CH 152

Three days later. Amelia, wearing the [Dawnbreaker], guided me to a room in the guardroom, which was surprisingly located right next to the wall. Waiting for me in the sturdy stone building was a dark-skinned man in his forties standing in one corner of the room and a man who appeared to be in his fifties seated at a magnificent table.

The older of the two, the one sitting there, looked at me with a gaze af if appraising me and started talking to me. 

“Hmm, you must be the mercenary Carlton was talking about. I am Charles Brown, who is in charge of the defense of this Drasdon.”

“It’s an honor meeting you, Your Excellency Brown. I am Ed, a mercenary. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me.”

“If you think so, please tell me your request concisely. Do you have something you want to say to me?”

“Yes, sir. Now then――”

Without being needlessly overbearing, Your Excellency Brown was responding with dignity befitting his position as a superior, and I proceeded to explain for the third time. But upon hearing this, His Excellency Brown’s expression remained tense and unmoving.

“――So, my proposal is to see if we can move troops from other defense cities,”

“I see. It’s certainly a thought-provoking opinion, but …. is that all you have to say?”

His Excellency Brown glanced towards Amelia. His intention being, “Did you call myself all the way here just to listen to this nonsense?” or something along those lines? Amelia, however, did not budge an inch and remained silent.

“…… Understood. Ed-kun, was it? Your valuable input–“

“Please wait, Your Excellency. Of course, I did not ask for you just to waste your valuable time on this nonsense.”

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I took the initiative from His Excellency Brown, who was about to break off the conversation, and said so myself. I knew this was going to happen. Then I’m going to take …. this conversation in the direction I want it to go!

“I’m also considering ways to turn that proposal into more than just idle talk,”

“Oh? What exactly are you going to do about it?”

“I am prepared to single-handedly plow through the hordes of demonic beasts and provide information on their source …… the Demon King.”

“…… what?”

This time Amelia looked at me with a startled expression on her face,…., Well, that went well. I didn’t dare tell Amelia what was going to happen next to heat up the atmosphere of the place, but I think it’s going to be fine.

“What do you mean? Do you really think you can plow through that many demonic beasts?”

“I can do it alone, with certain conditions. And also, there is another way to send information directly from the site to my companion, using a special method.”

“What is this special method?”

“I cannot answer any more than that. But I can tell you that it is a personal ability that cannot be duplicated by anyone else, and that it is extremely reliable.”

“Hmmm. …………”

That’s where, for the first time, His Excellency Brown had a contemplative look on his face. He’s probably thinking, “If I can get information using these two disposable mercenaries, that’s good enough, but what about concerns about the certainty of the information we get itself?” …. Of course, I’ve already thought of that.

“Your Excellency. I understand that you are wondering how much value to place on the information of wanderers like me. So let me make one more suggestion.”

“What is it? Are you sauing that you want military to accompany you?”

“No, sir. I want you to test me to see if I am capable of carrying out the task without a doubt.For example… how about this? How about having Your Excellency stay for a short time in a tightly guarded secret room, and I will come to you through all the security? Then, without stepping out of the room, I could pass on your message to someone outside, thereby proving my ability?”

“That’s… Argo, what do you think?”

When His Excellency Brown spoke for the first time to the man …. who had been standing in the corner of the room silently for a long time, probably in the position of a deputy or something like that, the man called Argo opened his tightly knit mouth and began to speak.

“Hmm, Certainly that would prove the man’s ability. … In that case, I think it would be better for His Excellency to stay not in a military base that is really difficult to penetrate, but in an underground warehouse or some other place that is restricted but still less important.”

“I see. Considering the possibility that Ed-kun might be a spy…. from an enemy country, it’s a necessary measure. However, wouldn’t it be insufficient to demonstrate his abilities?”

“If so, how about a prohibition against engaging the soldiers assigned to guard? If he is expecting a pack of demonic beasts, it is assumed that he will “neutralize the enemy if found.” However, if we demand complete stealth operation by prohibiting that, it would increase the difficulty level accordingly.”

“That’s right… but what do you think, Ed-kun? You think you can get into our guarded base without being spotted and without hurting the soldiers guarding it?”

“I can.”

Without even a moment’s hesitation, I declared it up front. The conditions may be quite severe, but the stricter the conditions, the higher the level of trust in me, which was more than I could have wished for.

“Immediate answer. Carlton, what do you think?”

“M-me!?Umm …”

Amelia looked slightly flustered when His Excellency Brown asked her to speak. But when she saw me and touched the sword on her waist,……  hesitation disappeared from her face.

“If he says he can do it, then he can do it. And if he can prove he can do it, I think the value of the information he is willing to risk his life to provide will be immeasurable.”

“Hmm…… I see. Let’s see what you can do. Carlton will contact you with more details. You are dismissed for the day.”

“Thank you, Your Excellency. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

I bow and leave the room with a gut pose in my mind. Amelia came out a little later and spoke to me with a mixture of protest and concern in her voice.

“What on earth are you doing, Ed-kun? Do you really think you can accomplish such an impossible task?”

“You just agreed that I could.”

“That’s true, but ……”

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry. Actually, I can handle it with ease,”

“What do you mean, with ease!? His Excellency Brown and Argo-dono are not easy people to please. With an offer like that, they’ll definitely have strict security measures in place…”

“Fufu, that proves more clearly what I am capable of, which is more than I can say for myself.”

“…..Hey, if it’s not too much trouble, could you explain the basis of your confidence to me alone? I promise not to report it in advance,”

Amelia asked me with a serious expression on her face, and I put my hand on my chin and thought briefly about it.

“Right. I’ve already finished trying to get His Excellency to empathize with my surprise more strongly by increasing the number of people, so that’s fine. You can report it ……, although even if you did, I don’t think they’d believe you, and I don’t think you’d be able to handle it even if you knew.”

“So much …. okay. Let’s hear it.”

“Then …..”

Amelia nodded mysteriously and looked at me, and I explained to her how I planned to get to His Excellency. Amelia was first surprised to hear this, then gave me a suspicious look, and finally sighed tiredly after much worry.

“….Haa, I see. Perhaps trusting you for the first time was a mistake, and I am now regretting it a little… But even that, you would just laugh and brush it off, wouldn’t you?”

“Fufufu, please look forward to the day.”

“I get it. Well, let’s hope you do it in moderation.”

I grinned at her, and Amelia gave me a wry smile in return. The stage was set. All that’s left was to show what we can do.