I have a bit of a problem with how a side-quest is giving me rewards
way better than the initial main quest but meh—I’ll shrug it off since
two fresh Aramium seeds will be super handy, not to mention, experience
points… though I still have the system, I can hardly view my stats
nowadays. I wonder if it has something to do with a future main quest I
have to solve.

“Right, when did Richard moved to this town?” I looked at Lia with surprise.

 

“Huh, did you two ended up meeting up with that disgusting playboy?”
Raeliana looked at us with clear disgust peeking out of her eyes from
the mention of Richard’s name.

 

“Mhm, I only heard from rumors but apparently he was transferred to
the branch here since his family wanted him to acquire more experience
in all places, whether it’d be rural or urban… they practically want him
to be accustomed to either condition,” Lia answered.

 

Hmm… that makes sense then since at any point of time, he might be
dispatched to another branch then onto another branch and if he is
already accustomed to both rural and urban then he would have little
trouble getting used to either places.

 

“Anyhow, we managed to acquire more than initially expected. Around
two hundred gold coins, how much would that last us after purchasing all
materials we need?” I looked at Raeliana and asked, she was more
well-versed than either Lia or me in economics.

 

“If you take out a few gold coins as well to use for building the two
inns then we would have around a hundred and forty gold coins remaining
which we could then utilize to saturate the town once more and also
give salaries to a few thousand workers then from there, we could slowly
attract merchants back onto the town,” she answered.

 

Hmm, does that mean we are on the green in terms of funds now though
then again, that doesn’t accommodate the salaries of the people which we
will be paying especially for resources like logs from lumbers and etc.
which will be needed to rebuild the houses temporarily.

 

“Then we’ll buy as many materials as we can then, I’ll allocate
around forty to fifty gold coins on purchasing all the required tools
and materials our people will need while we’ll set aside around forty
gold coins for land purchases and building of inns near the town hall,
we want to buy as much as four lands near the town hall while the prices
are low,” I said before she nodded.

 

And with that, we have around one-hundred ten gold coins remaining
for emergency cases like when we need more materials or food. As for our
supply of food, we might want to go with something more than bread like
for example, vegetables and a little bit of meat though I would like to
rely more on the hunters on the town for meat if there are any.

 

“We’ll also add in some arrows, swords, and bows since we want to
train some hunters to bring us a fresh supply of meat. As for food, I’ll
allocate another thirty gold coins for a lot of vegetables and a little
bit of meat, though I am not the best at budgeting, so I’ll leave the
quantity to you,” I looked at Raeliana who nodded.

 

“To think that milady has grown a lot, how have times changed,” she
teased which made me a bit embarrassed inside as I continued to shrug it
off from the outside, “Anyhow, milady… do you want to accompany us in
purchasing everything or do you want to have a meal somewhere first?”

 

“What do you mean, I will be accompanying the two of you all the way
though how about we have a meal first at some restaurant. Of course, the
pay will be on me… and no, I will not be using the money from the
town,” I said after seeing the two’s gazes at me suspiciously. I do have
that four gold coins which I was going to use for emergency cases but
might as well use them to feed me now.

 

After all, the financial situation of the town is practically solved
right now and all that is left is to slowly rebuild everything from the
ground up which will cost more but I can smell the returns coming back
to me soon in the future.

 

“There should be a restaurant we passed by here that doesn’t cost
much, we can go there if you like, my lady,” Lia who is usually the
silent one suggested as a soft growl echoed from her side, causing her
to blush a bit as she added, “It wasn’t me…”

 

I couldn’t hold myself back and let out a soft giggle as I looked at
her with a smile, “You don’t have to be embarrassed… it is my fault as
the master for not feeding the two of you properly. Let’s go eat as much
as we want at the restaurant, shall we?”

 

She hesitated a bit but nodded anyways as she led us towards the
restaurant where I could feel regret flash by me as we stared at the
price which was around a silver coin for an amazingly simple vegetable
meal, twenty silver coins for a meal with meat and vegetables.

 

I was expecting the prices to be a little lower, but I guess this was
fine since from what I could remember, meat per kilogram here is around
one to two silver coins, and vegetables are around the bronze coins
zone because of how saturated the market is here, though even then, the
meat is still priced higher than back on my old place… this is for
average meat as well.

 

“How about we have a plate or two of meat and vegetables here then
purchase meat and vegetables from the market to cook on the town
instead, my lady?” Lia asked with a little bit of visible nervousness
since she was the one who brought us here… I don’t think she saw the
prices at first.’

 

“You don’t have to mind the prices, we’ll have a plate or three
instead, then purchase meat and vegetables from the market,” I smiled
before handing her Raeliana a gold coin as I said, “Can you order for us
instead, we’ll wait on the table over there?” while pointing at a free
table.

 

“Leave it to me, milady,” she said before the three of us separated
with Lia and I heading to a nearby table where she almost didn’t want to
sit down because a knight usually doesn’t sit together with her master,
but I forced her through something called ‘orders’.

 

It was then when I realized how troublesome the life of a noble can
be, even when your personal guards or knights are your best friend, they
usually stick to rules and would usually never sit at the same time as
the person they are protecting because of hierarchy which is a pain in
the bu…. Whatever.

 

“Listen, from now on, don’t make me give out an order to have you sit
down with me on meals, okay? I don’t see any of my people as my slaves
or servants, I view all of you as people equal in status with me… do you
understand?” I said before she nodded with a bit of hesitation, making
me sigh a bit, “I am not mad… I just don’t want the people I consider as
my closest friends to be standing while I eat…”

 

“My lady is truly kind,” she smiled.

 

“I am not kind, but I am also not evil, I think of myself as a normal
person,” I replied before she giggled a bit which made me a bit more
comfortable. I am only evil to the people who desperately want me to
become evil otherwise I will be as kind as I can… that’s my personal
rule, “Anyhow, do you have anything you like to go before we leave after
purchasing everything we need?”

 

“There is nothing…” she answered.

 

“Are you sure?” I asked one more time before she nodded as I smiled
wryly, “It seems like I am the only person who is lacking a lot because
of my impulsive action… I can only wait for Sheena to arrive soon before
I can change to a new pair of clothes.”

 

“Well, can’t we buy you new clothes instead, my lady?” she asked but I shook my head.

 

“I don’t want to spend any more than what we need to—until we can
stabilize the situation in the town,” I said which confused her a bit.
It was understandable why she would be confused since there was no
‘actual’ reason for me to even do this challenge yet here I am trying my
best. I, of course, could not tell them about the future war that will
go off in the continent since it would cause widespread panic.

 

“Are you perhaps in love with the Queen, my lady…? I can’t think of
any other reason why you would be so determined to finish this challenge
other than that…” she asked which made me smile wryly… right, there is
that additional thing Kaori added for herself.

 

Marriage, huh—I don’t really expect Mana to be happy with me getting
married to Kaori first especially when she is technically the first
person I accepted… I could only hope that both Kaori and her manage to
do something about it since it would become complicated.

 

‘Who told you to make a harem…’ I mocked myself inside.

 

“You can put it like that if you like…” I said to which she shook her
head as Raeliana soon came back with a wooden tray filled with wooden
plates that contained all our meals. They were a bit stingy with the
meat, only giving us not so much for the price but meh.

 

“What were you two talking about?” Raeliana asked as the two of us shook our heads.

 

“We didn’t talk much, just some unnecessary stuff like how you once
came out from the library in your pajamas and roamed around the mansion
causing everyone to be surprised,” I teased before her face turned red
as she pouted.

 

“Milady is such a tease; you can’t blame me for that time! I was
half-asleep,” she refuted while sitting down as I giggled. Indeed,
compared to my memories, Ayumi Windsor has one if not the best times
with her friends… she wasn’t a loner, she had her servants as her best
friends and even a few classmates compared to me who had little friends.

 

The more I look into the memories of Ayumi Windsor, the more I envy
and also feel guilty for her. She had a happier life than I had in the
past, I wonder if she knew that one day, I would be the one to take over
her body… I wonder where she is now… I have so many questions that I
want to ask them all to the Goddess, but I held them back as I took up
my spoon and knives with a smile.

 

“How about we start eating now?” I said before the two of them nodded
simultaneously, taking up their spoon and knives before the three of us
both gave our blessings to our food, “Thanks for the meal!” as we
started eating the meal before us.

 

After our meals, the three of us immediately went over to the couch
house and dragged our little carriages to the marketplace where we
filled up both carriages with stuff like meat and vegetables, textile
and seeds before heading to several blacksmiths where we completely
massacred the carriage Lia was driving with tools.

 

And that marked the end of our very short trip to the Town of Yuka—a
very, very short trip where we didn’t even get a single enjoyment.