Chapter 1015: Following
Lairin headed toward the plantation's main gate. She was so excited that she broke into a jog several times, only to quickly slow down again because she did not want to mess up her hair or clothes.
Lairin could not forget the day Hesta had suddenly come to the bar a few days earlier. Elie had not been there that day, and the whole place had been empty. Lairin alone stood behind the counter, idly playing with bottle caps.
Hesta appeared in the doorway, hesitated for a moment, then came in. "No customers today?"
"Not since that day," Lairin said with a bitter smile. "They won't let their soldiers come here."
She brought Hesta a pot of lemonade, but before she could fetch any cups, Hesta took a document from her bag and set it before her.
"I have a proposal. You can regard it as a transaction," Hesta said. "Baron Trion does not want to keep running his plantation for the time being, so he is offering its operating rights for fifteen years. Are you interested?"
"...Huh?" Lairin was surprised. "A plantation?"
"The one next to yours," Hesta said. "It's very close. It seems to grow a lot of coffee."
"But I've never grown coffee..."
"Take a look," Hesta said, getting to her feet. "If you are interested, all you need to offer in exchange is the operating rights to this bar."
"But my contract here has less than—"
"However many years you have left will do. He does not require an equal term."
"...What do you mean?" Lairin asked.
"I need a piece of land," Hesta said. "But my position is sensitive, so it would not be convenient for me to act personally."
Lairin was silent for a moment. She merely returned to the counter