Chapter 17. Throwing tasty bait. (1)
Suddenly.
As was my habit, I opened the door of the tavern without knocking and entered.
“……!”
William, who was sitting at the counter, opened his eyes wide. He put down the plate he was cleaning and rushed over.
“Welcome, master.”
Now that I think about it, my attitude has changed.
I didn’t notice it because I was so busy yesterday, but William’s tone was very polite. Just like dealing with Elise.
“What about Elice?”
“He’s inside.”
After William finished answering, he secretly looked at me. Then he asked in a hesitant tone.
“Are you feeling okay today…?”
A feeling of anxiety that had not yet subsided appeared on his face.
hmm. Now that I think about it, I did storm in too recklessly yesterday. However, I had no time to maintain my senses as Requiem was going crazy.
“Do I look that bad?”
When I asked while gesturing, William quickly shook his head.
“No. I made a mistake.”
“Okay. Then let me know inside. I’ll give you a time to knock today.”
Despite his arrogant tone, William silently walked ahead without changing his expression.
That was one of the reasons I liked him. I like subordinates who work quietly and well.
smart.
William said after knocking on the door of the inner room.
“Elice, this is William. The master has arrived.”
As soon as William finished speaking,
Wow! Clink!
[evil!]
A loud noise was heard inside the room.
William stood in front of the room and lowered his head.
“……Please wait a moment.”
How much time has passed?
[Ask them to come in.]
Ellise’s voice came from inside the room. The voice was extremely calm, as if I had never heard such a loud noise before.
Squeak.
William opened the door and lowered his head.
“I’ll pick up the car soon.”
“okay.”
I answered roughly and entered the room.
A neat atmosphere, rustic furniture with stains from hands, and books filling the bookshelves on both walls.
The inside of the room was similar to the scene I saw yesterday. Except yesterday, Elise was holding a weapon and hiding her little boy behind her.
“Are you here?”
What was different today was that I sat relatively calmly at my desk.
“Welcome, master.”
Elice was smiling businesslike with her arms resting on the desk.
However, judging by the way the corners of her mouth twitched, it seemed like she had been very busy just now.
“Hmm.”
After sniffing a few times, I asked.
“Do you drink alcohol during work hours?”
“No, how about that….”
Elise bit her lip as she responded reflexively. Eventually she answered with her slightly red face.
“It’s medicinal wine, medicinal wine. This is just a drink.”
“Of course. If it’s this strong, it won’t be enough to get you drunk.”
“How did we get there…?”
Elise looked around with wide eyes. Of course, there was no trace of alcohol on her desk, other than the papers she had just cleaned up.
“It smelled good.”
But my keen sense of smell told me that she had just spilled her drink and broken a wine glass.
Also, although I wiped everything on the desk, there were still a few drops left on a corner of the documents next to it.
It all happened within seconds of entering this room.
“Your sense of smell… is really excellent.”
Elise responded with a shocked expression. She seemed to have swallowed what she said was like a dog nose.
“Please come in first.”
Even as she said that, she was busy looking around to see if there was anything she couldn’t handle yet.
“-!”
Elice noticed a red mark on the corner of the document and secretly covered it with her arm.
“I’ve already seen it all, so don’t cover it up.”
At my point, Elice’s face became even redder.
“…I’m sorry. I thought you would enjoy the banquet and come back a little later.”
“No, what do you think? Elise, you’re not that great of a person to get drunk that much.”
After shrugging his shoulders, he walked over and sat down in front of Elice’s desk.
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“It smells good. Give me a drink too.”
Elice seemed surprised that I didn’t blame her. After thinking for a moment, she quietly took out a glass and a bottle from under the desk.
“It’s a wine from Est that I found with difficulty this time….”
“Yes, good alcohol tastes better when shared.”
Just then, William knocked on the door to see if he had prepared tea.
“Excuse me.”
“William. I’m sorry, but could you exchange it for snacks?”
Hearing Elice’s words, William bowed without a word.
“All right.”
When he returned, he was holding some snacks that were good to eat with wine.
“Thank you, William.”
“no.”
After a simple drinking table was set.
“Actually, this is the wine I prepared to give to you, master.”
Eleche opened her mouth with difficulty.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. I got two bottles and was just checking out how they tasted.”
Elice’s eyes studied my face carefully.
“I was very surprised yesterday. It was my first time seeing my master so angry…”
Elise asked carefully as she poured wine into my glass.
“Maybe I made some mistake?”
I put down my glass and looked at Elice blankly. Eli Che must have misunderstood my gaze and lowered her head even deeper.
“I’ve been thinking about it ever since you went there yesterday, but I can’t find a solution… so if you tell me, I’ll correct it right away.”
As expected, I guess that’s what you were thinking. Well, it could have been misunderstood because they suddenly came in yesterday and caused such a fuss.
It seems like he even prepared expensive wine to relieve my anger.
“Just…”
I said after glaring at Requiem, who was snoring contentedly inside me.
“It’s just that something a bit troublesome has happened.”
“Is there a problem with the documents?”
“Not at all. Your papers were excellent.”
I picked up the wine bottle and poured wine into Eliche’s empty glass.
“-!”
Elise opened her eyes wide. This was because my actions just now were something that a person in charge would not normally do.
But I’m feeling really good right now.
“Good job, Elice. Thanks to you, we got good results from the meeting.”
I picked up my full glass and held it out to Elice.
“The wine smells good. Let’s share it.”
Let’s draw a faint smile on our lips,
“ah.”
Elice couldn’t take her eyes off my face for a moment.
“Every time you smile like that…”
“what?”
“No, no.”
Elice placed her hand on her chest for a moment, then slowly put it down.
“I’m glad it helped. Rumors are already coming in from all over.”
“already?”
“I thought you were the owner as expected. The results of this meeting are being quickly shared everywhere.”
Elice’s blue eyes glowed passionately, despite their color.
“It will be spread throughout the empire by the day after tomorrow at the latest. You have accomplished an incredible task. You are the master, after all.”
“hmm.”
It doesn’t feel too bad to hear gold lacquer being struck right in front of my nose.
He nodded as if asking me to try more. Elise quickly understood what I meant and opened her mouth.
“Carlo Ardante ground his teeth so much that day that there were rumors that he would soon see a dentist.”
“Hmm.”
“What about Mikel? It was truly rare for the northern warrior to be so interested in him. On top of that, he showed off his amazing swordsmanship skills. Perhaps the nobles that day had no more room to open their mouths.”
… … Elice, this woman. Now I see you have a knack for compliments.
As expected, the person running the guild was different from the beginning. Every word he said touched my heart so much that it almost made my heart swell.
“Moreover, there are rumors that the First Princess, Violet Maggiore Impero, is also interested in you. Is this true?”
“……Wait, what?”
I stopped enjoying the compliments and started making noises.
“Why does the princess’s name appear there?”
“Isn’t it? But the rumor is that it will be soon….”
“Absolutely not, so don’t say such horrible things.”
Elice blinked and then smiled happily.
“I see. I understand. And I have taken care of everything the master asked me to do.”
“Okay, but start with this.”
After taking a sip of wine, I moved on to my next business.
“I’m talking about the thieves I told you about yesterday.”
“yes.”
“For now, everyone is dead.”
Agitation spread across Elice’s face.
“……how?”
“Because I killed him.”
Elice was silent for a moment, as if at a loss for words, but then shook her head slightly.
“If the master said that, there must have been a reason.”
It was a calm tone that left no doubt whatsoever. I was very satisfied with her desirable changes.
“But those guys were acting after receiving a request from someone unknown.”
Elice’s eyes changed.
“Could you tell me more?”
“It is said that they received orders to attack merchants that handle jewels, such as Rubino and Zaphiro. Who would benefit from attacking this place?”
“If it’s there…”
Elise cupped her mouth and was lost in thought.
“-ah.”
Soon, Elice’s eyes sparkled.
“It’s Mare Guild.”
“The reason is?”
Elice quickly began to explain how she arrived at her conclusion.
“The merchants you mentioned mainly deal with sapphires and rubies, among other gemstones.”
“Red and blue jewels….”
After muttering, I also came to the same conclusion as Elice.
“……Right.”
The specialties of the Mare Guild, or Sud family, are blue pearls and red coral. There is fierce competition from sapphire and ruby in the market.
“Deteriorating supply of competitive products.”
“No matter how much demand there is, it’s useless if supply doesn’t keep up.”
After cutting off the competitor’s limbs, they put their own blue pearls and red corals in their place.
“no wonder…….”
Elise slowly shook her head.
“I thought the speed at which the Sud Territory’s specialty products were establishing themselves was too fast. Moreover, the supply of other gems was reduced at such an incredible timing.”
I tapped my chin while listening to Elice.
‘It must have been the work of Lowell, the head of the Mare Guild.’
The original only described him as not hesitating to do all kinds of dirty work for the Sud family. He didn’t say exactly what he did, though.
All of those things were hidden behind the halo of Cain and were not revealed. It was simply used as material for Cain to shine and then disappeared.
‘There was a story about Cain wiping out the bandits around the capital.’
Behind the device to emphasize Cain’s righteousness, this was hidden behind the scenes.
After engaging in dirty work with a gang of thieves, Cain personally eliminates them. While exalting Cain’s name, he also completed the cleanup perfectly.
It was truly a frugal method of use by a thief.
‘I can’t believe there was a background like this.’
“Foot,” came the mocking sound.
I felt like I realized that the solid floor that supported Cain was actually a very thin sheet of ice.
“good.”
I emptied my wine glass and set it down.
“It seems like what needs to be done from now on has been decided.”
Elice also put down her glass and made a serious face.
“You tell me.”
“All funds earned in the future will be used to purchase rubies, sapphires, etc. All gems that have not seen the light of day due to the special products of the Sud territory.”
He spoke in a calm but confident tone.
“Let’s buy them all as rough stones. The price isn’t that high, so it might be worth it.”
“And then?”
“I have to sell it, very expensively.”
Elice’s brow furrowed slightly.
“It won’t be easy. Currently, the jewelry and luxury goods industry is tightly controlled by the Sud estate.”
“It did.”
“But that doesn’t mean we can attack the Mare Guild’s transport wagon, does it?”
“There’s no need for that.”
He added with a confident smile.
“Sooner or later, the coral and pearl seeds will dry up in Sud territory.”
“yes?”
Elice’s eyes widened.
fantasy,
