Alternate Reality Mukouda (Part 4)
The Merchant (For real this time)
“Thank you for escorting me,” I said with a bow to the Adventurers I had hired to escort me to Feenan. They were a pretty standard team consisting of a charismatic all-rounder leader, a light-footed scout, a slightly reckless swordsman, an elderly wizard and a gorgeous healer.
It was pretty fun travelling with them and seeing how they function. The wizard and very nice healer stayed with me at all times while the others moved about, checking the road ahead and taking out monsters that got in our way sight unseen.
It was during this trip that I found out about [Net Super]’s buff-providing products. Fortunately, everyone attributed the extra energy and ‘enthusiasm’ to having freshly made and delicious meals…
Yeah, let’s say it’s just that.
Haha.
Anyway.
Travelling on foot was slow going but enjoyable enough, kind of like an extended hiking and camping trip. It was also great fun to see an Adventure party in action. Naturally, everyone looked forward to meal times the most, even me.
I did my best to keep the buffs at a minimum by telling them that I had run out of meat, but it was kind of sad to just eat mostly bread and vegetables. Thankfully, the party took down a Red Boar on the second day and we had meat aplenty!
I mean, they were going to leave most of the meat behind after collecting about two days’ portions, but since I have my [Item Box]…
To make a long story short, I made all kinds of delicious pork-based dishes after that. Ginger-fried Pork Slices on bread, pork soup with root vegetables, Pork & Cabbage Stir-fry, Pork Bone Soup which I simmered over a low fire all night which attracted some rabbit monsters which the party took down quickly.
By the way, I don’t know why I was shocked to find out that these Horned Rabbits were omnivores. The most important point about these rabbits was that their meat was rather tough and gamey, not at all good compared to the Red Boar, but hey, extra meat!
The trip was mostly uneventful, except for that one time when the scout, a cute girl named Rita, came running back with the news that she had discovered a band of Goblins up ahead.
I was immediately anxious, mostly because the team looked a little worried. I put up a hand and asked, “Um, is that a problem…”
“No,” said Werner-san immediately.
“Yup, we can take ’em,’ said Vincent.
“Do not worry, Mukouda-san. Ramon and I shall stay with you at all times,” said Franca comfortingly.
Frankly, that made me even more anxious.
“Um, don’t you need magic support help or something?” I said.
“It’s fine, I can support them from a distance,” said Ramon.
“As a healer, my role comes after a fight,” said Franca.
“I- I see…” I said. “Um, will you guys be going right away?”
“Rita?” Werner asked.
“Well, they are about half a day’s walk away. So, we might not even see them,” said Rita.
“In that case, let us take a brief break now,” said Werner. “If they are a roving band, it is our job to take them out. However, it is difficult to gauge the number of roving bands of Goblins. So, let’s be prepared.”
“I-in that case, let’s have a good meal!” I immediately said, “Um, so, I’ve been saving this, but let’s have some for lunch!”
‘This’ was a large bag of sausages I had kept back after discovering their buffing ability. However, since the party will be going into a fight soon, let’s eat them now!
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After lunch, Werner and Vincent set out, with Rita backing them up from the back. I had also convinced Ramon to support them, after promising to stay hidden in a tree with Franca.
Ms. Franca was shockingly good at tree climbing by the way. As for myself, I managed to climb up with a little boost from Vincent.
“Woah, check these out, it feels like something’s guiding my aim!” Rita exclaimed.
“I’m super strong todday!” Vincent howled. The annoyingly good-looking knight brandished his sword with a grin. “This is awesome.”
“It’s amazing what a good meal could for one’s abilities,” said Werner-san thoughtfully as he weighed the slightly bloody bag in his hand.
I cringed slightly at the bag. I was used to the sight of meat, blood and bones since the team butchered their own kills, but something told me that this was different.
“Er, not that I really want to know, but what’s in that bag…”
“Oh, these?” Vincent hefted his own bloody bag and grinned. “Monster kills had to be verified somehow. For Goblins, the standard practice is to take their left ears as proof.”
“Ah… I see…” I said a little faintly.
Lunch that day was vegetarian soup with salad bread and pasta in cream sauce. I can’t stand the idea of meat at that moment…
The rest of the trip went by with a similar vibe, with the biggest scuffle being against a large creature called Rock Bird. It was a close fight, but I was able to aid Franca in helping the team recover by giving them rich, meaty soup packed with minced [Net Super] bought meat.
I think by now the party must suspect something but… it’s not like they could verify anything. After all, it was not like they ever ate and drank so well ‘in the field’. Thus, their recovery was mostly attributed to the nutritious food that I gave them along with Franca’s excellent care.
By the way, I secretly gave Franca a couple of sweet, cream-filled bread to boost her magic a little. Because she looked exhausted and frankly speaking, I’d rather have the sole healer be healthy and fix up everybody else so that they could go back to protecting me, nothing else.
Yeah.
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Back to the present.
“No, no, the pleasure is all ours. Thank you for choosing us!” Rita said with a cheerful wave of her arms.
“Indeed, not only did we have a pleasant time on the road, but it was incredibly profitable too,” said Werner-san warmly.
“Er, thanks?” I said. I get the ‘pleasant’ time, but how is the trip profitable to them?
“Yes, thanks to your handy [Item Box], we were able to collect more monster parts than we could ever carry.”
“Oh…” I said weakly.
“Yeah! Man, [Item Boxes] are so convenient. What I’d give to get one.”
“Ah ha ha ha, well, I have the space since we took out all the other things…” I said.
“It was nice not having to smell the decomposing flesh on the way back,” said Franca with a sigh.
“Oi, that’s the smell of money!”
“Ugh…”
The party laughed, so I laughed along with them.
Hahaha, ahahaha…
They must never know. They may suspect a bit, but they must never know!!!
“So, uh, I’ll be going now…” I said, awkwardly doing my best to shuffle away discreetly.
That’s right, although these people are nice, it’s probably best for us to part ways now.
[Gumihou: After running through several scenarios, the only way Mukouda could be a ‘proper merchant’ is for Fer to not be in the picture at all. Sorry Fer]
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