The business meeting room where the meeting was to take place was large for its size, but it was tastelessly decorated.
　In any other country, meetings would normally be held in a luxurious room where everyone from royalty and aristocrats above to merchants below would gather for dinner and chat in a stylish manner.
　The clerical and rational spirit of the Kasiu merchants seems to be evident in this meeting. I'm a wizard of rationality, so I like it very much.

　Nine long desks for three people were brought out, arranged in a circle, and the party leaders and entourage of each chamber of commerce were seated.
　Me and Aria sat on either side of Madame Hanna.
　Right behind us, Chocolat was waiting with a clear face, like a maid of honor.
　But then she misbehaved and whispered to me, 'You might be in here.

'He could be in here, right?
Hey. Shh.

　I whisper censure, telling him not to speak so rarely.
　But I also understand the sentiment that Chocolat is curious about.

　Someone in this conference room could be the example of Cuzio.

　The fact that he had given Captain Mangan fifty wizards, and that he was probably experimenting with a new method of warfare, shows that the man Cuzio, who was controlling him behind the scenes, was the head of a rather large organization.
　And the fact that he has a large organization here in Kajuu means that he is likely to have a relationship with the Chamber of Commerce of the "Federation". Or maybe it is.
　In fact, in the "Strategy Book", it is simply stated that five out of the "Federation"'s nine merchant associations are "doing business with a large illegal organization" or "have a hidden agenda".

　However, this is not particularly eye-opening information.
　Society is not made up of beautiful things. If you are a large business association, even if not limited to Kajuu, you probably have a relationship with illegal organizations to varying degrees.
　The Toneni Chamber of Commerce, for example, which has one foot in the yakuza, can be considered an open, semi-illegal organization.

　That's what I mean when I say that the odds are high that there is a "Cuzio" in this group.
　And speaking of high probability, there is one more thing.
　This "Cuzio" is a pseudonym in nine out of ten cases.

　Reason number one.
The name "Cuzio" is the same as a character in a famous fairy tale.
　It is the name of a young man who sold his soul to a demon king in order to fall in love with and sleep with a beautiful spirit.
　It's not a name one would expect one's parents to give to their children.

　Reason #2.
The second reason is that his name isn't listed in the "Important Figures" section of the strategy book.
　This one, however, is less certain. The "attack book" doesn't list every single detail of an illegal organization. I don't care how big they are as an illegal organization, each of them has little or no bearing on the world's trends, much less the defeat of the Demon King. It is not like the "Unguarded Volunteers," which has been plaguing the great nation of Alavana for five years and whose shadow leader is the crown prince (not that much space was devoted to this "Unguarded Volunteers" information). (Not that there was any)

　) -- so let me summarize my reasons for attending this conference.
　First, I want to take this opportunity to express my true purpose.
　Secondly, to narrow down the list of possible candidates for the Cuzio.

　By the way, out of the Federation's nine member chambers of commerce, I've already met the leaders of eight of them by chance and necessity.
　There is one remaining one, the third-ranked Zale Chamber of Commerce of the "Federation", which has Corsair Island as its territory.
　The representative of the Zale Chamber of Commerce, the third-ranking member of the "Federation", showed up late to the meeting.
　And the meeting began.

　　　　◇◆◆◆◆◆◆.

Hi, guys. It's been a while.

　The representative of the Zale Chamber of Commerce came alone with a cheerful smile.
　He was in his mid-20s.
　He had a baby face that seemed to be popular with women, with a scars on his cheeks that were frighteningly large.

It's a good thing that you're late. Paulie, you're the same as always.

"The first-ranked member of the League, Pirtle, chided the young man softly with his sense of duty.
　The young man, called Pauli, apologized, as if he had just realized it, "This is my apologies for keeping you waiting, gentlemen.

Is your party leader, Lord Zale, still absent today?
Yes, that's right. He has a lot of enemies, and we can't afford to have him assassinated off the island.

　When questioned by Pieter, Pauli smiled in a very innocent manner and gave a boisterous speech.

It's a good thing I'm here as a guardian, as always, as a plenipotentiary, so there's no problem, is there?

　He looked around the room with that smile on his face to see how they would react.
　There were those who looked like they had bitten down on a bitter worm, like the little Gormes (the second-ranked "League"), but there was no one who opposed it to their face.

　This is because, apart from Aria and me, he is probably the youngest person in the room, and he is not the direct descendant of the Pirate King, but rather a servant, which shows that everyone respects this young man.

　In addition, they may be in awe of the Zale Trading Company itself.

　The Zale is also known as the Pirate Trading Company.
　A few decades ago, the previous head of the Zale gang was the first in the League to give up the Seal of the Pirate King and engage in extensive piracy.
　The story goes that they had a bloody battle with the Marine Police (Cagliostro), and after the death of his predecessor, they eventually reformed into a proper business association.
　But even today, rumors persist that most of the pirates active in the Sea of Kaziu are under the umbrella of the Zale Corporation.

And what was the reason for this gathering, Georg-sama?

　Pauli made a friendly smile and checked with the organizer, the head of the St. Tony's Chamber of Commerce party.
　Georg put the black cat on the desk, still with a bad look in his eyes, and replied as he stroked it.

'Well, best of all, I'll have you make a statement about the future of the Azzurri Chamber of Commerce.
Oh, yes. I'm sorry to hear that Master Felix is dead.

　Pauli's smile disappears and he turns truly auspicious and bows to Mrs. Hanna.

'I'm sorry for your loss, Lady Hannah. I had a lot of respect for you, Felix. It's the kind of thing you admire when someone has something that you don't. It may sound sarcastic, but I was seriously impressed by the fact that such a good person could do such a good job.

　It's an inappropriate slur, but he's an interesting thinker, to be honest, I thought.

'In addition to being rude, let me say one more thing straight away. If you are willing to take this opportunity to come under our umbrella, we will definitely not make you look bad. I promise you that I will do my best to protect you and your employees, as well as Hannah-sama and her son.
'Lord Pauli. Thank you for your condolences and for your consideration. But I only ask for your sympathy.

　Mrs. Hanna replied politely, but stoutly.
　'Just in time,' she announced to the other party leaders.

'I intend to run the Azzurri as interim leader until my son comes of age as the next legitimate leader of the party.
'I see. That's an impressive feat of determination. I'll be supporting you, even if it's only to a small extent.

　Pauli said with another smirk.

'In fact, I hear you've teamed up with the Malm Chamber of Commerce there to get your business back on track.

　He looked at me with eyes that weren't smiling at all, like they were shooting at me.

(Are you a man of benefit to me?　(Or is he a harmless man?)

　And it's a look that tries to assess.
　I met that piercing gaze with a smile.

(That depends on how you do it, doesn't it?)

　I replied with a look.

　It wasn't so much a standoff as a quiet exchange of glances, but like invisible sparks, a stinky atmosphere immediately filled the conference hall.
　
　This conference was not a monopoly of Pauli and me.
　A number of other leaders were observing the tense atmosphere that had developed between Pauli and I, with their eyes blazing, as if they were watching us with their cats. The other party leaders, especially Old Georg, with his cat, were blazing at them.
　As expected of the leaders of the Kajuu federation, one of the eight great powers, the leaders of the Kajuu.
　This is indeed the Hall of Fushigiwa!