CH 143

“The Lords' personalities and names are so different that it's hard to get into the conversation.”

Translated by Dawn

Edited by Dawn

“The Lords’ personalities and names are so different that it’s hard to get into the conversation.”

The day after I arrived at Marine Trill, I visited the mansion of the lord who rules this town. The purpose of this visit was to inform him that I had come to this town to take down Octopus at the request of the king.

According to the king, the lord who governed Marine Trill was a man of impeccable character who cared for his people, but you never knew until you actually met him. Then all I had to do was meet him.

“This is the mansion of Badguy, the lord of this town. What is a child doing in a place like this?”

“Badguy…”

…I wonder what. Was it my imagination that I felt as if I was being told not to judge people by their appearance, but also by their name?

That’s right. People in the past used phrases such as “a name represents the body”, “a signboard is true to itself”, and “name and reality are one and the same” to describe what a person was. I think or would like to think, that name and content were never the same.

I could not help but feel that I had already begun to lose interest in meeting the lord, but I had been told by the king that I had to talk to the person in charge of this town, and since I had received a letter to that effect, I had no choice but not to meet with the lord.

I could take the strong-arm strategy of defeating it on my own and leaving on my own, but that would leave me with no time to stock up on fish, and it would take a while before I could come back to this town again until things cooled down.

“I have a letter from His Majesty the King. I ask you to convey it to your lord.”

“His Majesty the King!? …Please wait a moment.”

I drew up the best solution in my head and made the choice to meet the lord here, and I told the gatekeeper so while flicking the king’s letter from Storage.

I thought he was going to bull-headedly shove me out of the way because it was something a child said, but surprisingly, he seemed to be going to check with someone higher up. Well, as far as I was concerned, there was no problem as long as I could meet the lord, so I decided to wait for a while.

Soon after, a man who looked like a butler arrived, and I told him the same information as the gatekeeper and handed him the king’s letter. The butler was suspicious at first, but when he saw the royal crest on the wax seal, his color changed and his attitude also changed abruptly.

“I beg your pardon. This way please.”

I was a little bewildered by the sudden change, but since I was able to enter the mansion anyway, I had nothing to complain about. The lord’s mansion was built on the highest point in town, and from the second-floor balcony, it seemed that the whole town could be seen.

The butler led me to the reception room, and after a few minutes of waiting while enjoying tea and sweets made by the maid, a middle-aged man in his forties, who seemed to be the lord, entered the room.

“Excuse me.”

“Are you the lord of this town?”

“Yes. My name is Viscount Badguy von Umigaiya.”

“…You don’t like the sea?” (+)

Wait for a second, no, wait a minute. So his name sounds exactly like a bad guy and a lord who hates the sea…? No, it’s just a name, it doesn’t mean he’s actually a bad guy and hates the sea. Yeah, I should probably check here.

“I am Rolando, and I am an adventurer.”

“I read in the king’s letter that you are the hero who vanquished the demons. I guess this is what they mean when they say you should never judge a man by his looks.”

“You are strangely persuasive when you say it. By the way, I have a question for the Viscount.”

“Don’t call me that. Call me Badguy.”

“Then I won’t hesitate. I heard from the king that Viscount Badguy is a good lord. Is that true?”

I thought Badguy would have a bad look on his face when I asked him a question that was too much to ask a person I had never met before, but he answered my question surprisingly nonchalantly.

“I don’t know if I’m a good lord or not, but this town is in danger right now, and I love it and its people enough to want to do something about it.”

“I see. So you love the sea?”

“Of course, I love the sea.”

‘Then why is your name like that!’ I was about to say that, but I barely succeeded in holding it back in the back of my throat, but I still couldn’t get rid of this indescribable feeling of delicacy.

Then I was listening to Badguy’s words about how great this town was, but there was so much of a disconnect between his name and who he was that I couldn’t get any of what he was saying.

Still, I managed to keep myself from paying attention to the name, and by converting him in my mind to Goodman von Umigasuki, I was finally in a position to listen to him properly.

“So, the king’s letter said that you were going to defeat Octopus, but can you really defeat that monster?”

“I think there is no problem with that. When do you want me to defeat it?”

“Don’t speak so easily. Well, if you can defeat it, it is better to do it as soon as possible. It was becoming difficult to support the town’s food supply with anything other than seafood.”

“Well, I’ll go take them down tomorrow morning then.”

“Really!? If you need anything at all, feel free to let me know and I’ll get it for you in the name of Badguy Von Umigaiya.”

It was ruined. I had the illusion that his words had suddenly become flimsy at the mention of his name, even though he was saying nice things to me.

Anyway, since the discussion with the lord was over, I left the lord’s mansion after finishing the conversation in a proper manner. The thought of having to come back here to report after defeating Octopus made me feel a little uneasy, but I told myself that this was the place to work hard for the sake of fish and octopus, and decided to rest early again today so that I would not be left with mysterious fatigue for tomorrow’s subjugation.