Translator: "Pink Tea" Editor: "Ryunakama"

「Now, please, feel at home. Here we have excellent tea and sweets procured by my company, go ahead and eat plenty. There is also a liquor from our own brewery.」

　I sat on a sofa in the VIP room, where we were lead, and now was receiving Dort's hospitality in such a fas.h.i.+on.

「Wow, Master, this cake and tea are delicious.」

　With a very delighted expression, Berzelia bit into the prepared cakes.

　Thinking, that since she, who is fairly picky about food, says that it's delicious then it must be pretty good, I take a sip of tea.

「Oh, it sure is delicious.」

　That was a wonderful taste even for the City of Stars, rich in fine ingredients.

　When I said that, Dort, as if relieved by my words, showed a more relaxed expression.

「Ah, I see, I see. I'm glad that you say so. Because the other day I let you return home without doing anything for you. It was on my mind this whole time. We made a great profit with your a.s.sistance after all.」

「Profit? Are you talking about me saving your granddaughter? But I think I already received words of grat.i.tude for that.」

「No, words alone cannot convey grat.i.tude. Anyone can give empty grat.i.tude consisting of mere words. —— In the first place, while my granddaughter is greatly indebted to you, that is not your only achievement.」

「Achievement? Did I do anything else?」

　Talking about the things I did at that time, I saved the girl named Natalie and captured the bandits, I don't think there is anything besides those two.

　…I also broke the golem generator that was destroying the crops, but that's another matter completely.

　And we already received the reward from Fang.　

　And while I was wondering if there was anything else—

「The fact that you defeated those bandits was of great help to me and of course to other merchants as well.」

「 Hm? Was the existence of those bandits that impactful?」

「Rather it's the fact that you, a beginner-tier《Carrier》annihilated the bandits. There is a person capable of overwhelming bandits with a non-combat job and on top of it being beginner-tier. A rumor that such a person had shown in the vicinity of this town has spread throughout the cities of stars and winds. Thanks to this, as shown by easily observable data, the number of bandits around the city decreased.」

「Eeh, so such a thing was going on.」

　Since I had no information about the bandit situation in the area and also didn't hear any rumors I wasn't aware of that.

「But is that really because of my rumor? Could it be that there are other reasons…」

「It's the data obtained from various information brokers in the area. There is no mistake… Well, although the story that is going around is quite exaggerated and dramatized. There are also some, which say that the person had a low-tier job and not a beginner-tier job. Or that a way to disguise yourself as beginner-tier was discovered, it's regrettable because some rumors are even less impactful than the real story. According to my granddaughter's story, your power was nothing like that.」

「Well, for me this inaccuracy works better.」

　To begin with, rumors tend to transmit in such a weird way.

　Plus, with inaccurate information, it becomes impossible to identify the individual in question. It's better this way since it will allow me to live my life peacefully.

「Really? Well, but even an inaccurate rumor surely threatened those aiming to attack travelers on the road and became a deterrent. And it is also the fact that all of the merchants I know are grateful to you. —— And so, though it's not like I represent all of the merchants, but allow me to express my grat.i.tude on their behalf. Thank you, Axel-kun.」

「It's fine. In the first place, it was a coincidence that I defeated the bandits.」

　This one as well, the rumor merely went in the positive direction and spread around, there is no achievement of my own.

　When I said that, Dort scratched his cheek and smiled a bit troubled.

「Axel-kun, you are really humble. Well, I'm planning to somehow repay your favors as a merchant anyway.」

「How should I put it, you are really upright.」

「Umu. Because that's the principle of the merchants carrying the name Kaufmann. I'm doing my share of both good and wicked on a daily basis, but this is something that I will follow through.」

　After saying that with a bitter smile, Dort took a sip of tea. Then—

「Ah… Come to think of it, but I forgot to ask you why you came to our guild today? I'm glad that you are here since I could thank you, but did you have some business here?」

「Well. I did say earlier that I just changed my job recently? So I thought that I need the basic knowledge about a carrier, or rather about the trade of transportation. And so I thought of receiving information from the reception desk that distributes work or from more experienced colleagues gathered here.」

　Giving a nod I replied to Dort's question.

　Then, he stroked his chin and started to behave as if he was contemplating something.

「I see… Indeed, our company provides work to carriers and other transportation-related jobs, but… The volumes are too big so it's questionable if there is anyone around that's able to explain the basics to you.」

「Ah, so that's how it is. So I came for information to the wrong place after all.」

　While drinking tea I thought, probably the right answer was to go to a bit smaller merchants guild or adventurers guild—

「No, Axel-kun.Your choice was not wrong at all.」

　Dort began to speak. And—

「Because I will be able to use my power and position to help you. I want you to leave this to me. Let me provide you with the most suitable place to get the information you seek.」

「Place to get information?」

　When asked, Dort replied with a happy and confident smile.

「 The best transportation-type guild of this country is located in this City of Stars. They have a system by which they refuse first-time customers… But I will use my name and introduce you there!」

　Though I came to a merchants guild to gain knowledge about carriers, apparently I somehow was given a chance to meet the best this country has to offer.