"So we can buy all the fodder in this shed?"
"Yeah! If you're fine with fodder from my place, take as much as you want!"
The man beamed at Rei's words.
Producing fodder took a fair amount of time and effort, but if it was going to sell, that much trouble was well worth it—especially when the buyer was paying considerably more than expected.
(Technically, Marina handled the negotiations. Did she go easy on them?)
Puzzling over this, Rei stored the fodder into his Misty Ring one bundle after another.
The man could only stare in astonishment as it vanished before his eyes.
"Th-That's incredible..."
That was all he could manage.
Accustomed to such reactions, Rei didn't even crack a smug grin. He simply finished stowing the fodder.
"Alright, next up. ...Come to think of it, what's the temperament like on that horse we bought from your village? If it's too wild, it'll be a bit of a handful."
Even so, Rei didn't look particularly bothered. A wild-tempered horse would never act up around Set, anyway. Horses seemed to instinctively understand the gap in biological rank. That much was obvious from how the horses seized from the Cavalry Unit behaved.
The man, however, assured him there was no problem at all.
"If that one counts as wild, then I don't think there's a gentle horse alive. She's that calm and friendly."
"Huh, that's a relief."
If the horse had been temperamental, Rei would have had to keep it near Set, but that wouldn't be necessary now.
"The Village Chief's probably thrilled about selling the horses and carriages, too. Said you folks paid above market price."
"Is that so? ...Well, if Marina made that call, I've got no complaints."
Since Rei had left the negotiations entirely to Marina, the fact that they'd paid above market price only told him she must have had her reasons.
...And in truth, given that several men had already been caught peeping on the bathing women, Marina held an overwhelming advantage over the Village Chief at the bargaining table. If she'd made that call under those circumstances, it was because she'd decided the price was acceptable.
"More importantly, brother. Is it true you're involved with that jaw-dropping beauty Marina—and a few other beauties on top of her?"
The moment Marina's name came up, the man blurted it out.
Marina was the Dark Elf who'd handled the negotiations with the Village Chief, and her beauty was truly breathtaking. So much so that the man—and not just him, but even his own wife—had been utterly captivated.
And harder still to believe, there were two other women traveling with Rei who, while each striking in her own way, were every bit Marina's equal.
If the rumors the man had caught wind of were true, the Rei standing before him had won over all three of them. As a fellow man, there was no way he wasn't curious—so he'd gone ahead and asked.
"Well, who knows."
Rei simply deflected.
The man tried hard to coax the story out of him, but in the end, he couldn't get a word out of Rei before they arrived at another shed where more fodder was stored.
"Hey, Jols! You heard about the fodder, right?"
"Sure did. If you're buying, you're more than welcome. ...Oh, and word is the bread should be coming out of the oven soon. They said to come over once you've taken my fodder."
"Huh, that was fast. Thought it'd take a while longer."
Rei's expression shifted to one of mild surprise and admiration. But Jols puffed up with pride.
"Not that I should be saying this, but the women in this village—my wife included—have a nose for a profit. To them, you folks must look like mighty fine customers."
To be precise, he suspected they looked more like easy marks, but he wasn't fool enough to say that out loud. Souring Rei's mood over a careless remark would be a serious problem.
"Anyway, understood. Fresh bread tastes best right out of the oven anyway, so I'll get this fodder stored quickly."
With that, Rei swiftly swept all the fodder inside the shed into his Misty Ring.
Jols stared, thoroughly stunned.
After leaving Jols's shed, Rei made his way to the square at the center of the village.
The savory aroma of baking bread hung thick in the air, making his stomach growl.
The square appeared to double as a communal gathering space, laid out to accommodate large crowds. Several stone ovens stood at the ready—likely used for cooking during village festivals—and right now, the women of the village were out in full force, baking bread.
No, most of them were baking bread. A few, however, were preparing other dishes—including a massive pot of stew big enough to fit several children inside, simmering away.
Naturally, the stew and everything else was being purchased in full by Rei's group.
The stew was loaded with all manner of vegetables, and its rich, savory scent wafted through the square. Combined with the smell of fresh bread, Rei felt like he could devour everything set before him.
But he quickly shook off the thought. He'd asked the village to prepare travel provisions, not a meal for himself. Just because he was hungry didn't mean he should start eating the goods on-site.
"Oh, you're here."
A woman in her forties—busy at work but chatting with friends nearby—called out to Rei, apparently having noticed him. At her voice, the other women chimed in with cheerful greetings as well.
They ranged from women younger than Rei to some who could only be described as old ladies. All of them, without exception, were friendly toward him.
The promise of proper payment went a long way, apparently.
By rights, this was still the time for fieldwork and other daily chores. The fact that the women were here baking bread at Rei's request, and the men were off preparing various goods to sell—all of it came down to one simple fact: Rei's group paid. And paid well.
Not that Rei had handled those negotiations himself. That had been entirely Marina's doing.
"I heard the bread's ready. How's the stew coming along?"
"The stew needs to simmer a bit longer. You could eat it now, sure, but wouldn't you rather have a proper, tasty stew?"
Put that way, Rei couldn't argue. If asked whether he preferred delicious food or bland food, the answer needed no thought at all.
"Fair enough. I'll come back for the stew later. So, where's the finished bread?"
"Oh, right over there. Lined up on the table."
She pointed. Several loaves had been gathered together and placed inside wooden baskets.
"Can we take the baskets as they are?"
"Go right ahead. If those old baskets are good enough for you, take as many as you want."
Each basket held nearly thirty loaves. The slight variation in size from one loaf to the next was only natural—bread baked here was meant for their own tables, not for sale. Though even in Gilm, bread sold in shops wasn't perfectly uniform either.
"Then I'll help myself. Having the bread already counted out in baskets saves us a lot of trouble."
With nearly a thousand people in their traveling party, receiving bread in batches was far more efficient than passing it out one loaf at a time. In that sense, the baskets were a small but genuinely appreciated touch.
Rei stored loaf after loaf into his Misty Ring until the table was bare. The women stared at the vanishing bread just as the man at the shed had—but Rei was used to it by now and didn't bat an eye.
"Oh my... no, that really is something."
"Seriously. Seems like it'd be incredibly handy for cleaning up and all sorts of things."
"Ahaha! If it were me, I'd shove my husband right in there and be done with him."
The others burst out laughing. Rei didn't spoil the mood by mentioning that living creatures couldn't be stored inside. He just smiled and listened.
"Well, I need to go check on things elsewhere, so I'll be off. Let me know when the next batch is ready."
"Will do. You watch yourself, brother. This village's got its share of hot-blooded fellows too."
Hot-blooded fellows? Rei wondered what had prompted that warning. He didn't have Elena or any other beauty at his side at the moment. He couldn't imagine being accosted by anyone.
Of course, what Rei himself hadn't realized was that his attitude could be rather provocative without him noticing. ...That the village women had picked up on that in such a short time was impressive, though.
"Got it. I'll watch my step."
"You do that. Though truth be told, most of the hot-blooded ones seem to have gone off to the river."
Rei understood what that meant. Not everyone in his group had finished bathing yet. With nearly a thousand people, even a decent-sized river couldn't accommodate everyone at once. They were taking turns in groups, washing away days of grime and sweat.
Those still waiting their turn were standing watch against peepers, and the women who'd already finished were helping with security.
The women bathing were the ones Jaya's people had dragged in to work as prostitutes. While not all were stunning beauties, every one of them was above-average in looks. With women like that bathing in the open, it wasn't hard to imagine a few village men risking trouble for a peek.
In fact, several peepers had already been caught—and each incident had further tipped the scales in Marina's favor during her negotiations with the Village Chief.
"The river, huh. ...I doubt anyone's getting a peek, but understood. If the hotheads are all there, that means fewer headaches for us."
Rei waved to the women at the cooking fires and moved on.
He was mulling over where to head next when a man came running toward him. For a brief moment, remembering the woman's warning, he wondered if some village man was coming to pick a fight—but on closer look, it was a face he recognized.
(Ah, one of the Resistance.)
Rei let his guard down.
The man stopped in front of him, exhaling in relief.
"Man, I've been looking everywhere for you. Was told to fetch you, but you were nowhere to be found."
"I was busy storing away fodder and bread."
"I figured, but still... would've been nice if we could've just reached you quickly."
"Yeah, no kidding."
With a Paired Orb, it would have been possible. But Paired Orbs were extraordinarily rare Magic Items—not something a small-country Resistance with modest numbers would ever possess. For that matter, Rei himself had had to travel all the way to the Labyrinth City just to obtain one.
(Something like a cellphone would be awfully convenient, though.)
But with no such device in existence, their communication methods were bound to be primitive.
(Could I develop one as a Magic Item? No, I wouldn't be the one developing it. ...Nah, that'd never work.)
If instant communication like a cellphone became commonplace, this world would be thrown into absolute chaos. Paired Orbs were so rare that they hadn't caused widespread disruption yet, but if anyone could get their hands on one, that would be a very different story.
"So, what do you need?"
"Oh, right. Apparently we've decided to buy some additional carriages, but we're short on horses..."
That was all Rei needed to hear.
"Lead me to the carriages. It's worth keeping spares around, just in case. ...Worst comes to worst, Set can pull one."
So he said.