“Mr. Antom, thank you for everything. The inn where we stayed yesterday and the day before was truly wonderful.”

“I’m very glad to hear you enjoyed it. Likewise, I hope we can continue to have a good relationship going forward.”

On the morning of the second day after arriving in the town of Eibra, we were setting off once again on the road to the royal capital.

Mr. Antom, the Adventurer’s Guild Master in this town, and his staff even came to see us off at the town entrance. Since the goods purchased through the Outdoor Shop ability are also distributed in this town, we would certainly like to maintain a good relationship as well.

“For now, we’ve confirmed that sugar can be extracted from Belmarcon, but let’s put that matter on hold for now.”

Rocking in the carriage pulled by Sleip, we discuss the Belmarcon we confirmed yesterday.

“Sugar-related monopolies are troublesome. It doesn’t seem like any single company is monopolizing it right now, but even so, we should handle it carefully.”

“As Lange said, sugar is handled by several merchant companies, and the high price is due to its rarity, so it can't be helped.”

According to what we heard from Mr. Antom yesterday and what we gathered around the town, it seems that sugar is indeed handled by multiple merchant associations. And the reason it is so expensive is because the plant used to produce sugar doesn’t grow well in this country’s climate and must be imported from faraway lands.

Now that I think about it, pepper in the old days also used to be expensive due to high transportation costs.

If it had been the case that one merchant group was illegally monopolizing sugar, I wouldn’t hesitate to spread the method for extracting sugar from Belmarcon far and wide, but since the high price has a legitimate reason, we need to consider the matter more carefully.

I’m thinking of tossing this issue to the higher-ups. Since we’re heading to the royal capital, if we can also secure Belmarcon there, maybe I can hand it off to the reliable Guild Master in the capital, Ms. Ruhail.

Just like Mr. Rizac, Ms. Ruhail is someone who genuinely cares about adventurers, so I can trust her.

“For now, I’ll check whether Belmarcon is available in the capital’s markets, and if so, I’ll talk to Ms. Ruhail about it.”

“Yes, I think that would be a good idea. As the Adventurer’s Guild Master, I’m sure she’ll help us come up with a great solution.”

“If we leave it to the Guild Master, we can rest easy.”

Since Berna and Ferry usually take requests from the Adventurer’s Guild in the capital, they’ve known Guild Master Ruhail for a long time. If those two say it’s okay, then it probably is.

...When it comes to talking about Belmarcon, I’m torn on whether I should bring up the plant encyclopedia, the monster encyclopedia, and the maps. Actually, I’ve created a simplified version of the capital’s map based on the map I bought there last time.

By copying the detailed map sold in Al-Flare and turning it into a simplified version, I’ve been planning to let it circulate among the town’s Adventurer’s Guilds under the guise of a traveling merchant who happened to obtain it.

Maps and encyclopedias, like compasses, are useful and can even be life-saving. I really wanted to provide dangerous information for free if necessary. Like with Mr. Rizac and Mr. Patrice in Al-Flare, it’s an option to tell the truth and accept compensation, but that also increases risk… It’s a tough call.

“Tetsuya, I never get bored being around you! Man, I can’t wait to see Ms. Ruhail again!”

“………………”

Come to think of it, Lange kept saying over and over that he wanted to see Ms. Ruhail again after meeting her for the first time when we left the capital. Well, knowing Lange, I doubt he’ll cause any real trouble...

“Alright, dinner is ready. Since we bought a lot of Belmarcon in Eibra, I decided to use it in today’s cooking.”

After safely traveling the planned distance for the day, we arrived at our camping spot. While everyone prepared the camp, Fia and Angel helped me, and together we finished making tonight’s dinner.

I was curious what Belmarcon would taste like when used in its original form as a vegetable, rather than for sugar production, so I decided to give it a try.

“First, here’s a salad made from thinly sliced raw Belmarcon.”

Thanks to the upgraded Outdoor Shop ability, I could now buy a combined outdoor peeler and slicer, which made preparing salads much easier.

This tool is incredibly convenient, so I’ll probably line it up on the shelves of the new shop once it opens.

“...Yeah, it’s slightly sweet and has a crisp texture. It goes well in a salad.”

“Right, it complements the other vegetables too. Not bad eaten raw.”

“The dressing on the vegetables is delicious too!”

It seems both Dolph and Angel found it to their liking.

Now that we have soy sauce, I tried making a soy sauce-based dressing, and it turned out quite well. As expected, having more seasonings and spices really expands the range of dishes we can make—it’s a wonderful thing.