Power Harassment Meeting 2

That day, an executive meeting was being held at Black Dragon’s Fang headquarters in the Imperial Capital.

Those in attendance were Orfred, and from the Eight Stars, Phonic and Carmilla. And—

Raios, Varnir’s right-hand man.

Raios gave a bow.

“My apologies, Varnir-sama is extremely busy with work, so I, his subordinate, am attending in his place.”

The meeting began.

Raios gave the report for the department he belonged to.

He spoke with a fair amount of confidence, but compared to Varnir, his report still had a certain clumsiness and vagueness.

After listening in silence, Orfred asked a single question at the end.

“And what of the Granveil Grass?”

“Yes, that is precisely what Varnir-sama is working on right now! He is currently working on it at great speed, and we expect it to be completed by the scheduled deadline!”

There was a boastful note in Raios’s tone. There were no problems at all, everything was perfect—that was the tone of someone trying to win praise.

But Orfred’s voice was cold to the very end.

“Currently… at great speed… working… on it…?”

Then he continued.

“You expect… it to be done… in time?”

Orfred’s eyes shot a gaze as sharp as needles.

“I do not quite understand what you are saying. It sounds to me like you mean, ‘Things are not going smoothly.’ What exactly do you mean by that?”

“N-no, um… th-that was merely a slip of the tongue on my part. I phrased it poorly! There are no problems at all—and it is proceeding without any trouble!”

“Oh? I see. If that is the case, then why is your master, Varnir, not here?”

“Th-that is—”

“That will do.”

As if speaking any further would be pointless, Orfred cut Raios off.

“Make sure it is ready in time. That is all. Convey only that to Varnir. As I told him before, failure will not be tolerated.”

“Y-yes…! I-I understand, I understand! I-I-I shall most certainly—!”

A brief silence.

Then Orfred’s eyes turned to Phonic.

“Now then, Meteor Swordsman. Shall I hear your report?”

“Certainly.”

Phonic explained the matter under his charge. In the course of it, he reported a situation that concerned him to Orfred.

“In truth, the number of monsters appearing in the Great Forest has increased sharply. Over the last two months, it has more than doubled compared to before.”

Apparently, the amount of miasma hanging over the Great Forest had suddenly increased.

Phonic could not understand why such a thing was happening. Because he considered it a grave situation, he doubted his ears when he heard Orfred’s next words.

“I see. That is wonderful news.”

“…What do you mean?”

“If monsters increase, extermination requests increase. Adventurers get more work. Our clan gets more work. Phonic, this is an opportunity. Speak to the Adventurers’ Guild and have them direct jobs to us preferentially.”

No hunter fails to rejoice when there is more prey.

Certainly, there was some truth to those words. There was more work. But—

Phonic shook his head.

“No, that cannot be done. We are already accepting extermination requests up to our limit.”

The team Phonic managed was desperately responding to the growing number of requests, and they were quite exhausted.

But Orfred was not satisfied with Phonic’s reply.

“That is merely the limit in ordinary times. This is a period of special demand. Now is when you should show the utmost effort.”

“N-no, but…”

In Phonic’s mind flashed the faces of his subordinates, worn down from fatigue. There was no way he could say to them, “I expect even greater efforts from you!”

“They have worked very hard these past two months. Any more strain would be—”

“I do not understand what you mean, Phonic. Strain? I had thought there were no people in Black Dragon’s Fang who would utter such weakness.”

Those words pierced straight through Phonic’s heart.

“Black Dragon’s Fang is the largest and finest clan in the Imperial Capital. Therefore, all its members must be first-rate. We have no need for weaklings who shrink back and panic at the endless stream of work. Are you saying such people exist among your subordinates, Phonic?”

“Th-that is—”

“Increase the number of contracts accepted by 1.5 times. If you are struggling, then the smaller clans are struggling even more. The side that stops first loses. Snatch every job from them thoroughly. If we stamp out their last breath here, it will benefit us going forward.”

Phonic clenched his fist.

He ought to say something back.

The image of his subordinates, working hard because they believed in him, rose in his mind. Even while feeling exhausted, they would smile and answer, “Leave it to us!” if it was Phonic’s order.

But he could not answer back.

Orfred was the god of Black Dragon’s Fang, the largest clan in the Imperial Capital. His decisions were absolute, and defying them was not permitted.

“I… understand… We will do everything in our power… to meet your expectations.”

Phonic spoke in a voice that seemed squeezed out from the depths of his throat.

He had become an adventurer for the sake of freedom, and yet—he was still being tossed about by an organization. Just where was he heading…?

“Yes, that is enough.”

With a satisfied look, Orfred nodded and leaned back in his chair.

“Eh, eh, eh, eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!?”

The moment she saw the medicinal herbs I had gathered, the usual purchasing clerk let out a scream.

“H-h-h-how did this happen!?”

Pointing sharply at the herbs with her finger, the clerk continued.

“F-for Ilvis-san’s—for the Divine Hands, that is, um, this is hard to say! It really is hard to say! But the quality is, um, well—”

“Not very good…?”

As expected, or rather.

When I was gathering the herbs, I had used magic to collect nutrients from the soil, and I had felt that it was not working as well as usual. Apparently, the nutrients in the soil themselves were lacking.

“So the legend of the Divine Hands is over.”

“No, no! It is not like that at all, you are still very much the Divine Hands!”

So it still continues, huh.

“Because although yours are still maintaining a quality around upper-middle rank, the herbs other adventurers bring in are only around lower-middle rank… It seems the quality of medicinal herbs is falling throughout the entire Great Forest.”

“Hoh. Is there some reason for that?”

“Hmm, I wonder. But there is no doubt it is an abnormal situation. The amount of miasma hanging over the Great Forest has increased tremendously!”

A lack of nutrients, and an increase in miasma, huh—

Things were starting to become troublesome.

“Since strange things are happening, please be careful too, Ilvis-san!”

“Yeah, thanks.”

I left the Adventurers’ Guild.

I should be careful in various ways.

While I was steadily gathering medicinal herbs in the Great Forest—

“S-someone! Help me!”

I heard that scream.

I could not just leave it alone. I ran toward the voice.