Chapter 23: Volume 2 - CH 6

There currently exist two rulers…or rather, two ruling parties. The first one was Zilgus, which had been the newer of the two, giving various influences to Callan ever since the embassy was established two years prior. The other one was a party that existed for far longer, consisting of the mayor as the center, surrounded by a group of talented people. The most crucial and main industry of Callan consists of digging up valuable ores, building tools out of such, followed by skilled smithing. The ones who controlled all of that are the blacksmith guild, and the mayor who acts as the leader of such a guild is the individual holding the most political power.

Although they are dependent on Zilgus, this isn’t anything that could change overnight. After all, if everything was suddenly put under Zilgus’ rule, chaos and discord would be a natural turn of events. Worst case scenario would be the total destruction of Callan. In that event, fighting against the Empire, even admitting to dependency from Zilgus, would have been all for nothing, so Zilgus was carefully giving out minor orders, and slowly gained more power inside of Callan.

“So that means we still can’t meet Mayor Bucks?”

At the reception room of the mayor’s residence, the person who was progressing the rule of Zilgus in Callan, Miranda, now strongly interrogated the vice-mayor, who was the temporary replacement for the bed-ridden mayor. In the face of Miranda’s relentless approach, they started sweating profusely.

Naturally, Kyle and his group’s duty wasn’t simply to hand over documents to the mayor. Rather, they had to get a proper answer from the mayor, and if it was anything negative, they had to at least come back with chances of a compromise, as they were emissaries of Zilgus. However, nothing would start if they didn’t even manage to meet the mayor.

“M-My deepest apologies, but the mayor has yet to recover…” The plump vice-mayor wiped his sweat, trying his hardest to make up excuses.

“This will be two months already. We offered to prepare a doctor, but there’s no way for us to tell.” Miranda would not let up.

Since it was her duty to have Kyle’s group meet the mayor, she could not give in now.

“Even with the passing of His Highness Remonas, and the gathering of the various lords at the royal capital Malad, Mayor Bucks has been absent as well…This is quite the problem. As a result of that, I could not even return to Malad myself.” Miranda spoke with an ironic tone.

However, the vice-mayor continued to apologize, relentlessly lowering his head.

“H-However, his sickness…it is out of our control, so…”

“If it is that severe of a sickness, then maybe it is time for someone else to take the position of the mayor?”

“T-The doctor has stated that recovery is still very much possible, which is why…”

The mayor of Callan is fundamentally chosen via election, but the only people who have the power to vote are those with a certain amount of influence. At the same time, this mostly is hereditary, which is why the mayor often belonged to the same bloodline for generations. However, the next election would most likely be greatly influenced by the opinion of Zilgus. Then, the side of Miranda will attempt to put a supporter, or even someone directly in contact with Zilgus in that position.

“Anyway, if his return will take much longer, then we will be executing business for you, and we already have an idea.”

That idea was probably about resolving things forcefully.

“I will come again in two days. Until then, I pray you give us a positive answer.” Miranda glanced at Kyle, like she was asking for his confirmation.

Kyle nodded. She basically gave them a two-day time limit.

“Y-Yes…We accept…” The vice-mayor seemed terrified, sighing in relief when Miranda finally turned to talk to Aluzard next.

“That being the case, you won’t be able to meet the mayor. I suggest pulling back for today.”

Both Miranda and Kyle were most likely hesitant to have him participate in today’s event, but it was better than leaving him alone and free of reign to do whatever.

“Hmm, indeed. I believe it will be hard to meet the mayor today. How troublesome.”

“No no, your feelings are more than appreciated. If you have anything you need him to know, I will gladly relay that to him.” Miranda evidently said ‘I’ll take care of it, so you leave already’ behind those polite words of hers.

“It is not that much of a message, but…two years ago, we had an unfortunate incident, absolutely unwilling from our end, but the Galgan Empire has been satisfied by this peaceful and amicable relationship. However…circumstances have changed, so I was hoping we could possibly consider ways to deepen our bonds even further.” There, Aluzard flashed a profound smile. “If you were to elect a new mayor, then I will come visit again to offer my blessings. Then, if you would excuse me.” Aluzard bowed, and walked away.

“He definitely knows about the annulment of the engagement.”

“Yeah.” Kyle responded to Shildonia’s comment.

Aluzard’s…or more accurately, the Empire’s goal was to acquire Callan, and Kyle was now certain that they would be ready to do anything for that.

“A daunting diplomacy typical of the Empire. They will surely threaten us quite a few more times from here on out.” Miranda explained upon returning to the embassy.

As the Empire had gained power and national forces through acquiring smaller countries, they were quite prominent in flashing their military prowess to subdue any opposing forces. Coming to Callan with the use of wyverns surely was one part of that. From here on out, they will most likely attempt just about anything to force Callan to distance itself from Zilgus.

“It makes my head hurt,” said Miranda with a sigh.

“Still, they’re acting quick. To think people of the Empire have already come to Callan.” Urza tilted her head as she commented, to which Kyle agreed.

“It’s fair to say that this is too quick. We only learned of this three days ago. Even if information had been leaked since then, it would still take time for it to reach the Empire.”

Even if they used wyverns, it was impossible to think they would be here. In other words, they had to have learned of the annulled marriage beforehand. When Aluzard saw Kyle, he seemed surprised for a moment, but that was simply because he is the son of Aluzard’s old classmate, and because he didn’t expect him to be an emissary for Princess Milena.

“Meaning that inside the royal palace, or maybe even next to the princess, there may be a spy?”

“That’s what it would boil down to. There must be something going on in the shadows. The best idea would be to leak fake information, and witness what kind of move the other party takes,” Kyle commented while being certain that that princess would be doing that for sure.

“Aren’t we the nice-looking bait then?” Lieze said, evidently complaining.

They were told that it could be dangerous, but foisting that didn’t sound much to their preferred way things went.

“Don’t be like that. Whatever the Empire does to us, or what kind of reaction they have…reporting that back is part of our job, I guess. It’s to be expected.” Kyle tried to calm Lieze.

“What I’m curious about is that they’re far too obvious. Their actions couldn’t be more flashy.”

As they keep it all out in the open, it makes it seem like they’re intent on provoking, and drawing attention.

“Well, it seems like something the Empire would do…but it is ominous.” Kyle put one hand on his jaw, and started thinking.

“…Maybe they’re trying to take the offensive? If they’re doing anything in Callan, it’ll reach me.”

Kyle assumed that Miranda was just thinking about it too deeply, and shook his head.

“There’s a chance for that, but it’s easy to believe that Aluzard himself might be the bait, and that there is something else going on that even he doesn’t know of…It sounds plausible of the Galgan Empire at least.”

They act bold but deep down are careful, daring yet cunning…Kyle knew a thing or two about the Galgan Empire, and told Miranda that letting down her guard could prove fatal. At the same time, Miranda looked at Kyle, seeming impressed. In the document addressed to her from Princess Milena, she spoke about these circumstances. And, in order to test the abilities of Kyle and his group, she gave Miranda the duty to support them to the bare minimum, and only run once the worst case scenario sets in.

Miranda assumed this to be sheer madness. Giving an amateur at diplomacy the duty of acting as an emissary, while simultaneously giving them a trial like this. However, once she got a better look at Kyle, she was satisfied. Surely, Princess Milena must have high hopes for him.

Not only is he strong in battle, but he possesses eloquent knowledge and the ability to quickly assess a situation…Indeed, I can see why Milena-sama must be interested in him.

“I understand, I will warn everyone, and make sure to keep a close eye on this.” Miranda said.

“By the way, this sickness that is plaguing the mayor, is it really just a normal sickness?” Kyle had always been curious about that.

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“Yes, I had judged it as dubious, but he never set foot outside ever since he became sick, nor did he even contact any outsiders. Of course he may be faking it…but that would not explain anything.”

It might be a faked sickness as a means of protest, but there hadn’t been any casualties as a cause of that.

“Mayor Bucks had been an openly-admitted supporter of Zilgus. However, this might just be a pretense, and he could hope to be replaced through this as a reason. It would be a good opportunity.” Miranda smiled.

She sure smiles a lot…though it’s mostly because of malicious intent.

Kyle remembered that in his previous life, Miranda was often referred to as the ‘Women of Ice’, as she rarely ever showed any emotions, and was quite surprised at that.

Around the same time, Seran was taking a stroll through Callan’s streets.

“No good ones, pretty unexpected.” He crossed his arms behind his back, muttering as he took one step after another.

His goal for now was to look for a passable sword to use, so he went around checking various stores and blacksmiths. Lots of the swords he spotted were of high quality, made out of raw material rivaling the best of the continent. However, that was only good quality for the eye, and the best swords of the stores couldn’t rival what he has right now.

“Even if Kyle can give me the money to buy it, there’s still a low chance I might find anything good.”

Then again, he had only got some rough looks, but he judged it’d be best to not get his hopes up.

“And, it’s the same with the women.”

Even as he looked around, there weren’t nearly as many people walking the streets despite this being a city, and he barely spotted any young women. It didn’t feel like a city at all, and more like a small village.

“Seems to be something going on there.”

He entered a back alley from the large main street, and the people he met lessened even more in number. He looked around, wondering if there was any other store he hadn’t seen before, when he heard an odd voice.

“…No…let go…”

It sounded like a faint woman’s voice. Looking over at the direction from where he could hear it coming, it was in the deepest part of a small alley deep in the back alley. Before he thought, he immediately started running. There, he spotted a small individual, surrounded by a group of men. They apparently grabbed the person’s arm, trying to drag them away.

“Ouch…S-Stop it!” The voice protested even further.

The moment Seran heard that, he jumped to action.

“Oraaaa!” Together with a roar, he fired off a kick, slamming his foot right into the man who was grabbing the arm.

“Guha!?” The man let out a groan, and was blown off with a loud bang.

“You’re okay now.”

Seran stuck a beautiful landing, flashing a handsome smile, and turned towards the individual he had just saved.

“…Alright! Big hit! Though actually…Mmmm…Damn it! Maybe two, three more years.” Seran grumbled, seemingly disappointed.

The person he had saved turned out to be a handsome young girl with charming facial features, now showing a somewhat confused expression. She seemed to be around twelve years old, so Seran reluctantly decided to maybe wait a bit longer.

“Though, I am excited, alright. If I wait another three years, I maybe should start earning some points now…” He convinced himself, and called out to the girl. “Now then, my lady, are you hurt? Now that I’m here, they won’t dare to lay a finger on you.”

“T-Thank you very much…But, well…I am a boy.” The girl—or rather, the boy explained with an apologetic expression.

“What…did you say?” Seran seemed shocked, closely inspecting the boy’s face.

Through that, he saw his ambiguous facial features, and his clothes resembled that of a boy. So far, he simply didn’t look at it. Since he wasn’t at an age where his voice had changed, that explained the awfully feminine voice.

“Um…are you really a guy?”

“Y-Yes…Though, people often mistake me as a girl…” The boy seemed awfully bothered by this.

“T-To think I of all people would make such a mistake…” Seran collapsed to the ground, both his hands on the earth.

There, the other man around the two seemed to have regained their composure.

“W-Who are you!? What was that for!?”

“Who do you think we are!?”

“You’re not from here, right? Don’t meddle with other people’s affairs!”

The man showed clear hostility as they approached Seran. He himself was a bit depressed still, but eventually looked at the men in disdain. Just like their first impression suggested, they turned out to be nasty punks, but they were well-trained at least. Their phrase ‘Who do you think we are’ suggested that they had some kind of influence here.

Now, what to do about this…

Leaving aside any normal circumstances, Seran was now here with a certain position. Turn and twist it all you want, Seran is still an emissary of Zilgus. So, he was at least attempting to not cause a ruckus, and not trouble Kyle in the process. He couldn’t help much with diplomacy or negotiations, but he also couldn’t pull them down either. Naturally, he didn’t know what kind of position these men had inside Callan, and depending on his actions, it could cause a lot of trouble, bothering Kyle. It felt like he already stepped in too far, but Seran started thinking. Naturally, if this was an actual girl he was saving, he wouldn’t bother thinking about Kyle’s circumstances at all.

“…Hmm, you’re right. I’m not related to this, and I got in your way.” With these words, he turned around, attempting to walk away.

Seeing that sudden attitude from Seran, the men were confused once again. They didn’t expect him to step down this quickly.

“Eh!? Y-You’re not going to help me!?” The young boy pleaded.

“It’s not that far from the main street, so if you scream with all your might, help should come soon, and the rest depends on you. If you were a girl, I’d help you unconditionally, but things are different now that you turned out to be a guy! You have to overcome this dangerous situation with your own strength!”

Just as Kyle and Lieze often pointed out, Seran was quite strict towards other men. Especially if they were more handsome than himself. With a brief ‘Best of luck’ to the boy, he walked away, only to stop once again.

“Wait a second…Let me ask one thing. You got a big sister? She look like you?” Seran asked with a serious expression he would rarely show.

“Eh? Y-Yes, he’s five years older than me…and I’ve been told we do look a lot like each other.”

The moment Seran heard that, he struck a victorious pose. At the same time, all his consideration for Kyle and his plans was blown away instantaneously.

“Alright! Shoulda told me sooner about that! You bastards! What do you plan on doing with this innocent child!? I shall correct you for the sake of justice!” He pointed at the men, screaming with a dignified expression. “Rest assured, I’ll definitely get you back to your sister!”

“O-Okay…thank you very much.” The young boy smiled with a hint of confusion in his expression.

At the same time, the men were getting fired up, feeling agitated because of Seran’s provocation.

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