Magical Tool Master Dahlia Never Compromises ~ Starting Today: Life as a Freelancer ~

"Well... there are a few candidates, but..."

She was about to say the name, but hesitated.

"Ah, Mr. Tobias, right? Then, may I hand over this order to the Orlando Chamber of Commerce? Of course, I'll handle all communication and coordination."

Ivano obviously saw through her thoughts completely.

But if she thought about it carefully, there was no other magician besides Tobias who could make waterproof cloth. So it was understandable that he was seen through.

"Of course, we can, but the Orlando Chamber of Commerce is probably the largest supplier of tarpaulins in the capital, so they're probably very busy..."

"No, I heard their magic tool department is pretty busy lately."

"is that so?"

She couldn't help but blurt out.

There should always be a lot of orders for waterproof cloths, hair dryers, desiccant, etc. Not only are Tobias and Dahlia busy, but they even have to outsource to other magical tool workshops.

"Do you care?"

"Well... it would be disingenuous to say I don't care at all."

"Mr. Tobias has offended the Merchant Guild, so orders for magical equipment and referrals from vendors have decreased. However, the Orlando Chamber of Commerce has other businesses, so they shouldn't be significantly affected. However—the next step depends on your decision, President."

"Look at my decision?"

Dahlia didn't understand the meaning of this sentence and couldn't help but ask back.

"The Roseti Chamber of Commerce has the president of the Commerce Guild and Lord Wolff of the Earl's family as guarantors. We develop products together with the head of the Apparel Guild, and we also have close ties with the Adventurer's Guild due to slime farming. Furthermore, the Chamber of Commerce is the exclusive supplier of the Monster Suppression Force, and as the president and advisor, you are expected to be made a baron next year. With all these advantages, if you have any ideas for the Orlando Chamber of Commerce, even some of its more modest requests can be fulfilled."

"Ivano, what do you mean?"

"President, no, Miss Dalia, let's be frank. Do you really have no thoughts about 'Orlando' at all?"

She had never seen such cold, deep blue eyes in her memory, and now they were looking directly at her, full of questioning.

"If you don't want to see Tobias again, I can drive him out of the capital. If you can't forgive the Orlando Chamber of Commerce, it will take time, but I promise to bring it down. You don't have to worry about anything, just tell me your wishes."

“…That’s all in the past.”

She answered with an unusually hoarse voice, which surprised even herself.

"Ms. Dahlia, you're still young. You have a long way to go, not just in your career, but also in love and marriage. If breaking off the engagement is a burden to you, why not resolve it once and for all and start anew?"

Ah, I see—Dahlia finally understood the true meaning of Ivano's words.

She understood Ivano's concerns: she didn't talk about love or marriage, and even refused blind dates with nobles, which were generally seen as opportunities to marry above her station, probably because she was still bound by the breakup of her engagement with Tobias.

But that wasn't the case. She really had moved on from that.

Tobias's brother, Ireneo, has apologized to her on behalf of the Orlando family and the Orlando Chamber of Commerce.

Now, she has friends like Wolff to spend time with, and people like Ivano and Fermo from Gandolfi's workshop to work with, so every day is fulfilling.

The memory of being jilted had faded. While the wounds couldn't be said to have completely healed, at least she no longer held any grudge against Tobias or the Orlando family.

No, even unconsciously, she no longer looked back at the past.

"Ivano, thank you for your concern. I'm really fine. Although I'm not considering love or marriage right now, my work is very meaningful, and I enjoy spending time with my friends. So, please don't take any action against the Orlando Chamber of Commerce. Just like with other chambers of commerce, cooperate if needed, and maintain the status quo if not."

"I understand. Apparently, I was overthinking it. I apologize. However, please remember that my goal is to be the president's right-hand man. I hope to hear your true feelings, within the limits of what you are willing to share. Whatever you say will be fine. Of course, I may not be able to meet all your expectations..."

"Thank you. You've done far more than I expected, Ivanor. You should be proud."

It is precisely because of the ability to hand over business affairs to Ivano that the Roseti Chamber of Commerce has achieved its current success.

From merchandise management, business operations, and finance to addressing the needs of the nobility, as well as providing her with frank advice.

She had no idea how much help she had already received from him, and she was sure to rely on him even more in the future.

He is no longer just a "right-hand man".

"Honestly, Ivano no longer needs to target his left and right hands. Half of the Roseti Chamber of Commerce, or even its entire business operations, relies on you. You have long been the 'half' of the Chamber of Commerce."

“…Hmm.”

Ivano suddenly covered his face with his hands and leaned forward.

(Illustration 008)

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell..."

"No, it's okay. It's just... I'm really embarrassed to be praised like that in person..."

"Um, did I say anything wrong just now? Did I use any inappropriate expressions?"

Dahlia asked anxiously.

If what she said was misunderstood as being related to love, it would probably really become a psychological shadow.

"It's okay, President. I'm just embarrassed by your compliments. Besides, my wife and I have a very important agreement: 'Don't let other women see me being shy.'"

In other words, she shouldn't look at Ivano's face now.

Dahlia hurriedly turned her gaze to the account book on the table. After flipping through a few pages, she noticed that Ivano's salary had not changed much since the first month.

"Ah, didn't we say that if there's a profit, we should raise salaries?! We should give Ivano a big raise!"

"Thank you very much, President. Then I will unceremoniously increase your salary starting this month. My wife will surely be very pleased."

Despite Ivano's hearty laugh, his hands remained on his face, perhaps because the blush hadn't faded yet.

After a while, they avoided each other's sight and continued to discuss their future work plans.

That day, Dalia did not see Ivano's tears.

Volume 5: The Unfortunate Forest Snake

The sky above the grassland was a clear light blue, with clouds floating in it that looked like they were painted with a white brush.

On the grassland a little way away from the street, members of the Monster Suppression Team were cutting vines with scythes.

However, these black vines are very lively and active. They are actually a kind of monster called "thorn grass demon".

They will wrap around their prey and suck its blood until it dies, making them quite difficult to deal with. Their vines have sharp barbs, making it difficult to escape once you are pierced.

Although they will not actively move to attack humans, some travelers or horses who accidentally take the wrong path will sometimes be killed by them.

Although this place is a bit far from the street, we decided to come here to defeat the thorn grass demon because its growth area has expanded more than in previous years.

“It seems this year will be easier than last year.”

"This is all thanks to Wolf and Kirk."

"By the way, Wolf's skill with the scythe is truly remarkable, fully worthy of the name 'Black Death'."

As the chattering team members looked on, Wolf, wearing red armor, was running with a scythe in his hand.

His movements were so light that one could hardly believe that not only the scythe, but even he himself was weightless.

And he wasn't just running aimlessly. When the thornweed demon stretched out its vines to entangle him, he would cut through them cleanly and dash past them at astonishing speed.

Following behind him were several other red armors including Dolino, who also moved very quickly, holding large sickles in their hands.

Not far away, the less experienced knight Kirk and the wind mages were using wind magic to push Chi Kai's back and help him move forward.

Until last year, the wind mages had used direct attack magic against the thorngrass demons. However, this year they changed their strategy, assisting the knights to increase their speed and prioritizing the swift and dangerous front ends of the vines.

"Team One, we've cut off the tip of the vine!"

"Second team, assist the magician and move forward!"

As soon as a report is received, instructions will be issued immediately to respond.

The mages, escorted by knights, cast water and fire magic at medium range, creating boiling hot water. Once the hot water is poured on any thorngrass demons within a certain range, their movements become slow.

"Everyone, work together to eliminate all the thorn grass monsters in the area!"

Including the red armors of the first group, the team members worked together, using scythes or spears to cut down the thorn grass demons.

They completed the task of exorcising monsters in the originally designated area in the blink of an eye.

"Why not just let the thorn grass demons become extinct?"

After exorcising the monster, a young knight grumbled as he made his way to the camp beside the street.

Even through the leather gloves, the thorns seemed to have pierced him deeply. He was licking the blood from the back of his hand.

"If we kill them all off, the monsters in the forest behind will easily escape through the grasslands and into the streets. Also, although they are rarely used, they can be used to make medicine that is very effective against epidemic diseases, so we can't let them go extinct."

"After all, even if we could create a good medicine, it's impossible to breed that kind of monster in the royal capital."

The young knight looked at the holes in his still new leather gloves with a hint of resentment and sighed.

"This level of damage can be repaired. Just send it to the repair shop in the royal city, and they'll fix it for free."

"No, this is something someone gave me. So the thought that they might be worried about my injury makes me feel depressed."

"Oh, is she your lover or fiancée?"

“…It’s my mom.”

After the knight answered honestly, Dolino patted his shoulder several times.

The other team members also looked at him silently with somewhat awkward yet tender eyes.

Wolf took off his sweaty gloves and carefully wiped the Sirius bracelet with a handkerchief.

Suddenly, he remembered Dahlia's slender white left wrist.

The golden protective bracelet Dahlia wore—it was a magical device with a wide range of defensive effects. It was said to completely protect against poison, confusion, and petrification, and even sleeping pills, paralysis drugs, and aphrodisiacs were ineffective.

Oswald is currently loaning the bracelet to Dahlia, but she says she'll make one herself one day.

He had originally thought she could make it right away and return the current one, but it seemed that it wasn't that easy. Not to mention the technical threshold, he suddenly realized the answer after hearing about the required materials.

There are four rare materials inlaid on the inside of the bracelet, representing four colors.

White is the horn of a unicorn, black is the horn of a two-horned beast, red is the scales of a fire dragon, and green is the heart of a forest serpent.

Dahlia already had the unicorn's horn. He had also defeated the two-horned beast a while ago and passed the horn to Dahlia. All that was left was the scales of the fire dragon and the heart of the forest serpent.

He'd heard that the Flame Dragon lived in the far south, but he'd never seen one. Flame Dragon scales occasionally appeared at auctions, so it would be best to ask his brother for help.

The forest snake's habitat is quite vast and its numbers are very rare, so unfortunately, it is very difficult to encounter this monster.

The expedition had encountered it during this year's giant frog eradication mission, but Wolff didn't see it in person because he was busy writing a report on five-toed socks.

It would have been nice if he could have killed it and told it he wanted its heart, but he didn't know about it until afterward, so there was nothing he could do. For Dalia's sake, he could only pray to God to see the forest serpent again soon.

"Hmm? That sound is..."

From the forest beside the meadow came the sounds of branches snapping and a distinct sound like something extremely heavy being dragged.

"It seems like a big guy is coming."

Everyone immediately drew their weapons, prepared for battle, and formed their battle formations.

A massive green figure emerged from the forest's tall trees. Its body was not only so tall that one had to look up to see it, but also stretched back as slenderly as the trees beside it. Its green-and-black eyes gleamed with delight at the sight of numerous prey.

The forest snake, also known as the "Green King".

According to travelers and merchants, it is difficult to encounter the "Green King" on the streets or in the forests.

However, if you encounter one, it is best to abandon your luggage and horses and run away. Whether you can survive in the end depends on whether God hears your prayers.

“Hiss—!”

The forest king's threatening voice echoed loudly in the blue sky.

"Ah, just in time!"

It seemed his prayers had been answered unexpectedly early. Wolff couldn't help but cheer, and Dolino patted him on the shoulder.

"Oh, isn't that the forest snake? Wolf, you've been looking for it, right?"

"Well, it has materials that Dahlia will need."

Wolfe answered the question from the man with dark blue hair with a smile on his face.

This group of men were neither afraid nor nervous. Although they were ready for battle, the atmosphere in their conversation was still harmonious.

"Does it have the material Miss Dahlia is looking for? Then we must defeat it."

"Yes, let's quickly surround it to prevent it from escaping."

"Magi, please stand on the left and right sides to stop it from advancing! This way, the Archer Knights can move forward."