「So, about that goblin extermination guild?」
The burden seemed to lift from him and he had looked older for a moment, but in an instant, the guild master returned to his usual expression.
He came out from behind the pile of documents and sat down across from me.
I should have been the one being served tea, but instead I took a five hundred milliliter bottle of milk tea from my apport pouch and handed it to the guild master. He drained it in seconds. How desperate was he?
「You really like sweet things, don’t you」
「Yeah. I look like I enjoy alcohol, but I cannot drink a single drop. I can eat sweets endlessly, though」
「Azur Rise liked sweets too. Are people here generally fond of sweets?」
Kainzel-san and Gork* preferred alcohol to sweets, though.
TN: Might be Gorg but who knows if it isn’t
「Now that you mention it, that man liked sweets as well. He often came to the Second Wall District to buy them」
No wonder Ladarion called him a kindred spirit. Still, with that face, shops probably found it troublesome when he came to buy sweets.
「In that case, please take this. I brought it as a gift. Please share it with everyone」
Since there seemed to be quite a few staffs here, I had ordered about one thousand yen worth of Bourb○n Alfort.
「Sweets?」
「Yes. Please try one」
I tore open the package, took out a small packet, and showed him how to open it.
「Delicious! They do not sell sweets like this even in Milen!」
Milen? Is that the name of a shop?
While I was thinking that, the guild master opened and ate four packets in a row. Hey, that is too much! The other staff will resent you!
I could not stop him, and he ended up finishing an entire bag. Seriously, if this gets found out, it will be bad.
「──Ah! It was so good I lost myself! Do you still have more?! 」
「I do. I bought twice as much in case it was not enough」
If there is extra, Ladarion will just eat it anyway.
「If you have sweets, sell them to me. I will pay any amount」
It feels like I am being asked for some suspicious drug, but what he wants is just sweets. If I give him ten thousand yen worth, that should last him for a while. Actually, it probably will not last at all. Still, they only keep for fifteen days, so ten thousand yen worth should be fine.
I excused myself briefly and went to the Sefuti Home, packed ten thousand yen worth of sweets from the shelves into a box, then carried it back together with a box of milk tea.
「……Magic?」
「Magic」
I stated it plainly and placed the boxes on the table.
After receiving two silver coins, I returned the conversation to the topic of the goblin extermination guild. The guild master was reaching for the sweets and eating them while listening.
「Including me, there are five people doing goblin extermination. If we include those I made contractors through exterminator privileges, there are twelve in total. Among them are adventurers like Mishinie and Rondario-san」
「Mishinie and Rondario’s group? Even silver-rank adventurers, huh」
So he keeps track of the well-known ones properly.
「Yes. Once they become contractors, they receive goblin extermination rewards and can buy special items, so they were happy to accept」
「Does that mean they can buy sweets as well?」
The guild master’s eyes gleamed. Do not tell me he wants to become a contractor. You are the guild master.
「They can buy them, but do you even have time to exterminate goblins?」
You are always buried in paperwork whenever I see you.
「That will not be a problem. I will issue requests and have goblins captured. There are times when soldiers are trained by fighting goblins」
The power of authority is frightening. To not even consider the expense just for sweets.
「Are you really serious?」
「I cannot join the goblin extermination guild itself, but if you want the backing of the Adventurers’ Guild, it is better to have more allies. That is why you are careful not to make the guild your enemy, is it not?」
So he saw through the gift strategy.
「Those donuts, was it? You are not offering them to the main headquarters?」
This man really is outstanding. He even has a grasp of what is going on at the branch offices.
「Donuts are expensive. One costs a single copper coin. Just handing them out to the branches would mean exterminating at least two goblins each time. It is not something you can do easily」
There are cheaper donuts, but to truly win over a guild branch’s palate, Mister-made ones are best. That is what Ladarion said.
「If it is necessary, I would pay a high price without hesitation. You might actually be well suited to being a court official, Takato」
「I do not want to suffer over human relationships」
I do not really understand politics, but it is a world where communication skills decide everything. If someone like me, with no social finesse, jumped into that, my stomach would get a hole in it in no time.
「True enough. I would rather be buried in paperwork here than ruin my stomach in that kind of world」
Beyond the First City Wall is apparently a den of demons. I sincerely hope I never have anything to do with it for the rest of my life.
「Well, to formally bring you under the Adventurers’ Guild would require negotiating with the Royal Capital headquarters. Still, it is possible to build a cooperative relationship as an independent adventurer organization. I will also send notices to each branch and make arrangements with the surrounding territories. Of course, once your name spreads, you may start receiving summons」
「It is a business where I make money by exterminating goblins. If I am called, I will go」
I do not want to hole myself up and end up being interfered with by that useless goddess. She seems like the type who would send me to the front lines the moment I step outside after waking up.
「In that case, I will make sure to raise a successor so I can go as well」
Praying that such an ominous future would never come to pass, I made the guild master one of my contractors.
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