Chapter 59: Reaping the Harvest - 12
Chapter 59: Reaping the Harvest - 12
Noon.
Accompanied by the gargoyle Rugin, the lion beastman Garaon, and the half-elf Lijin, Jiha headed for City Hall.
"By the way, Chief, what about our exit permits?"
"We're attending the mayor's summons as Enril's representatives. Of course we have exit permits."
"Oh, we're representatives, huh."
Garaon nodded, looking impressed.
Rugin spoke in a flat, emotionless tone.
"The mayor called for you. Is there a reason you need to bring us along?"
"Because their guys are going to show up. The ones who aren't Common."
At the implication that Purple would be making an appearance—and that a fight might break out—Rugin pressed the question bluntly.
"Then why'd you bring that female? If she's an elf, she's with Purple, isn't she?"
"I'm only half elf."
Lijin corrected him gently.
Rugin rolled his eyes.
"You've still got elf blood. What if she betrays us?"
"If anyone betrays the Chief, I don't care if she's a woman. I won't forgive it."
Garaon bared his teeth threateningly.
Curious to see how Lijin would handle the situation, Jiha deliberately kept his mouth shut.
She responded in a smooth, amiable manner.
"It's true that elf blood flows through my body, but I feel no sense of belonging toward Purple Liberation. And I have an employer-employee relationship with Mr. Jiha. As long as I'm receiving a salary, I won't turn my back on him."
Rugin stated flatly.
"A female ruled by money can't be trusted. If that woman betrays us, I'll deal with her."
"Leave it to me."
As Rugin and Garaon reached their own conclusion, Lijin smiled at Jiha.
"They're very direct, aren't they?"
"They're rough around the edges, but you'll get used to them soon."
"It's fine. I saw plenty of rough men at my old workplace."
While they talked, the City Hall building came into view.
Lijin said,
"If we hurry, we can make it on time."
"No, let's walk in ten minutes late."
"The mayor will be waiting. Will that be all right?"
Jiha smirked.
"If we're not there, nothing can start, can it?"
A deliberate late arrival—a simple tactic for seizing the initiative.
Rugin and Garaon nodded their agreement, but Lijin voiced a concern.
"The Mayor of Waris has no real power, but he's a respected figure. This might give Purple an excuse to act."
"The ones who move first are easier to crush."
"Understood."
Lijin accepted his reasoning and fell in line.
Ten minutes passed.
Jiha, who had been listening to Garaon and Rugin's idle chatter, got moving again.
"Let's go."
After identifying themselves at the City Hall front desk, Jiha and his subordinates were led straight to the conference room.
"The Mayor will join you as soon as his current meeting concludes."
"Oh?"
Despite showing up ten minutes late on purpose, the mayor was even later.
As they entered the conference room, the figures who had already arrived came into view.
Leticia, and dozens of elves.
The elves, who had been in the middle of conversation, turned to look at the group and stared in disbelief.
"What are those things?"
"Why is a Common here?"
Ignoring the predictably hostile reactions, Jiha immediately pulled out an empty chair and sat down.
Garaon, Rugin, and Lijin stood at attention behind him.
With the clear picture of who was in charge, the elves focused their attention on Jiha.
"That one's a Common too......"
"Isn't that the human who forced a ceasefire in the Summoning War? What's he doing here?"
Unlike the murmuring elves, Leticia was glaring at Jiha with a rigid expression.
Her reaction said she'd never imagined reuniting with him here, and in front of an audience, no less.
When Jiha grinned at her, she whipped her head away with a snap.
Among the elves who'd been thrown into confusion by the Commons' entrance, a voice of horrified outrage rang out.
"Wait, is that...... a half-breed?"
"What is that? Are you insane?"
The elves glared at Lijin and hurled vicious abuse.
"How dare something so filthy set foot in a place like this?"
"You'd better leave if you don't want to die right here."
"Hey, throw her out! Throw her out!"
As the elves rolled up their sleeves and approached, Jiha spoke for the first time.
"Garaon, roar."
"Uwaaaaaah!!!"
The lion's thunderous bellow echoed through the conference room.
Lion's Roar—the Special Ability of the lion beastman Garaon.
Unless someone possessed an unusually stout heart, they'd freeze up from instinctual terror.
The advancing elves also seized up, unable to take another step.
"Th-this, a C-Common bastard?"
"Wh-where does he get off making a noise like that......"
Their mouths moved, but not a single one of them could move their body.
Garaon bared his teeth savagely and puffed out his chest.
"Chief, do we fight?"
Without answering, Jiha looked at Leticia.
The frozen elves also looked at Leticia.
Under the gaze from both sides, Leticia realized she had to take control of the situation.
"......This is City Hall. Don't cause a disturbance."
"But she's a half-elf! You expect us to sit in the same room as her?"
When an elf youth with slicked-back hair shouted out, Jiha asked,
"Who's that jackass?"
The slicked-back elf's face twisted into a scowl.
His reaction was that of a man who'd never heard such an insult in his life.
"And what sort of human are you, then?"
Jiha already knew exactly who he was.
Damod Galak, the second son of the Galak family, who was rallying hot-blooded young elves in a bid to climb to new heights.
"Try going to hell right now; you'll find out who I am there."
At Jiha's mockery, the slicked-back elf, Galak, flew into a rage.
He couldn't endure such an insult in front of his followers.
"This piece of trash human dares insult me? I'll carve you up right now......"
Galak's hand flew straight to his sword, but Leticia cut him off sharply.
"That's enough."
"......Lady Leticia? Are you telling me, a son of the Galak family, to endure this kind of insult?"
"The mayor will be here soon. Sit down, Galak."
At Leticia's command, Galak's eyes blazed with fury.
"......You may be a Unique, but I am a son of the Galak family! Yormun and Galak are equal members of the Council, so you have no authority to order me around!"
The Rare Grade Galak was openly defying the Unique Grade Leticia, and the other elves seemed to agree with him.
Even Leticia herself did nothing more than frown.
"You'll go down in history for the most worthless last words ever spoken. Even an idiot still manages to leave a turd behind, I see."
At Jiha's provocation, Damod's eyes bulged, and he drew his sword.
The other elves also drew their weapons in perfect unison.
A hair-trigger standoff across the round table.
Garaon clenched his fist, and Rugin lowered his stance.
Only Jiha remained completely unruffled.
'I could crush that idiot right here, or I could let him stew a while longer and use him instead......'
Damod, sword drawn, was glaring at Jiha while simultaneously gauging Leticia's reaction.
The situation's still too ambiguous. Time to add some seasoning.
Jiha looked at the slicked-back hair and spoke.
"Damod Galak, second son of the Galak family. Among elves, primogeniture is the rule, so I hear that from the second son onward, you're usually called not by your given name but as 'the Galak son.' So you must be called by the family name Galak more often than the name Damod."
"What......"
When Jiha pinpointed exactly that he was the second son, even correctly identifying his name, Galak was thrown into confusion.
He didn't know Jiha, but Jiha knew him very well.
As a man to be used and then disposed of.
"You've been busy lately, haven't you? To purchase Mana-infused armaments, you need the faction's authorization. Bulk purchases have to go through even stricter official procedures. Seems some elves have been nosing around illegal arms dealers recently. I wonder what would happen if I tipped off the Purple camp?"
"Wh-what are you talking about......"
Galak's face went white.
Each faction strictly regulated Mana weapons, and any bulk purchase was met with fierce scrutiny and punishment.
If Jiha's insinuation were to surface, the entire Galak family could be wiped out.
"D-do you have proof? I said, do you have proof!"
The agitated Galak protested, spittle flying.
"I never said you did it. I said elves did, didn't I, Damod? I was just curious if you happened to know anything. I even have information that a deal's going down somewhere in three days."
"Th-that."
"If you know something, how about sharing? You're a whiny jackass, but your ears are long, so you might've picked something up, right?"
At Jiha's laughter, Galak clenched his fist, his body trembling violently.
The fact was, he had indeed been looking into illegal routes in order to secretly purchase Mana weapons.
'But buying not just one or two, but dozens—there's no way a novice wouldn't get caught.'
Having already grasped the situation through Uben's intelligence reports, Jiha was now blackmailing him.
A threat to grind his entire family officially into the dirt.
Galak was struck dumb, and Jiha sneered.
"Why can't you answer? Do elves produce a crop of morons every year? What an eco-friendly race you are."
"You human......"
Instead of the frozen Galak, other elves flared up in anger.
As tensions escalated, Leticia cut in.
"Everyone, get out."
"......."
"Or shall I make you leave?"
The implication was that she was willing to risk a physical clash. Even so, they couldn't actually clash with Leticia.
The paralyzed Galak pulled himself together and forced an edge into his voice.
"After suffering such an insult, I have absolutely no desire to remain here. I'll take my leave. I will never forget that a Blue Seal slave suspected an elf without a shred of evidence, and that Lady Leticia turned her back on her fellow elves."
"Look at him whining about why no one helped him. Is this a daycare?"
Galak shot Jiha a venomous glare before storming out of the conference room.
The other elves also rushed out in a swarm, leaving Leticia as the only elf remaining.
Leticia pressed her fingers to her forehead and groaned.
"What kind of insane......"
"Think before you speak."
When Jiha's tone shifted, Leticia reflexively shut her mouth.
The heat was rising in her head, but she could never forget how Jiha had utterly played her.
Had Jiha really provoked the elves without any sort of backup plan?