“”Not only are they not canceling their visit, they’re even bringing more people?” [Ryouma]
“Apparently, they’re not coming just for you, Ryouma-sama. Supposedly, it was a suggestion from their their master, Arafral-sama… Are you acquainted with him?” [Riviola]
“”I know the man. He’s a live-in elven doctor at the duke’s family. He helped me before when I was there. I consulted him about the mana recovery medicine to prescribe to my worker, Ox-san.” {Ryouma]
“That’s probably the reason then. Apparently, Arafral-sama was full of praises for your knowledge, and he suggested for his apprentices to go too after the master consulted him. He said that while it was fine for his apprentices to study under him, it would be best if they studied from others from time to time. He also mentioned that the four apprentices have studied enough and that it was about time for them to start treating and examining others.” [Riviola]
So, basically, those four are resident doctors.
I don’t know exactly what they can learn from me, but I do understand that they want to gather experience.
“We need to prepare for injuries at the security company anyway, so there’s no reason to refuse. If anything, I welcome them.” [Ryouma]
“In that case, I’ll let them know.” [Riviola]
“Thank you.” [Ryouma]
Alright, that should be it for today’s briefing… Ah.
“Oh, by the way, would it be a problem if I raised some goblins in the abandoned mine to the north?” [Ryouma]
When I asked that, everyone glanced at each other, and then Rurunez-san spoke.
“If you tame them, it should be fine, but why all of the sudden?” [Rurunez]
“Since I’m going to be teaching some apprentices, I figured I might as well take out some time to study, so I can actually teach them something decent. In my opinion, that’s the least courtesy I should give to people who’ve gone out of their way to learn from me. Also, I’ve been thinking about delegating some of my work to free up my time, and after seeing everyone today, I’m once again reminded how convenient it is to have extra hands. For example, it’s not hard to feed slimes everyday, but when there’s so many different type of slimes to feed, the time quickly adds up.” [Ryouma]
When I said that, everyone was immediately able to understand.
“Come to think of it, how many slimes do you have now? From what I know, you should have more than 1,000.” [Hyuzu]
“Wait, can’t slimes of the same kind fuse?” [Jill]
“Yes, if there’s more than 100 of them. My slimes are much more varied now, and I’m also increasing their numbers because there’s something I have on mind, but I don’t have any specific numbers just yet. I’ll have to calculate it later. The stone slimes and weed slimes reproduce really quickly everyday too.” [Ryouma]
The more I feed my slimes, the more I feel like a caretaker working at a zoo.
Though I can’t really speak for zoo caretakers since I’ve never been one, but I think it’d probably feel something like this. Or maybe not?
“Right, although it’s your hobby, I’m sure the work gets really tiring when there’s so many of them.” [Rurunez]
While everyone was nodding to Rurunez-san’s words, I brought the topic back to the goblins.
“I saw some goblin traces this morning before I left. It’s likely they were lured by the scent of the potato field we planted a few days ago, so they’ll probably come again. I know the abandoned mine was left to me to manage, and I’m supposed to be subjugating these monsters, but for the sake of the fields…” [Ryouma]
“You want to hire some laborers, huh? Just like the construction this morning.” [Jill]
“Those goblins sure are lucky. I’m sure they much prefer labor work over extermination.” [Hyuzu]
Jill-san and Hyuzu-san are right. I don’t like them as much as I do slimes and rimel birds, but it’s not as though I have a hobby of inflicting pain on others. As long as they work for me, I’ll fulfill their basic needs and even permit them rest. At the very least, I’ll treat them as well as I treat the Clever Chicken, who are giving me their eggs.
“If you’re going that far, then couldn’t you just hire people?” [Lilian]
Lilian-san suggested.
“Some of the results from my slime research can’t be leaked carelessly, and having to keep a lid on that information isn’t exactly easy with other people around, but if it’s the goblins, then even if they do overhear some things, they won’t tell people.” [Ryouma]
“That’s true. My apologies.” [Lilian]
“Oh, no, please. I appreciate your opinion. There are times when I make mistakes too, and I also think that I might have to hire people eventually.” [Ryouma]
The variant of slimes increased so quickly after just one expedition. Depending on the results of the experiments from here on, their numbers might just explode.
“In any case, that’s why I want to use the goblins as laborers. Perhaps I might be able to use them as a source of feed for the cleaner and scavenger slimes too.” [Ryouma]
Everyone talked among themselves just to be sure, and in the end, their conclusion was that there were a couple of things I had to keep in mind, but since it’s me we’re talking about, it’s fine.
“Alright, in that case, I’ll go catch those goblins when I see them next time.” [Ryouma]
“Oh, right, Ryouma, there’s something that’s been on my mind.” [Hyuzu]
“? What is it, Hyuzu-san?” [Ryouma]
“You’ve heard that some other nobles are meddling with this town, right?” [Hyuzu]
“Yes. I don’t know who or from where, though.” [Ryouma]
“Right, so I was thinking it might be best if we talked to you about that too.” [Hyuzu]
“If you’re willing to talk about it, then by all means.” [Ryouma]
Hyuzu-san and I turned to the others six people in the room.
“Ryouma isn’t someone unrelated anymore. What’s more he’s even cooperating with us, so at the very least, we should share him some information.” [Jill]
He was making a difficult face, but Jill-san properly explained the situation to me.
“It probably won’t concern you, so there’s no real need to remember this, but… The people maneuvering behind the scenes are Baron Ransore, Baron Rufred, Viscount Fargutton, Viscount Danietan, and Count Sandrick.” [Jill]
“Five nobles, huh.” [Ryouma]
“Yes. but Baron Ransore has no reason to be hostile to the Jamil family or to Reinhart-sama, and is apparently being forced by the other four to cooperate with them.” [Jill]
Apparently, the Ransore Household was once an insignificant noble family that ruled over a small territory with nothing to speak of.
But in the last generation, they found a large vein of gold sleeping in one of their mountains, and suddenly found themselves in possession of a great amount of wealth. People think they’re lucky, but that’s not really true.
The Ransore Household didn’t have the slightest idea how to develop a mine or protect it. They had no choice but to rely on the neighboring Fargutton Household that possessed a small mine. Before they knew it, they’ve found themselves in a situation where they had no choice but to rely on the other four families.
“The Ransore Household might appear to be a lucky family that received a windfall of wealth, but in truth, they have to gift a large amount of wealth yearly to the four families. They’re an investor, but at the same time, they’re also an underling. A puppet that can only move according to the will of the four houses.” [Jill]
“…He might be an enemy, but he sure is pitiful, that Baron Ransore.” [Ryouma]
“Don’t worry. Reinhart-sama is working to separate him the four families. In other words, he intends to ‘cut their source of funds’. To that end, enough material has already been gathered. While there’s no mistaking that Baron Ransore is one of the people responsible for this conspiracy, since he’s not involved because he wants to, the duke will forgive him as long as he pays reparations. As for not being able to manage the mine without the help of the other families, well, the duke’s household can take over that.” [Jill]
I see… So the duke is going to take over the role of the other four families.
“Reinhart-san sure is cunning to think of stealing the rights to the gold mine.” [Ryouma]
“But of course. Regardless, a situation like this will still favor Baron Ransore more than the current situation.” [Jill]
Unfortunately, it was almost time for Darson-san and the others to arrive, so we had to cut our conversation here.
“Reinhart-sama will decide this battle during the socializing at the end of the year. Once the enemy have lost their source of funding, they shouldn’t be able to do much anymore, so it should be much more peaceful starting next year. We’ll just have to endure until then.” [Jill]
With that, we at least had a clear goal now. It’s not much, but it’s something to celebrate.
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