Kays Translations

Chapter 94: Nashara Trading Company

At the Innocenti estate, where they went to deliver the magic stoves and increase followers of Orihime, the day after hearing about the wanderer once cared for by the estate, Wami Nashara, the group visited the Nashara Trading Company founded by that lost person.

Located near the mansion of the margrave, it stood among the major trading houses in a prime location. The five-story stone building was quite impressive in a world like Ethersia, where there were no skyscrapers.

As previously mentioned, there were a large number of beastmen employees, with over half appearing to be beastmen.

Showing the introduction letter from the Innocenti estate they received yesterday to the beastwoman who seemed to be the receptionist, they were escorted to a reception room on the second floor.

Although they had given prior notice to the estate this morning, they were relieved that they were treated politely despite the almost impromptu visit.

By the way, the receptionist was also a beastwoman of the Nashara lineage, seemingly of the cat type.

While they waited and drank the tea they were offered, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

"Excuse us."

As Isamu responded, a beastman and a human man entered the room, one each.

"I apologize for the wait. Nice to meet you, I'm Gil Nashara, the president of the Nashara Trading Company."

The first to greet them was a beastman of the cat type. Although it was unclear how long beastmen lived or how they aged, to Isamu eyes, he seemed a bit older, perhaps in his forties.

"And this is Pietro, who serves as the manager of our main store here in Innotia."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Pietro."

Another man, a human this time, greeted them. He had a very "gentlemanly" air about him.

"Thank you for your courteous greetings. I'm Isamu Matsumoto, chairman of the Orihime Trading Company. Thank you for taking the time to meet with us despite our sudden request."

"Nashara-sama, Pietro-sama, nice to meet you. I'm Annemarie Klaufeldt, vice-chairman of the Orihime Trading Company. I look forward to working with you today."

"President Nashara, Store Manager Pietro, nice to meet you. I'm Silvio Zambrotta, head of the Stahlen branch of Zambrotta Trading Company. We've been well taken care of by the Klaufeldt family and the Orihime Trading Company."

Isamu and the others also greeted in turn, and everyone sat at the table. After exchanging some small talk, including Gil's explanation that he was the 7th president from the first generation, Gil brought up the main topic again.

"The letter from the Margrave mentioned two main topics. One is about the production of the magic stove developed by the Orihime Trading Company here in Innotia. And the other is... about Wami Nashara and the cait-sith, as mentioned in the letter from the Margrave. Is that correct?"

"Yes. Although the latter may be a bit different from a business negotiation, I would like to discuss a few things."

"...Understood. Could you tell us about the production of the magic stove first?"

"Of course. It all started with the Margrave's request to distribute our developed magic stoves to Innotia, and eventually to the entire territory."

Isamu explained the process of local production and technology leakage prevention, as well as how they were introduced to the Nashara Trading Company.

"I see. In that case, we'll be happy to take on the task. We beastmen living in this city all feel indebted to the Margrave's family. We can't afford to tarnish their reputation with a half-hearted effort, especially with a direct introduction from the Margrave himself. We'll take full responsibility, from selecting the site to selecting workers, and work on it."

After hearing the situation, President Gil readily agreed.

"Thank you. With your assurance, we can entrust it to you with peace of mind."

"No, no. But what about Zambrotta Trading Company? You have an exclusive contract, so normally you would be the first candidate for outsourcing manufacturing, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, we were initially approached, but we didn't think it would go very well for us outsiders to build a workshop in unfamiliar territory. Since everything we make will be wholesaled, our company will make enough profit, so there's no problem for us."

Gil's question was reasonable, but Zambrotta Trading Company had a policy of not taking risks.

"I see. I understand now. Then, please feel free to let us handle it."

After discussing the allocation of costs and rough personnel matters, and reaching a broad agreement, the conversation moved on to the next topic.

"Now, let's move on to the other topic."

"Yes. Let me briefly explain the background of this matter. As you may have read in the Margrave's letter, I was intrigued by Wami Nashara, a wanderer like me, and cait-sith. Although the reason is slightly different...First, I'd like you to take a look at this."

Saying so, Isamu took Orihime out of the carry bag.

"Nya~"

Whether she was dozing off or not, Orihime let out a small yawn and rubbed her forehead against Isamu’s hand.

"What!? Cait-sith -sama!!?"

The moment he saw Orihime, Gil stood up energetically. Seeing his black tail swell, it seemed that he was derived from a creature close to a cat after all.

"No, she looks similar but she's different... Matsumoto-sama, what exactly is this??"

Somewhat calmed down, Gil asked with a surprised expression.

"I'm sorry to surprise you. This child is a cat, my precious partner, my family. Her name is Orihime, and she's a girl. We used to live together in the original world, but she accidentally came here with me. Afterwards, I was very disappointed to hear that there were no cats here, but the other day at a restaurant in this town, I was surprised to see a beastman with ears and a tail similar to those of a cat."

"When you say a restaurant... you mean Sori, right?"

After thinking for a moment, Gil said.

"Yes, it's Sori. It's amazing, isn't it? Do you know where everyone is?"

"Not everyone, but this shop is like the main house for the Nashara family. So, we're investigating and quietly watching various things.

"Well, I already knew Sori because she's my daughter's friend, so I didn't even have to investigate."

With a little laugh, Gil explained. By the way, it seemed that the receptionist who handled the introduction was his daughter.

"I see, I see. Anyway, I was intrigued by Sori-san and approached her, but as soon as she saw Orihime, she was surprised just like you earlier...When I asked her about it, she told me that she was a descendant of Wami Nashara, and that Wami Nashara also had similar ears and tail. Moreover, she said that Wami Nashara had lived with fairies similar to Orihime called cait-sith. She didn't know any more details, so I was told to visit the Nashara Trading Company because she said if I wanted to know more, it would be better to visit them. I met with the Margrave afterwards, so the first topic is actually more coincidental."

With a wry smile, Isamu explained the current situation.

"I see... Orihime-san does indeed look exactly like the remaining depictions of the cait-sith.

"Pietro, could you bring me Wami-sama's memoirs?"

"Of course."

At Gil's request, Pietro brought a thick book that was said to be Wami's memoirs.

"This is a compilation of stories about Wami-sama, passed down through generations in our family, written by himself or taken down from his oral accounts.

"Here it is... Ah, Matsumoto-dono, please take a look at this page. The depictions of the cait-sith were compiled with special emphasis...The colors are different, but don't you think she looks like Orihime-san?"

On the page shown to Isamu by Gil, there was a drawing of what looked like "a stylish, bipedal calico cat." 

Many different poses and expressions were included, revealing the depth of affection, but it seemed more like a reference material.

"Indeed, this is a cat, and a anthropomorphized type at that... In the world I came from, occasionally they appeared in animations... or folktales and stories."

"Anthropomorphized, you say??"

"Yes. Orihime is like that too, but cats are strictly animals, so they don't walk on two legs or speak. But in the imaginary world, there were quite a few beings like cats with human personalities."

"They have a close relationship with humans, don't they?"

"Yes, that's right. There were quite a few different types in terms of color, size, and amount of fur, and quite a few people lived with them. I was lucky enough to come here with Orihime, but if we had been separated, I think it would have been more than just sad."

Saying that, Isamu stroked Orihime again, who had curled up on Annemarie's lap and was starting to doze off again.

"Perhaps Wami Nashara felt the same way...When I think about it, I couldn't stand still. Although he's no longer with us, I thought I might be able to give a little gift to his descendants, so I came to visit."

"A gift, you say? Indeed, I've heard that Wami-sama has always wanted to meet cait-sith again..."

Gil couldn't hide his perplexity.

"Annemarie-san, please bring that item."

"Yes, certainly."

Annemarie took out the divine object (life-size) from the bag and placed it on the table.

"W-What, this is Orihime-san!?"

Gil's tail swelled again at the astonishing craftsmanship.

"Yes. Orihime seemed to have received some sort of power when she came here... She fought alongside us when the Klaufeldt Viscount territory was attacked by monsters the other day. As a result, we decided to enshrine her at the church. This is the divine object for that purpose."

"This is... this adorable thing is the divine object..."

Gil was speechless at the unexpected words, holding the divine object up to eye level.

"By utilizing the technology to make this divine object, we can recreate cait-sith, offer it as a grave marker, and provide it as a memento to remember ancestors. How does that sound?"

"W-W-Wonderful! That's absolutely wonderful!! With this quality, we can surely create a lovely item that resembles cait-sith-sama perfectly! Surely, Wami-sama, who has passed away, would be delighted as well!! Please, please, can we ask for this!?"

Gil pleaded eagerly with sparkling eyes.

"Yes, of course. That's why we're proposing it."

Isamu replied with a smile.

"Oh! Thank you!! It's thanks to Wami-sama's hard work that we can live happily and peacefully like this. We haven't been able to repay him for anything until now, but with this, we can finally return a little favor to Wami-sama..."

Gil expressed his gratitude with tears in his eyes.

"Then, if there's a copy of the memoir available, could I borrow it? There was quite a detailed depiction of the cait-sith, and I thought it could be useful as a reference."

"I see! In that case, we don't have a copy of the memoir, but there's a separate volume that gathers depictions of cait-sith. Please feel free to take that."

"Huh... There's a separate volume?"

Isamu was taken aback by the extent of the fascination with cait-sith, but realizing that if he himself had left Orihime behind to come here, he couldn't really say anything and chuckled awkwardly.

"Certainly. It's quite a distance to the viscount territory, and we're planning to explore the ruins starting tomorrow, so please allow us a little time."

"Yes, that's no problem at all. But, Matsumoto-dono, are you going into the ruins?"

"Yes. It was the same with the magic stove, but depending on the combination of magic circles, we might be able to create another functioning magical item."

Isamu replied with a safe response, avoiding mention of searching for readable magic circles.

"I see... In that case, I have something good for you. Pietro, could you bring copies of volumes 21 and 22 of Wami-sama's travelogue?"

"Certainly."

Pietro left to retrieve the travelogue. It seemed to be quite a lengthy epic if it had at least 22 volumes.

"Here you go."

Gil handed the travelogue to Isamu, who flipped through it briefly.

"Yes, this is it. Did you know that in his later years, Wami-sama traveled the world?"

"Yes. I heard he was searching for cait-sih somewhere."

"Yes. At first, he traveled to cities all over the world, but after he had roughly visited them all, he started to explore ruins as well. Volumes 21 and 22 are about his visits to ruins near Innotia. They also include maps, so please take them with you for exploration."

What a surprise to have maps of the ruins.

"What!? Is it really okay to give us such valuable things??"

"Yes. We don't delve into ruins ourselves, and this must be fate in some way. This won't be enough to repay our gratitude to cait-sith-sama's appearance, but..."

"No, no, this is extremely helpful! Thank you so much!"

"If it makes you happy, then that's all that matters. If you need anything for your exploration, don't hesitate to ask. We handle a wide range of things." 

Thus, after settling the discussion about the workshop site and labor force, and unexpectedly gaining the treasure of ruins maps in exchange for making a life-size caith-sith stuffed animal, Isamu and the others set out to explore the ruins said to be in the Rock Desert.

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