Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 18 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

A Company Venture

“HAAH… HAAH…”

The young knight Lienhard, who had only barely turned fifteen, found himself at the very top of Quagmire Tower. His hands were tightly clenched around the hilt of his sword as he gasped for breath.

“Kehehe. What’s wrong, hero? Is that all you’ve got?” 

Standing before him was an ominous figure in a gray robe wearing a suspicious white mask.

“Do you really think you’ll be able to defeat the evil, all-powerful magician Rud—err, ahem—Ruquag Mire with those puny attacks?”

“D-dammit!” He adjusted his grip on his sword. As he plodded forward, his legs felt like lead, but he still managed to slash his weapon through the air.

The ease with which Ruquag Mire avoided the blow made it seem like he was mocking Lienhard, and then he thrust his right hand toward the young knight. In an instant, an invisible shock wave rippled through the air, throwing Lienhard backward.

“Gaah?!”

“Ah! Lienhard!” cried a beautiful girl chained in the corner of the room. She wore a light peach-colored dress, and atop her head rested a tiny golden crown. This girl was the princess of Toile, a small kingdom in the Northern Territories.

“Fear not, princess! I’ll defeat this perverted fiend quickly, and then the two of us will return home together!” As he gave this rousing speech, Lienhard forced his unsteady body back up, flashing the best smile he could muster at Gertrude.

“H-hey!” Ruquag Mire cut in, flustered. “Who are you calling a pervert, huh?!”

“You, obviously! You robbed the princess of her underwear, and if that wasn’t bad enough, you put them on your head! Have you no shame?!”

“You’ve got it all wrong! I brought these from home, I’ll have you know. Honestly, how rude!”

It didn’t matter who that underwear belonged to. Lienhard was the only knight left; if he lost, Princess Gertrude would fall into Ruquag Mire’s grubby hands. It was only a matter of time before he really did put the princess’s panties on his head.

“Graaaah!”

“Is that all you’ve got?”

Lienhard charged at the magician, but Ruquag Mire dodged with impressive speed, almost like an insect, and sent Lienhard flying back with another shock wave. He’d been doing the same thing the entire fight.

“Guh…” Lienhard groaned. “Dammit. I can’t…let you have your way…with our princess.” 

Lienhard’s body was covered in cuts and bruises, but the fighting spirit had never left him. Spurred on by a strong sense of duty, he lunged at Ruquag Mire once more.

“Kehehe! Sure are a loyal one, aren’t you? But think about it. Even though the king’s daughter was kidnapped, he sent only a pathetic handful of people to her rescue. Is that really a man worthy of such loyalty?”

“It has nothing to do with him or the country. I’m doing this because…because I…I love the princess!” Lienhard shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing throughout the tower.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Gertrude pressed both hands over her mouth, a tear trickling down her cheek.

“Raahh!” Lienhard roared once more.

“Kehehe! What a touching display of love. Sadly for you, love’s not enough to overcome the gap in power between us!”

“Gaaaah!” Once again, Lienhard was sent hurtling through the air. “D-dammit… I can’t even get close to him. What am I supposed to do…?!”

“Kehehe!” Ruquag Mire cackled. “There is no way you can defeat me. Perhaps if you possessed my greatest weakness—a Superd statue and the picture book that goes along with it, depicting the man’s many achievements… But without that, it’s impossible! Bwahahaha!”

“Ah!” Lienhard sucked in a breath as the realization hit him. The mention of a Superd statue clued him in. In fact, while he was on his way here, a suspicious fortune-teller did some exaggerated divination without even asking his permission and then forced the demon statue upon him. The fortune-teller swore the statue would eventually come in handy, but he never would have dreamed that it was the key to this fight!

Lienhard made a jump for his bag, which he’d left discarded by the doorway. He fished the statue from it—it depicted a warrior with emerald-green hair and a white spear in hand. Along with it, he pulled out the very picture book Ruquag Mire had mentioned.

“No! Don’t tell me?!” Ruquag Mire gasped.

“That’s right. The Superd items you fear so much!”

“Yes! The very man who has been painted a villain by the whole world but is actually incredibly kind and deeply loves children… A legendary hero who played a vital role in defeating Laplace… The statue of Ruijerd Superdia!”

Honestly, Lienhard knew nothing about what he was saying. He hadn’t read the picture book, but the items seemed to be effective at least.

“Nooo, my power…it’s waning!” Ruquag Mire cried, staggering.

“Lienhard!” Princess Gertrude shouted at her hero. “Now, do it!”

“Raaaahh!” Lienhard grabbed up his sword once more and flung himself at the evil magician. Ruquag Mire raised his limp right hand to try to stop the attack, but he was already too late. The blade buried itself deep, deep inside his ches—wait, no, it didn’t. There was a noisy clang as it glanced off something beneath the robe.

Urgh! This still isn’t enough? Lienhard was on the cusp of giving up, but then…

“Gwaaaaaah!” Ruquag Mire let out an earsplitting cry as light poured from his body, flinging him directly toward the balcony. He slammed into the railing, let out a pathetic grunt, and tumbled over the edge.

This tower was three stories high, but that wasn’t enough to kill a mage like him. Convinced of that, Lienhard made his way to the balcony and peered over the edge. In that instant, an enormous explosion erupted from below. The wind from the blast caressed Lienhard’s cheeks, ruffling his hair.

“Whoa!” he gasped.

When the smoke cleared, Lienhard was greeted by an impact crater around the area where Ruquag Mire had most likely fallen. The trees around it had all been mowed down by the blast.

That was when Lienhard realized what must have happened. Although Ruquag Mire had armor beneath his robe, there must also have been a central core there that Lienhard had damaged during his attack. That had caused the magician’s mana to go out of control, popping him like one might a balloon.

What mattered was that he’d won. Lienhard was the victor.

“Lienhard!” the princess cried.

“Princess! Are you all right?” He rushed over toward her, cradling her in his arms.

“Lienhard, oh, Lienhard! I just knew you would come to save me!”

“Your Highness… I am fully aware of how shameful it 

is for me to have romantic feelings for someone as noble as you, but I…I just…”

She shook her head. “No, that’s not true at all. Because you see, Lienhard, I…I love you as well.”

“Princess… I am so undeserving of those words! But come, let’s hurry back to the castle!”

“Agreed!”

And with that, the great, evil magician Ruquag Mire met his grim end. Lienhard was welcomed back to his home country and hailed as a hero, earning himself a high rank among the nobility. The king even permitted his relationship with the princess. The two would eventually marry and live happily ever after.

The end.

Rudeus

“MAN, that was draining.”

My assignment this time was to make sure the young knight Lienhard got with Gertrude, the princess of a tiny country. One of their grandchildren would apparently come in useful for Orsted. Ordinarily, their relationship would not be allowed by virtue of the difference in their status despite their love being mutual. The king knew of their reciprocal affections and tried to 

encourage the two, but social standing prevented him from openly arranging a union between them. Instead, the king hoped that Lienhard might distinguish himself in battle, so he could use his valor as an excuse to seal the deal. The issue was that Lienhard was a coward at heart, so he typically squandered every opportunity that cropped up.

Left with no other choice, and desperate for the boy to make some kind of name for himself, the king decided to deploy him to the front lines during a war with a neighboring country. Lienhard would (unsurprisingly) perish in battle. Princess Gertrude would then be forced into a political marriage as nothing more than a pawn to barter for peace. 

These events would, in later years, be transformed into a song which recounted the angry king who sent a shameless young knight in love with the princess into the frontlines of battle, where he inevitably lost his life. As they say, no child knows how dear they really are to their parents.

Anyway, my job was to subvert the fate that awaited them and make it so Lienhard and Gertrude really did end up together. I started by contacting the country’s king. I proposed a plan to kidnap the princess and keep her hostage in a tower surrounded by a forest on the outskirts of the kingdom. Then, the king only had to send Lienhard in to save her. The king was skeptical at first, but I managed to convince him by invoking Ariel’s name. And thus, masquerading as the great, evil magician Ruquag Mire, I kidnapped the princess.

Incidentally, the tower I imprisoned her in was handmade by yours truly. It was something I slapped together which would certainly collapse if an earthquake hit, but was fit enough to serve its intended purpose.

Before Lienhard set out for the tower, I disguised myself as a fortune-teller and gave him a hint about how to beat Ruquag Mire. This was a ‘two birds with one stone’ sort of deal, since I took the opportunity to hand out my Superd figure and book while I was at it. Then I hurried back to the tower before he arrived. All that was left was to wait for him to brazenly barge in and engage me in battle. After a long, grueling battle, I would let him defeat me.

It was much easier said than done. In truth, it was a thankless, backbreaking job to take care of everything by myself—from negotiations and preparations to the actual enacting of the plan itself. In hindsight, maybe it didn’t have to be so grandiose, but hey! Things worked out in the end.

“I’m seriously pooped.”

Exhaustion aside, my mission was successful. I began dragging myself back home, where Orsted’s praise and gratitude would surely await. Getting back to Sharia would take about a month.

Perhaps it would be best to have Sylphie help relieve my fatigue. Seeing such a young invigorating couple made me desperate to see Sylphie’s embarrassed expression again. I wanted to enjoy a passionate night, you know? Unleash the carnal beast inside and… 

Well, the truth was that Sylphie had grown kind of used my antics so she didn’t act all that embarrassed anymore. The last time I peeked at her while she was changing, she just said, “Hey, Rudy, could you hand me those pants over there?” Apparently I needed to up the ante to make her blush. But even if I made a kinky request, she might just casually respond, “Oh, Rudy, you pervert.”

Regardless, I made it back home, where things were much like I remembered. Byt opened the door for me, and Lucie ran from me. I stopped to caress Eris’s tummy, groped Sylphie’s butt, patted Lara on the head, and licked Sylphie’s ear. Then Leo licked my hand, and Lucie ran from me again…

It brought such relief to be surrounded by family like this. When I lived in Japan, my father would return from business trips looking ragged but somehow at peace. Perhaps this was how he’d felt.

Since Norn was supposed to come back home today, I figured I’d lounge on the living room couch and relax while waiting for her and Roxy. As I sank into the cushions, a realization hit me.

“Huh? I don’t see Aisha anywhere. Is she out shopping?”

The moment I asked, Lilia’s expression shifted, eyes narrowed and lips pursed. Sylphie also pulled a face, looking troubled. Eris, however, looked the same as ever. An uncomfortable mood hung in the air. Oh boy, what could be the cause of this? I wondered.

“You see,” Lilia started, looking apologetic, “Aisha has been out of the house a lot lately…”

Out of the house… Oh, right. I almost forgot. I asked her to do a job for me, didn’t I?

“You mean she’s doing the work I entrusted her with, right?” I asked.

“I’m not so certain about that. She’s increasingly associating herself with some awful, questionable characters. I don’t see how that can be entirely work-related.”

Questionable characters, huh? The first image that popped in my mind was a bunch of guys with mohawk haircuts and shoulder pads. The type who’d drive extremely fuel-inefficient motorbikes despite the environmental effects, all the while cackling, “Gyahaha!” Whoever they really were, I could only guess they were people that Linia had recruited.

“Um, you see, Rudy,” Sylphie said, “there have been some really strange-looking people showing up in the city lately. They’re dressed in all black, and it seems like Aisha has been with them a lot.”

It had only been a month since I entrusted that work to Aisha and Linia. It was difficult for me to believe they’d managed to draw in enough people you could regularly spot them on the streets.

Wearing all black, huh? Hm… Aisha was already fourteen. She was going through puberty, which meant she was in that rebellious, edgy phase. Teens her age often lashed out against family and acted too big for their britches. Perhaps it was because I forced her to interact more with the outside world that she got swept up with a bad crowd like that.

“My deepest apologies, Lord Rudeus,” said Lilia. “I never dreamed Aisha would do something like this. She will be home later tonight, and I will be sure to scold her for it then.”

Oh. So she wasn’t coming back in the wee hours of the morning then? That was a relief at least.

As I thought that, Sylphie blurted out something strange. “You know, Aisha said she had your permission to do all of this.”

I stared at her. Aisha said she had my permission? Suddenly, the worst possible scene imaginable popped up in my mind. I pictured Linia’s recruits gathered in a warehouse, vulgar grins on their faces as they licked their lips. Who did these nasty thugs have their gazes pinned on? None other than the beautiful Linia and Aisha. Crammed in that small warehouse, the thugs would no doubt circle the girls and…well, I could only imagine.

Sure, Linia was a pretty decent fighter, but only against average opponents. She might be overwhelmed in a scenario where they were outnumbered. As for Aisha, I’d long thought of her as a child, but her body had begun rapidly developing lately. Her chest would be the same size as her mother’s in no time. Plus, even as her brother, I had to admit she was cute. Her face was as charming as Paul’s, enhanced by the canines that showed when she grinned.

Crap. I really screwed up. Linia and Aisha were both beautiful, yet I was thoughtless enough to ask them to assemble a group of shady people. I basically threw fresh meat into an ocean full of sharks! Although—just so we’re clear—I didn’t specifically ask them to gather a bunch of thugs!

“Eris… Eris, you didn’t stop her?” I asked, feeling a lump in my throat.

“…Huh? What for?” Eris tilted her head.

Ah, right. Perhaps Eris has no interest in Aisha at all.

“Those were all small fries anyway.”

Or not. This was Eris we were talking about. To her, there was no real difference between a kitten and a lion. Even if these guys were suspicious enough to worry Lilia and Sylphie, they were little more than mild delinquents as far as Eris was concerned.

No, I shouldn’t be relying on Eris anyway. She’s pregnant right now. Plus, I was the one who started all of this. I need to be the one to handle it.

“All right,” I said after giving it some thought. “I’ll go take care of it.”

I had no intention of dictating who Aisha could and couldn’t hang out with. Sometimes, the people society deemed unsavory weren’t that bad once you got to talking with them. There were still boundaries, though. Aisha wasn’t an adult yet. If these guys were trying to make use of her with little regard for the consequences, then I, her older brother, would shoulder the burden of stepping in to save her. No doubt Paul would do the same.

 Actually, Paul would probably be classified as a shady character himself.

“Do you know where their hangout is?” I asked.

“I can lead you there,” Eris said, without missing a beat. But she was pregnant. Should I really let her come with me? She’d probably try to jump in and fight if things took a violent turn. I couldn’t risk that.

“I’m going too,” said Sylphie.

As much as I appreciated the sentiment, I shook my head. “No. I’m going to go alone.” 

I’d been picturing the worst-case scenario in my mind, but who knew if anything fishy was indeed afoot? With that as my justification, I headed out to see this hangout Aisha had been frequenting. I’d hardly had time to breathe since getting home from my latest assignment, but there was no use complaining about that.

***

Sylphie tipped me off about their location: the third block of the adventurers’ district. The two-story building, constructed of magic-resistant brick, was far removed from the main thoroughfare. An impressive abode that somewhat resembled an Adventurers’ Guild or a pub. The door looked too new to be the original and was painted an inky black with the emblem of a ferocious tiger in the middle.

As I moved toward the door, a group of men exited who were clad entirely in black. They wore identical coats with that tiger emblem emblazoned on the back. For reasons I could only guess, they were all carrying hoes and sickles.

“’Kay boys, here we go! Whoo!”

“Yeaaaah!”

They pumped each other up as they walked past me, heading for the main road.

That was unsettling. They were like a bunch of crazed sports fans heading out to cheer at a baseball game. No doubt they’d been convinced tigers were more powerful than any lion and were headed out to brawl with some lions as combat practice. Now that’s just plain terrifying. Am I gonna be okay?

Thanks to Orsted’s training, I had become even stronger. I’d even stopped by the office to equip my magic armor for this occasion, just in case. I would be fine, surely. No way was I gonna lose to a couple of low-ranking thugs. And anyway, I couldn’t back down simply because they were scary. My adorable little sister Aisha was hanging around these ruffians. No matter how clever she was, she would be powerless in a fight. At least they let her go home at night, but there was no telling what they’d been doing to her during the day. I had to save her, no matter how many enemies came at me.

This would all work out. I already knew what tactics I should use when faced with overwhelming numbers. Land three punches, then spin around for a second and throw one fist at the air, and turn back and punch three more times. Just like in Final Fight—interrupting the combo so you could start it from the beginning and knock out your opponent. That’d be enough to take them out.

“P-pardon the intrusion…” I nudged the door open and stepped inside.

Something akin to a lobby spread out before me: a wide space dotted with barrels at certain intervals. Why barrels? Because they were serving as makeshift tables. There were several people sitting around them with liquor bottles in hand, merrily chugging away. Exactly like a pub. One thing set it apart, however: each person here had the same black coat with the tiger emblazoned on the back.

Oh crap. Now I’m shaking in my boots.

“You got some business here?” One of them—a beastman with the face of a lion—noticed me and strolled over. He was taller than me, and bulkier. His coat barely fit over what was bound to be some impressive musculature. Unfortunately for him, bulk didn’t correlate to fighting capability. Neither Orsted nor Ruijerd looked like ripped macho types, but they were ridiculously powerful all the same.

“Um, well, you see…” I mumbled. “My sister. I came to see her. Could you perhaps tell me if she’s here?”

It was important to be well-mannered. Even if my power dwarfed this guy completely, there was still protocol to be followed. Part of the secret to my success in making it in this world was being polite to everyone I met for the first time. It most certainly was not because I was intimidated. No, sir.

“Your sister, huh?” Suspicious, the man scrutinized me for a moment before scanning the lobby.

Now that I had calmed down a bit and could look around, I noticed that there were a large number of women, even among those dressed in all black. They didn’t necessarily look shady, but they all looked like warriors with a past. If nothing else, they’d lived far tougher lives than the students attending the University of Magic. I guess that made them somewhat shady. Even so, Aisha was not among them.

“’Scuse me for a sec,” said the man as he leaned toward me. 

What? You want a piece of me, huh? Who do you think you are? J-just so you know, I’m good friends with Orsted! I tensed up, ready for this to get ugly, but the guy just sniffed the air around me. Apparently he was checking my smell. That’s kinda embarrassing. I tilted my head, confused.

Midway through, his brow furrowed. He froze and studied my face for a moment, then retreated a couple of steps.

Crap. Do I really stink that badly? I guess I did barely get home, so I haven’t had a chance to hop in the bath yet.

“Sorry, but uh, are you…Miss Aisha’s brother?” he asked. Apparently he was able to figure that out from the sweaty stench of my unwashed body.

“Um, yes, that’s correct. My name is Rudeus Greyrat. Is my…I mean, is Aisha present?”

Of course. It was important to do introductions. The first step of proper communication was giving your name and letting the other person know who you were affiliated with. I was quite famous around the city, so introducing myself was a good way of discouraging people from doing anything unsavory.

Noise suddenly erupted around me. The moment I spoke my name, the atmosphere in the room changed. Every person in the vicinity who’d heard my voice suddenly turned their gaze toward me.

“Greyrat, he said.”

“So that guy there is…”

“I knew I’d eventually see him for myself one day, but to think today would be that day…”

I felt very, very out of my element. This can’t be good. There was something familiar about this. As I recalled, Eris had once gone berserk in the past, and I had to go apologize to the group she beat up—a group like this one. The atmosphere right now felt the same.

Perhaps Eris had already roughed these guys up? Wait, that’d be strange. In that case, why hadn’t Aisha come back to us? Maybe Aisha had talked Eris down? Okay, but hold up. Then that would mean she’s here of her own volition, right? Impossible. These guys had to be threatening her.

Ugh. Maybe I shouldn’t have given them my real name. It might have been better to give them my alias, Ruquag Mire instead. It was too late for regrets, though.

“…that means you’re the chairman!”

“He’s our chairman!”

“Chairman Rudeus!”

For some reason, all the people in the room started bowing. No normal bow, mind you; they all stood at attention and did the forty-five-degree bow, as was proper Japanese etiquette. What made it more odd was that they all did it in unison.

“Uh?” I blinked slowly. What the heck is going on here?

The man in front of me had bent low enough for me to see the top of his head. “My deepest apologies for not recognizing you right away, Chairman,” he said.

“Sorry?” I blurted.

“The advisor is this way. I’ll guide you there.”

“Advisor? Uh, all right then.” I was having trouble keeping up with the course of this conversation.

The man straightened his shoulders, tail fully erect as he motioned me deeper into the building. I may not have understood what he was talking about, but if he was willing to show me the way, the least I could do was physically follow him. We climbed to the next floor, where he led me to one of the innermost rooms and said, “Through there.” 

It was fairly dark inside, and a portrait of a mysterious yet handsome man hung on the wall gave the place an eerie vibe. It was within this room where I found them—the shadiest people in the entire city. They wore the same black coats as the group I’d seen on the first floor, and despite it being nearly summer, they were sporting what resembled white mufflers around their necks. Even though the room was completely sealed and barely lit, they wore sunglasses. The pair sat opposite one another, grinning devilishly as they counted gold coins together.

“Mewhahaha! It really was a good call to buy these sunglasses after all. The gleam of these gold coins would’ve blinded me otherwise, mew!”

One of the two cackled, wearing an unpleasant grin on her face. Perhaps it was the lack of illumination in the room, but her teeth seemed to glimmer like gold as well. The sunglasses made it impossible to make out her face, but I didn’t have to see it to know the money had gone to her head. Her eyes were probably dollar signs right now. As far as I was concerned, she already was blinded.

“Ah, almost forgot. Here’s the fees for this month, mew.”

“Very good.” The young girl beside her, also wearing glasses, nodded. She sat primly in her chair, arrogantly leaning back as if she were the boss of some big enterprise. She kept her chin held high as the other woman nudged over the pile of golden coins. There had to be at least ten of them.

From what I could tell, the coins weren’t Asuran gold coins but the type used here in Ranoa Kingdom.

The younger girl perfunctorily counted the money she’d been handed and tossed them into an empty coin bag lying nearby. She quickly jotted down the amount tendered and signed her name before passing the receipt over to the cat-eared woman.

“There, payment received,” she said.

“Yup, mew!”

“And?” The younger girl jerked her chin at the cat-eared woman, prompting her for more.

“Mewhahaha! And this is the consulting fee, mew.” The cat-eared woman passed over one of the many mini-towers of golden coins. There were probably about five or six coins per stack. “With this, I hope I can expect you to keep workin’ with me-ow, yeah?”

“Why, of course. I intend to continue working with you for a loooong time to come.”

“Mewhahaha!” snickered the cat-eared woman. “You really are rotten to the core, aren’t ya?”

The younger girl’s lips pulled into a devious smile as she replied, “Hehehe, not nearly as rotten as you, Linia.” She dumped the money into a different coin bag before depositing it into the front of her dress, right in the valley between her breasts. “Oh!”

Finally, they noticed the young beastman and me standing at the entrance.

“Chairman Rudeus is here to see you, Chief Linia and Advisor Aisha.”

Yes, indeed. The two figures in sunglasses before me were, in fact, Linia and Aisha.

The girls welcomed me and motioned for me to sit, so I plopped myself down on a couch while they took their seats opposite of me.

“What is this? What is going on?” 

I decided I’d better get a feel for the situation before talking about anything else. After all, I did order the two to assemble a group of people. I did not, however, rent out this building or tell them to make everyone dress in black. There were also way more people here than I imagined.

“Well, you see, Big Brother… We did as you told us to. We gathered people and did some business with them,” said Aisha.

I nodded. “Uh-huh. Give me details.”

Aisha gave me the lowdown. After I’d left on my assignment, Linia and Aisha immediately set about recruiting people. They mainly focused on students still attending the university, graduates, and people from the Adventurers’ Guild. Before they knew it, they had thirty members. That’s right, thirty out of nowhere. With that many people, the little warehouse I bought to serve as our office was far too cramped. Aisha quickly sold it off, then used her own personal connections to solicit sponsors and rent this building instead. As for the portrait in the room of the handsome man, that was actually me; Zanoba had painted it in my likeness. He’d glorified my looks so much that it didn’t resemble me in the slightest, though.

“As you can imagine, there was no solidarity between our members since we cobbled the team together on the fly…not to mention how we didn’t even have a concrete idea of how we were going to operate,” Aisha said.

Since it took no time at all to pull people in, they had a long time to wait until I returned from my assignment. They would lose people if they didn’t decide on a direction they wanted to go with the company. Aisha visited the Floating Fortress to consult Nanahoshi for that reason. She swiped the flute from my room—the one Perugius had given me in case I ever had need of him—and summoned Arumanfi to take her there. She then paid her respects to Perugius before seeing Nanahoshi and receiving some guidance.

I stared at her for a moment, lost for words. “Huh? You met Lord Perugius?”

“Yeah. He was a pretty cool guy.”

That sure was a bold, and arguably dangerous, move to do without saying a word to me. Perugius could have ended her life in seconds if she’d pissed him off. Though…no. He was pretty magnanimous, after all, and way too level-headed to fly off the handle when dealing with someone as young as Aisha. Besides, if she innocently commented on how “cool” Perugius was, Sylvaril would probably give her favorable treatment.

“And so, you see…” Aisha continued.

Nanahoshi’s suggestions were uniforms, and proper manners. By having everyone wear the same clothes, it heightened their sense of solidarity so they wouldn’t jump ship so easily, even if they didn’t have a clear direction. On top of that, teaching them military customs and courtesies would increase clients’ trust.

Aisha took Nanahoshi’s advice to heart and bought some cheap, overstocked clothes from one of her acquaintances’ clothing stores. That’s what resulted in the gloomy black coats. Even Aisha realized that pure black outfits would be a bad look, so she bought some overstock yellow fabric from the same store using her own pocket money, and then sewed rat emblems onto each coat.

Yes, rat emblems. She took inspiration from our Greyrat name. Since it was yellow on black, I thought for sure they were supposed to be tigers.

Phew, dodged a bullet there. Good thing I didn’t tell her how cool I thought the tiger emblems were.

Once they were all in the same outfits, Aisha started teaching them proper manners, such as how to properly bow. The perfect forty-five-degree bow is what we call “ojigi” in Japanese. It was easy enough for anyone to pick up, and people would understand at a glance that the person was trying to be respectful. 

Anyway, that was how it all came together—an organization of people wearing all black and bowing their heads super low.

With that out of the way, Aisha started to consider what they could make these new employees do. The majority of them were beastfolk that Linia had recruited. They didn’t really have any talents outside of fighting. We’re talking jock types addicted to bench-pressing, who couldn’t even read numbers, let alone letters. There were some bright minds among them, but for every smart person there were at least five more who were meatheads.

The only idea that came to mind for a group like that was mercenary work, so that was what the girls decided to do. It also helped them to pick a name, which they derived from the very pseudonym I often employed: Ruquag’s Mercenary Band.

There was one issue, however. Sharia was right in the middle of the Three Magic Nations, which were relatively peaceful places. There were no wars going on, and it would take too much time to deploy people to places that were embroiled in conflict. So Aisha devised the idea of a bodyguard business. For a set price, a person could hire several of our mercenaries for a period of time. One person would be appointed leader of the group, and they would call the shots during an assignment. If someone were to die or get injured on the job, the company would immediately send a replacement. 

In other words, they were leasing out bodyguards. Definitely not a crime gang. Absolutely not.

“And once we opened a business, we immediately shot to fame.”

With the Doldia Tribe’s princess acting as the company’s leader, it managed to earn a peculiar amount of trust from the people. On top of that, Aisha’s advertising and the personal connections of individual members quickly made the group popular. Within fourteen to fifteen days of the band’s founding, they were already receiving requests from big shots like the Ranoa Kingdom’s Order of Knights, the Magicians’ Guild, and the Magical Implement Workshop. Their membership was increasing in the meantime, which was why they currently had fifty or so people about the city.

Sharia had all sorts of people: knights, students, smiths, and workshop artisans, and so on. Factions naturally formed within this diversity, which resulted in a number of fights and minor spats. That created the need for a niche industry—a neutral party that could protect those involved.

If we didn’t watch our step, the mercenary band could become a faction of its own, but that was why Aisha thought it best to accept requests from anyone without discrimination, in order to maintain that neutrality.

“We have been setting aside some of what we earn as company fees, but even then we’ve still raked in way more than I ever imagined,” said Aisha.

“You got that right, mew. Everyone pays us way more in fees than we even thought they would. They’re honest people, the lot of ’em, mew.”

So they made a bodyguard organization that’s slightly different from the Adventurers’ Guild. They’d also turned over a pretty decent profit in the process, making for a smooth start to our business. Of course, the total amount of revenue was nothing big; it would still take a very, very long time before Linia could repay all that she owed. But even so, if we expanded our business or changed our services after filling our coffers, she might be able to repay it pretty quickly. In fact, I didn’t mind writing off the rest of what she owed once she’d returned at least half of it. I wasn’t really after money anyway.

I pursed my lips.

Honestly, this was completely different from what I had pictured in my head. No, maybe that didn’t matter. If things were going smoothly, then that was good enough. I never dreamed things would work out this well. I suspected Aisha’s skillful touch was responsible for this venture’s success. She was a genius, and if she hadn’t been serious about doing this, it would have taken much longer for the business to get off the ground. I never thought she would be this dedicated.

“I didn’t realize you loved money this much, Aisha,” I said with a sigh.

“Hey, that’s not it at all.” Aisha’s lips puckered in a pout, as if she was offended by the notion. “The only thing I love this much is you, Big Brother. You said this would be to my benefit, so I gave it a hundred and ten percent.”

“Aisha…”

Her eyes glimmered as she looked at me. Gosh, she was so cute. If only she wasn’t my sister, then I might be tempted.

“Also, it’d be a big pain if this cat came back to the house,” Aisha added.

Ah, that’s probably the real reason. I thought they seemed to be getting along so well, but I guess maybe I was mistaken, huh? Nah, that’s one thing. This is another.

“Well, whatever the case, you did a good job,” I said, patting her on the head.

Aisha broke out into a grin. “Ehehe, thank you!”

Circumstances aside, at least we’d found a way for Linia to start repaying her debt. There had to be some promising talents at the office too, considering how many they had gathered. Surely one of them would have a knack for trade. Maybe I could find someone to work at Orsted’s company as well as someone to hire as our store clerk to help us sell Ruijerd figures.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that they’d come this far in only a month, but that was Aisha for you. I might have underestimated just how capable she was.

“Still, Miss Lilia has been worried, so let’s sit down and have a little talk at home,” I suggested.

“Whaat?” Aisha frowned. “But Mother is so hardheaded. She won’t understand even if I explain it to her, and I want to keep doing this kind of work for a little while.”

“It’ll be okay. I’ll explain to her that I asked you to do this.”

I’d feel wrong forcing her to continue if she was unwilling, but strangely, Aisha was pumped to keep going. I’d let her if that was what she wanted. Plus, seeing how much she had accomplished here made me feel like it was a waste to simply keep her as a maid in the house.

“All right,” she said. “I trust you, Big Brother. You know, she’s really soft when it comes to you. So make sure you explain everything to her properly, okay?”

And with this, I had my own subordinates under the company name Ruquag’s Mercenary Band. I’d never had people working under me like this. I could use them for all kinds of things for me in the future. So many possibilities opened up before me.

“Oh yeah, Boss!”

Lost in my thoughts, I was just about ready to take Aisha home when Linia called out.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Got a letter recently from the Great Forest, mew.”

Huh. From the Great Forest? Written by Pursena, I assumed.

Linia passed it to me. I noticed it was addressed to her, and she’d already opened it and read the contents. There was no name to indicate who’d sent it, which made me wonder how she knew it came from the Great Forest. Perhaps the scent? Without wasting any time, I pulled out the letter tucked inside and glanced over the contents. 

My breath caught in my throat.

The writer wasted no time with seasonal greetings or anything of the sort. Their message was simple and short, penned in the Beast Tongue: Big trouble! The Sacred Beast has gone missing! Calling for an emergency search and rescue!

“For his part, the Sacred Beast said to leave it and not worry about it, so it’s probably no big deal, mew.” Linia threaded her fingers behind her head and chuckled.

Silently, I resolved to visit the Great Forest. It’d probably be a good idea to take a gift along as well, as a form of apology.

Ruquag’s Mercenary Band

CHAIRMAN: Rudeus Greyrat

ACTING CEO: Linia Dedoldia

ADVISOR AND VICE CHIEF: Aisha Greyrat

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: Approximately fifty

BRAND: Part of the Orsted Corporation

CONSULTANT: Silent Sevenstar