Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyou Survival [WN] - Chapter 144.2
For now, I paid for two nights with a small gold coin and gave the rest of the money to the middle-aged woman as a deposit to pay for two days of meals and to keep her quiet. It might cost money, but Elena needed a safe place to sleep in order to regain her strength.
“…Aria, can you use this for money?”
Elena said this and held out a knife to me as we entered the room and were alone.
It was Elena’s suicide knife. It was a knife owned by a noblewoman, and as a royalty, Elena’s knife was embedded with jewels so that it could be converted into money in case of an emergency. I gently pushed the knife back to Elena, who had previously told me that it could be worth five large gold coins if sold in a decent store.
“I’m not in that much trouble yet. I’m sure we’ll need the money, but Elena can still hold on to it, so we could use it when it matters.”
“…I understand.”
Elena seemed to realize the meaning of my fumbled words. If two drifter women were to exchange such an expensive item for cash, it could attract someone’s attention. To use it, Elena would need a situation in which she could show her position to some extent, and she would need a proof to do so.
Understanding this, Elena clutched the knife tightly to her chest and nodded quietly.
“First, let’s decide on a policy.”
The objective was Elena’s return, but first we had to inform the Cleydale Kingdom that Elena was alive.
At least within three months. We had already decided to some extent on the way to this town, but we decided that it was impossible to borrow a magic tool for communication from the Adventurers’ Guild under the circumstances in this town. In the first place, the magical tools of communication were controlled by the state in every country, so it was highly unlikely that a merchant family, let alone a guild or a high-ranking noble family, would have them.
We were also considering the idea of asking a merchant who came to this town to accompany Elena to the Khalfaan Empire, but it would take a month one way from Khalfaan Empire to reach this town, and the merchant would have to be well-connected with the Kirli or Hogloss Trading Company.
If Elena’s identity was to be concealed, and she was to travel to Khalfaan, we considered the possibility of her being escorted as an adventurer, but if the one-way trip would take a month, she would probably need a dedicated escort.
Even if we were to head out on our own, a month each way would be a problem. There were no stops along the way, and Elena would not be able to maintain her strength if we attempted to cross the rocky terrain and desert all by ourselves.
Elena’s strength had decreased considerably in the last four days of travel alone. She looked fine in front of me, but she had been eating less the past few days, so I could not force her to do so.
“You should get some rest today. You haven’t slept much, have you? Let’s think about it tomorrow.”
“…Yes.”
Elena must have felt the limits of her physical strength because when I put [Clean] on the bed along with her, she sat down there quietly. I tried to help her change her clothes, since I was also an attendant at one point, but she was adamant that she would try to do it herself.
“Also, use this. I know it’s mine, and it’s bad, but it has some protection.”
“Oh, they’re Aria’s?”
I gave Elena a pair of thin mithril fiber tights and a garter belt made by Gelf, and I had a pair of mithril fiber innerwear, one white and one black, and I gave her the white one based on my own impression of her.
There was more, though, but Elena was frozen with a bright red face as she unfolded a small pair of silk underwear, also given to me by Gelf, that were tied at both sides with strings.
“I don’t think you’d want to wear mine…”
“No, that’s not it! But…”
I remembered that this form of underwear originated in Dandol and was only accepted by female adventurers and some noblewomen. Elena was wearing short drawers, as I recalled, so perhaps she was uncomfortable with the new form of underwear.
I looked at her to find out what to do, and Elena looked alternately at her underwear and at me several times, her face red up to her ears, and she turned over and muttered quietly, “I’m sorry, I don’t know how to wear it.”
“…Please help me with this.”
” I understand.”
***
The next morning we finished our meal with a stew of potatoes and beans brought by the innkeeper and headed for the Hogloss Trading Company, where adventurers gather.
The tavern master said the conditions were “relatively good”, but we could never be too careful. We were heading there partly to earn money, but most of all to put on a good face as adventurers.
To buy safety, you needed power and money. But if anyone other than dwarves showed strength, the Hogloss Trading Company would crush them. If they still wanted to show their power, we would have to establish another connection with the Kirli Trading Company.
If we showed our strength as adventurers and sold our face at the Kirli Trading Company, there was a possibility that they could accompany us to Khalfaan Empire.
So, we decided to gain this by making and selling medicine. According to what we heard from the innkeeper, the necessities of life in this town were expensive. It was difficult to prepare materials in the desert, and the Kirli Trading Company brought the potions they needed from the Khalfaan Empire, so it was said that ordinary people could not even use them properly.
However, a handwritten book that I had received from my Master, a Dark Elf living in this region, described the ingredients and creation methods for uncommon potions in this region, and I learned how to make them.
There were Dark Elves in this town as well, and in some instances they were making them that way, but because they were partially made from monster materials, it was hard to imagine that a Dark Elf who would be living in a town like this would be a better alchemist than Master.
As an adventurer, I could handle the requests discreetly and get the gold and materials.
I might need to create advanced potions with monster materials and make connections with the Kirli Trading Company, which would then be passed on to the adventurers to make it impossible for them to get in touch with us.
The problem was the two other groups involved. We couldn’t predict how they would act under the current circumstances. Not to mention that a young Mercenian woman stands out from the crowd, so there was a risk that we might get tangled up with them.
If the worst happened, and they got their hands on Elena, I would crush them.
“But Aria…isn’t this a place for adventurers?”
“Yes. But first, we need to prepare Elena’s equipment.”
The Hogloss Trading Company was an alternative to the Adventurers’ Guild, but it was basically a trading company.
All weapons, armor, and iron products in this town were all handled by the Hogloss Trading Company, so weapons and armor were naturally sold in the trading company’s buildings.
The dwarves of the Hogloss Trading Company refused to accept high-ranking adventurers of different races, probably because their presence would make it difficult for them to monopolize the materials. Even the dwarves in this exclusive land do business differently, and the store had a considerable selection of armor.
A space the size of a dance hall was lined with armor and weapons, but even a brief look around revealed no weapons as good as those made by Galbas.
The dwarves here were no longer blacksmiths like Galbas and Gelf, but mountain dwarves who, like Dalton, excelled at craftsmanship. More than that, the desert climate did not favor heavy weapons and armor, and most of them wore light, easy-to-move clothing for fighting in the sand, but for Elena’s choice of armor, it was adequate.
There was no armor with quality beyond what Gelf could provide, but I found a robe, cloak, bag, and boots made of demon material that would fit Elena, as well as a steel knife, which I purchased for ten small gold coins.
Elena was reluctant to spend money, given the current situation, but it was a necessary expense.
“Does it suit me…?”
Elena spins around and smiles, looking at the “adventurer’s” equipment, which she never had a chance to wear as a princess.
But then…
“What’s this? It’s a Mercenian girl. That’s unusual.”
“…”
We heard such a voice and turned around to see a friendly smiling Cruzian boy of our age, and from behind him, a slender Dark Elf boy, staring at us with a sharp gaze.
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