Merchant Leader Liru
Inside the reception room of the Verhart Baronry.
"So you see, when I spoke to the Doronton Merchant Guild Master…"
"Oh my, oh my."
Two women and one man were seated within.
"……"
More precisely, the one man—Juhan—was simply watching their conversation without a word.
"And then at first he told me it was absolutely impossible."
"Goodness… that man, really. So how did you reply?"
"I completely restructured the deal. Reduced the advance payment and…"
…What is going on right now?
Slurp.
Feeling as if his throat were burning dry, Juhan brought the teacup to his lips without thinking.
Was she always like this?
The Liru before him now was nothing like the Liru he usually knew. She was dealing with Luina as if she had been rolling around in the merchant world for years.
The proof was right in front of him.
"Wow…"
Nod, nod.
Luina kept bobbing her head as if every word out of Liru's mouth were absolute truth.
…Looks like she's completely hooked.
No matter how he looked at it, she seemed like someone under a spell.
"As expected of Lady Liru."
Unable to hide her admiration, Luina clasped both hands and offered Liru praise.
"You're too kind."
Even hearing that, Liru shook her head with a serene face, as if it were nothing of the sort.
Sip.
"……"
With one hand she elegantly lifted the teacup and took a small swallow of its contents. To anyone who didn't know better, she was the very picture of a refined and elegant lady.
…Granted, with looks like that backing her up, the atmosphere is something else.
But Juhan knew how Liru normally behaved.
From No. 1 through No. 7—even putting all of Juhan's creations together, none was more frivolous than Liru.
That was when it happened.
"Ah, oh dear…"
"Yes?"
Luina, who had briefly turned her gaze toward Juhan, let out a small exclamation.
"I'm so sorry—we've been talking only among ourselves."
Clack.
Setting down her teacup with an apologetic smile, Luina soon spoke to him.
"I went to the trouble of requesting your understanding to bring such a precious guest here, and yet I've just been quietly listening to Lady Liru's stories."
She wore a genuinely apologetic, sheepish expression. Watching that face of hers—
"Not at all, it's fine. I wasn't really paying it much mind."
Juhan shook his head slightly as if to say it was alright. He could play along this much easily enough.
After all, this Luina was someone Karun had put considerable effort into cultivating, wasn't she? There was no need to do anything that would look bad and cost them points for nothing.
Besides, he didn't particularly have anything to say anyway.
"I'm glad."
Huuu—
Letting out a breath of relief, Luina lightly pressed a hand to her chest as if truly glad.
"Truthfully, once I start talking with Lady Liru, I lose all track of time without realizing it."
"You're too kind, my lady. It wasn't particularly interesting conversation."
"That's not true. Just listening to Lady Liru's stories, I somehow feel as if I can see right through the state of affairs on the continent…"
Once again looking at Liru and gilding her face with praise—but Luina's behavior was soon cut short.
Knock knock.
"My lady."
A voice calling for Luina came from beyond the reception room door.
"Hmm?"
With a look that said What is it? on her face, Luina soon signaled for the servant to enter.
"Yes, come in."
Creak.
The person who entered as the door opened was the butler who had guided Juhan earlier.
Swoosh.
After briefly gauging Juhan and Liru's reactions, he quietly approached Luina and spoke.
"My apologies, my lady. The lord urgently requests your presence."
"Father does?"
"Yes."
At Luina's question, the butler nodded that it was so. He soon looked at Liru and spoke to her as well.
"It appears his lordship wishes to ask you a few things regarding Lady Liru's visit."
"Ah…"
"Lady Liru, might I inquire how long you plan to remain today?"
"Hmm…"
After pondering something for a moment, Liru replied that she would need to return soon.
"I'll probably be heading back shortly."
"Oh my."
"I still have work that needs handling today. I truly only came to see Young Lady Luina's face for a brief moment."
"I see."
Luina nodded, then soon spoke toward Juhan.
"Will you be returning as well then, Sir Juhan?"
"Yes, I'll probably head back too."
"Ah…"
Hearing that both of them intended to leave soon, Luina spoke to Juhan with genuine regret.
"Please come visit whenever it's convenient for you. Today Karun wasn't available so it couldn't be helped, but I'll be sure to pass on the message."
"Understood."
"Lady Liru, Sir Juhan. I'll take my leave then. Please feel free to talk at your leisure, and leave whenever you like."
After apologizing to Juhan and Liru at length, Luina quietly closed the reception room door and left somewhere.
"……"
"……"
Inside the reception room Luina had left, only Liru and Juhan remained now.
Thud.
"…Hey."
"Ahhh…"
Less than ten seconds after Luina left, Liru was already dropping to her knees before Juhan as if in rapture.
"Lord Juhaaan…"
Swoosh.
Clasping both hands together, she looked up at him with a face that looked ready to shed tears at any moment.
"Truly, how long I've wanted to see you…"
Even Juhan was more flustered than anything. No matter that only the two of them were in the reception room now, it wouldn't be strange at all if someone walked in that very moment.
"Get up. Sit across from me normally like before."
"…Yes."
And so Liru moved back onto the sofa—though her expression didn't look particularly satisfied.
"I wanted to savor this emotion a little longer, but if it's Lord Juhan's command…"
Having told Liru to act normally and sorted out the situation for the moment, Juhan soon asked her what he'd been curious about.
"What are you doing here right now?"
"I was doing my utmost for Lord Juhan's safety…"
"……"
But to that question, Liru answered with full confidence.
"Pate and Karun are also throwing everything they have into action, so you'll soon be able to receive results you can be satisfied with."
"Results?"
Hearing her say each of them was doing something, Juhan immediately asked what the others were up to.
"Where are Pate and Karun right now, and what are they doing?"
"Karun is expanding his influence around here as usual. He's probably meeting with other nobles…"
As expected, Karun seemed to be busily doing something on his own. There were probably quite a few things Liru didn't know either.
"Then what about Pate?"
Where was Pate and what was he doing—Juhan asked in a serious voice, as if telling her to explain in detail.
"Pate is currently in the Holote Kingdom."
"The Holote Kingdom? If it's there, then surely…"
The Holote Kingdom. It was a kingdom name he'd heard before—a kingdom located on the northwestern coast of the continent, if he recalled correctly.
"That's incredibly far from here."
"Yes, but he said he absolutely had to go."
"Is that so?"
What could he possibly need to do all the way out there? Juhan indicated with a chin gesture that she should hurry and finish explaining.
"Lord Juhan, I believe you're aware that the Holy Kingdom's movements have been unusual lately."
"I know. And?"
"Among the various kingdoms on the continent, the one that most actively supports the Holy Kingdom is the Holote Kingdom."
"So?"
So what was he going to do about it—at Juhan's question, Liru glanced around, then spoke to him in a low voice.
"Pate chose the Holote Kingdom as the first kingdom to attack, and he's currently carrying out various preparatory operations."
"…Preparatory operations? Last time he said he was only thinking of wiping out about one city."
Hadn't that changed a bit from what was said last time—at Juhan's words, Liru shook her head slightly.
Shake shake.
"I was going to explain the situation to Lord Juhan soon anyway."
Her additional reply followed shortly.
"But Pate said he needed to 'perfectly complete all preparations first, so that Lord Juhan can freely choose the situation'…"
"……"
Though it was a short exchange, Juhan could immediately grasp the overall situation. You could call it excessive loyalty. Of course, that didn't mean he found it unpleasant.
"Alright, I understand. Then is there any part where you need my help?"
"Lord Juhan's help…"
Juhan asking Liru if she needed his help was perhaps a natural flow of conversation. Of course, he hadn't really been thinking anything of it.
He'd been expecting something like We're fine, we'll work hard on our own to come back.
But.
Clap!
"Ah, then…"
"Go on, tell me."
However, at those words of his, Liru suddenly seemed to remember something… and was about to answer while clapping her hands lightly—
"W-well."
"?"
After suddenly trying to open her mouth, she was now working her lips as if she'd made a mistake.
"What is it?"
"……"
After gauging Juhan's reaction for a moment, Liru soon spoke toward him in a screw it kind of way.
"Pate and Karun both said it was absolutely not allowed… but no matter how much I think about it, in my opinion this seems like the best method."
"Is that so?"
What kind of request was this going to be? The moment Juhan slightly leaned his upper body forward out of curiosity…
"Could you please order No. 1—that guy—to help us out a little later on?"
No. 1.
Liru was asking Juhan to give an order to Kkamangi, the first creature he had ever created.