The number of people I captured in the recent raid was five attackers who attacked me directly and ten who came to help those who were buried in the sand and were buried themselves.
Since all of them were sailors belonging to the Raretto company, I turned them into the guards, and as a result, there was no longer any excuse for the commerce that they have tried to kill me.
When the security forces conducted an investigation of the Raretto Trading Company, they conveniently discovered that the company had been harassing the fishermen in order to expand their own interests, and that they had committed a number of egregious acts of harassment and business malfeasance.
Perhaps the Raretto company will be downsized, if not demolished, with several of its executives, including the chairman of the firm, facing charges.
In short, the Raretto Trading Company was cut off from the Tritoline family because the attack on me was discovered in a way that they have no excuse for it.
Otherwise, the other crimes would not have been conveniently discovered all together like that.
Alternatively, it is even possible that in relation to some matters, the Tritoline may have placed the blame on the Raretto firm.
Well, it was such a big scandal for the Tritoline family, whose mainstay is commerce, that their attempt of trying to kill a traveler with the whole company, was discovered after a ragged defeat.
Of course, that doesnāt mean that the problems facing the city of Saurote have been resolved.
Certainly, the Tritoline family suffered some damage as one of the companies under its umbrella shrunk, but the Pastelli family didnāt take advantage of this opportunity to crush their opponents.
Even if the Raretto Company or fishermen like Driese and the others didnāt understand, the Tritoline family and the Pastelli family should understand that each otherās existence is indispensable to the town.
The two families let the sailors and fishermen under their control fight moderately to vent and play tug-of-war for their interests, leading to the development of the town.
So this case, in essence, ends up being a lone defeat for the recklessly stubborn Raretto Firm.
Although it was a sudden development which was more than a trifle, in the end, nothing changed.
It was as if everything had been planned.
In other words, was I perhaps used for someone elseās convenience?
There is no end to my doubts, and the deeper I think about it, the scarier it gets, so I put a lid on my thoughts.
I continued to eat and drink at Grandās place and ended up staying in the town of Saurote for almost a month, enjoying the seafood to the fullest.
And today is my last night in town.
āYes, dried and salted ten-leg. Acer-san, you love this, donāt you. But recently, the number of people asking for this and the other eight-legs has increased dramatically. Thanks to that, Iāve been very busy.ā
Laughing, Karena, the waitress, brought roasted dried squid to my table.
Well, itās not only because of the storeās prosperity that she wasĀ busy.
āIf youāre that busy, tell Grand and ask for more manpower or an increase in salary. Iām sure that Grand will add more variety to both the eight and the ten legs dishes, so the number of your customers will continue to increase.ā
Laughing at Karena, whose lips become sharp at my words, I take a sip of the dry cider.
There were some incidents, but this was a good town.
It is precisely because theyāre trying to develop that theyāll have clashes over their direction, and problems arise.
It looks like the town of Saurote was a lively place, including that.
I thoroughly enjoyed my relationship with people and seafood in the past month.
Itās about time.
āWell, Karena seems to be busy with various things, but Iām already planning to leave, so I think youāll have a little less work to do.ā
At my words, Karena opens her eyes for a moment and looks at me.
Yes, the identity of that someone who has been watching me all this time, is Karena.
However, that doesnāt mean anything.
Even when the Rarreto Trading Company was forced to scale back its operations and I was no longer a priority, that watchful eye didnāt leave me.
In other words, it was probably the Tritoline family or the Pasteli family or both, not the Raretto Trading Company that had Karena watch on me.
In short, she is a kind of counterintelligence that has her roots in the town.
I donāt know if Grand knows about it or if he himself is involved in it, but it isnāt clear.
At the very least, I think she was the one who set up the Rarreto Trading Company.
I had no proof, but Karena was just as I thought on the first day, a surprisingly robust woman.
āCertainly, Acer eats well, so my workload may be reduced a little. But itāll be certainly lonesome. For Dreise, Grand ā¦ā¦ and of course me too.ā
I smiled at Karena when she said such a thing.
Without a doubt, the person who looked at me the most in this town was none other than her.
Putting the circumstances aside, feelings spring up.
Would it be presumptuous of me to call this a secret, unspoken relationship?
āYeah, thanks. But perhaps Iāll be coming back again sometime. I also want to eat fish, shellfish, eight-legged and ten-legged again.ā
Karena nodded in response to my words.
Yes, I am not saying that this would be goodbye for life.
Even if Iām completely satisfied with seafood now, I may still want to eat it again in another six months or a year.
So until that time, I hope that this town will remain as it is now, that it will not change too much while it develops, and that it will wait for me.
Now then, where shall I go next?
I want to do a little blacksmithing soon, and I want to go learn magic as well.
Iām also worried about the future of the Ludria Kingdom and whether or not a half-elf will be born, so I need to settle down somewhere and contact the elf Airena.
Yes, letās do that for now.
āTomorrow morning, Iāll be travelling to the northeast. Iām aiming for one of the small nations in the east, Odine, which is said to be the country of magic.ā
I dared to tell Karena, the counterintelligence officer, where I was going.
Thereās no lie in these words.
By daring to tell her where Iām going, Iām sending a message to her employer, to whom Karena will be reporting, that I have no hostile intentions.
If itās her, she would understand the meaning of these words correctly.
āYes, Iām looking forward to seeing you again. Acer-san, at that time, let me show you around the town properly.ā
When I raise my right hand at Karenaās words, she makes a light snap and exchanges a high-five with me.