∗ ∗ ∗
“I have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?” We were in Katarina’s manor. She said this with a sour expression, so it wasn’t hard to guess that something pretty bad had happened.
But I wasn’t good-natured enough to be considerate of her feelings. In these circumstances, it was better to start with the bad news. That would give me more time to formulate a strategy for it.
“The bad news.”
“You’re a strange one. But oh well. Glydel’s dead.”
She got straight to the point, but that let me instantly understand. I didn’t know whether he’d been killed or if he’d committed suicide, but either way, this whole affair had officially ended without us being able to glean any significant details from him.
“Yeah, that is bad news. Can I ask what the cause was?”
“It wasn’t the fault of the interrogator’s methods of questioning. It seems he died by taking poison.”
“You didn’t do a body search? I gave him a once-over, but...”
“Apparently there was a magic tool concealed in his molars. Even you didn’t notice, it seems.”
“No, I didn’t... I guess that couldn’t be helped.”
I’d rummaged through Glydel’s possessions, but I definitely hadn’t checked every nook and cranny of his mouth. I had opened it and taken a look inside for anything suspicious, but if he’d cast concealment magic on his molars, then it was no surprise I didn’t spot it. I hadn’t expected anything like that. I’d just have to take this as a lesson to investigate those spots more closely next time.
“That being the case, it was almost certainly suicide. The next likely cause would be assassination disguised as suicide...but there’s no evidence of that, and we don’t have the means to investigate any further.”
“True. Supposing it was a clever murder, we wouldn’t be able to do anything about it anyway...”
A skilled assassin would leave no trace. They didn’t use any magic or magic tools to erase their tracks. Well, I could only repeat what I’d heard secondhand, but they appeared and disappeared like mist. Of course, someone very familiar with their tricks might have been able to notice something, but I doubted Midrogue had anyone that capable on retainer.
I’d had plenty of assassination attempts made on me when I was the next in line to become duke, so I might’ve been able to uncover a little bit if I checked it out, but there were almost definitely other people in Midrogue who could uncover as much as me. In short, it wasn’t my job.
So this is where Glydel’s story ends...
I decided I’d ask any other questions I came up with later, and changed the subject.
“Now I know the bad news. So what’s the good news?”
“Well, the council has recognized your outstanding service in this affair and would like to reward you. Is there anything you’d like?”
This couldn’t have come at a better time. But I didn’t know if my desire would be acceptable or not, so I decided to find out. “Is there a limit on what I can request?”
Katarina looked surprised by what I’d said. “Oh my, I had fully expected you to say you don’t need anything again,” she said.
I had told her that when I rescued her before, after all. I certainly might have said the same thing this time, if it hadn’t been for my current problem.
But since this was the perfect opportunity to get my wish granted in my time of need, it would have been wrong to not take advantage of it. I wasn’t trying to be stubborn, but it wasn’t like I had no desires either. When there was something I wanted, I’d express that.
Therefore, I said to Katarina, “There just wasn’t anything I wanted then. But there is now. So, how about it? What’s the answer to my question?” I wanted to know how much I could ask for.
Katarina thought it over. “Well, it would have to be something within the scope of what the Midrogue city council can grant. Peerage is out of the question. My father would be able to do that, though. Money would be easiest, or magic tools. Oh, you don’t really need status, do you?”
“By status, you mean...”
“Oh, are you interested? I didn’t expect that either. Well...you could get a position as a city council member, a city clerk, or maybe head of some village? I don’t think you’d—”
Katarina was about to say I wouldn’t be interested in any of those, but one of the things she listed actually did suit my convenience.
“Actually, I am interested. If I were the head of a village...could it be a village that doesn’t exist right now?”
“Huh? I-I suppose... You want to be the mayor of a frontier town? Well, that would be easy to accomplish. Development in the outlying areas of Midrogue is currently being encouraged. Land is treated as the property of whoever develops it. You’d need to pay a usage fee for the highway, as well as other taxes. But conventionally, the taxes aren’t imposed until the land is developed to a certain degree. Noah, you aren’t really...?”
“I don’t know whether it’d be treated as a development, but I want to be loaned the land around the forest where Glydel hid his skeletons. If possible, I’d like to own it.”
“I see, so that’s why you’re asking about being a village head. But why? You can just live here.”
“I can’t impose on your hospitality forever. Besides, there’s a lot I want to accomplish. I want to experiment with magic tools and techniques. It’d be dangerous to do that in the middle of Midrogue, so I was thinking it’d be handy to have somewhere a little out of the way to use. And it’d be good if it was close to a forest that the canine beastmen can run around in, and stuff like that.”
These sounded like excuses even to me, but they were all true.
When she heard what I had to say, Katarina looked relieved. “Then it’s not just because you want to leave Midrogue?”
I see, so that’s what she’s worried about. To Katarina, I’m the perfect adventurer who can get anything she wants done. She’d probably be in a jam if I up and left all of a sudden.
So I told her, “Of course not. I’m an adventurer in this city now, and I can earn money by taking on jobs. And I’ve gotten to know you well...so I’m not planning on leaving without any warning. I want to build a base both in this city and in that village. That’s about the long and short of it.”
I want to be able to travel between the two of them. That’d be ideal.
There were too many of us with the normal kobolds included, so I was scared of something happening if I left them alone in the city. If we could turn that village into our base, there wouldn’t be much to worry about. The monsters that spawned there were vastly different from those in the Purgatory Forest, so the kobolds would be able to handle those on their own.
Katarina seemed convinced after everything I’d said. She contemplated it for a little, and then said, “I understand. In that case, the land rights around the village—it’s called Asyl, correct?—will be granted to you as your reward. As this falls within Midrogue’s autonomy, they can be loaned to you without fuss. As for the transfer...I’ll make arrangements for you to be nominated as the frontier town’s mayor so that it can ultimately belong to you.”
“You can do that?”
“This country...or rather, this state, has always been an aristocracy. I can’t give you peerage, but the system of land belonging to the one who developed it is still alive and well. There’s a lot of legal red tape, but I’ll take care of it one way or another, so it should be fine. Does that suit you?”
“Yeah, of course. Thanks, Katarina.”