Chapter 101

As expected, magic was not suddenly fired from the fleet, and for the moment, things felt peaceful.

Before long, the small boat returned.

When Badadam came ashore from the boat, he bent at the waist and presented a letter to Iiria.

The letter, sealed with unpleasantly ostentatious wax and infused with incense as if to flaunt wealth, was opened carelessly by Iiria.

When I peered at it from beside her, it was filled with superficial language that looked exactly like diplomatic writing.

After reading through it, Iiria wrinkled the bridge of her nose and smiled wryly.

“It says they want to speak with Cole-kun and the lord, or a representative granted full authority by the lord, to clear up our mutual misunderstandings regarding the recent disturbance.”

Clear up misunderstandings.

When Iiria raised her gaze, she had the face of a girl who was teasing Kururu.

“What should we do?”

“I will go, of course.”

Cole stepped forward, and Iiria nodded before looking at me.

“I hate this sort of lordly work.”

With her fluffy hair, and even fluffier beast ears and tail, Iiria looked like nothing but an innocent girl when she smiled.

Saying selfish things with a smile was the privilege of nobles and girls.

“I understand. I will go.”

Of course, as part of the plan, if they demanded that the person in charge come out, I was supposed to go from the beginning.

“And if Yorinobu is there in person, Kururu will probably be more motivated too, right?”

However, Iiria probably just wanted to say that.

When I made an unhappy face, Iiria looked even more amused, so I could easily imagine just how much Kururu was being teased.

“Are you really sure? It is definitely a trap.”

The one who could not help cutting in was Badadam, who had handled the first envoy duty.

As a beastman, he had probably experienced deeply what kind of city Roran was, and what sort of values ruled such a place.

As Kururu had said, the people of Roran did not think of people as people.

All the more so when it came to a pet dog that had bitten its master’s hand.

“There should be no problem. That one is a magician, after all.”

When Dodol jerked his chin to indicate Cole, Badadam opened his eyes slightly, but still looked doubtful.

Cole was a person from Roran, and if the other side was calling for Cole, then they should understand that they would be facing a magician at sea.

Could negotiations really be established when both sides stood within lethal range?

That was probably what Badadam wanted to say.

“There is no need to worry. I merely happened not to become these people’s enemy, but right now, I am grateful for that luck.”

Dodol said it with an extremely displeased look, so Badadam was clearly taken aback.

However, I too gave a wry smile.

“If you had not been there, Dodol-san, we could not even have defeated Nodon.”

“That’s right. Why are you acting so distant? Even after we defeated Nodon, you helped us a lot. We have been comrades from the beginning, haven’t we?”

Iiria’s words were fairly deliberate too, but I felt the same way.

That said, I could actually sympathize somewhat with the murky feelings Dodol probably held in his heart.

“Also, it is late to say this now, but I am scared of this operation too.”

“…”

Dodol looked at me, grimaced, and let out an exaggerated sigh.

“I am saying that I cannot keep up with you people.”

Dodol turned his gaze away with a huff and looked at his companion.

“You will understand if you watch. You will see just how absurd these people are.”

“…”

Badadam’s gaze went back and forth between Dodol and me, and then he shrugged.

The ones who boarded the small boat were me, Cole, and Badadam, who apparently usually worked as a fisherman.

Badadam rowed the oars, and the boat headed offshore.

Since it was a small boat, even the sea that looked calm rocked us a fair amount. The open sea had a unique sense of unease, and the unreliability of having no footing, along with the vast sea that distorted one’s sense of distance, even seemed to show the difficulty of the negotiations to come.

When I turned around, the harbor was already far away, and I could no longer make out Iiria and the others’ expressions.

If I raised my gaze slightly, I could see the church spire, but naturally, I could not see the semaphore operators who should be there.

Kururu should also be watching us from somewhere, but apparently Kururu’s eyesight was not as good as a beastman’s, so she probably could not see my tense face.

Probably.

“Before the negotiations, I want to ask one thing.”

When I returned my gaze from the island to the front, Cole spoke.

“Am I… am I really allowed to stay on the island?”

Cole kept his head lowered.

There was no sign of the Cole who puffed out his chest and always spoke from a lofty position. It was hard to believe he was the same person who had pressed silver coins into my hand just because the format of the Nodon Company’s contracts had become neat.

But now, I understood that this was Cole’s true nature.

In a harsh place like Roran, he could not survive unless he pretended to be wicked.

“Of course. Your abilities are exactly what Jirenu needs right now, Cole-san.”

That was not something I said to smooth things over, but the truth.

Being a magician alone was incredible, but he also knew the inside of a great trading company and grasped the overall picture of trade in the province.

Moreover, as one of the sons of the owner of the Bax Company, which occupied the center of Roran, he also had connections with the nobles of the surrounding region.

He should bring Jirenu Territory an enormous amount of soft power that Gerario could never fill.

“However, I think we will need to discuss your treatment…”

If we tried to employ him for a proper salary, how much would it cost?

He would also need an official position in Jirenu Territory.

However, the territory’s organization was still nowhere near complete, and it felt like we were somehow managing things through tacit understanding with acquaintances.

Cole replied bluntly to that.

“I do not care about my treatment.”

Then he inhaled and looked up at me from under his brows.

“As long as you let me stay near her.”

“…”

He was probably frowning because he could not think of any other way to keep his expression under control.

I could tell that Cole, his cheeks red, had mustered a considerable amount of courage.

Because I was weak to this kind of topic too.

Feeling a one-sided sense of kinship with Cole, I spoke.

“Of course. Also, regarding Kururu-san, I will scold her and tell her to stop going too far.”

Here, those cat ears probably could not pick up our words, so I should be allowed to speak a little boldly.

Cole kept looking at me without speaking, then lowered his head.

After that, he bravely faced forward.

“…Thank you.”

Not knowing whether I should say “you’re welcome,” I limited myself to nodding.

Badadam, rowing the oars, seemed exasperated by the fact that we were talking on the assumption that we would win, despite facing an overwhelming fleet.

As we did that, we soon arrived at the midpoint between the fleet and the harbor.

The boat waiting there one step ahead of us carried beastman rowers with iron shackles on their necks and arms, and, to my surprise, the magician we had fought during Iiria’s rescue. Perhaps intending to avenge his defeat, he glared at us without blinking.

And one more person.

It was a noble who somehow resembled Cole, wearing an atmosphere reminiscent of Cole from the Nodon days.