Read Novel Full Vol 5 Chapter 18
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Chapter 18 – Negotiations and Measures Against Intruders
We enter the port of Aarhus using the Lutto and anchor in the space Ness had secured. A large crowd of onlookers has gathered. Even for a ship of this size, it’s quite conspicuous. It’s scary to imagine what a luxury cruise ship would look like.
While attracting a lot of attention, we met up with Marina-san back at the harbor and headed for the Goffredo Trading Company.
“Marina-san, did you meet the president of Goffredo Trading Company?”
“Yes, I did. I told him that Mage-sama was coming, that he should not pry into his affairs, and that he had a letter from the Marquis of Lucca. He said he would wait at the trading company until Mage-sama arrived.”
“I understand. Thank you very much. Will Dorothea-san be joining us at the trading company?”
“I don’t know how long it will take, so I don’t know if she will join us at the trading company or at the Lutto.”
“I understand. We don’t have much time. Shall we negotiate first?”
“Yes.”
Following Marina-san’s lead, we entered the Goffredo Trading Company. Since the conversation was well understood, we were guided smoothly to the president’s office. I wonder what kind of conversation they had with such a suspicious person.
“Welcome to the Goffredo Trading Company. My name is Isarco, and I am president of the Goffredo Trading Company. Pleased to meet you.”
I wonder what will happen if he finds out that I’m just an F-rank merchant and not a mage… I’ll really try my best not to get caught.
“I’m sorry, but I’m hiding my identity. Call me Mage or whatever you want. Here is the letter from the Marquis and the payment.”
“Understood. I will take a look at it.”
The silence while the president of the trading company reads the letter is awkward. I am not sure if it is all right for me to act in such an arrogant manner.
“I have read it. I was worried about Lucca, but I heard that Mage-sama’s help had freed the port. Thank you very much. So, in the letter, it was requested that they stock up on as much food as possible that would last as long as possible for 20 platinum coins. Dorothea-sama said that she would talk to the lord, so there is no problem there, but the quantity is so large that we have to talk to the merchant guild as well. Can you give us some time?”
“We know we are asking a lot of you. We understand that it will take time to gather food. But considering the situation in Lucca, the sooner, the better. Please hurry as much as you can.”
“Understood. We will act as quickly as possible. Where should we take the food we have gathered?”
“We couldn’t get into the port, but we have a large ship anchored a short distance away. I know it will be a hassle, but please take the food you have gathered there by ship.”
“Very well.”
“Thank you.”
I’m afraid I’m just being a jerk, but I’m at my limit with my pompous attitude and all. I can’t wait to go home. While deciding on the details, we finalize the negotiations.
The Aarhus Trading Company owns a medium-sized ship, and they are going to pack up our cargo and bring it to Stronghold.
After the negotiations, we returned to the Lutto without sightseeing.
“Whew, that’s finally over. Was I right to behave like that?”
“I think Master’s attitude left a good impression. There are some wonderful people, but most of the mages are either magic fanatics or elitist and arrogant and are said to be hard to get along with.”
“I-I see.”
Ness, please tell me if you know. …The result of being as pompous as possible is a good impression? How crazy is a mage? The magic fanatic one is like a mad scientist, and the elite one is the kind of guy who looks down on everything and is like he’s the best? I wouldn’t want to get close to either of them.
“Well, when I went to tell them, they heard that Mage-sama was coming, and they wanted to ask me about many things to watch out for. I guess they feared that it might backfire on them.”
“Then, did they think that a somewhat decent mage was coming? Wouldn’t they have detected that I wasn’t a mage?”
“The letter of the Marquis mentioned that you had liberated the port, so I don’t think there will be any suspicion.”
“Whew, that’s good to know.”
If I tried to be a suspicious mage-like person who wears a hood for some reason, making a surprisingly good impression is so far beyond what I had planned. If I was going to act, I should have gathered at least some information about mages.
“After this, let’s talk to Dorothea-san when she returns and make plans for the future.”
“”””Yes.””””
I’d like to wholesale pepper since it’s such a new city, but that’s a no-go. I’m having a hard time getting the pepper stock down.
“Wataru.”
Rimu jumped at me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Fuu-chan, vibrating, too.”
Fuu-chan is vibrating? …Rimu says vibrating; he means massage chair, right?
“Rimu, do you want to put Fuu-chan on the massage chair, too?”
“Yes.”
It seems that it was a lot of fun, and he started proselytizing Fuu-chan. For now, there seems to be no problem, but I’d like to avoid it because I’m worried about how it looks… Fuu-chan also jumped on it and told me, “..Vibrating…” She seems curious after hearing Rimu’s story.
“Well, Marina-san, it seems that Rimu enjoyed the massage chair ride so much that he taught it to Fuu-chan as well. It’s a bit of an unsettling sight, but since she seems to be in good physical condition, do you mind if she rides in it?”
“There are some words that concern me, but it’s okay when I’m around. If Fuu-chan wants to ride, then please do.”
“I understand. Then, Rimu, Fuu-chan, when we get back to the big ship, okay? But if Marina-san and I say it’s over, you have to stop immediately. Can you promise?”
“Yes.”
“…I can…”
Rimu and Fuu-chan are bouncing happily. It’s cute, but it doesn’t make me feel at ease when I imagine the scene in the massage chair.
“Oh, it’s Dorothea-san.”
“I’m back.”
“Welcome back. Thank you for your hard work.”
She looks kind of tired. Did something troublesome happen?
“Dorothea-san, you look tired. Did something go wrong?”
“No. If Lucca falls, Aarhus will be affected, so I have been given permission to buy food. They are also willing to help us. But the lord was interested in the mage and the huge ship and asked a lot of questions, so I might be tired because of that.”
“Ah, I see. The Stronghold is very conspicuous, isn’t it? I apologize.”
“I’m just grateful for the fact that the ship is used to bring food to Lucca. As for the mage, I said I had a contract with him, so I was able to get things done without any problems.”
“I see. Thank you very much.”
“No, I stopped by the Goffredo Trading Company on my way back and gave them the word from the lord. I heard that they can start early tomorrow morning to transport the goods that have been gathered by then.”
“The sooner, the better, and I would appreciate it. I will make about 30 tickets for the cargo transport and give them to you later. Oh, we have to go back to the ship first and disguise where we are going to load the cargo.”
“Please make the tickets, and I will deliver them later.”
“You can rest, Dorothea; I’ll deliver them.”
“Oh, really? Then I’ll ask Marina to deliver the tickets.”
“Yes.”
“Well, Marina-san, here’s the ticket. I’ll leave the boarding gate open at the left rear of the hull and tell them to load in there.”
“Okay, I’m off then.”
I see Marina-san off, and we chat and relax until she returns.
“I was surprised that the lord would be willing to assist as well. It’s only four days by magic ship from here to Lucca, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve started stockpiling food as a precaution against the empire.”
“I think they are stockpiling. Even if they were to reduce it, they might have thought that it would be better to give aid to Lucca to repel the empire. As long as the Kingdom of Brescia is holding back the empire, the Kingdom of Thessaloniki will be at peace.”
“I see. Dorothea-san, is there any possibility that the Kingdom of Thessaloniki will send reinforcements to the Kingdom of Brescia?”
“I think there is talk of reinforcements, but I don’t know the details.”
“Well, it would be a lot easier if we could get reinforcements and beat back the imperial army.”
“It would be nice for us, but I don’t know if the country would be willing to accept such a request so easily.”
“It would be difficult.”
“Yes.”
I ended the dark conversation, and as we continued our idle talk, Marina-san returned.
“Marina-san, welcome back.”
“I’m back. They will start loading tomorrow morning. The lord told me that he had asked the other merchant associations to help and that they would finish carrying the 20 platinum coins and the relief supplies from the lord in three days starting tomorrow. So, since ships from other trading companies will also be used, he said he needs 30 more tickets. Can you do that?”
“I understand; here you go.”
After receiving the tickets, I saw Marina-san off as she went straight to deliver them. Hmm, I should have issued more tickets from the beginning.
After killing time again and Marina-san’s return, we returned to the Stronghold. Before I forget, I disguise the parking lot as wood and block off all but one entrance and exit. Now that I have this place covered, it will be impenetrable from the inside.
“Everyone, I’ve given them tickets, so it’s possible that someone who gets them will try to cause trouble. Well, they can’t kill or injure you, so your personal safety is assured, but please be careful on board.”
“But it sounds like it would be tricky if they could see the facilities on board. Wouldn’t it be better to disguise everything except for the parking lot?”
“Should I? Can Dorothea-san infiltrate this ship?”
“Marina knows more about this than I do. Marina, if you were to infiltrate as a scout, would you be able to do it?”
“With a ticket, I think it is possible to infiltrate the ship as a scout. With the right tools, I can get up there.”
“Hmm, it would be troublesome to see the equipment on board. So, until we finish delivering food to Lucca, let’s disguise everything but our rooms. The rooms cannot be used with that ticket. After that, I should also disguise all the doors so that no one can enter from the outside. It will be dark because there will be no windows and no electricity, so we will basically have to use the light magic to get around.”
“””””Yes.”””””
It’s tedious, but I will disguise the interior of the ship. I can feel Rimu’s feelings on the massage chair. …I know, it can’t be helped, I had promised him.
I put a copper coin in the massage chair and put Rimu and Fuu-chan on it. Jiggle, jiggle, jiggle, jiggle… the high-speed jiggling began. No matter how many times I see it, it’s still bad for my heart.
“Wa-Wataru-san, is it all right?”
“Yes, the sight makes me uneasy too, but I hear it’s fun for Rimu.”
“I see…”
Marina-san, was it such a shock that you forgot about the Mage-sama setting? She and Dorothea-san watch over Rimu and Fuu-chan anxiously.
Finally, the massage chair time is over, and we immediately pick up Rimu and Fuu-chan.
“Rimu, are you feeling sick? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“I see; that’s good, but if you don’t feel well, you must tell me right away.”
“Yes.”
“Marina-san, what’s Fuu-chan saying?”
“…She enjoyed it very much.”
“…I see.”
Does slime find high-speed vibration fun? There are so many mysteries; let’s disguise it quickly. When I disguise the massage chair as a regular chair, I can feel the sadness coming from Rimu. I tell him that I will cancel the disguise when we return to Lucca and convince him of that.
After we finish the disguise, we have dinner, have lovey-dovey, and go to sleep.
For the next three days, ships loaded with food came and went without pause, bringing in huge quantities of food. Most people were surprised at the size of the ship and the amount of space in the parking lot, but they loaded up well.
Only a few suspicious people managed to sneak on board, and they seemed to have given up on the one guarded door early, trying to sneak in with their tools in the middle of the night, just as Marina-san said.
There are only 60 tickets, and 10 of them are currently trying to infiltrate.
“Dorothea-san, are all the people who are coming to try to infiltrate all from the empire?”
“I can’t say that there aren’t people from the empire, but seeing how easily they are getting tickets, I think they are being sent by the lord of Aarhus.”
“The lord of this city?”
“Yes, a mage on a ship like this must be a concern to them. It is very likely that they were sent to gather as much information as possible.”
Ah, so they want to assist Lucca, but they also want to know information about the dubious mage. I can understand that.
“Should I catch them?”
“No. People in that line of work won’t talk unless they’re tortured, and they probably don’t have any important information themselves. Besides, I have never tortured anyone, and I don’t think it’s worth it to catch them.”
“I see. Then it’s late at night, so let’s take turns watching and resting.”
In a way, that’s a relief. I’m quite scared if they say, “Do you want to catch him and torture him?”
“””””Yes.”””””
The intruders climbed to the top, but with walls they couldn’t break and no way to get inside; half of them left when the sun came up, and the other half were still hiding in the shadows.
I plan to cancel the ticket I issued this time when we leave, but will the people hiding be okay? Come to think of it; I’ve never seen anyone excluded from the ship because of the boarding rejection. Let’s give it a try with those people. It’s close enough to land that they can swim home, right?
The loading of the luggage is over, despite some subtle hassles. Let’s go back to Lucca.
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