“You retard! This is all your fault, you’re the one who messed up my plan!”
“......”
“Don’t tell me that you’re in cahoots with Elunheine? No, that must surely be it. How much did they pay you? Or was it women that they promised you?”
“No, they did no such—”
“Shut up! You incompetent fool. I begrudgingly allowed you to serve me just because my father said so, yet how can you have already forgotten this favor that I’ve shown you! That’s it, you’re fired. Leave my sight right this instant!”
Jirahal smashed his desk so hard that his hand became numb from the impact. He grimaced while nursing his hand.
“Shit, every single one of you, making a fool out of me. Now that things have come to this, I’ll directly make Eliza understand my power.”
Kuntz looked up at the ceiling. What Jirahal meant by that was kidnapping and physical torture.
Previously, just once, Jirahal had been on the very verge of committing a crime. He was stopped at the very last moment, but now there was no one who could stop him. Protests from someone that he had just fired would surely never reach his ears.
But even so, there was no way Kuntz could just stay silent and allow it. Elizabeth was the daughter of a noble family. One noble assaulting another noble could easily become an enormous scandal involving both families.
“Please do not mistake who your enemy is. Lady Elizabeth is indeed a formidable enemy, but it was the man named Onigawara who was behind Elunheine’s enormous progress. He is the one that you should be the most wary of.”
“What, you’re still here? What can a man who looks like even his head is filled with muscles do?”
“That is not so. Calling that man sharp and able would be an understatement. Lady Elizabeth’s guild was effectively swallowed up by the bottom feeder guild Elunheine—”
“All right, all right. In deference to your desperation at being abandoned by me, I’ll pay heed to your very last words of advice. But I won’t take back what I said; I want you to get the fuck out. You’re an eyesore.” Jirahal turned his back to Kuntz by spinning around in his rotating chair.
“Eliza, that idiot, don’t tell me she actually fell in love with that monster of a man for real? He is actually that capable a person? But wait, this reminds me that Elunheine—” Despite knowing that Jirahal, who had begun muttering to himself, was not looking, Kuntz still bowed his head deeply. Leaving behind a simple “I have been in your care,” he left Goldas Adventurer’s Guild—
Under the setting sun, Kuntz slowly plodded along the main avenue.
Just as Shouzou had deduced, it was indeed this man’s achievements that had been behind Jirahal’s great success in commerce.
It was Kuntz who had revised Jirahal’s haphazard schemes, taking direct command at the ground level. All this while taking the greatest pain to not let Jirahal catch on, so that he can continue thinking that it was all his own credit.
However, Marquis Goldas did catch wind of this eventually, and reprimanded Kuntz with “Stop spoiling my son!” That was why at first, Kuntz had refrained from saying anything at all.
And the end result was that every single scheme that Jirahal attempted completely fell through.
Unable to overlook it any longer, this time he finally tried to make some alterations based on his own discretion, but only ended up angering his master and losing his job.
(It was about high time, I suppose. But this is troubling. Who is going to hire someone at my age who was fired from their previous position for having angered a noble?)
Kuntz plodded onward, until he found himself standing in front of a certain building.
He looked up, and saw the sign hanging there.
Elunheine Adventurer’s Guild.
★
The right hand man of their business rival had come for a visit. That alone was enough to surprise Shouzou, but when he heard that the man had been fired by Jirahal, he was surprised a second time.
Rather than the reception room, Kuntz was beckoned to the office. Elizabeth scrutinized the two men from her seat.
“So then, Kuntz-san, what is your business in coming here?” From his position in the sofa across from Kuntz, Shouzou jump-started the conversation.
“I have come to apologize for two things, and to provide a warning.” Shouzou tilted his head at Kuntz’s words.
“In regards to the numerous sabotage attempts committed against your guild, although I was in a position to stop Jirahal-sama, I did not do so. For having caused you so much trouble, I offer my deepest apologies.”
Kuntz bowed his head deeply.
When asked why he did not stop Jirahal, although initially hesitant, Kuntz eventually explained that it was the will of Jirahal’s father, Marquis Goldas.
“Judging by what you’ve said, it sounds like you were merely caught in the crossfire of Marquis Goldas’ attempt to discipline his son. Furthermore, everything ended up working to our benefit in the end. But honestly speaking, you had foreseen this outcome, had you not?”
“Actually, no. I thought it would be quite minor gains, if any. To see all our schemes turned around and taking advantage of so brilliantly, even I have no choice but to take my hat off to you.”
Shouzou replied, “Much obliged” and indicated thanks with his eyes, causing the room to be enveloped in a peaceful atmosphere.
However, then Kuntz tightened his expression, and changed his tone of voice.
“And now, my other apology, and the warning. But before that, as context, please understand that Jirahal-sama is currently feeling much more cornered than anyone around him is thinking. So, then......” Seemingly having trouble trying to say what he wanted, Kuntz shot a glance toward the desk. Perhaps feeling kind of bored, Elizabeth was fiddling with her golden hair with a finger while sipping from her cup of black tea.
“Jirahal-sama is currently planning to kidnap Elizabeth-sama to physically hurt her.” Elizabeth spat out her mouthful of tea in surprise.
“Knowing that my words could no longer reach him, and I know this sounds very self-serving, but I advised him that it was not Elizabeth-sama he was to be wary toward, but you, Onigawara-san. For what it’s worth, he did seem convinced......”
“I see. So you are saying that the target has shifted from her to me?”
“I am deeply aware that what I have done has caused you and your family great trouble, Onigawara-san. However, I had no other recourse. Please accept my deepest apologies.” Kuntz lowered his head once again, so deeply that his forehead was grinding into the tabletop.
“I have two or three contacts. Until Jirahal-sama’s anger subsides, please hide there together with your family.”
“Hmm. So that was the warning, I assume.” Shouzou’s matter-of-fact reply was interrupted by Elizabeth.
“That’s not funny even as a joke. Causing Shouzou inconvenience just because of unjustified resentment, is there no limit to his unreasonableness? All right, I’ll ask my father to have a talk with Marquis Goldas.”
“However, that could possibly strain the relationship between the Marquis and the Count. As Jirahal-sama hasn’t actually done anything yet, there’s no telling whether Marquis Goldas would even be willing to listen...... He is a strict person, but when all’s said and done, he actually is quite soft on his children......”
“We don’t have the time right now to deliberate this at such length!” Seeing Elizabeth indignation and Kuntz’s troubled look, Shouzou—
“Well, let’s just leave things be.”
“Hah?”
“Eh?”
“If the target is me, then there’s no problem. If he does anything, then I’ll pretend to be caught, then talk to him directly.”
Hearing Shouzou talk so matter-of-factly, Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders with “I guess you would do that, wouldn’t you?”
Acting like this conversation was done, Shouzou turned to ask Kuntz.