The high-priced items weren’t on display here, but what we did see were clearly quite a bargain.
Gems were often used in magic tools and for transmuting, and the scrap gems left over from that were really a steal—I’d have to buy a ton later.
“Sniff, sniff! I smell salt, sir!”
Pochi’s nose caught the scent of the ocean.
Blybrogha was on the coast.
“Been ages since I smelled the sea.”
“Pochi will take you there, sir! The salt is this way!”
She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the harbor.
“Master, I have found a familiar ship, I report.”
Nana was pointing at a big ship with sails and oars.
“……Weasels,” Liza growled. My “Keen Hearing” heard her.
That was a merchant ship from the Weaselman Empire. Lots of weasel merchants and crew were running around on deck. We’d seen weasel peddlers in many a land but had avoided direct contact with them.
I debated whether to say anything to Liza, but then we heard some unexpected screeching.
“Hey, you there!”
We turned to find Keri, from the Ussha Company—an acquaintance from back in Arcatia.
“What a coincidence, Keriko-tan,” Arisa said.
“Yes, so it—what the hell is a Keriko-tan?! My name is Kerina Gure! Do not abbreviate, do not apply unorthodox honorifics!”
Keri responded amiably at first but soon realized what Arisa had done to her name and pounced on it.
“I thought you were headed back home?” she asked.
“We made a few stops along the way. How goes things in the fortress city?”
Keri gave us a few updates on Roro.
“Worried about her? She’s doing just fine. She had Tia backing her, and the puppy and golems keep her safe. And she has the hamsters, too!”
She was way ahead of us and told us all the details.
“Might you be Satou?”
As we renewed our friendship, this nation’s Prince Smartith spoke to me. By his side was Keri’s secretary, Tomali Toloole.
“Hmm, you’re acquainted with the Ussha girl?”
“Yes, Your Highness. We were business rivals in the fortress city of Arcatia.”
“Hngg?!”
My joke got her flustered, and she started hopping up and down, trying to clap a hand over my mouth.
“Ma’am, we are before royalty.”
“B-but, Tomali!”
Tomali Toloole put Keri in a hold, settling her down.
“Satou, you’ve met the prince before?”
“Indeed. I declared him an official Merrymaker!” Prince Smartith answered for me.
““A Merrymaker?!”” both girls cried as one.
Come to think of it, I’d heard that title bore considerable weight with leprechauns.
“I do beg your pardon,” Keri said, clutching her skirts. “I had no idea you were a Merrymaker, Lord Satou.”
“Please, don’t worry about it. Nothing you’ve done has ever bothered me.”
She looked visibly relieved and inexplicably hoisted her skirts.
Some sort of Blybrogha ladies’ greeting, like a curtsy?
“Go on.”
“What?”
“You intend to flip up my skirts, yes?”
Har?
“You aren’t?” she looked up at me through her lashes.
“I’m not,” I said, firmly.
I had no time for children’s pranks, and if I even joked about it, the iron wall would declare me guilty.
“If the lady does not suffice, my skirts are available,” Tomali Toloole joined in on this mess, shimmying her tight skirt up with a sexy gleam in her eyes.
“I am flipping no skirts.”
“Heavens, why not? Merrymakers are pranksters by nature!” Prince Smartith fumed.
Apparently, this was a requirement of the role.
That did explain why both leprechaun girls had suddenly gone wild.
“More importantly, Your Highness, I should warn you—”
Attempting to divert the discussion, I cautioned him about the demon activity in the neighboring countries.
Afterward, with Keri in tow, we went to the palace, where the prince and king welcomed us.
The main course of the banquet was the same Blybrogha whole caterpillar dish that I’d had over lunch with the Shiga prime minister, and it entirely rose to the occasion, delighting my tongue once more. Arisa tried to run at the sight of it, but I sliced it up so it didn’t look like bugs, and the smell tempted her into trying a bite—the exquisite flavor left her munching away with an anguished look on her face.
As the banquet went on, I rose from my seat to exchange pleasantries. Since I was the prince’s guest, a whole lineup of Blybrogha dignitaries and merchants came to introduce themselves.
“Many foreign guests balk at the caterpillars, so it was a real pleasure to see a look of appreciation on your face from the get-go, Sir Pendragon.”
“Indeed! I can see why the elf lady Misanaria allows you the honor of her company.”
“And why Prince Smartith bestowed the Merrymaker title upon you.”
All I’d done was enjoy a good meal, and that curried everyone’s favor.
The tourism minister did his job, telling me all about Blybrogha’s sights and wares. He even provided an introduction to a restaurant that required them.
“She-she-she, you’re a popular man, Sir Pendragon.”
A weasel merchant barged in, with an obsequious tone. He was wrapped up in clothing far too warm for this region—I assumed he was associated with the large ship in the harbor.
“A pleasure to meet you, Sir Pendragon. I am Torimisori for the Sahbe Company, a merchant from Dejima Island in the Weaselman Empire.”
“Sahbe Company has a store in Shiga as well, yes?”
“Indeed, the branch run by Homimudory.”
I thought as much.
“You’re selling manned golems and golem parts here as well?”
“She-she-she, and importing many other industrial goods and cleaning devices.”
This man’s tone bugged me enough that I double-checked my AR display to ensure he wasn’t possessed.
Industrial goods?
“I’m very curious how the Sahbe Company’s in-dust-trial goods are made,” said a Blybrogha minister, arms folded, scowling at the weasel merchant.
“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty. Even if you were to visit Dejima Island, touring the factories requires permission directly from the emperor’s brother—who rules over that island.”
“Hmm, so they are national secrets. I suppose one should expect as much from an empire of your size.”
I’d have liked to tour those places myself, but I imagined Liza would object to visiting a weasel-run country. I’d have to put it off.
“And what cleansing devices are these?”
“They purify miasma.”
“Like Holy Magic?”
“Not at all. They employ undisclosed means to absorb miasma into the device, removing it from their surroundings. Extracting that miasma is a free service, part of the maintenance package.”
“I imagine those would sell to any country bordering the Jungle Labyrinth—even Arcatia itself.”
“She-she-she, naturally, they are our best clients.”
The fortress city already had several cleansing devices, so I wasn’t sure they’d need any more—and performing maintenance deep in the labyrinth was a lot to ask.
“Sir Pendragon—,” the weasel began, but as he spoke—all lights in the hall went out.
A stir ran through the room, but more voices cheered—likely an event.
“Ladies and gentlemen, are you pranking each other?!”
A bizarrely dressed leprechaun gentleman appeared in a spotlight.
Seriously?
This handsome older fellow was Prince Smartith’s father—the king.
“It’s time for a pie fight!”
“““Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”””
The lights came back on, and the tables around us were now covered in cream pies.
A pie came flying in from behind, so I dodged—and it hit the weasel in the face. I backstepped to avoid the cream splatter, moving over to where Nana was using a bowl and candelabra to defend the party.
“Don’t play with fooood?”
“Exactly, sir! Pies are for eating, sir!”
Each time Nana batted a pie out of the air, Tama and Pochi caught it, and Liza put it away in her Fairy Pack.
We were having lots of cream pie for snacks tomorrow.
“Honestly, playing with food? The leprechaun king should repent,” Liza said.
“Mm,” Mia agreed.
“They’re pretty good, but a bit cloying.”
“Perhaps because of the butter in the cream?”
Arisa and Lulu were sampling the pies.
LYURYU!
The smell of them lured Lyuryu out of Pochi’s pendant, and it caught a cushion-size pie with its body, burying its head in the sweetness.
“The sweetness is definitely cloying. Are they using honey instead of sugar?”
I’d taken a bite while using Magic Hand to back Nana up.
The back half of the cream pie fight was all focused on firing on Nana, who’d yet to take a hit, but she emerged triumphantly cream-free.
Impressed, the king swore he would award her a medal and the title Defense Lord, but Mia and the beast girls wound up giving him a lecture on playing with food instead.
Good thing he wasn’t the sort of king to punish disrespect.
✦ ✦ ✦
We spent a few days sightseeing in Blybrogha, acquiring a lot of gemstones and silver. The merchants Prince Smartith introduced me to allowed me to acquire top-shelf flower teas, so I was thoroughly pleased.
“How’s Roro holding up?” Arisa asked, as I took a look at the fortress city with Space Magic.
“Still doing great.”
The Hero’s Rest was booming, and Roro, her staff, and the hamsters were run ragged, but she seemed to be making the most of it.
Every now and then someone would make a false complaint, but puppy Fen and the ex-adventurers on staff drove them off. If they tried to wield authority, Tovan could handle it, and if he couldn’t, then they’d turn to Tia, who’d happily lend them a hand.
✦ ✦ ✦
