106 Episode 105 Mercia and Acting Skills (1/2)

A few days after the letter arrived.

We're all ready to go and we're about to leave Photoren.

”Okay. I'm off then.

”Have a good day!　Have a good day!” ”Have a good day!

I told them I didn't need to see them off, but there were many employees of the Chamber of Commerce gathered at the gate of Photoren, moving in unison to see us off.

I've left you in charge of the Chamber of Commerce while I'm gone, sir.

””Yes!” .

I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one.

......I don't remember the Kaede Chamber of Commerce being an army.

...... There's something strangely well-organized about these employees.

In order to combat sabotage, we asked some of our employees to develop some combat skills, so we asked people from the guild to give us guidance. ...... When we came back, some of our employees were like that.

”Guild relations?

Mainly a guy named Gun-soo. There weren't many people who were directly instructed, but it seems that those people gave similar instructions to other people.

Mr. Gun-soo ...... sounds familiar.

Yeah. He's a nice guy, but he's a bit of a jerk.

He's a nice guy, but it's no wonder he's like that when he's really teaching. .......

And that tension is contagious, apparently.

Thanks to this, the defense of the Chamber of Commerce has been greatly enhanced. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I'm not the only one.

...... So we can use them as bait without worry.

It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're doing.

I prepared a high quality carriage and good horses, and increased the speed by not loading any luggage, but it will still take about five days to arrive.

This is not only for the purpose of my protecting Mercia, but also for the purpose of making it easier for the enemy to get to us.

I have already prepared for the interrogation ...... and welcome party for the attackers.

If we just beat them back, we won't know who is our enemy.

”Yes, sir. The guards should follow us, pretending to be careless so that the attackers can easily come out.

All right.

I'm on it.

This time, Mercia has prepared two guards.

I'm not sure what to do, but I'm going to do it.

Lake and Mathias. They were Decibatoreans, who looked like ordinary villagers you could find in any town.

Their strength is low, but they excel at spotting and fighting against others, making them ideal for this mission.

...... By the way, ”low strength” by Desibatore standards means ”a little stronger than the main class of other front-line cities.

The two of them, under our direction, began to steer the carriage or lie down on the back of it with sleepy faces.

And so we slowly approached the capital.

The first, second and third days were uneventful, but on the evening of ...... the fourth day, the day before we were scheduled to arrive, things moved.

Do you have a minute?

Before dinner, we were gathered in my room talking.

Lake, who had just returned from a reconnaissance mission, made a gesture to cover his ears.

Seeing this, I activated one of the artifacts that Catherine had made for me before I came, a muffling charm that prevents voices from leaking out.

What's wrong?

The well at the inn has been drugged.

Oh. At last.

I was worried that you might not come to assassinate me since you'd be arriving tomorrow.

”In the meantime, I've thrown a small anchor in the perpetrator's luggage. He seems to be a low-level guy, so we don't want to catch him and alert the authorities.

What do we do now?

Well, ......, why don't we just pretend we don't notice it and eat it?　That's a good idea.

Do you have the antidote?

I don't, but I don't need it. I checked the sleeping potion in the well and found that it is a slow-acting sleeping potion that interferes with a person's magic to induce drowsiness. ...... In short, it has little effect on the strong magic of the Decibatore. The concentration of the drug makes it only mildly drowsy at best.

Why do you need it?

It's a major sleeping pill. I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's a good idea. ...... And it's not well known that it's less effective against desibatoreans. There's no such thing as a daredevil trying to drug a desi battler in the first place.

...... So the strategy of letting your guard down with your appearance has worked.

I'm going to go with that then. I'll have recovery magic ready just in case. ...... What about Mercia?

I always wear an anti-poison magic tool, so I'm fine without it.