Volume 7 prologue (1/2)

We had returned to Avalon.

Upon arriving, I asked the Mythological Foxes working as maids to guide Stolas and Enlil the Bahamut to my secondary residence near the First Tree.

Afterwards, I listened to the report of the Dwarf Smith who was entrusted with the defense of Avalon while I was gone. This Dwarf Smith was also Duke's adjutant.

I had thought that the enemy was aiming for me to go to Stolas's dungeon so that they could attack Avalon, but as it turned out, that worry was unnecessary.

I also asked the intelligence corps left behind, but it would appear that nothing was out of the ordinary.

Like that, I walked toward the shops.

It was in order to give the monsters that participated in the last fight their rewards.

Recently, Avalon had become so famous that there was a new shop almost every day.

It was to the point that each time I visited the shopping districts, there was a new product to surprise me.

At any rate, as their reward, I had given each of the participants of this fight a sum of money that could be called huge. If they couldn't find anything they wanted or they still had money left over, it was fine for them to keep whatever change was left. Alternatively, if ever that amount was not enough, I had told them to find me so that I could give them more.

With that, everyone split up and enjoyed their shopping.

”Oto-san, look, look! Does it look cute?”

Kuina was the first to come back and find me. She was wearing a black dress which I guessed she had just bought.

In her adult, grown-up form, the dress suited her.

”It's very cute. You look like a nobleman's daughter.”

”Yay ♪ Kuina fell in love at first sight with this dress”

She truly was in a good mood. Seeing her like that, even I became happy.

”Oto-san, Kuina still has a lot of money left and still wants to buy clothes. So, come with Kuina and choose the clothes Kuina will buy next!”

”Okay, okay, don't pull so hard.”

Kuina pulled on my arm until we reached her favorite clothing store.

After I chose a light pink dress with frills, Kuina bought it. Soon thereafter, she left while holding the dress as though it was some kind of treasure.

Seeing her in such a good mood, it would be impossible to believe she was sulking earlier.

After parting ways with Kuina, I resumed walking in the shopping districts. There, I found Aura. She was purchasing dubious-looking chemicals and materials from some kind of alchemy shop.

Many adventurers were stopping by in the city, so there was demand for such a shop. Additionally, because of the merchants flying to and from all parts of the world, these shops could obtain whatever ingredient they need at whatever time. As a result of such things, before I knew it, famous alchemists and blacksmiths were migrating one after the other to Avalon and were opening their own shops.

And since they were trying to outdo one another, Avalon was gradually becoming famous for their craft.

For alchemists and blacksmiths, being in an environment where they could obtain whatever material from wherever in the world right away so long as they had money was invaluable.

And then, since these alchemists and blacksmiths needed their own workshops and stores, there was a demand for builders as well. To take it further, the more people visit or migrate here for the merchant's goods or the alchemists and blacksmiths' products or whatever, the more the demand for necessities and other such things increase.

If left alone in such a cycle, I was sure that Avalon would develop on its own. That was definitely great, but since I would then have freed up time, I was thinking of opening an amusing store we could directly manage.

”Aura, if you need those for potion making, you don't have to use your reward money. If you find the monthly budget for that not enough, we can always increase it.”

In the beginning, Aura had to source materials for her potion development by herself, but now, there were merchants that we could buy those materials from. Using their network, they could obtain any material from any part of the world.

”These are for potion making, sure, but to be specific, potions that are for my hobby. There's no way I can use the monthly budget for my own hobby. That would be embezzlement, wouldn't it?”

Aura was oddly firm and unyielding on this subject.

After hearing her speak though, I had a dreadful hunch.

The potions that Aura made were significant additions to Avalon's arsenal. From time to time though, she would also make something absurd as part of her hobby. Examples of such were: aphrodisiacs; perfumes that would make animals fond of the user; and a potion for increasing the levels of female hormones up to a hundred times, making even a man become a fine woman.

To make it worse, she wasn't just making them. She was also selling them for some pocket money. Occasionally, her products were the cause of some kind of trouble.

”……do it in moderation, okay?”

”Of course! Also, recently, I got this amazing and rare book. It's titled Curaga. If read normally, it would be about food recipes, but if a cipher was used, a lot of amazing things can be found. Some of which were fantastic potion recipes that would make a bloodthirsty potion maker question themselves. They're very much worth the research!”

It's better to not ask.

I chose to believe she wouldn't make anything truly dangerous.

After talking some more with Aura, I left that shop.

”Ah! Patron, over here, over here. I ran out of money. I need a lot more!”

This time, it was the blue-haired otherworld songstress, R'lyeh Diva, that called out to me.

If anyone was ever going to go over the budget, I had thought it was this fellow.

The amount of money I gave my subordinates this time as their reward was roughly equivalent to about half the average yearly income of a citizen residing in our city. If that amount was not enough, the thing they were going to buy must have been something absolutely unbelievable.

”…is this what you want? Is this really it?”

”Yes, yes, absolutely yes! So, buy it for me, patron”

In perhaps an attempt to curry favor, she confirmed so while embracing my arm.

Avalon had an overabundance of silver in stock thanks to the [Mine], so the price wasn't a problem at all. The issue lied with what Ruru—the nickname for R'lyeh Diva—wanted to buy itself: a skull of a monster I was not familiar with.

”What will you use this for?”

”They say that if you grind it, boil it, and then drink it, it would do wonders for your throat. It's a legendary medicine. And I'm a singer, aren't I? If they say it's good for the throat, I have to buy it. I can feel magic power from it too, so I don't think it's a scam.”

Just as she said, there was magic power emanating from the skull. It wasn't the malicious kind either. Rather, it was magic power that was pure and clear. If it was said that the skull was good for the body, I would agree.

”Well, make sure to use all of it and not waste any.”

”Of course, patron”

With a sigh, I handed over the payment.

I never thought a platinum coin would ever be used in a relatively small-time store.

Thankfully, I carried one around for caution's sake.

”To thank you, patron, why don't I sing for you an extraordinary song? If you want, I can even sing it while we're in bed.”

”I'll listen to it properly, instead. How about in that bar you frequent?”

”Tsk, such a boring answer. Still, thank you. In the fight before last, I had sung too much and it damaged my throat. I'm hoping this might mend it.”

After placing a kiss on my cheek, she put the skull on top of her head and then headed out while skillfully spinning and dancing.

”…I was sure she just wanted something expensive, but I guess she really wanted that thing, huh.”