SIEG-SAN HAS ARRIVED ②

“Welcome, thank you for visiting.”
“Thank you for having us.”

We were once again lead to the central house.
Just like last time, we will be doing business negotiations here.

However, the person sitting in front of me this time wasn’t Aria-san, but the woman who served beside her last time.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I had not introduced myself the previous time. My name is Milia.”
“How polite. Allow me to introduce myself again, I am the merchant called Sieg.”

I bowed my head deeply.
I wonder why Milia-san came out this time instead of Aria-san though?

“Um, Aria-san is…”
“I should start with that. *Elder Aria has decided to give her undivided attention to farming since spring began. As such, trade and taxes have been left to me.”
“Aah, I understand.”

I see.
Normally, the village chief does various things, but in small villages like this, there are times when the work is divided.
Besides, based on Margravine-sama’s words, the women of this village have become mistresses to the alchemist.
They might have divided work just like a family does within itself.

“I see, I get it now. Still I must say, you phrased that masterfully. Have you even trained your skills somewhere before?”
“…Just a little, a long time ago.”

“…I see.”

There was a pause before her answer.
Bringing up the past might be taboo in her case.
I should ask about her from Margravine-sama herself.

“Before negotiations, I would like to hand over an introductory letter from Margravine-sama.”
“An introductory letter?”

I take out the letter handed by Margravine-sama.
After taking a peak at the seal pressed on the letter, she takes it in her hands and gets up.

“There is no doubt this is Margravine-sama’s crest. I can’t make that judgement myself however, so please wait for a moment.”
“I am waiting.”

She leaves from the only door to the room.
The fact that we were left here on our own here implies that they either trust us, or believe we won’t be able put up much of a fight against them.
I’d like to believe the former.

In any case, Aria-san is surely inside this house.

Regardless of whether she’s trusted or not, Milia-san couldn’t possibly open a letter from the Margravine on her own.
Moreover, just by taking a quick glance at it, she understood that the family crest stamped on the envelope belonged to Margravine-sama.
Surely she must have had a proper education.

“Sieg-san, our negotiating partner seems to have changed, but is that fine?”

“Yes. It’s a common occurrence. It won’t be a problem with just this much.”

Raquel-san questions right after Milia-san excuses herself.
Even for him, deals made in this village are a matter of life and death.

No one would want to hire someone who has been removed from the Margravine’s care.

If something went wrong and we were removed from this job, we would either have to move to another country, or change our names and find a different occupation.
That would be difficult for them.

In fact, when he heard me declared that there was no problem, he bluntly stroked his chest.

“Is that so. So it’s a common occurrence.”
“Yeah. That person named Aria was too honest and didn’t seem to suited for business. I expected her to be exchanged sooner or later.”
“I see.”

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As if in agreement that Aria-san was not suited for business, Raquel-san recovered quickly.
Well, Aria-san reacted very differently to each product during the previous negotiations.
In contrast, Milia-san was observing the negotiations from behind last time, but I didn’t see a change in her expression.

She would be a tough nut to crack while negotiating, but we have no choice but to trade honestly with them.
The less Milia-san gets swayed by her emotions, the less there will be to argue about later.

“Thank you for being patient.”
“It has been a long time, Sieg-san.”

Milia-san returned with Aria-san at her side.

“We have confirmed the authenticity of the introductory letter. The Margravine tells us to exclusively trade with you.”
“We too are to trade only with your village, so please let us know anything you may need from now on. I will have it prepared as long it is within my ability.”

I bow my head deeply.

As I turn to look at Aria-san, I see her making a troubled expression.

“? Is something wrong?”
“Umm, Is Sieg-san fine with that?”
“”Fine”?”
“Isn’t it more profitable to trade with various places rather than just with us? Margravine-sama is soft on me, so if she is forcing you I can request her not to… “

It seems that Aria-san was worried about me.
Despite being responsible for military-grade materials, is it fine for her to lower her guard this much?
No, that must be why I was chosen exclusively.

“Not at all. Just with the sale of last time’s Earth Extract, we were able to make years worth of profit, so Aria-san has nothing to worry about.”
“Is that so.”
“We shall make an even larger profit from here on so in fact, it’s me who would like to request you.”

Aria-san pats her chest in relief.

Milia-san didn’t show a hint of surprise in her expression.
Perhaps, she already had some idea regarding the situation.
Well, anyone would realize Earth Extract can be used as military supplies once they gave it some thought.

In that sense, I’m glad that Milia-san came to the fore.

“Ah, that’s right. Margravine-sama had entrusted me with one more letter for Aria-san.”
“For me?”

Aria-san had finally appeared.
I might as well hand her the letter for the tournament.

“Here.”
“This is!”

Aria-san leaves the room and heads inside without excusing herself, after widening her eyes.
We stare at her back in shock.
To be honest, I had a bad feeling about this.
As if she thought similarly, Milia-san gave a restrained laugh.
She must have realized that it was an invitation to the tournament as well.

“…I apologize. Can we postpone the trade negotiations for tomorrow?”
“Yes. I believe that is appropriate.”

We reserved one of the empty houses in the village for one night, and thus ended the first day of negotiations.

 

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* – Village head Aria sounded too long so I shortened it this way.

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