TL: Zimmings
After telling the servants that I would go to the mercenary guild, I immediately moved to the office.
Seria, who was waiting for me, held out a pile of blue spinel.
âItâs quite a lot. Will you be okay? Youâre already not feeling well.â
I shook my hand.
âItâs only hard when I use the devilâs power, something like this is nothing.â
âIt must be costly to borrow a skill.â
I nodded my head.
The devilâs power is beyond human power. No matter how capable a human being is, it is almost impossible to overcome the devil.
Even I couldnât dream of summoning the devil or borrowing their power without etwal.
âIt should be said that Mina, who summoned Amy without etwal and used its power, attempted suicide.â
Whatâs even greater is that sheâs still alive.
When I put my power into it, the colour of the blue spinel changed with a small vibration.
Spinel âprocessingâ was not time consuming. Within a couple of hours, the spinel processing that Seria does has completed.
âIs this enough?â
âYes.â
âItâs been a while since I need to demonstrated a spinel that has been charged with divine power. Are the prospective buyers on the strict side?â
âVery much. But I understand, itâs an astronomical amount of money. Speaking of whichâ¦â¦.â
âHuh?â
âThey want to meet you in person.â
I frowned.
13 years after the launch of the hope mercenary guild, there were countless merchants who wanted to trade directly with me, but Seria wisely restrained them.
Seria, who has accumulated considerable years of experience as the leader, has never lost a war of words with any big merchants.
âTheyâre such a person that Seria is in trouble?â
When I touched my chin with a sigh, Seria said.
âThere arenât many mercenary guild to make a deal like this. Itâs because of the condition.â
My conditions are quite tricky.
It is no exaggeration to say that there is none except for this trading partner.
âBall-jointed doll, Lane, should be sent⦠but, we canât use the Lane right now.â
In the last incident, I remodeled it.
It became impossible to remotely control the core by putting it into defense position.
âIt will take a long time to remodel it again. Then I might miss the timing of the deal.â
Funds were essential to prepare for the war against the temple.
âBring a mask. Iâll meet them in person. When are they supposed to come?
âTheyâre coming to the mercenary guild to see the demonstration today.â
âIâll do the demonstration myself. If itâs a trap, itâll give us time to prepare.ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âYes.â
Seria immediately brought a mask. After changing my voice with magic, I covered myself in the robe.
The sun is setting soon.
There was news that people had arrived from the mercenary guild hoping for a deal.
The chairman hid in a small room connected to the office, and Seria greeted the people at the mercenary guild after dressing up as the appearance of Sese, the leader at mercenary guild known to the outside.
Then, the door opened.
People who entered the door were also covered with black robes.
After getting off the robe, an old man with a virtuous impression smiled and asked Seria to shake hands.
As he was from other continents, he had a slight accent.
Seria smiled and reached out her hand.
âWelcome, Lord Trihan.â
âYes, but that personâ¦â
âItâs the owner.â
âOh!â
The old man put his hand on his chest with his back slightly bent toward me. It seemed that he had learned the etiquette of the empire.
As a greeting from their motherland, Seveltium, I lightly placed my hand on my lips.
The old man laughed out loud and said.
âIâm happy to meet you. You were younger than I expected. Itâs amazing that you reign as the head of such a giant at that age. Let me introduce the owner too.â
Seria was surprised and looked at him.
âLord Trihan is not the owner of the mercenary guild?â
âDidnât I tell you? Weâre a union. Iâm the head, but thereâs a separate union leader.â
âItâs a different story. Lord Trihan!â
âWell, letâs move on from trivial things.â
Laughing, he looked at the man behind his back.
âLord Nicholai.â
Nicolai?
I stiffened at the familiar name.
The man in front of the old man lightly lowered his hood, and his pitch-black hair was revealed.
At the same time, I recalled the letters I had exchanged a few days ago. The name written at the end of the letter.
[Nicolai Grimoire]
âIâm Nicolai Grimoire, the mercenary guild union leader of Seveltium.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âLady Dubblede.â
âHe knows exactly who the hope mercenary guild owner is.â
If this happened, I need to take it off.
I took a bite of the soft flesh in my mouth and lowered the mask.
His green eyes and my blue eyes met in the air.
***
Me and the Duke of Grimoire sat face to face with a sofa table in between us.
With my arms folded, I opened my mouth.
âSince when did you know Iâm the owner of the mercenary guild?â
âSince the last time I ran into you in front of the office.â
âBut how?â
âThat woman.â
He looked at Seria.
At that time, she was not an old woman known to the outside world, but a young Seria herself.
âI know that woman.â
âHow can Your Excellencyâ¦â
âIsnât she a wanted criminal? Grimoire is working with the imperial family to develop a magic to track down wanted criminals. Iâve seen her on the wanted list.â
ââ¦â¦!â
âI was wondering why Lady Dubblede was with the wanted person, so I found out that she often go to the hope mercenary guild.â
âThatâs⦠thatâsâ¦.â
âSo, through Trihan, I captured her image through the video stone.â
Seria stared fiercely at Trihan, and Trihan turned his head. The Duke of Grimoire continued.
âI was able to read the magic formula in the video of the leader Sese. It was a change of appearance.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âThe hope mercenary guild was built shortly after you, the child of fate, entered Dubblede. A woman named Seria seemed to be your servant.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âIsnât it natural to suspect that you might be the owner of the hope mercenary guild? Lady Dubblede.â
I sighed and looked straight at him.
âThatâs right, sir. Iâm the owner of the mercenary guild.â
âYouâre calm considering youâre caught.â
âI know that I left too much trails. Iâve done a lot in 13 years. So I was cleaning up the mercenary guild.â
âHmm.â
âIâm telling you in advance, but now that most of the mercenary guild has been sorted out, itâs not a threat to me that Iâm the owner.â
Duke Grimoire rubbed his temple after supporting his elbow on his armrest.
âIf I tried to threaten you, I wouldnât use this kind of nonsense.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âAt least youâve saved the maid you cherish like your life. Well, sheâs at the crossroads of life and death, so thereâs nothing I could do about it.â
That was definitely about Lea.
I said,
âI forgot to tell you another thing in advance.â
âWhat?â
âIf you mention Leaâs name again, your mouth will be torn.â
âAre you thinking of calling out the ghost soldiers youâre proud of?â
âThereâs nothing I canât do. If Lea gets entangled, I will turn the world upside down.â
Duke Grimoire laughed.
âItâs not wrong to say that Lea Shavanol is the absolute number one to push all your stepfather and brothers on the family register.â
Boom, boom!
Crash!
The window of the office was broken at once by the whirlpool of divine power I caused.
âI said I would rip that mouth apart.â
He shrugged shoulders.
âLetâs do it quickly. I have no desire to be here any longer. Where did you hide my father?â
â⦠What nonsense is this?â
âI guess you donât even want to be polite anymore.â
âHow do I know where Grimoireâs predecessor is!â
âThe second child of fate, the cardinal, as well as the Duke of Amity, was fearlessly kidnapped by you, didnât you kidnap him because heâs my father?â
I flinched.
[Child, people will be suspicious of things that you didnât do because you look like youâre doing itâ¦]
[Iâve known since before that kidnapping was youe hobby. I recognized it!]
Boone and Chul-soo said one after another.
I coughed as I said, âItâs noisy.â
âHow did he know that?â
I can see why Grimoire stands shoulder to shoulder with Dubblede.
âItâs because of their awesome information.â
âIâm really not.â
âI canât believe it.â
âItâs true. Thereâs no reason for me to kidnap Grimoireâs predecessor.â
âIt seems like heâs intertwined with the temple, so you kidnapped him and tried to find out. If itâs really true, give evidence.â
âHow can I give evidence of something I didnât do?â
Please say something that make sense?
Itâs unfair, so I banged my chest.
âItâs true. Iâm innocent. Iâll swear!â
âI donât believe in a liarâs oath.â
âSeria! Bring the life contract! If this is a lie, I should at least swear to explode!â
I huffed, and Seria whispered, âShould I really bring it?â
But it was weird. Duke Grimoire was quiet. When I looked at him thinking what was going on, he hardened.
âAh!â
He grabbed my wrist.
âWha- what⦠Iâve never kidnapped him.â¦.â
âDo you have the life contract?â
â⦠I have it.â
âHow could you?!â
âMy mom gave it to me.â
âNo way.â
âItâs true though?â
âNo, it can never be possible. Life contract is a family heirloom produced by Grimoire.â
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