CH 45

It was the peak of summer.

I learned about the news of visitors when I was washing the cars in my home’s garden.

I changed into the familiar battle clothes immediately before getting on Catherine and heading to the north gate where I climbed up the castle walls.

“Fujiwara-san! It’s me! Me!” Before my eyes was a red-haired woman shouting in front of the castle gate.

What is this? Is this the “it’s me, it’s me” fraud? ...I kept that joke to myself.

Ahem, let me introduce her again. She’s Elsa, the chairman of the Polo Commerce firm, who had come to visit the town again. This time, she was accompanied by four people dressed like knights. They were faces whom I had never seen before.

There was only one carriage, so they did not seem to have come to do business.

“Elsa-san, what is your business?” I raised my voice and asked.

“Today, I have not come for business! I was sent as a special envoy!” She shouted back.

Well, I thought that it might have been such a thing.  To send someone close to me, it was likely that they sought peace.

It seems like the Kingdom of Sandra was being driven to a corner... Well, it was a given since I already destroyed two out of the four knight orders they had.

“What about the other four?!” I yelled.

“They are the escorts sent by the kingdom! They are not members of the firm!” She replied honestly.

Can I trust Elsa on this? Well, since there were no reactions from the four knights, the answer might already been given.

Well, I understand that they did not need to trick me with the knights now. If they had such intentions, they could simply falsify their identities and enter the town as merchants while feigning ignorance.

“I will only permit entry for Elsa-san! Is that okay!?” I asked.

“No problem! That was originally my intention!” Elsa gave a bright grin and a thumbs up.

Thus, Elsa entered the town while leaving the four knights behind. We then exchanged greetings after a long while.

I think this was the first time I’ve seen Elsa since a year ago? I didn’t meet her again after the trade with the kingdom started.

“Gee, I am honestly troubled. I am just a merchant just like the others.” She sighed.

[TL: I hate osaka-ben][TLC:Why? I love it xD. They are really unique]

When we started talking about nostalgic stuff, Elsa began complaining about the kingdom. It continued even after we moved to a room at a vacant store.

“Why do I need to do this? This is a job for government officials. If you don’t work, just return the tax money! Or rather, that rotten i*potent old man... Just drop dead already!” She grumbled.

[TLC: the raws censored impotent lol,腐れイ○ポジジイ]

The contents become quite extreme as she continued. Her complaints about the Chief advisor of the kingdom was especially terrible. There were also vulgar words that a woman of marriageable age should not be saying. It was to the extent that I, who heard it, became embarrassed.

“Hahaha... We should start hearing your story soon.” I quickly changed the topic.

“Ah, that’s right, we should finish it quickly. I was asked by the Kingdom of Sandea to mediate peace with this town.” She quickly restated her purpose.

“Peace, huh?” I smiled wryly.

“Yeah. Have you heard? Fujiwara-san, you’ve beaten up the army so bad that out of four Dragon Knight Orders of the kingdom, Red and Yellow have already been destroyed. This is bad since other countries won’t miss this moment of weakness of the kingdom.” Elsa explained.

“Huh? Didn’t the church ban war between countries?” I asked.

“About that... They’ve already changed it. There will be no problems as long as you have a justifiable reason for the war. In other words, you can wage wars as you like as long as you have reason.” She shrugged her shoulders.

So it’s become such a thing... You could easily create a reason for war… Many years ago, Frost’s words about the peace ending soon were correct, huh?

“The Kingdom of Sandra is afraid that Fujiwara-san would hit at the south now. If that’s the case, surely the other countries in the north will simultaneously attack, and it will be over. Presently, the Kingdom of Sandra can’t afford to split their army to the north and south.” Elsa continued to speak.

“Is it okay to inform me of such a thing?” I smiled.

“Rather, I have to speak about it. Listen, okay? For example, if the Kingdom of Sandra fell under the control of another country, what do you think will happen then?” She started laying out the situation.

“What would happen..? Aah, it would be like that, huh?” I mumbled.

Even if another country took control, it would eventually be the same - this town will be targeted.

If the Kingdom of Sandra was absorbed by a more powerful country, they may invade this town. If that’s so, it would be much better to let them remain alive than kill them since it would be much better to use the kingdom as a shield.

“Hey? It’s better to reconcile right? The reason they sent me here is so that Fujiwara-san can calm down and think about the situation carefully. Even if Fujiwara-san attacks the kingdom out of anger, there will be no profit for both sides.” Elsa elaborated.

“I see... I understand. Incidentally, other than us, is there any possibility that the countries in the north will attack the kingdom?” I asked.

“There is. Weren’t two of main Order of Knight already done and dusted? The influence of the royal family is in tatters right now. If I was the king of the northern countries, I would attack after bribing some of the feudal lords to change sides with money.” She grinned.

“Hmm...” I hummed as I thought over the situation.

Well, I don’t mind making peace. I don’t plan to move away from this place anyway.

No, in fact, I should make peace with them. If the Kingdom of Sandra waged war with the northern countries, the kingdom might become anxious and would not be able to show sufficient power, and then end up losing.

I prefer for both the northern countries and the kingdom to injure each other.

But if it really became like that, how much was the difference between the fighting forces of both sides?

In reality, even if the Kingdom of Sandra lost half its knight order, they may still be strong. Thus, it was also possible for them to destroy the northern army first, then save their strength to attack this town again.

I can’t make a decision here. I have to get more information from the prisoners as well.

“Can you wait a few days for the reply?” I asked.

“It’s alright, it’s alright. Just think about the conditions of the peace too.” Elsa waved me off and winked. “Since I didn’t come for business, I will relax this time. Well, can I expect a good meal?”

(She never changes)

I thought while shaking my head.

“What should we do about the knights who came with you?” I decided to ask before making a decision.

“It’s okay if you just leave them as it is. There is food in the carriage, so they won’t starve to death.” She certainly discounted their existence quite easily.

“Th... That is quite heartless, isn’t it..?” I laughed nervously.

“That’s not heartless at all! Try to guess how I’ve felt the whole journey!

Do you know how many conversations I’ve had with them? It’s zero, ZERO!” She ranted. “Even when I tried talking to them, they don’t even reply with a single word! Did their brains get eaten by maggots?!”

“Th... That’s... Awful, huh?” I replied haltingly, not sure what my reply should be.

“Right? Those guys are from the Blue Dragon Knight Order. They are the King’s Imperial Guards, but they look like puppets. They are really troublesome.” She complained even more.

Imperial Guards, huh? Because it concerned a matter important to the nation, I guess I can understand their viewpoint.

Hmm, I wonder if they went through training to eliminate their emotions?

“I understand. Then, we will bring delicious meals and tasty sake in the evening. Please look forward to it.” I smiled at her before getting up and leaving the room.

But, Elsa stretched out her hand and caught my leg with a firm grip.

“Wait a moment. This time, I have a lot of free time! Free time! It’s lonely to always be alone, right? It’s okay to keep me company for a while, right?” Elsa said selfishly like a whining kid.

I don’t feel bad about being held down by a woman, not to mention, Elsa was a beautiful woman. However, there were things that needed to be done here too.

“Then I will let a person from the Wolf Tribe bring you a board game called Reversi. I can’t accompany you, so let those Wolf Tribe ―” I spoke placatingly before being cut off halfway by Elsa’s yell.

“That!”

“Eh?” I jerked slightly.

“That reversi! Why didn't you tell me about it sooner?!” She glared at me.

“What is this about?” I questioned.

“Don’t play dumb! Now, in the Kingdom of Sandra, reversi is very popular, and is being supervised by Romatto. I have heard the name Romatto from somewhere, and when I thought about it and looked it up, he was the guy who was held captive here, right?” She pressed.

Romatto. That’s a nostalgic name... Even though it didn’t concern me directly, I heard that he often played reversi with the people from the Wolf Tribe. When he left the town and got some gifts from the Wolf Tribe, I remembered that Romatto was moved to tears.

“Is it popular?” I asked.

“It’s not popular; it’s ridiculously popular! I’ve tried to sell reversi, but without Romatto’s emblem, it was treated like a fake. So, not much got sold.” She complained.

“Romatto’s emblem?” When I asked again, Elsa simply nodded.

“Speaking about Romatto, he is being treated as a master now. His name became famous in the Kingdom of Sandra, and even in other countries, his name is quite famous.” She explained. “Romatto’s signature is a seal of approval from the master. Currently, he only deals with large firms. Even so, everybody wants a reversi board that’s approved by master Romatto. It’s not a crime to sell reversi, but if you forge Romatto’s emblem, it will be a crime since you’ve falsified his name. So, I gave up on selling reversi pretty quickly.”

Master..? That Romatto? If I am not mistaken, he should have been born into an aristocratic family.

Master of Reversi... Where does he intend to go with that title?

Anyway, I am slightly glad knowing that he’s doing well. Later, I will tell this to those wolfmen who were good friends with Romatto.