I tailed everyone who reacted when they saw me.
Just in case something like this happened, I had prepared a lot of tailing personnel. Hahaha….
Or rather, the entire bird army that accompanied me was just waiting on top of the trees and eaves around that area. ...They're not the kind of people who want to miss out on something fun and a chance to get a special reward.
So, you're too smart! You're doing something elaborate, Celes!!
Don't even think about that "treatment to improve your intelligence" for me, don't think about it! If you do something like that, there will definitely be some pitfalls, right?
No, no, no, if that happens, it wouldn't be me anymore. It's a different person. Even though I used potions to make my eyes cute and my breasts bigger, it's like I'm not "me" anymore... urusai wa!
"Kaoru-chan, do you think there's a hit among them?" (Francette)
"Hmm..." (Kaoru)
I could only groan at Francette's question.
For the time being, I had Emil and Belle guided by Bird-san and the others to check the houses of "all the visitors who reacted to me" and kept records, but it seemed like they were all wrong. It was like the situation at the time of the meeting, but there hadn't been much movement since then.
If they knew me, they'd probably start doing something as soon as they got home, if they thought about it normally... Did that mean that he was not among Marial's visitors this time?
As expected, it wouldn't be that easy...
However, since they went out of their way to dispatch multiple people from the capital, there must be some degree of obsession.
They were very guarded, they didn't forcibly contact Marial, who was a nobleman, and they didn't normally contact me, who was living as a commoner, and suddenly took the forced strategy of "taking hostages" from the beginning. I couldn't imagine missing out on such a great opportunity...
...Ah.
"Are these all the people who requested to meet with Marial?" (Kaoru)
When I asked Marial's retainers who were in charge of the reception...
"No, we accepted everyone from aristocratic families, whether they were themselves or their vassals on their behalf, but merchants were accepted by people who were not the owners of the merchants themselves. People who had an extremely bad reputation, and people who had a bad attitude or poor morals, we didn't accept them and turned them away. Also, the ones we accepted were mainly large merchant houses, and we also don't accept medium-sized merchant houses or smaller unless they have a very good reputation... If we accept them, there will be too many people..." ()
Ah, I see. Everyone originally thinks it's okay if it's no good.
Maybe it would have been better to pay a hefty participation fee to apply for a meeting. If we did that, we would have been able to narrow down the number of people and make a lot of money.
Come to think of it, Marial seemed to have passed on everything related to the aristocrats, but when a vassal came instead of the aristocrat himself, she had a cold attitude.
Well, it's obvious. If the other side thought, "It's okay to act as a proxy for someone like a little girl," then sure they would behave accordingly.
In reality, she might have purposely sent her retainers to invite them to dinner or parties, but there's no way Marial would waste half a day accepting invitations from such unknown nobles.
Also, if it's a dinner party or a party, neither the guards nor us could be around, so Marial would be isolated in enemy territory and exposed to an all-out attack. There's no way I would let them go like that. Marial herself, of course, had no intention of accepting such an invitation from the beginning.
Therefore, those who dared to send out their retainers to hand out invitations were annihilated.
There's no point in negotiating with someone who wasn't the head of a noble family, so with such a person, just listen to their greetings, didn't discuss anything specific, and of course declined all invitations. You picked it up quickly, Marial.
The vassals on the mission had pale faces and were desperately trying to subdue me, but there was no reason to hang out with them. No matter how much the other party was a Count or a Marquis, it didn't matter to Marial.
It's impossible to accept all invitations from higher-ranking people, and the only thing you could do was saying, "My schedule doesn't suit me, so I'd like to decline the invitation," so there's no reason to be criticized for politeness.
If he is caught, the senior nobles of the faction would protect him. ...Especially, when it came to "a young, cute, single woman, the head of a noble family, and the beloved child of a goddess," the entire faction must use their full strength. Since this is a "faction" for such times, of course we had to be useful.
...So, there should be no problem.
And the problem was "the merchants who were not accepted."
If they wanted to contact Marial and me, they should be able to do so through normal means if they were a noble or a large merchant. Like those four merchants.
However, from the very beginning, they suddenly started messing with people related to me.
Yes, that meant "that kind of person". ...I wondered why I didn't notice that...
"Do you have a list of people who refused to meet?" (Kaoru)
"Yes, of course. A list of those people will be useful later on..." (Marial)
Yeah, as expected, the vassals who did well are different...
Francette and I left the inn and were strolling around the capital.
I didn't wear a maid's uniform, but rather expensive clothes that make me look a little rich. Rather than wearing knightly equipment, Francette wears maid-like clothes that allow for easy movement, and carried a sword disguised as "something tubular."
And I didn't disguise myself by changing the color of my hair or eyes with potions or lowering the corners of my eyes with tape.
I hadn't disguised myself until now, but if I suddenly disguised myself now, other people, not just Viscount Reifel's family, would become suspicious. As expected, many people would remember my face and hair color, which have always been attached to Marial.
And the main reason why I was not wearing a disguise was that "I wanted to end it quickly".
Marial's business was finished, the Convenient Store Belle (Omise) was still closed, and I could't eat fresh and delicious seafood here like I did in that town.
...No, there's a lot of seafood in the item box, but there's something about my mood. Besides, even though we were working as Marial's maids, we couldn't just rent the inn's kitchen and cook and eat on our own.
That's why I wanted to get it done quickly. So, well, it's called "bait". Not to Marial, but to lure out those who were trying to forcefully contact me...
If they were planning something bad, they would probably have them watch the entrance to the inn anyway. If Marial went out, I would make contact with her while she was out, pretending to be a coincidence. Then, if the servant who accompanied him went out, he would also contact them in order to obtain information through bribery or threats. ...Of course, they would use their underlings to make sure their name wasn't revealed.
So, as the guard clearly noticed, "A person who was supposed to be a maid went out with a maid accompanying her, dressed in a manner that did not seem to be that of a servant," which was probably a bait that would immediately alert her employer. That's why I hung it.
If there was someone who knew the appearance of me... or rather, the "Angel of the Kingdom of Balmore", they would definitely take bait...
I was wandering around town for a while thinking about this, and then this came.
"Excuse me, can I have a moment?" ()
The person who called out to me was a man around 50 years old, with a stout and overweight body that made it hard to believe he was in a combat position. He seemed to have a gentle demeanor, like the husband of a retired merchant family.
But of course, I didn't give up on appearance. Scammers appeared to be sincere.
Francette was inserting her right hand into the tube in her hand.
...Of course, she's probably clutching the sword hilt inside. Even if this man suddenly tried to take out a knife from his pocket, there was no doubt that she would be able to cut off both of his arms quickly. Knowing that, Francette wasn't that nervous, but still, this man had hidden secrets... He would spewing needles and poisonous mist from his mouth, blowing us all up with gunpowder... Considering the possibility of using... or the possibility of an ambush, we must remain vigilant.
"Who are you?" (Kaoru)
"Yes, my name is Goskor, and I have accepted the role of intermediary between you and the angel at the request of Bishop Bruce.…Even though I am acting as an intermediary, I am simply here to guide you to meet Bishop Bruce. All you have to do is…" ()
Contrary to my expectations, the approach wasn't from a merchant, but from a temple...
However, the fact that he contacted me instead of Marial meant that he either knew about me, or that he had taken over the servants of Viscount Reifel's family... Was I an idiot? This man just said "angel"... What, you're so blurry...
Well, it's natural that the temple had more detailed information than the merchants about the events that occurred in Balmore Kingdom. After all, it's from the side of the party. I was sure there would be a direct message from the temple in Balmore Kingdom. I wonder if the accuracy of the information was different from the merchants who collect information from a collection of miscellaneous rumors with lots of tails attached...
Similarly, the royal palace was probably making efforts to obtain accurate information, but the "accurate information" that came in there mainly consists of "rumors and official announcements spread by the royal palace of the Kingdom of Balmore." He's clearly being manipulated by the king's information...
Well, that's why.
"Then, please guide me." (Kaoru)
Yeah, I was sure I would get on board, given the shady invitation.
After all, this was a walk to recruit such people...