kscans

Chapter 232 - # The Spring Grand Market ~A Day for Curiosities~ 2. Pepper Dreams (Part 2)

(`...What's that? ...He doesn't look like a professional merchant...`)

Yuri's gaze stopped on a spot where a young man sat with a somewhat listless, sullen look. In front of him, a few items were displayed as a token gesture, but the people passing by only gave them a fleeting glance without stopping.

"? ...Ah... that's a makeshift seller. They're a common sight at markets like this."

Perhaps noticing Yuri's curiosity, Eto, who had followed his gaze, offered an explanation.

"A makeshift seller?"

"Yes. Adventurers or children who aren't professionals will sell their personal belongings for some pocket money. It happens a lot."

"Or travelers and adventurers who have run out of money and are trying to turn their belongings into cash."

According to Orban's supplementary explanation, it was probably a violation of the rules in the strictest sense, but the merchants' guild didn't seem to have the time to nitpick over such minor details, so it was apparently overlooked. It was also not uncommon for adventurers to bring their dropped items to the grand market in the merchant city of Laurenzen, hoping to attract customers. They would apparently hold onto them without selling until the grand market to get a slightly higher price.

"You can't underestimate them, though, because you can sometimes find some real bargains this way."

"But everyone's just walking past him."

"Come to think of it... it's rare to see one around here, isn't it..."

Come to think of it, it was a similar situation when he had picked up the sisters Saya and Sena in the past. At that time, he had gotten his hands on a real find, the papas potato, and perhaps there was a second eel under the willow... Yuri advanced, his greed belying his appearance, but...

(`Ah... this is a bust.`)

Eto shook his head slightly, as if to say it was a lost cause.

The item placed in front of the man in question was something like a small seed, and...

(`No matter who looks at it, it doesn't look real. If it weren't the grand market, maybe he could've hooked a sucker, but...`) (`There are real ones right next to him. The difference is obvious when you compare them.`) (`It looks like it's mixed with all sorts of other things, too.`)

...In front of the seeds was a sign with the crudely written word "Piper."

The party shook their heads and started to walk past, but one person stopped to take a closer look. ...As you may have guessed, it was Yuri.

(`Hey, Yuri-kun! What are you looking at! It's fake, you know? Do you understand? It's F-A-K-E! `)

Dona and Eto tried to pull Yuri away, but Yuri, on the other hand, was determined not to budge. The reason being...

(Wow... these are unheated pepper berries... It's questionable whether they'll still germinate, but... this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, isn't it...)

Mr. Appraisal, in whom Yuri placed his absolute trust, was telling him that it was unmistakably piper, and moreover, that it was unheated.

From the fact that all the piper he had seen so far had been heat-treated, Yuri had suspected that it was being controlled by the country of origin. After all, this was pepper, which in his former world on Earth had once been traded for its equivalent weight in gold. If it was a similar situation in this world, it wouldn't be surprising if they took measures such as heating it to make it lose its ability to germinate, fearing that it would be cultivated in other countries.

However, this "fake" piper showed no signs of having been heat-treated. Which meant...

(`...It wasn't exported through official channels, was it? I have to get my hands on this, no matter what.`)

The seeds of the pepper from Earth were supposed to have lost their ability to germinate in an extremely short period of time, but from the fact that they went to the trouble of heat-treating it, perhaps the piper of this world had a bit more life force? If it came down to it, he also had his Wood Magic and Magic Remodeling, in which he had immense faith. The chances of success were more than enough.

(`...It wouldn't be good to look too eager and raise suspicion... so, the first thing I should do is gather information. ...As much as possible, I need to look like a naive country bumpkin who doesn't know any better...`)

A mission that was, in a way, tongue-in-cheek, and from a certain perspective, highly difficult, in which a genuinely clueless person pretended to be clueless, had begun.