Volume 9 - CH 6

Chapter 6 – The Little Brother’s Negotiations and Land Extent Decision

The next day, after the discussion with the Marquis. We gather in my room and discuss yesterday’s events over breakfast. I explained most of what happened to Ines and Felicia, who stayed home yesterday.

“So, was there anything wrong with what I said yesterday?”

“Well, I think you pushed things a little too hard about the mage, but I don’t think there were any problems. I was surprised to hear you mention the luxury liner out of the blue, but if you can bring out the National Guard, it’s not a bad idea.”

The National Guard was only brought in because I was told there might be a problem at the orphanage.

“I made a big boast that the country would want to protect the luxury liner if we opened it, but is that okay?”

“Hmm, I think they would protect it, but I don’t know how the royalty and nobility would judge it.”

I see; it is possible that high-ranking people have a different way of thinking. It would be easier if they just thought of protecting the orphanage for the sake of the luxury liner. I’m worried about what kind of decision they will make.

“…Well, we’ll see what happens after we show them the ship, so let’s start by establishing an orphanage in the city of Cagliari, shall we?”

“Right…do you want to leave right away?”　　　

“I don’t mind, but I was wondering if the Girasole had unfinished business in Lucca? Would it be a problem if we stayed a few days?”

The Girasole looked at each other and discussed.

“It’s okay; I was able to meet with my family. I’ll do the other things I want to do after all the attention dies down.”

Yes, that’s right. With all the excitement, you can’t just walk around town.

“Then let’s take a short rest and then go to the city of Cagliari, shall we?”

After breakfast, I relax a little. …When there was a knock at the door, and Ines answered, she came back with a subtle look on her face.

“Ines, what’s wrong?”

“Alessia’s brother and his friends are here. What do you want to do?”

“…What should we do? It was only yesterday. Alessia-san, what do you want to do?”

“I’m sorry. I’ll go see him.”

“Yes.”

We should have left earlier. I hear someone talking at the door. Ah, a one-month extension of the punishment has been announced. I’m going to offer to lift the punishment soon, but please don’t increase it. Alessia-san won’t be convinced. Oh, Alessia-san is back.

“Is something wrong, Alessia-san?”

“No, nothing. He didn’t think about what happened yesterday at all, and he wanted to make the request together, so I just turned him away. I’m sorry, Wataru-san. I’ll discipline him well.”

“No, when I think about it, I feel like I went too far, so please go easy on him.”

“Thank you, Wataru-san. But this is a good opportunity, so I’ll go hard. I’ve been spoiling him, so it’s just as well.”

“It’s not like that, Alessia. You are a leader, so you should think more carefully.”

“Ilma, what’s the difference?”

“It was Wataru-san who punished him. If you go too hard, it will be Wataru-san who will be resented by the spoiled Saverio. You can discipline him, but you should do it when it doesn’t bother other people.”

Oh, that helps. Nice, Ilma-san.

“Well, that’s true. Saverio is so soft on his relatives that he might resent Wataru-san in a strange way. Thank you, Ilma. I’m sorry, Wataru-san.”

“No, well, I got angry too, and I think I said too much, so please lift the punishment if you think it’s good enough for Alessia-san.”

I talked with Alessia-san about when the punishment would be lifted. I’ve been a little too relaxed. Let’s leave quickly. As we leave the inn, a group of people come towards us… It gives me a headache.

“Wataru-san, may I have a moment to talk to Alessia-san?”

On the surface, he is smiling, but his mouth is pulled into a tight line as if he is uncomfortable. He’s trying his best, isn’t he?

“Yes, that’s fine. But people are gathering. I’m sorry, but I have to ask you to hurry.”

Maybe he didn’t like my words, but the tension on his face went up a notch. Was the “please hurry” part wrong? After the greeting, the little brother and his friends walked lightly toward Alessia-san’s place.

“Saverio, as I said, we’re going out, so we can’t come with you to the request.”

“Yes, Alessia-san, we have discussed this, but we would like to help the Girasole and learn from you. I will do any kind of menial work. I think it would be my way of apologizing to Wataru-san.”

Oh, does the little brother have a split personality? He seems to be a wonderful young man. He looks like a different person from the one with the drawn-out smile earlier. It’s a sparkling smile. The strategy is not to join them but to stay by their side as a subordinate… I think it’s a bitter pill to swallow if it’s subordinate.

“Hmm, I’m glad Saverio feels that way… Wataru-san, he says he’s willing to do menial work; what do you think?”

Uh, yeah, it’s hard to say no, but I can’t take him with me. On the surface, he’s smiling, but if there’s an opening, the little brother won’t hesitate to get rid of me. I’m too scared.

“Well… I appreciate your concern, but I’m in a very special business in many ways, so I can’t take you with me.”

“I will keep your secret. Can’t you do something about that? I am willing to make a contract with you.”

It’s not good if it comes out badly, is it? And if he brings up contracts and things like that, it’s hard to say that I can’t trust him. But I don’t want to be stressed out. And it will definitely make it harder for me to talk to Girasole. I have to refuse somehow. What should I say?

“I’m sorry. Even if we signed a contract, it would be hard for me to work with you on a small ship. Do you understand?”

Is it difficult? But I’m sure it would be difficult with five more men.

“That’s…”

He’s trying desperately to come up with something. I don’t want to hear from him anymore. I managed the trouble with the employee and Romano-san because they’re not that closely related, but Saverio is Alessia-san’s brother.

“Alessia-san, that’s what this is about. Is it okay with you?”

“I have no problem with it since it’s Wataru-san’s decision. Besides, I also think it would be hard to have five more people on the Lutto.”

“Then, Saverio-san, we’ll go now. I’m sorry.”

After saying that, I walked away quickly. There seemed to be a strange aura about it… I’ll be careful not to get stabbed.

I walk out of the gate and get on the Lutto while the people in town cheer for Girasole. I leave the harbor and set the autopilot. Will we arrive in the middle of the night? It’s a hassle and a waste to go out on the open sea and change ships. Let’s just keep going.

………………

After breakfast, I went out on the deck and saw the city of Cagliari in the distance.

“When I saw it before, it was in ruins, but it looks like it is being restored.”

“It’s the naval headquarters of the Kingdom of Brescia, so there’s an urgent need to repair it. I have heard that the city is lagging behind in its maintenance.”

Alessia-san’s words reminded me that there were still some challenges to overcome.

“Speaking of which, there is a shortage of materials and manpower for construction, isn’t there? We should discuss this and other matters with the Merchant’s Guild. Shall we go to the harbor first?”

When we entered the harbor, we found that we could not enter the area for military ships. It seems that ordinary ships are allowed to stay at the edge, so it can’t be helped since the city is the headquarters of the Navy. I guess Lucca is for trade, and Cagliari is for defense.

I paid the entrance fee and docked the ship. Since it is a naval city, the procedures for entering the port and the city are very difficult. It increases the security of the orphanage, but I don’t think a luxury liner would be a good fit. I think there would be a problem in the country with the Navy brass who frequent the luxury liner.

Some of the houses are damaged, but the debris seems to have been cleared away. There are few residents, and the place is not as lively as it was when the dark elves built the village. The Naval Headquarters was noisy, so construction must be concentrated at the Naval Headquarters.

On my way to the Merchant’s Guild that the gatekeeper told me about… I guess it used to be a nice building, but it looks shabby with only some temporary measures. I don’t think they would normally attack every guild that has power.

“With the Merchant’s Guild in this state, it’s going to be pretty hard to build an orphanage. But… why are they destroying so much of the city they occupy? Normally, they wouldn’t demolish as much as possible in order to use it, right?”

“Normally, yes. But the other party is the Empire. They probably had a big slave hunt in the city. The inhabitants would have resisted as much as they could if they were caught, so the damage would have been much worse.”

Alessia-san explained. If they get caught, they become slaves, especially the beastmen, so they risk their lives. Are slaves so useful? I think it’s more profitable to use the city. Maybe the principle of profit doesn’t work. But as far as the empire is concerned, it’s a bonus.

When I enter the Merchant’s Guild, it is deserted. There are only two receptionists. One of them is an old man. He reminds me of the old man in Western City. I don’t want to get involved with him.

Well, that one is muscular, and this one is… muscular, too. The old man in Western Town was an employee of the Adventurer’s Guild, so that makes sense, but this one works for the Merchant’s Guild. Isn’t that wrong?

It’s a deserted Merchant’s Guild; the only lively place is the Navy Headquarters, so I guess there aren’t many merchants. I guess the Empire’s attack must have killed quite a few people.

I approach the counter and talk to the receptionist. Then the old man sitting next to the receptionist lady, shifts his seat to listen to what I have to say. I don’t want anything to do with the old man.

“Welcome, sir. How can I help you?”

The receptionist is a beautiful woman. Even in this situation, I feel that the Merchant’s Guild is very particular about having a beautiful woman as a receptionist. One of them is an old man, though.

“I came here because I heard that a large piece of land can be bought in the city of Cagliari. I would like to secure a large plot of land near the naval headquarters. Is that possible?”

“…There was a lot of conflict near the naval headquarters, so you can secure a large piece of land, but you need a letter of introduction to buy the right to use the land in this city. Do you have one?”

“Yes. Here it is.”

I give her the letter of introduction, and after confirming the name, she hands the letter to the old man next to her. …This process is like the template. I get it; all of a sudden, I’m the Guild Master of the Merchant’s Guild, right? And that’s the pattern, to tease and play with the other guy. I’ll never get into it.

“Oh, a letter of introduction from the Marquis of Lucca. You have a good connection. Wait a moment while I read the contents.”

“Yes.”

“Um, can I ask you something?”

While I was waiting for the letter of introduction to be finished, the receptionist spoke to me.

“Yes, that’s fine. What is it?”

She seemed subtly reluctant. I wondered why.

“Um, why do you have Slime on your head? The other two ladies have it on their heads, too. Is it a trend?”

She asked me directly. I didn’t think anyone would say it was a trend.

“It’s not a trend. They are Slimes that we have tamed. They are cute.”

“Really? I don’t understand how Slimes can be cute.”

…I should spread it around.

“Oh, you can talk about the Slimes later. You have good connections to assist the rumored Mage-sama, says the Marquis. I read that the land should be within sight of the naval headquarters and close to the gate, so it would be easy for them to rush in, is that right?”

That’s out of the blue. But it would be helpful if the Navy could easily rush to the orphanage. The Marquis said that the guard would wait until he saw the ship, but he wrote a letter of introduction with the guard firmly in mind… Is he a Tsundere?

“Yes, I need a big place.”

“Even if you say a big place, that’s vague… How much exactly do you need?”

“Yes, I want a place the size of a large nobleman’s mansion.”

“I told you to be specific. All right, let’s take a look at it in person. Follow me.”

After saying that, the old man from the Merchant’s Guild left the counter and started walking. For some reason, he was carrying several flags with him. I wondered why he was carrying multiple flags. I followed him at a short distance so as not to fall behind. Once outside, we start walking toward the naval headquarters.

The old man from the Merchant’s Guild gives us an explanation of the city. But the explanation is sad, telling us what was here, what was there, and so on. After a while, we see the back gate of the Navy Headquarters.

“This area should be good. The Navy will rush through the back gate there. Most of the people around here have either died or sold their rights and left because of the damage. Those who have the rights will probably give them to me if I talk to them. Just mark where you want it from here to there.”

The old man from the Merchant’s Guild handed me a flag he was carrying. Oh, I see; this flag is a marker.

But it’s in tatters. I feel a little uneasy, but since Rimu and the priestess Claretta-san are here, I’m sure everything will be okay. The size of the land is… bigger than I’d like anyway. If there are many children, they will need space to exercise.

I put up the flag while thinking about the approximate size of the property. Is this about right? Am I being too greedy? I put up a flag about the size of two Castle ships. I’d build a building the size of one ship and a playground on the other. It may be too big, but it is better than too small. It seems that now is the only time I can buy the land.