CH 128

Chapter 128 – Approach

“Yosen, Hakumen is right. At the moment, money and valuables may have no value to us, nor to the inhabitants of Earth. What we need above all else is food, clothing, and shelter. And you said you would offer those things, is that correct?” (King Dragia)

“That is precisely so, King Dragia.” (Hakumen)

“However, I must confess that I am quite curious as to why you desire money and valuables.” (King Dragia)

“Well, I gotta agree with you there, King Dragia. I don’t know why he wants money and valuables when he knows they don’t have any value.” (Ze’ev)

“Let’s see… It’s not likely that a merchant would ask for something that has no value in the wider world, so it’s probably useful to him.” (Julaf)

“…Julaf, was it? You surmise correctly. It is not useless to me. My skill allows me to put money and valuables to good use.” (Hakumen)

“A skill? It’s quite rare for a garbel to have a skill. There are only a handful of garbel adventurers who have them, after all.” (Ze’ev)

Ze’ev’s remark revealed that there weren’t that many skill users among the garbels. But I wasn’t surprised, since I had heard that before from Izu.

In the first place, skills often only manifested in those that had received the blessing of Yggdrasil. Although they couldn’t be said to be exclusive to elfins, who were close to Yggdrasil, they were certainly a rare power to see in other races.

“What kind of skill are you speaking of?” (King Dragia)

“I will only disclose that to the parties who close a deal with me.” (Hakumen)

King Dragia’s brows furrowed.

Did that anger him? But there was no way I would flap my tongue so easily and tell him such important information without anything in return.

“If you give me money and valuables, I can offer you anything of commensurate value in return.” (Hakumen)

“Even things that don’t exist on Earth?” (King Dragia)

“Even things that exist in your world.” (Hakumen)

King Dragia was the first to break the silence.

“….I understand. We will discuss it among ourselves and give you our answer later.” (King Dragia)

I would have preferred an immediate decision, but it was also a decision with many lives at stake. It would have been useful to know that there was a person at the top who was capable of taking everyone’s opinions into account.

“Then I will await your correspondence.” (Hakumen)

With that, I handed King Dragia a small oval mirror.

“What is this?” (King Dragia)

“This is a [Writing Mirror]. If you engrave words on it, the same words will appear on my mirror. It will prove useful for keeping in touch.” (Hakumen)

“I see. So it’s an artifact.” (King Dragia)

“You may take your time to investigate as much as you desire about this world. Then, if you wish to sign a contract, you may contact me.” (Hakumen)

I wanted to maintain the connection with them since it was potentially a big contract for me, but I couldn’t force things because there seemed to be a lot of opposition. The way things stood at the moment, the risk of them flaring up against me was high.

Thus, I had to act like it didn’t matter to me, regardless of what action they decided to take. If I acted like I was desperate to tie a contract with them, they might take advantage of it. At which point, if I signed a contract with them, my profits wouldn’t be that large. I would prefer it if they were the ones to insist on making a deal with me.

After exiting the conference room, I left the palace under the soldier’s escort.

I was told that a carriage would take me to the entrance of the city, but I said that I could return home by myself and began moving in the direction of the city.

But just as I was about to step out of the palace…

“…What is the meaning of this?” (Hakumen)

I glared at the gatekeepers, who were blocking my path. However, they were just standing there without saying anything. They didn’t seem to have any hostile intent to me in particular. And then…

“―Hakumen-dono.”

A person with a small build approached me with a strong-looking soldier in tow.

…A huron, huh?

Standing before me was an old man, who had shrunk considerably in stature, perhaps due to his age. Seeing his gaze that seemed to pick apart every action, I knew I definitely couldn’t let down my guard around this person.

“Who are you?” (Hakumen)

“I am Rajie, minister of the Kingdom of Arrods.”

“What business might you have with me today, Rajie-dono?” (Hakumen)

“I wanted to speak with you. It’s something very, very important.” (Rajie)

He pointed to a carriage and told me to get in.

“…I understand.” (Hakumen)

In my mind, I told Shiki to eliminate this man without question if he tried to harm me.

Rajie led the way to the carriage and I got on. Unlike the carriage I had rode in earlier, this one was a magnificent carriage with impressive decorations, much like one that a noble would ride.

Then, the carriage quietly started moving, heading towards the entrance of the city. It seemed like he was just giving me a ride, but I knew for sure that it wasn’t just that.

I turned to Rajie, who was sitting opposite me, and spoke.

“So? What did you want to talk to me about?” I asked, cutting right to the chase.

He gazed out the window with a wan smile.

“Did you know that just a month ago, this place was a battlefield?” (Rajie)

“Yes, I’ve heard about it. I could judge from the situation in the city that the Empire had been defeated by the allied forces consisting of the garbels and other countries.” (Hakumen)

“Right. And who will be the one to rule this land… no, this empire?” (Rajie)

“…No, wait. First, what became of the Emperor in the end?” (Hakumen)

“He passed away not long ago.” (Rajie)

So he died, then. I didn’t know if he was killed, or if something else happened. Well, considering the fact that he was responsible for the oppressive rule of the Empire, it would be normal to assume that he was executed.

“Did he leave behind an heir?” (Hakumen)

“…….” (Rajie)

“…..! Is what you wanted to talk to me about really related to this?” (Hakumen)

“Hohoh, good guess. That’s exactly right.” (Rajie)

Looks like this is going to be another troublesome situation.

“The previous emperor—Bildas-sama, had five sons.” (Rajie)

“Five… Surprisingly few.” (Hakumen)

As an emperor, the issue of succession was very important. That was why they had a lot of children. The emperor’s bloodline had to be kept alive.

“It was very difficult for him to conceive children. He had many concubines, but in the end, only five were born. However, in the recent war, the eldest son, Galois-sama, and the second son, Louis-sama, both died. The eldest daughter, Aroa-sama, was married off to an allied nation, and the second daughter, Noalia-sama, went on an expedition before the war broke out and never came back.” (Rajie)

It was probably the emperor’s plan to keep the second daughter away from the Empire so she wouldn’t be embroiled in the happenings of the war.

“…What about the fifth child?” (Hakumen)

“…The third son, Nike-sama, is imprisoned in the palace.” (Rajie)

“…! So he’s still alive, then.” (Hakumen)

I thought that he was going to say that the emperor’s bloodline had been completely killed off…

“Nike-sama is only 9 years old. He knows nothing about the war.” (Rajie)

“Then he doesn’t even know why he’s being imprisoned?” (Hakumen)

“No, he’s still young, but he’s still quite an intelligent child. I’m sure he understands what happened to the Empire and how his family arrived at this fate.” (Rajie)

That sounds… rough.

He was still at the age where it was normal to still be very attached to one’s parents. It was tragic for him to have lost all of his siblings at once and not be allowed outside.

“What about his mother? Is she not by his side?” (Hakumen)

“Unfortunately, Shuren-sama, the emperor’s 13th concubine, who gave birth to Nike-sama, has already passed away. She… was always a rather frail woman.” (Rajie)

At that moment, I saw a hint of gloom befall Rajie’s face. But the emperor’s concubine, and the 13th one at that… Why did he seem so emotionally attached to her…?

Then, his face stiffened, and he voiced his true intention for speaking to me.

“I would like you to ask you to save Nike-sama.” (Rajie)