Electronic Version Special Story: The Circumstances of Blue Ring
Trao, who had just joined Blue Ring, decided to hear the stories of the three members right away.
While Trao was happy to be invited to the party, he was equally anxious.
(“Adventurers who need a merchant? They seem to be about my age, but I wonder what kind of financial sense they have?”)
As a celebration for the new member joining, everyone decided to have a meal together. However, the place they took him to was a restaurant known for its rather high prices.
“The food here is delicious! Especially the seafood is the best!”
Rainer said excitedly. The other two also seemed eager to eat here.
(“…Ah, I see.”)
Trao instantly understood. These three were gourmets.
The best seafood? This was inland, far from the sea. A place serving seafood in such a location couldn’t be cheap. The prices must be astronomical.
“Stop right there!”
Trao firmly grabbed Rainer’s hand.
“What’s wrong, Trao? Don’t you like seafood?”
Rainer looked puzzled.
“Yeah, I don’t like it. Especially expensive seafood.”
This wasn’t a lie. Trao himself had no likes or dislikes and could eat anything. However, regardless of taste, his favorite foods were “cheap ones,” and his least favorite were “expensive ones.”
“I see! Then let’s go to a place with delicious meat dishes! Once you taste the meat there, you won’t be able to eat meat from other places!”
Rainer said with a broad smile.
(“Is there something not quite right mixed in?”)
Trao thought, but he also considered that it might not be a bad way to attract customers. However, it was clear that it would definitely be expensive.
“Well, that place might be good too, but since today is to welcome me, why don’t you let me choose the restaurant?”
Trao proposed to the three with a friendly smile.
“Huh? Do you know a good place too, Trao?”
Rainer and the others looked at Trao with expectant eyes.
“Of course. A special place,”
Trao answered cheerfully.
“…This is your special place?”
Louise looked at the food on the table with dead fish eyes.
What was laid out was a mountain of potatoes. It was a simple dish of steamed local potatoes sprinkled with salt, famous for being cheap and filling. This particular shop was known for its low prices and large portions.
“It is special, isn’t it? I eat here every day. It’s cheap and fills you up,”
Trao said, taking a bite of a potato.
“Wait, Trao. Today is a memorable day when you joined Blue Ring, right? We shouldn’t come to a place you eat at every day on such an occasion. At least today…”
Rainer said disappointedly as he picked up a potato.
“Listen, Rainer,”
Trao replied after washing down the potato in his mouth with water.
“If we eat lavishly on every special occasion, we’ll run out of money no matter how much we have. Blue Ring is now a four-person party, so just birthdays alone are four times a year. If we add the anniversary of forming Blue Ring, the first time we defeated a monster, and so on, it’ll add up to quite a number. Special occasions are just excuses to be extravagant. You said you lacked planning, but were you perhaps diligently celebrating these occasions?”
“ ………… ”
Rainer and the others silently began to eat their potatoes. It seemed Trao’s words had struck a chord.
“So, special occasions are banned, okay?”
“What?”
The three voices chorused in response to Trao’s declaration.
“Wait a minute, Trao? Isn’t banning special occasions too harsh? Does this mean we can’t even celebrate birthdays?”
Louise raised her voice in protest. The other two nodded in agreement.
“Listen, Louise. What’s so special about birthdays? It’s just the day someone was born some years ago, and there’s no direct connection between that day and the day of birth except on the calendar, right? I think it’s wrong to increase spending when there’s no income. Isn’t it because you do things like this that you end up in financial trouble?”
“Ugh… As expected of a merchant, you say such heartless things,”
Louise’s shoulders slumped.
“Hold on, Trao. Does this mean we can eat good food when we have income?”
Rainer attempted one last resistance.
“Well, I guess that’s fine. I think motivation to complete requests is important too. However, I think we need to set a limit, like using only 10% of the success fee for celebrations.”
“10%!? We can’t eat anything good with that!”
The three raised their voices in protest at Trao’s proposal.
(“Seriously, these guys…”)
Honestly, Trao thought even 10% was too much.
Even adventurers don’t complete requests every day. There are various things they need to do, like preparation before quests, post-quest procedures, paperwork, and so on. Since they’re not adventuring every day, they need living expenses too. The financial sense of the Blue Ring members was quite off.
“…Don’t tell me you guys are spending most of your success fees on food?”
Trao asked fearfully.
The three looked at each other, then Rainer answered.
“Not all of it. About half.”
“You idiots!”
And so, Trao, who had just joined, ended up taking control of the party’s finances without any room for argument.
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However, the cause of Blue Ring’s financial distress wasn’t just the three’s love for good food.
“Trao, look at this sword. Isn’t it great? It’s a masterpiece made with special metal.”
One day, Rainer came to show off a sword made with cutting-edge technology to Trao.
“Wait a minute, Rainer. You shouldn’t have had the money to buy such a sword, right? Where did you get this from?”
“What’s wrong with that? ”
Trao had a bad feeling.
“Oh, I bought it on credit. It’s a bit more expensive that way, but…”
“Don’t create debt on your own!”
Trao dragged Rainer to the weapon shop to negotiate a return and made sure they would always go through him for future sales. He declared that if they didn’t, he would default on the borrowed money.
Furthermore, Trao notified all the weapon, armor, item, and food shops in town where they were based, ensuring that Rainer couldn’t make purchases on his own.
“Trao, I don’t have enough money. Can I have some more?”
Ciel came to Trao with a charming smile, making her request.
It was the kind of smile that would make most men fall for her instantly. However, Trao was not the kind of man to be swayed by such tactics.
“Ciel… You’re supposed to have a set amount of daily allowance, right? What exactly are you spending it on?”
Currently, Blue Ring was on an allowance system, with Trao giving members a fixed amount daily. Since Trao kept meticulous records of the party’s income and expenses, the members found it difficult to complain about this system.
However, while Ciel didn’t seem to be particularly wasteful, she was always out of money. This puzzled Trao.
“I use it all for charity.”
“What?”
Ciel smiled brightly. She firmly believed she was doing the right thing.
In contrast, Trao looked at Ciel as if he had discovered a rare animal.
Charity is the action furthest removed from the merchant class. To Trao, it was no different from throwing money away. If there was such money available, he believed it would be better for the world to invest it. No matter how much money was given to people who needed charity, Trao firmly believed it would end up being wasted.
“Ciel… We’re not wealthy enough to give charity to others.”
“But Trao, there are many people in this world who are less fortunate than us. I believe that extending a helping hand to those people is what fulfills our purpose…”
“Ciel, you’re not getting any allowance anymore. If you need anything, just tell me. I’ll buy it for you instead.”
Trao mercilessly cut off Ciel’s allowance.
“Why, Trao?! Why am I the only one without an allowance?!”
Ciel’s eyes welled up with tears.
“It’s for the purpose of defeating the Demon Lord. The more money Ciel spends, the further we get from that goal. If you want to do charity, substitute it with labor, okay?”
Trao completely ignored Ciel’s protests and unilaterally ended the conversation.
Although Ciel was dejected, from that day on, she began to devote herself to volunteer work on her days off.
“Trao, I want a new magic book. You’ll buy it for me, right?”
Louise said to Trao with a face that suggested it was a given.
For Trao, this was a troublesome matter. It’s natural for magicians to be expensive. To begin with, educating a magician costs money. Louise, who seemed to come from a good family, was a graduate of an academy that trained magicians, and her parents had paid for her tuition.
However, things changed once she became independent. She had to provide her own magic books. This was an issue that affected the party’s fighting strength, so it couldn’t be flatly refused.
“I understand, Louise. Can you wait a bit? And could you lend me the magic books you currently have?”
Trao made this proposal and borrowed all the magic books Louise possessed.
A few days later, Trao started a side business.
A magic book lending shop.
Users deposit their own magic books, pay a fee, and in return, they can borrow different magic books. Trao started this business using Louise’s magic books and a few others he had acquired separately as initial stock.
Magic books are expensive. Because of their high cost, there are no places that lend them out. So Trao came up with the idea of taking the lender’s magic book as collateral and lending out different magic books in exchange.
This business was a hit. Not all magicians are wealthy. They want to read many magic books but don’t have the money to purchase them. Being able to read new magic books just by depositing their own book and paying a fee was an opportunity they couldn’t miss.
Many magicians began to visit Trao.
“So, which magic book did you want to read again, Louise?”
Trao came to Louise carrying many magic books.
“…What about my magic books?”
“They’ll come back eventually!”
Trao answered cheerfully.
“Well, I guess it’s fine,”
Louise said with a resigned smile, picking up one of the books.
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