Chapter 28
The knights had returned to the territory.
Along with wagons filled to the brim with grain.
Only three people remained here.
Two knights with skilled hands, and Dr. Nickel.
“...You want to make this?”
“Yeah, is it hard?”
“It’s possible, but…”
“You don’t have anything else to do anyway. Just make it properly.”
The two knights who stayed behind were directly crafting the supplies needed for this operation.
They looked a little funny, but these things could beco the key to this mission.
If you were a man of Johnson Territory, you would at least know so woodworking, leathercraft, or sewing.
And since I had selected two knights with good hands, it should be more than doable.
“Since the knights went together, no flies should co buzzing in, right? And Rudick will take care of things on the territory’s side.”
I had ordered Rudick, who was returning to the territory, to prepare for any possible raid, and
I had also told him what needed to be readied there.
Especially the supplies.
The goal of this mission was to rescue the captured children of the Rabbit Tribe and escape together with their workers.
The destination was east—specifically, the western entrance of the Forest of Illusions.
The plan was to make it seem as if the Rabbit Tribe had fled into their forr ho, the Forest of Illusions.
The number of Rabbit Tribe mbers who would attempt the great escape was roughly 800.
Since the group included children, special attention had to be given to provisions.
It wasn’t enough just to reach the Forest of Illusions.
It would take quite so ti to go from there all the way back to the territory, and the forest wasn’t exactly a place where one could secure supplies.
So this part had to be prepared by the territory.
“Peter or Butler Harold should handle that properly.”
It took about a week for the wagons full of grain to reach the territory and for the knights to return.
During that ti, it was important to stay quiet and not arouse suspicion.
To create a reason for my continued stay here, Johnson Territory’s secret agent, Dr. Nickel, was lending his effort.
“Have the rumors spread properly?”
“Yes, most of the people in the Level rchant Group should know by now.”
“Good, well done, Dr. Nickel.”
Through Dr. Nickel, I had spread rumors that I was courting Yuria.
Thanks to the unusually skilled spy work of Dr. Nickel, word had already reached all the right ears within the very first day.
People’s reactions were lukewarm at best—just an “oh, so that’s happening” sort of response.
It was, after all, sothing they had seen many tis before.
And to support that rumor, I personally visited the Level rchant Group to see Yuria.
It was the very day after the knights had left for the territory.
“The successor of the Level rchant Group, Albert McBane.”
While going to et Yuria, I ended up eting Albert McBane.
A man in his late thirties with sharp eyes that left an impression.
There was no way this eting inside the vast rchant group building was by chance.
He had been waiting for .
So, he took the bait and ca to personally?
Considering Albert’s relationship with Yuria, I had expected to et him at least once, so I wasn’t particularly surprised.
‘I’d like nothing more than to smash his face in and demand why he pulled such stunts…’
But that would only complicate things.
If sothing strange slipped out, perhaps it was better not to know.
Life was just starting to feel a little livable, and I didn’t want to create unnecessary trouble.
For now, it was enough to quietly bring the Rabbit Tribe back to the territory.
That alone would put Albert in quite the infuriating situation.
“Hmm, I heard Lord Iron is planning to propose to that girl? Is that true?”
Whether it was his personality or not, he cut straight to the point.
His expression carried a mocking smile.
Well, from his perspective, I guess it made sense.
He probably knew about my marriage scams better than anyone.
But that didn’t matter.
The more laughable I seed, the less wary he would be of .
The only unexpected part was that he seed strangely negative toward Yuria’s marriage itself.
From his position, it should have been better if Yuria left elsewhere.
The reaction was odd enough that I decided to prod a little.
“I wouldn’t joke about sothing as serious as marriage. Lady McBane is a wife that anyone would covet.”
“So, Lord Iron is also captivated by that flashy façade, I see. Well…”
Shaking his head, Albert left behind a cryptic remark before turning away.
“You likely won’t get what you want. That beastly wench doesn’t trust humans.”
His reaction made tilt my head in puzzlent.
Mocking was one thing, but that level of deep disgust toward his own family, Yuria?
‘That feels strange. Even if they compete within the rchant group, family is still family.’
-Definitely not a normal reaction.
The leader of the Level rchant Group was unusually monogamous for a man of power in this era, and both Yuria and Albert were born of the sa mother.
They weren’t half-siblings. Yet his response was so sharp and hostile.
Surely as children, their relationship hadn’t been this bad?
An older brother with that much of an age gap usually cherished his youngest sister.
Power really was a monstrous thing.
“Heh, you’ve been stirring up quite the fun, haven’t you?”
“In a ga where we’re both using each other, I should at least do that much, don’t you think?”
“And how am I supposed to get married when you spread such scandals?”
“Hasn’t it already happened several tis? Adding one more won’t make a difference.”
With Yuria, I enjoyed a bit of playful banter while drinking tea.
Talking with that woman was surprisingly entertaining.
Not just because she was beautiful, but because there was a refreshing sense of impact to it.
And I liked the tea as well.
It had a lemon-like fragrance, similar to black tea, and it was better than I expected.
They said goods from all across the Ribella Peninsula gathered in Levelium—indeed, Levelium was Levelium.
When I was about to leave after finishing a cup of tea, mischief got the better of .
I suddenly leaned my face close to hers.
Since we both knew each other’s circumstances well, the constant back-and-forth banter was amusing, but I also wanted to test her reaction.
I brought my lips close to her ear to whisper, and her response was rather entertaining.
“...W-what are you doing?”
Her ears turned red, and she seed completely flustered.
As expected, quite the reaction.
Did she perhaps lack immunity to this kind of thing?
She looked like the type who would keep dozens of n strung along, yet her reaction was surprisingly genuine.
Holding back my laughter, I whispered quietly.
“You’re using a beastman, aren’t you? Fox Tribe. Do you know that your companion is Fox Tribe?”
Yuria flinched instantly and leaned in close to .
“I’ve never trusted humans much. They’re all double-faced—unlike beastn.”
“I see.”
Indeed, beastn were better in that sense.
Not that every beastman was perfectly honest, but unlike humans, they didn’t betray or swindle their acquaintances for personal gain.
They had little to do with treachery or scams.
They were the kind who would not hesitate to give their lives for the tribe, and they were quite thorough about promises and contracts, so in that sense they were trustworthy.
Put nicely, they were steadfast, but they were also overly simple-minded, which could make them seem sowhat exasperating by human standards — so for reliability, beastn might be better to trust and use than humans.
‘With that kind of heart, maybe they didn’t take in the Rabbit Tribe fugitives purely to use them?’
At the very least, Yuria seed to have taken many good impressions of the beastn.
‘By the way, what are you doing?’
While I was probing Yuria, the Black Rabbit fellow had climbed onto her head and was sniffing around with his nose.
What on earth was he up to this ti.
He was an absurd fellow, really.
‘Alright, let’s just stall ti like this.’
I had already run into Albert, so it was safe to assu their guard against had fallen all the way to the floor.
At that point I firmly believed that if I just killed ti like this, there would be no special variables until the territory’s forces returned.
Around the ti I was exchanging aningless chatter with Yuria, Albert, the successor of the Level rchant Group, was conducting a special deal with officials from another large rchant group, the Brasel rchant Group.
The deal was nothing less than the sale of the large farm and livestock sheds owned by the Level rchant Group.
Included in that sale were the contracts of the Rabbit Tribe workers who worked in those livestock sheds.
From Brasel’s point of view, there was no reason not to inherit the harsh contracts of capable Rabbit Tribe laborers.
“Master of the guild. Are you truly planning to sell both the livestock sheds and the farms?”
“My father is still fine.”
“…Deputy guild master.”
“Yes, that’s what I’m thinking. Is there a problem?”
“But the revenue from those two places is considerable.”
After the deal was neatly finalized, Albert’s secretary asked cautiously.
Was it really necessary to dispose of such pri farms and livestock sheds?
But Albert’s will was firm.
“You heard, didn’t you? How extraordinary the jerky brought from Johnson Territory was.”
“Johnson Territory cannot supply at to Levelium.”
“True. The Cartel would block that. But what about other territories? Not all of the at produced in Levelium was consud here. In fact, more of it went outside.”
The staff of the Level rchant Group had heard about the promotion I had done around the marketplace.
According to rchants, it was a quality that could not be matched at the sa price.
If they were starting to look outward, that ant they could produce at in large quantities.
If Levelium could not sell it, of course they would look for other buyers.
Albert judged that those buyers would likely be the trading partners who had conducted business with Levelium’s rchant groups.
“But Johnson Territory is…”
“Yes, Johnson Territory. A place that won’t last long. From our perspective, it had to be that way. But it wasn’t sothing that would be fixed in a day or two. It was awkward for us to intervene. We just needed to watch.”
“I understand.”
“So right now there’s nothing we can do to stop that horned-rabbit nonsense from spreading southward across the Ribella Peninsula.”
If Horned Rabbits were to be traded in earnest, the Levelium livestock industry would be damaged in one way or another.
Albert focused on that fact.
“And the land and facilities around Levelium — their value will drop a lot soon. It’s a bit earlier than my plan, but now is the best ti to sell the business at a high price.”
“If that happens…”
“Sell it now when it’s expensive, and if it becos cheap later, buy it back. Isn’t that business?”
Moreover, Albert was looking further ahead.
He was acting as if he foresaw a massive change coming to the Levelium area.
“And we can get rid of those annoying beasts as well. We’ve used them enough; we should sell them off at a high price.”
A variable I hadn’t anticipated.
Albert was drawing a much bigger picture than I had thought.
And the rchant’s moves, chasing profit, were far sharper and more nimble than I had expected.
Also, Albert hated beastn to a degree that others found hard to understand.
Considering the Level rchant Group’s one-sided exploitation of the Rabbit Tribe, his attitude was almost hypocritical.
Because of Albert’s plan to push away even the capable Rabbit Tribe workers in this opportunity, the situation began to change rapidly.
Reviews
All reviews (0)