Chapter 269: 269 Suspicious Merchant

Rin climbed the stairs, carrying the last of the luggage that had been piled on the first floor.

“Whew…”

Setting the luggage down in the room, Rin took a look around the interior. It wasn’t the cramped inn room she usually stayed in, but the dormitory of a massive base. It had been empty when she saw it recently, but within a few days, several pieces of furniture, including a bed, had been brought in.

After being introduced to the Guild House that would serve as the base for Ian’s mercenary group, she had spent several nights wide awake, wondering exactly when they would be able to move in.

Upon hearing the news last night that they could finally move, the three of them had finished organizing since dawn and were now moving their belongings into the base.

“Is this the end of it…?”

The luggage Rin had brought up after several trips up and down the stairs sat neatly in a corner of the room. When they lived at the inn, the space was so lacking it felt as if it were overflowing with personal belongings and equipment. She had even worried that she had too much stuff…

But having moved to such a spacious room, each person’s belongings sat humbly in the corner. The room’s interior was so empty it felt desolate. Just as Ian said he had only brought in the urgently needed items, the dormitory contained only a bed for each person, a wardrobe, and a nightstand.

…Calling it “basic” was an understatement; even this was already a significantly better room than the one at the inn.

Rin’s gaze, wandering around the room, fixed on her bed. Aside from the room getting larger, the biggest change was… this very bed.

“…Hup!”

After staring at the bed for a moment, Rin threw herself onto it. If she had done this on an inn bed, only Rin’s body would have hurt… but the dormitory bed quietly accepted her weight with a soft, plush sensation.

When Ian said they needed to choose beds, she had wondered what on earth that meant and just left it to him to handle. Who would have thought there were different types of beds?

Buried in the bed, Rin grinned silly.

“Rin! Is all the luggage moved?”

“Oh, yeah! I’m coming down!”

Hearing Mika’s voice calling her from the stairs outside, Rin replied while still lying on the bed. Geez, the house is so big it’s even inconvenient to find each other. Rin stood up with a smirk.

***

Ian organized the mail that had arrived at the base one by one, checking the contents. …Is that it for today’s schedule?

After looking over the delivery schedule and confirming his work for the day was finished, Ian plopped down on the sofa in the lounge he had set up on the first floor.

The first-floor space, which had been completely empty not long ago, now housed a large lounge where members could rest and welcome guests. It was a lounge created at Rin’s request. Rin probably hadn’t expected or requested it to be to this extent…

Regardless, since he was making it, Ian had no intention of wasting space with low-quality facilities. The lounge was filled with high-tier furniture that maximized various buffs such as comfort, stress reduction, health recovery, and rest bonuses.

As a result, the lounge on the first floor looked like the drawing room of a noble’s mansion, enough to overwhelm any first-time visitor.

“…They should be finished soon.”

Ian stole a glance at the time. It was about time for the members who had gone out on a mission to return. For the past few days, Ian hadn’t accompanied them and had been sending the three to the underground waterway on their own.

Since everyone’s levels had risen significantly compared to before, there shouldn’t be anything dangerous even if only the three of them were there.

If there were nothing else to do, Ian would have gone along, but he had a lot of work to do staying at the base.

’…How much is left?’

Ian rifled through the mail on the table, looking for items dated for tomorrow. There were two items for tomorrow’s date. The contract for this building was completely finished, but Ian’s work was just beginning in earnest. Buying the building wasn’t the end; the most important interior work remained.

It would be nice if he could renovate rooms with a single click and place furniture with a mouse like in the game, but now, he ultimately had to order furniture one by one, call in laborers, and supervise the construction personally.

This was a place where, far from electronic systems, errand boys ran around on foot to deliver mail. Because of those dreadfully slow document processing procedures, Ian stayed at the base, repeatedly writing documents, applying, and waiting. If he hired a base manager and staff, he could delegate it to them, but it was still too early for that… for now, Ian had to do it himself.

Still, thanks to Ian’s efforts, the empty base was changing day by day and taking on a fairly respectable appearance.

“We’re back!”

While Ian was resting for a moment, the three who had gone on the mission returned.

“Good work.”

Ian, who had been slumped on the sofa, glanced at Rin and waved his hand. Ian had been a bit worried when he first sent just the three of them, but after confirming several times that they returned safely as expected, he simply put his mind at ease. Rin spoke to Ian, who greeted them casually, with a dissatisfied face.

“Don’t you even worry if we got hurt anymore?”

“There’s no reason to get hurt in a place like that.”

Not just Rin, but Mika and Tanya had also been members for quite some time. Especially thanks to passing through the monster wave that provided a massive amount of experience, their levels had risen considerably compared to when they joined.

The three were already in a state where they had far exceeded the appropriate level for the underground waterway. No matter how many monsters there swarmed, it was a level where one didn’t have to worry about them getting hurt.

“How much is left?”

“About half.”

As for why he kept sending the members to such a place… it was because there was a very important task remaining in the underground waterway. Tanya took off the bag she was carrying on her back, approached Ian, and spoke.

“Today, I brought everything that was left on Shelf 3.”

“Good job. Move it to the basement.”

They had discovered the secret room, and the monster wave was over. With the current level of the members, there was no longer a need to go to the underground waterway, but there was still work to be done. It was the task of moving the supplies hidden in the secret room to the base.

At the time, they had decided to leave them as they were because there was no place to store so many supplies, but now that they had a base, there was no need for that. They had a separate basement space to use as a warehouse and plenty of room to store items.

Ian decided to move all the supplies from there to the base. Of course, it wasn’t an amount that could be brought out all at once, and they had to bring it secretly so as not to attract attention. The three were moving the supplies from there little by little every day while pretending to go on normal patrols.

Thanks to that, in this building where more than half was empty since they had just moved in, the warehouse alone was being filled with numerous items.

“Ah. Furniture has arrived in this room.”

“Yeah. Today I put equipment in that area and… on the second floor.”

Mika, who was looking around the first floor, spoke as she peered into one of the rooms on the first floor where the door was open. Everyone’s eyes sparkled as they saw that the room, which had been empty when they left in the morning, had changed. After promising to create the facilities each of them wanted on the first floor, the items they had written down for Ian were entering the lounge one by one.

It had changed slightly from Ian’s initial plan… but regardless, if there were rest facilities that matched a mercenary’s tendencies, their mental state would stabilize and they could receive rest bonuses.

Such facilities would help with future growth as well. …It was by no means a surrender because of the rebellion. It was the result of a rational and legitimate negotiation.

“…Hm?”

While everyone was chatting in the first-floor lounge, the sound of someone knocking on the door was heard.

“It looks like someone is here.”

“Nothing else was supposed to come today?”

To check who the unscheduled guest was, Tanya went out and opened the door.

“…Who are you?”

A person with their face hidden, wearing a tattered robe pulled down deep. Seeing the figure at the door, Tanya narrowed her eyes and asked warily. Seeing the guest, Rin and Mika also hardened their expressions and grew cautious of the new arrival.

“I am a… wandering merchant passing by.”

The person who introduced themselves as a merchant let out an unpleasant laugh. Rin slowly moved toward the entrance, cautiously bringing her hand to the hilt of the sword at her waist. If they did anything suspicious, she planned to push Tanya back and deal with them directly.

“I have some good items; would you like to take a look?”

“No thanks. Please leav—”

“No, wait a second.”

Ian stood up and stopped Tanya, who was trying to drive the suspicious person away. While everyone was wary of the suspicious figure, Ian instead beckoned the merchant and invited him inside.

“It’s fine, everyone. Come on in.”

“What? Captain. To let such a strange person in…”

“Heh heh. You won’t be disappointed.”

The suspicious, face-hidden figure draped in a robe entered the base carrying a bundle. Because Ian had allowed it, they cleared the way, but no one let down their guard as they stared at the suspicious individual.

Rin quietly approached Ian’s side and looked at him with eyes that asked what on earth he was thinking, letting such a person inside. But Ian calmed Rin down, speaking softly that it was okay.

This person looked suspicious… and in fact, he was a suspicious individual, but regardless, he was someone Ian knew. When you own a base, events occasionally occur where guests visit the base.

Who would visit was random depending on the mercenary group’s reputation and the player’s tendencies, but aside from that, there were a few NPCs who visited consistently.

“Heh heh…”

“…”

“…”

This guest was an NPC who absolutely visited as the very first guest when you purchased a base. It was the ’Suspicious Merchant.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep