Chapter 594 (1/2)

The ship of the Mesther Merchant Association, which Lovren had led us to, was small but had a rather grand appearance. The railings were carved, and there were even plants on the deck. This place might have even been regarded as the lobby of an ordinary merchant association already.

The entire ship itself seemed to belong to Mesther Merchant Association

At first, I thought it was a rather ordinary thing, but apparently, it was difficult for a small business association to even own a single ship here, so they’d rent a corner of a large ship to use as their office. In other words, they were using the so-called tenant system.

With that in mind, I could tell how wealthy the Mesther Merchant Company was, as they could own an entire ship in this Commercial Fleet.

I wondered if they would listen to us when we suddenly visited such a merchant association… But to my surprise, we were able to meet with their top brass without much difficulty.

「I heard that you, one of the top Adventurers in this lake, came to visit us unexpectedly」

It seemed that it was thanks to Lovren that we didn’t have to wait long. But come to think of it, there was no way that a merchant association of this size did not know Lovren, a famous Adventurer around this lake.

「Could you introduce me to the young miss beside you?」

「She is Fran. Even though she looks like this, she’s still an Adventurer, you know? She’s been a great help to me」

「Nn. I’m Fran」

「I see. My name is Gregory from the Mesther Merchant Association. I am pleased to be able to make your acquaintance」

He hadn’t realized that Fran was the Black Lightning Princess? Although he was polite, I felt like he was treating her as a companion of Lovren up till now.

「So, what can I do for you today? If there’s anything you need, I’ll do my best to get it for you」

「Thanks, I appreciate your kindness, but I’m not here to make a deal today」

「Hou?」

The conversation started with a smile. But soon enough, the other side’s face turned grim.

「Actually, I’m working on a request from the Adventurer’s Guild. I was hoping you could help me with my investigation」

「Investigation?」

「We’re investigating the anomaly in the lake」

The moment Lovren said that Gregory stiffened for a moment. It was only for a moment. His expression did not change, neither did his voice.

But for us, who had strong suspicions from the start, even that was enough of a hint. Both Lovren and Fran looked convinced that Gregory knew something.

「Hohou? Then what brings you to our merchant association? I don’t think there’s anything I can do to help you with your investigation about the lake, right?」

「Then, would you mind showing me the bookkeeping records and the warehouse of Mesther Merchant Association?」

「What did you say!?」

We know that they may have prepared a forged version of their bookkeeping. But our purpose was to see how the other party would react.

And if they really did bring out fake bookkeeping records, we might be able to use it as evidence to prove their crimes. No matter how well they did their bookkeeping, it could never be perfect.

「Can you please let me check all the bookkeeping records containing the sales records of the Scarlet Waterweed potion at Mesther Merchant Association, as well as the storage warehouse where the Scarlet Waterweed potion is stored?」

Having been convinced that the Mesther merchant association was hiding something, Lovren became quite bold.

「Hahaha. What are you talking about… you know that’s impossible, right? It’s our merchant association’s trade secret after all」

「That’s why I’m asking you to do something about it」

「Do you have any suspicions about our merchant association? Do you think we have something to do with this incident?」

「Well, yes」

「That’s ridiculous. Our merchant association has nothing to do with it」

Gregory stood up with a stern expression on his face. It was probably his way of saying that he had nothing more to say.

「Please leave now. It’s truly a shame, Lovren-dono. I thought you were a respectable man for an Adventurer. We’ll never do business with you again」

Gregory turned away and walked toward the doors.

But we couldn’t let him get away. After all, this guy had lied about a lot of things. Not only did he say that there was nothing he could do to help in the investigation of the lake, but he also lied about his claim that they had nothing to do with the lake’s anomaly.

He was really suspicious.

『Fran, this guy definitely knows a lot』

「Nn. Wait. I still have something to talk」