SWNOVELXO Chapter 132 - Divine Cat Mii-chan: Becoming the Black Pearl King!?
132 Divine Cat Mii-chan: Becoming the Black Pearl King!?
I signed the contract and returned it to the butler.
“But of course, you’ll take it on.”
“We can manage on our own, and we’ll figure out something for when we’re unavailable. It should work out somehow.”
“Mii~”
“Indeed, nobody was willing to accept a one-way journey.”
Is that so? It makes sense, given the somewhat tricky distance and the fact that you’d have to cross Brocken Mountain to reach the next town, which would make anyone hesitate. The main benefit is getting closer to the Grand Duke, but isn’t that pretty important? Though the Grand Duke might downplay it, I think many merchants would want this opportunity. Normally, a request like this wouldn’t come to a fledgling trading company like the Divine Cat Trading Company—thanks, Queen!
The Grand Duke picked up Sera, who had come over to rub against his legs, and after making a slightly difficult face, he changed the topic.
“Have you heard about the attack on the goblin stronghold?”
“I heard from Mr. Martin.”
“What about Rotaringia?”
“Lady Anneliese informed me.”
“Our ally, the Dragon King of Fire, has requested a meeting with a young man accompanied by a cat. I believe this must be you, Nero.”
Huh? Why is a dragon asking to meet me? I have no connection with any dragons. Mii-chan, do you?
“Mii?”
Right, of course, you don’t.
“But why me?”
“I don’t know. A ship will be prepared for you tomorrow, so you can go and ask him yourself.”
So, it’s decided that I’m going…
“Will anyone be coming with me?”
“You’ll be taken to the port by my ship, and from there, the dragon will guide you.”
“Sigh…”
After that, we talked about Lady Lene, Luka, and our new kitten friends, Lea and Noah, which seemed to make the Grand Duke very happy. He also appreciated the distilled liquor I gave him yesterday, knowing how difficult it is to acquire.
As I was leaving, he instructed me to be at the port by the ninth bell tomorrow, and I took my leave from the royal palace.
Before buying fish at the port, we decided to have lunch at a nearby restaurant. We had grilled fish, fish soup, and fried fish sandwiches. They were all delicious, but I think they would have been even better with some sauce or tartar sauce.
When I went to the market the other day, there weren’t many fish available… It seems you have to come in the morning. Since I didn’t find any good fish today, I decided to try again tomorrow morning and head to the bazaar instead.
“Too bad, nya…”
“Nya…”
“Growl.”
It’s okay, we’ll come back tomorrow. I promise I’ll buy some then.
We wandered around the bazaar, shopping as we went. Mii-chan, perched on her special seat on my shoulder, spotted something and started pawing at me. Oh, did we find something good?
But it turned out to be a shop selling pearls. Mii-chan, what are you looking at?
Mii-chan’s eyes were fixed on the black pearls placed at the edge of the shop. Do you want me to buy those?
“Mii.”
Could it be that you really like them?
“Mii.”
When I asked the shopkeeper for the black pearls, they brought out even more from the back. Considering how rare they’re supposed to be, they actually had quite a few. Rather than look through them one by one, I decided to buy them all, which made the shopkeeper cry with joy. Each pearl was about 100 to 200 rets, almost a steal.
As we continued exploring the bazaar, I was constantly approached by other shopkeepers offering to sell me black pearls. News travels fast in this industry. In the end, I ended up with an overwhelming amount. Even after that, they asked me where I was staying and if I’d buy their remaining stock…
What should I do…? At this rate, I might end up gathering all the black pearls in this area. Mii-chan, you’re becoming the Black Pearl King!
“Mii…”
Black pearls, black history…
“N-Nero! It’s suddenly gotten cold around here, nya…”
“Nya…”
“Growl…”
This is the moment that will be etched into my black history…
“Mii…”
As we reached the area of the bazaar where mainly food was sold, a particular shop caught my eye. It was a small shop run by an elderly lady and a girl around five or six years old. There were a few ceramic containers on display, and inside a basket were small, round, dark brown objects.
Could it be…? To find something like this in a place like this, though the climate here might be just right…
“Is this miso?”
“Oh my, young man, you recognize it?”
“Then, could this be… soy sauce?”
“Oh my, you even know about soy sauce? That’s rare.”
“I’ll buy everything!”
“W-What? Really?!”
The small, round, dark brown objects were miso balls, small dried balls of miso. The ceramic containers held dark soy sauce, or tamari soy sauce, to be precise.
“It doesn’t look that tasty, nya…”
“Perro, my boy, you’re sweet—sweeter than Mii-chan’s red bean paste.”
Mii-chan started licking Perro… That’s not what I meant, Mii-chan.
“Mii…”
Mii-chan, I’ll let you lick some red bean paste later, so please stop looking at me like that…
Here, go play with the little girl while I finish talking with the elderly lady. I gave the girl and Mii-chan some cookies and continued my conversation with the elderly lady.
According to her, their village is descended from a hero. When I mentioned that the royal families of the Kingdom of Lumière and the Grand Duchy of Hildenburg are also descended from heroes, she nodded proudly and said that they, too, are descendants.
The hero apparently introduced rice cultivation and left behind recipes for miso and soy sauce. However, since bread is the main staple in this country, and the rice grown here is Indica rice, which isn’t very tasty, it couldn’t compete with bread. Still, they’ve continued making these foods to preserve the flavors left by the hero. That’s wonderful. This hero was likely Japanese.
When I told the elderly lady that I wanted more and would like to visit their village the day after tomorrow, she said the villagers would be delighted and gave me directions. The village is only an hour’s carriage ride from Wilhelm, so it’s an easy trip with Sumire.
Now, let’s head back to the inn and borrow the kitchen. I’m excited to try the soy sauce and miso. I wonder if Mii-chan will drink miso soup?
“Mii?”