Vol 3 Chapter 13 (1/2)

Chapter 13

Chapter 3 Episode 13

Editor: mr.tanen

Day 19th, 8th Month, the Year 2812, Western continent calendar: (Negotiation 1)

”Oh, Mikos.h.i.+ba-dono... I heard you've recently bought a lot of slaves. Is your preparation to find personnel for developing the peninsula progressing smoothly? Well, it is not bad to have some fun with some slaves, but I'm worried about the peninsula’s development you see. After all, those slaves can only be regarded as cattle or horses for the grunt work. I can't help it but feel like you might use those slave as bait for the monsters at the peninsula.”

The moment Ryouma entered the reception room, Earl Salzberg immediately showered him with probing comments.

As expected of the lord of Epiroz, he had already grasped Ryouma's movements.

The appearance of the Earl and his wife  was not as glamorous as the first time they had met.

Although what they were wearing were nonetheless tailor-made clothes, the accessories on their bodies were minimal, and their outward aspect had a more relaxed air to it.

There were three steaming cups on the table, one of them was for Ryouma.

”Oh my, dear… For you to talk like that out of the blue, please let Baron-sama sit first... Please forgive my husband’s rudeness. Now, please sit down.”

After having chided the Earl, his wife promptly invited Ryouma to take a seat.

”Oh, that was indeed rude of me! After all, the Queen has been constantly sending messengers, that's why I had become impatient.”

The Earl offhandedly delivered the remark while stroking his head.

As expected of husband and wife. Their coordination was exquisite.

”Ah, please don't mind it. Actually, I have a matter to discuss with Earl-sama...”

Ryouma looked at the Earl while feigning a troubled expression.

”Ho ho? Do you need something from me? Well, when the messenger came so suddenly like that yesterday, I thought something had happened but... As expected, is this about the slaves? It seems like you've really overdid it and bought a lot of slaves yesterday. Did they do something troublesome? If you wanted me to, I could make use of my name... Although it might be a bit impossible for all of them to be taken back, I can recover some of your money if you so wished.”

The Earl smirked.

He gave the strong feeling of being someone who wanted to sell Ryouma a favour.

Although Ryouma had yet to say anything, it would appear that the Earl was convinced that Ryouma was troubled by the slaves he had recently acquired.

(He believes that the slaves I bought are causing me trouble, and I couldn't smoothly sell them all back... And as expected, he's being watching us. The problem is whether that was by order of Lupis or if they did it by their own initiative.)

From the start, the reason Ryouma visited the Earl was not because he wanted to return the slaves.

He came because he wanted to negotiate a different matter.

But, the Earl's att.i.tude was far too patronizing. It was as if he really wanted to forge some ties with the fledgling Baron before him.

At once, Ryouma talked about the reason why he had come while pretending to be in a hurry.

”Yes... In fact, I was in a pinch...”

”As expected, is this about the slaves?”

Ryouma shook his head.

The day before yesterday, Ryouma had purchased a lot of slaves from the slave merchants and was currently giving them basic training.

He came to the Ear

l's residence not to sell back the children.

With Ryouma denying the Earl’s guess, his wife summarily followed up on the question.

”Oh, my? Then what's wrong? Our household has been asked by the Queen to help Baron-sama as much as possible. That's why I beseech you to please don't hold back. I'm sure we can help you, even if a little bit. Am I right, dear?”

Hearing the woman’s query, cold sweat ran through Ryouma's back.

Although she spoke of it in a casual manner, some of the words held some clear indications.

(Being asked to help, huh... Does that mean they were asked to watch me? That b.i.t.c.h! As expected, she won't leave me alone and is using the Earl to watch me, huh... Fine, I’ll play your f.u.c.king game, but I don't have to play by your rules...)

For Lupis who was wary of Ryouma's existence, she couldn’t just leave him be. And sure enough, it turned out that she had ordered the Earl to keep an eye on him.

Once he arrived at that conclusion, Ryouma could no longer accept what was said by the Earl's wife at face value.

”I see...”

The reason why they received Ryouma with a warm welcome in the first place might also have been due to the Queen's order. However, the couple were actually not the Queen's loyal dogs she thought they were.

Despite them conveying the impression of being staunch loyalists, they had actually been embezzling the Royal resources all along.

(As expected... He's the type of person that will always choose the side which benefits him the most... If that is the case, I still have room for negotiation... In exchange for the salt vein profits, I should add a condition where he will give Lupis a false report about me... Well, everything depends on how well I play my cards here, and that's why I can't afford to screw up now.)

It was dangerous for Ryouma to antagonize the Earl and his wife at the moment.

He had to be precise with his timing.

And right then was the best timing for him to make a certain deal.

”Well, please, do not hesitate to tell me what troubles you, Mikos.h.i.+ba-dono. I will do my best to help you... So then, if it was not because of the slaves, then what is your dilemma?”

The Lord of Epiroz looked at Ryouma with an inquisitive gaze.

It seemed like he was very worried about what could possibly concern the young newly ent.i.tled n.o.bleman.

”Actually... There's a salt vein in the peninsula...”

Following Ryouma's first sentence, the room temperature dropped by several degrees in an instant.

”... Wha-what do you mean by that? Why do you know something like that? Did you investigate it yourself?”

All traces of laughter disappeared from the Earl's face, and his gaze turned sharp.

He looked at Ryouma with undisguised suspicion.

The reason why he did not try to cover it was because he thought that there was no meaning to it.

(f.u.c.k! Why does he know about the vein? The Mistel firm should've managed that matter with the utmost care! Is it because of the other day’s dinner? What should I do? Should I kill him now? No, maybe I should confirm it first, before killing him...)

In the worst case scenario, he would just have to end up killing Ryouma. n: apparently=”” the=”” earl=”” isn’t=”” familiar=”” with=”” the=”” concept=”” of=”” “plot=”” armour”.=””>

Baron versus Earl, even though both were of n.o.ble rank, the difference in power was not small.

Besides, at the time, they were inside the Earl's residence, and the capital city was quite far away.

Frankly speaking, the Earl could have pretty much done anything he wanted in his corner of the country. However, before he really committed himself to killing Ryouma, he needed to corroborate what was really going on.

”To tell you the truth... I've received news of this yesterday.”

”What?! Let me see it!”

Ryouma held out a letter.

It was made using a most common type of paper and ink that everyone could buy from any shop. The characters were messy, clearly in order to disguise the handwriting.

There was no way to ascertain the author’s ident.i.ty.