CH 108

[Another Viewpoint] Arte’s Homecoming and the Investigator

[Arte]

“Are you sure you don’t mind? Don’t you need to see your parents?”

When Ortho-san asks me that, I laugh in annoyance.

“I’ll only embarrass them if I go back…”

When I told him this, Ortho looked at the carriage going one behind with a complicated look on his face. The top of the carriage was gone, and two battered dolls sat quietly there.

Their armor had been cruelly peeled off, and they were deformed. The dolls themselves had scratches all over.

Looking at them sideways, Ortho let out a sigh.

“Thanks to those two and ballista, that city was saved. If they knew that Miss Arte, the daughter of the lord of that city, had done it, the people would be overjoyed, wouldn’t they? Even the parents…”

“…I don’t know. My mother hated my puppet magic… only Master Van approved of my magic.”

Ortho shushes as he replies with his eyes downcast.

In fact, I didn’t think he would be pleased when I left. Besides, I had accomplished my goal of repelling the enemy forces under the banner of the Countess of Ferdinand.

“…Come on, let’s go home, Master Van is waiting for us. For me, the only place I can return to is Van-sama’s side now.”

When he cheerfully announced this and laughed, Ortho blinked his eyes, but then immediately laughed as if he were about to blow up.

“I see. Well, if it’s okay with Miss Arte, we won’t say anything. Then, let’s report the victory to Mr. Van. Maybe he will celebrate with a barbecue.”

“Hmmm…yes. I’m looking forward to it.”

With that conversation, I headed home.

Strangely, I felt as if my shoulders were lighter. I felt as if all the worries I had always felt about my mother, about my own misery, and about the meaning of my existence, had been lifted.

I still miss my mother a little and want her praise, but now I miss Van more than anything. I want to see him and tell him that I did my best, that I made it.

So, without looking back, I headed straight for Seat Village, where Van was waiting for me.

[Ferdinand]

Mysterious reinforcements left Jiernetta’s army in ruins with overwhelming force.

The banner belonged to the Count of Ferdinand.

Hearing this information, there was a great commotion in the castle of the Ferdinand family.

“Who in the world is that?”

“Isn’t he a noble from a neighboring domain who belongs to the Count’s faction?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. No one can defeat Jiernetta’s large army, which even includes a flying dragon, with just a few men.”

Everywhere, knights, lords, and even maids were talking.

Meanwhile, Arte’s mother and sister, who understood that she had miraculously survived, looked out the window as if in a daze.

After a few moments, Arte’s sister opens her mouth.

“…Who in the world came to save us…?”

Arte’s mother did not reply, but stared outside. The walls of the castle town had been cruelly broken down, and smoke was rising from some parts. It was a far cry from the usual peaceful appearance of the town.

Then, one of the knights who had seen off the departing reinforcements came to report.

“I have a report. Of the knights who went to the defense, about 1,000 were killed. The number of seriously wounded is 1,500. However, thanks to the reinforcements, miraculously, the damage to the territory is expected to be minimal so far.”

“I see.”

Hearing the reply, the knight bowed and was about to leave when Arte’s sister turned around.

“Do you know anything about those reinforcements?”

The knight paused, momentarily reluctant to answer, but then turned to Arte’s mother and opened his mouth.

“…Yes. There are four things we now know. The first is that the reinforcements were flying the flag of the Counts of Ferdinand. The second is that they were a group of mercenaries or adventurers, based on reports that there was no uniformity in armor or equipment. Third, the direction in which the reinforcements appeared and left was in the direction of the Marquis de Fertio’s domain. And…”

In the middle of her report, Arte’s mother also turned her gaze away from the window and looked sideways at the knight.

“…Fourth, it is rumored that the one who was riding and commanding the horse at the front looked like a young girl with white hair. That is all.”

Then, hearing the last report, he shakes his shoulders and turns his head out the window again.

“…No way, no way…”

Muttering something in a small, trembling voice, Arte’s mother stopped speaking. Arte’s sister just stared at her mother’s back, not saying a word.

[Investigator].

In Scuderia, a new business with extraordinary revenues is born. To my surprise, it seems that the new trading company is not based in Royal Capital, but in a small village in the middle of nowhere.

Impossible. There is something behind it. Rumors like this spread immediately among the guild staff.

The Commerce Guild gathers information on various countries and their merchant associations, and members of the Commerce Guild can obtain a detailed list of import/export goods and their prices from various countries. Furthermore, with the cooperation of guild members, it is possible to exchange letters to distant places and to be introduced to business partners in countries and cities that are new to you.

This would be impossible only for large merchant associations with roots in multiple countries. There are countless other benefits to Commerce Guild membership, but most will join to expand their sales channels and learn about products in other countries.

However, joining the Commerce Guild not only requires an annual membership fee based on the size of the chamber of commerce, but also a percentage of sales.

Some chambers of commerce have been reluctant to do so, and have repeatedly misrepresented their sales and size.

The chambers of commerce that violate this discipline pay a penalty and are expelled, but most of them do not follow through. Some even try to kill investigators to keep them quiet.

Therefore, when investigators such as ours are dispatched, they are accompanied by a group of people with sufficient self-defense capabilities.

Since branches of the Commerce Guild are located in the Royal Capital of each country, the itinerary is small, but the large number of people involved in the trip makes it expensive.

This time, the Mary Chamber of Commerce, which has a base in the Royal Capital, was able to cooperate with us and allowed us to accompany a caravan to the same destination, but we still hired ten adventurers with ties to the Commerce Guild.

Considering the remote location, the cost of this survey would be moderate.

“Apollo-sama? You seem to have a grim look on your face…?”

I was interrupted in my thoughts by a voice.

I look up and see two people sitting in front of me. One is Diane Triumph, the owner of this carriage and the third daughter of the Triumph sisters, who at a young age is the president of the Mary Chamber of Commerce; she is a charming girl with red hair and a green-colored dress, but her ability is such that even within the Commerce Guild she is occasionally mentioned.

Sitting next to her is Rosalie, a 30-something year-old woman who manages one of the Mary Commerce Guild’s Royal Capital stores. As far as I can tell, from their conversation, she is an outsider who has nothing to do with Triumph, the family of the first chairman of the board, and is a rare person who started out as an apprentice merchant and worked her way up to store manager.

In short, they are two of the Mary Chamber of Commerce’s most talented merchants.

I looked back at them, both of them raising their eyebrows at the same time, each with different emotions, and opened my mouth.

“No, being an investigator for the Commerce Guild, I have to think about all the things I don’t want to think about… ah, no, I’m sorry.”

Rosalie nods as she tells him this with a wry smile.

“It’s the same for us.”

“I see. No, I don’t. Certainly, your position must be similar to mine, with similar problems.”

When I responded, they both laughed as if they were troubled. They seem to be having a casual conversation, but I can see that their eyes are trying to find out what’s in my gut.

That’s probably true. We are now heading to the Belrango Chamber of Commerce, which was newly established by a former member of the Mary Chamber of Commerce. In some cases, the eyes of the investigators will turn to the Mary Chamber of Commerce as well.

Is the Belrango Chamber of Commerce, which is making a profit that is hard to believe for a newly established chamber of commerce, in cahoots with the Mary Chamber of Commerce? Or is it the Marquise Fertio?

Worst-case scenario, we may have to consider the involvement of the kingdom.

“…Totally, it’s all things I don’t want to think about.”

I muttered and laughed dryly. If we do poorly, we will have enemies all around us. I must be prepared for that.