CH 110

Chapter 110 – Festival and residents: Part 2

Side : Lutz

(Lutz)「Welcome ~. The cashier is right over here. Please feel free to ask any of our shop clerks if you have questions or concerns regarding the pamphlets or anything else you need answered. 」

(Random customer)「Yes, how do you use this item….. 」

(Staff)「Please don’t open something you don’t intend to purchase….. 」

Because of how busy things were, I’m currently helping to work security.

(Would be thief)「Wh-why? My body…! 」

(Tori)「Yeah… That’s what happens when you try to make off with something you didn’t pay for. It’s clearly written in the pamphlets y’know.」

(Lutz)「Yup yup! And since stealing is a crime~ I’m leaving him to you and your subordinates, okay Tori?」

(Tori)「No problem. Anyway, keep it up and do your best too Lutz! 」

(Lutz)「You too Tori. Especially since it’s so busy and hectic out today!」

After that short little exchange, Tori’s subordinate dragged the idiot away off with them.

Well, since this was a festival and all…we were bound to end up being super busy. I mean, that’s not much of a surprise, all things considered… What with the Founding Ceremony and public declaration yesterday. There was just no way that things wouldn’t turn out like this.

The only real upsides to all this craziness have been getting help from the local residents themselves, and that the Residential District itself has been pretty peaceful so far. Actually, most of the problems being reported and dealt with have been centered around the Adventurer and Commercial Districts…

Since both Districts are on the same Floor; the problem was mostly with the high volume and traffic of troublesome and rowdy adventurers. We gave them plenty of strict warnings, explanations as well as our pamphlets, but nothing sticks. I even had to ask the Adventurer’s Guild for more hands, just in case. Thankfully, a lot of the Adventurers who were already familiar with Weed agreed to help maintain public order in the Adventurer and Commercial Districts as guards.

Since this was Weed’s first festival–and celebrating its birth no less–naturally, there are a lot of VIPs attending too. In order to keep everything running as smoothly as possible, we’ve been coordinating and keeping in touch through Call, constantly exchanging information to keep things as up to date as we can, so even if we can’t all move or act instantly, someone can still quickly respond to whatever may come up.

「Wh-why do you have a spear?」

As a Representative, I had an obligation to help protect the shops and businesses in Weed. However, we try our best to avoid openly using weapons and violence in public since that would send the wrong message to the people. Though, carrying weapons was generally prohibited anyway.

For that reason, and because there were so many people out, adventurers were made to secure their weapons in carrying bags installed with a preventative paralysis charm.

…But, that didn’t stop them from fighting, or trying to use their weapons… The past 2 days alone saw 25 people paralyzed. Never mind the other problems going on.

72 cases of theft at our main store.

54 cases across our branch stores.

5 cases even involved nobles. As for what happened… Well, you can read through Tori’s reports for the details.

Since a lot of trouble did revolve around shops and businesses, it was my job as a Representative to solve them. Well, duty aside, Representatives were the only ones capable of dealing with a lot of them.

That’s why I was allowed to carry and use my spear—Call it a Representative’s special privilege.

Well, I could just use my fists for everything, but since we had to keep our abilities a secret, that’s my biggest reason for the spear.

(Riel)『Theft reported at Super Lutz #4 in the Commercial District. Lutz, can you handle it?』

Again? But I just got back to the office…Great.

And it looks like Riel’s out with Tori too…

(Lutz)「Understood. I’m on my way now.」

While answering in that manner, I hold the spear and leave my office.

(Carli)「Representative, if I may… 」

(Lutz)「If it’s something I can handle, then I will. In the case something else does come up, then I’ll leave it to Carli1) here to take care of it. Look, if I don’t go myself, people will lose trust in–and doubt–our positions as Representatives.」

(Carli)「I…I see. I’m sorry. It’s just that since yesterday—No. Ever since preparations for the Festival began… Representative, you’ve been moving around and working nonstop.」

Carli here is actually from the the original 300+ immigrants who came from Rochelle with Seraria. 2)

Since we were pretty close in age, we’d often chat or hang out together, and it didn’t take us long to become friends. She also works really hard to help me protect and support our stores.

Also, since she and I were both former slaves… we can really sympathize with each other, so it’s only natural that she’d worry about me…

(Lutz)「It’s true that I’ve been really busy lately. Running myself ragged, even… But still. These are the happiest days of my life. 」

(Carli)「Yes. But that doesn’t mean you should go overboard either. I mean, you only just got married about 2 months ago, didn’t you?」

(Lutz)「…Haha! Even if you say that, it’s not like I submitted any kind of official documents to the Government building though. 」

Yes. According to Weed law, most of us aren’t officially married to onii-san.

We’ve, just been too busy.

Well, thanks to Luna, we’re still able to love each other properly, which is good. But as far as documents and everything else is concerned… That’s another matter altogether.

The biggest issue is that we’re all Representatives, so we need to really promote such an event, even more since it’s a wedding. So when it does happen, it’s gotta big BIG!

(Carli)「But, none if that matters to Yuki-san and he takes really good care of you and everyone else. So please, you need to take care of yourself more too. What if you were pregnant already? If something–anything–happened…」

(Lutz)「…You’re right. I promise. I’ll be more careful from now on. And you’re right, I have more to think about than just me now. 」

I gently pat my stomach.

Well, it’s not like I can see or feel anything going on inside though, so I wouldn’t notice even if I were pregnant.

But, if. If there’s even the smallest chance I could be, then I really can’t afford to do anything but protect and take care of myself.

Still, since we’re under Guardian Appointment, the chances of us getting seriously hurt in Weed are pretty slim…

(Carli)「I’ll definitely be smiling when the big day does come! I’m working hard to surprise you with the best gift for it too—You’ll see! It’ll be amazing. 」

(Lutz)「It’s a promise, so stop making a fuss already…Geez. 」

…Yeah.

After my first night with onii-san, I had work the next day, and went in thinking it’d be just another regular day, but instead, everyone had nothing but words of congratulations for me. I was bombarded with them…Or more like, it somehow got around that I already had my special wedding night!

(Carli)「After work, whenever we go drinking, we often hear about this and that from Yuki-san actually. To tell you the truth… We held a drinking party to celebrate your wedding night too!」

(Lutz)「Uwa, for real!?」

(Carli)「We did. We’re always relying on Representative Lutz, but when we drink, it’s Representative Yuki! But seriously. Lutz, for always looking after and taking care of us, we just had to have a toast to celebrate your big night!」

(Lutz)「That’s… I, I’m really touched..Thanks for caring so much. Really.」

(Carly)「And don’t you forget it! …So tell us if anything changes or if your body feels off at all. If something bad really happened…I know we’d be just as sad as Yuki-san. 」

(Lutz)「Alright…I’ll be relying on you more from now on then… 」

(Carly)「Yes, please do. 」

After that, I’m now standing at the crime scene.

(Riel)「Oh, you finally made it. I had my hands full here. 」

(Lutz)「My apologies. So, the suspect?」

(Riel)「This way. 」

Following Riel, we face a man surrounded by officers guarding the nearby alley.

(Lutz)「The situation?」

(Police)「Yes. We have him detained, but there are,,,certain circumstances, it seems.」

While Riel’s subordinate is trying to explain the situation—

(Idiot noble)「Take these off immediately!! Don’t you know that what you’re doing is a grievous insult to the Duke3) of ______ and could…4)!!」

(Officer)「As you can see, he’s been rather persistent and difficult to handle. 」

(Lutz)「Uee, why is a noble like you even here alone in the first place? Never mind shopping, but you were even caught stealing…」

Riel’s looking in his direction while trying to put together the facts of the case. Looks like we’re gonna need to hear some witness accounts before we can get anywhere…

(Lutz)「So? What happened then? Can anyone tell me?」

(Clerk)「Ah, Head Manager!」

One of the clerks called over as a witness begins to his testimony.

(Clerk)「Yes, so it’s like this…… 」

To summarize:

Just like all the other cases of attempted theft, he was paralyzed 5 meters from the store entrance.

An adventurer hired as a guard found and then restrained him.

Riel’s group, who was called first, then arrived and later linked up with our group when we finally arrived on-site.

(Idiot noble)「That clerk is the one at fault for screwing up! I did nothing wrong!! And I certainly didn’t steal anything!!!」

Despite getting paralyzed and caught, he’s denying any responsibility and trying to dump everything off on the clerk huh. Too bad that’s useless though… Anyway, I think I know where he’s trying to go with this.

(Lutz)「In that case, can you please show me your receipt?」

(Idiot noble)「Huh? Receipt?」

(Riel)「Yes, the small piece of paper that serves as your record of purchase. You should have received it when you made your purchase at the register. 」

(Lutz)「Let’s see. It’s very important to hold onto it, and should’ve been clearly stated as such in the pamphlet you were given. 5)」

Yes, if he hands over his receipt right away, we’ll be able to understand and clear up any issues. Because of that, the residents here would never do anything as stupid as get rid of it right after shopping. And this just adds one more reason to corner this idiot.

(Idiot noble)「I don’t know anything about that nonsense! Besides, I didn’t even receive any such thing, so–」

(Lutz)「Okay, then when did you make your purchase?」

(Idiot noble)「Huh?」

(Lutz)「Since the time of purchase is also recorded on the receipt; we can easily check whether a purchase was made or not and deal with the situation accordingly. But just looking at how oddly you’re holding that looks plenty suspicious already though. Well, we’ll find out soon enough. That reminds me. What about your shopping bag?」

(Idiot noble)「…Bag?」

(Lutz)「Look closely. Everyone is carrying the same exact bag, see? I’m sure you can understand that each and every single one is a customer then, yes? And that, like their receipts, they receive those bags after paying at the register? 」

Whether the idiot understood what I said or not, his face turned a sickly blue.

(Lutz)「More to the point. Not a single other person is holding their things the way you are.」

Now, that that pain the neck Q&A session is over….

(Lutz)「Well, you can keep denying things if you want…. However, this is something we’ll have to explain to your attendants and other related parties—Why you were arrested and detained….What will all of them think once they hear the details I wonder.」

(Idiot noble)「We-well, that is….」

It’s clear as day that you’re guilty..

If some other country caused an incident, then naturally their reputation would take a hit. Some scheme from a hostile third party nation is possible, but petty theft is just…

…Please don’t do something so obvious and stupid.

(Lutz)「Now, it’s pointless to resist. If you’re cooperative from here on out, then perhaps we can lighten your final sentence?」

(Idiot noble)「……」

(Lutz)「Right, then. Riel? If you would? 」

(Riel)「Yes yes, please leave him to me. 」

Riel dully takes him away.

Too bad for him though, since she already got in touch with the related parties. Well, I hope things work out, I guess?

(Lutz)「Now then, shall we head back?」

(Carli)「Yes, let’s. 」

Lightly chatting like that, Carli and I are making our way back to the office when–

(Yuki)「Oh, Lutz. 」

(Aslin)「It’s Lutz onee-chan. !」

(Philia)「Lutz ane-sama!!」

(Labiris)「Ara, what are you doing out here Lutz?」6)

(Millie)「Hi Lutz, we just came to grab some food!」

Onii-san, the girls and Millie are all heading this way. But, why bother coming here to get food when there’s a festival going on?

(Carli)「…Ahem! Representative Lutz. I have no problems managing the store on my own, so please enjoy yourself. 」

(Lutz)「Ah, Carli. 」

Before I can even say anything, Carli quickly disappears into the store.

Arara, she really is paying attention to me…Geez..

But thanks, and I’ll definitely make the best of this chance, okay?

(Lutz)「Let’s see. Should we go grab a bite together? But, let’s leave here first. 」

I suggest with a smile as I rush over to onii-san.

Yes. In the end, I’m the most comfortable when I’m with him….

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Afterword of the author

Yesterday, the posting function was paralyzed.