I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (LN) - Volume 4 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Underbelly

A day had passed since the main event, but the Festival of the Moons was just beginning. 

With all the ritual prayers now offered to the gods, the people were now free to enjoy themselves. The city was bustling with events, including a beauty pageant open to both men and women—not that Fran was interested. 

We labored with our cooking late into the night and went straight to the Adventurers’ Guild in the morning. There was someone we were looking for.

“Morning, Fran. I got you your salesgirl hopefuls like I promised.”

Colbert was going to introduce us to people who could help run our stall. The three applicants, all girls, stood behind him.

“Hello.”

“’Sup.”

“Hey.”

None of them condescended to Fran, despite her tender age. After all, she was going to be their employer, so they were professional enough to bow their heads. The girls seemed familiar somehow.

“These are the Crimson Maidens, a D-Rank party.”

“We meet again.”

It was the adventuring party we rescued from bandits on our way home from the Crystal Cage. The Crimson Maidens turned out to be a D-Rank party. Adventurer ranking system was split into solo and party, and Fran fell under the solo category. Her rank indicated her strength as an individual. Party rank, on the other hand, reflected the combined strength of the party’s members. Combined, these three had the capabilities of a D-Rank adventurer. They had well-balanced frontline and backline setups, and a good reputation for clearing missions.

What surprised me most were all their commerce-related skills. You didn’t see much of that among adventurers.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Judith, the leader,” a woman with long blue hair said, shaking Fran’s hand. “My father was a street peddler, and he used to drag me everywhere with him when I was a kid. That’s where I learned Cooking and Trade.”

Her earliest memories were of watching her father hawk his wares. She must’ve picked up Cooking at some point in their travels. Judith was as pretty as she was polite. Having her run the register would be enough to bring in the customers.

“I’m Maya. I do chores for the party.” A girl with short red hair bowed her head. Her relaxed pace was at odds with her roguish appearance. She explained that she managed the party’s cooking, equipment, and food while they were in a dungeon. Skill-wise, she was a jack-of-all-trades and master of none, but she had Negotiate, Calculate, and Cooking, which was perfect for us. She was beautiful, too. She would do great as a salesgirl.

“Lydia,” said the last girl.

She looked quite like Fran. Black hair, pale skin, blank expression. Her hair flowed all the way to her waist, but she was similar to Fran in all other aspects. Although it went without saying that Fran was much cuter.

“…”

“…”

Lydia and Fran stared at each other. Neither of their faces moved, and an odd air flowed around them.

“…”

Fran tilted her head to the side.

Lydia dropped to all fours and hung her head. “I lost…!” 

“Lydia, what are you doing?”

Judith was surprised at her friend’s sudden collapse.

“She has me beat. She’s not making up her expression, she really is that cool!”

“I see…”

“And if the rumors of the Swordceress are true, then she’s already a better swordsman than me and has mastered Flame Magic. She’s so young…”

She knew a lot about Fran. Then again, maybe this was a side effect of fame. I didn’t know whether it was good or bad…

“I’m infinitely inferior to her. The only thing differentiating us is the length of our hair.”

“Come on now, you’re much taller than she is.”

“The Swordceress is still growing. It won’t take long for her to surpass my height.”

“O-okay, maybe that’s true. But you have the God of Wisdom’s Blessing, don’t you? It’s the name of a Skill that she has,” Judith explained as she consoled her comrade. 

The Skill allowed Lydia to increase Magic and Knowledge-type skills faster. A useful skill for any adventurer. Lydia also possessed a skill called Magic Circle, which allowed her to create amulets. Very interesting.

“She has Calculate because it’s a prerequisite for Magic Circle. She doesn’t have Cooking, but she does have Compounding.”

“I-I’ll work really hard, I promise!”

“Me too.”

We’d caught a glimpse of their work ethic during the caravan incident. Colbert was willing to vouch for them, too. They were competent, and I couldn’t have asked for better candidates.

We hired them and got right down to negotiating rates. Unfortunately, we were ignorant of the going rates, but Colbert clarified for us. His B-Rank wasn’t just for show.

Between us, we decided that meals would be included for the duration of their employment, along with a payment of 10,000G each. At 30,000G, I wondered if the price was too low, but there wasn’t much danger involved in being a salesgirl. On the contrary, 30,000G was plenty.

We were used to hunting monsters above our Adventurer Rank, after all. Our financial values were slightly dulled because of it. The girls’ main motivation was to get three days’ worth of free food. It would seem that Colbert had informed them about the great dishes Fran’s master was capable of. I was thankful, just as long as they did their jobs.

“For Colbert to give you such a rave review—we must try it.”

“It’s gonna be good. I know it.”

“Can’t wait.”

“Ugh. I’m so jealous…” Colbert’s eyes turned green with envy. “Say…you wouldn’t happen to have any other slots open, would you?” the gourmet pugilist asked. 

I wasn’t sure. I didn’t have anything in particular that we needed help with…

“I’m the one offering help, so think of it as volunteer work. No pay required. Just let me eat some of your master’s cooking.”

He was so driven by his appetite that he reminded me of my two travelling companions. We’d never had a B-Rank in our midst before, so I supposed we could let him handle whatever chores came up.

“If you don’t mind working on chores, sure.”

“R-really? Yes!”

“We look forward to working for you.”

“See you tomorrow!”

Now we had a team of four helpers for our food stall.

We went back to preparing for the contest as soon as we returned from the guild. We were at the final stages, now. The outside of the curry bread was prepared, as well as the filling, so all we needed to do was wrap and fry them. It would be our most difficult step.

Fran couldn’t concentrate on anything that took too long, so I was alone on this one. The bread bubbled and crackled as it fried to a golden brown.

Wow, it’s already dark out. I didn’t even notice.

I had been concentrating since mid-morning. The sun was already setting.

That took longer than I expected.

Fran and Jet were training on what used to be the restaurant floor. I asked them not to make too much of a ruckus, so they spent their time practicing their spells, casting and drawing three-dimensional shapes in the air. It wasn’t so much training as play, and I doubted Fran saw it as such. I thought I’d bring them some snacks for being a good beastgirl and direwolf.

Hm?

As I was preparing Fran’s tea and cookies, I sensed the appearance of an odd presence. Fran sensed it as well, ceasing her practice to look around.

Looks like we have guests.

Our guests weren’t difficult to notice. They’d concealed their presence while approaching the building, but their sheer number made it futile. They might as well have walked right in.

“Should I grab them?”

Wait, they might want something.

As yet, we didn’t know what. One of them came around to the back door and knocked. His brazenness made me wonder who we were dealing with. Fran carefully answered it.

“Who is it?”

“Sorry for coming so late. I wanted to ask you a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Yes, I’d really appreciate it if we could talk for a few minutes.”

He sounded like a gentleman. That was as far as it went, though. His bad intentions were seeping through, and I could tell his manners were only skin-deep.

I looked out the window to see what our fake gentleman looked like. He was dressed like a mild-mannered merchant. He looked like he didn’t have a single bad bone in his body. He would’ve tricked us too, if my Evil Sense hadn’t kicked in.

A quick Identify revealed the rottenness of his character. His Class was listed as Fraud, and he had the Skills Threaten, Lie, and Counterfeit. A bad man indeed. He wasn’t physically imposing, but it didn’t make him any less dangerous.

“What do you want?”

“I’d appreciate it if you would let me in.”

“Can’t you just talk from there?”

“Our conversation might go on for a while.”

As Fran stalled, I continued my observation from the window. His friends were hiding in the shadows, but it was no use against my Night Vision and Presence Sense.

The majority of them were weak. Bandit class, with the skills Mug and Steal. The only one we had to keep a lookout for was the single high-level Assassin leading them. He wasn’t particularly strong, though he had the element of surprise on his side. He should be no problem once he was stripped of that, though.

What should we do? The man at the door hadn’t done anything yet…aside from surrounding the place with his bandits, of course. It was safe to say that he didn’t have our best interests in mind, but would we be in trouble for striking first? I already felt like the situation was enough to warrant self-defense. Anyone could see we were dealing with crooks.

Fran, let him in and don’t let him get away. I’ll go take care of our guests outside.

“Hm. Okay.”

“Thank you so much for your understanding!” the fraud answered happily, mistaking Fran’s response for an invitation.

“Come in.”

“If you’ll excuse me.”

He walked through the door. Jet circled around and lay in front of the doorway, blocking his escape. Even though Jet had made himself smaller, he was still a wolf. Plenty intimidating for a Fraud with no battle prowess. He seemed nonchalant about it, but I caught him stealing a glance in Jet’s direction.

“Oh, wow. That’s a…real cute puppy you have there.”

“Huh? Jet’s a wolf.”

“R-really?”

“Wolf-type monster.”

“A-a monster?”

“He’s my familiar. Really strong. Can kill people easy,” Fran said, latching the door closed. 

She was pressuring the con man now, and his facade finally cracked. A grimace appeared at the corner of his fake smile.

I exited the house before the con man could find me. Using the Space-Time spell Short Jump, I transported myself behind the bandits and observed the situation. I didn’t know whether to attack them, wondering whether I should knock them out and find out what I could from them. Then again, I could kill the entire party and just leave the Assassin alive for interrogation…

“Do we really need an army to take this little girl down?”

“Just in case, you know.”

“Well, it’s a pain in the ass! We should’ve just skipped the talkin’ and got right to killin’.”

“We have our orders, man. Besides, you know she’s gonna stink if you kill her first.”

“Promise me we’ll have some fun while she’s still kicking and screaming.”

“Heh heh. Don’t you worry. We will.”

Well, then. “She’s gonna stink if you kill her first.” Really? I didn’t see the point to letting these scumbags live. I would be doing the rest of the world a favor. What “fun” did these people have planned in store for Fran, anyway? Whatever it was, she was never going to know.

Hey.

“Who’s—”

Die.

I decapitated the idiot robber’s head before he could finish and quickly disposed of it. None of them expected an ambush, and despite having Danger Sense, they couldn’t react fast enough. These scumbags were as good as trash.

I worked quickly. The robbers might have been weak, but the Assassin had Presence Sense. His disappearing comrades wouldn’t go unnoticed. I methodically cut each of them down, and one by one they fell. All in a day’s work.

By the time I killed the fourth, the Assassin and the remaining two robbers had finally noticed something was off. They were disturbed, but as they argued among themselves about what to do, I took them out, too.

With the weaker robbers dead, I paralyzed the Assassin with Lightning Magic. He was still vaguely conscious, but I knocked him the rest of the way out with a telekinetic jab to the head.

All right. Back inside.

I floated the Assassin inside and hid him away in a corner of the shop.

“We’d like you to return it to us,” said the Fraud. He was just getting to the meat of his discussion. 

“The Soul Essence?”

“Yes. We know about your raid at the Bandit’s Den, and we know you took it. We’d like to have it back.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s too late to play dumb now. We’ve looked into it, you see. We’re willing to pay you, of course. How does 10,000G sound for your trouble?”

This guy was cheap. The thing was worth a hundred thousand, if not a hundred million. He either underestimated Fran or he had no intention of dealing with her at all.

I guessed it was the latter. He probably planned to sic the assassins on Fran one way or another. But how did he know that we had the Soul Essence?

Eugene should be the only one in town who knew… Did he tell? Even if he did, there was no reason why these people would come to our place. The Soul Essence was already in Eugene’s lab. We needed to figure out where these people got their info.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I told you, we looked into it. You can drop the act.”

“What act?”

“Is that how you’re going to behave? Selling the Soul Essence would really be in your best interest.”

The con man was showing his true colors now. I felt him use Intimidate. Not that it worked on Fran. The man’s slight increase in volume only grated her ears.

“This conversation is over,” said Fran. “Leave.”

“Now, now, no need to be rude. I can’t exactly leave without the Soul Essence.”

He was blatantly threatening her now. If Fran were an ordinary girl, she would be cowering in fear. Instead, she furled her eyebrows in mild annoyance. Fear was the last thing on her mind.

“I told you, I don’t know. Are you stupid?”

She was starting to get angry. The man had interrupted her playtime—that is, her training—after all.

“Don’t give me lip, girl… You may be an adventurer, but you’ll reconsider your line of work once we’re through.” The con man finally dropped his pretense.

“That’s my line. I know what you are, con man. And you and your crew’ll pay with your lives for interrupting Teacher’s work.”

Aww, Fran’s getting angry for me. I got misty-eyed, I had to admit.

“Fine. Have it your way then. You won’t live to see morning!” the man shouted, turning towards the exit. 

He was going to call on his backup.

“Grrr…”

Jet stood up to block his path.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“Did you really think I’d let you leave?”

“M-my men will know of my absence. They will come for you!”

This guy was talking like a villain in a bad movie. This con man was second-rate at best. He came into this little girl’s house without asking why she allegedly had the Soul Essence he was sent to collect. A real pro wouldn’t have let his guard down around his mark.

“Go ahead and call them. See if they’re still around.”

“Very well. Come out, you lot! It’s time you earned your keep!”

He shouted loud enough for anyone outside to hear. The con man grinned, surely imagining his crew would come barging in through doors and windows to corner this little girl.

Alas, no one came.

“Wh-what…”

“Teacher took care of your backup.”

“You aren’t alone?! Damn it, they didn’t tell me about this!”

Fran calmly pinned the con man to the floor. He couldn’t believe how much strength she had in her small arms. He looked at her, fear and confusion clear on his face.

It was time to find out what we needed to know. Interrogating a fraud would usually be difficult since lying was second nature to them. Fortunately, we had Essence of Falsehood to see through his lies.

“Wh-what are you doing? You won’t get away with this, I warn you!”

“Who told you about me?” asked Fran.

“A very good quest—aaargh!”

Fran administered a painful, but non-lethal, amount of electricity. He twitched as a jolt of Lightning Magic shot through his bare skin. We didn’t want blood all over the kitchen, so shock therapy was the best choice.

“Huff, huff…”

“I’ll ask you again. How did you know I had the Soul Essence?”

“Do you think I’ll—raaaargh!”

He was stubborn, I’d give him that much. We might as well interrogate the Assassin while we were at it, too.

Jet, bring the Assassin in, please.

“Woof.”

I thought our guests might motivate each other if they saw each other’s pain.

“H-how…” the Fraud groaned as Jet dragged the Assassin in. He didn’t think anyone could take the Assassin down so quietly, or maybe he was just wondering when he got captured.

Thirty minutes later and worn out with exhaustion, both men told us everything. We had succeeded in preventing bloodshed, although that didn’t stop our assailants from crying, drooling, and worst of all, peeing all over the floor. I’d have to pull out my strongest Cleansing Magic for this one.

“So you’re from the Ythra Trade Association?”

“Yes…”

The same group who allegedly sent thugs to extort money from the orphanage.

The person looking for our Soul Essence was a rogue alchemist working for the YTA. One of the Adventurers’ Guild’s alchemists was secretly working for them and had overheard our conversation with Eugene.

The Soul Essence we had stumbled upon was ordered from a faraway land and had been in the process of being delivered to them. I thought those bandits were a little too well equipped. It turned out they were backed by the YTA all along. I was convinced that the trade association was merely a front for their illegal conduct. Now I could use the Cure Turmeric with a clear conscience.

Fran asked where this rogue alchemist was, but the Fraud had no idea. We knew his base of operations, at least.

The Assassin was also working for the YTA, but we got some conflicting information out of him. He said he was really working for a mage called Linford. He was a master mage from a distant land, with criminals and rogue mercenaries under his employ. He was trying to establish a base in Bulbola and cooperating with the YTA to do so.

This could get messy. Captain Rengill warned us not to get involved with Ythra, but what could we do when they came to us?

The Assassin and the Fraud had a rough relationship. They didn’t trust each other to begin with, since they served different masters. The way they snarled at each other was almost violent.

To the Assassin, the YTA were a bunch of limp-wristed tradesmen who were only intimidating because they employed the Linford Group. On the other hand, the YTA thought the Linford Group were money-grabbing parasites who talked big game but ultimately delivered nothing. The Assassin’s colleagues had messed up at some point, and the trade association was having a time cleaning it up.

We weren’t up against the Illuminati, but our enemies were significant organizations nonetheless. They had the resources to look us up and the gall to assault us. We could try confronting them but might end up stepping on some aristocratic toes in the process…

As we mused over our next step, the two men began to plead.

“W-we’ve told you everything we know!”

“We don’t know anything else, I swear!”

“Hm.”

“P-please let us go…”

That wasn’t going to happen, but we weren’t going to kill them either. They were valuable witnesses. So we knocked them out and bound their hands and feet with mana thread.

This is turning into quite a mess.

The YTA had their sights on us, and there was no telling when they might strike again.

Captain Rengill was the first to warn us about them, so perhaps the Lucille Trade Association might know more. The fact that they could still do business in Bulbola meant that they had some powerful backing. The rumors of their links to the local aristocracy were probably true. If so, the marked carriages entering the mansion implicated Marquis Christon.

That would make it difficult to talk about the orphanage’s plight with him. If the Count was actually behind the YTA, then we would be complaining about the crooked trade association to his face. And we still had a contest to win, which meant we had no time to worry about the YTA. 

Things were coming to a head. The best course of action was to drop out of the contest altogether…but I didn’t think Fran would allow that. And of course, there was the matter of the orphanage.

Well, nothing we can do but stay alert.

We would start by checking whether Count Rhodus was corrupt. At the moment, all we had to go on was hearsay. Our plan was simple. We would talk to him, bring up the subject, and let Essence of Falsehood do the rest. Good thing we were staying at the Count’s abode. Meeting him wouldn’t be difficult.

Let’s go back to the mansion for now.

“Hm.”

I packed everything we needed for the contest into the Pocket Dimension. Then we stuffed the two criminals into a burlap sack and loaded them on Jet’s back. They would have nowhere to run even if they woke up.

We took our time in returning to the mansion, expecting another ambush, but none came.

One of the guards did approach us, but a namedrop was enough to let Fran off the hook. The city guards had circulated the name of the Count’s honored guest among themselves.

We circled around to the back of the mansion, and Sebastian welcomed us in. It was like he knew by instinct when his master’s guests would return.

“Welcome back.”

I had to admit, being welcomed by an actual butler raised my spirits.

His composure was even more impressive. The sack Jet was carrying was now squirming and crying for help, but Sebastian didn’t flinch. All he did was look at it curiously.

“Their Highnesses have been waiting for you. I have been instructed to lead you to their room immediately.”

We needed to meet Fult and Satya first. Fortunately, they were still on the premises.

“Shall I take your…sack for you?”

Sebastian didn’t want anything this suspicious entering the prince’s room. However, if the Count really was behind this, the head butler was our enemy as well. If we handed the sack over, he might permanently silence its residents.

“I’m good.”

“But, miss…”

“No problem. Really.”

“I must insist…”

The head butler had to do his job, but Fran insisted on keeping her sack.

“Okay.”

“Thank you. If I may—” 

“I’ll make it stop squirming.”

“Excuse me?”

Fran took the sack off Jet’s back and Stun Bolted it. The bag twitched for a few moments and ultimately fell silent.

“Now, we’re good.”

“I-I suppose so.”

Fear was clearly written in Sebastian’s eyes. The butler let us in, Jet still carrying two members of criminal society on his back, and we made our way to the prince’s quarters.

Satya, Fult, and Sellid were waiting inside.

“Hey, you’re back.”

“Welcome home.”

The prince and princess greeted Fran with their usual good cheer. They really did quite like her.

“Have you finished your preparations for the contest?”

“Hm. Perfect.” Fran nodded and gave them a thumbs up.

“You said you were cooking up something curry-related. How did it go?”

“I would love to sample it if you have it ready.”

“Here.”

Fran served a large platter of curry bread to the curious Fult and Satya.

All flavors were available. I needed someone other than Fran and Jet to try them anyway, so I was thankful. My companions were a little too biased to be reliable sometimes.

“Oh my! What kind of bread is this?”

“Are these filled with curry, perhaps?”

“Hm,” said Fran. “Curry bread. The pinnacle of cooking.”

“I-Is it really that good?”

“Hm.”

“If you’ll excuse me.”

The twins helped themselves to some curry bread. There were no food tasters, not that they needed any with Fran. The prince and princess had already tasted her cooking during the Seedrun conflict. Chamberlain Sellid didn’t stop them, either. It was good to know that we had earned the old crank’s trust.

“It’s good!”

“Very good. I’ve never had something so spicy and sweet!”

We received rave reviews. I guess even royalty could appreciate curry bread.

“I told you, curry’s the best.”

“I think I see why you keep going on about it now.”

“Indeed.”

Fran looked smug as her friends enjoyed their food. She nodded every time they mentioned how delicious it was.

“Visiting your food stall would be difficult for us. I’m glad we could try it here.”

“Get someone to buy it for you.”

“We can’t do that either, unfortunately. As royal guests, we must be content with the Count’s cooking. And don’t get me started on the poison testing.”

When you were royalty, every little act was political.

The other kids joined us then. We hadn’t seen them in a while, and it seemed like a dark shadow hung over them. What happened? Did someone speak ill of them here? They were street urchins until only a few days ago, after all.

“What happened?” Fran asked, sounding worried. 

The prince answered for them. Fortunately, the reason was nowhere as sinister as we thought.

“Oh, they’re not feeling well.” 

“We suspect it’s indigestion.”

The kids had felt ill since the night before and spent the entire day in bed. They had just woken up, and only because they heard Fran was back. I wondered if the food served at the Count’s manor had caused their current condition. Maybe their stomachs were shocked at the sudden intake of fine dining.

“You guys okay?”

“We’re feeling a little rough, but it’s nothing terrible. Maybe a bite of your bread will make us feel better.”

“Sure.”

The kid sure had a healthy appetite for someone with an upset stomach. Fran didn’t worry about his health, since eating delicious food was always her top priority. I wouldn’t want to eat something as oily as curry bread if I were feeling sick, though.

Fortunately, the children were on the same page as Fran. Soph, the tallest of the three, took the bread first, followed by the short Tenyl. Altie, the only girl and the youngest among them, hesitated.

“This is great!” Soph said, sinking his teeth into the crunchy skin.

“I can keep eating this all night!”

Tenyl made quick work of his curry bread. The two boys ate one after another, like they were in a contest. Their appetites were impressive. They looked much healthier too, and I wondered if the healing effects of the Cure Turmeric were kicking in.

The magical root was known to cure status ailments, so maybe it could just as easily cure an upset stomach. It sure looked like that anyway. After seeing her friends gobble down the curry bread like it was going out of style, Altie seemed to recover her appetite. She finally took one of her own.

Fran, we should get to the point.

“?”

Fran looked like she had completely forgotten. All the praise for my curry bread had gone to her head.

We need to know if the Count is crooked. Remember?

“Right. I forgot.”

“Forgot what, Fran?”

“I need a favor.”

“What is it? We’ll do anything we can to help,” Satya said, taking Fran’s hand.

“Thanks. I need to see the Count.”

“Lord Rhodus? Why?”

We explained the events of the last few days.

Fran told them about the orphanage and everything we’d found in the bandit’s hideout. About the link to the Ythra Trade Association and how the Count might be behind it.

“I see you’ve been busy.”

“It is Fran we’re talking about.”

They were shocked to say the least.

“That’s why I need to see the Count. To see if he’s one of the bad guys.”

“I see. But you must remember that he is as cunning as aristocrats come. I doubt he will tell you the truth.”

“Don’t worry. I brought these guys just in case.”

“And that would be?”

“Hm.”

Fran untied the sack and let its contents pour out onto the floor.

“Kya!”

I silently apologized for startling Satya. The sight of two grown men all tied up might have been too much for her.

“They work for the YTA, and they attacked me. I’m going to present them to the Count and see how he reacts.”

“I see… Sellid, arrange a meeting with the Count immediately!”

“Yes, my lord.”

And just like that, we were on the Count’s day planner. This was one of the many perks of royalty. They could get you an appointment with nobility in less than five minutes.

“You called, my lord?”

“I apologize for calling you on such short notice, Count Rhodus.”

“Not at all. It must be a matter of grave importance if you have need of me so suddenly,” the Count replied, his eyes narrowing with worry. 

It was so late that it was impossible that the meeting was anything other than urgent. He looked around the room, trying to figure out what was going on. Eventually, his eyes eventually settled on the two captives.

“Wh-who are these men?!” he shouted in shock. 

If he was acting, it was very realistic.

“You don’t know them?” asked Fran.

“Of course not! Why would I know these people?”

“They work for the Ythra Trade Association. They attacked me tonight.”

“What happened?”

He didn’t look like he knew anything, but we decided to press him a little further just in case.

“Do you know about the orphanage?”

“You mean the orphanage in the downtown area?”

“Yeah. They’ve been having a hard time since you cut off their funding.”

“What?”

He didn’t know? Maybe the funds for the orphanage were too small for the Count to notice. Still, Fran explained the situation. She told him that the orphanage’s funding was cut off suddenly, and despite the caretaker’s best efforts, nothing was done about it. They inevitably had to borrow money, which was when a con man defrauded them. A con man who happened to be working for the YTA.

Fran implied that this chain of events made it look like the Count was behind the Ythra Trade Association.

“The timing between the cut-off funding and the appearance of the con man is way too convenient.”

“So you’re saying I was the one who sent this wretch?!”

“I didn’t say that. But I do wonder how the YTA found out about the papers you sent. Very fishy. They had your seal on them.”

“What? Impossible! I did not put my seal on any such document!”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure! You think I can maintain my office through such crooked dealings?”

He sounded sure of himself. Marquis Christon was telling the truth. He knew nothing about the orphanage. Still, the fact remained that someone had used his name. Someone working with the YTA.

“But who could possibly use my seal without my knowledge…” the Count muttered. 

He was beginning to suspect someone in his ranks.

“So you have nothing to do with the YTA?”

“Of course not!” Rhodus shouted with fury. 

There wasn’t a trace of falsehood in his statement. He wasn’t behind the YTA after all. We’d better apologize before things got out of hand.

“Sorry…for suspecting you.”

“No, it’s all right. I apologize, as well. It seems that someone close to me might be dealing with the wrong people…”

The Count bowed his head. It was the last thing I expected him to do. He might be more upright than I initially suspected.

“Do accept our apology as well, Count Rhodus,” said Fult.

“We were beginning to think the worst of you,” Satya agreed.

“I do not blame you. I would’ve suspected myself if I heard of such rumors… I suppose you wish to place the members of the Ythra Trade Association under arrest?”

“Yeah. Go for it.”

I was going to have them testify against Marquis Christon if he was lying, but it turned out there was no need for that. Now that he was clear of all suspicion, we would love to place these two in his custody.

“All right. You can come in now.”

Rhodus called to someone behind the door. A young man of considerable stature walked in. He looked similar to Rhodus, with his blonde hair, blue eyes, and body covered with thick muscle. He had the presence of a soldier.

“This is my eldest, Phillip.”

“I am Phillip Christon. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

He was strong, too. His stats were close to Colbert’s.

“He is the captain of the Knight’s Brigade. He’s had his hands full with security for the Festival of the Moons lately. Today is his first day off in a while. He wished to greet Your Highnesses personally…”

The Count ordered Phillip to place the two men under arrest and interrogate them. He explained the circumstances, and his son gave an unexpected answer.

“As it happens, Father, we arrested some YTA cronies last night, too.”

YTA members were getting captured left and right lately.

“What are the charges?”

“They planned to end the festival’s ritual last night by kidnapping one of the dancers. I believe the Prince’s friend assisted in their capture.”

He turned to Fult and then to Fran.

“Our friend?”

“Yes. The adventurer Fran is a friend of yours, is she not?”

“Who, me?”

The kidnappers must be the ones Jet subdued in the alleyway. So the guards had succeeded in jailing them. I wished they’d kept quiet about Fran’s involvement, though.

“Are you Fran, by any chance?”

“Yeah.”

“I was wondering what kind of woman this adventurer would be. I never expected her to be a sweet little girl.”

Despite Phillip’s burly stature, he was still the son of a great aristocrat. He could be backhanded and condescending with the best of them. Still, there was no ill will behind his statement. He was just expressing himself honestly. I thought him too straightforward to be an effective socialite, but at least he didn’t seem like a bad guy.

“In any case, the thugs you apprehended were working for the Ythra Trade Association. They were ordered to kidnap a dancer called Charlotte before she could finish the ritual.”

“Why Charlotte?”

“We don’t know. However, they planned to interrupt the ceremony. Maybe they thought it better to kidnap rather than kill. She is quite beautiful, you know.”

Phillip shared the fruits of his interrogation. He didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know, but it underscored how busy the YTA had been. Phillip took the two men away, and Rhodus left too, saying he needed to figure out the traitor in his midst. Unauthorized use of his seal was a grave crime.

We asked Phillip a few more questions before he left, and he answered us truthfully. He was an honest captain and ill-suited for the cunning plays of the court.

The Count and his eldest son were cleared of any and all suspicion. That was a big enough win for us.

“It seems that bad things are going to happen in this town soon…”

“Yes. We must be careful.”

“Hm. That’s a good idea,” Fran agreed.

“What will you do now, Fran?”

“Go back to the kitchen and get back to preparing.”

“Are you sure? Wouldn’t it be safer here?”

“I have Jet with me, don’t worry.”

We left the mansion despite the twins’ insistence. They only let us go because they knew how strong Fran and Jet were. Before we went, we left a load of curry bread for the mansion’s helpers. The Count might own the mansion, but they were the ones in charge of its daily operation. Treating them nicely wouldn’t hurt. We were going to be intruding for the next few nights, anyway.

Let’s give it one final push before tomorrow.

“Yeah!”

Morning came. We were at the Chefs’ Guild, listening to the final reading of the contest rules.

We’d expected another YTA raid last night, but none came. I didn’t think that was the end of it, so we couldn’t let our guard down. If they tried any funny business, we’d be ready.

“The contestants will leave the Chefs’ Guild at ten o’clock, and the contest will begin at twelve. You will have two hours to set up your stalls. You are allowed to operate in the harbor, marketplace, and the residential areas. Anywhere is fine as long as you have permission from the owner of the property. Note that you cannot start selling your wares before twelve o’clock. Failure to comply will result in a disqualification.”

The other semi-final contestants were all around us. Each shop owner was present, along with a single helper. No one else was allowed in.

Fran was with Colbert. The other three girls were outside, preparing our stall.

“Is your master not here today?”

“Hm. He’s watching over us, don’t worry.”

I had a great view of the action from Fran’s back, and I could see she was getting a lot of attention from the other contestants.

“Hey, is that—” 

“The girl whose food Old Meckam said was delicious—” 

“She’s still so young—” 

They didn’t make light of her, despite her tender age.

It sounded like our judge had a name for himself. His complaints about my lack of Chef Pride aside, he said my dish was delicious. Talk spread, and the veterans were wary about the new beastgirl on the block. Even Colbert looked shocked.

“Fran, did your master get a personal endorsement from Elder Meckam? Is that how you guys got through to semi-finals?”

“Who?”

“Old Meckam, the Gourmet! He’s one of the people running the Chefs’ Guild!”

The top executives of the guild had authority to send someone straight through to the semi-finals. Meckam was notorious for being impossible to please, and it was rare of him to execute his authority. It was no wonder that people were talking about the Black Tail. Meckam had made it sound like passing through the preliminaries was no great feat.

“We promised to knock his socks off.”

“Such determination…!”

“We are going to the finals.”

“Damn right, we will!” Colbert agreed. “We’ll work our hinds off!”

We left the Chefs’ Guild once the committee finished their clarifications. The stalls were laid out in front of the guild hall and ours was among them, of course. We’d ordered a stall with minimal cooking equipment. I expected a Japanese style stall, but they looked more Western with their colorful awnings. In Wonderland, these stalls would be selling multi-colored popcorn.

Ours stood out, especially with three beautiful girls surrounding it.

“We’ll work to earn our keep.”

“You can count on it.”

“Hee hee. What do you think? Don’t I look cute?”

Fran and our three helpers were dressed in gothic maid outfits. They looked chic and adorable. I don’t know where Colbert got his hands on them, but they looked great. Although the outfits had terrible defense values, they more than made up for it in cuteness. If I could, I’d give the man a pat on the back!

The other contestants had pretty girls hawking their wares, too. It would seem that no matter what world you were in, the basic marketing strategy of strippers and steak remained a constant. Of course, Fran was easily prettier and classier than all the others combined.

“The curry bread we had the other day was amazing!” said Colbert. “But I thought we needed to pull out all the stops to get through the semi-finals. These outfits will do just that. They’re our secret weapon!”

“Colbert and I spent all night thinking of this strategy. I hope you like dressing up, Fran,” Judith said, puffing up her chest with pride. 

We’d fed her bread and curry rice yesterday, along with our other dishes. They seemed to have made an impact. She was eager to blast through the semi-finals and see what fine dining I could cook up.

“I’ll do my best to help.”

“Not to worry. I’ll bring the boys to the stall.”

Maya clenched her fists, while Lydia hiked up her skirt teasingly. It was nice to see our helpers get into it, although Lydia needed to stop that skirt action before we got slapped with a public indecency warning.

We did one last check on our food cart and moved to our location. Colbert was on cart-pulling duty. I initially wanted to let Jet do the job, but a giant direwolf would stick out like a sore thumb and could scare away our customers.

On the way to our designated spot, a small crowd started to follow us. I thought they were thugs sent by the competition, but it turned out they were customers. They’d already planned which stalls they would visit first, so they could be there the second the stall opened. Our crowd wanted to avoid the sales war, so they prioritized our lesser-known food stall.

The crowd grew until over fifty people were following us. This was as good as a new entrant could get. The more popular stores had crowds of over three hundred.

I might have underestimated this contest. It wasn’t certain that we’d get past the semi-finals.

“That’s a lot of people,” said Fran, sounding surprised.

“Ha ha. There’s a reason why the March Moons Festival is considered one of the Three Great Festivals in Granzell. The temple ritual, minstrel competition, and cooking contest are all very popular. You ain’t seen nothing yet, Fran.”

“What are the other Great Festivals?”

“There’s the King’s New Year Festival and the Ulmutt Dungeon Festival.”

“The New Year’s Festival is a lot like Bulbola’s Moons Festival.”

The last Festival of the Moons landed on the same day as the New Year, making for an immense spectacle. The New Year’s Festival was similar to the one in Bulbola. The royal temple held a ritual of purification, and open-air stalls lined the streets. The difference lay in the other ceremonies, which included an address by the ruling king.

But what of this Dungeon Festival? That sounded different.

“The Dungeon Festival is for hot-blooded, battle-hungry adventurers,” said Lydia.

Well, that sounded bloodthirsty.

“I suppose Lydia’s not entirely wrong. The festival is quite intense.”

“What do they do?”

“It’s called a festival, but the Dungeon Festival is really a fighting tournament.”

“A tournament held in Granzell’s adventurer capital.”

A fighting tournament. Interesting. It was worth checking out even if we didn’t participate.

“When is it?”

“Late April. About a month from now. It’s to celebrate the founding of Ulmutt’s dungeon.”

That was perfect timing. We were heading for Ulmutt after our stopover in Bulbola. I hoped we could make it in time.

Soon, we reached our destination.

“And we’re here.”

As interested as I was in the fighting tournament, right now we had a cooking contest to win. We stopped in the square outside the Adventurers’ Guild. We had a decent crowd, so I thought we’d get started on line management. The residents of Bulbola were much more experienced at this and arranged themselves into lines without complaint. None of them even asked for an early sample.

We decided to set up on the north side of the square, our backs facing the clock tower. Fran took out some curry bread from the Pocket Dimension and put it on display. We put up a sign reading, “One curry bread:10G,” and put a pot of oil on the stove.

“This is great. Did you come up with this yourself, Fran?”

“It was Teacher’s idea.”

“This teacher of yours really knows his stuff.”

“Merchants use this kind of thing, but it’s the first time I’ve seen one made solely for coins. Was it custom-made for this food cart?”

“Pretty much.”

“The Swordceress’ Teacher is a master of many trades.”

“I know. He’s the best.”

The girls were fawning over a wooden coin holder. I’d modeled it after the coin holders back on Earth, but apparently they weren’t widely used here. I’d marked the chambers for each coin type and had a gauge which indicated how much was left. Judith marveled at it, merchant’s daughter that she was.

The wooden coin holder was easy to use, so I figured it would speed up the payment process. I expected to face a slew of customers, so I had three cash registers open.

It was lunchtime when we finished setting up, and Fran and the others sat a little distance away from the food cart. Things were going to get hectic when the contest started, so this might be their only break. At least, I hoped it would.

“All right, time for lunch.”

On seeing the menu I’d prepared for them, Colbert and others cheered.

“Finally!”

“This is pretty much why we took this job.”

“If what we had for breakfast is anything to go by, then well…”

“Those egg sandwiches… Yum.”

The crew loved the egg sandwiches they had for breakfast, so I decided to give them more sandwiches for lunch. Egg was still an option, now accompanied with ham, sweet and sour chicken, and tuna cutlet.

“They’re so good!”

“Lydia, you can’t just take that! The same goes for you, Fran!”

“Heh.”

“Survival of the hungriest.”

“I’ll be taking this, then.”

“Maya!”

“This juice hits the spot! It’s so fresh and flavorful!”

Lunch was a battlefield. The five of them cleaned out the fifty sandwiches I had prepared in an instant. Actually, it made me think I hadn’t prepared enough. They quarreled and stole each other’s sandwiches, pouting when they didn’t get to sample some of the flavors. I just hoped they would get along when we got to selling curry bread.

Our food cart was under the watchful eyes of the Chefs’ Guild supervisor. A single supervisor attended each food cart to make sure there was no foul play. Their main job was to calculate the total sales and report our profits back to the guild. Any attempts at bribery or fraudulence would result in an instant disqualification. We did offer our supervisor some sandwiches, but he politely declined. Oh, but his eyes were fixated on them! I felt sorry for him. It was the worst job to get stuck with in this contest.

“This sandwich is delicious! But it sure can’t beat our curry bread!”

“Oh, I wish we could buy Black Tail’s entire stock!”

Colbert and Lydia shouted. Onlookers unsure about the new entrant rushed to join the line. There was now over a hundred people waiting. Today might be busy.

And I was right.

“So that’s three plain and two hot.”

“Four orders of Ultra-hot, please.”

“That’ll be 40G.”

The clock tower showed a little past three in the afternoon, but our customers kept on coming in the hundreds. I had already fetched four additional lots of curry bread out of the Pocket Dimension, so we were doing great. We let the Crimson Maidens man the cash register, while Fran kept the pot going and made sure the aroma of freshly fried curry bread wafted through the air. Meanwhile, Colbert was in charge of line management.

“Hey there, little lady. I came just like I promised.”

“Hm.”

“And I told everyone I knew.”

The adventurers and farmer we’d saved at the bandit’s hideout came, and each brought their friends along with them.

“Curry bread only 10G a piece! We got Plain for the kiddies, Hot for the spice lovers, and Ultra-hot if you want to breathe fire!”

Colbert shilled our bread to anyone wondering what flavor to buy. Our shop was winning the speed contest. As Judith mentioned, over half our customers had already decided which carts to hit. That said, there were still a lot of people who didn’t know what they wanted. Their best option was to join Black Tail’s line, since ours was so short. It was a good strategy.

I wouldn’t exactly consider our line short, though. How bad were the other food carts? I wouldn’t have wanted to queue here. The whole thing reminded me of my past life. I once heard of a store that sold amazing pancakes, so I decided to go after work. But after seeing the line loop twice around the block, I gave up and had some ramen with gyoza at the neighboring stall.

“Come to the Black Tail for food that’s good and good for you! Spice enough to make you sweat and clear your pores, and it’s great for your insides, too!”

Colbert advertised the Cure Turmeric we used in our cooking. The magic plant was considered a luxury, so it was quite the selling point.

Then someone finally came to wreck our parade.

“What’s all this then?! You selling some dog crap?!”

“Your bread sure looks like it’s filled with it!”

Our aggressors looked like they came from the apocalypse. They had mohawks and wore spiked leather jackets. So here were our thugs, then. Our competition must’ve sent them over.

Checking their stats, I found them to be awfully weak. While their menacing looks might intimidate the average person, they were only as strong as novice adventurers. I guess you didn’t need to go all out when dealing with cooks.

“Go on, get outta here!”

“Your food probably tastes like crap anyway! Ugh, just looking at it makes me wanna puke!”

“Here, we’ll help you clear out your shop…permanently!”

The thugs took out their clubs, and our customers screamed in terror.

Fran, who was supposed to be manning the stove, warped right in front of them. The insult to curry bread fueled her speed.

She used Lighting Magic to paralyze the three thugs.

I wanted to get back to business and get some information while I was at it.

Fran, I’ll take over from here. You go back to the cart.

Got it.

Jet, carry them for me.

“Woof.”

Jet dragged the three thugs to an alleyway behind our food cart. Leaving them out in the open would scare away our customers and just generally be a terrible business decision.

I created a clone of myself to follow Jet and cast Stone Wall around us for some privacy. Then I used Silence so their screams wouldn’t bother the neighbors. Whatever happened within these walls wouldn’t leave it.

No matter what… Heh heh.

Despite my thoughts of terrible torture, the interrogation ended without bloodshed. They were all terrified of the giant direwolf. My slightest scowl was enough to give them the shakes. With the clone representing me, I proceeded to ask them questions.

“Tell me what I want to know, and I promise I won’t hurt you.”

“Y-yes! Anything!”

“Just get that monster away from us!”

The thugs sobbed, which made me feel like the bad guy. It ticked me off to the point that I wanted to hit them, but information was more important.

“Good. Let’s start with…”

The interrogation went smoothly after that. They answered all my questions honestly. Our thugs were underage boys, not brave or strong enough to become adventurers and mercenaries. Instead, they took shakedown jobs from folks who needed dumb intimidation. What shocked me was their age. Their attire made them all look over twenty.

“And why are you kids bothering Black Tail? You need pocket money, is that it?”

“S-someone hired us out of nowhere!”

A strange man hired them just the night before. They would each receive ten thousand gold for their services.

The job order was simple: harass and destroy certain target food carts. Apparently, there were several delinquent groups hired to run this racket. Our intimidators usually ran in a group of six, but they’d split up into threes to finish the job faster. The food carts they were told to target were Black Tail and the Bulbola Orphanage.

“Look.”

“Y-yes, sir.”

“I’m going to hand you over to the town guards now. Tell them everything you know.”

“W-we will!”

“But do not, under any circumstances, tell them anything about me. Don’t even mention me. I’ll kill you if you do.”

The boys turned blue and nodded.

“W-we won’t say a word!”

“We promise!”

I knew delinquents, and I knew their tendency to make promises in the heat of the moment that they would forget a second later. Fortunately, these guys also had the IQ of a chimpanzee. I just needed to assert my dominance. I focused mana on my finger to make it glow and waved it menacingly.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“I’ve cast a curse on you. If you say anything about me, I will know.”

“Eek!”

Not that I knew of such a spell. It was all a magic show, but the boys seemed eager to believe it.

“You boys better clean up your act. Next time I catch you do anything stupid like this, I’ll sic my direwolf on you. It took a while to wean him off human flesh…”

“We’ll turn over a new leaf!”

“We won’t do anything bad ever again!”

“Spare us, please!”

I left. Not long after, Colbert came with the city guard to arrest them.

Colbert wondered why the boys looked scared out of their skin, but he decided not to pursue the matter. He didn’t want to know what Fran had done to them. In this world, retaliation and vengeance were common. Enacting retribution on thugs who had disturbed the peace was just the right thing to do.

Fran, the orphanage is in trouble.

Fran nodded gravely, and I wasted no time in telling her what I had learned.

You have to go, Teacher.

Me?

I have to stay here. It has to be you.

Fran was responsible for our food cart. Although she signed up for the competition under my name, she was my representative. With the supervisor overlooking our operations, we had no choice.

I had reservations about leaving Fran by herself, but she was clearly more worried about the orphanage. I originally planned to send Jet over there to make sure things were okay…

All right. Come on, Jet. Are you sure you can do this, Fran?

Yeah! You can leave the shop to me.

Time to go save some orphans.

Colbert’s around if you need backup, I told her.

I know.

Take us away, Jet.

“Arf!”

Jet took me into the shadows with him. At times like this, I appreciated being a sword. Jet could stow me away because I was an inanimate object, but I still got a clear view of what was happening outside.

“Bark, bark!”

Jet ran as fast as he could without attracting attention. All the same, he caught the eye of some city guards who tried to chase him down, but no human legs could ever catch a direwolf. Jet’s conspicuously equipped familiar collar helped too, I figured that was ultimately why the guards gave up on their chase. Still, the direwolf couldn’t help but scare some of the more tender boys and girls of Bulbola. I silently apologized for making them cry.

There it is.

“Woof.”

The orphanage’s food cart was in fine shape considering the amount of people lining up to get a piece. There must’ve been over three hundred people. Jet Air Hopped over the crowd and landed on the orphanage grounds. The kids gathered around him.

“Hey, it’s Jet!”

“Jet!”

“What are you doing here, buddy?”

Despite only meeting Jet yesterday, they recognized him immediately.

Shouldn’t these kids be helping Io with the food cart? I looked past the children and saw that the older kids were helping, leaving the younger ones with the enviable task of making merry.

Jet looked delighted as the kids fluffed his head. He didn’t usually get this kind of treatment, given most people were terrified of him. But the kids recognized him as Fran’s pet dog and liked him just as much as they liked his owner. 

Things were looking too calm. Where were the thugs?

Since Jet was enjoying himself, I decided to wait, hoping for an uneventful time. And then our guests arrived.

“What the hell?! What are these leftovers in this soup?! I paid good money for this!”

“I-I’m so sorry, sir.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it! Maybe I’ll forgive you if you close up shop!”

“B-but…”

“Is that a no?”

“Uuh…”

It was deja vu. The thugs who surrounded Io and the kids looked exactly like the ones who had attacked us.

“Please, forgive me.”

“Waaah!”

“Shut the hell up!”

“You better get on your knees for pissing us off!” the thugs threatened.

Io and the children turned pale with fear. The sight was abominable.

Jet.

“Grrr.”

Jet leaped in front of the thugs. I thought that soiled underwear was punishment enough for this lot, but things didn’t go as I expected.

“What’s with the dog?”

“You growling at me, puppy?”

They were terrified, but stubborn pride got in the way of their escape. The thugs struck the ground with their bats to intimidate Jet. Maybe I should’ve told him to revert to his original size. Then again, things might degenerate into an all-out panic if the crowd found a giant Darkness Wolf in their midst. We’d scare off the thugs, but also the orphanage’s customers.

Oh, well. Go for it, boy.

“We’ll kill y—oof!”

On my mark, Jet tackled one of the thugs. The biggest of the delinquents flew a good ten meters, landed, and stopped moving. He had twisted his leg but was otherwise unhurt. Good enough. The remaining two were knocked away when Jet got close to them. His sheer mass and speed sent the thugs flying.

“Awooo!”

“You did it, Jet!”

“That was so cool!”

“Bark, bark!”

Jet dragged the scattered thugs and dumped them together in a pile. Then, he climbed on top of that pile to let out a howl of victory as the kids cheered him on. I was glad to have averted what was potentially a traumatic scenario.

One of the kids had informed the city guard, and they came to take the thugs away. Things would’ve been a lot worse if we hadn’t been around. The dirty tricks some people would resort to just to win a competition. It astounded me.

Well, what now?

Another shakedown party might come along when we left, but I was worried about leaving Fran alone with the food cart. As I contemplated my next move, a familiar face approached.

“Are you guys okay?!”

“Charlotte!”

“Jet came and saved us!”

Charlotte was here now. Being an adventurer, she would have no problem dealing with five or even ten of those petty hooligans. She had been called to make a statement about the Ythra Trade Association’s fraud over the orphanage. It seemed Marquis Christon really had launched an investigation.

“I’m so glad you’re all right. Oh, I wish they wouldn’t call me in during the busiest time of the year,” Charlotte said, frowning. 

I felt guilty since we were partly to blame for her being called. But now that she was here, the orphanage was in safe hands.

There were some guards accompanying her, too. They should be enough to deter further future shakedowns. We returned to our food cart and waited for the day to reach its uneventful end.

Let’s go back to the Chefs’ Guild.

“Hm.”

With the first day wrapped up, we returned our cart to the guild. Tomorrow, we would start all over again.

Colbert asked the other shops if they had any trouble with thugs today. Dragonhead and Noble Dish joined Black Tail and Bulbola Orphanage on the list of shakedown victims. Black Tail was personally endorsed by Meckam, and the other three shops were in the running to win.

“How’d they end up?”

“Dragonhead’s all right. The owner’s a former A-Rank Adventurer, after all.”

“That strong?”

“A couple of thugs wouldn’t make him break a sweat, even now. He used to procure the dragon meat for his dishes by himself, you know.”

A former A-Rank adventurer, and a dragon killer at that. I Identified the owner of the Dragonhead as he talked to a guild official.

Excuse me, he’s sixty?

The man didn’t look a day over forty. He sure knew how to dress. His fighting stats had decreased over time, but he was still strong. Numbers wise, he was about even with Colbert. He might even be stronger than Black Wing Valuza, the Flash Knight we fought during the Seedrun Conflict. If there was anyone in this guild hall I didn’t want to fight, it’d be this guy. He had the battle experience that came with age and the stats to back it up. In a way, he was even deadlier than someone with stronger stats. We would do well to stay on his good side.

The representative of the Noble Dish, however, was accompanied by a posse, looking smug. The posse of chefs surrounded the man himself—the Count’s youngest son. This was the chef of the family that Rhodus had mentioned. Unlike his brother Phillip, he had no fighting capability. So how did he fend off the thugs that came to shake up his store? I thought about it and came to the conclusion that he probably hired some guards. He was still a son of the Count, after all.

But that didn’t turn out to be the case.

“He got on his knees and begged them to spare his beloved customers. Touched by his act of humility, the robbers let him off for today.”

The moving tale had circulated all around Bulbola. Noble Dish was going to get a lot of customers tomorrow.

In the end, that meant only four shops were attacked today.

As the day drew to an end, we gave Colbert the food we promised for his trouble. It was nothing special, just a basket filled with some meat stew.

“Here’s dinner.”

“You packed it up in a basket, too? Thanks!”

“Try not to fight over it this time.”

“Of course.”

“We’ll all share it together.”

They seemed set on repeating the lunchtime conflict, but maybe that was just their way of enjoying themselves.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Take care of yourself!”

We left Colbert and the others, returned to our leased restaurant, and got right back to work. We sold more than I expected and needed to make a lot more so we didn’t run out tomorrow.

Jet, Fran, you two can help yourselves to dinner.

“Sure.”

“Woof!”

I had curry bread to fry, and lots of it. I checked the temperature of the oil as I thought about the shakedowns.

The thugs were sent by the competition, no doubt about it. But with twenty contestants, not to mention their friends and sponsors, the list of suspects numbered over a hundred. The only ones who were free of suspicion were the four carts that were attacked.

Hang on. Something isn’t right, here.

Colbert said that the attackers left Noble Dish alone after the owner got on his knees. I saw Io apologize to those thugs, and they still threatened to shut her down.

Jet?

“Woof.”

Do you have the scent of the Count’s youngest?

“Arf.”

All right, I want you to keep watch over him, starting tonight.

“Woof!”

Jet was going to be my special helper for this mission. I was stuck frying bread, and Fran was a growing girl who needed her sleep. Plus, she needed to man the food cart tomorrow.

I’m counting on you, Jet.

“Arf!”

The Black Tail was inundated the following day. Rumors of the delicious curry bread spread, and over two hundred people were standing in line for it. Making more than necessary last night was the right call.

Unfortunately, Fran was dressed in her normal gear rather than her maid outfit. We might still get attacked, so we had decided to prioritize mobility over adorability. Oh, maid outfit, I barely knew ye. 

In the end, no thugs came to harass us, and the day went surprisingly well. Not that I wanted something bad to happen.

Noble Dish had hired some adventurers to be their guards today. It was a sudden employment, based on the events of the day before. Rumors were going around about how the owner of the establishment really cared about his customers.

In fact, there was a guy talking about the Noble Dish in our line right now. Very loudly, in fact. I Identified the overeager fan and discovered…

Lie, Acting, and Threaten.

The man was a paid shill of the worst kind. His stats and skills marked him as a thug. I couldn’t imagine him paying someone an honest compliment if he tried. I was getting more suspicious now. I really wished Jet would come back soon so we could set the record straight.

Just then, a quarrel broke out in the line. A man who was trying to cut in got rowdy with the people around him. Colbert and Fran rushed to control the situation.

When they got there, the man was already pinned down, having had the misfortune of trying to cut into a line of adventurers.

He was acting strangely though. Despite being held to the ground, he continued to scream utter gibberish. Was he on some kind of drug?

I Identified him and discovered he was under the Possessed status effect. What kind of status ailment was that? Did it mean that this guy wasn’t necessarily a bad person? My crazy drug hypothesis was gaining ground fast.

As the man flailed about, Fran stuffed a curry bread into his mouth. It should cure him of his status ailment, if that was the root cause. Indeed, his status went back to normal right away, and he seemed to regain his senses.

Colbert asked him why he was going crazy, but the man didn’t seem to know. He didn’t remember anything after drinking at one of the pubs in the slums. Maybe his drug of choice was just plain old alcohol. 

“Thank you for your continued cooperation.”

“Sure thing. All yours, buddy.”

“Yes, sir. Come on, let’s get going.”

“Y-yeah…urk.”

Our little episode looked like it happened by pure chance. Today was going so smoothly that I was beginning to get suspicious.

Well, I guess there was one problem. An intense-looking man had joined the line. He looked to be either an adventurer or a mercenary. While the man didn’t bother our customers, his mere presence was enough to intimidate them. A lot of folks squirmed. They were too deep in the line to leave, but they were too scared to ask the burly man to go, either.

He was there because he’d heard about the healing effects of our curry bread. Cure Potions were invaluable among the adventuring crowd, and any item that claimed to do the same thing for a measly ten gold was worth buying in bulk. Still, our shelf life wasn’t great, so they would be much better off buying actual potions.

“Whoops, I guess I said too much.”

Colbert was the culprit all along. The B-Rank’s endorsement of a tasty cure-all food was the cause of the curry bread’s boom among adventurers.

While the man looked intimidating to the general public, at least he wasn’t a bother. He added to our sales, and I imagined he would deter any thug who wanted to shake us down. We ended up letting him stay in line.

There was another drunken outburst before the day came to an end, but soon it was time to go back to the Chefs’ Guild.

Being on the lookout all day was taking its toll on me… Had the YTA given up on their antics?

I kept my eyes open on our way back to the guild hall, but no one came to attack us. A frontal attack would’ve been foolish with Colbert and the others around.

The other food carts had already been returned by the time we arrived. All the owners seemed to know each other, since most of them were native to Bulbola. They filled the lobby of the guild hall, chatting away and exchanging information.

A new figure emerged, then. It was the Count’s youngest. He had his posse with him, as usual. Jet wasn’t around, though. Had he gotten a new lead elsewhere? I knew how smart he was and trusted his judgment.

“That was some fine cooking today!”

“You’re going to win for sure!”

The Count’s son wasn’t surrounded by his usual posse of kitchen staff but rather his bodyguards and the tradesman in charge of his supplies. Some aristocratic-looking folk were there too, doubtless trying get into the Count’s good graces. The Count’s youngest was as arrogant as aristocrats came. He definitely didn’t seem the sort to prostrate himself for the sake of his people.

As I continued my harsh criticism, someone approached Fran to talk to her. His lack of presence startled me. Since we weren’t in battle, we weren’t fully alert. All the same, for him to sneak up on us… I was impressed.

I looked up and saw why.

“Good evening.”

“Evening.”

“I am the owner of the Dragonhead. The name’s Phelms.”

He was the former A-Rank adventurer and current owner of the award-winning Dragonhead. He had wavy blonde hair and narrow eyes. His clothes clung to his tall and well-built body. I reckoned him about one hundred and eighty centimeters. He had proportionally long legs and arms, too. His gentle smile had captivated more than his fair share of women, and the wrinkles around his eyes didn’t subtract from the gentleman’s charm. I still thought he looked like a spry forty-year-old.

I Identified him again, just to be sure. His age hadn’t changed, and he was human. How much anti-aging cream did he use? Not that any of us needed it right now. Still, I knew some old aristocrat lady would pay him a lot of gold for his secret.

“Hi, I’m Fran.”

“I had my staff buy me some of your curry bread.” 

What’s this? Was he going to criticize our product? 

“There are still foods I have yet to sample, after all. I heard your teacher was the one who made it.”

“Yeah, it was all Teacher’s idea.”

“I think it’s brilliant. Tell your teacher he moved the heart of an old man.”

He shook Fran’s hand. Honestly, I was happy to receive compliments from a chef of his caliber.

Tell him I’m happy to hear that.

“Thanks. Teacher’s happy to hear that.”

“You and your teacher are welcome to visit my store any time. If you’ll excuse me.”

He wished us luck in the tournament and went on his way. His gentlemanly demeanor almost made me fall for him.

Soon, the other chefs came to greet Fran, having waited for the right time. After all, she was cold and expressionless, which made her difficult to approach. They told her how much they loved curry bread—as delicious as it was original.

I heard someone say, “That sword of yours scared me, you know. Made it hard to talk to you.” Was I the reason the other chefs avoided her the other day? As I faced a mild existential crisis, the Count’s youngest son approached.

“Hoo boy, here he comes.”

“Be careful he doesn’t tell his daddy on you.”

“He might not be a cook, but he keeps himself clean.”

“You watch yourself around him, all right?”

The chefs scattered, whispering to Fran. It was clear that no one had any love for the guy.

“I am Weint. Owner of the Noble Dish. I had one of your curry bread things, too.”

“Hm.”

“It is a very novel snack. I think it’s quite good.”

“Hm.”

“The best of luck to us both.”

Lie after lie came out of his mouth. This bastard even wiped his palms after shaking hands with Fran. He was scrubbing them, too! Don’t think I didn’t see that, noble boy!

“It was most gracious of you to flatter even the lowliest of beastmen.”

“Oh, it’s nothing much. You just need to remember to smile.”

Once they’d moved off, Weint and his cronies ran their mouths as if we couldn’t hear them.

We can hear you just fine, asshole! If you don’t like sullying your hands, how about I just chop ’em off for you? Where the hell was Jet?! I needed evidence to justify taking this smug bastard down.

“People are only buying it for its novelty. This curry bread is a crude dish by itself.”

We’ll let you off today, but just you wait…!

We finished our business at the Chefs’ Guild and returned to the restaurant. I was irritated beyond belief about what happened, although Fran didn’t seem to pay it any mind.

“Teacher.”

Got it.

Fran stood alert, staring at the supposedly empty restaurant.

We sensed the auras of a few people inside. The lights were off, and they were smart enough to diminish their hostility. Whoever they were, they weren’t friendly. Our uninvited guests were total home invaders, and they deserved nothing less than annihilation, although it needed to be bloodless. We didn’t want to get our workplace dirty.

We’re going to have to play it quiet.

“All right.”

I used Silence to mute the sound of the opening door, only to find it still locked. Did they come in through a window? We would need to find out. We opened the door slightly and peeked through. There were no immediate signs of life. They must be hiding behind the upholstery or something. Were they planning to catch Fran off guard?

Unfortunately, their best efforts were no match before our Sense skills.

I’ll take the one on the right, you take the one on the left.

Hm.

I cast a dome of Silence on the room and launched a lightning spell at the man hiding behind the door. His mouth opened and closed in a silent scream as the electricity jolted through him.

Behind me, Fran took care of the other with a well-placed Stun Bolt. It didn’t take long for us to incapacitate the rest of our attackers. They were quite strong this time: all of them over Level 20. If Fran were an ordinary D-Rank adventurer, they would’ve killed her. We lined up the four men and began our questioning.

I woke the one who looked the strongest, as he was probably the leader. Fran slapped him awake.

“You up?”

“What the hell… Get this string off of me!”

“That depends on how well you answer. Why are you here?”

“Hah! You think I’m gonna tell you? You won’t get away with this, I swear!”

Ten minutes later…

The home invaders sat on their knees, quivering quietly. They were much more well behaved now that their faces were bent out of shape.

“So you attacked me to prevent me from going to the contest tomorrow?”

“Y-yes, ma’am…”

They were supposed to ambush Fran alone in the restaurant. We were getting ambushed way too much lately. When Fran asked who sent them, they mentioned a familiar name.

“Linford? He’s the one behind this?”

“Yes.”

The ringleader behind the rogue mercenary group allegedly working with the Ythra Trade Association, Linford was an old mage with a fragile build. Apparently, he was staying at the mansion with his crew. This man was one of them.

What is going on in this town?

We got in the way of the YTA’s plans when we took their Soul Essence, but why would they try to prevent us from participating in a cooking contest? I couldn’t see the connection.

I would love to bring one of the YTA bosses in for questioning…

Guess all we can do is wait for Jet.

“Yeah.”

***

Meanwhile, elsewhere…

“What on earth is going on?!”

Why wouldn’t anything go as planned?! I am Brook Christon, the second son of the Marquis Christon! I should dictate how things happen in this city!

“What is the meaning of this, Zelyse?! You said there would be riots all over the streets!”

I glared at the man in front of me. He was wearing that ever-present detestable grin, but at least he was useful.

Zelyse was an alchemist. A student of the great alchemist Eugene, who now worked for the Adventurers’ Guild. In fact, Zelyse was the reason his master was thrown out. He lived in the Bulbolan underground, taking part in illegal dealings to further his means. He lacked the fear of the gods that normally kept alchemists in line, conducting crystal implantation in humans and experimenting to create monster-human hybrids. He had talent enough to spare and had readily accepted the job I offered him.

Zelyse’s specialty poisons proved useful in dealing with women who refused my advances, along with any of the rabble who had any ideas about telling my father.

Because of his usefulness, Zelyse had almost become a confidant.

“Yes. It appears someone keeps getting in our way.”

“Who is it?”

Had someone figured out my plan…?

“Do you know of a food cart called the Black Tail?”

“Never heard of it.”

A food cart? What did a food cart have to do with it?

“They are one of the participants in the cooking contest.”

“What of it then?!”

“I hear that their food uses a particular magic plant. Cure Turmeric. They say just a bite of their curry bread will make all your ills go away.”

“Are you certain of this?”

It was unlikely that a mere food cart could afford to use Cure Turmeric, or any magic plant for that matter.

“Yes. I sent someone to fetch a sample. It does have curative properties.”

“Damn it. So they’re the ones getting in my way.”

“Indeed. They are selling their wares for a mere ten gold.”

“And it’s selling like hot cakes?”

“I hear they’re selling five thousand pieces a day.”

“Meaning whoever eats at Noble Dish will likely eat there as well.”

I didn’t think they knew of my design, but they must be taken care of. They were getting in my way.

“Bring that shop down.”

“Attempts have already been made, and they have all failed.”

“They have guards?”

“Yes. A B-Rank adventurer called Steelclaw Colbert is among them. The girls manning the cashiers are a D-Rank party.”

“And what of Linford’s men? That’s why he’s in on this operation.”

Linford was a researcher like Zelyse. The alchemist had introduced me to him months ago. The old mage was apparently running a mercenary outfit. It was made up of combat veterans, although some of them had criminal records so long I had to intervene just so they could get into the city. These men were even worse than Zelyse, but at least they were good at unnecessary violence.

They were registered under the Ythra Trade Association, though they answered directly to me.

“We’ve sent some of our strongest out there, but…”

“They were defeated? The owner is a measly D-Rank!”

“Well, not a single one of our men has returned. I’ve even sent some of the YTA men, just to make sure. But they haven’t contacted us, either. It’s like they completely disappeared.”

“What…? Is someone secretly protecting her?”

“I do not know. What I do know is that this D-Rank adventurer has ties to the Phyllian royalty.”

“The Phyllians, you say?”

“According to my sources, yes.”

“She might have a personal guard attached to her… Find out more about this girl.”

“I am looking into it, rest assured. However, given that she only recently arrived, there isn’t much information. She has ties to the Lucille Trade Association, but you know how tight-lipped they can be.”

How were we supposed to exploit her weaknesses when we didn’t know anything about her? This lowly adventurer kept getting in the way of my plans! Damn it all!

“Shall I mobilize the mercenaries and YTA tradesmen?” I asked. “I doubt she would be able to hold her own against thirty men.”

“You could, but wouldn’t your father take notice?”

“Damn it.”

My father had men loyal to his cause. If I moved too quickly, my plans for a coup might be exposed. Loathsome old man! If not for him, I wouldn’t have to bother with any of this!

“Brook, you are not suited to become count,” my father had said. 

How dare he deny my birthright! My numbskull elder brother was only good as dumb muscle! He had neither the knowledge nor the pride of a true aristocrat! I wanted to kill him every time he was friendly to the rabble. I was the rightful heir, not him! If my father couldn’t see that, I had no choice but to make him.

I would throw Bulbola into chaos and pin the blame on my father. I would kill my fool brother in the confusion, and then I would be Lord of the House of Christon.

I tasked Zelyse with concocting the chaos. I originally planned to contaminate the city’s water supply with his poison, but Zelyse suggested our current plan. A plan so destructive it would be enough to throw the entire state of Bulbola into disarray. I adopted his plan. Many would surely die, most of them commoners. A small price to pay for me to become Marquis Christon.

The crux of this plan was my other fool brother, Weint.

Weint was a talentless little brat. He was the youngest and apparently touched by the spirit of cooking as a child. It moved him enough to pursue a lowly profession as a cook. He’d pursued it genuinely too, not content to let it be merely a secondary source of income. The brat opened a restaurant. Not that it flourished by virtue of his skills—he was talentless. I tasted his cooking once. It was nothing special. 

He’d lost interest in the culinary world long ago and only kept his store open for the fame. Now he was a third-rate cook, serving third-rate food at extortionary prices.

Still, I needed his restaurant to further my plans. Oh, the look on his face when he passed the preliminaries… The fool actually thought he had talent! He only got through after I greased the palms of the Chefs’ Guild committee, and his regulars were other nobles who wanted to get in the good graces of my father and brother. Weint seemed to have mistaken their brownnosing for actual approval. 

I had underestimated his idiocy, though. I did not expect him to hire such loose-lipped thugs to intimidate the other stores. And his ploy to play the victim himself to try and gain approval? The fool. The Chefs’ Guild had already begun investigations, although I supposed I could convince them to hold off his disqualification until after he served his purpose. The guild might seem like it was filled with stubborn snobs, but not all of them were unflinching. Some of them gladly took my donations.

That was how I got this plan rolling in the first place.

I supplied Weint with cursed Mana Water to use in his cooking. Linford and Zelyse specifically manufactured it for that purpose.

I did not know the specifics, but this Fiend Water cursed anyone who consumed it, causing them to become Possessed. Consume enough of it, and it sent them flying into a blind rage. The genius of Fiend Water lay with its timed release, allowing the citizens of Bulbola to disperse and go about their business before they went berserk.

Not that I told Weint, of course. I just let him know it added a little something special to his “already delicious cooking.”

I expected the Noble Dish would get three thousand customers per day throughout the contest. That made close to ten thousand in total, more than enough to send Bulbola into a chaotic riot. Then we would use Zelyse’s familiars to subdue the city.

After that, the Count would have to take responsibility. Abdication at best, criminal charges at worst. All for failing to protect Granzell’s Window to the World.

The mere image of my father in court was enough to cheer me up, but now came a stumbling block to my plans. Bread which could cure anything… How dare she create such an abomination! Zelyse mentioned that while crime rates were up compared to last year, more guards were posted in anticipation. I had to get rid of Black Tail one way or another.

“Bring him in.”

“Are you sure? He might make more of a splash than you expect.”

“We have no choice!”

“Understood. I’ll call him right away.”

Ten minutes passed.

A giant of a man, over two meters tall, stood before me. His bronze skin was covered with innumerable scars. He was muscled to the point where armor seemed unnecessary. You would be forgiven for thinking that he had Ogre blood.

This was Linford’s strongest mercenary, a former C-Rank adventurer held back only by his temper. In truth, he was as strong as a B-Rank. He sparred with one of my men, a C-Rank adventurer himself, and beat him to submission in an instant.

The giant was named Theraclede and had earned the moniker of the Mad Warrior. He was a blood knight, interested only in fighting the strong in the name of becoming stronger himself. Fighting his companions was a given, and he killed his sparring partners more often than not.

When Theraclede was expelled from the Adventurers’ Guild, he wandered the continent of Chrome and racked up quite the bounty for himself. He was once employed by a certain country, but when he got to the battlefield he slaughtered everyone, friend and foe.

One of his victims happened to be the prince of the country that hired him. Having lost its commander, the army was thrown into disarray. Inevitably, they lost their claim on the territory. A huge bounty was placed on him then, but it seemed to please the Mad Warrior… Now he had a guaranteed stream of strong opponents.

I could never understand him. He seemed to relegate the task of thinking to his muscles, but I knew that he was immensely strong.

“I have a job for you.”

“Been a while since I let loose. I hope this job of yours will give me that chance.”

“Worry not. It’s not like you’re good for anything else.”

“Ha ha ha! You’re smarter than you look.”

Theraclede laughed, though I knew not why. His capriciousness was the main reason I’d avoided using him. But I couldn’t afford that anymore. If this adventurer was as strong as Zelyse said, maybe they would kill each other.

“Woof!”

“Hm? What was that…?”

I heard a barking noise after Theraclede had left the room. Strange. I didn’t keep pets.

“Perhaps the stress is getting to me.”

It sounded like a large dog…but it must be my imagination.