CH 3.32

The Sea, Fishermen, and Sailors

Translated by Mlzkzr

Edited by Mlzkzr

The number of people I captured in the recent raid was five attackers who attacked me directly and ten who came to help those who were buried in the sand and were buried themselves.

Since all of them were sailors belonging to the Raretto company, I turned them into the guards, and as a result, there was no longer any excuse for the commerce that they have tried to kill me.

When the security forces conducted an investigation of the Raretto Trading Company, they conveniently discovered that the company had been harassing the fishermen in order to expand their own interests, and that they had committed a number of egregious acts of harassment and business malfeasance.

Perhaps the Raretto company will be downsized, if not demolished, with several of its executives, including the chairman of the firm, facing charges.

In short, the Raretto Trading Company was cut off from the Tritoline family because the attack on me was discovered in a way that they have no excuse for it.

Otherwise, the other crimes would not have been conveniently discovered all together like that.

Alternatively, it is even possible that in relation to some matters, the Tritoline may have placed the blame on the Raretto firm.

Well, it was such a big scandal for the Tritoline family, whose mainstay is commerce, that their attempt of trying to kill a traveler with the whole company, was discovered after a ragged defeat.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the problems facing the city of Saurote have been resolved.

Certainly, the Tritoline family suffered some damage as one of the companies under its umbrella shrunk, but the Pastelli family didn’t take advantage of this opportunity to crush their opponents.

Even if the Raretto Company or fishermen like Driese and the others didn’t understand, the Tritoline family and the Pastelli family should understand that each other’s existence is indispensable to the town.

The two families let the sailors and fishermen under their control fight moderately to vent and play tug-of-war for their interests, leading to the development of the town.

So this case, in essence, ends up being a lone defeat for the recklessly stubborn Raretto Firm.

Although it was a sudden development which was more than a trifle, in the end, nothing changed.

It was as if everything had been planned.

In other words, was I perhaps used for someone else’s convenience?

There is no end to my doubts, and the deeper I think about it, the scarier it gets, so I put a lid on my thoughts.

I continued to eat and drink at Grand’s place and ended up staying in the town of Saurote for almost a month, enjoying the seafood to the fullest.

And today is my last night in town.

“Yes, dried and salted ten-leg. Acer-san, you love this, don’t you. But recently, the number of people asking for this and the other eight-legs has increased dramatically. Thanks to that, I’ve been very busy.”

Laughing, Karena, the waitress, brought roasted dried squid to my table.

Well, it’s not only because of the store’s prosperity that she was busy.

“If you’re that busy, tell Grand and ask for more manpower or an increase in salary. I’m sure that Grand will add more variety to both the eight and the ten legs dishes, so the number of your customers will continue to increase.”

Laughing at Karena, whose lips become sharp at my words, I take a sip of the dry cider.

There were some incidents, but this was a good town.

It is precisely because they’re trying to develop that they’ll have clashes over their direction, and problems arise.

It looks like the town of Saurote was a lively place, including that.

I thoroughly enjoyed my relationship with people and seafood in the past month.

It’s about time.

“Well, Karena seems to be busy with various things, but I’m already planning to leave, so I think you’ll have a little less work to do.”

At my words, Karena opens her eyes for a moment and looks at me.

Yes, the identity of that someone who has been watching me all this time, is Karena.

However, that doesn’t mean anything.

Even when the Rarreto Trading Company was forced to scale back its operations and I was no longer a priority, that watchful eye didn’t leave me.

In other words, it was probably the Tritoline family or the Pasteli family or both, not the Raretto Trading Company that had Karena watch on me.

In short, she is a kind of counterintelligence that has her roots in the town.

I don’t know if Grand knows about it or if he himself is involved in it, but it isn’t clear.

At the very least, I think she was the one who set up the Rarreto Trading Company.

I had no proof, but Karena was just as I thought on the first day, a surprisingly robust woman.

“Certainly, Acer eats well, so my workload may be reduced a little. But it’ll be certainly lonesome. For Dreise, Grand …… and of course me too.”

I smiled at Karena when she said such a thing.

Without a doubt, the person who looked at me the most in this town was none other than her.

Putting the circumstances aside, feelings spring up.

Would it be presumptuous of me to call this a secret, unspoken relationship?

“Yeah, thanks. But perhaps I’ll be coming back again sometime. I also want to eat fish, shellfish, eight-legged and ten-legged again.”

Karena nodded in response to my words.

Yes, I am not saying that this would be goodbye for life.

Even if I’m completely satisfied with seafood now, I may still want to eat it again in another six months or a year.

So until that time, I hope that this town will remain as it is now, that it will not change too much while it develops, and that it will wait for me.

Now then, where shall I go next?

I want to do a little blacksmithing soon, and I want to go learn magic as well.

I’m also worried about the future of the Ludria Kingdom and whether or not a half-elf will be born, so I need to settle down somewhere and contact the elf Airena.

Yes, let’s do that for now.

“Tomorrow morning, I’ll be travelling to the northeast. I’m aiming for one of the small nations in the east, Odine, which is said to be the country of magic.”

I dared to tell Karena, the counterintelligence officer, where I was going.

There’s no lie in these words.

By daring to tell her where I’m going, I’m sending a message to her employer, to whom Karena will be reporting, that I have no hostile intentions.

If it’s her, she would understand the meaning of these words correctly.

“Yes, I’m looking forward to seeing you again. Acer-san, at that time, let me show you around the town properly.”

When I raise my right hand at Karena’s words, she makes a light snap and exchanges a high-five with me.

And with that, I left the town of Saurote.