172: You can have as many cards in your hand as you want, right?

Since Nobuna and the others had just begun investigating the wrecked ship, I decided to leave before I got in the way.

Then, a few steps away, I saw a handsome guy lounging casually on a rock, looking way too full of himself.

"Hey! That was awesome!"

It was Lucas, the guy we’d hitched a ride with on the road, waving one hand like he was trying to impress someone.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Huh? I saw a pretty warrior riding a skybird, so I followed her butt. Then she started fighting a kraken, so I stayed to watch. The way her backside looked from afar—tight, perfect shape. Definitely worth hitting on!"

"You're... seriously..."

I just lost all energy.

You followed Nobuna all the way here from the city? You're so dumb it hurts.

"Looks like the fight's over. I'm gonna go say hello!"

Lucas didn’t even look back at us—he just bolted toward Nobuna.

Idiot. That’s what he is.

“W-well, love’s free, I guess.”

Kyle gave a dry chuckle.

“Anyway, let’s keep touring. I wanna see what other cultures are out there.”

“Yeah… huh?”

Something shiny caught my eye. A beach. Perfectly flat. Too clean. Like someone had smoothed it by hand.

“What the hell is that?”

I drifted closer. A bunch of guys were hauling seawater, dumping it on the sand, then scraping it flat with wooden dragonflies.

What the hell kind of pointless work is that?

I thought maybe they were tidying it up for tourists, but then I remembered the warning at the northern gate: *Don’t bother with sightseeing.*

Just as I got near, one of the workers shouted.

“Hey! You! Don’t come any closer!”

We froze.

"Uh, I was just sightseeing, you know, checking things out... what’re you even doing here?"

Some kind of ceremony, maybe?

"Huh? You don’t get it? We’re making salt."

"Salt!?!"

Salt was a basic necessity. In the kingdom, rock salt was standard—pricey enough already.

Especially in remote places like the Elixir Territory, salt had become wildly expensive.

"See, we take seawater, concentrate it in the sun, then boil the salt off the sand."

"Wait... seawater?"

"Huh? You never tasted the sea before? Try a sip."

A few of us—me included—rushed to the water and took a gulp.

"Bwuh—!?!"

The saltiness hit me so hard I gagged, and the guys laughed.

"Bwahaha! You don’t drink seawater. Could kill you."

"Seriously?!"

"Anything in huge amounts can be poison. Especially salt—eat too much at once, and you’re done."

"Y-yeah, I guess..."

I’d never even imagined using salt in such quantities. Never needed to.

Still.

I looked out over the endless sea.

"All of this... is salt?"

"Treasure mountain, right? Can’t we take any back?"

"Salt’s one thing, but you can’t haul around that much water."

They all laughed again.

"That’s why we turn it into salt like this!"

"Ah, I see."

The men led me to where they were boiling salt and seawater nearby.

More precisely, they were transferring salt from the sand into seawater, then boiling the concentrated solution.

Generous fellows, they even let me hold a silver coin. They smiled and took it just like anyone else—no fancy bow, no warrior pride. Seems like common folk could use this method too.

Evie and Leifan were both looking especially interested, peppering them with questions.

"Right, so you just concentrate it first, then use minimal firewood to turn it into salt."

"Boiling seawater straight up? No matter how much firewood you’ve got, it’d never be enough."

"Damn, you two really catch on quick! You should marry my son!"

"Uh, no thanks, I’ll pass. Heh heh."

"I’ve already got someone in my heart."

"Tch—too bad!"

Listening to them chat, something clicks.

"Hey, so basically, you evaporate seawater and the salt’s left behind, right?"

"That’s right… wait a minute!"

Leifan seemed to have reached the same conclusion.

"Um, can I borrow this barrel for a sec?"

"Sure, if it’s a cute girl asking. What’re you gonna do with it?"

"Just wanna try something!"

Leifan fills the barrel with seawater and sets it in front of me.

I nodded, pulled out the alchemical powder, and dumped it into the barrel.

*Whoosh*—a violent burst of steam erupted, and in seconds, the seawater in the barrel vanished completely.

"...Yeah, figured."

"What the hell is this!?"

That's right. I used the moisture evaporation reagent.

It's a staple in bridge construction and steam engines—mass-produced and widely used.

"I'm an alchemist. This powder makes water evaporate."

"Wha—!?"

The alchemical reagent's harmless. It vanishes along with the steam. No taste change at all.

I licked a pinch of the crystallized salt. Nothing weird.

Just to be sure, I ran a quick鉴定 check. Still just regular salt.

"T-this dangerous powder... can I buy it? If it's cheap, I wanna get some!"

It's not dangerous. It's just powdered alchemy. How rude.

The price of the evaporation powder is low, but I can’t answer right away whether it’s okay to sell it. I glance at Kyle, then smile at the men.

“We should get a chance to talk to the representatives of the Mizoho Shrine Nation. Let’s ask them if they need it.”

“Ah! Wilhelm-sama will definitely understand, right?”

“Please, please!”

Avoiding a clear answer while still building trust—my little brother’s sharp.

Wilhelm-sama, huh. Gotta remember that.

We bow to the men and step back, then gather at a distance.

“Got some useful info.”

“Yeah. Might come in handy during negotiations.”

“Yes. Still, if we had access to the sea, we could get salt in massive quantities.”

“There’s a sea down south in the kingdom, right? Why not mass-produce it there?”

"The kingdom’s sea isn’t exactly safe. The Mizoho Shrine Nation building a port right here, where monsters like krakens show up regularly? That’s insane."

"True."

The bay was supposed to be relatively safe, but then something that big shows up. Who even builds a harbor in a place like that?

"Maybe we’re just missing something fundamental."

"Could be."

Even the salt worker earlier was calm as hell, ignoring the kraken rampaging just a bit further down.

We kept that in mind, and with sightseeing masquerading as inspection, we headed back into town.

◆

After a few days of just goofing off, a messenger finally showed up at the inn...

"You're the royal envoy?!"

The first voice to ring out was that of the female warrior who’d been slaying krakens—Nobuna.

“Ah, I see now. Thought there were plenty of adventurers with that silver hair in the kingdom, but since you’re the envoy’s guard, you must’ve been a special one, huh!”

Sure, there’s no way there’d be a whole bunch of fighters matching Raidock or Solar in skill.

If there were, frontier expansion’d be a breeze. But life ain’t that kind.

Nobuna stepped in front of Raidock, but Raidock shook his head.

“We’re just guards. Talk to Kyle-sama or his attendant.”

“Got it!”

Kyle gave a proper bow, this time with proper form.

"Hello. I’ve seen your deeds from afar, but this is our first time speaking. I am Kyle Goldendown von Elxir, the Frontier Baron appointed by the Maugalia Kingdom. Pleasure to meet you."

"Huh. Young, yet a lord? So, a lord’s like a general in charge of a castle or fortress, right?"

That concept might be hard to grasp in the city-state of Mizoho.

"I don’t know the political system of the Mizoho Shrine Nation well enough to say for sure, but your understanding isn’t far off."

"You’re serious about this, aren’t you? I’d love to make your brother Kanetsugu drink the broth of your toenail clippings."

"Always trembling at the thought of big responsibilities."

"...Seriously, you’re something else."

Nobuna stared, eyes wide, then cleared her throat softly.

"Forgive the intrusion. I'm Nobuna Wilhelm. The eldest daughter of the noble Wilhelm family, one of the Three Great Houses. Pleasure to meet you."

"Yes, Miss Nobuna."

Oh wow. Didn’t expect the Wilhelm name to come up here.

Not a first name—her surname.

From the salt merchant’s touch, I’d guess a high-ranking family. This could be promising for negotiations.

"Craft, that’s a flag!"

"Keep your distance from me!"

I don’t need to hear that from Jitarou!

...Still, better safe than sorry.

And so, officially invited by the Mizoho Shrine Nation.

Finally. The envoy party moves forward.

It’s the sea.