『A Long Slow Life While Trading』
"So, with that, we've finally become able to trade with the Algandor Civilization as well."
Ryoma Suzuki, a fifteen-year-old boy with black hair and brown eyes, applauded himself.
This was a single-story house built from raw logs. The area immediately around the house was open, but beyond it stretched an enormous forest and mountain range. The house stood right in the middle of a vast, nature-rich plateau.
Gathered in the wooden-floored living room were Rana, a beastwoman with red fur and animal ears;
Aluas, a mage with a large chest who wore a robe with a strangely generous amount of cleavage;
and Misaki, who looked like a boy at first glance, but was actually a fine young woman—or rather, a girl.
Ryoma lived together with these three and made his living through trade.
"Even so, I am opposed to trading with the Kirada Civilization."
Aluas spoke with an irritated expression, her large breasts swaying as she moved.
The Kirada Civilization was one of the civilizations in this universe with which Ryoma and the others had recently been considering establishing trade.
"Even if ya say that, profit comes first, naro."
Rana perked up her ears and pouted.
"Naro" was a dialect of her race, the Panrabi.
"I-I think they're a good trading partner, though."
The fact that Misaki was embarrassed to speak in front of other people was one of her cute qualities.
"Misaki, even you? You mustn't share the same opinion as this beast."
"Don't call me a beast, naro!"
Aluas and Rana were always like this.
It wasn't quite enough to call it a quarrel, but the two of them simply did not get along very well.
"Misaki is a good girl, naro. You should learn more from Rana, naro."
"No!
The habits of such a beast are completely unsuitable for our adorable Misaki-chan."
"So stop calling me a beast, naro!"
"I-I am older than all of you, so I don't think being taught by you is really…"
(And so, another noisy day begins.)
(How many years has it been since I was reincarnated into this other world?)
(I was an ordinary thirty-three-year-old salaryman. Then I was involved in a traffic accident and died.)
(I met a group of white spheres in a white room who insisted that they were gods, and they reincarnated me.)
(It was exactly the kind of standard reincarnation story you'd expect.)
(My cheat skill was a Favorability Skill that made potential trading partners favorably disposed toward me.)
(It wasn't a combat skill, so I couldn't fight monsters.)
(That's why I scouted Rana, a warrior, and Aluas, a mage, in the nearby small town of Kangad.)
(We started out by exterminating goblins and slimes, earning pocket change, saving money, and eventually acquiring this house.)
(Oh, right. Thanks to the gods, I was also given an immortal body. It wasn't technically a skill.)
(Apparently, that immortality could be granted to people close to me as well, so everyone became immortal.)
(I rescued Misaki after finding her being attacked by monsters in the forest, after we'd acquired the house.)
(When I heard her story, I discovered that she was also a reincarnated person, just like me. Her skill was Negotiation. Immortality was apparently part of the standard package.)
(And that's how the four of us came together. Using trade with nearby towns and countries as our starting point, we had been enjoying a slow, peaceful life.)
(At least, until that day.)
As Ryoma reminisced, he realized that the other three were about to start arguing again, so he stopped them.
"Okay, okay. Enough. Let's have breakfast."
On the dining table were bread, a stew made with the meat of a forest lizard, and a salad made with vegetables from the home garden Ryoma had started as a hobby.
"Gotta stock up before work, naro."
Rana immediately jumped into her chair and began stuffing bread and stew into her mouth before anyone else.
"Hey, don't eat everyone else's share."
Ryoma, Aluas, and Misaki sat down at the table as well, and the four of them ate breakfast together.
After breakfast, Ryoma was washing the dishes when a sudden rumbling from the earth made him stagger.
"W-Was that an earthquake?"
"T-This is terrible!"
Aluas, who had been hanging laundry outside, opened the door and stared at Ryoma with a shocked expression.
"A monster attack!"
"I-It's a dragon!"
"A dragon?!"
Ryoma threw down the dishes and rushed outside.
There, a dragon at least thirty meters long stood before them.
It had red scales and angular shoulders, and it looked down at the four of them with the eyes of a predator.
"M-May I ask what brings you here?"
Ryoma spoke with a merchant's smile, though it was visibly strained.
"Is this the Suzuki Trading Company?"
It was a rather unimaginative name, but it was the name Ryoma had given his trading company.
"Y-Yes, sir.
Suzuki Trading Company. We handle anything and transport anything, with a smile as our motto."
The dragon lowered its enormous head toward the four of them with a low growl. Its breath blasted against them like a powerful wind.
"I wish to purchase enough armor for five hundred dragons.
Of course, I will pay in gold coins."
Ryoma nearly collapsed in relief when he realized that this wasn't a battle at all.
It was a business negotiation.
But he was still a merchant, however small his company might be, and he forced himself to stand firm.
"Understood. Please tell us your requirements, including the materials you prefer. We'll procure some suitable prototypes."
Ryoma had done business with the dragon race before.
Dragons were constantly getting into conflicts with one another.
Naturally, there was never any shortage of requests for weapons and armor.
This particular dragon was a first-time customer, so Ryoma and the others were surprised.
Apparently, the dragon had heard from other dragons that they could arrange high-quality goods, which was what had led to today's negotiation.
"I'll handle the details."
Unlike her timid attitude before breakfast, Misaki now stood confidently.
Apparently, her skill had activated.
Before her reincarnation, she had worked as an executive managing director at a major trading company. After retiring, she had traveled around the world, only to be stabbed by a local robber and then reincarnated.
Ryoma had learned through experience that nothing could go wrong if he left the details to her.
And he was right.
The deal was successfully concluded.
Later, they would take the request to the Lakias Civilization and discuss the materials and production of the prototypes.
"Dragons are bad for my heart no matter how many times I see them, naro."
"I am reluctantly forced to agree with you."
The warrior and the mage sat exhausted in the living room chairs.
"Well, business is going well, so let's be happy about that."
Ryoma poured tea made from herbs grown in their home garden into metal mugs and handed them to the two women.
As they drank the tea and finally relaxed, Ryoma once again found himself remembering everything that had happened.
(How many years has it been since our business grew so large that we became intermediaries trading across the entire continent?)
(I remember how shocked I was one night when a flying saucer descended from the sky.)
(I never imagined that it would lead to the beginning of trade with a spacefaring civilization.)
(That civilization eventually fell, a new civilization emerged, and we started trading with them all over again.)
(Eventually, the universe itself was destined to undergo heat death, so thanks to the technological power of the favored Gaiawa Civilization, we had an entire planet transported into another universe.)
(And then our days of trading continued.)
(How many years has it been?)
Even if he looked across all of human history—or even across every species in the entire universe—it was unlikely that anyone had ever lived a life as extraordinary as his.
Ryoma had experienced hardships and arguments along the way, but as he sat drinking tea and watched Misaki quietly going about her work despite her small stature, he found himself thinking that his life was actually a happy one.
I'm living a life that I could never have experienced as a salaryman.
Ryoma thought that once again.
"All right. I think I'll go take care of the farm."
"Okay, I'm taking a nap, naro."
"There is no time for a nap.
It's time for you to clean the house with me.
You're the one who makes the biggest mess around here, so you'd better clean properly."
And once again, Rana and Aluas began bickering.
Watching them with amusement, Ryoma began preparing for his work in the garden.
His slow life would probably continue from here on out—
while he traded on a scale that spanned the entire universe.
『A Long Slow Life While Trading』 — The End