The Neighborhood High School Girl, Miss Isezaki, Is the Great Saintess Returned from Another World~ And I, Suddenly Awakened as Her Exclusive Mana Supply Uncle, Travel Between Earth and Another World with Time-Space Magic~ - 226. Return to the Capital City After a While

226. 226. Return to the Capital City After a While

“Haa… I see. So that guy Shouda really did screw things up, huh…”

Mr. Juuzou sighed in exasperation. 

Right after I sold the potion, I came straight to report to Mr. Juuzou.

“Yeah, well, that’s right… So, Shouda-san offered to act as a mediator for potion customers. But what do you think about that, Juuzou-san?”

“Let’s see… Hmm, if Shouda was the one who brought it up, it’s probably best to leave it to him. He’s twisted, but he’s also a capable man. When someone’s useful, you use them.”

“Umm, well… I kind of feel bad saying this about someone you know, but… is it really okay to trust Shouda-san?”

Honestly, I’m nothing but anxious. But unlike me, Mr. Juuzou answered with a hearty laugh.

“Hahaha, I don’t blame you for thinking that, Matsunaga-kun. But Shouda isn’t the kind of man to betray someone he’s acknowledged. I guarantee it. Besides, now that he’s healthy again, he’s probably bored too. So go ahead and use him as much as you like.”

“R-Right…”

So this is what they mean by a man of great character, huh? 

I’m really impressed by how generous Mr. Juuzou is, but still… it doesn’t erase my anxiety.

I don’t even feel like I’ve been acknowledged. And besides, Mr. Shouda totally looks like a stereotypical narrow-eyed schemer. He’s just screaming betrayal flag. 

I know these things.

…That said, it’s exhausting to keep dealing with quirky old men going forward. 

Selling potions while triggering these kinds of events every time would probably give me stomach ulcers from stress. I just want to make money as easily as possible.

――And so, in the end, I made a U-turn back to Mr. Shouda’s hospital room and asked him to act as the mediator.

By the way, the hospital room was already full of cigarette smoke. 

Even if you’ve got potions, please take care of your health first.

◇◇◇

The next day. 

Instead of going for the usual materials transport job, I teleported to the other world for personal reasons. 

Colin and Isezaki-san had just come back from school. So they also came with me.

Our destination was the capital city—Dornesia Trading Company. 

It’s the famous merchant company specializing in monster materials. It was the one that helped me out when I sold the Earth Dragon before.

Lately, I’ve been running low on my stock of monster meat that supports my diet. 

They sell monster meat at Reymar Trading Company in Grandain too. But when it comes to variety, the specialist Dornesia Company has the better selection.

The landlady said she wants to eat something unusual too. So I figured we might as well come over here.

“――Matsunaga-sama and madam! It’s been a while! What kind of monster have you brought today????”

As soon as we were led into the reception room by the receptionist, the one who came right away was the plump middle-aged man—Mr. Carant, the head of Dornesia Trading Company.

(Note: Refer to C74 for the their first encounter with Carant.)

“A-Ah, no, we’re not here to sell today. We’re here to buy…”

“Fweh, is that so…!? Haaaaa…”

Mr. Carant slumped his shoulders and shrank his big body in disappointment. 

Looks like, since I brought an Earth Dragon before, both he and the receptionist got their hopes up.

But seeing him that sad made me feel kind of bad, so…

“I do have a little something I could sell…”

“Oh! What is it, what kind of meat!?”

I remembered something I had. And when I told him, Mr. Carant perked right up and leaned his face in close. 

He really does love monsters, huh.

“It’s a Treant. I managed to get a bit of it the other day.”

It was the corpse of the Treant that attacked us when I climbed the mountain with Maristel. 

Apparently, it sells for a good price. And Isezaki-san—who didn’t know that—got teased about it.

Seems like she remembered that, too. As she scrunched her eyebrows with a deep frown.

“Oho, a Treant! I’m very interested! May I see it right away? Come, come, right this way! Come, come, come!”

Urged on by Carant, we headed over to the unusually large marble table set up at the edge of the reception room.

Even though the reception room was lavishly decorated, this table had a rugged design and kind of stood out—but I guess this is what it’s used for.

Impressed, I started laying out the Treant corpse from my [Storage Space]. 

Of course, I couldn’t put everything on it. But it should be enough for just a look.

“Treants aren’t that strong. But they have a certain rarity. That’s because they can only live in lands rich in magic essence… Hmm, the way the branches are attached is very good… I see, I see—”

While giving commentary, Mr. Carant carefully inspected each of the Treant’s trunks. Which had been split in two or smashed to pieces.

“Hmm… The way it was taken down is truly excellent! It was defeated in a single blow. Matsunaga-sama, who was it that did this? Among the adventurers I know—‘Shuren of the Storm,’ ‘Bordeaux the Fierce Claw’… no, this powerful strike could even be the work of ‘Agras the Ogre Axe’…!?”

“N-No, no. I’m sorry, but I can’t reveal where I got it…”

Mr. Carant started naming adventurers with impressive titles. But of course, I couldn’t tell him that it was done by “Matsunaga the Unemployed”. I could only dodge with a wry smile.

“I see, that’s unfortunate… In that case, I’ll look at the rest of the Treant later—do you have anything else?”

Mr. Carant asked, his eyes sparkling. Hmm, well, I *do* have something, but…

“I’m sorry, but this is about all I’ve got…”

What I took out was the Scarlet Bird, completely turned into pitch-black charcoal by Isezaki-san’s [Divine Thunder God Bolt]. 

It was a high-tier monster, so I had brought it back just in case.

“This can’t be sold, right?”

“Hmm hmm… Is this a Scarlet Bird? As expected, with it burned to this extent, I can’t buy it, but—”

I knew it. I’ll probably just bury this somewhere later.

—or so I thought, but even so, Mr. Carant continued to observe the charred corpse with great interest.

“Hmm, hmm hmm… For the Scarlet Bird to be reduced to such a miserable state… The power of the attack was tremendous. To bring it down with such firepower—only one person comes to mind.”

Wow, this guy is really a hardcore adventurer geek. 

I casually listened. I was wondering what kind of name he’d come up with next.

Mr. Carant narrowed his eyes and muttered:

“This level of skill… it reminds me of the Great Saintess Seina.”

“”PFFFT!!“”

At Mr. Carant’s sudden words, Isezaki-san and I simultaneously burst out laughing and looked at each other.