Kaho seemed dispirited by our reactions. “You’re absolutely unwilling to sell, then? We can pay market price. We would truly appreciate it if you were willing to allow us to pay in installments, however.”
“Well, it’s not that we’re unwilling to sell you the bags,” I said. “It’s that if we do, there’s a risk of encroaching on the rights and interests of nobles. I’m pretty sure we won’t get in trouble if we just keep them for our own use, but if we sell them to anyone else, we might make some enemies.”
Now that Viscount Nernas had become our patron, I was pretty sure he would deter other nobles from trying to control us or force us to make magic bags for them. Still, I had the distinct feeling that a mere viscount wouldn’t be able to shield us from pressure completely if we were to start selling magic bags, what with the potential profits.
For some reason, Kaho’s eyes went wide with shock. “A-Are you implying that we need to join your harem if we truly desire to obtain magic bags, Nao?! What a foul and evil demand! But I suppose we have no alternative. I am willing to offer myself up as a sacrifice, but pray be merciful and spare the others—”
“Hold on, that doesn’t make any sense at all, Kaho!” Yoshino exclaimed.
“Yeah, that’s right! As an elf, I’d make a far more fitting sacrifice!” Sae interjected. “U-Um, just kill me!”
“No, it is I who must be sacrificed,” said Kaho. “Also, Sae, you’re no good at playing an elf in peril, so don’t bother.”
“You’re not trying to sacrifice yourselves on the behalf of our party, Kaho!” said Yoshino. “You’re actually just trying to get ahead!”
“Whoa, the Jade Wings: Best Friends Forever concept is vanishing right before our eyes,” said Yuki.
“It’s probably just beginning to sink in how difficult it’s going to be for each of them to find a partner,” said Haruka.
“Well,” said Natsuki, “if your priority is to marry a decent man, then the soundest strategy is probably to retire from adventuring as soon as you have adequate savings.”
“Boy, you sure are popular, Nao-san,” said Mary. “I guess it makes sense.”
“Yeah, duh,” said Metea. “Big bro Nao seems like somebody who could take care of a girl.”
I had to raise my voice to bring a halt to all of this—the Jade Wings girls’ inexplicable quarreling and, in parallel, the calm discussion taking place between the girls in my party. “Man, I can’t believe you’re all acting as if this has nothing to do with any of you! Or rather, stop! I never said anything about a harem!”
And you, Touya—don’t just sit there smirking like this has nothing to do with you! Granted, it would be worse if you jumped in and dragged this conversation in an even more awkward direction...
“What I’ve been trying to say,” I went on, “is that it’s probably fine to lend magic bags to people who belong to the same group we do!”
“Hmm? Even though we have a party of our own? Ah—I take it you mean something like a clan system, then?”
Kaho nodded to herself, but the members of my own party didn’t seem to be following.
“A clan system? What do you mean?” Haruka asked.
“I have in mind the sort of clan formed by multiple adventuring parties in certain games,” Kaho replied.
“Oh, I see,” said Haruka. “Yes, I think that could work.”
“Really? We would definitely appreciate it, but I assume you probably have some conditions,” Yoshino said. “Like, there’s no way you’d lend us something that valuable with no strings attached, right?”
Given that it was Yoshino who’d attempted to confirm the particulars rather than leaping at Haruka’s offer, it seemed she was responsible for negotiating on behalf of the entire party. It would probably be fine for us to lend some of the bags we’d made to people we trusted, but...
“Your party is powerful enough that if you’re willing to become our buddies and lend us a hand when we need it, I personally feel like that’s a fair exchange,” I said. “What do you think, Haruka?”
Haruka paused in thought but quickly made up her mind.
“The first condition is that you must make Laffan your base of operations,” she said. “The second is that you must pay us ten percent of your earnings. Too many problems could arise if we lent them to you for free. Are those conditions acceptable to you?”
“Um, that actually seems really favorable to us,” said Yoshino. “I’m completely okay with those conditions.”
“I am as well,” said Sae. “With magic bags, we’d be able to carry back more of the monsters we slay, and we could also bring all sorts of useful equipment into the field, which we haven’t been able to because of space constraints. We’d be a lot more efficient at our work.”
In spite of expressing their satisfaction with Haruka’s offer, Yoshino and Sae looked a little doubtful.
“It’s not as if we intend to extort you,” Haruka said with a shrug. “Please just keep the details of the rental fee a secret from other people.”
“It would greatly please us to accept your offer, but I fear one problem remains to consider, videlicet, how much money we can earn here in Laffan,” said Kaho. “Taking into account expenses like lodging, we aren’t currently able to make a respectable living.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” said Yoshino. “We like the peaceful and pleasant atmosphere here, but we were able to earn a lot more money during our time back in Kiura.”
“Mm, there aren’t many quests available in Laffan,” said Natsuki. “But that being the case, what was your party’s original plan?”
“Our original objective was just to come here and meet your party, so we hadn’t really decided on anything specific beyond that,” said Yoshino. “Well, I guess we did talk about wanting to get to at least Rank 4, since we were curious about the dungeon, but that’s about it.”
“Oh, going into the dungeon was one of your goals, huh?” Yuki folded her arms and pondered. “There are actually some reasons that that might be difficult for your party.”
“Really?” Yoshino asked, looking confused. “We’re currently Rank 3 adventurers, but we’ll be able to enter the dungeon once we make it to Rank 4, won’t we?”
“That’s the guild’s general rule for dungeons, yeah, but there aren’t that many quests in Laffan even once you rank up. Honestly, we only made it to Rank 5 because of a combo of good and bad luck. Also, we actually own the rights to the dungeon and the land around it, so even once you rank up, you can’t legally enter.”
“Huh?!” Kaho was so surprised that she shot to her feet and leaned toward Yuki. “What precisely do you mean by that? Is it truly possible to obtain ownership of a dungeon?”