“Oh? Arisa? Sorry, but there aren’t any sellable materials today.”
“Nah nah, that ain’t it. More important — that there sounded like a mighty DELICIOUS business opportunity yer discussin’.”
“So these carrots really would sell for stupid money?”
“Produce ain’t exactly my department, so I can’t quote ya exact figures… but the answer’s a yes. Actually, scratch that — it’s ALL the vegetables Tatsuya-bro grows, across the board.”
“Meaning?”
“Remember what ya fed me the other day… them prototype cherry tomatoes? Sweeter than apples, those.”
Ah, right — the batch where I maxed out the sugar content with Seed Creation.
“Factorin’ in rarity? To some gourmet noble, negotiated right… their weight in GOLD ain’t even a fantasy price.”
Hmm.
Apparently my vegetables really are certified dangerous goods.
“So — starting next time, we funnel the surplus vegetables to a human town. That work?”
“Nah, see, it ain’t that simple.”
“Meaning?”
“Even haulin’ just the hides an’ tusks an’ bones — no meat — is backbreakin’ work, y’know? I do it with a custom-made monster of a rucksack.”
“Ah, right — this forest officially counts as an ultra-difficulty dungeon, doesn’t it.”
“That’s the one. We’re talkin’ cart-haulin’ through land with no roads. Which means hirin’ high-rank adventurers as escort… an’ THAT means commission fees from a nightmare. Even for you, Tatsuya-bro, overhead ain’t free, y’hear?”
“Rich lecture on fees, coming from a certain someone’s rip-off arc.”
“Hey now, we AGREED not to bring that up…”
Arisa’s face crumpled and her fox ears drooped flat.
I heard the story afterward, for the record — turns out Arisa has a sick mother.
The reason for the rip-off was needing emergency money for treatment… that kind of situation.
Honestly, if she’d just TALKED to me, I’d have helped from the start.
The skimmed gold has already been returned, by the way.
In fact, lately Arisa has barely charged any fee at all — just actual expenses. I’ve had Maria verify the numbers, so that’s confirmed.
Working it off in free labor to square the books, basically.
…Not that she isn’t also aggressively eating free dinners here, mind you.
“So we’re back to running it into the demon realm through Cornelia’s connections?”
“‘Cept losin’ half-plus to middlemen is robbery, like ya said.”
Hmm… Arisa and I settled into a mutual brooding session.
Then Maria clapped her hands together.
“What about selling to the ELVES?”
Arisa sucked in a breath.
“THAT’S IT! Those folk are vegetarians! For Tatsuya-bro’s vegetables they’d pay STUPID money! They rake in fortunes sellin’ enchanted goods to humans at premium prices, an’ with that austere lifestyle o’ theirs, they’re sittin’ on MOUNTAINS of it!”
At that, Ouroboros tilted her head.
“The elves are a congregation of isolationists. Self-styled ‘sages of the forest’ — a proudly solitary race that avoids all unnecessary contact with humans and Lady Cornelia alike. Would they truly accept… a brand-new trade route?”
“THAT part, my negotiation skills’ll handle. Though honestly — one bite o’ the vegetables an’ the negotiation’s over, I reckon.”
“Oi oi, ‘negotiation skills’… YOU’RE planning to broker this?”
“Course I am! Look around — what’ve we got here? A palm-top rabbit who don’t know the world, an’ a buncha demon-realm ARISTOCRATS. I’m the only one in this house with workin’ commoner sensibilities!”
…She has a point, actually.
Maria and Ouroboros are demon-realm nobility. Sonya’s interests begin and end at carrots.
And I’m not even FROM this world.
“Alright, fine. You handle the talks, then.”
Arisa broke into a face-splitting grin.
“BUT — I’m chargin’ a fee!”
“You are truly incorrigible, you know that?”
I smiled wryly; Arisa thumped her chest theatrically.
“No more rip-offs, promise! Yer ridin’ on a LUXURY LINER now — sit back an’ relax!”