Azu, Growing Up

The negotiation with the old woman was finished. Brief, but that's how deals went when both parties knew what they wanted.

That old woman always kept her word.

She was elderly but showed no signs of slowing down.

This meant that even if another investor came along offering a higher price, she'd turn them down.

Being old acquaintances made a big difference. Without that history, the conversation wouldn't have gotten off the ground.

Five hundred gold coins was by no means a high price, especially given the inn's condition.

For Yohane, five hundred gold coins was hardly a trivial sum, but the opportunity felt like now or never.

The money needed to be ready before the year was out.

Worst case, he might have to take on a loan.

The debt he'd borrowed before had already been repaid in full, and his assets had grown since then.

He had no intention of selling them, but Azu and the others had earned a solid reputation as adventurers. If he wanted to borrow, he could pull a considerable amount.

Still, he didn't want to take on debt at this stage.

Not until he'd actually bought the inn and assessed what kind of returns it could generate.

Running an inn was unlikely to operate at a loss, unless the city was truly devoid of visitors. Even the old woman's slightly off-the-beaten-path establishment would manage.

That was precisely why he was buying it.

Still mulling it over, he returned to the cart where Azu and the others were waiting.

"Welcome back."

"Yeah. Let's go."

Azu, who'd been sitting in the driver's seat, gave the mules their cue to move.

"What were you doing over there?"

"A bit of new business. That shuttered inn back there—went to lock it down."

"Ehh…"

Elza let out an exasperated sound.

"We just got back from vacation. Can you at least try to unwind a little?"

"That's impossible. Our Master's head is stuffed full of money."

"What kind of merchant doesn't think about money?"

More precisely, how to spend it. Hoarding served no purpose.

Alexia looked unsurprised, as though this was business as usual.

"That's all well and good, but what she's saying is that you could at least forget about it on the way back from a trip."

Fair enough.

Money was meant to be spent and recouped at a profit—that was the merchant's job. On that front, Azu and the others had been doing outstanding work.

The more money you had, the more options opened up, and the better you could protect yourself.

"Are you going to start running an inn?"

"Yeah. Nothing concrete yet—it's still a long way off. And if something were to happen to me…"

It would be a place for you to live, he'd been about to say, but he stopped himself.

Bad luck to even voice it.

Back at the house, he kept a deed in the storage room that would free Azu and the others if he died.

They'd probably manage on their own just fine, but for former slaves, obtaining citizenship was difficult.

However, if he passed the inn to them, the innkeeper's guild membership would transfer with it.

With a guild membership, obtaining citizenship became simple.

Thinking about what happened after you died was impractical, but as long as he bore the weight of their fates, preparations had to be made.

The current shop would be impossible to pass on. The moment Yohane died, the merchants' guild would swoop in to claim it.

His name carried weight in this city now, and thanks to the expansion, revenue growth had been steady. Competition was light. Plenty of people would jump at the chance to take it over.

His eyes happened to meet Azu's.

He found himself studying her face.

Beautiful blue eyes gazed back at him.

"Wh-what is it? It's embarrassing when you stare like that."

"Your hair's gotten pretty long. You've grown a bit taller, too."

"Has it? Now that you mention it, maybe it has."

Azu fanned her hair out.

The silver strands caught the sunlight and gleamed.

Sitting beside her, the changes were obvious.

Azu had undeniably grown since they'd first met.

In height, and in other ways.

And she'd become even more beautiful.

The helpless figure she'd once been was a thing of the past.

Now she had a will of her own and kept a steady eye on Yohane.

"You like long hair, don't you, Master? I've noticed you looking."

Azu ran her fingers through her hair as she said this.

She was well aware he watched, and the gesture showed it.

It was true—Alexia and Elza both had long hair.

The observation made him realize it.

"You might be right."

It had been one of the criteria. Maybe because his mother had worn her hair long.

There was something calming about watching it.

Elza kept glancing his way while intermittently fanning out her golden hair, but he ignored her.

It was stunning, certainly, but he knew complimenting it would only invite a troublesome reaction.

When no response came, she eventually started pestering Alexia instead.

What a hopeless priestess.

They finally reached the shop.

The moment they did, one of the employees rushed out to greet them.

"Something wrong?"

"Yohane-san, perfect timing! Over here!"

The employee gave a quick bow to Azu and the others, then grabbed Yohane by the wrist and dragged him inside.

Azu hurried after them.

The shop was packed.

A steady stream of customers was normal, but this was on a completely different level.

Yohane grasped the situation immediately and jumped in to help.

He barked out tasks for Azu, who had followed him in.

She'd come running, so she might as well pitch in.

Elza, who'd gone to move the cart, poked her head in, saw the chaos, and tried to slip away—but Alexia grabbed her arm.

The three slaves spent the rest of the day restocking shelves nonstop.

Popular items vanished the moment they were put out.

"They're selling as fast as I put them up!"

"Just get everything we've got out there!"

The voices were practically screams.

"Well, your timing was good."

"This is unusual. It doesn't get this crazy very often."

"We've been getting more customers lately."

They exchanged words while working through the crowd.

The souvenir display was already empty.

By the time the rush finally subsided, it was nearly closing time.

"We're going to need a massive restock tomorrow."

"The warehouse is empty too."

"That's… impressive. Is there something going on this time of year?"

"Beats me."