Chapter 1-19 : Magic Stones (part 2)
「Wi… Wings of Steel…!?」(??)
The people who barged in and captured my two idiot underlings are none other than the most prominent adventurer party in this town, The Wings of Steel.
This is bad! I didn’t expect they would come here to my shop!
They must have interrogated these two idiots!
I need to calm down and pretend I didn’t know them.
「W, What is this all about…? Can I help you…?」(??)
「These men were trying to capture our female fighter’s disciple. After we ‘gently’ interrogated them, they said they were working for this shop’s owner.」(Izack)
「W, what…? Disciple…?」(??)
Is he talking about that little girl?
While I was wondering, the red-haired woman wearing knight armor stepped forward.
「That’s right. Kako is my disciple.」(Maitena)
「Maitena Kushaq…」(??)
Maitena Kushaq… She is a high-ranked adventurer who is a member of the Wings of Steel, but before she became an adventurer, she was the vice-commander of the Silver Ridge Knights of the royal capital and the daughter of Marquis Kushaq, a well-known high-ranked aristocrat in this kingdom.
So that little girl is her disciple…? Dammit! I should have researched more!
「You know me? That’s great. It makes it easier for me to explain. Since Kako is my disciple, she is under the protection of the Kushaq Family. To lay hands on that child is the same as to make the Kushaq Family your enemy. You understand what I’m saying?」(Maitena)
The Marquis Family is protecting that little girl!? Are you f*cking kidding me!?
Dammit! My plan has been ruined!
Anyway, I have to escape from this terrible situation first!
「H, Hold on! Lady Maitena, my apologies, but I believe this is just a misunderstanding! I don’t know these men! They must have tried to ruin my reputation by using my name! They lied to you!」(??)
「…Are you playing dumb?」(Izack)
The one who replied to me in that female knight’s stead was Izack. He squinted and glared at me.
「No! Izack-sama, I swear I don’t know them! I’m just a humble merchant! There’s no way I asked people to kidnap a girl!」(??)
He looked so intimidating, but I tried my best to pretend to be an innocent merchant.
「…I see, so you don’t know these men, huh? Hee~… I see, I see… Then, you don’t mind if we hand these men over to the guards, right?」(Izack)
「Of course, of course! I don’t mind at all. Filthy people who like to kidnap little girls like them should languish in jail for the rest of their lives!」(??)
「No way…」(kidnaper A)
「Boss, how could you…」(kidnaper B)
「Don’t call me ‘boss’! I don’t know you! Stop trying to ruin my reputation!」(??)
While still lying on the floor with their limbs tied with ropes, they looked at me with pitiful faces, but like hell I care about them.
They’re just roughnecks I hired as pawns. They’re good-for-nothing, worthless pieces of shit who do nothing but drink all day at a bar with my money. Nobody cares about them. I can just kill them later to shut their mouths.
I still want the information about the Lost Potion from that girl, but it would be a bad idea to mess with the Kushaq Family.
Gaah! Everything is messed up because of these two idiots!
「Hahaha! I see, so this is just a misunderstanding, huh? I’m glad that the owner of Keema Adventurer Shop is not a child kidnapper. Many adventurers depend on this shop after all.」(Izack)
Izack was laughing as if he believed that it was just a stupid misunderstanding, but he was glaring at me with his sharp eyes.
I know this man. He’s a smart guy. There’s no way he would totally believe what I said.
He must be planning something, but in order to escape from this situation, I should play along for now.
「A, Ahaha… Of course. I wouldn’t dare to do anything that can ruin my own reputation.」(??)
「Yeah, absolutely. Anyway, I’m sorry for barging into your office. I’ll take these guys to the guards then.」(Izack)
「No, it’s okay, and yeah, please take them away.」(??)
Izack grabbed the two idiots’ collars and dragged them away from my office as if holding trash bags.
After all those annoying people left my shop, the emotion that emerged inside me was… anger.
I couldn’t help but clenched my fists and slammed them against my table again.
BAAM!!
And again, it hurts my hands. Dammit!
「How dare… How dare those lowly adventurers threaten me!」(??)
That’s right! Who do they think they are!?
They may be famous but they’re still just lowly adventurers!
Those people won’t be able to work and make money without the products from my store!
「This is bullshit! My plan is ruined! I shouldn’t have hired those idiots! …Khh! Now I need a new plan… What should I do…?」(??)
There’s no way I would give up on the Lost Potions, but this is not a good time to keep stalking that girl and trying to get information from her.
It would be a foolish thing to do when those annoying adventurers are keeping an eye on that girl.
I must wait for a good opportunity. After all, the most important thing for a merchant is the ability to see opportunities, and I believe that I’m capable of that.
「That’s right… I need to stay low for now and wait…」(??)
I have to make a plan and execute it really, really carefully next time.
I’ve done a lot of research since I heard Izack’s arm was healed.
The doctors, priests, and alchemists in this town said that they couldn’t recover lost body parts, so I guessed that the person who healed Izack’s arm came from outside the town.
According to the information I have gathered so far, there are no outsiders other than that little girl who has come into contact with Wings of Steel party members. She was spotted visiting the inn where the Wings of Steel party members were based a couple of times.
At first, I doubted that such a little girl had the ability to heal Izack’s severed arm, but I couldn’t think of anyone other than her.
I’m sure that she is the only reason why Izack was able to return to work as an adventurer.
I heard from one of my men that she sold a bunch of herbs to the merchant guild a while ago. That means that she will eventually go to collect herbs again someday, right?
Hopefully, she will go alone the next time she goes outside the town. That will be the perfect opportunity for me to take action.
「Yeah… I need to act when those annoying adventures are not watching her. After I get the information from her, I can just feed her corpse to the monsters in the forest. That way, there will be no evidence left. As soon as I produce Lost Potions, I will make an offer to the royal family in the royal capital and I will become the richest merchant in this kingdom! Moreover, if the royal family becomes my number one customer, the Kushaq Family won’t be able to do anything to me! What a perfect plan! Khu khu khu… Haaahahahaha!!」(??)
(Third person POV) The man was so focused on thinking about his next plan that he didn’t notice the shadow that silently descended from the roof of his store as he laughed like a crazy person.
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Ooo former knight and was daughter of high noble? Her mc protection is pretty much set but that would be issues in noble world I guess once (fractal/group etc)
I really can’t see Kako making the best use of her ability without some type of protector. Beyond the Cato, someone of royalty or noble that would cover for her. The things she creates are just to eye catching to leave her alone with oh merchant secrets. People would want to know exactly how or where she got the things.
Thank you for the chapter!