Chapter 36: The Next Step
The lake wind carried damp, salty air, brushing across everyone’s faces.
The campfire crackled.
The orange-red flames cast the four people’s shadows onto the rocks behind them, stretching and twisting them, like a bizarre miniature of the Lands Between itself.
For once, Loran let his mind go blank.
He leaned against a relatively flat rock, letting his consciousness drift up and down in waves of exhaustion.
By his ears were two voices with completely different frequencies, yet somehow strangely harmonious.
“…So I’m saying, our first batch of goods should be positioned for the high-end market!”
Patches spoke with spittle flying everywhere, drawing on the ground with a twig.
“We’re not selling to those penniless Tarnished! Our target customers are the nobles! Those people from the Carian royal family, and those fellows at Volcano Manor! They have plenty of runes, and they care about appearances!”
“As long as we hype up the concept of ‘the same style as Fia,’ are we really afraid they won’t pay?”
“Right, right! And it has to be limited edition!”
Kiro slapped her thigh and added, “Only three pieces a day! And they have to draw lots! Push the prestige all the way up! Make them beg us to let them buy!”
“Brilliant! Truly brilliant! Miss Kiro, you were born to do business!”
This great commercial empire went from “how to design the first batch of advertising slogans” all the way to “equity distribution after going public in the future.”
A grand blueprint slowly unfolded beside the campfire.
Roderika quietly leaned against Loran’s shoulder.
The long journey had made her very tired, but she was not asleep.
She simply closed her eyes, feeling the steady heartbeat and faint warmth coming from Loran’s body.
That made her feel incomparably at ease.
Occasionally, she would secretly open one eye, glance at Loran’s profile, then quickly close it again, as if she had done something guilty.
Loran did not seem to hear any of this.
He was simply spacing out.
“Hey, hey, hey! Meeting time! Meeting time!”
Kiro’s voice interrupted this brief peace.
She ended her business discussion with Patches and ran over to Loran in a few quick steps, hands on her hips.
“Strategy meeting! Let’s discuss what we’re doing next!”
Then she quickly added, “But we’re definitely not going to Caelid anyway.”
Patches also hurried over, a flattering smile piled onto his face.
He very naturally found himself a spot beside the campfire and sat down, as if he had always been a rightful member of this team.
Loran finally returned from that half-awake, half-dreaming state.
He glanced at Patches, who had taken a seat on his own initiative, and frowned almost imperceptibly.
“Him?” Loran looked at Kiro.
“What’s wrong?” Kiro asked in confusion. “Brother Patches is our business partner now, so of course he has to participate in strategy meetings! Right, Patches?”
“Exactly, exactly!”
Patches nodded repeatedly, giving Loran a smile he probably thought was very sincere.
“From now on, we’re all one of our own. We discuss things together, enjoy blessings together, and when disaster comes… cough, cough. We certainly face hardship together!”
[Patches’ Affection toward Loran: 0 → -10]
[Status: Testing / False Goodwill / Feeling Rejected]
Loran’s undisguised rejection had clearly made Patches unhappy.
“I object,” Loran said concisely.
“Objection rejected!” Kiro immediately shot back. “Why object? Patches is great. He’s well-informed, quick-witted, and he’ll definitely be useful at critical moments!”
“He may stab us in the back at any time,” Loran stated, presenting an objective fact based on game experience.
“No way!”
Kiro’s reaction was much stronger than Loran expected.
She even stepped in front of Patches, spreading her arms like an old hen protecting her chicks.
“How can you accuse him like that? Patches is my buddy! He’s one of the good ones! I’ll vouch for him on my future title as Elden Lord!”
Patches hid behind Kiro and poked out half of his bald head, showing Loran an expression that was both aggrieved and slightly smug.
[Patches’ Affection toward Kiro: +40 → +50]
[Status: Being Defended / Moved / Found a Backer]
Loran looked at these two living treasures and could not say a single word.
He did not even have the energy to comment on how many runes the “honor of the future Elden Lord” was worth.
He knew that, for Kiro, any analysis based on reason and logic could never defeat the five words:
“I think he’s fun.”
“Fine.”
Loran finally gave up arguing and rubbed his temples.
“You guarantee him. Then let’s begin. Tell me, where do you want to go next?”
“I want to find a tailor.”
She announced this with a rare serious expression.
“Boc?” Loran subconsciously said the name.
“Right.”
Kiro’s eyes lit up.
“This is the first step in building our great commercial empire.”
When Patches heard the word “tailor,” his ears immediately perked up.
“A tailor? Miss Kiro, you mean… the kind of tailor who can turn designs into finished clothes?”
The fire of business once again ignited in his tiny eyes.
“More or less,” Kiro answered vaguely.
Her gaze fell on Loran.
“You can find that demi-human named Boc, right?”
Loran nodded.
In the game, Boc the Demi-Human’s location was fixed.
Near the Agheel Lake North Site of Grace, he had been transformed by magic into an unremarkable little shrub.
Near the Agheel Lake North Site of Grace, low bushes swayed in the breeze.
Loran stopped in front of a seemingly ordinary shrub.
“This is it?”
Kiro leaned over, her face full of suspicion.
“Are you sure? Isn’t this just a pile of weeds?”
“Mm.”
Loran nodded.
Kiro did not ask any more questions.
She backed up a few steps.
Then, with an extremely standard forward roll, she charged straight into that shrub.
Thud—
A dull impact rang out.
Accompanied by a terrified scream, the shrub shook violently.
Then a small, thin figure rolled out from within it and fell onto the ground with all four limbs facing the sky.
“Ah… ah… don’t kill me! Please don’t kill me!”
He curled into a ball, holding his head with both hands, trembling all over and letting out incoherent pleas.
“I… I’m ugly… I’m hideous… but… I’m not a bad person… I…”
Kiro stood up, patted the dust off her clothes, then walked in front of the still-trembling demi-human and cleared her throat.
She straightened her back, clasped both hands behind her, and spoke in what she believed to be an extremely dignified tone.
“Boc.”
The demi-human trembled.
Slowly, he raised his head and looked at her in terror.
“From today onward,” Kiro paused, seemingly gathering momentum for herself, “I, Kiro, in the name of the future Elden Lord and the founder of the number one fashion brand in the Lands Between, officially appoint you—”
She extended a finger and pointed at Boc with solemn seriousness.
“—as the Chief Fashion Designer of our great commercial empire!”
Boc froze.