A few days later.

'The Commander has something to say to Master Ars. Could you come with me if you would?

　At lunch, Ben told me that.

'You want to talk about it?　I don't mind if you go with me.

　There's nothing in particular that I have to do at the moment. I don't have a particular problem with going with them, but what do they want?

Okay. Then please follow me.

　Ben didn't say what Pham wanted, but began to show him around.
　Either he didn't know, or he forgot to tell me.
　I followed him without asking, thinking I'd find out when I got to where Pham was anyway.

　After following him for a while, he led me to an alleyway, where there wasn't much traffic.

　That's where Pham was. Pham wasn't the only one who was there, which was unusual.
　There were about five people, men and women with unfamiliar faces.

'You're here,'

　Pham said, noticing me.

'Oh my, you're cuter than I thought.

　The woman who was with Pham smiles. She's a fancy dressed woman. Her makeup is thick. She is tall for a woman and looks to be at least 170. Her age is not apparent at a glance, but she is in her 30s or so.

　In addition to her, there are two other men and two women, but none of them are dressed and look inconspicuous and do not leave a lasting impression. She's a Ben type. Well, it's not that they're as plain as Ben.

'Who are these people?'
These are my men. I'm going to be your vassal, and I want them to be your vassals too, because I'm going to have a hard time doing my job without them. I'm afraid I'll have a hard time doing my job without them.
'So these are the members of the Shadow Order........I see.

　Other than a flashy looking woman, she certainly seems to be a good fit as a secret agent. On the other hand, why is this person so flashy?
　Seeing me wondering, Pham explained.

''This guy is Lamberth, a master of disguise. If you've already done an appraisal of him, you know that he's actually a man," he said, "and I don't know what he looks like. I don't even know what he looks like. I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one who's interested in this, but I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one.
Oh, you have to impress the potential Lord, don't you?

　A man?　I was surprised that he didn't look like that at all. There was a similar surprise with Pham, but in his case it wasn't a disguise, he was just born with a juvenile appearance, but Lamberth seemed to disguise himself and completely disguise his appearance.
　The voice is female as well, though I still can't tell what it looks like. How does this work? Is she using magic?

　I took a moment to appraise him and confirm that he was indeed a man.

　His abilities are mediocre, but this skill is phenomenal.

　By the way, it seems that his real name is not Lamberth, but Andrew Smage. I was surprised to learn that he was born outside the Samaforce Empire, which was also surprising. His language was fluent, and I wondered what kind of life would lead a foreign-born person to become a mercenary in Meesian.
　I was curious, but it wouldn't be something he would talk about so easily, so I would ask him when we got to know each other better.

　The others were appraised as well.
　They all seemed to have different real names and call themselves differently.

　The tall man was called Muradaw, the man of medium height with gray hair was called Dondo, the woman with long hair was called Remen, and the woman with sharp eyes was called Shaq.

　All of them were high in prowess and intelligence in their own right. They would have to be smart and even more mobile to serve as secret scouts.

　On top of that, Remen and Dondo had a high magical aptitude of B.

　I could guess that they were all from outside of Mythian and had become mercenaries for various reasons.

''So what do you think?　Will you make these guys your vassals too?
'If it's easier for Pham to do that, it's perfectly fine to make him a vassal. Or rather, he's so capable, I'd even ask him to become a vassal over here.
Okay. Thanks.

　After that, we disbanded without any particular interaction. It was only a face-to-face meeting.
　People who seemed to be reasonably good at what they did became vassals, and I returned to Starz Castle in a good mood.