Chapter 254 – Merchant Land (4)
After cleaning up, we returned to Hremar.
The bullies who came out of the shadows were buried with Fran’s earthen golem. You don’t have to worry about being found out because you buried it away from the native place of Worr Pool.
I told Hella-san to leave the request to the adventurer’s guild unattended.
He also joined his wives who were waiting at the inn.
The girls looked at our complexion and laid down their seats as if they realized something had happened.
“As for what happened——”
I first calmly explained the charcoal powder to Dana and Veronica. The corruption of the Tustas Co., Which was related to the dye situation in Nidavellir, could be explained in about 10 minutes.
Then it was Frank’s turn to speak.
“… My father is He was an alchemist from Britannia.”
When the party members finished preparing to listen to the story, Fran said.
“I think you must have been very good at it. I didn’t know because I was young, but the mother who gave birth to me was my father’s second wife.”
Hearing those words brought back memories of the past.
No, there is no such thing as old times. That’s less than half a year ago.
It was the day Fran and I went through her first night. She confided a little about her self and her family when I said that her goal was to have many women as her wives.
The father-in-law was an alchemist over the age of 60, and her mother-in-law was the second wife of the father-in-law, a dwarf.
Even in a world where polygamy is permitted, it is not easy to have multiple wives. The father-in-law meant that she had that ability.
After all, I was an unusual case because I had three beautiful wives despite my social position being ambiguous.
“He wasn’t a good father, to say the least. He was very angry, and he hated to be interrupted at work. When I studied Britannia or other things, he praised me from time to time, and I was very happy with that alone.”
Her eyes in her francs rested on the ceiling of her inn room as if reminiscing about her childhood.
Maybe at that time, she was remembering the smell of her charcoal powder that her father-in-law gave off.
I can also smell the cigarette my father used to carry around when I was young.
I quit smoking when I was in kindergarten, so I didn’t even know it was the smell of cigarettes until I went to a PC room.
“Still, I guess her first mother didn’t like my mother very much.”
To put it in order, Fran, my first wife, said and took my hand. Her gaze remained on the ceiling.
“My parents creaked often enough that even I, who was immature, could notice… About 10 years ago, when I was about 10 years old, it finally broke down.”
“… 10 years ago.”
Ralilura said as if she was muttering casually. Dana scratched her forehead.
“The headquarters of alchemy is the wizard guild. And the wizard guild’s headquarters is Romania. If it was Romania 10 years ago… It must have been around the time the senate collapse happened.”
“Yes. I figured it out after thinking about it, but I think there must have been some problem with my father’s business partners or work.”
Fran responded to Dana’s words.
10 years ago.
Romania at the time when Tyrsi became a fallen nobleman.
The incident, which I compared to the continuation of the IMF with knowledge that I was not familiar with, seems to have affected people outside of Romania as well.
“My father has been more sensitive since then, my first mother divorced her father. He said he went to his daughter who had left on his own before I was born. I don’t even know where you live now.”
Although they say that they are bloodless mothers and half-sisters, Fran, who talks about her family as if she were talking about others, wasn’t like the francs I know.
“My work and family are so messed up… My father ended up fighting more with my mother too.”
Fran sat down on his bed and hugged his lap.
“He never got angry with me or stabbed his hand until the day he died, and that was probably all the consideration my father had left.”
Fran’s calm story evoked sad imaginations.
While the young Fran is huddled in a dark room, an adult couple quarreling outside the door while lowering their voices.
I felt like I knew where Fran’s values of dreaming of a happy family came from, but I decided not to think about it any further.
It’s because it seemed like a very cruel thing to judge it with subjective standards.
“And this is a very embarrassing thing. I don’t think my mother liked my father that much either.”
Fran, who buried her nose in his lap, said shyly.
“I didn’t ask how the two of them got married, but they were a couple with an age gap of over 30 years. It’s not even imaginable, is it?”
Fran, who stopped talking for a moment and looked at our faces, gave a small smile. Probably because everyone didn’t say anything.
“Is that so? Actually, I thought it would end like this, so I deliberately didn’t want to talk about it.”
At Fran’s words, we raised our heads.
“A sad and banal old story from someone you know. That his father, who was old enough, died of overwork, or that he had a lot of regrets while watching his father’s deathbed, just hearing about it makes me roll my eyes.”
“… Thank you, Fran. For talking to me.”
I said while holding Frank’s head. Franc will feel a sadness incomparable to what we feel.
“Thank you. I’m really sorry. Talk about it when the time comes.”
Despite my strange thanks, Fran laughed.
“… It was like that when my parents died. He said he was sorry for being an ugly father, and told him to be happy. My mother tells me to treat my first love or first husband with respect, so that I won’t regret it.”
We put on the closures again. The wedding ring made a clanking noise.
“… So sad, but I was able to shake it off. My father, who processed dyes, and my mother, who often did sewing, thought that it must have been natural for her to be angry.”
─It was.
Fran muttered that into her mouth.
── It was, but she didn’t know if it wasn’t.
Perhaps Fran’s father–my father-in-law was a man who never got angry with his family, no matter how hard the job was.
So does my mother-in-law. Even if life was difficult, there was a possibility that everything would have worked out if there was a little bit of room in the heart.
There might have been a future where I would hold Fran’s hand, wear her nice clothes, and visit her family’s house to say hello.
The father-in-law whom I met like that beats her for calling her a thief who stole her daughter, and while pouring her a glass of wine and talking about the future, she brings out her harem voice while drinking and breaks her leg club–
──I could have met such a future.
Even if the dye hadn’t circulated in Nidavellir.
“… Nor. What are you going to do now?”
Dana asked with the anger she couldn’t hide in her half-open look. The other two were just as angry as Dana.
Of course, none of them would have been as hard to hold back their anger as I was.
“… We will expose the crimes of the Tustas Company.”
I replied while being careful not to put unnecessary force on the arm holding Fran’s hand.
With the crushing of the Tustas Chamber of Commerce as a definite conclusion, he rolled his head over how to rid the world of the Chamber of Thousands.
“If you follow the legal process, it will definitely be late. Destroying evidence is nothing.”
“It’s an attack on the people who caused it. Very good Everything was good, so I felt like destroying it.”
─Tok tok tok. Veronica thumped her crossed arms with her fingers as if she was nervous.
“Way?”
“Before revealing the effects of charcoal dye to the public, we need to get rid of their ledgers and research records. And we need allies too. Because someone with power has to instigate the atmosphere after the attack on the upper chamber.”
Evidence is there. It is a mixture of charcoal and blue powder that made the mother bear go wild. Any research records relating to this would be perfect evidence.
‘But it’s a disadvantage if you cover it with bribes or personal connections.’
It was only natural that the individual was at a disadvantage in the legal battle between individuals and corporations.
We also need a person who wants the collapse of the company, and a person who can wield power. Fortunately, thanks to talking with Hella, someone can guess.
“I will inform the lord of Hremar about the corruption.”
The lord who rules this city.
It would be simple to find a collaborator if he informed him of the existence of toxic substances circulating in Nidavellir.
Nidavellir was a country equivalent to an absolute monarchy. So, it is said that in a city where powerful people such as mayors and lords are easily corrupt—because it is an environment where criminal organizations are easy to form—the lords work shifts.
In fact, only horses were lords, and it would not be wrong to say that they were mayors or substitute rulers.
‘This must also be the difference between dwarves and humans.’
It seems that the Dwarven aristocrat who currently rules Hremar is a stubborn Dwarf famous for hating injustice.
Truly a typical dwarf. There was a great possibility that he would become our helper if he could be persuaded.
Didn’t the Two Stars Company have a lot of connections with criminal organizations?
It was a problem that could be solved by brushing your mouth properly.
As long as you got the back, there was nothing to blame if you smashed the store and pulled out the collars of the bastards inside. Let’s show the conscienceless capitalists a taste of Revolution.
“How are you going to inform the lord of the crime of the company? By interview or letter?”
“No. If we do, there will be a record of what we did.”
Uncover your identity and apply for an interview?
There is a record that an outsider, Master Nordna, Dr. Dana Verbeia, requested an interview with the lord. That record would leave a 100% comeback.
However, there is no way the lord will meet us if he hides his exact identity.
It is a city with many criminal organizations. From the moment I applied for an interview due to safety concerns, it was obvious that I would become Nagari.
So what I chose was the safest and fastest way.
“──I will use my alter ego to break through the manor house’s security and tell the story directly to the person in question.”
When we weighed the time to schedule an interview and the risk of exposing our identities, this was the best choice.
“If you listen to Hella-san’s words and the evaluations of those around you, the lord of Hremar is a sincere person. Even the information given by the suspicious guy will move once it’s clear that it’s true.”
Instead, it would be more appropriate to postpone the delivery of information until later.
The bustle of the beer festival created a gap in the city’s security. The lord of Hremar, who sounds diligent at first glance, must have placed more guards to fill the gap.
If it becomes more severe than now, it will interfere with our activities.
So, there are a few things you need to do before getting back.
“I will find Zoid and listen to his story. If she is Chairman Sang’s younger sister and said that she came out because of a discord 10 years ago, she must know something whether it is true or not.”
I spoke my thoughts.
“We all wear face-to-face masks and catch Zoids. He’s innocent, and it doesn’t matter if he resists. If we fight 5 to 1, we can take down each other without any injuries.”
If Zoid wasn’t at fault, I had no choice but to apologize.
Let’s hope he’s not the kind of person who knows his brother’s sins and still gets angry at the wounds inflicted by being overpowered.
‘It’s not a situation to cover cold rice with hot rice.’
While looking for a moderate way, it was too late to solve it with words.
Who knows if the Tustars Company will feel uneasy about the disappearance of the turban man and the Takari and act.
Of course, if nothing happened for 20 years, they would be careless. Doesn’t this kind of corruption always start with the stupid carelessness of an insider?
It worked out surprisingly well, and I was able to feed the bastards with the Mace of Justice (physical) without any trouble.
If I hadn’t found a side effect similar to my beast return from the effects of the charcoal powder, I’d have thought so too.
“──〈 compilation battalion 〉.”
I muttered the name of a group everyone in the party knew.
“You’d better assume that they, or a group of their subordinates, are waiting. There is a sense of incongruity for it to be an ordinary dye shop.”
I could feel them paying attention to my words. I put the feeling of incongruity in my mouth.
“First of all, financial power.”
Although dyes are a lucrative industry, dyes made from kiln oak charcoal are cheap.
But, did you mean that the Two Stars Company is going to monopolize the market from where the money comes from?
By selling lots of charcoal dye? Before entering the market manipulation, there were many war pools that were substitutes.
There is a degree of peeling and selling. The means of commerce is quite aggressive to have colluded with a criminal group or earned money by selling other products. In this case, it was correct to assume that there is someone who provides funds.
“Next, the question of profit.”
Even if you’re desperate for money, selling a toxic substance that will kill you if you get caught as dye?
It doesn’t make sense. I learned about Earth’s history with radiation or lead poisoning.
A capitalist is a sociopath who doesn’t care if other people die or not, as long as it makes money, isn’t it more successful? I didn’t ask for conscience from the president of Two Stars.
However, there is no merit in distributing it all over Nidavellir, even if it is something to be finished in Nawabari.
Are the risks too great compared to the benefits? Wouldn’t it be better to just make some capital from charcoal dye and then use that money to find another source of money?
If that wasn’t the case—what if the distribution of that charcoal dye was the goal itself?
Mental side effect of Beast Return that makes it difficult to control anger.
To spread an effect almost identical to the side effect of the mana of the old god resembling Odin.
It would make sense if the purpose was to commit something like that.
‘Above all, if I have the confidence to cut my tail, I don’t care what happens to the president of the business.’
It’s not reckless if you think about what the back boat is doing.
I thought that the president of the business may also be nothing more than a scarecrow.
‘〈 Compilation Battalion 〉, assuming… Among the chews I know, the only group that is closely related to the old man’s mana was it because they were taken. ‘
Still, it was not easy to think that the storehouse and its guards were the end, and the storehouse, which had been committing crimes for 20 years, was not easy.
If you want to wield a country from behind, it makes more sense to have that kind of back ship.
‘… I should have looked for Yerna’s memories.’
No, there is enough time to try Shade. Let’s look at the situation and decide what to do.
‘No matter what, I need to hear from Zoid first.’
When I finished talking, Veronica and Dana thoughtfully offered their opinions.
“Do you know where that Zoid Two Stars is? Even if you take advantage of the turmoil of the festival, it is not easy to interrogate such a talented person without attracting the attention of passers-by.”
“That’s right. Even if you work with animals, you can’t avoid being noticed.”
It was the right thing to say. I was well aware that the guards in this world were extraordinarily competent. Carelessness is forbidden.
But I shook my head.
“If that’s the case, don’t worry. I have a clue, and I feel like I can kidnap even a mithril class adventurer alive.”
Piing-!
I threw a 10 copper coin towards the ceiling and caught it. This is the money that Zoid gave me for cheating.
He gave me this coin and said:
─ Add to the price of a drink to drink with her wife next to you. My recommendation is a beer made in the Belost region. It is an art to pass the heavy throat.
Beer made in the Belost region.
‘That’s the clue.’
Bizo Fest, a beer festival in Hremar, is in full swing.
Then there would be a limited number of places selling Belost beer.
Why? Wouldn’t the brewing guild be busy selling their beer?
Selling someone else’s liquor during a festival of the best beer? It was a foolish thing to do even if you only knew the letter ‘E’ in marketing.
‘And the taverns contracted with the brewing guild will only serve beer from that guild.’
It was perfect for the store to go bankrupt if it received PPL and sold alcohol from other companies.
The something brewing guild that came up from the Belost region must have put PPL in Hremar’s tavern or inn. In the country of dwarves, that’s the standard of publicity.
Since they are a type of drunkard, shouldn’t everyone come to the bar to drink?
‘But it’s unlikely that every store has turned it all over.’
If you have the money, it’s constructive to spend it on other promotions.
In any investment, mobbing is a risky act.
‘In other words, there are only a limited number of shops that serve Zoid’s preferred alcohol.’
We just need to find the store.
People who come to enjoy a beer festival visit a pub that sells a specific beer.
Any way you look at it, it was a fucking normal act. Even if our party asks such a question, no one will doubt it. There was no possibility of suspicion if even animals were mobilized.
Clues gathered.
A course of action was also established.
Now all you have to do is get into action.
After fully explaining the strategy and course of action to the party, I put the 10 copper coin on the table like a checkerboard.
“It takes effect from tonight. Everyone please cooperate.”
