chapter 56.2

「Oi! Dock the ship over here!」

「Did they kill him?」

「I don’t know . But if they did then we have no choice but to ride that ship home」

Once they entered the inner bay, they dropped their anchors at an area that was still fairly deep, then lowered the small boat together with me who was still tied to the chair . I guess I should let the others know that I’m safe .

「O~i~ . I’m still pretty much alive okay~」

「Being able to live and come back like that is amazing」

「Yeah, it certainly is amazing considering his current condition」

After I got put down at the sh.o.r.e, one of my captors said .

「If you guys want to kill this Demon Lord then kill him . We’ll help you out . If he is necessary for you then feel free to cut the rope」

As he said that, he handed them a knife . Ah, this is a trial for me, isn’t it? The man who received the knife immediately cut the ropes to rescue me . Iyaー it was a good thing I treated them kindly .

「Okay, thanks . Can you guys go back ahead to the base and gather the others?」

After that, I began to slowly walk with the merchant in the same direction . Once we got to the base, I immediately filled everyone of the situation .

「Uhmー so I just decided to use the deer and wild boar as well as the salt and sugar for trading without consulting with others . I’m very sorry about that」

After talking amongst themselves, they all agreed that they don’t mind if that was what I decided so I immediately showed the merchant the goods .

「Hmmー, it’s still pretty much intact so it’s pretty big, isn’t it?」「The nice flavor of sugar spreads out inside of your mouth, doesn’t it?」「And this salt has such a mild taste compared to the strong ones we’re used to」

Was what his impression of the goods .

After that, he showed me something that looks an abacus while saying .

「How about his amount?」

「To be honest, I don’t really understand that tool . I’ve seen something similar but I’m not sure if it’s the same thing」

「You see, this tool was made by the hero-sama in order to make calculations somewhat easier to convey . The first part symbolizes copper coins, the next one large copper coins and so forth」

So it’s pretty much an abacus . From what he showed me, he’s offering 2 large silver, 8 silvers, and 3 large copper coins . 1 From my calculations, the 80-kilogram meat ended up being 1 large copper per kilo . I think the rest of the products we’re selling were included in that amount but I honestly don’t have any idea about the market price .

「Although I’d like to say that I believe you, I really don’t know anything about the prices . I have no idea how much the wholesale price is compared to the sales price for example . That’s why I don’t know whether or not that price you presented is fair . Of course, that’s the same for the flour as well」

It was sold by the ton in my previous life after all . If I remember correctly, imported unrefined wheat goes for about 50 yen per kilo . One sack is around 60 kilograms, so does that mean that a 60-kilogram sack would also be 3000 yen? That should be 3 large copper for one bagful then . I’m not sure if a bagful is the same weight though since I didn’t think it was that heavy when I brought it from the village . It was just a bit heavier than Suzuran .

A cup of flour is about 100 grams, right? I did this at home economics so…… Ah, geez . How am I supposed to know all of that! The amount of water needed is half the weight of wheat flour right?2

Anyway, how much wheat would we be able to buy with that amount? I haven’t bought any wheat when I was back in the village after all . I’ve seen how much the market price of wheat is back when I was working in town but I still don’t know its wholesale price .

「Be that as it may be but I can’t do anything but ask you to put your trust in me」

I was writing stuff on the sand with a stick while squatting down when I heard that . Because of that, I just decided to stop thinking and replied .

「Understood . I will trust you」

「However, I have with me the official doc.u.ments from when I bought the potatoes and flour, so I can show them to you if you want」

「Ah, please let me see them」

「I left them on the ship so please come with us again when we go back to get the wheat」

「Got it」

Our negotiations ended with that, then I gave the deer meat to the ship’s captain and received their currency as payment . I was told that they wanted to cook and eat right away so as service, I decided to provide them with the firewood . It’s still wood from live trees instead of dried ones though .

While they were eating, they saw water flowing from the water channel to the reservoir I made so they asked .

「Is this potable?」

Because of that, I just honestly told them what it is . When they heard that it was I who filled it temporarily with water made from my magic, they immediately told me that they’ll pay me to produce some more . Even though the humans have their own magician in their party, they usually used water magic for attacking so it doesn’t seem like they could produce fresh water .

With that said, I started filling their empty ceramic water bottles as promised .

「Anybody who wants to drinkー?」

While saying that, I presented to them a 【Waterball】 and told them they could also wash their bodies with it if they wanted to . They might want to wash away the salt from the sea off their bodies and clothes after all . Their clothes may be worn out but they shouldn’t let their bodies remain dirty .

「Fuuー . It feels good~」

Suddenly, one of them jumped right into the clean 【Waterball】 . Because he did that, the clean 【Waterball】 has now been soiled .

While they were doing that, the magician from earlier approached me and said .

「I wonder how is it possible for you to produce such fresh water from nothing? I certainly want to ask for you to teach me but……」

I decided to negotiate some terms with him before I agreed to teach him .

「I’ll teach you if you also teach me the method of communicating over long distances like you did earlier」

「If that’s the case then it’s simple . You just use the wind to carry your message」

Is it the same concept as being easier to hear when speaking downwind?

「But how do you do it without anybody noticing?」

「That’s why you set a message you want to send beforehand」

It’s only a one-sided method of communicating huh . Then, does that mean that it’s useless if the other party isn’t aware of it? I haven’t had any use for that kind of magic up until now, but when I do, it seems like there will be a lot of limitations I’ll have to keep in mind . I’ll try to make some improvements to it I guess . It might just get worse though .

「Thanks, now to keep my end of the bargain . You may think that this water came from nothing but actually, there’s a lot of water stored in the air around us」

「Huh?」

「For example, you know how steam comes out whenever you boil water right? That steam is actually just really small droplets of water . You might not see it but there are a lot of those similar really small droplets in the air all around us . Whenever you’re invoking your magic, you should just use the image of gathering all of those up . Think about it, whenever you boil stew or something and you cover it, once you take off the lid, you can see droplets of water under it right? It’s the same concept」

While saying that, I made a small 【Waterball】 at the tip of my finger .

「In order to produce a lot more than this, you need to imagine collecting the droplets in as wide of an area as possible」

After I said that, the magician put down the meat he was eating and focused on his hands . His hands started getting a bit wet but it doesn’t look like it’s going well .

「How about trying to imagine scooping it out instead of just gathering it?」

I tried using the method I told my cla.s.smates a while ago . After teaching him that, water suddenly started surging on his palm and even spilled to the ground .

「Its magic efficiency is really bad . There are still a lot of other areas where water magic would be more useful as expected . However, it’s still useful during times when fresh water can’t be found . I appreciate it」

「No problem」

「How about you try applying what I taught you as well?」

Because of that, I decided to try it out by whispering to Wulf . Once the message reached him, he raised his head and glanced towards our direction . It seems like he heard it . The way he responded to my commands like 『sit』 made him really seem like a dog .

「That was a success, wasn’t it? That wolf over there responded when I called it just now after all . 」

「I-I see . If possible, you should try it with a human though」

「Ahー, sorry about that . 『Hey~, hey~ . could you bring Tanya and Sonya over here?』」

I tried using it to send a message to the children . Having done that, one of them started looking around searching for me . Once he found me, he brought the two animals along .

「Thanks . You can go back to eating meat now」

「’kay~」

「How was that?」

「Un…… That was good」

I feel like he became speechless for a bit there but I guess it’s fine

「Sorry about that you guys, I just wanted to try something out . You can now go back to the others」

「Wafun!」「Waon!」

After responding, they ran back .

「Hey . Do you not have any humans you are close with on this island?」

「…………yeah」

「Sorry……」

「It’s fine . I have my wives, children, and friends if I go back home after all」

「What a lonesome fellow you are」

「It’s annoying how I can’t deny that」

After the sailors and the merchant finished eating, we went back to the ship in order for me to receive the goods . Once we were there, the chef approached me and said .

「Excuse me, could you please fill up this water jug that we use for cooking?」

I didn’t have any particular reason to refuse so I filled it up . Then, one sailor asked .

「Our laundry is starting to pile up so if it’s alright, can you make another one of that water ball you made?」

Having brought that up, a lot of sailors who were lying in wait came out . Since it couldn’t be helped, I made a 【waterball】 on the deck of the ship and returned to what I was doing .

「These are the doc.u.ments of when I bought the items」

Written on the doc.u.ments that he brought was the amount of bags that was bought and the price . Sealing wax and a signature were in there as well . I can’t read the human’s language but the numerical figures are the same so I can somewhat understand that was written . After doing some mental math, the price that we settled on earlier of 2 copper for a bag was a bit more expensive but I won’t protest since he wouldn’t get any profit if he just sold it at the same price .

「Since you have the doc.u.ments, shall I sign it?」

「The doc.u.ments? Is that necessary?」

「Ahー, please write the amount of wheat and potatoes that were sold as well . I’ll write my name beside that . You might get in trouble with your country if the numbers don’t match after all」

「These are my personal stock so there are no problems you know?」

It seems like that part is a bit different from my previous world as well .

「Well, you can just say that I wanted a paper that would more or less certify what products and how many I bought」

「I understand . I’ll do just that」

After saying that, he started writing the things I asked for, then, in the end, I wrote my name on it .

「For the time being, I just made two copies in order to avoid any kinds of troubles . Especially the part about me . It would be evidence that I bought these from you after all」

「Ahー, that’s right . You’re a Demon Lord so we have to avoid doing anything strange that would cause suspicions」

With that said, he made another copy of that paper and gave it to me .

「Thank you very much」

「Now, as for the bedding…… Hmm, I wonder what we should do about that」

As the merchant murmured that, the sailors who were washing their clothes said . 3

「Me! I’ll sell mine! I’m fine with sleeping on just the bed for a while so let the children have it」

Several others also had the same sentiments .

「Your slaves are really happy and energetic so I can tell that you’re really kind . That’s why we’ll sell them to you, so that you’ll be able to give them to the children at the very least as you said earlier」

「What the h.e.l.l? You guys too?」

After that, I was able to obtain 20 used bedding sets as well as wheat and potatoes . As for the rest of the money I gained, I used them to buy empty bottles, nets and some string that can be used for fishing . The merchant even added an extra dozen empty bottles for dirt cheap .

We went back after that and while we were in the middle of unloading the cargo from the dinghy the merchant said .

「Let’s meet again . At that time, you can sell anything you wish to trade once again」「You see, we’re actually keeping bees over here so we’ll be able to store their honey on the empty bottles that you sold us」

「Ahー . So I guess we do have a reason to meet again」

After that exchange we bid out farewells, then they went back to the ship and sailed away .

Everyone finished washing the blankets after that and while they were drying, the children approached me and said .

「Maou-sama, we are sorry about yesterday」

「Uhm… We were still a bit scared even though the adults told us that you just did that to get the wolves to understand you……」

「You even gave us those honey bread during our afternoon break…」

「Ahー . Un, I’m also sorry for scaring you guys」

I patted all of their heads as I said that .

~Idle Talk~

Sailor whose foot was pierced POV

「Geezー . What the h.e.l.l was that magic? And even though I was his enemy, he still used healing magic on me while saying 『You’ll be discharged from service if you can’t work right?』 Like, what the heck man . Mind your own business」

「You’re just reaping what you sow you know?」

「Who would have guessed he has something like that? If I knew then I wouldn’t have attacked him」

「I don’t really want to argue with you, to be honest . I’ve been taught how to produce fresh water using magic but its efficiency is really bad . That’s why when I saw him make that large water float…… I don’t even want to think about how many of those he can make . There’s also that black knife that he threw . I don’t know where he got that or what material it was made from . Honestly, it’s even unclear to me which attribute that belongs to . If I had to guess though, I’d probably say it was dark magic . Also, for me, it’s already a big deal being able to produce as much as 5 flame spears at one time . They’re not that big and I don’t really need to be precise . However, just imagine how many of those waterb.a.l.l.s he could make with his large mana pool and amazing control . I’m sure that not less than half of our forces would be injured right now . What’s worse is that he could even use magic without casting . 」

「Oi oi, a magician shouldn’t say such a thing . I’m sure that he wouldn’t be a match for us if we grouped up」

「That’s why I said I don’t want to argue with you okay?」

There seems to be an ability that can only be unlocked once you become a Demon Lord .

Things that were procured:

5 dozen empty bottles String 2 nets 20 sets of used bedding