Chapter 5-12 : Thugs Ⅳ
Lorea-chan and I were wondering if Baronet Kirk was really a noble.
He was trying to speak pompously, but when he got mad, he spoke like a thug who didn’t even try to hide his bad intentions.
Putting his status as a baronet aside, I think someone who can speak while hiding his intention like Prince Ferik is much scarier than Baronet Kirk because you can’t tell what he is thinking.
There’s also the possibility that Baronet Kirk spoke like that on purpose because he didn’t think it was necessary to cover his intentions while talking with girls like us.
If that was what happened, then it would further proof that Baronet Kirk was not a clever person. After all, a smart person wouldn’t show their emotions without thinking while negotiating even with someone far younger than them.
「By the way, after Baronet Kirk visited the Lotze Family for the first time, I did some research on him. Do you guys know that he is the third feudal lord in this region?」(Kate)
「So he’s the third feudal lord? I didn’t know. My parents and the other villagers don’t talk much about him.」(Lorea)
「You know, South Strugg was not that big of a town a long time ago. It was once a small, undeveloped village. The first feudal lord was a capable person. He began the development of South Strugg, and was continued by his successor, the second feudal lord. However, the development had stopped since the third lord, which is the current Baronet Kirk, started governing this region.」(Kate)
「So that’s what happened. I can see why. That devious lord will never continue the task of his great predecessors. All he does is collect taxes from people without even caring about the development of his region.」(Sarasa)
「Not only that. About ten years ago, the previous lord was about to be promoted to a higher noble rank due to his achievement, but it didn’t happen because his heir, the current Baronet Kirk, caused some kind of great trouble.」(Kate)
Today was the first time Baronet Kirk and I had met face-to-face, but no matter how you look at him, I feel like he’s a straightforward person in a bad way.
Iris-san is a straightforward person too but she’s just being too honest.
「Well, to put it simply, he’s an ignorant idiot, a scumbag in the form of a human being, and an imbecile. We’re living in this village which is a part of his region but I don’t want us to get involved with him more than this if possible.」(Kate)
After Kate said that, insulting Baronet Kirk without hesitation, Iris-san shrugged her shoulders and giggled as if saying that she agreed with Kate-san.
Seeing the two’s behavior, Lorea-chan and I looked at each other.
「Hold on, I think there’s something off… If Baronet Kirk really is dumb, how did he manage to fool Adelbert-san into owing him a huge amount of debt? Even if the documents and stuff were done by an expert, I don’t think he made the plan all by himself.」(Sarasa)
If I didn’t save the Lotze Family, Baronet Kirk would have taken them over for sure.
Fortunately, we managed to solve that problem. However, even though we won, Baronet Kirk didn’t lose much money and wasn’t harmed at all due to the contract that was cleverly made.
The plan was too perfect for an idiot like Baronet Kirk.
This is only my wild guess but I think there’s someone who instructed Baronet Kirk to cause harm to the Lotze Family and made the plan for him.
「Hmm… You may be right. Iris’ father is a kind person, but he’s not stupid. It’s hard to think that Baronet Kirk was able to fool him by himself. Either he got the idea from someone or there was someone who assisted him from the shadows… Considering that South Strugg didn’t suffer any damage from this, I think it’s the later.」(Kate)
「You’re right. He’s clearly an idiot who gets mad quickly. I think this time he acted on his own without consulting his mysterious colleague first.」(Iris)
From the assumption that Baronet Kirk was a fool, we came to the conclusion that there’s someone clever who is assisting Baronet Kirk without us knowing.
After seeing him in person and judging that he’s really a fool and an impotent lord, I think that mysterious assistant is very likely to exist.
「If our guess is right, then occasionally leaving this store is quite risky…」(Sarasa)
Tomorrow, Iris-san and I are going to go to South Strugg to sell artifacts and buy materials. I think we’ll be there for two or three days at least.
Kate-san will be staying with Lorea-chan, so I think she will be safe.
However, Lorea-chan will be alone for more than a week when we go to collect Misanon Roots on a snowy mountain in the near future.
Even if the alchemist was absent, attacking an alchemy shop was the same as ignoring the government’s policies.
The attacker can be punished, and if they are a noble, they will be stripped of their title.
If Baronet Kirk came to attack my shop, he could try to threaten the villagers to keep their mouths shut to keep it a secret from the government and accuse me of lying.
However, the villagers are not the only people who live in this village. There are many Collectors staying here.
They would spread rumors about my store being attacked by him, and the government would eventually hear about that.
But… What if he borrowed his mysterious assistant’s wisdom again and found a way to attack my store without risking his own safety?
That would be really bad…
I could still build my house if they did come to attack and destroy it, but if they hurt Lorea-chan…
Dammit. I don’t wanna think about the worst-case scenario, but…
Seeing me pondering by myself, Iris-san made a suggestion.
「Store Owner-dono, why don’t we take Lorea with us when we go to collect Misanon Roots?」(Iris)
「Take her with us? To a snowy mountain?」(Sarasa)
Certainly, I don’t have to worry about Baronet Kirk and his men hurting Lorea-chan if she is with us, but…
I can’t risk her safety by taking her to a snowy mountain either.
「Iris-san, aren’t you underestimating how dangerous a snowy mountain is?」(Sarasa)
「I haven’t been on a snowy mountain before so I might sound like I underestimate it, but Store Owner-dono, which one do you think is more dangerous, Lorea-chan being with us, the people who can protect her anytime, or Lorea-chan being left in the store all by herself?」(Iris)
「That’s…」(Sarasa)
「We can leave Kurumi with her to protect her, but what if those people learned from their mistakes and found a way to take Kurumi down? She may be strong but she is still a small little bear. There must be a way to defeat her, especially if you are in a group of people.」(Iris)
「Hmm…」(Sarasa)
Iris-san is right. The chance for Kurumi to be able to defeat multiple thugs for a second time is quite slim.
But if we take Lorea-chan with us, I doubt she will be able to stand the tough environment of the snowy mountain. Even though we’ll be there with her, she may catch a cold or get hurt from falling.
I can just ask her to take days off and tell her to stay in her house until we come back, but I wonder if a diligent girl like her will like this idea…
「Store Owner-san, why don’t you ask the person herself?」(Kate)
「Ah, you’re right. Lorea-chan, what do you think? You can just take a break from work for a while if you want, you know?」(Sarasa)
I was hoping that Lorea-chan would choose to stay at her home.
Howeverー
「I… I want to go with you guys!」(Lorea)
She looked at me with sparkling eyes and said that without hesitation.
She looked excited somehow.
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Thank you for the chapter!
Asking prince for help never crossed girls mind… Why? He seems like a good guy and theoretically royalty supervise nobility.
Owing a favour to royalty is not worth saving some effort here
Tal vez por lo problemático que resulta eso
Usar el poder de la realeza significa que tendría una deuda con ellos
Eventually, Lorea might have her own Kurumi? Kurumi-rea? Lor-umi? <3