Chapter 10: Before Departing
“That geezer was quite the find, huh?”
“You’re right. I do think he’s quite a diamond in the rough.”
Near the walls of the capital, in the region of the city where lower-income people lived, stood a small two-story shop. And in this building, the Weinder Company’s shop, Mia and I were upstairs making arrangements for my departure the following day. It had been about a week since I made the decision to go to Reylia back in the director’s office, and our preparations have finally been completed. Incidentally, my foster father, Paul Weinder, was currently on a business trip. The plan was for me to switch places with him when I return to the capital.
“I thought it’d be a problem when that knight up and vanished, but things have gone in an unexpectedly good direction.”
Especially for us. Of course, it was difficult to think of ways that Fulsig could directly lead to a profit for the Weinders, but people like him were truly valuable in this world.
“Is that so?” Mia stared at me with squinted eyes. “So that nuisance of an escort leaving is good fortune to you, sir?”
“Why are you taking it in that direction?”
“And now you’re suddenly referring to her as Princess Alfina as well.”
“...That’s because we are, in a sense, a team.”
“...”
“More importantly, how’s things on the Dreyfans’ end?” I changed the topic, and Mia’s expression instantly turned serious.
“Going by what I’ve heard from Lilka, the case with the chivalric order is applying significant pressure on the Kendalls.”
Lilka was Mia’s friend, the one who glared at me during the Spring Festival. She’s the daughter of a silver company under the umbrella of the third-ranked company in the Culinary Guild, the Kendalls. I think her company handles dairy products, like cheese.
“So the Kendalls are on the verge of defeat...”
“It seems the second-ranked Carlests are closer to the Dreyfans’ side of things. They’re not direct rivals, after all.”
“Now that you mention it, I’ve seen people who aren’t from the neighborhood around the house...”
It’d be nice if they could just forget about some insignificant company in their merriment over acquiring a new customer, but apparently that wasn’t the way things were set to go. The fact that even one of their valuable intelligence-gathering personnel was set aside for us meant that it was the father taking action, rather than the son. This is bad. It means the scuffle between children is over.
“I guess I have no choice but to ask you to stay behind, Mia.”
“...”
“It’s not just about Dreyfan. If we’re able to verify this hypothesis, we’ll need to finish our own preparations, assuming the worst-case scenario, of course.”
“You mean the evacuation of the villagers?”
“Exactly. We’ll get by one way or another, as long as the people survive.”
We were insignificant merchants, and that village was a tiny one on the outskirts of the Kingdom. What’s more, this “research project” of ours ran against the will of the Kingdom. Even if our plan to verify it went as well as it possibly could, we couldn’t assume the Kingdom would take action the way we wanted them to.
“Of all the times for the Dreyfans to begin gathering intelligence on us...”
In terms of our own resources, we had no other choice but to make the prophecy of disaster our number one priority.
“Jacob and Remy will be with you, but please be careful.”
“Yeah. Don’t get too close to the Dreyfans yourself, Mia.”
“I’m not you, sir. I won’t act so rashly. Now then, please hand those to me.” Mia held her hand out towards the ledgers left on the desk.
“No, this is my job.”
“Who knows how long it will take you to do the calculations at your pace? Do you plan on staying up all night before your trip, sir?”
And with that, Mia grabbed over half of the ledgers. Even with that many, I guess she’s going to finish before I do. Really, her talent is practically wasted on me.