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The request he chose of Robito was to investigate the merchants that have come to Kuama and to summarize the increase and decrease of the products coming into Kuama.
I thought this would be a pretty tough job, but…
“Hahahaha! That’s a knee-slapper!”
“Right? I knew you would say that, Robito-san!”
He is currently in the villa of Robito Goshunait, invited to a meal by Robito himself, and in the middle of chatting with him.
We went around a number of places and spoke to some people, and he managed to amass enough information to satisfy Robito.
And then, he reported the accomplishment of the request, made contact with Robito, and became well liked by Robito in just a few minutes.
I have heard about him getting along with knights like Lord Leano and nobles of Taizu, but this is the first time I see it from up-close… How fearsome.
Robito is a guild advisor, so he should have had his guard up to a certain degree, and yet, the silver tongue of this man managed to easily break through those walls.
Each word he spoke brought a smile to Robito’s face.
He must have polished this skill of his just like how I polished my swordsmanship.
He said that this technique of his wasn’t from talent but something he learned through experience.
I was having a hard time in my human relationships before meeting him, but even if I were to go through those experiences, I don’t think I would be able to learn such skills.
Just how much did he need to observe others? Was the world he was in so necessary to know techniques to get other people to your side? Even if I were to think about that stuff, my imagination wouldn’t get me far.
“You are a promising young man. But Poster-kun, is it my imagination that you feel more like a merchant than an adventurer?” (Robito)
By the way, Satou Ichirou would be suspicious, so he is currently passing off as Poster.
It is true that that’s a more natural name, but seeing him acting so perfectly as Poster, it makes me believe as if this is the actual him.
“No, you are not wrong. I have been building myself up as a merchant after all.”
“Oh, so that really was it. You didn’t look like someone strong and you brought about 2 people that look like bodyguards, so I did find it strange.” (Robito)
Me and Wolfe are in his team. We have explained that we leave the brains to him and we do the physical work.
That’s usually how it goes with us, so we can maintain a pretty natural relationship here.
But the setting is that Wolfe and I are silent adventurers, so we try to not talk as much as possible.
Leaving aside Wolfe, it is mostly because my knightness reeks out if I were to speak.
Being like a knight is something to be proud of. I didn’t expect the day would come when it would get in the way.
“We have agreed to split our jobs. I can say with pride that I am the weakest adventurer when it comes to brawns. But I had my dream of living as an adventurer, you see. I am pretty much working on the sidelines here, but I am enjoying it.”
“I see, so you admired adventurers despite having the wits of a merchant, huh. You managed to find a perfect balance to do both and put it into action.” (Robito)
“Requests that require the use of the head are my specialty, so please do send those my way!”
There’s almost no lies in his statements.
He was acting like a merchant and it is true that he wanted to try being an adventurer.
The chances of Robito being able to use the technique of the Yugura Church to see through lies is extremely low, but even so, he is lying his way with only truths.
With all that accounted for, he is still displaying talking skills that lead Robito to like him.
It is already at the level where I don’t know how impressive it is anymore.
“Fumu… Then, I have a request about another matter. Would you like to take it?” (Robito)
“Already?! Uhm, do I have to answer right now?”
“Is there an issue?” (Robito)
“Actually, I have already taken 2 other requests… They are requests that I got from a referral, so I would like to finish them before there are any problems.”
“Ah, so it is that. There’s no issue with that. It is an important matter, but not one that must be done at once. I don’t mind you prioritizing the requests you took beforehand. It is not only merchants that need trust, it goes the same for adventurers.” (Robito)
“Then, allow me to accept!”
This is how he managed to accept another request from Robito.
The request was an investigation of: ‘How many adventurers are dissatisfied with the current government of Kuama?’.
We need to investigate in detail what kind of person they are, what kind of displeasure they hold, and how much displeasure they have.
The surface reason is that this is an investigation to improve the treatment of the adventurers in the future.
But if you were to know the background of Robito, it is very blatant that he is trying to search for like-minded people to overthrow the nation.
In that case, he has already wedged himself into a part of Robito’s hidden plans.
“Fuuh, looks like things are going well for now.”
We returned to our base, and he sat on top of the chair and stretched.
Even with my trained body, I can’t escape the fatigue of talking. When you get to the level of him where you do advanced psychological battles, I can’t even begin to imagine just how much fatigue it incurs.
“Shishou, good job!” (Wolfe)
“Thanks. You guys are also tired, right?”
“We just have to stay behind you without talking, so there’s no issues.” (Ilias)
“Really? That’s impressive.”
“Can’t even brag about it when shown your work.” (Ilias)
“There’s no knowing when negotiations would fall. Also, he might have noticed our plans from the beginning. I thought your mental strength was being scraped away while you were thinking that.”
“…”
It is not like I didn’t think that at all.
But after seeing that state of Robito, I feel like I threw that possibility away.
Of course, if something happened, I would have been able to deal with it swiftly…I think.
“Your face is saying the conciliation of Robito went so well it flew out of your mind.”
“Muh… that’s right. Honestly speaking, my attention was directed mostly to your talking skills.” (Ilias)
“Wolfe too!” (Wolfe)
“It may be fine for Robito, but be sure to be wary with Chenias and Gestaf. Robito is the easiest one to deal with within the 3. Robito uses the adventurers of Shunait as if they are convenient pawns, so he is generous towards skilled people. By the way, he hates excessive boot-licking, so you can get along better with him if you are a bit impudent.”
“Completing requests in a short period of time to prove you are skilled; can I ask about the trick to that?” (Ilias)
“A merchant needs an identification in order to enter the country. You need to record it at least on those occasions, right? I had the government officials in those areas arrange that information through King Zenotta. If they are going to pull something on the country, it wouldn’t be pointless to gather the information of that country after all. After that, I meet up with the corresponding officials, have them show me the information, and put them all together.”
“Now that you mention it, that’s pretty simple. It is to a degree where I find it strange that Robito doesn’t do that.” (Ilias)
“He is the guy that’s trying to overturn the country after all. He wants to avoid negotiations with the country as much as possible.”
So he says, but my subjective opinion was that Robito is a person with thick skin.
Maybe he brazenly has his subordinates investigate that stuff?
“Did Robito not look like the careful type?”
“Don’t read my mind as if it were the most natural thing.” (Ilias)
“If you don’t want it to be read, make your thoughts more complicated.”
“Sorry for being simple.” (Ilias)
“I actually can relax better with you like that. I like upright personalities like yours.”
“I would have no discontent if that uprightness of mine weren’t made fun of.” (Ilias)
I see, so it sounds better when you change the wording of being simpleminded.
Let’s take everything positively.
“Actually, your instincts here are not wrong. It is stuff that Robito should be able to investigate if he were to order his subordinates.”
“Then, why?” (Ilias)
“Because he is in a situation where he has to be more careful than normal. He is cooperating with Chenias and Gestaf after all… But that doesn’t seem to be the reason. In the eyes of Robito, those two are on the same level. They would be weak factors to restrict the actions of Robito. In that case, it would be Raheight, but he is currently imprisoned. The matter of Blue should have been leaked, so this should be something Robito should know, too.”
The argument between him and King Zenotta was heard by the soldiers around too.
Even if we were to try to keep them silent, it wouldn’t be possible.
“In other words, the existence of the camp that is affiliated with Raheight?” (Ilias)
“Yeah, there’s no need to be this careful with just the double-dealing Raheight. It should be safe to assume there’s something with decent influence backing Raheight.”
“Do you have an idea?” (Ilias)
“If it is in terms of scale, I would say it is either the Yugura Church or some other country. Considering the movements of Raheight, there’s no chance it is the Yugura Church. If we look at the scale of the country…Kuama has two neighboring countries. One of them is Gahne, but it is the territory that Gold is ruling, so there’s no worries about it. The remaining neighboring country is…”
“Torin in the north, huh.” (Ilias)
“Wolfe, you took the lessons of Maya-san, so you should remember, right?”
“Yes! Within the 6 major countries, Torin is the northernmost one!” (Wolfe)
The places that are called major countries in this world are: Taizu, Mejis, Gahne, Kuama, Torin, and Seren for a total of 6.
“Torin was the place where Yugura made Gold go to sleep once, right?”
“That’s right. Well, it has been passed down in history as Yellow Demon Lord though. It is said that it is the safest country that has no Nether adjoined to it.” (Ilias)
“The Torin Nether is limited to just the inside of the Gahne Castle after all. I have not heard about Seren having a Nether either.”
“The one in Seren simply has the Mejis Nether slightly adjoined to it after all. Torin was not threatened by a Nether, but that also meant not getting the blessing of Yugura, so it is inferior to other countries in terms of their growth as a nation. It is a country with weak influence despite being safe.” (Ilias)
Gahne is in the center of the continent, Taizu is at the east, and Mejis is at the west.
There’s a Nether at the southern part of each respective country.
Seren is at the west of Mejis, Kuama is at the north of Gahne, Torin is at the north of Kuama, and at the west there’s the Kuama Nether connected by land.
“They sent Raheight in order to have the guilds take away the national power… That’s overthinking it a little bit?”
“I am troubled in that I can’t say for certain that your thoughts are wrong with how my days with you have been.” (Ilias)
“Do you hate a stimulating daily life?”
“Depends on the degree. What about you?” (Ilias)
“I prefer peace. The people who have gotten used to peace and seek stimulation normally end up wishing for peace at the end.”
“Shishou, you sound like a grandpa.” (Wolfe)
I get you.
“*Cough*… Anyways, I feel like it isn’t that wrong of an idea to turn our eyes to Torin. This is my instincts speaking here, so it is uncertain though.”
“So there are times when you rely on your instincts, huh.” (Ilias)
“By instinct, I refer to the reflexive answer I get that was led by my experiences until now. If I have confidence in my own abilities, I can trust in my instincts too after all.”
“True. By the way, where did your name Poster come from?” (Ilias)
“A paper for publicity—no, it is from the word imposter.”
“Imposta… Is it a word from Earth?” (Ilias)
“Yeah, it is a word that means to fake your own self. If I were to use the word as it is, there’s the risk of getting caught if they are also from Earth after all.”
It fits him so well I have no words.
◇◇
It seems like Bro Gestaf is going to be taking action in his own Bro way.
However, the policy as of present is to act stealthily without showing on the outside for the near future as long as that man is present.
According to Bro, it would be better to avoid actions that will provide them information now that they know about our existence.
There’s the fear that they might be observing us right now from afar… That certainly is true.
I have confidence in the accuracy of my detection magic and my instincts when I see someone, but it is not like my eyesight itself is outstanding.
It is not like I can’t use farsight magic, but the efficiency is low. It is not like I am training it so I can clearly see a person that I could already see from afar after all.
“But well…I have nothing to do…”
What I can do is detect the dangers approaching Bro as soon as possible, and have Bro deal with them.
But if I stay cooped inside the house, there won’t be any spotlight for my detection skills. The only menial work I can do is cleaning.
And so, I am cleaning the house endlessly. Hasn’t this house gotten 5 years younger here?
The Cleaner Haakudoku doesn’t sound bad, but if I were to call myself that, it would come as a set with the vexation.
“This is so vexing, damn it.” (Haaku)
I actually want to go the city and do something about that man, but Instinct-sama would cut off my consciousness when I meet that man.
Even if I manage to meet that man without losing consciousness, his bodyguards are clearly far stronger than me. I managed to do something about Girista, but the strength of Ekdoik and that female knight are on the level of being unfair.
There might be a chance if I were to watch them fight once or twice, but…it would still be a bet with bad odds.
I was told I can do as I please, but I don’t have the guts to gamble my life.
I have pledged my life to Bro Gestaf, but I am not looking for a dog’s death.
“It is fine. I am sure I will have my turn. I just have to shine at that time! For now, let’s be satisfied with making this vase shine!” (Haaku)
“That spirit is good and all, but don’t just clean the same vase the whole damn day.”
“B-Bro?!” (Haaku)
I looked back in surprise and Bro Gestaf was standing there with a bitter face.
That seriously gave me a fright. My heart was about to jump out of my mouth.
Wait, there’s one more person by the side of Bro who I have not seen before.
Rather than saying I have not seen them before, it is more like they are using invisibility magic, so I can’t see them, but they are following closely behind Bro.
They are not from Riodo. Just who in the world are they?
For now, let’s try using detection magic to—
“Haakudoku, don’t use detection magic on this one. It is someone you don’t need to know.” (Gestaf)
“Eh, ah, okay. I am sorry!” (Haaku)
Bro noticed I was pouring my gaze to the invisible guy, and what he did was predict my next move and stop me.
Judging from the tone of Bro, that was a no-joke warning. I have no choice but to obey, then.
“I will be talking about the details with this person for a while. They are the pretty nervous type, so they will get distracted if there’s someone, so go clean the basement or something.” (Gestaf)
“Got it! Oi, I don’t know who you are, but make sure not to make a blunder with Bro!” (Haaku)
I pick up the cleaning tools and move.
Even an idiot like me could tell that that is from the same side as Raheight.
There’s a decent amount of times when Instinct-sama would tell me even without using detection magic.
The person there was dangerous in a different meaning from that man.
That must be why Bro was making a bitter face. The senses of Bro are sharp on that front after all.
It is not like they have animosity, but they only see Bro Gestaf as a means to an end -I could tell that kind of bad feeling vividly.
“There’s no decent people in our allies or enemies… I am the only one who can support Bro. Gotta perk up here!” (Haakudoku)
Now, just you wait, dust in the basement! Imma clean you squeaky clean!
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