Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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Maon and Genta were heading to renew their membership for one season (three months), when suddenly, someone appeared.
He said that starting this month, the renewal fee had gone from three silver coins to one gold coin.
I was speechless at the price increase of more than three times
In this predicament, I instinctively stepped forward.
I stepped forward from my spot behind Maon-san to join their discussion and try to improve the situation. I reached around to the front of my backpack and tried to remove it from the straps with one hand.
However, Maon’s hand stopped my hand.
“Hmm, what’s wrong? Hey.”
The guild leader glanced at me and asked, “What do you mean, young man?” I want to point out that “young” and “young man” have the same meaning, but it makes sense.
Maon held my hand tightly. It was a little hard, rough, and dry. It was clear that she had lived a life of hardship for many years. But more than anything, it was warm, and strangely, I suddenly felt calm.
“No, it’s nothing. I think he was so worried about me that he came out to the side without thinking.”
Maon sighed, “Phew … “
“Love! I’m so touched. By the way, what are you going to do?”
“Can I borrow the renewal fee?”
Hearing this, the guild leader’s voice lowered and the drawn-out tone disappeared.
“If it’s a new subscription, it may be approved, but when it comes to renewals… I’ve always thought that you should prepare it in anticipation of paying.”
“That’s right…” Maon said. Then why did Maon ask, “It’s a loan…”
….
As expected, the loan was not enough to cover the renewal fee, and her membership status ended as of today.
The guild president’s response was that even taking into consideration the loss of bread baking and the house in the fire, the debts for both renewal and bread baking could not be approved.
“If you have to take out a loan to cover both the renovation and the repairs, it’s not something that can be done in a day or two. How will you make money in the meantime? Loans also come with interest.”
Every word carried weight.
“I don’t think I need to tell you, my lady, but for us merchants, money is our blood, our food, and our weapons. But sometimes, money can turn against us.”
“…”
“If you don’t have money, you resent the world, and if you have money, you are stabbed by envy. Money is something that doesn’t go as planned…”
At that moment, a young man in well-tailored clothes came through the guild entrance and spoke to him.
“Guild master, we are ready to head to your lordship.”
“Hmm… Maybe it’s good that we were able to talk like this before we left. When people are constantly being praised, it’s rare to hear such lively stories.”
The guild leader suddenly became serious and left the counter, his drawn-out words now more dignified, and the aura he exuded changing to one that was completely flawless.
“Well then, I’ll be off, ladies and gentlemen. This is a good opportunity, Hangus, take over the conversation. I’m off now.”
Leaving those words behind, the guild leader went outside.
….
But when he left this place, it felt like time, which had stopped, had started moving again.
A man called Hangus walked up to the counter. The timid-looking receptionist who was there before still couldn’t return to his seat. Another man took over the counter, and the man was left standing there bored and unable to return to his seat.
However, he appeared to have the ability, as he relayed the main points to the man who was ordered to take over and once again stands back.
Hangus then took over the conversation and sat down in a chair.
“So… is there anything else you want to talk about?”
He said it without even trying to hide his attitude that he found it troublesome.
“Loan?”
My voice and Maon’s voice came out at the same time without me realizing it.
“It’s impossible to lend to both at the same time. So, if we borrow to cover the guild membership renewal fees, or if we borrow to cover the hearth repairs, the renewal fees won’t be enough, right? Either way, we’re in a dead end. Checkmate.”
Yes, he waved his hand as if to say it’s the end.
“Well, it’s just bread sold on the street, right? There’s no way you can make that much money. If you sell it for two copper coins each, how many can you sell in a day, old lady?”
“…about fifty a day.”
“Fifty pieces, that’s a good sale for a street vendor. But… even so, you’d barely be making one silver coin (equivalent to 10,000 yen) a day. Money flies away with materials and such, so how much profit would you make? Maybe less than 30 cupronickel coins (equivalent to 3,000 yen), huh? And on rainy days, it’s not a good business (selling on the roadside), it’s not something you can do every day.”
Hangus narrowed his eyes and shook his head in exasperation. If she worked a few more days than 20 days a month, her monthly income would be around 70,000 yen… Maon said she baked bread along with the other items she was selling, so she would need something other than bread for food expenses… Maon currently had three silver coins.
She probably had about twice that amount on hand. And to bake bread, she needed to buy wheat flour. Even if she kept that money… hmm, the renewal fee and all her assets were about the same… this seemed tough.
“You’re really giving Dad a hard time. The outcome is clear. What do you want me to take over? Are you telling me I can’t do it anymore and handing it over to him?”
Hangus laughs as he looks around at the guild staff, whose language and manners were gradually becoming worse.
But now…
“Dad…?”
“Hmm? Oh, that’s right. He’s my dad.”
….
“My conclusion is, I think it’s time to call it a day. It’s time to close up shop.”
Hangus shook his protruding chin from side to side while emphasizing the words “close up” one by one.
“If you have a house or land, I think it would be a good idea to sell it and live out the rest of your life in peace, don’t you think? That’s right, old lady. You’re going to have to take on new debt and push yourself too hard, and you still won’t be able to retire comfortably, I think it’s a good thing you’ve made a living. You could even sell it to us if you like.”
I’m a little annoyed by the way Hangus speaks, but I also think it’s one way of thinking about it.
“Or maybe you could do some housework for me? I do everything from growing wheat to baking bread.”
“…Servant?”
Hangus laughs at my question.
“Yes, a helper. Baking bread. If you have nowhere else to go, I’ll hire you. After all, I’m the head of the trading company, so it’s my decision.”
“Company president? Isn’t your father the company president?”
When I voiced my doubts, Maon-san replied instead.
“Genta, when you become a senior executive in the guild, you have to give up your position as head of the company so as not to harm your own company.”
Eh? But if my son becomes the head of a trading company like this, won’t I favor him…
“The money decided by the guild doesn’t go to the executives’ stores. We pay a lot of money in addition to our membership fees, but they just take what they can and don’t bring anything! It’s really meaningless, damn it!'” (Unjo…in this case, it’s a tribute paid to the guild based on sales. By the way, if you sell on the street and your sales are low, you don’t have to pay it.)
Hangus looked surprised.
“…Well, I guess I’ll have to decide what to do.”
Is it okay for the guild leader’s son to say something like this? Also, since he took over the reception desk, does that mean he’s also a guild member? It seems doubly wrong.
“…So, what should we do?”
Maon thought about it and replied:
“It seems like I can’t borrow money… so I’ll not renew my contract. There’s no rule that says I can’t sell things in town even if I’m not a member of the association, so I’ll sell bread even if they call me a street vendor.”
“I see…” Hangus muttered. He seemed displeased by something.
“By the way, I’m still a member for today. Let me sell it inside.”
Maon spoke as if this was her first choice.
“Oh? Sale? It costs money just to be here let alone open a store.”
“That’s fine, I want to sell you some bread. This kid’s bread is amazing! Each loaf is worth a silver coin!”
Buzz!
Suddenly, there was a commotion inside. There were also voices whispering.
“Are you serious, Granny?”
“Seriously, but cheap.”
Maon said this, and Hangus let out a laugh… hahaha, hehe… hahaha.
Hangus’ mouth twitched with laughter, but the next moment…
Bang!!! He hit the counter hard!
“We just don’t lend you money, you old hag! In what world is there an idiot who would pay a silver pound for bread! I know you’re a pretty good baker. That young guy beside you… he’s wearing strange clothes, maybe he’s just come back from another country… even if he’s travelled around training… and knows other places. But this is a commercial guild! Things come in from other cities and countries all the time! But there’s absolutely nothing like that here! There’s no way Ginichi would give anything like that here! I’m the one who said that!”
His face was literally baring his fangs and scattering rage.
“Don’t talk in your sleep, old hag! If you want to come right now, I can show you the way! Ah!?”
Hangus, a typical street thug, was hurling abusive language at Maon-san, and I step forward. However, I had never experienced anything like this.
“Damn, there’s more mites! Gilliam, get them out!”
“Wh-what did you do?! I was just trying to rent a place…”
When I turned around, I saw a man with a scary face standing behind us and easily twisting my arms behind my back.
Maon had also been arrested.
“Hey, should we just kick these guys out into the open?”
The man named Gilliam asked Hangus for advice.
“That’s right… No, wait. The front door is too conspicuous. The back door. Get them out the back door. Be so polite that they’ll never want to come here again.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I just said I wanted to rent a place to sell things! Isn’t it up to the merchant’s discretion to decide what to sell and for how much? I hope your place sells wheat as well!”
Even after being restrained, Maon bravely shouted.
“I took pity on you, thinking you’d become a street vendor, but you got carried away! Don’t ever show your face in front of the guild again! Old woman, you have nothing, no home, what kind of bread can a stray old hag like you bake?! Most likely all you can do is gather up some stale bread from days ago and bring it over! So don’t think you can do business freely! I won’t be involved in what happens after this, but if you try selling on the street, be prepared for no forgiveness!”
With that, Hangus shook his hand to the side as if to tell us to leave, and Gilliam began to lead us towards the back door.
“Gilliam, change of orders! Get those eyesores out of here now! Now!”
He pointed at the main entrance right in front of us, the one we had come through. Enraged, Hangus seemed determined to get us out of there as quickly as possible and make sure we were kicked out.
The large Gilliam effortlessly lifted us up by our arms and dragged us to the entrance. Gilliam twisted our arms and pushed the door open with his foot.
I could hear the sounds and voices of the bustling streets of a lively town.
“Hehe, goodbye then. I guess we’ll never meet again in this life!”
With a thud, we were thrown onto the street, and I hit the ground with a hard thud. I was thrown out so hard that it made a loud smack, and I instinctively cried out “ouch!”, but I wasn’t seriously injured.
“Where’s Maon?” I thought, and turned to face her, only to find her lying on the ground like a fallen timber, with her back to me, so I couldn’t see her exact condition.
I heard the guild door close behind me, but that didn’t matter.
“Maon-san!!”
I crawled over to Maon-san and came around to face her, where she lay with a look of frustration and pain on her face.
I gently picked her up, supported her back and brushed off any mud that was visible.
Meanwhile, she was letting out groans of pain and weakly calling out to me, “Genta, Genta.”
“…I’m sorry, Genta. I hurt you … I couldn’t find a place to sell your bread…”
Maon apologized with tears in her eyes. After the fire, she had acted strong in front of me, but now she was deeply hurt and dejected.
The first thing she said wasn’t about her own pain or resentment towards the guild, but rather an apology for my concern.
“I’m fine! You’re the one, Maon…”
I couldn’t say anything more. I was at a loss for words. I gently embraced Maon’s small body. How dare they make such a kind Maon suffer so much…!
No matter what happens, I will never forgive them! If I have the chance, I’m sure someday…
As I supported Maon-san with dark feelings burning inside me, someone approached me.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
When I looked, I saw a girl who looked to be about elementary school age, wearing simple but unusual clothes, peering at us with a worried look on her face.
The author has something to say:
I wrote it myself, but…
Hangus and Gilliam, I’m going to make sure they get what they deserve.
The next episode is a soothing one. A cat-eared girl appears!?
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