Western Continent, August 19, 2812 [Negotiation] Part 1:

"Oh, Mikoshiba-dono. 　Well, it's not a bad idea to have an eye on slaves, but I was worried that they weren't good enough for the development of the peninsula. After all, they're no better than cows and horses, they're just laborers. I can't help but feel that they are just fodder for the monsters that roam the peninsula.

　As soon as Count Salzberg saw Ryoma coming into the parlor, he suddenly hurled a probing word at him.
　As expected of the ruler of Iphiroth, he is the only one. It seems that Ryoma's actions were already being detected.

　The couple is not as flamboyantly dressed as the other day.
　Although the clothes are well-tailored, the ornaments are minimal, as if they are for relaxing in their own rooms.
　I'm sure it was prepared for Ryoma, but there were three cups of steam on the table.

''Well you........I'm sorry for asking such a question out of the blue when Baron-sama isn't even sitting down....... Mr. Baron our people are so impatient. Please go ahead and sit down, please.

　The countess tasted her husband and suggested a chair for Ryouma.

''I'm sorry about this!　After all, Her Majesty had sent messengers to me several times from Her Majesty and I was in a hurry. No, my apologies.

　As he said that, the Count lowered his head while stroking his hair.
　As expected, husband and wife. They are in perfect synch with each other.

No, please don't mind me. That's actually why I received your time on such short notice today, sir.

　Ryouma looks at the Count with an expression that says how troubled he is.

''Hou?　Can I help you with something?　Well, I knew something was up since yesterday when I got the messenger out of the blue. I knew it was about the slaves, didn't I?　You bought a lot of young slaves, but you're not sure what to do with them.　I don't mind if I make a move on you, if you don't mind.　You see, I can't give you all of it, but I'll give you the slavers' money back.

　The Earl smiles at that and smiles.
　It seems that he wants to sell his debt to Ryoma.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most of it.
...)
　It's not that Ryoma visited the Count's mansion because he wanted to have his slaves taken away.
　I came to sell you something else.
　But the attitude of the Earl is too patronizing. It seems that he wants to get involved with Ryojin too much.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find out what's going on in the world.

''Yes........I'm actually in trouble.......''

Is this still about the slaves?

　Ryoma shook his head silently at the Count's question.
　He purchased them from the slavers the day before yesterday, and they were supposed to start basic training today.
　There was no way he was going to sell those children to them.
　Liangma's denial caused the lady to give her a probing look.

''Well?　Then what is it?　My family has been ordained by Her Majesty the Queen to be of assistance to you, Baron. Don't hesitate to ask. I'm sure we can help you. May I help you?　You.

　Hearing the countess's words, a cold thing ran down Ryojin's back.
　It was a casual word, but the lady's words contained a certain fact.
(I was ordered to help you... hey?　I knew I'd be ordered to be a watchman that b*tc* I didn't think she'd just ignore me like this but I'm going to order the Count to do it. You don't want to... but that's okay. You can do better in that case.
　There was no way Lupis, who was wary of Liang Shin, would have left him alone. Sure enough, it seems that the Count of Salzberg had ordered him to keep an eye on her.
　Ryoma wasn't so blurry as to take the lady's words that he was ordered to be of help.

''I see...''

　The hospitality of the other day is probably also influenced by the queen's orders. However, this couple are not Lupis' dogs.
　On the outside, they go in under the guise of being loyalists, but they are the kind of people who embezzle the resources of the royal family.
(After all, they are the type of people who will do anything to benefit themselves.......then is there room to negotiate.......on the condition that they sell the vein of ore, and that they will misrepresent the information to Lupis as appropriate. (It's probably best to talk about it on top of that... well, it all depends on my acting skills... if they get the wrong idea, that's the end of it.
　It is dangerous to underestimate the Count and Countess.
　We must take the timing into consideration.
　The best time to get to the point where we are going to...

So please don't hesitate to ask Mikoshiba-dono for help. 　If this isn't about slaves, what the hell is wrong with you?

　The Count turned his gaze inquiringly.
　He seemed to be very curious about Ryoma's behavior.

''Actually it's about the salt deposits on the peninsula...''

　Ryojin's words caused the room to freeze.

''Well what do you mean by that?　How do you know about it?　Did you do your own research?

　The smile disappeared from the Count's face and he turned a sharp bare line to Ryoma.
　Eyes hardened with suspicion and suspicion.
　The fact that he didn't choose to blurt it out would mean that there was no longer any point in saying anything.
(Shit!　How did this guy know about the deposits?　　What do we do?　Do you want me to kill him?　(No, we'll eventually kill it, but we'll have to check it before we do that...)
　At worst, if you kill Ryoma, that's all you have to do.
　I'm not sure if I'm right or wrong, but the difference in rank is huge.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a good deal more to say about it.
　I'm not going to be able to do anything about it. However, before making that choice, the Count had to be sure of something.

''To tell you the truth... the other day I received something like this...''

What!　Give me that!

　Ryoma held out a letter.
　It was made of paper and ink that could be bought at any store in town. The letter had a crawling, worm-like script that was deliberately messed up to hide his handwriting.
　It's a letter with a lot of potential, as they say.
　The Count read the contents of the letter quickly and obliquely, and then fell silent.
(Chi!　(Who in the world would do something so unnecessary...?
　The Count calms his agitated mind and analyzes Ryoma's words.
(Shit. Who told this guy all this unnecessary stuff?　Kristoff's little girl it must be true. (The girl is a tricky one she's no wonder she knows our every move.　
　Right now, the number of people who would act hostilely against the Count in the town of Ipylos was limited.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find out what's going on in the world and what's going on in the world.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a lot of good reasons to be excited about it.
　But Christophe's Chamber of Commerce has a rich history as the long-time president of the United Chamber of Commerce of Ipiros.
(Mystol has been the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce for three years now. I thought that in another two or three years, I would be able to stop the little Kristoff girl from breathing down my neck... or is that why...)
　The Kristoff Chamber of Commerce, which until now had only been able to withstand the Count's pressure, is going to fight back. It seemed the most likely to do so.
(As the one who brought the information to this guy was Kristoff's little girl, why did this guy come to me?　
　It's good that Simone Christophe has traced a vein of salt in the Worthenian Peninsula.
　It's no mean feat for a young woman to maintain a trade association. But it's what she does after that that is the problem.
(If the little girl found out about the vein of salt, why doesn't she act on her own?　(Why did you bother to inform the man in front of you?
　They are embezzling a vein of rock salt that exists on the peninsula. The most effective way to use this fact seems to be to tip off the royal family.
　After all, he is embezzling the resources of the royal family. He is going to be executed by his family and friends.
　This is what you tell the upstart sitting in front of you. To put it bluntly, it didn't make much sense.
It's not too late to listen to this upstart... after all, this is my territory. ........)
　Count Salzberg's eyes were sharp and glowed coldly. He bared the fangs he had been hiding. The fangs that he once peeled off to his own father........


　The Counts of Salzberg, whose territory is near the border of the Kingdom of Zaruda, were on the verge of bankruptcy due to the repeated increases in their military budget.
　Increasing the number of troops. Raising armaments. Building forts. The list is endless, and the army is being gobbled up.
　And yet, the royal family does nothing. The county of Salzberg operates at the discretion of the Countess of Salzberg.
　That means they don't speak, but they also don't pay.
　But in order to defend the territory and the country, the military buildup cannot be removed.
　Saving after saving.
　The Count family was so poor that they could only manage to maintain the minimum appearance of a nobleman.
　Still, as aristocrats in the Kingdom of Roselia, the successive Countesses of Salzberg clenched their teeth and endured for the sake of their loyalty to the royal family.
　But the current head of the family, Count Thomas Salzberg, was different. He did not stop at anything to satisfy his own greed.

　The Woltenia Peninsula, formerly under the direct control of the Roserian royal family, is now the domain of Baron Mikoshiba Ryoma, and there are salt deposits there.
　It was five years ago that I first learned of the salt deposits there.
　The vein was located in the mountains a day's walk from Ipyros.

　It was truly a coincidence.
　The Woltenia peninsula has no inhabitants. That's because it's a land where ferocious monsters (monsters) and sub-humans roam, but even though there are no inhabitants, there are not no humans in the peninsula.
　In addition to criminals, exiles and the like, certain professions sometimes head to the peninsula.
　Adventurers and mercenaries.
　People who fight for a living. The peninsula is a good battlefield for them to gain real-world experience, and a place to earn money.
　The peninsula was a good battleground for them to gain experience in warfare and earn money. Their skins and tusks would be traded at a pretty good price.
　Although their lives were at stake, they could get what they deserved.
　The salt vein was found by a group of adventurers who entered the peninsula with that purpose in mind. However, they didn't want to do anything about it by themselves.
　Salt is a necessity and can be traded for a decent price, but as long as it is not mined and sold in large quantities, it is unprofitable.
　They, too, only blurted it out when delivering the goods they collected to the guild.
　Was it fortunate or unfortunate that they went around and brought it to the Countess?
　At least for the Countesses of Salzberg, who were struggling with a growing military budget, it was a godsend.

　The thirty-year-old Thomas, who was then only a legitimate son of the Countess, had made a desperate plea to his father, who was the head of the family.
　He appealed to his father as his last chance to restore the family's finances.

　After all, he'd been informed that a treasure trove of money was buried before him. It is impossible to ask them to maintain their normalcy with that.
　If this had been farther into the peninsula, Thomas would have hesitated, but a day's walk is not so bad.
　It's not a good idea to go to the beach, but it's not a bad idea to go to the beach. The rate of encounters isn't that high either.
　But Thomas' father ignored his words. No, he didn't just ignore him; he looked at him with contempt.
　To his father, it was only natural.
　He was proud and proud to have defended the borders of the Zaruda Kingdom for many years. It was based on his unwavering loyalty to the Roserian royal family.
　The Woltenia peninsula is the territory of the royal family, no matter how much is right in front of us. Thomas' insistence on using the salt deposits there to shore up his finances is akin to saying that he wants to embezzle the royal family's resources.
　The pride of the earl's family, if not rich by any means, repels Thomas' claims.
　But for Thomas, who had been forced to be thrifty from an early age, he didn't have an ounce of loyalty to the Roserian royal family.
　It's not a good idea to go to the beach, but it's not a bad idea to go to the beach. Moreover, there is no evidence that the royal family is providing any financial support to the Count family. It's a non-interference to the point of neglect.
　Of course, if the invasion from Zaruda becomes full-blown, reinforcements will come, but all the skirmishes and battles are handled by Count Salzberg and his surrounding nobles.
　To my father, it was a sign of the trust the royal family had in the Countess of Salzberg, but for Thomas it was different. To him, it seemed to be an undeserved and unilateral loss.
　Thomas valued tangible benefits over fuzzy things like invisible trust. More specifically, money, resources, and privileges.
　Thomas' discussions with his father were parallel. It would be. There was no room for compromise.
　Merit and pride. Sometimes they are not in conflict, but in this case, it's one or the other.
　As a result, Thomas had taken his father into his hands.
　There was no other way for him to get what he wanted.


(I won't let anyone get in my way...)
　The Count mutters in his mind.
　I can't let him give up his current life.
　He even killed his own father to get it........