2

Once they passed through the checkpoint, a lively cityscape spread out before them.

In addition to merchants, well-built men could be seen here and there. The port city was not only a center of trade, but also had a thriving fishing industry. The well-built men were fishermen here.

Within the Santia Kingdom’s territory, the only city facing the sea was the port city of Elias. Because of that, demand for edible seafood within the country was high, and almost all of that supply was handled by Elias.

“It’s a lively city. …Well, it can’t compare to Kirk’s common district, though.”

“There are many hot-blooded fishermen, merchants, and tourists here, after all. It has a different sort of bustle from Kirk, does it not?”

“Yes, it makes me shrink back a little.”

Deep, rough voices like angry shouts filled the surroundings.

Darius, who was not used to such rough ways of speaking, walked beside Rubelmel while making himself a little smaller. Almost all of the fishermen had larger builds than Darius, and even young men around Darius’s age had a different way their muscles were developed.

In the midst of that, Rubelmel blended into the city as though none of it concerned her.

“Lord Darius, this way.”

Rubelmel took Darius’s hand and wove through the crowd.

“Hey, Rubelmel, don’t pull me. Where are we going?”

Darius continued to be pulled along without understanding why, and once they had passed through the crowd, Rubelmel stopped.

“Lord Darius, please look ahead.”

“What exactly is supposed to be there…?”

With a tired expression, Darius turned his gaze forward as Rubelmel told him.

What spread out fully before Darius’s raised eyes was the indigo sea that seemed to continue endlessly.

“Oh…”

The pale blue of the sky and the deep blue of the sea filled his entire field of vision. Darius was overwhelmed by the sight he was seeing for the first time.

“Hehe, I feel as if I have seen a pure, childlike side of you, Lord Darius.”

Even the smell of the tide that he had found so unpleasant felt different after he saw the sight before him.

On the beach, many tourists had removed their footwear and were walking barefoot along the water’s edge.

“That actually feels quite nice, you know? The cold seawater, and the sensation of sinking into the sand. I have become rather addicted to it myself.”

Beside Darius, Rubelmel told him, “Let us go later,” but Darius, who felt considerable resistance to stepping barefoot into mud, pretended not to hear her. Since Darius was a former noble who had been raised sheltered, he had resistance to getting dirty.

“…I see. Judging by the number of those ships, I can tell that goods are being brought in and sent out quite actively. If we are going to paralyze that, ordinary collaborators will not be enough to make it work.”

“Then shall we go meet those collaborators? The meeting place is right nearby.”

Leaving the sea behind, the two decided to head to Elias’s collaborator.

“Hello, I am Rubelmel.”

There were many warehouses storing goods lined up in front of the rows of ships. Darius and the others were inside one of them.

“So you’re Rubelmel? You’re much more… than I expected.”

“Cute?”

Rubelmel answered without even leaving a pause.

Darius thought that was probably not what the man had wanted to say, but he simply kept his mouth shut.

“No, well, yeah, I suppose. You just don’t look suited to rough work.”

“Yes, I am told that often. However, that sort of appearance is better suited to schemes, is it not? For evil deeds, a face that looks as if it would not even kill an insect is more suitable than showing a villainous face and making everyone wary.”

“That’s true. You’d be a lot easier to move around than someone with a villainous face like mine. …Sorry about that.”

The man, who was taller than Rubelmel, lowered his head.

The man had been about to continue with words that looked down on Rubelmel. Rubelmel had used a joke and sarcasm to tell the man not to underestimate her.

“No, no. I am happy to be complimented as cute, after all.”

“…No, he didn’t actually call you cute.”

When Darius muttered that quietly, Rubelmel tilted her head and went, “Hm?”

“And who’s the boy next to you? I heard you were coming alone.”

“This person became one of our comrades on the way here. He is Lord Darius.”

“I am Darius.”

Darius puffed out his chest and looked the man in the eyes.

“Darius… Do you not have a family name?”

“No, I am simply Darius. Why did you think that?”

“Well, the way you don’t flinch and the way you carry yourself looked pretty dignified, so I thought you must be some noble’s kid. Though if you think about it normally, there’s no way some noble brat would be in a dark place like this.”

The man with a scar on his face scratched his head.

This man was unexpectedly sharp, Darius muttered inwardly. Rubelmel quietly whispered to Darius, “That sort of thing is not something you can hide right away.”

“Ah, sorry, I’m late introducing myself. I’m Dinarts. The guys behind me are something like my subordinates. No point talking on our feet, so let’s sit there and talk over some wine.”

Guided by Dinarts, Rubelmel and Darius walked behind him.

Dinarts’s subordinates surrounded Darius and the others as though watching their movements.

“Sorry about that. These guys all have nasty villain faces like mine. I apologize if they’ve offended you.”

“No, no. I am used to these sorts of looks.”

Darius and Rubelmel were guided to a table for four and sat side by side. Dinarts sat across from them.

When Dinarts gave instructions to his subordinate, three glasses and one bottle were placed on the table.

“Darius, will you drink too?”

“I’ll have some.”

Darius accepted a glass.

Darius answered Rubelmel, who looked a little worried, with only his eyes.

“What, so you’re an adult? If you couldn’t drink, I was thinking of getting something like lemonade.”

After Dinarts poured wine for him, Darius swirled it and let the wine touch the air.

“I am not an adult yet, but I have trained my palate.”

Then Darius took a sip and checked the taste.

Even so, Darius had originally been a member of the Sobi House, one of the oldest noble families in the kingdom. All the wines he had tasted had been first-rate.

At the off-flavors and the taste of poor grapes rolling over his tongue, Darius wrinkled his brow and forced it down his throat. Without a doubt, this was the poorest thing Darius had ever put in his mouth.

However, to Dinarts, who did not know Darius’s background, it only looked as if Darius was simply putting on a brave front and drinking alcohol.

“Gahaha! My bad. I guess I’ll have them bring lemonade after all.”

“Yes, please.”

Seeing Darius set down his glass after only one sip, Dinarts laughed and gave instructions to his subordinate.

Darius had merely stopped drinking because he thought his tongue would rot if he kept drinking such awful wine.

“When one is too blessed, it seems life becomes difficult in the opposite way.”

“What do you mean?”

“No, nothing.”

Rubelmel, who had tossed those words toward Darius as he continued wearing a bitter expression, dodged Dinarts’s question with a glass in one hand.

Although she could not call it fine wine, Rubelmel did not think it was bad either, so she tilted her glass.

After seeing Rubelmel drink, Dinarts also poured wine into his own glass.

He grabbed the glass in his fist and drained its contents in one go.

“Now that we’ve got some alcohol in us, let’s get straight to the main topic.”

In the dim warehouse lit by the bare minimum number of mana lamps, Darius, Rubelmel, and Elias’s collaborator, Dinarts, sat facing one another.