They weren’t close, but there were no other tables between them, and unlike Firth, Emily was fully visible. If she began to act unusual, the man from the Rondats would surely notice.
“You’re one to call people devious!” The deputy manager laughed. “What was it they called you again? Your other name?”
“Come on, don’t bring that up.”
“Oh, I remember. Snake Egg Kett, right? People bring you into their homes and take care of you, only to realize too late they’re harboring a venomous serpent... You could have kept swindling people back home if you’d just changed your name.”
“I like the name ‘Kett.’ It rolls off the tongue, and it makes me sound vulnerable. Like an old friend.”
“It’s not a name we hear much in these parts. Is it common in the Yupiter Empire, then?”
“Oh, it’s everywhere.”
The Yupiter Empire was one of the Werther Duchy’s neighbors. It sounded as though Kett had crossed the border after being exposed as a conman.
“What’s it like, ruining a woman’s life? I suppose you enjoy it? You don’t feel guilty at all, I bet. Your whole life’s built on lies, after all.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s all lies... Anyway, you’re the one who decided to use me. I was going to try and make a life as an inventor or, failing that, a magic item repairman.”
The Rondat deputy manager roared with laughter. “Oh, please. You were dying to con her. I just gave you a push.”
“That isn’t—”
“Don’t play innocent. In any case, so long as your name’s on a wanted list, you’ll never live an honest life.”
“I know that... But only this once, you hear? Once this business with the Golding Merchant House wraps up, you said you’d get me money or a job.”
“I know, I know. You’ll get whatever you want.”
“And one more thing... I want you to leave Clare alone once she gives up her business.”
“Oooh, I see how it is. Leave her alone or get a knife in the back, eh? Trust a first-rate swindler to know when to say when.”
“That’s not what I... Well, think that if you want, but you promised me—”
“Aren’t you going to order anything else?” came a voice from behind Firth.
He and Emily had been so caught up on listening in, they failed to notice the waiter looming over their table.
“You’ve only had one drink,” he said to Firth. “Aren’t you a Vick merchant? You could order our house special of sautéed blue deer brains with your spare change!”
The Rondat deputy manager looked around with a start. “Did he say Vick?” he muttered.
Kett looked over too—then froze as he saw Emily and Firth.
He recognized them from earlier. They’d only spoken a few words, but this man had years of experience in deception. He knew how to read people.
“Let’s go,” he said, standing up.
“What’s that?”
“Sorry, but I’ve had enough for today.”
“Kett? What’s got into you? The night’s just getting started!”
“I agree,” chimed in a third voice. “I’d love to hear what you have to say.”
Firth made his way over to stand right next to their table.
The deputy manager’s eyes bulged.
“Y-You... You’re from the Vick Merchant House! You’d better not go putting on airs in this city. You newcomers always get cocky and end up crashing and burning.”
“Oh? You mean like the merchant house your agent has been feeding false information to in order to steal their business?”
“H-How dare you?!” The deputy manager leaped to his feet in a drunken fury, but Kett cut in.
“Wait! This is a trap,” he said. “I don’t know what his angle is, but he’s trying to provoke you. He probably wants to start a fight so that the guards will come.”
Firth looked as unruffled as ever to Emily, but apparently, Kett was right on the money.
What’s he trying to start a fight for?! That wasn’t part of the plan! Internally, she was panicking, but she was as stiff as a statue on the outside.
“How frightful!” the deputy manager said. “To think the Vick Merchant House would resort to such underhanded tactics—I’ll have to let our business associates know.”
He sneered at Firth as though to say he’d never fall for such a cowardly ploy—despite the fact Kett had to talk him down first. They were probably used to suddenly having to play such games.
Kett and the deputy manager left some money on the table, then walked away. Firth had to stand there and watch them go. Emily was sure she wasn’t imagining the look of frustration on his face.
“Hey, Firth...” she began.
“I’m sorry. I wanted to get them taken into custody so that the guards would investigate Kett... Now that he knows we heard him, he’ll think the game is up and flee the city.”
So that’s what he was up to, Emily thought.
“In that case, you can relax.”
“Relax? How can we relax? How will you get Clare to face the truth if Kett disappears?”
“Oh, no. That’s not what I meant.” Emily grinned. “My party members are on it.”
As if on cue, they heard the deputy manager shouting from the entrance. Before him, three girls stood defiantly in the open doorway. Emily didn’t even have to look—she’d already known that they would come.
They were, of course, a maid, an inventor, and a lupalune.
“Who do you think you are?!”
“Kett, Deputy Manager,” said the maid. “You conspired through cowardly means to ruin the Golding Merchant House. Do you admit it?”
“Eh...? You, maid. Who do you work for?”
A merchant at a table near the door muttered, “What sort of trouble have the Rondats got into?”
“W-We’ve done nothing of the sort!” the deputy manager said, growing flustered. “All our business dealings are in full compliance with the law. You’re going to find out what happens when you spout lies and slander, maid! Who is your master?”
“I have no master.”
“Eh?” He looked at her suspiciously, then clapped his hands together in understanding. “Oh, I get it. That’s what this is about? You think this little act will get you a job!”
“Deputy Manager...” Kett said warningly. He recognized the tall woman standing behind the maid—the inventor. “We’re in trouble. That woman is the inventor that Clare hired.”
“What?! You idiot—you were followed?!”
“N-No, I— Oof!” Kett staggered as the deputy manager’s fist hit his face.
The deputy manager seemed to know he ought to leave, because he rounded on the three girls. “You think you can ruin our reputation by spreading falsehoods? We’ll hunt you down with everything we have and see that you pay! The Rondat Merchant House does not tolerate wrongdoers!” All this was merely an attempt to appeal to the other merchants in the tavern. With that, he shouted, “Get out of my way!”
But Nina held both her arms out to block the door. “I will not! You will apologize to Clare!”
“No maid talks to me like— Eh?”
Tien had grabbed hold of his raised arm.
“H-Hey, let me go!” He tried to shake her off, but Tien didn’t so much as blink. Her hand was like solid rock around his wrist.
Just then, a new voice spoke up.
“Kett...?”
A woman even taller than Astrid emerged from among the passersby on the street.
“C-Clare...”
It was Clare of the Golding Merchant House. Neither Emily nor Firth knew what she was doing there, but Kett was the most bewildered of all. Only Nina, Tien, and Astrid knew that after Astrid had turned on the recording device, Tien had run to the Golding Merchant House to tell Clare about Kett’s whereabouts.
“Kett, you’re hurt!” Clare cried. She slipped past Tien to rush to Kett’s side, then pulled out a handkerchief to wipe away the blood around his mouth. “What happened? You never brawl. And that man...”
Clare knew, of course, that the man in Tien’s grip was the deputy manager for the Rondat Merchant House.
“Clare, I—” Kett began, but Firth cut him off.
“I suggest we go somewhere with fewer eyes on us.”
The whole tavern had fallen silent.
“Who are you?” Clare asked.
“My name is Firth Vick, from the Vick Merchant House. I’m responsible for overseeing all the Vick Merchant House’s business in the Werther Duchy.”