At the time when I finished the distribution of the karaage to the people around, just at the time when I was thinking about returning to Asora before dinner, I received an urgent call from the Merchant Guild.
Fortunately, I was in the company, so I could immediately respond to it, and after I finished dressing, I headed to the guild, and arrived at the meeting room that I was pointed out to.
“This place is…” (Makoto)
For a moment, I thought that I got the wrong room.
Rembrandt-san is at the deepest part of the room.
He is already the merchant that I have been the most acquainted with, so there’s no problem in the difference in standing, but the other ones are all big names even I know of, and there’s also a number of them I am not familiar with.
This clearly is a gathering of merchants that are at the top of Tsige.
The merchants that I am acquainted with on the side had a completely different expression on their face.
“Heya. We have been waiting for you, the representative of the Kuzunoha Company, Raidou-kun. Your seat is over here.” (Rembrandt)
Rembrandt-san beckons me over with his usual demeanor, and I find the seat designated to me.
…Okay?
It is at the side of Rembrandt-san.
There certainly is an empty seat there.
But in front of Rembrandt-.san, at both sides of the big table, there’s 2 seats each side for a total of 4 that are completely full.
Representatives of companies that are prominent in Tsige are sitting there.
And you are telling me to go there in this setup?
Seriously, what business is there today?
But standing here won’t change anything.
Without much choice, I lowered my head to the representative of the Muzo Company that is the top in the material related businesses, and the representative of the Couple Company, that revolutionized the circulation of goods, as I passed by.
And arrive at the side of Rembrandt-san.
I don’t have a good feeling about this situation.
“Now then, illustrious dignitaries, the one here is the eye of the storm, the representative of the Kuzunoha Company, the sensation of the time, Raidou-kun.” (Rembrandt)
What an introduction.
“Nice to meet you, I am the representative of the Kuzunoha Company. My name is Raidou. I have come here after being told it was an urgent matter.” (Makoto)
“As I told everyone the other day, he has returned from Dusk Street with all limbs attached. Regarding his connection with the Mist Town, it was apparently the scheme of the kidnapper elf of that same street, right?” (Rembrandt)
“Ah, yes. It was a rumor with no base or backing at all, but I apologize for the disturbance it may have caused.” (Makoto)
With Rio now gone, that place is in slight chaos.
Unfortunately for them, there’s no one there who has the influential power to take his place.
For good or for worse, they do as they please. It was a den of peculiar people.
It seems like they are backstabbing each other as well, so if you want to destroy the very form of the Dusk Street, this is the time to do it.
Rembrandt-san seems to be aiming for something like that, and I have heard that he has placed a number of requests in the Adventurer Guild.
“And that’s how it is. How about it, everyone? As you can see, he can take care of his own problems, and is a person that has the minimum required abilities. At least, that’s how I evaluate him.” (Rembrandt)
““……””
Minimum required abilities, you say. I simply went and came back from the Dusk Street.
This is most likely a joke from Rembrandt-san.
3 out of 4 were chuckling.
The odd one out, if I remember correctly, is the owner of restaurants -or was it food carts?-…Batoma!
Right, the Batoma Company.
The representative of that place was looking at me with a slightly bitter gaze.
…The food industry is currently in an outstandingly fierce battle after all. He must be having it rough.
There’s parts of the Kuzunoha Company that are a target of antipathy from merchants.
This is something that can’t be helped.
Rather, it is miraculous that ¾ of the people here are decently accepting of me.
“He said he put an end to it, but his relationship with the Mist Town still hasn’t been made clear.” (Batoma)
“It is true that a number of my employees have formed a connection where they can come and go from the Mist Town, but there’s also adventurers that have been able to do that recently. It is a simple matter of me having a relationship sooner than everyone else with the aforementioned place since the time I opened my store.” (Makoto)
This should be a good time.
I explain the setting that I have read and trained thoroughly over and over to the Batoma Company-san.
“Don’t you think that this is too big of an advantage that you are monopolizing?” (Batoma)
“I am not monopolizing it in the first place. If the Batoma Company wishes to have concrete trades with that place, you can form fixed term contracts with the skilled adventurers, and have them act as agents for your trades. You will most likely obtain products without any issues.” (Makoto)
I have received reports that there’s a decent amount of adventurers coming and going from the Mist Town.
They have been doing trades in their own ways as well, and we haven’t been obstructing them from doing so by using the name of the Kuzunoha Company.
There’s no need to.
“What I am asking here is why didn’t you strengthen the route between the Mist Town and Tsige to make it a certain thing, so that all the merchants in the Merchant Guild as a whole could benefit from it.” (Batoma)
“It was a path that we pioneered at that time and we treated it like a trait of ours… I apologize. I thought that all companies did the same.” (Makoto)
One of the traits of the Kuzunoha Company that others don’t have, the Mist Town.
It is true that if the city were to have a stronger connection, it would increase the trades as a whole.
But if we were to do that from the beginning, I would have had to act as the head of the Mist Town.
I can declare with certainty that that would have been impossible.
No matter how I think about it, being a rookie merchant who had a personal route was the best option.
But it seems like the Batoma Company-san isn’t convinced by this, or he wants to spite me, he was still strangely irritated.
“Yeah, obtaining personal routes is something that everyone desperately does. Also, the Kuzunoha Company is a brave fighter that chose a miscellaneous store when registering. Without their particular trait of having a connection with the Mist Town as their pulling point, it would have been reckless.” (Rembrandt)
Rembrandt-san’s lifeboat came.
Yeah, as a result, that is. But I can also explain my actions of that time.
“Also, as I have said before, we have no intentions of monopolizing it. And so, there’s no problem at all if any other company were to try and create a trading relationship with the Mist Town.” (Makoto)
“! Hoh, then you are saying you are going to give us information about that Mist Town if asked?” (Batoma)
Is the place of Batoma-san struggling quite a lot?
Even if he made a connection with the Mist Town, the only good thing coming out from it for the Batoma Company would be the ingredients.
“Actually, the rumors this time around have reached that place as well, and they are terribly bewildered by the rumors of the town’s lord and the Dusk Street, and so, they are also feeling resentment for it. They currently have no intentions of having a relationship between Mist Town and Tsige, but the disclosure of a certain degree of information has been allowed from me in order to undo the misunderstanding, and I have also been provided with armed forces from them.” (Makoto)
““!!””
“Ah, I say armed forces, but they only acted in my investigation in the Dusk Street, and they have already returned. And so, instead of providing that information to individuals, I am thinking about giving that information to the Merchant Guild.” (Makoto)
“This is the first time I hear of this, Raidou-kun.” (Rembrandt)
“It is something recent. The report for that didn’t make it in time.” (Makoto)
“Fumu…so that’s why, even though you infiltrated the Dusk Street by yourselves, you still managed to eliminate Rio and Kanta who were said to be big shots. I understand now.” (Rembrandt)
““?!””
The elimination of Rio and Kanta.
I have reported this to Rembrandt-san.
What he heard for the first time was only the disclosure of the Mist Town’s information. However, for the others, these are decently shocking news.
This is information of the Mist Town that’s still covered in a thick veil of mystery.
If it is something that could bring explosive profits to Tsige, there’s no merchant who wouldn’t be interested.
I can tell that everyone is waiting in anticipation for my next words.
“The elimination of Rio, you say? You are telling me you killed that phantom?”
He is…from the Bronzeman Company.
The company that brings together the blacksmiths and craftsmen.
The fact that they put their efforts in protecting, increasing their abilities, and teaching the craftsmen, rather than concentrating on profit, makes them slightly different from your regular company.
The representative in front of me is a half dwarf-hyuman, and quite the old timer too.
“Along with his close aide, Kanta? If that’s true, the assistance of the Mist Town is astounding. I would like to request their assistance in the war if possible, but…the fact that they haven’t offered their help even after all the events must be their answer in itself… What a shame.”
The representative of the Muzo Company was admiring the power of the Mist Town.
He handles all the materials that come from the wasteland.
Thanks to the recent strengthening of the adventurers, the scale of their business has increased, and lately they have begun to concentrate on the division of labor due to the fact that the wasteland is way too big to shoulder.
Even the material dealers are all connected in some way to him.
In other words, he is an able person.
“I see. That’s why Rembrandt-kun has been making moves that look as if he were looking to crush the Dusk Street. You are quite the man as well, Raidou-kun. You are here despite your age after all. It is the strength of the young that are the driving force of this city no matter the times. I am truly happy.”
Couple Company-san is giving out a carefree mood.
According to Rembrandt-san, she is in essence similar to me.
She is the Don of goods circulation, and the Kuzunoha Company will -in some form or another- be involved with the Couple Company.
It gives the image of Amazon.
“The Dusk Street…could it be that, Representative Rembrandt, you are thinking about crushing that trash dump on this occasion when you are planning on making this city be reborn?” (Batoma)
Batoma Company-san asked about the Dusk Street’s current state and the actions of Rembrandt-san with a truly surprised expression.
“If a person here finds any use for that place in the future, or wants to have a relationship with it, I can reconsider it.” (Rembrandt)
“No, the Batoma Company agrees. There’s no issue with it being gone.” (Batoma)
“Bronzeman also agrees. I didn’t think that that damn street would be gone from Tsige in my lifetime. My drinks tonight will taste good.” (Bronzeman)
“Couple also. I don’t care whether they are there or not, but there’s no need for a place where my employees and partner companies can’t enter without fearing for their lives.” (Couple)
“In terms of Muzo, they were useful in the gathering of certain materials, but taking into account the growth of the adventurers recently, I would say it is a permissible loss. That place letting inexperienced adventurers enter illegally into the wasteland does end up hurting us in an indirect way after all.” (Muzo)
“What about you, Raidou-kun?” (Rembrandt)
“Our place was the one that was troubled from the weird rumors, so I obviously have no issues with the dissolving of the Dusk Street.” (Makoto)
“Then, we will have the Dusk Street disappear. The new Tsige has no need for that place.” (Rembrandt)
Everyone nods at that clear statement.
It was a bit surprising that there were no objections or one-upping attempts here.
I thought that one of them would at least be deeply connected to the Dusk Street. That maybe they were so good at hiding it, even we couldn’t get their names out when we were investigating.
“Is it okay to think that those rumors were completely made-up and that the city will calm down now, Raidou-kun?” (Rembrandt)
“Yes, I am sure it will directly correlate to it calming down.” (Makoto)
The moment I answered positively to the question of Rembrandt-san, everyone in the surroundings let out a sigh.
As if in relief.
Hmm.
I am in a fully stressful environment where I am sitting in one of the chief seats, and yet, that uniform action of those big shots interested me a lot.
“Well then, next, the main topic about the Neo Tsi—” (Rembrandt)
“Wait please, Rembrandt-san. It is true that I also agree on telling him about this, but isn’t there an actual urgent matter from Raidou-dono?” (Muzo)
Aah, the main topic is about the new Tsige, huh.
Rembrandt-san intended to tell me about that outrageous wall.
Too bad, PRG already told me and I confirmed it with Sakai.
…No, I was crazy surprised though.
“? What is it?” (Rembrandt)
“About the Mist Town! I can say for certain that information of that town is quite important for Tsige! Leaving aside how much that would go for, I personally would want to hear it right this instant.” (Muzo)
“Oh my, I am more interested in the nice smelling deep-fried food that Raidou-kun and the Kuzunoha Company were distributing here and there today. Instead of having it sold in the store of the black haired lady, you gave them to the mercenaries, orphans, and customers for free?” (Couple)
The Couple-san’s place saw my fried food pilgrimage, huh.
I think I also gave some to the delivery people, so I am sure she will be receiving a report about them eventually.
Also, you are at a pretty old age now. You still have an interest in fried food?
That’s an impressive old lady.
“Wa?! Fried food, you say?! But he is not selling it… Even so, the Kuzunoha Company’s fried food, huh… It is displeasing…but it interests me.” (Batoma)
Even though it began from a food cart that the Batoma are in charge of…
When you get too big as a company, there’s problems created that even you can’t register, huh.
“O…kay. I honestly was looking forward to disclosing that brilliant idea to him today, but…it can’t be helped. Let’s hear the information of the Mis Town first. Right, can you deliver that fried food here too?” (Rembrandt)
“Eh, yeah. It is okay. Then, I will immediately bring some here.” (Makoto)
“How sly. So you were properly keeping some in wait, huh. Hahaha, then, tell us about the so-popular town to a degree that was allowed to you.” (Rembrandt)
Rembrandt-san smiles.
Regardless of the situation, having him by my side as an ally gives me peace of mind.
Well…regarding the fried food, it is no scheme or anything, it is just that it simply doesn’t decrease in numbers though.
It is a saving that it is mostly well received by everyone.
Now then…
“Well then, I will talk about the Mist Town. There may already be existing information that has been provided by adventurers, but please do forgive me for that.” (Makoto)
It is a good opportunity.
I will have the big shots of Tsige properly know about the current Mist Town and their stance.
I slowly begin to explain about the town of Asora in this meeting room where I am out-of-place.
