Skeleton Knight in Another World Vol. 3
Page 21
“Let’s talk business. We’re gonna split up this beast we just killed, right?”
Lahki nodded. “Fine by me, but how are we going to get it back to town? We don’t have a lot of room in our cart, so maybe we should just take the parts we can use and load them up?”
Axe agreed with this suggestion. He then motioned for his companions to start cutting up the carcass.
“How are things in Lamburt? Any new developments?”
“New developments?”
Lahki stood next to Axe as the other mercenary helped his man chop away at the bear wolf.
“Actually, now that you mention it, the town’s lord changed. Things were pretty messy for a while. But that’s all starting to sort itself out.”
Lahki breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear. I’d rather not open up shop in a dangerous town.”
Axe stopped chopping. “Still focused on that dream?”
Lahki nodded.
Axe smiled and snapped his fingers. “I mentioned that things were a mess, yeah? Well, some of the larger shops closed down. I hear that the new lord will be offering up some shop permits for sale soon.”
Lahki’s eyes went wide.
In towns like Lamburt, with a perimeter wall, space was at a premium. Most shops were already assigned to one thing or another, so spaces rarely opened up. It simply wasn’t possible to own a shop without a permit, and they were almost always purchased by someone from one of the larger towns. New permits were rare as well, since they required either a town expansion, explosive growth, or something equally unlikely.
The only other cases were when shops went out of business, like now, or when a permit was sold to settle a debt.
Axe was probably referring to the shops affiliated with the slave markets in the old part of town. With those gone, other medium-sized markets would likely try to secure more space for themselves. A lot of merchants with shops in the new part of town loved the idea of operating a business in the old part, which meant they might sell their existing permits.
“If only I had a way to buy them before they go up for auction.”
Lahki racked his brain, trying to think of anyone he might know who could help him get a permit.
“Well, it seems like we’ll be in Lamburt for a while then.” Rea snickered to herself.
Lahki nodded, his mind already hatching plans.
Afterword
This is Ennki Hakari, the author of Skeleton Knight in Another World. Thank you so much for picking up this story. It’s thanks to you, the reader, that I was able to see a third volume of my story make it to print. I really can’t thank you enough.
I would also like to thank my manager for dealing with all the hassles I’ve caused, the ever-talented KeG for always churning out such beautiful illustrations, and my editor for the wonderful corrections.
I decided to follow through on my shortcomings from last time and try to keep the page numbers down in this volume, which is why we’ve included character introduction pages.
I know it’s a little late in the game to be introducing the characters, but I hope you’ll overlook that little discrepancy.
Of course, the introduction pages still aren’t complete as I write this afterword, so even I don’t know how they’ll ultimately appear. But I look forward to seeing them when completed.
Well, that’s about it for now. See you again next time!
JANUARY 2016—ENNKI HAKARI
Thank you for reading!
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