Adventurers’ Town Expansion Plan 2

 

“Are you sure you didn’t mean fifty large gold coins?”

 

“‘No, fifty is fine, okay? Five large gold coins, correct?”

 

Pluriel’s reconfirmation is answered with a tilt of my head. At that moment, Xsara pressed Pluriel’s mouth in his palm. Pluriel made some muffled noises and rolled over.

 

“Fi, for fifty coins! Fifty gold coins, please!”

 

“Uh-huh, Pluriel-san, are you okay?”

 

“Yes! I’ll make it the best inn in the world!”

 

Pluriel was holding her face with one hand and staring at the back of Xsara’s head, but Xsara was oblivious to his delight.

 

Ortho shoots Xsara a difficult stare, as he watched him bathe in delight.

 

“With a place this big, you’d have to hire many people, wouldn’t you? It would take a day or two just to clean it, right?”

 

“I’ll polish it up every day!”

 

Xsara responds to Ortho’s concern in a matter-of-fact, buoyant manner, and I give him a quick word of advice.

 

“It seems that the adventurers staying in this town are earning well, so I think it’s okay to set the price at a premium. Let’s use the proceeds to hire a cleaning staff. It would be more impressive to hire someone solid like a luxury hotel anyway.”

 

After saying that, I realized that my idea would cost quite a bit of initial investment.

 

“For now, I’ll lend you the initial costs as well. The rest is the employees…do you want to recruit people?”

 

“Oh, you mean you’re planning to hire employees? Well, let’s see…”

 

Xsara was about to answer my question, looking upset. Then I heard a voice from the street.

 

“Excuse me.”

 

I turned around to see Flamilia, a beautiful woman with long, deep brown hair, standing there, her usual sleepy eyes narrowed, a soft smile on her face.

 

“Van-sama, it is always a pleasure to see you, Master.”

 

“Mr. Flamilia. What brings you here?”

 

I couldn’t help but respond to her sudden appearance. Then Flamilia looked at Xsara.

 

“Yes. It seems that my husband has taken my feelings into consideration and is trying to make a living not as an adventurer but in business…”

 

As Flamilia uttered this, Xsara clapped one hand on his own chest and nodded deeply.

 

“Leave it to me! I will be the best innkeeper in the world! Flamilia, you can live in peace…”

 

Flamilia laughed and shook her head from side to side in annoyance at Xsara saying such a thing.

 

“No, that is not the case. I wanted to lead a peaceful life together, away from the hard fighting days. Therefore, if we could have a small store together, not a great one like this, that would be enough for me…”

 

“Flamilia-san…”

 

Xsara’s face turned into a gasp at Flamilia’s words. For some reason, Ortho was moved to tears by their conversation. I noticed that it was becoming like a big circle.

 

“No, no, we can’t; the Xsara Hotel has already started running. We can’t just pretend it didn’t happen now.”

 

When he said this, everyone looked at me.

 

“I understand what you want, Flamilia, but we are in a delicate situation. People who have a good initial investment are very valuable, so we need to properly improve the living environment in the city and create jobs at the same time.”

 

This was a significant project for Van, who wanted to create a city where the economy would be stable without having to do anything. That was why he clearly requested Xsara’s cooperation.

 

However, hearing this, Flamilia looked at me impatiently.

 

“Well, I see…it is a request from Van-sama, to whom we owe a great debt. But it is very hard to live day after day with a large debt. Could you please have a little more mercy?”

 

Flamilia said apologetically and bowed deeply. The eyes of the spectators, including the adventurers and some merchants who had gathered there, were all on me at once.

 

What a surprise! Flamilia, who seemed so calm and fluffy, negotiated a lower price in the best place and situation.

 

Since I intend to invite people who would like to open a store in the future, I should create an atmosphere here that would make it easy for people to come forward to open a store in a generous manner.

 

Above all, if Van-kun gets rumored to be a money-grubber, I will cry.

 

“Yes, that’s fine. I don’t mind. Shall we discuss the price later?”

 

So, with a hint of caution, I asked Flamilia how much she would be willing to pay. Then, Flamilia blinked her eyes in surprise.

 

“…Thank you, Van-sama, I can’t thank you enough for your kindness. Thank you so much.”

 

She thanked me for my words and bowed deeply again. Xsara also hurriedly bowed deeply, wondering if I was keeping up with such conversation.

 

Immediately, the crowd watching around us let out a small cheer.

 

“As expected of Van-sama!”

 

“Such a splendid store, if they build a new one, there could be a platinum coin.”

 

Flamilia’s smile softly deepened as she heard such conversation.

 

“So, Van-sama, if you could, I’d like to take a look inside the building and talk about payment…”

 

Apparently, despite appearances, Flamilia is quite the operator. I have a feeling that Flamilia is also manipulating the flow of events so far.

 

Or perhaps this trend could be the other way around. If so, then Flamilia must actually be quite suited to the political arena.

 

“Good. Well, let’s all take a tour inside.”

 

When I said this, Till and Dee as well as Ortho and the others nodded.