Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: #4 Guest (2)
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Elric stepped out of the station.
There was still an hour until the train arrived.
He couldn't very well bring his sword with him, so he gripped only his cane, steadying his tense nerves.
‘It's fine. It'll be fine.’
Today's guests were from the west, but they were ultimately officers who operated on the battlefield.
And they were supply officers at that.
‘They probably don't know anything about me.’
It wasn't just hopeful thinking.
When he had operated as Kasha in the west, Elric's main stage had been the front lines of the battlefield.
He rarely appeared publicly unless he was swinging his sword there, so aside from his name, little information about him had spread.
On top of that, he had rejected all interview requests and would smash entire cameras if anyone tried to sneak a photo, being extremely thorough about protecting his identity. Thus, the only people who knew his face were a few clients he had met in person.
Well, if he had to add one more, it would be that one time he attended an imperial banquet with his friend Elbus Graham.
But Elric quickly dismissed the possibility.
‘That's impossible.’
The banquet Elbus Graham had invited him to was a secretive, closed gathering attended only by the heirs of the empire's powerful families.
The attendees were exclusively high-ranking noble heirs—nothing more.
There was no way they would be serving as military supply officers. Even if one were, would they come all the way to this rural backwater to handle deals personally?
It was utterly ridiculous.
‘As long as I avoid the clients. Just the clients!’
Elric squeezed his eyes shut, praying fervently.
*
The train spewed steam as it slowed to a halt.
With a sharp hiss and vibrations, the scenery outside the window sharpened into focus.
‘Finally arriving.’
Polo, supply officer of the Mahir Empire's 3rd Legion, clicked his tongue and propped up his chin. His thick belly folded, asserting its presence.
His posture and furrowed expression revealed his thoroughly foul mood.
It was only natural. It was laughable even to him that he, of all people, had come to this insignificant rural village just to buy wheat.
The third son of an imperial count's family.
A promising officer on the verge of promotion to high-ranking command in just a year.
And yet here he was.
In such circumstances, all that escaped him was a sigh.
‘Damn kingdom bastards.’
The war was finally showing tangible changes.
With Chevor's fall, the exhausting war of attrition was drawing to a close.
From now on, it would be a war of plunder, each side snatching from the other. With the escalating conflict, food supplies would be needed in even greater quantities, right?
The continent's resources were being bought up, and amid that, the two kingdoms still holding strong—Armin and Disa—had entered a bidding war with the empire.
To keep even a single grain from them and seize even one more, he—a noble—was personally handling these deals.
Whooooosh—!
With a loud horn, the train came to a stop.
Polo rose from his seat, dragging his heavy frame toward the platform.
That was the moment.
“Well, if it isn't you.”
A grating, slurred voice made Polo's face twist in irritation.
He wanted to pretend not to hear it, but the voice was far too familiar.
“Looks like even the haughty Armin dogs have come crawling here.”
“Not something the empire should be saying, is it?”
Protruding eyes, a hooked nose, and a scrawny build like a scarecrow.
It was Armin's supply officer.
And that wasn't all.
“Fancy meeting here again.”
A hulking man with a ferocious bear-like face approached with heavy thuds.
Disa's supply officer.
The three found themselves facing off in the middle of the platform, a sense of déjà vu washing over them.
Of course—every station on the way to this eastern edge of Weibin had played out the same way. It was no longer surprising.
Polo steeled his resolve.
‘I have to end it here.’
So far, in the grain auctions, the empire had secured four out of ten.
It bruised Polo's pride, but if they bought up all of Weibin's grain, they could push it to six out of ten.
For the empire's honor and his own record as a soldier, this deal in Weibin was crucial for Polo.
“We're getting attached at this rate. When we meet on the battlefield later, go easy on us?”
“Already assuming defeat? Now I see Armin's discipline.”
“Discipline, huh? I was just saying let's have a good match… The empire's so stiff.”
“Hmph! Without the Flame Charms, you'd have crumbled long ago!”
“Enough from both of you.”
The mediator was Disa's supply officer.
His burly frame was more than enough to quell the two men's auras.
Polo ground his teeth.
‘Let's see how long you stay so smug.’
This was the final stop on the itinerary, so he had more time to investigate than in previous deals.
Polo had already gleaned full details on the local family from the empire's vaunted intelligence network.
‘The territory is called Weibin, but the real leader is Portman. The deal will be with Portman.’
Portman was a nouveau riche family that had risen to nobility only a decade ago. Moreover, the family head who achieved that had passed away a year prior, so internal chaos was inevitable.
And Portman had an element that exacerbated that chaos.
‘The heir who ran away ten years ago has returned.’
Circumstantially, it looked like a reckless young master had come back late to claim power as the family head.
It was obvious the lady of the house, who had run things for the past decade, would resist.
Who was the true head of the family?
It was a common squabble in noble houses, and in such cases, Polo saw an opening.
‘Back the young master. Use the position of family head as bait to push for a full wheat deal.’
Polo was confident.
Behind him stood the empire, and the empire's name alone held absolute sway over a petty eastern barony like this.
The son of the family head had returned only a month ago.
Armin and Disa couldn't match the empire's intelligence.
He, who knew Weibin's internal affairs, was the one to lead this deal.
Polo's expression softened. Leisure crept into his voice.
“Come on, let's move. There might be people here to greet us—can't keep them waiting.”
“Hmph, as if it'll be anything more than servants from some rural barony.”
Armin's skinny supply officer strutted as he spoke.
Polo didn't fully disagree, but his informational edge let him look down on the man.
‘Idiot. Let's see how long you can stay so cocky.’
With a flap! Polo swirled his coat and strode out of the station.
Emerging at the entrance, he saw a sleepy rural village thick with the smell of manure. Compared to the capital, it felt a century behind, archaic and outdated.
His shoulders naturally squared.
He was certain the people here would bow their heads.
The other two supply officers wore similarly arrogant expressions, thinking the same.
Right then,
“Pardon me—are you the guests from the west?”
A gentle man's voice called out.
The three supply officers turned. There stood a limping man leaning on a cane.
Brown hair, kind eyes, a straight nose—giving a friendly impression. His warm smile brimmed with goodwill, and his neat attire clearly marked him as no peasant.
Yet, despite the likable face, Polo couldn't smile.
“I'm Elric Portman, proxy lord of Weibin.”
Polo's previously relaxed face rapidly drained of color.
His fingertips grew cold, his pupils trembling as if in an earthquake.
‘Elric… Portman?’
That man was the reckless runaway boy?
No. Absolutely not.
He was certain.
What the man said was utter nonsense.
Polo knew that man wasn't named anything like that.
‘Wh-why…’
Why was he here, of all places?
“Ahem, I'm Ugil, Armin's supply officer. No other greetings?”
“Temt, Disa's supply officer, at your service, Lord of Weibin.”
Even as the two officers greeted him, Polo couldn't open his mouth.
Learned terror was churning his mind into mush.
‘Please…!’
Please don't recognize me.
Please have forgotten all about me.
His desperation was as thick as his thirst for life.
To follow that longing, fleeing on the spot would be the rational choice—but his fear had soared to indescribable heights.
Yet there was no path back.
The train had already departed.
Just then,
“That gentleman…”
Portman's young master.
…No—Sword Ghost Kasha's gaze turned toward him.
“…Might I have an introduction?”
Polo could clearly see it.
The smile melting away from his face like snow.