I Was Connected to Earth’s Black Market From Another World With The Skill [Market]! (WN)

Here’s the chapter. Enjoy~

Chapter 233 – Loringen’s Scheme

“Well, there you go.”

Myrril-san broke the somber mood.

“Loringen-dono, I think it’s time for you to come to the main topic.”

“The main topic?”

“I have received your gratitude. I’ve also received connections. That’s fine. It’s a happy ending. But isn’t it necessary on this occasion? At least, not except for you, right?”

With a seemingly empty look, the eyes of Lord McKin and the one-eyed elf swam slightly.

…Hmm.

Personally, I wouldn’t be too suspicious of that old elf. Maybe I’m just being naive.

“Oh… Your Majesty the Demon Queen? I’m afraid you must think that I’m the kind of low-life who would bring a business meeting with the same atmosphere as before.”

“I wouldn’t call you a lowlife. It is a schemer. There is no malice, lies, or fiction in your words, and you are sincere and reasonable. After all, isn’t it a good idea to create an atmosphere of intimacy in a negotiation? Besides, you have gained our trust through blood ties. What is there to be ashamed of?”

“…You are very complimentary, but your words have a bit of a sting to them, don’t they, Mir-san?”

It is true that the war with the Kingdom has been over for several months, and it seems that they are aware of me and Myrril, so there is no need for them to contact us now. Besides, it doesn’t have to be at this time or place. To be honest, I don’t really care how much of this is a ruse. If I don’t like it, I can just walk away. I have nothing to lose, and neither does Myrril.

“Takifu. I don’t blame you for being so carefree. This man does not seem so bad as long as we keep our dealings private. However, when I come into contact with a good fighter, I feel a tingling sensation in my neck. He is no ordinary man, and if we are not careful, we will be eaten. That’s what I feel with Loringen-dono. I don’t sense malice or harm, but I do smell artifice and… a terrible intelligence.”

The guildmaster of the area’s merchant guild grumbled with a somewhat amused look on his face.

“That is, I’m sorry. I used to be a chief strategist at Casemaian. Due to the fact that I lost so miserably, I can’t get rid of the habit of reading two or three moves ahead. No offense… but I tried to anticipate as little as possible, and this is what I got.”

“Well, yeah. That old man is so roundabout it kills me. Even his relatives are angry with him.”

Lord McKin completely denies any consideration. As expected from the scheming elf, he chuckles at his nephew’s straightforward comment and lets out a dry laugh with distant eyes.

“You contacted me as the leader of the merchant guild in the area, and you have no other intentions?”

“Of course there is. With the Demon King, the talk of the entire continent, descending upon the Southern Territories, what merchant wouldn’t want to get close to him? The reason it took me so long to get here is because I couldn’t confirm the safety of my contact with the Demon King, no matter how I asked.”

What a terrible thing to say. What does that mean? I know what it means. When I hear something like that, it makes me sound like I’m…

“You sound like a real demon king.”

“That’s right. It’s not surprising. There are only a few groups that have come in contact with me that haven’t been destroyed…”

“That many?”

The old scheming elf looked dismayed. I thought the fact that he’s here now meant that he has provided some security.

“I told you, old man, but you didn’t listen.”

Lord McKin shook his head in annoyance.

“I have heard that you have brought great results to the Southern Territories. I can’t even think of a way to repay you…”

“The first part of the story is completely missing. The 30,000 noble lord troops in the northern part of the kingdom, including the royal capital, were annihilated, and the imperial army riding on the back of the kingdom’s army was also annihilated, along with its most elite humanoid magic weapons and accompanying mage units. The Imperial Army soldiers who had escaped the Emperor’s purge were also destroyed, along with a fleet of advanced gunboats. The fools in the Northern and Eastern Territories who took advantage of their unrest were also destroyed, along with the Republic’s most powerful naval forces. The Southern Territories suffered virtually no damage, or rather, they benefited by killing all the rebellious criminals… To be honest, I’m one of those “few” now. I would have joined the pile of corpses of those idiots had it not been for Erkel’s warning.”

“Oh, and by the way, I’m in?”

“Of course you are. Besides, old man, you would have been hanged by the Imperial Army in the Central Territory without the help of the Demon King.”

Do not look at each other. Don’t blurt out, “As expected from the Demon King.” What’s this? I’m not at all happy to be praised by a middle-aged man and an old man.

“Um, that’s right, isn’t it?”

I wave my hand to appease the lord and the old one-eyed elf.

“Just so there is no misunderstanding, I simply turned back an enemy who came to kill me and my friends. I did not go around killing them, nor did I attack them from here.”

“Umu. And the damage to the Republic was minimal because we were on vacation.”

Wait a minute! Mir-san, stop throwing fuel on a fire that’s being put out.

“Oh, yes. But how is it possible to destroy half the armed forces of two countries with just one hand while on vacation?”

“I don’t care about that. It’s good that we met here. If you want to talk business, I can at least listen to what you have to say…”

“Eh.”

“…That is what His Majesty the Demon King says…”

I didn’t say that. I didn’t think it would come to this. I’ve already given Sarz all the materials.

Myrril-san quickly spread out a large piece of paper on the table. What is this?

“Hey, Your Majesty, this is…”

“A topographic map of the Republic. It’s a very accurate map of the Republic, isn’t it?”

“It’s classified as a military secret, so you can’t tell anyone.”

Wait! What is this stupid girl doing? This is not a simple hand-drawn map like Ivan-san’s group had. There are contour lines and map symbols on the detailed terrain, and the place names are in Japanese. This is definitely the one Rinko gathered information from the airship and finished⁉︎ How competent is she, that terrorist saint!

And she put skulls, treasures, and symbols in the places we went. I mean, don’t put a heart symbol in the central square of Sarz. I’ll kick your ass.

“Rinko and the dwarves were very excited when they heard that we were planning a regular commercial flight. It seems they are working on a route and testing it.”

“Hey!”

You can’t say that here! I indicated with my eyes and body language that we should not talk about it any further. I guess that’s okay because she nodded her head. Normally, she would have figured it out.

I have a bad feeling about this. I ask in a whisper in Myrril-san’s ear.

“Wait, wait, wait. Have you already done the test operation?”

“Umu. At first, I wanted to ask the winged tribe to contact us regularly. The burden of the air patrol over the Casemaian alone is too much, so we use the new airship to travel here. It’s smaller, can fly higher, and has a crew of only about three, but it’s less conspicuous and faster, which made Rinko’s nose turn up.”

So the Casemaians also fly to and from the Republic? Of course, they do. Where did they get that map?

The fact that it is small and inconspicuous is a small relief. When we came to the Republic, we were taken on a huge airship that was 50 meters long, so if something like that flew frequently, even if it wasn’t Moff, we would have been noticed sooner or later.

“Your Majesty, the Demon King and Queen. By commercial routes, do you mean by ship?”

Lord McKin’s finger draws a sea route from Lafan to the southern nobles’ territory of the kingdom. While the fat lord looks excited, Mir’s finger goes straight west from Sarz.

“Umu. But it’s a flying ship. It won’t go through Lafan.”

The two dissimilar relatives, a middle-aged man, and an old man, slump their shoulders in disappointment.

“We have to do something about it.”

“As expected, the distribution of goods within the territory is at your discretion. We will send supplies to Sarz, but it won’t be profitable for us to take care of everything after that, will it?”

“Then we will set up a regular shipping route between Sarz and Lafan separately…”

“That won’t solve the problem. It’s more of an additional burden.”

I thought it would be a good idea to remain silent in this situation, so I chimed in.

“First of all, it is not a good idea to bring in technology and personnel from other countries to build a mass transit system in the country. Aside from the trust issue, that’s military supply itself, isn’t it?”

“I know. I know, and I said so. Is that wrong?”

Lord McKin looked up at me. Who would benefit from a fat, middle-aged man posing as a favor? Of course not. Even if the southern region does well, the central region will get angry. I was involved in the suppression of the last civil war, including the logistics. If they continue to do that, even in peacetime, they will be finished as a country.

“Then I have a good plan.

The left eye of the one-eyed old elf glowed. This is definitely not a good move. I smell a plot, or rather, nothing but a plot.

“The Adventurers’ Guild will send an escort, and together with the Merchants’ Guild, we’ll form a regular merchant patrol. We will take the lead in setting up the routes, but we will also make sure that the center gets a share of the profits.”

Ara? Not surprisingly, it is normal.

“We happen to have a large number of Imperial horses. They are neither suitable for farming nor for cavalry and are best suited for transporting goods. The Imperial carriages, however, are already problematic and need to be repainted.”

Yeah, something’s starting to look a little fishy.

“Our exclusive guards will be responsible for guarding the merchants in the area.”

At Lord McKin’s words, the members of the “exclusive guards” or “Battlecry” who had been sitting quietly in the corner of the room became exhausted. They seemed to have killed any sign of them to avoid being caught in the middle, but they were there.

Next to the muscle-brain girl Louis, the snow-white wolf Moff-san, who had appeared before I knew it, was in a good mood and wagging his tail.

But that’s okay.

“I see… Loringen-dono, that’s the merchant corps following you, isn’t it?”

“This is outrageous. Of course, the focus is on our merchant guild, whose purpose is to secure the domestic distribution network. The first step is to gather customers mainly with goods from the Demon Lord’s territory of Casemaian, connecting the major cities in the country with carriages and horse-drawn sleighs that are clearly marked. We will also collect information and maintain security within the country, but that is a secondary role.”

No, no, no, Loringen-san, your eyes are clearly lying. I can see where he’s going to land. This is the kind of thing where just my name and trademark on the car will go around as a deterrent to civil unrest, isn’t it? The demon king will take away the children who do bad things. Am I a bald man? Please don’t do this, because I won’t be able to visit the Republic.

“We’ll call it the ‘Demon King’s Patrol.'”

“Absolutely not!”