A Fair Deal
"We're here."
How long had they been riding? Just as her lower back was beginning to ache in earnest, they arrived at the entrance to the South.
A large wall stood before them — shabby, but more than adequate as a barrier — with guards posted out front. Hera and Dania dismounted, bundles in hand, and approached the gate.
"Halt. This place is under Lord Gorjan's administration. People from other districts are forbidden entry."
A man thrust his spear forward and barked the warning in a stern voice. Dania stepped ahead of Hera.
"We've come to see the King of the South. We have something to give him."
The man glanced at their faces, then lowered his spear.
"Hmm… I see. Lord Gorjan's concubines, are you? You're quite the beauties."
What did this bastard just say?
Hera bristled at the man's crude remark, but Dania caught her by the shoulder and gave a small shake of her head. Fair enough. They hadn't come here to fight — they'd come to make a deal. Smashing the place to pieces in a fit of temper would sink the negotiation on the spot.
"We'd like to see the king as soon as possible. May we go in?"
"…Fine. Go ahead."
Rather lax security. Maybe he'd decided two women weren't worth the trouble, because he waved them through without much suspicion.
"Hold it. You. What's that in your hand?"
He leveled his spear at Hera again, pointing at the bundle she was carrying. Hera offered him a bright little smile and lifted it up.
"This? Something His Majesty is going to love."
"Suspicious goods aren't allowed in. Open it."
Well. Getting in the nice way clearly wasn't an option. She glanced at Dania, who sighed and gave a small nod that said it was fine.
"Alright then. If you insist."
With everyone watching, Hera gently undid the wrapping. The cloth slipped free — and the object inside came into view.
"Aaaagh!!"
"Holy shit!! That's a human head!!"
"What the hell are you people?!"
"W-wait… that face…"
The guards recoiled in shock. Hera held the head out toward them by the hair.
"Go get your king."
In a bedroom somewhere in the building, a soldier approached a man lounging with several women in his arms.
"Lord Gorjan. There's a disturbance at the gate."
Gorjan propped his chin on his hand with an air of pure annoyance.
"Another monster?"
"N-no, sir. It's two women, apparently."
"Women?"
Gorjan frowned at the soldier's words. What kind of fuss could a couple of women possibly cause? Women showing up in this city at all was rare enough as it was.
"You're interrupting my entertainment over a couple of girls?"
Gorjan fixed the soldier with a sharp look. Cold sweat broke out on the man's brow as he scrambled to add more.
"It's just that… the King of the West's head was found in one of the women's possession."
"What?"
"And when we tried to subdue them afterward, we were completely overpowered…!"
Bram was dead? At the hands of a woman?
Gorjan mulled over the unusual situation for a moment. A mana user, then. And a considerable one at that.
"Bring them to me. And no unnecessary fighting."
"Gyaaaaah!!!!!"
Stop being so dramatic. I barely hit you.
Hera was subduing the soldiers while putting as little force into her body as possible. Killing anyone would only complicate things, so she'd settled for light taps to arms and legs — but from the soldiers' perspective, it clearly didn't feel that way.
"Hah… hah… I can't… I can't breathe!"
"Guhhh… my leg… my leg!!!!"
Screams rose from every direction. Beside her, Dania held a dagger and watched Hera with a faintly wary look.
"You're strong, alright…"
"These guys are just weak."
She meant it literally. Even a short trip into the Empire would turn up powerhouses who could swat dozens of people like this aside without breaking a sweat.
"So… are we going to have to force our way through after all?"
"We've made enough noise that more people should be showing up soon."
True to Dania's word, it wasn't long before a soldier came galloping up on horseback.
"Stoooooop!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The man scrambled down from his horse, ran straight to them, and bowed his head.
"Lord Gorjan has ordered that you be brought to him! I'll escort you!"
Oh. So this Gorjan fellow was someone you could actually reason with.
Following the soldier's lead through the gate, they found themselves looking out over a surprisingly decent stretch of street.
"The South has some pretty nice buildings."
The West had been nothing but rundown shacks with signs slapped on them. Here, the structures actually looked like they'd been built with some sense of order.
"You're right… it's different from the West."
"That's all thanks to Lord Gorjan's abilities. Haha."
The soldier cut into their conversation, squaring his shoulders with pride. Gorjan, it seemed, actually commanded some respect from his people — unlike Bram.
They walked on, taking in the streets, until they arrived at a building. Guided inside, they found themselves face-to-face with a man in lavish clothes seated in a luxurious room.
But the moment Hera got a good look at his face—
This guy… he looks exactly like…
Thinning hair. A considerably well-fed frame. And a face that just radiated sleaze. He looked like the kind of potbellied middle-aged man who'd pull a stopwatch out of his back pocket and lead pure-hearted young girls down the path of corruption.
No… you can't judge people by their faces…
Judging someone by appearance alone was the height of stupidity. Hera scolded herself for it. But the moment the man raked his gaze over her with that lingering look, murderous intent seemed to well up from somewhere deep in her body of its own accord.
Calm down… calm down…
She forced the hostility leaking out of her unconscious back down. The man put on a smile and welcomed them.
"A pleasure. I am Gorjan, administrator of the South."
A merchant through and through — he greeted them with impeccable courtesy. It was thoroughly unpleasant, but answering formality with formality was only polite.
"You can call me Hera."
"I'm Dania."
He nodded at their introductions and guided them to seats.
"I hear you've caused quite a stir… Might I ask what brings you here?"
Gorjan wanted to cut straight to business. That suited Hera just fine, so she immediately produced the bundle she'd brought along. The cloth fell open to reveal Bram's head.
Gorjan stared at the contents for a long moment before speaking.
"This is going to be a long conversation."
The first time Gorjan laid eyes on the two women, he couldn't look away for quite some time.
A beautiful, captivating young woman with dark hair that called to mind the night sky. And beside her, a woman with ash-gray hair who carried the air of a mature lady.
Gorjan had never seen women this beautiful in his life, and for a moment their appearance stole his wits entirely.
Get a grip. These aren't ordinary women.
But a merchant was a merchant. He snapped back to himself in short order, put on a smile, and welcomed the pair.
Two people who had casually overpowered his soldiers and brought him the head of the King of the West — a man whose monstrous strength had surpassed ordinary humans. He needed to figure out what they wanted before anything else, and so he carefully steered the conversation forward.
What they wanted was funding — enough to live comfortably in Drax. In exchange, they would hand over governing rights to the West.
From the sound of it, they had already dealt with most of Bram and his gang, the ones who'd been ruling the West. Welcome news, that.
If he could expand his territory all the way into the West, he stood to gain far more "goods" and profit. And with that, that many more deals he could make. If the price was nothing more than enough money for one household to live in comfort, it was a bargain with room to spare. There was no reason to refuse.
Heh heh… plenty of muscle, not enough brains. Do they have any idea how much money you can squeeze out of that place?
Wearing the look of a man who'd just landed an easy mark, Gorjan glanced at the young woman across from him. She frowned slightly and spoke up.
"And there's something I'd like to ask of you."
"Please, speak freely."
His profits were already overflowing. A favor or two was nothing he couldn't accommodate.
"We're living with a young child, you see. I'd like it if crime stopped happening in the West."
A request to tighten security. His forces would thin out a little, but he could always drag more people in from the West to make up the difference.
"Haha. A righteous soul, I see. Very well. It won't be easy, given that it's a lawless zone… but I'll do what I can."
"And there's one more thing."
Hm? There was still more?
"Haha… go on."
"The buildings around here look like they're in good shape. I was wondering if you could fix up the house we're living in a bit, too."
So much for righteousness. Now she was attaching materialistic conditions. Building repairs, though… well, that should be fine. The profits more than covered it.
"Th-that much I can manage. Then we'll proceed as—"
"And there's something else I'd like to ask."
Crack.
The smile on his face began to slip. His expression management was starting to fail.
"Ha… haha…… Please, spea—"
"Looking around earlier, I noticed you've got quite a variety of buildings here. It'd be nice if you could put some up in the West as well."
"……"
Bit by bit, profit was turning into loss. What on earth was this girl spouting?
"And also…"
That was the moment Gorjan's reason snapped.
"You little bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
He slammed the desk and roared at the girl.
"There's a limit to greed! What? Build you buildings? Renovate your house?! You've clearly lost your mind! Get out of here this instan—"
KRAAAAAASH!!!!!!!~
"—tlyyyyyyyyyy?!!!"
Ruuuumble—
The girl drove her fist into the floor with crushing force. The ground shook, and the building began to collapse around them.
"U… uwaaaaagh!!"
Gorjan ducked his head, trying to shield himself from the debris raining down from above. When the shaking finally settled and he looked up again—
"Huuuuh!"
What filled his vision were a pair of blood-red eyes blazing so fiercely they looked ready to devour him whole. Their owner spoke.
"Do it."
Th… this… devil of a woman…
This girl had never intended to make a deal from the start.
Apparently, the easy mark had been him all along.