99. Barbra
「We’ve got eyes on Barbra!」
We finally arrived at Barbra three days after our initial departure. Man, have we been through a lot. The trip was full of nothing but ups and downs, we hit unexpected twists and turns at almost every single corner.
Surprisingly, today was still only the 30th of March, which meant that we actually managed to make it in time for the Lunar Banquet.
The first thing we did after escaping the Midgard Wyrm’s wrath was raiding the pirates’ base. That is, we casually cruised over, kicked them around, and “happened upon” all their treasure. I’ve got to say, it was it well worth it. Their vault was filled with cash, equipment, exotic spices, jewels, and plenty of expensive looking items made from gold and silver.
I mean, technically speaking, the treasure we “found” didn’t have anyone’s name written on it, and you know, finders keepers and stuff. Yup, we totally didn’t steal it. Not at all. Besides, it’s not like we were the only ones that went through with the act of “stumbling across” treasure. Countries would embezzle stuff from pirates all the time. Moreover, their methodologies were far more shameless than our own. They’d even go as far as to create this whole pretense in which they’d talk about taking things back for the people even though they always ended up just chucking all the pirates’ loot straight into their national reserves.
The ship’s Captain, Rengil, happened to be a merchant, so we had him look over all the stuff we “found.” Apparently, it totalled up to approximately a hundred million Golde. I had personally had thought it to be an absolutely monumental sum. In fact, I even had trouble wrapping my head around it all. That said, it was still not that much in proportion to what was needed to repair all the pirates’ ships. The magic tools and items used in a ship’s construction were extremely expensive. Each cannon and propulsion system would each flat out cost a fortune on its own.
Under normal circumstances, we wouldn’t actually be entitled to even the slightest piece of the loot, as adventurers were typically put in the same category as the ship’s crew when it came to this kind of thing. If they were lucky, they’d get a small bonus, but that was all. All the treasure we found was supposed to be rightfully belong to its discoverers and our employers. In this case, those two parties would be the Luciel Conglomerate and the Prince’s group respectively.
However, the feats we had accomplished had been outstanding. We saved the ship twice, weeded out a spy, and even protected the two royals from all the possible harm that would’ve otherwise befallen them. Thus, they decided to give us a fair chunk of the treasure.
We were allowed the option to pick whatever we wanted, so we immediately claimed a large portion of the spices the pirates had saved up. Many of the aforementioned spices were extremely rare and expensive, there were even some that I’d never seen before. Eyeballing, I’d say we took enough to make about ten thousand servings of curry, which meant we profited at least a hundred thousand gold Golde off the spices alone.
They said we could have a cut of the actual jewelry type stuff as well, so we happily accepted their offer. I didn’t really know what was valuable and what weren’t, so we just decided just take a random pair of treasure chests. The first chest we chose was on the smaller side, but whatever. The second was kind of interesting in the sense that it the Alchemist’s Guild’s crest engraved upon it. We didn’t actually check what was inside either chest, but if anything, that was the part that fired me up the most. [1]
After splitting some of the loot with us, they went ahead and paid us another additional sum on top of all that. The prince’s party was really generous, and all in all, we ended up with about two million Golde on hand. Holy crap, the amount of cash we had flat out doubled because of this one little job.
Having an abundance of cash meant that Fran could splurge on whatever the hell she wanted during our stay here in Barbra.
「Thank you very much for everything you’ve done, Fran.」
「We truly have been in your care.」
It took them two whole days, but the twins had managed to calm themselves down. Their expressions were still a bit clouded over, so they hadn’t fully recovered, but, they’d at least regained their smiles.
「I offer you but the most sincere gratitude. We likely would have perished during our travels if not for your advent.」
Serid did the same thing the twins had and lowered his head in a deep bow. He’d surprisingly warmed up to us after the whole Sword of Truth incident. Apparently, only only treated us the way he did because he’d thought that we were Salrut’s accomplices.
「We will be staying in Barbra for approximately a week. Our place of residence will be the Lord’s Manor. Do pay us a visit if you happen to pass by, I am absolutely certain that both Their Highnesses would be extremely pleased to see you.」
「Nn. Got it.」
「We will make sure to inform the Lord ahead of time so that he knows of the circumstances of your visit.」
They’re staying over at the local lord’s place? Well, gotta give it to them. That’s royalty for you.
「I’d like to thank you as well. The trip was really rough, I’m pretty sure you’re the only thing that kept us from sinking.」
The captain offered us a word of thanks as well.
「Nn.」
「Your abilities made this trip much more profitable than it otherwise would have been, so I owe you quite the debt. Make sure to head on over to the Luciel Conglomerate if you ever run into any sort of trouble. We’ll do whatever we can for you.」
「Don’t tel—」
「Yeah, I know. My lips are sealed, and I’ll make sure that my men feel the same way.」
「Our party feels the same. I will order the soldiers to keep quiet in order to prevent the spread of any undesired rumors.」
The whole Sword of Truth business would probably kick up a huge fuss if people ended up finding out about it. It seemed that it was considered really valuable, as both Seird and the captain had asked to purchase it. The former had even offered a whole thirty million Golde.
We’d end up with a huge pain in the ass if rumors of the Sword of Truth spread, so we’d even thrown in a bit of intimidation alongside our request of secrecy. Hopefully, both Serid and Captain Rengil will be able to keep their subordinates in line. Oh well, no choice but to just trust them for now.
Fran exchanged one last handshake with the twins before bidding them farewell.
Alright! I’ve made up my mind. We’ll make sure we drop by at least once, for Fran’s sake. Well, assuming that they don’t turn as away at the gate, that is.
「Worry not about the document. I shall personally hand it over to Barbra’s Lord.」
「Thanks.」
The document Serid was talking about was the one we found in the illegal slave trader’s hideout. We handed it over to him because well, it just kinda made sense for him to have it. He disliked Reidosians, and had enough power to influence most of Kranzel’s higher ups. There literally couldn’t have been a better person to entrust it to.
「Will be off now.」
「Thanks you, and take care of yourself.」
「I hope we will meet again in the future.」
「Bye bye.」
30 Minutes had passed since Fran said her farewells and made her way off the ship.
『That’s the place Rengil recommended.』
「Looks expensive.」
「Woof.」
『Yeah, it’s supposed to be pretty high class.』
Barbra was really busy given the upcoming festival and whatnot, so we’d been concerned over how much trouble we’d have to go through in order to find a place to stay. Luckily, Captain Rengil had had more than just a few connections, and so, he directed us over to an inn owned by one of his friends. It was a bit pricey, but apparently mentioning the captains name would get us a discount. Besides, we had plenty of cash on hand anyways, so we could afford to splurge a bit. The best part about the inn we were recommended was that it allowed familiars, so poor Urushi didn’t have to spend all his time lurking around in Fran’s shadow.
「Hi.」
「Welcome.」
The inn really did give off a high class kind of feel. Instead of being greeted by the usual “well proportioned” old lady type clerk, we were instead received by a dandy-yet-capable looking man.
「Room for one.」
「I’m very sorry, but we don’t have any rooms available at the moment.」
「Nn. Here.」
Fran showed the man coin with the Luciel Conglomerate’s emblem inscribed upon it.
「Well then… Might I ask for the name of the person that introduced you to our establishment?」
「Captain Rengil.」
「I see. Please give me just a moment.」
Showing the man the coin had caused his attitude to take a sudden turn. Apparently, they did actually still have a room, but it was one that they refused to rent out to the general public. They typically had it reserved just in case any of their regulars showed up. Fortunately, the captain’s recommendation gave us the right to use that room as well.
The post-discount price was 4000 Golde per night, and included both breakfast and dinner but not lunch. One night here was literally the same price as ten nights in Alessa, but whatever. We decided to stay for five nights for the time being.
『Alright, looks like we’ve got ourselves a place to stay. We’re pretty much free now, so are you feeling like anything in particular?』
「Food.」
「Woof!」
『Sure. Oh yeah, you want to open up the treasure chests we got as bonuses first? I’m kind of curious as to what’s inside.』
「Nn. Was looking forward to it.」
「Woof!」
[1] Japanese males are addicted to gambling because of 500 yen gachapons in online games. Most of the prizes that come from these gachapons are trash