Isekai Nonbiri Nouka-Novel

Chapter 531 – Life in the Capital, Asa

My name is Asa.

Asa Foguma.

I’m one of the mercuries made to operate the Sun Castle.

As for what a mercury is, it’s kind of complicated so I’ll have to refrain from talking about it.

What matters is my role.

I was expected to work as an assistant to the lord of the castle in terms of his private life.

In short, a butler.

I’m proud to say that I have specialized abilities as a butler.

-0-

「Now, Earth-dono, how did this happen?」

I’m speaking with Earth-dono who’s in seiza in front of me.

He’s an excellent colleague and according to my assessment, he is a very reliable butler like me….

I recalled the scene I and Tiselle-sama saw as soon as we arrived at the basement of the ruin.

There are more than 20 unconscious adventurers and Earth-dono is at the center of that.

「They dare to interfere badmouth the ghost king-sama with only this much ability!」

……

「When they start badmouthing ghost king-sama, I snapped….」

There is nothing to not understand.

I will do the same if someone badmouths the Sun Castle.

Yeah, I’ll blow them up with all my might.

Thinking about it, Earth-dono is great since he did not kill them.

They just fainted.

His self-control is wonderful.

But, what do we do now?

When I was troubled about it, Tiselle-sama, who I have been carrying in my arms, spoke.

「Let’s get Gol-nii’s group involve.」

We have received reports that Gol-sama’s group has a good reputation in the adventurers guild in the royal capital.

But if we get them involved, wouldn’t that make things bigger?

「It is already big. If we can’t get things here under control, we’ll be in trouble.」

…..certainly.

「Earth, Tony is a lich and he claimed to be a subordinate of the ghost king, right?」

「Y-yes. However, he’s lying and I’m certain of it.」

「I don’t care if he’s lying or not because this time, it doesn’t matter.」

「It matters!」

「It doesn’t! For the time being, Earth, go and get Gol-anii’s group here.」

「As you wish.」

-0-

After a while, Earth-dono brought Gol-sama, Sil-sama, and Bron-sama back. After a short conversation with Tiselle-sama, they immediately consented.

I can feel their deep trust.

No, it looks more like they gave up?

Gol-sama’s group is moving quickly to prepare.

I’m sorry.

I’m carrying Tiselle-sama so I can’t help you.

Earth-dono will do his best to help you instead.

-0-

「Ugh…..I’m….alive?」

The first adventurer woke up.

「Since you woke up, maybe you can come here.」

「Eh?」

Gol-sama, who spoke to the adventurer who just woke up, sat down on a chair and threw a board for notes at the table in front of him.

「Did you not understand? Do you know where you are lacking?」

And asks questions one after another.

The adventurer who just woke up looks around confused.

Then, he realized.

Standing behind Gol-sama is Earth-dono.

「Wai, tha, it’s the subordinate of the ghost king!」

The adventurer that just woke up quickly pulled out his sword but Gol-sama and Earth-dono did not move.

On the other hand, he sighed and spoke.

「He’s the examiner I’ve prepared.」

「Examiner?」

「That’s right. This quest is basically a test to check the ability of adventurers. If you think about it, you should have thought that there are various holes in this quest, right?」

「Exam?….ah….」

「Do you get it now?」

「Ah, yeah. There are certainly a lot of weird things.」

Earth-dono’s rampage was solved by saying that it’s an exam for the adventurers.

It was Tiselle-sama’s proposal.

I thought it was absurd but it’s unbelievably effective.

「Why are you doing this?」

「Why? We were just asked to test the adventurers too. Ah, you can rest assured that our client is not a suspicious person. He is an honorable man. I’m sure you know Count Chrome.」

That’s Tiselle-sama for you desu yo ne.

「Is that so….given this situation, it looks like we failed. What will happen to the reward?」

「Ehto….what kind of reward was promised?」

「Five silver coins per person as advance payment and twenty-five silver coins per person after the completion.」

「How will you receive it?」

「It has been arranged to be received in the adventurers guild….」

「Well, you defeated the subordinate of the ghost king so you’ll receive the reward in the adventurers guild.」

「Is that okay?」

「It’s okay. We’ve caused you a lot of trouble. However, I would like you to wait for the other members to wake up and help me explain the situation to them.」

「Okay.」

-0-

By the way, Sil-sama and Bron-sama are not here.

Sil-sama went to investigate the place that we attacked a while ago.

It seems like they are ordinary thugs that the lich who calls himself Tony hired so they don’t know why they targeted Tiselle-sama.

But we can never be too sure.

It would have been good if Tony was alive but I will not blame Earth-dono.

Tiselle-sama is more than enough for Earth-dono.

As for Bron-sama, he went to tell the adventurers guild what happened.

Of course, not the lie about the exam but the truth.

It is strange that a lich who claims to be a subordinate of the ghost king is in the royal capital.

I also agreed with reporting it honestly.

It won’t do us any good to hide a big conspiracy with our bad lies.

「We found a lich who claims to be a subordinate of the ghost king and annihilated him. Since adventurers suddenly came out after that, we tested them a little. Please take care of it.」

Well, the situation changed a little but….

It’s not basically all lies so it’s okay.

Right?

-0-

That night.

Gol-sama, Sil-sama, and Bron-sama have gathered in the adventurers guild.

In a private room that is.

Of course, Tiselle-sama, Earth-dono, and me are there too.

「It was the Dalfon Company that hired those adventurers that tried to attack the ghost king subordinate.」

The one who reported that is Gol-sama.

The information where the ghost king subordinate was and the reward for the extermination quest was from a person related to the Dalfon Company.

Though it is not directly from the Dalfon Company….it is suspicious.

「The people who targeted you earlier…They are called Alishid Group but they didn’t know that Tony was a Lich. They were not only trying to get rid of Tiselle but Alfred and Ursa are also their targets. I don’t know if it has something to do with them but this Alishid Group is the Dalfon Company’s dog that works behind the scenes.」

That was Sil-sama’s report.

So that’s how it is.

They are already stupid for targeting Tiselle-sama but to think that they also target Alfred-sama and Ursa-sama….

Ah, Earth-dono.

Calm down.

You are overflowing with bloodlust.

Even if they target Ursa-sama…she would be fine.

Sil-sama would leave them unattended after they confess that.

「Everyone, I apologize for not maintaining balance.」

Asa-dono, you have the face of wanting to deal with them yourself.

「The last one to report is me. After reporting it to the adventurers guild, the Dalfon Company immediately initiated a contact. There’s this invitation.」

Bron-sama showed us a piece of parchment.

Everyone’s face is unsightly aside from Tiselle-sama.

The invitation was addressed to Tiselle-sama after all.

「Asa, how long will it take you to prepare my dress?」

「Immediately since I’ve already prepared all those clothes made by Zabuton-dono together with your uniform….are you going?」

「Can’t I?」

「I think it is better to think about it a little more…」

「I’ve already done that. Also, I can tell from the smell of the ink of this invitation that it was written in a hurry. Bron-anii, how long has it been since you receive this?」

「Just before we gather here. Around 30 minutes ago.」

「In other words, we still don’t know whether it is an enemy or an ally but we know that this person from Dalfon Company got impatient. The time the other party can prepare is also the same amount of time as we do. Since I have an invitation, I have to go. Fortunately, there’s no time limit on this invitation.」

Certainly.

The invitation only says that Tiselle-sama is invited to the Dalfon Company.

However, using common sense, it should be another day.

It’s already evening after all.

「You’re going there this night, are you?」

「Of course. Gol-anii, Sil-anii, and Bron-anii, do you mind escorting me?」

「Hearing that not just you but also Alfred and Ursa are being targeted, there’s no way we’ll say no.」

「I would have preferred if you say you are worried about your cute little sister.」

Tiselle-sama, please stop poking Gol-sama’s cheek.

He’ll get angry.

「Earth, you’ll escort me in the dark. Once I give the signal, it will be your turn to be the villain.」

「As you wish.」

Earth-dono bowed his head carefully.

Once Tiselle-sama gives him a signal, he’ll probably break in and destroy anything on site.

However, that will make him unable to walk through the royal capital, right?

Well, it’s someone that’s targeting Ursa-sama so it can’t be helped but….ah, right, he can easily change the way he looks anytime he wants.

I see.

He should change his face as soon as we start.

「Asa, you’ll accompany me as my butler. I expect you to do it perfectly.」

……

「What’s wrong?」

「No, I understand. Please leave it to me.」

「Good. Then, can you remove this rope tied on my waist….」

「Unfortunately, Alfred-sama and Ursa-sama strictly told me not to. Please forgive me.」

「Asa, you’re in charge of me! You should listen to me!」

「Yes, I’m in charge of Tiselle-sama that’s why you are tied to me.」

Thank you for your words of encouragement, Gol-sama, Sil-sama, and Bron-sama.

No, this is part of my job.

Let’s prepare to leave.