CH 54

“What is the meaning of this? Does the Baron even know what’s going on?” (Waller)

I heard the Guild Master shouting and looked at him curiously.

The people around me also looked at him with confused looks.

After that, while we were resting, the vanguard adventurers took care of the surviving Forest Wolves. The corpses were piled up to form a wall, and destroyed fences were repaired.

In the midst of all this, the situation came to a head after the Guild Master received a report from one of the several people wearing uniform equipment like soldiers.

“We promised to help defend the city, and we agreed to take over the defense of the West Gate. But we can’t hold out without supplies. What do you want us to do?” (Waller)

In the words of the Guild Master, the situation has now become clear…… No, should I say that I can now understand it?

“Even if Waller-sama says so, supplies are necessary for us to protect the North Gate… I heard that emergency supplies are stored in the Adventurer’s Guild. For the time being. Could you please use that instead?” (Soldier)

Guild Master’s face twitched from the soldier’s words for a moment.

“…Sure, we have some emergency supplies, and of course we’ll give them out. But that’s not enough. Nobody knows how long the monster’s attack will last?” (Waller)

The exchange between the two continued.

The Guild Master is on the offense with words, and the soldier dodges it all. The conversation is not going to end just yet.

At this point, I have a general idea of what’s going on.

I sat down on the stairs next to the gate and looked at the Guild Master and the soldiers as I tried to sort out the information.

First of all, the lord of the town, the one called the Baron, probably doesn’t want to spend any extra money or resources. And maybe that’s what the guild’s side, the Guild Master, is thinking as well.

The lords pay the Adventurer’s Guild to have adventurers kill monsters. This must be a major source of income for the Adventurer’s Guild. Therefore, it’s hard to refuse a request from a lord who is a major client. And indeed, the Adventurers’ Guild must have accepted the request from the lord this time.

But no matter what the Adventurer’s Guild is asked to do by the lord, the individual adventurer is free to decide what to do.

…… It should be free.

…… You’re free, right?

So maybe the Guild Master needed to grab hold of us at all costs?

In reality, if we don’t defend the gate, monsters will invade the town and cause all sorts of problems for us adventurers, both directly and indirectly, so it’s best for us to defend the gate…

However…

Looking at the battle between the Guild Master and the soldiers, maybe the lord’s troops alone can protect the town? The suspicion arises.

After all, monsters are attacking the town, and the lord will suffer a great deal of damage if he doesn’t defend it, but he’s leaving the West Gate off to the adventurer’s guild and is reluctant to contribute supplies.

In other words, he seems to still have room for political maneuvering.

Even if the adventurers fail and the West Gate is breached, they may have a secret plan to do something about it.　I can’t help but think of this possibility.

Well, I can’t say for sure because it may be that the aristocrats are the ones who play the game to maximize their profits no matter how tight the situation is, or it may be that the baron is simply stupid.

He called himself Darren Waller. In other words, he has a surname.

In this world, most ordinary people do not have a surname. So maybe the Guild Master was born in a high-ranking house.

Well, maybe it’s a name with multiple names like a certain Portuguese soccer player… In other words, Darren and Waller could be first names, though. [T/N: This is Cristiano Ronaldo right. I’m not a sports fan so I am not sure but Google-sensei seems to be telling me it’s him.]

But if you think about it normally, he is probably Darren from the Waller family.

As far as I can tell, he calls the Baron, the lord here, the “Baron”. If the power relationship between the adventurer’s guild and the lord is as I imagined, the Guild Master of the adventurer’s guild should be lower than the Baron in terms of status.

Normally, if a person with a lower status calls the Baron, he should say something like Baron-sama, Baron-dono, or Baron-kakka. Before that, I feel like he should be addressing the Baron with the Baron’s surname.

Also, the soldier’s speech when talking to the Guild Master is quite polite, and I feel that it is the speech used for opponents of at least the same rank or higher.

Guild and Baron, Adventurer’s Guild and Lord. The power relationship is not clear.

“I don’t know. No matter how solidly you defend the North Gate, if the West Gate is breached, it’s over. If we fail, the situation will be much more than a small matter of supplies.” (Waller)

“Hmm… I’ll personally let you know if there is a change. Please excuse me, I have a report to my lord…” (Soldier)

As he pondered this alone, the soldier bowed to the Guild Master, as if the negotiations had broken down, and hurried away.

Guild Master looked as if he had bitten down on a bitter pill for a moment, and then he called the staffs of the Adventurer’s Guild.

“I want you to run to the Commercial Guild right now and request a contribution of supplies in my name. Make sure you explain the situation to them. Tell them that without the help of the Commercial Guild, the West Gate will fall immediately and monsters will flood the city… You may not move until the Commercial Guild agrees to do so, even if it kills you.” (Waller)

The staff member who was told that by the Guild Master, turned pale and ran off somewhere. [T/N: Yep, bags of d’s even in the otherworld.]