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I came face-to-face with a bear in a forest. It was like something that came out of a fairytale. Maa, we usually fight against bear-type monsters, so it was not unusual, but this time, it was a talking bear, rather, someone from the bear clan.
「Talk? In a forest like this?」
I came in front of the bear clan while remaining cautious. Their appearance was not like that of an adventurer’s and they seemed to be wearing a traditional Japanese traveling outfit.
TN: this traveling outfit is similar to the everyday clothes that they wore back then, which is the similar version of the kimono that we all know today. The travel outfit for men is a shortened robe with pants underneath while the women’s outfit remains the same and both have a cloth bag and a wide hat. Something like this.
Maa, there would not be anyone who would travel to this kind of place though.
「In addition, who are you?」
I continued to ask them questions. Their posture was like that of an adventurer’s, so there was no sense of discomfort, but the bear clan just made me feel uncomfortable.
「I’m Guy, a peddler. Look, I have my Guild ID as well.」
「A peddler? In this kind of place?」
「Ah~, maa, something happened. So, I have a request to ask of you, or rather, you people….」
TN: here, he is addressing Shuu with omae-san (tachi), which is a more polite version of omae. He will switch to informal kimi later.
Oh my, my companions had been exposed,, huh. There was no feeling of having been spotted, so it seems that he’s strong. I was worried, so I tried using『Appraisal』, but as expected, this person was strong. He had a high level and he had skills as well. So why was he a peddler?
「A request?」
Avoiding the topic of Cruz-kun and the others, I focused on the contents of the request.
「Aah, if possible, can I buy the medicinal herbs that you harvested?」
「The medicinal herbs? If it’s that, you can buy them in town….」
「Normally, that would be the case, but currently, you can’t buy them in that town.」
After that, after several rounds of questions and answers, it seems that Guy-san retired from being an adventurer and was now peddling goods for a living. And, at one time, he heard that there was a place where he could make a profit, so he came to this town. However, from our conversation, it seems that many types of medicinal herbs were out of stock at the Commerce Guild, and the other shops inflated the prices and charge him an exorbitant amount of money due to him being from the bear clan. Because of that, he harvested them himself, and if possible, bought directly from  people.
「Then, wouldn’t it be better to go to places with a lot of people?」
Feeling that there was no problem as our conversation continued, Cruz-kun and the others also approached. Maa, there was a certain distance between us though.
「In the beginning,  I went over there, but everyone turned me down. They said,『No one would sell to you guys!』」
「Did you ask the wrong people? Then did the beastkin and beastmen adventurers turn you down?」
「No, they sold it to me, but they also had a guild request, so they only sold a little.」
「So, you asked us? You did well to even come to such a place.」
「No, I just happened to discover you guys. There wasn’t anyone who would sell them to me, so I could only harvest them myself and when I was looking around, you guys were there.」
Certainly, if you couldn’t buy any, then you could only look for them yourself, huh. Aah, that’s why he was wearing the traveling outfit, huh.
「By the way, how much do you need?」
「You’ll sell it to me? Then, I want to buy however much you have, but….」
After that, the bear peddler and I began negotiations. …however, that quickly came to an end. The bear peddler’s suggested buying price was the same as that of the Commerce Guild’s selling price, so there was enough profit. In addition, there was a surplus of medicinal herbs that we could take out, so there were many varieties and a large amount of them, to the extent that it would be troubling if the bear peddler did not have enough money.
And, as a compromise, the bear peddler offered to exchange with the goods that he brought with him to sell. Honestly, I didn’t know what he had, but normally, it should be something that could be sold, so it was decided that we would look at the goods first, and after agreeing to meet up again at our stalls another day, we parted ways that day.