A Certain Merchant's Life-or-Death Gamble

A certain merchant was in the moneylending business.

A man he'd lent money to ran off. While he'd made the man pay for that, the money itself wasn't coming back. So the debt was transferred to the collateral: his daughter.

Fortunately, she was a beauty. If she made full use of her body, she could probably earn it back in ten years or so.

And then that girl became Spirit-Possessed — a walking disaster.

… He wanted to scream "You've got to be kidding me," but somehow he'd survived while keeping the debt intact. Just a few days until the first week's deadline — and then one day.

"Heya!"

The disaster came to visit. He nearly fled, thinking she'd come to kill him, but forced his legs to stay put through sheer willpower. He told himself logically that he was on her side, and hiding the cold sweat running down his back so as not to seem hostile, he put on his best smile.

"Um, wh-what brings you here? There's still a few days until the deadline…"

"I earned a decent amount, so I'm here for early partial repayment!!"

"I-I see. That's wonderful to hear."

He felt relieved knowing why she'd come. Moreover, it seemed she wasn't planning to skip out on the debt, but genuinely intended to repay it properly. Ah, what joyous news. Tonight he'd treat himself to a thick steak. Maybe some fruit for dessert too.

"Here, five gold coins!"

"…? Um, five silver coins… you don't mean?"

"But it is five gold coins?"

He thought he'd misheard, but a merchant who makes such blunders wouldn't last in this business.

Five gold coins was half of the ten million zeni he'd lent to the girl.

It hadn't even been a week yet…?

The girl proudly lined up the gold coins on the table. How on earth had she earned this much in less than a week? They couldn't be counterfeit, could they? But even if they were, he had no choice but to accept them. If he refused, who knew what would happen to him.

Having deliberately avoided gathering information might have backfired, the merchant thought with a strained smile.

"Y-yes. I've certainly received your payment."

"Thanks! Well, see ya next time!"

"Huh, ah, yeah. Sure. Oh, this counts as this week's payment, okay?"

"Got it!"

The girl left with a spring in her step, as if to say her business was done.

Well, it actually was done, but.

Something felt off.

 

＊　＊　＊

 

Three days later.

The merchant gathered information.

He didn't really want to, but the information came to him quickly anyway.

The Spirit-Possessed stood out, and that girl especially drew attention. Particularly that chest of hers — he had to wonder how it had developed so well despite a life buried in debt.

"… They were real gold coins, and I never imagined another Spirit-Possessed would come to this town…"

Another Spirit-Possessed was helping the indebted girl, and together they were plowing through the Adventurers' Guild requests one after another.

Even the ones that normally required multiple parties. Just the two of them.

Perhaps the Spirit-Possessed had some mutual aid arrangement? Maybe there was some means of communication only they could use? Otherwise, it would be impossible for two such rare individuals to gather in one place.

They were apparently taking on even grimy, tough work like sewer cleaning, as if they'd do anything as long as it paid.

Because of this, the guild staff grumbled about having to separate the request boards for regular adventurers and Spirit-Possessed. Though since they were also clearing out requests that had been sitting around for ages, it was actually a net positive.

"… Well, I suppose if two people are doing the work of twenty adventurers, of course they'd easily earn gold coins…"

That just showed how capable they were. Anyway, once she finished repaying the debt, he'd cut ties and never get involved again. He'd do honest business and live an honest life. Getting greedy was a direct path to death.

"Heya! Merchant, you in!?"

"We're comin' in yo!"

"Hyahhaw～!"

The merchant felt the blood drain from his body. Why. What for!? He'd just accepted the early repayment the other day. Had they already earned more gold in such a short time? And also, why had the number of Spirit-Possessed disasters increased to three?

Am I going to die now? The merchant wanted to cry but held it in, disguising how his legs had given out by slowly sitting in his chair. He couldn't stand anymore. Think. Survive.

"Hey! Tell me yo! Where's the pleasure district yo!?"

"Ah, merchant. Here's five more gold coins～."

"Huh, so this is your base. Pretty clean. Looks like you've got money."

Eeeek!? The merchant could only scream internally. But outwardly, he kept smiling. Maintain the smile. Show that he was an ally, not an enemy. That smile was his only path to survival.

"… Ah, um. Can I hear you out, one at a time, maybe?"

"Then the pleasure district location yo!"

"Then I'm here to pay off the remaining debt. Here, five gold coins."

"That vase over there, can I break it? Or is that a no?"

Apparently, these Spirit-Possessed girls… had no intention of listening to a mere human.

"… Well, the pleasure district is two streets behind this one. I'd prefer you didn't break the vase — it's interior decoration I'm fond of. And congratulations on paying off your debt. You're now a free woman."

Somehow he managed to address all three requests in one breath, in order of who seemed most short-tempered. This kind of tightrope-walking was only possible through a merchant's experience. If he'd gotten the order wrong, he surely would have died.

"Oh. Penpen paid off the debt yo? I found out where the pleasure district is too, so is this merchant useless now yo?"

"Looks like he's got money though…"

He was going to be killed. Just as he thought that and was about to pass out, the girl — the one who had just paid off her debt — raised a calming hand.

"Alto, aren't you familiar with slow-life genre conventions? Once you pay off the debt, the merchant sells you an even more expensive item and saddles you with even more debt!!"

"Huh?"

"Ahh. Come to think of it, that's how it works yo. So there's still more to this event yo."

"Classic trope. Then you work to pay off that debt."

"Exactly! I'm expecting him to sell me a ranch or something. My Home's field is getting cramped."

Huh? What does that mean? The merchant nearly rolled his eyes back but held it in, suppressing it with sheer willpower, and rationally concluded that they apparently meant "We'll spare you for now if you sell us a ranch."

Wait, she wanted to be in debt? What kind of mindset was that? He wondered, then remembered they were Spirit-Possessed, so trying to understand how they thought was pointless anyway.

But a ranch. He didn't have any ranches on hand. Something… there had to be something… Oh!

"… Ahh, n-now that you mention it, outside this town… there's a large plot of land, though there's nothing there… b-but, it might be good, for starting a ranch?"

"There it is! Here it comes!! That's what I was waiting for, Mr. Merchant! So how much?"

He breathed a sigh of relief. That seemed to be the right answer.

"… Gold coi—"

"The second stage is always more expensive than the first debt, that's just standard."

"Yo yo, true true. Since you can earn more by then, it'd be boring if it were cheap yo. Obviously yo."

This was a problem. That plot of land on the outskirts was basically cheap, worth about three gold coins.

After all, there was nothing there. That was extremely inconvenient, and the risk of monster attacks was high.

To be blunt, it was cursed garbage land that the merchant had accidentally acquired after getting swindled while trying to build a factory.

Honestly, one gold coin would be fair market price. But if he said that honestly, he'd be betraying their expectations. Wouldn't that mean, death?

But if he overcharged and quoted twenty gold coins or something, and it came out later… he would definitely die.

"… J-just the land, um, cost me three gold coins to acquire. But market price would be, one gold coin at best…"

"Eh. That's cheap."

"Two days' worth of work yo that."

"… However!! Actually!! That land apparently has something underground, though I don't know if there really is anything…! I didn't really want to sell it, but…! Taking that into account, plus I want some profit… five gold coins…! Tax processing fees included…!"

He tried his hardest. The merchant put his life on the line and added two gold coins. Before that, he might have rambled something to steel his resolve, but anyway, five gold coins.

"…"

"…"

"…"

The silence was heavy. It felt like they were asking, Is that really what your life is worth? Under the gaze of three pairs of eyes, the merchant could already see himself being burned alive.

"Oh, um—"

"That means the underground is actually the main attraction yo…!?"

"Then it's one of those where you spend bit by bit on tools! Nice! This is nice! I was waiting for exactly this!!"

"Hm? Did you say something, Mr. Merchant?"

"Oh, no. Um, we sell shovels at our store for one silver coin."

"I'll buy it!! Ah, I'll write up an IOU then. I'll buy the shovel with cash on hand, so five gold coins!"

"Oh, wait! There's paperwork, so hold on! Right!? You could at least enjoy being debt-free for a while!?"

"True!"

…

Somehow, that's how things turned out.

The three disasters left looking pleased. He'd removed the debtor's anklet since she said she didn't need it anymore.

They said they were going somewhere. Frankly, they didn't need to come back. Go wherever you want.

"… Oh. I need to develop shovels. Or maybe excavators? I need to commission blacksmiths and magic tool craftsmen…"

On the table sat the five gold coins that had just been paid.

Using this as capital, he needed to develop shovels worth one gold coin each, made of mithril or adamantite. The merchant thought so. To keep himself alive.