerning as well.
The meal wasn’t satisfying, but it filled them well enough. The two decided to visit the company.
Tauro wasn’t scheduled to teach Reversi that day, but he had been unable to greet the staff at the headquarters the previous evening.
The headquarters was a four-story brick-and-timber structure large enough to deserve the name “building.”
Seen properly in daylight, it was impressive.
Although it stood one street removed from the main avenue, its size compared favorably with any neighboring structure.
“Even so, our Garfish Trading Company still has a long way to go in the royal capital! Gahaha!”
The company’s representative was Garfish, forty-five years old.
His mustache and dignified bearing gave him the air of a bold, energetic man.
His wife, Isana, was thirty-five. They had three children: their eldest son, Marg, eighteen; their second son, Otsuka, thirteen; and their eldest daughter, Martha, eight.
“When Paulo sent Reversi ahead by express horse, I immediately knew it would sell. My children became ardent fans too. Certain it would succeed in the capital, I introduced it to nobles with whom I had connections. As expected, it’s been enormously popular.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I’m sure my master, Mauve, will be delighted.”
Officially, Tauro was merely the apprentice of Mauve, Reversi’s inventor.
He couldn’t afford to let that story unravel.
“You aren’t only Mauve’s apprentice, Satou, but also possess the skill to craft the limited editions—true works of art. An extraordinary achievement at your age!”
“Please keep it secret that I make the limited editions.”
“A secret? I see. If the nobles learned the truth, they might try to keep you for themselves. Fortunately, I haven’t identified the artisan, nor has anyone asked. I’ve said only that they’re made by a craftsman from Saisi, and we shall maintain that account.”
Garfish understood Tauro’s concern and readily accommodated him.
“Ah, and please give our family one limited edition as the price of my silence! Gahaha!”
He was a shrewd merchant to the end.
Yet Tauro also understood the request as Garfish’s promise never to reveal the secret.
He found himself liking the man.