Last night's meeting had gone late into the evening.
It couldn't be helped — we'd only arrived at dusk.
Anyway, today's schedule had been laid out for me, and I'd been asked to meet with a noble.
We'd already wrapped up a rough exchange of information yesterday. Specifically, I'd been filling them in on the human towns and nations. They'd also asked for an introduction to the Free Guild's structure and its headquarters' commander, Kagurazaka Yuuki.
That was when I realized my misunderstanding.
I'd heard the Free Guild headquarters was in the royal capital — but when you said "royal capital," there were quite a few of them. The neighboring superpower, the Farmus Kingdom. The nearby strongest nation, the Sorcerer Dynasty Sarion. Even this little country, Blumund, had its own royal capital. As it happened, I was in it right now.
So which country did the Free Guild headquarters actually belong to?
The nations surrounding the Great Forest of Jura — the many small countries had all joined the Council. For convenience, the Council headquarters was established in a country where all the council members could easily gather: the Ingracia Kingdom.
In terms of raw power, the Farmus Kingdom had the greatest national strength among the participating nations, but Ingracia's developed transportation network made it the de facto center. Perhaps because of this, Farmus and Ingracia apparently weren't on great terms.
Ingracia also had one other notable trait: it was the only nation among them that didn't border the Great Forest of Jura. This meant it suffered less damage from monsters and enjoyed greater stability.
Naturally, the Free Guild headquarters was best placed in the nation with the most developed and stable transportation infrastructure. So the headquarters was in the Ingracia Kingdom's royal capital.
In other words, when they'd said "royal capital," they meant Ingracia's.
Another characteristic of these Council nations was that they all held the Western Holy Church's doctrine as their state religion. The nations surrounding the Great Forest of Jura were essentially within the Church's sphere of influence.
Two pillars — commerce and religion — bound these nations together. Each country held a councilor's vote, embodying equality under the faith. Important decisions were brought before the Council, or so I'd heard.
It was surprisingly similar to the old United Nations from my previous life, in a way. Though in practice, councilors were selected differently in each country, and most were royals.
Incidentally, the Sorcerer Dynasty Sarion had no state religion. The king claimed descent from a divine lineage and didn't recognize other faiths. They'd refused to join the Council entirely and operated as an independent power. They still engaged in commercial trade, maintaining diplomatic relations with other countries — but that was only possible because they were a superpower.
Anyway.
The Free Guild headquarters was located in the Ingracia Kingdom, the centrally positioned superpower.
If I wanted to meet Kagurazaka Yuuki, I'd have to head for Ingracia.
They said they'd write me a letter of introduction. In exchange, I'd been asked to meet Baron Beryard, a noble of this country.
I naturally agreed, and that was how I found myself in a carriage heading to meet the man.
The trio had already parted ways the night before.
"Contact us again, okay!"
"Come on, let's go adventuring together..."
"It'll get lonely! I'm coming to visit Tempest again for sure!"
They'd said their reluctant goodbyes and left.
But knowing them, I had a feeling they'd show up at my door with some new problem before long.
So strangely, I didn't feel lonely at all.
Lost in thought like that, the carriage came to a stop.
It seemed we'd arrived.
The district was lined with impressive buildings. Fuse guided me to one that had a calm, slightly smaller feel to it.
"By the way, do you even know anything about noble etiquette or proper manners?"
"Hm? Oh yeah... Good point. What a pain..."
Not reassuring at all.
Apparently, the old man Fuse wasn't great at that stuff either.
The night before, Fuse had asked me about the current state of Jura Forest, whether I knew anything about Veldora, and about
I'd played dumb about Veldora, saying I knew nothing.
For the forest's conditions, I'd been a bit evasive but told them our town was managing reasonably well. When I mentioned that we were handling monster subjugations in the area, they'd pressed me for details. I suppose the reason for our low monster damage was valuable information for them too. They'd nodded along in understanding.
Talking about Shizu had been a bit painful, even for me. I'd told them about the promise I'd made with her in the end, and that wrapped up the explanation.
Fuse had simply murmured, "I see... Please take care of her," and hadn't said anything more.
Shizu had apparently been a famous A-rank adventurer known as "Master of the Conflagration," stationed at headquarters. She'd worked there as an instructor, but knowing her death was approaching, she'd refused headquarters' pleas to stay and departed on her journey. She'd been an excellent person, and apparently they were struggling without a successor.
Telling him all that had actually helped us grow quite close.
I trusted Fuse — enough to follow him all the way here. But was this really going to be okay?
Etiquette, manners... what a hassle.
Worrying about that, I followed him into the building.
Inside, an elderly man who looked like the quintessential butler escorted us to our destination.
I'd have preferred a maid.
Memories of visiting maid cafés in my previous life surfaced. Some of those places would fleece you for thousands of yen just for sitting there. Getting into an argument over that brought back some good memories.
If only I could see real quality in this other world. Though if a wrinkly old maid appeared, I'd probably end up grumbling "Fake!" too.
The butler led us to a room. There was another door within.
A knock, and the reply came: "Enter!"
Just that exchange already felt tedious. What a far cry from the direct magical circle routes inside the Guild.
Inside, I was greeted by a tall, lean man with narrow, sharp eyes, a salt-and-pepper beard, and an air of quiet competence.
"Welcome. I am Baron Beryard, one of Blumund's ministers. Please make my acquaintance."
He greeted me before I could even introduce myself.
"I'm
I returned the greeting, and we shook hands. Apparently, this custom was similar to my previous life's world.
"Rest easy. Though I hold the title of baron, I'm a minor noble without even a territory. No need to be stiff about things.
Now then — time is limited, so let's be concise. Here's the key point: we'd like to establish a cooperative relationship with your town, Tempest. The cooperation would cover two areas: emergency response to threats like monsters, and support for adventurers."
Hmm, let me think.
In summary: the small Kingdom of Blumund lacked the national power to adequately counter monsters. They had a cooperative arrangement with the Free Guild, which helped them manage, but they couldn't mount an organized response on their own.
Fortunately, there hadn't been any major incidents so far, but they wanted to build a partnership with Tempest as a precaution.
The adventurer support part was the same thing Fuse had asked me about yesterday — providing lodging and supplies to those operating in the forest. The logic was straightforward: make it easier for adventurers to operate, and the forest's threat level would decrease.
But was it really wise to so readily trust a monster nation and propose trade?
There was another point that nagged at me.
"I see. So what would be our benefit in accepting this? Right now it feels less like cooperation and more like one-sided servitude on our part."
"Naturally, there are benefits for you as well. We would officially guarantee your identity as a nation — in other words, we would formally recognize you and your country, Tempest, as a monster state. This has already been approved by the King of Blumund.
If you cooperate with us, we will recognize your nation as such and commit to appropriate responses."
So essentially: establish mutual vigilance against monster threats, and promise mutual aid in emergencies.
We were already on guard anyway, and they weren't asking us to extend our surveillance all the way into Blumund territory. In the event of a powerful monster incursion or similar crisis, we'd simply contact each other and help out.
That seemed reasonable.
If accepting this meant being recognized as a nation, it didn't look like a bad deal.
Well, when I say "recognized," it wasn't through the Council — just Blumund's own acknowledgment. Still, gaining a second country's recognition after the Dwarven Kingdom was significant.
"I accept. I'd like to take that deal."
When I said that, there was a palpable sense of relief. They must have been more cornered than I'd realized.
"I'm glad to hear it. Here is King Blumund's official ratification document. Let me prove its authenticity."
As he spoke, he produced a seal from within his robe. A Spirit Magic oath activated, causing the seal to glow — confirming it as the king's genuine approval.
My Appraisal results matched.
In this world, fraud involving contracts was surprisingly difficult. Compared to my previous life, such procedures had been simplified. Not having to go through the hassle of meeting the king personally was a relief.
Though I supposed the real reason for the simplification was that you couldn't exactly bring a monster to see the king.
And so I signed the treaty, and the agreement between Blumund and Tempest was officially concluded.
The Guild would also serve as a third-party witness, testifying impartially to the deal.
It was all shockingly smooth.
After that, we hammered out the details and held further discussions. It was during this process that I first noticed the hole in the contract.
"In that case, should any force attempt to move through the forest, we ask that you be ready to immediately shift into cooperative mode!"
That line.
"Any force." This wasn't limited to monsters. Emergency response to threats also encompassed cases where another nation might invade.
For example... the Eastern Empire.
They'd conned me. Those absolute rascals had conned me!
I wanted to let out a roar of frustration. Stupid, stupid, stupid — what an idiot I was!
If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Thinking about it from Blumund's perspective, we were already cooperating with them voluntarily anyway. The trio was proof — they weren't turning away adventurers. There'd been no need to formally recognize us as a nation. The fact that they'd gone out of their way to do so meant there was a reason.
What Blumund truly feared was the Eastern Empire crossing the forest to invade. They wanted to use us as a buffer zone.
They hadn't lied, technically. If we were in crisis, they would send aid — because they'd be next.
Even if the Empire bypassed us and marched on Blumund directly, they'd need us to provide reinforcements.
They'd played me beautifully.
"Impressed? Your mind works faster than I expected.
But the treaty has been signed. So when that time comes — we're counting on you!"
He flashed a wide, infuriating grin.
Baron Beryard. A capable man who handled everything with precision. A cunning, seasoned noble — deceiving someone like me must have been child's play.
Tch. Oh well. I'd have to accept it.
Though I'd been tricked, I wasn't actually angry. Instead, there was a mix of regret over my own naivety and genuine admiration for his skill.
Well, experience was its own reward. If the Empire made a move, I'd deal with it then.
But still — humans really couldn't be let off the leash. Monsters were, surprisingly, much more straightforward.
From now on, I'd approach negotiations with humans with far greater caution and thought. I swore that to myself.
I wasn't about to take the loss lying down.
Since we were at it, I wanted to push for a deal with real upside for us too.
I pulled a mid-grade Recovery
"What's this?" Baron Beryard asked.
"It's a Recovery Potion made in our town. I'd like to sell it in this city's market," I answered.
Fuse and Baron Beryard picked it up and examined it. Fuse used Appraisal to check its performance.
"This is...! This isn't some cheap potion you'd find in a regular shop. Hmm — this is the kind of high-end product you'd see in the royal capital. There's a tariff on imports from the Farmus Kingdom, so nothing of this quality has been coming through...
How many of these do you have?"
I told him I currently had five hundred on hand. If they were willing to make regular purchases, I could set aside some for reserves and still supply two to three thousand per month.
This country apparently served as a front line for adventurers, so demand was there. Farmus had a Free Guild branch, but few adventurers signed up. There were several reasons, but the biggest was a cultural bias against looking down on adventurers.
That said, adventurers spent generously, and their subjugation work reduced monster damage. Recently, Farmus had apparently scrambled to recruit adventurers, but it wasn't producing results.
It was suspected that this was exactly why they'd imposed high tariffs on quality Recovery Potions and dwarven-forged weapons — the very items adventurers needed — driving them away rather than welcoming them.
As for weapons, we could probably help with adjustments once our monsters were fully equipped. Maybe we could even sell those too.
I laid all this out, and the conversation naturally flowed toward a purchase agreement.
I wanted to at least move enough product to turn a profit. If things went well, it would offset my earlier blunder.
He recommended a merchant named Gardo Myormail.
After leaving Baron Beryard's office, we headed to visit the merchant. There was a sizable shop called the Myormail Trading Company in one corner of the shopping district. The man was apparently the head of the merchant association here.
He was also a member of the Free Guild's merchant guild, but held an official Blumund merchant license from the government. Someone who held licenses from both the nation and the Free Guild was rare, and Gardo Myormail was one of those rare few.
"Welcome! Come right in!
Sir, what brings you here today?"
He repeated humble bows toward Fuse, who'd accompanied me.
Come to think of it, Fuse was actually a pretty important figure in this country.
"I'm here to introduce this man. Treat him well! I have business to take care of, so I'll be heading out. Don't be rude."
"And who might this gentleman be?"
"Put simply — a state guest. The rest is up to you!"
With that, Fuse left. A state guest, and then immediately abandoned. I wasn't sure how to react. Oh well.
"Name's Rimuru. Nice to meet you! Actually, I'm here to do business. Here's the merchandise."
And so the negotiations began.
Myormail was a merchant through and through. He quickly used Appraisal to confirm the potion's value.
The bargaining commenced.
...
...
...
In the end, he agreed to buy them at twenty-two silver coins per bottle. The retail price here would be set at twenty-five silver coins.
I told him the location of our town, and he said he'd come to purchase in person. In that case, the sales price in Tempest would be set at twenty silver coins.
For the adventurer support initiative, we agreed that adventurers could also purchase at twenty-two silver coins.
We shook hands and signed the contract.
This time, there were no surprises — we'd reached a deal both sides were satisfied with.
"But sir, if I travel to your town, there's no road for carriages. A small order of Recovery Potions would be manageable, but it would certainly be inconvenient..."
A fair point. We really should build a proper road.
"Got it. I'll build a highway connecting Tempest and Blumund."
"What?! You will?!"
"If I make a road, you can come by carriage, right? I think a carriage would be usable within about two months — felling trees doesn't take long. Full paving would take about half a year, but that should be fine?"
"Of course! I'd love to see how these five hundred bottles sell!"
Myormail clapped his hands together, beaming with delight.
The road to the Dwarven Kingdom was already complete. I decided to have the highway to Blumund built as a continuation.
And so, trade between Tempest and Blumund officially began.
Once the highway connecting the two was finished, Blumund's merchants would no longer need to detour through the Farmus Kingdom to reach the Dwarven Kingdom.
Tempest would sit at the center of this new trade route.