Chapter 5-32 : Dealing With The Client Ⅱ (part 1)
「Well, I can think of changing the curriculum later. For now, let’s talk about Baronet Kirk. Just as you guessed, that man is a cancer for this kingdom. I just ‘removed the weight a little’, and that fool began to act rashly without thinking.」(Ferik)
“Remove the weight a little”? I wonder what it means…
Does it mean that Prince Ferik did something that prompted Baronet Kirk to do something evil so that he has a reason to punish him?
Hmm… I’m not really sure, but… I wonder what he did…
Does it have something to do with his visit to my shop?
Somehow, I have a feeling that visiting my shop is a part of Prince Ferik’s plan to deal with Baronet Kirk, but I don’t think Baronet Kirk knows about his visit.
After all, if Baronet Kirk knew that Prince Ferik had visited my shop, he wouldn’t have dared to come to my shop and pick a fight with me.
「I would have changed the way I would treat him if he started to behave wisely and act prudently, but… his personality seems to be the opposite of wise and prudent. I wish the previous lord of the Kirk House could disinherit him soon after he caused a problem in this kingdom.」(Ferik)
It’s nice to know that Prince Ferik planned to take down Baronet Kirk, and I understand that he needed Baronet Kirk to do something bad, but we got involved because of that and I don’t think it’s acceptable.
I’m still nervous talking with him, but I want to express my dissatisfaction.
「Your Highness, please forgive me if I’m being rude to you, but I want you to know that my friends and I came across a dangerous situation because of getting involved in your plan.」(Sarasa)
Listening to my complaint, Prince Ferik narrowed his eyes and smiled suspiciously.
「Is that so? Then I should apologize. I’m sorry. But you are Ophelia Millis’ disciple. You must have been able to deal with the danger you came across easily, right?」(Ferik)
Judging from his suspicious smile, I think he knows about what happened to us in the snowy mountain.
I wonder how much this wicked prince knows… For some reason, I feel like I’m dancing in the palm of his hand…
Well, as he said, we have been able to deal with the danger, which was the Giant Snow Centipede, relatively easily. However, I want him to think about Madison-san and his men. They almost died after all.
Did he think that replacing a useless lord was better than saving a small number of commoners? Well… Maybe?
Nevertheless, We saved Madison-san and his men, and now they’re under our protectionー The Lotze Family’s protection, to be exact.
Since the prince seems to know everything, I don’t think Madison-san’s testimony is necessary anymore, but a promise is a promise. As the daughter of a merchant couple, I can’t break it. We can’t just leave Madison-san and his men alone because we don’t need them anymore.
Ahh… How I really wish Iris-san and Kate-san were here. They should be able to help me convince this scheming prince.
Well, I guess I have no choice but to do it myself…
「Your Highness, judging from your expression and the way you talk, you seem to know about what happened to us. Am I right?」(Sarasa)
「Well, more or less.」(Ferik)
「Then, you should know about the soldiers from the town of South Strugg. Your Highness, they were justー」(Sarasa)
「ーMiss Sarasa, I’m not so stupid that I will blame the soldiers for their commander’s wrongdoings.」(Ferik)
「I, I’m sorry…」(Sarasa)
I was startled a little when Prince Ferik interrupted me, but I felt relieved to know that he wouldn’t blindly punish Madison-san and his men.
When I glanced at his face, he grinned and showed me a nasty smile.
「I’m planning to completely destroy Baronet Kirk. I don’t like doing things halfway. Miss Sarasa, I do think that we have the same interests here. You know what I mean?」(Ferik)
He then stared at me right in the eye as if he was testing me.
Hmm… I think he wants me to help him think about the plan, but… I think that’s a terribly unreasonable favor to ask someone who doesn’t have much information like me.
If I had a boss like him at work, I would resign after a few days of working for sure.
「Umm… I think the soldiers can be the witnesses.」(Sarasa)
「Hmm… No, I think it’s too weak. They are commoners, right? It would be different if they had a written order with Baronet Kirk’s signature or something.」(Ferik)
As I thought… You can’t punish a nobleman with just the testimony from commoners.
Baronet Kirk could just say, “I didn’t know anything. They did it on their own accord”, and got away with it.
Iris-san is a noble, but I doubt that the government would listen to her as long as we couldn’t prove that Madison-san and his men were only following orders from Baronet Kirk.
「Oh, right. Baronet Kirk was cooperating with an alchemist to attack us. How about we interrogate that alchemist?」(Sarasa)
「Do you mean Joseph? He is also a noble, so it won’t be that easy.」(Ferik)
「Umm, I’m sorry. I don’t know his name.」(Sarasa)
We are talking about the alchemist who scammed many Collectors a while ago. I don’t know his name but I remember his sly face when he tried to scam me the first time I visited his shop in South Strugg.
Leonora-san probably knew his name, but I never asked because I lost interest in him after he went bankrupt.
After I answered honestly, Prince Ferik giggled as if I said something funny.
「What a pathetic man. I wonder what kind of face he would make when he learns that the girl who destroyed his business and career didn’t even know his name. Miss Sarasa, I bet he has a lot of grudges against you.」(Ferik)
「Eehhh… All I did was just warn the Collectors around here that his shop was a scam.」(Sarasa)
「That’s right, and he went bankrupt because of that. You’ve done a good thing. The Royal Alchemist Training School and the government, including myself, should be ashamed for graduating a bad alchemist like him…」(Ferik)
Well, even though the school teaches us to be good alchemists, it’s hard to change people’s personalities.
「If possible, I would like to revoke Joseph’s alchemist license, but I don’t think it would be easy even for a prince like me.」(Ferik)
「Speaking of him, I have secured the alchemical substance he made to attack us.」(Sarasa)
I thought that it could be good evidence, so I decided to take it when Madison-san showed it to me.
「That’s great! What about Baronet Kirk himself? Do you have anything that can be evidence to deal with him?」(Ferik)
「Unfortunately, I don’t have any evidence that is related to the attack to us, but I have some documents that might be useful.」(Sarasa)
Thinking of evidence, I suddenly remember that Leonora-san and Filione-san made me some useful documents based on their investigation on Baronet Kirk.
「Well done!」(Ferik)
Prince Ferik seemed so happy about it.
I went to my workshop to get the documents that I store in my backpack artifact and handed them to Prince Ferik.
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Thank you for the chapter!
I bet after seeing their work prince will try to scout Leonora and Filione to be his intelligence agents on the side.