Chapter 56
“You want a crate of oranges? Where are you ladies from?”
“The Tamer domain.”
“And where’s that supposed to be? What, Auphocalypse changed its name?”
The fruit seller only learned the latest news after hearing it from the other merchants around him, which told Joren all he needed to know about how current his information was. His gaze ran over Peach and Meyril from head to toe, and it was not a particularly warm one.
“Right. If they’re only just managing to grow wheat, I doubt they’ve got time to tend any ruined orchards. I’ll let you have them for five gold a box. Hang on a moment, I’ll bring ’em out.”
After the shopkeeper disappeared behind the curtain, Meyril lowered her voice.
“Peach unni, isn’t five gold a fair price? Maybe we’ve picked the wrong shop….”
“Have a little faith. We can’t relax until we’ve seen the goods.”
“Ah, I seeeee.”
A short while later, the oranges the owner brought out were in fairly decent condition.
“Huh? They’re pretty fresh, aren’t they? They said she was mean as a snake, but she doesn’t seem like that at all.”
Just as Meyril was tilting her head, wondering whether they’d simply stumbled upon an honest merchant.
“Meyril, let’s do this the way we planned.”
Peach’s eyes gleamed as she looked at the luscious, shining orange peels.
“Huh? B-but….”
“Trust me and do it. And hurry up, Goblin.”
“O-oh, all right.”
Meyril still looked puzzled, but she followed Peach’s lead and stepped away for a moment.
“Ma’am. I know times are hard, but cheating people is still a problem.”
Peach began the opening move with a bright, sunny smile.
“What’s that? What’d you just say, you little brat? Cheating?”
The agitated shopkeeper raised her voice, but Peach didn’t flinch in the slightest.
“You smear lipstick on a fish’s lips and pass it off as a mermaid. Wouldn’t that count as fraud?”
“What? You little witch—!”
Peach coyly placed a finger on her own lips, and the woman, who had in fact painted on far too much lipstick, went into a fury. Around them, people began gathering in ones and twos.
“What’s going on?”
“Something about a mermaid? Let’s see, let’s see. Oh, no mermaid, but that young lady’s prettier than one.”
“Honey, if you say mermaid one more time, I’ll turn your mouth into gills.”
Peach picked up an orange and rubbed it briskly with a handkerchief.
“Look. You’ve dyed the peel all over.”
The dye bled onto the white cloth.
“N-no, that’s….”
The owner twitched.
“You let the pulp dry out, so you’re trying to fool people with the skin instead?!”
When Peach peeled it open, the flesh inside was dry and desiccated at a glance.
“And on top of that, you’re cheating us twice over! You’ve piled only the rotten ones at the bottom!”
When she tipped the crate upside down, oranges spilled out. The ones from the bottom were in even worse condition, close to rotting through.
“You put on a show of generosity for our domain’s sake, and then you try to pass off lower-grade produce as premium goods. Sob. How disappointed must the children be who were looking forward to orange juice?”
Peach sank to the ground as if she had collapsed in grief. Rain began to fall around her. Washed by the droplets, the dye on the orange peels flowed down like streams of crimson juice.
“What a vile woman. Miss, please, get up.”
“Ma’am! Don’t do business like that!”
“That rainwater is proof!”
The onlookers, who had been watching in silence, began to condemn the owner.
“Aigoo, no, it’s just that business has been so slow that these are the only oranges left….”
Ukk, ukk! (That’s a lie!)
Goblin 10 interrupted the fruit seller’s nonsense and stepped forward, a handful of oranges in his grasp.
“That’s right. She’s lying! In the back storage room, she had plenty of good stock piled up! Everyone, look at this.”
Meyril hurriedly joined in.
“Oh my. There were oranges this good in this market all along?!”
The crowd began to murmur.
The oranges Goblin 10 had lifted up shone like jewels.
We’re not making the fruit we bought go bad. We’re making the rest of the fruit even fresher.
Aha! Then, by comparison, our fruit will look so much worse. We can ask them to exchange it for the freshly improved fruit. What a great idea.
Meyril’s reversal of the situation worked beautifully. And of course, the rain itself was no accident either, but the result of Meyril’s magic.
“Wait, when did that monkey get in and out? I’m reporting this whole thing for trespassing and theft….”
“You still don’t get it? Do you have any idea you’re hurting the other merchants if you run your business like this?!”
The fruit seller was, for once, making a perfectly valid argument, but it didn’t matter to the citizens of Rainpa, whose loyalty had been raised now that they were an allied force.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Meanwhile, Ho-yeong was checking the effects of the enhanced skill tree.
[Influence] skill trees have been enhanced.
[Influence Evangelization] +2 enhancement: When you turn a hostile being into an ally through the evangelists’ [Influence], you gain a certain amount of EP.
[Influence Leadership] +2 enhancement: For humans and the chosen races only, an additional leader may be designated for each faction. However, these are deputy leaders, and their specs are inferior to those of the main leader.
Influence has risen sharply! Ios’s Influence rank has increased from C to A. From now on, he will actively consider every one of your opinions.
Ho-yeong appointed Ios as a leader. Not the main leader representing the human race, of course, but as a deputy leader representing the Rainpa sphere of influence.
With the city’s mayor now serving as a leader, the talks were moving along smoothly.
“Thank you, Mayor. You really worked with us on the price.”
While he was at it, Ho-yeong drew up a series of contracts.
Officially, the Tamer domain was the lower party, but under the terms of an exclusive supply agreement it was more like the super lower party. The conditions all favored the Tamer domain, so it would make a substantial profit going forward.
“Not at all. You’ve given us both an exclusive supply contract and a transportation contract, so Rainpa City is the one that should be grateful.”
Since Rainpa City also stood to gain a great deal, the mayor had no complaints whatsoever.
⊳ Rainpa City and the Tamer domain have become a community.
⊳ If Rainpa City asks for help in the future, you will be able to provide generous assistance.
⊳ Likewise, when the Tamer domain requests aid from Rainpa City, accepting the request is recommended.
“Let’s do even better from here on, Mayor. We’re a community now. If everyone does well, it’s better for everyone.”
“Indeed, Count Tamer. But I do think we should put off the logistics hub and forward base plans for now.”
“Why?”
In summary, the mayor’s reasoning was this:
1. The land between the Tamer domain and Rainpa City was empty, but it was state land.
2. Therefore, if they wanted to lay roads or install military facilities, they would need the country’s permission.
3. Otherwise, if they occupied it without authorization, there could be serious trouble later.
“So there was a problem like that. Damn it, it’s land where nobody lives and nobody even wants to live. Why can’t we use it for something useful? I trust you’ll handle things properly, Mayor.”
“Hmm. As for a logistics hub, perhaps not, but a forward base should fall under the Border Count’s jurisdiction, should it not? You’re the one commanding the troops, Count Tamer….”
“Tch, damn it.”
Ho-yeong, who had wanted to shove all the troublesome work onto someone else, could not argue back and let out a sigh at the mayor’s words.
“You’re on your way to the capital to see Her Majesty anyway, aren’t you? Please obtain permission from Her Majesty. I’m sure she’ll grant it readily.”
“R-right? I mean, if the local government says it’s going to realize self-defense, there’s no way she’d oppose that. Ha ha.”
“Since we’re on the topic, I’ll draft the petition as well, so please submit it for us.”
“Oh, if you’d do that, I’d be grateful.”
Seeing Ios step forward of his own accord pleased him.
“And, Mayor. Just to be safe, please do not expand any military facilities or residential quarters outside the domain until I return. No adding more walls, no setting up tents outdoors, that sort of thing.”
“Hm? Why is that?”
Ios knew nothing about the influence mechanism, so his confusion was natural. Ho-yeong condensed it into a short warning.
“If you do that, monsters may come swarming in.”
He didn’t want to see the allied force they had only just built come apart.
“Mayor, why are you making that face?”
Ios’s face had gone pale.
“There’s no need to be on guard already. As long as you follow my instructions, monsters won’t appear. At least, not for the time being.”
“That….”
Just then, Rainpa’s guard captain hurried in to report.
“Reporting to you, Mayor. We’ve installed the watchtower as ordered.”
“…The watchtower? Where? When?”
With a very bad feeling settling in, Ho-yeong muttered the question under his breath.
“Well, I ordered them to build a watchtower in the area where the black fog had lifted. So that if anything happened around there, we’d know immediately.”
Ios answered, trembling all over.
“No, just a moment ago you told us not to install military facilities on state land without permission!”
“Well, yes, but I thought a watchtower wouldn’t be something anyone could really object to… and I also conducted a preliminary survey on my own for Count Tamer’s forward base plan….”
“Grrrgh. I told you this would happen! Tear it down and withdraw immediately!”
At Ho-yeong’s frantic words, the mayor bowed even lower.
“Since we were building the watchtower, we also put up tents and a camp, so I’m afraid it won’t be quick….”
“You damned fool! No, damn you, Mayor!”
“Those are both insults, aren’t they?”
Ho-yeong flew into a rage at Ios, who had gone out of his way to do exactly the things he had been told not to do.
“Mayor! Why now of all times? Damn it, I need to get to the capital as fast as possible. Don’t tell me another monster’s going to show up and throw everything off again?”
Ding!
His bad feeling had been right.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Ho-yeong gathered Meyril, Peach, and Shrakhim, then instructed Ios to assemble all of Rainpa’s troops.
“I’ve heard of the Border Count’s reputation, but isn’t it an overreach to command another city’s guard so carelessly?”
The mayor did as he was told, but Rainpa’s guard captain, Owensytn, had his mouth hanging open in visible annoyance.
He had worked diligently to build fortifications according to the lawful commands of the mayor, the proper authority, only for some young lightning-struck noble brat to order it torn down and then have monsters attack out of nowhere, monsters he had not so much as seen a shadow of in the city until now.
In that sense, his anger was, in fact, justified.
“Ah, of course this is sudden, but-”
With no time to spare, Ho-yeong was just about to spend EP and convert him directly.
“No, no, I can’t let that stand. Captain Owensytn, tell me something: have your people ever fought a monster, or even properly seen one? Weren’t you just gatekeepers in a place where you never saw anything worse than street thugs brawling in the market? How are people who’ve only stood watch in a place that never even had a monster’s face to look at supposed to fight?”
Instead, Shrakhim stepped forward and launched into a fervent speech.
Shrakhim is casting [Influence Evangelization].
Red-faced, Owensytn listened and then shot back, “Have you finished, Sir Shrakhim? Yes, just as you said, our work has been calming down ruffians and catching pickpockets. But I don’t want to hear that from you! At least we protected merchants from thugs; have you ever properly protected a single one of the Tamer domain’s people?”
First attempt of Shrakhim’s [Influence Evangelization] failed.
Ho-yeong shook his head and was about to step in, but Shrakhim still refused to give up.
“...Yes. That’s right. I was a fool, a half-wit. But! Thanks to the Border Count of Tamer here, I was reborn. If not for this man, there might be Minocentaurs trampling through our Kihara Barony right now. Rainpa is no different. Is there anyone here who has fought a Fog Hog?”
No one raised a hand.
“Th-then, has the Border Count himself fought a Fog Hog before?”
“Hm? Yes. Well.”
Ho-yeong, suddenly singled out, nodded before he’d even properly thought about it.
“I’ve fought them many times.”
In truth, Joren Tamer had never encountered a Fog Hog, but it wasn’t a lie. It was one of the monsters Ho-yeong had fought to death in the game.
“The Border Count even saved the life of a bastard like me, after I tried to stab him in the back. So what about the citizens of Rainpa, who’ve formed an alliance with him? Wouldn’t he be the first to step forward and protect them?”
Shrakhim was appealing to their emotions now, and his [Influence] was beginning to work as well.
“That’s right, Captain. If he went so far as to save trash like that at risk to himself! Then he’ll protect our city even better.”
“Exactly. A man who can make even hopeless trash like that follow him is someone worth trusting.”
“...Still, you don’t have to keep calling me trash.”
There was a minor side effect in that Shrakhim looked dejected, but the results were there.
“...Understood. I’ll trust not the title of Border Count, but the authority of an Upper Knight, and follow your command.”
Conversion succeeded! Through Shrakhim’s [Influence Evangelization], Rainpa guard captain Owensytn bent his stubbornness. In addition, all the guards of Rainpa City were genuinely moved by the sight of Shrakhim’s changed self.
According to the +2 enhancement effect of [Influence Evangelization] - "when you turn a hostile being into an ally through the evangelists’ [Influence], you gain a certain amount of EP" - you have obtained 10 EP.
Not only had he conserved EP, he had actually gained some, and all through a natural conversion at that.
Oh, Shrakhim! Not bad at all. Is this what happens when the troublemaker shows his changed side? It really does work. It’s good that the guards were all converted too, but….
Still, Ho-yeong remained uneasy.
These guards alone aren’t enough. I need more seasoned troops. It’s a bit wasteful to use this now, but I don’t have a choice.
He decided to use the item he had been saving: the one he had obtained from the ruins of the eastern district office, the stage 1 defense objective.
“Use the Totem of Unity.”
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