Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 4
Chapter 4- Enemy and Ally, Both of their Circumstances
1
The royal capital of Kasandora Kingdom was a relatively large, fortified city located in the westernmost peninsula.
The city was 16 meters high and surrounded by a thick wall, with roughly 2000 people living inside.
However, the ‘2000’ people only included those citizens who were registered in the tax payment account book.
Naturally, noble families, servants, and slaves, who were exempted from paying taxes didn’t count, as well as travelers that had wandered in from other places to the city. It also excluded merchants who were temporarily staying.
Since nobody would bother to check that, no one really knew the total number of people. Still, shouldn’t it be fine to estimate the current population at around 4000?
The majority of these citizens were farmers, therefore, lots of them would set off early in the morning to their fields near the city’s outskirts, and return to the city before the sunset. There were also instances in which the farmers would stay overnight at their fields once it was harvest season.
They did so as to prevent the theft of their crops and to drive away any animals that would try to devour their crops, as it was natural for there to be no public safety outside the city, in this period. That’s why the farmers would arm themselves and form groups to defend against robbers and animals.
The settlements of those farmers were reinforced with wooden fences, which resembled forts a bit. In case of slightly bigger settlements, there were even dry moats surrounding them.
Not to mention, these settlements would actually act as forts and house soldiers during times of emergency.
And then, it seemed like a ‘time of emergency’ had arrived for Kasandora. Their soldiers moved into a few of those large settlements while carrying army provisions and weapons. Some of these settlements were placed along the main road, so it was bound for Naga to witness them.
Naga drew near on his horse toward a soldier, who mounted his own one, and called out to him with a low voice.
“Uhm, Soldier-san.”
The soldier turned around.
“I see great number of soldiers near fort. Could be, you preparing for battle?”
“That’s, not really a fort, but well…”
“Yes?”
“Does it look like a fort to you from far away?”
Saying so, the soldier explained the aforementioned circumstances to Naga.
(Hmm, I see. So they use farmers’ settlements as forts? Certainly, you can save time and costs on building them, but you really can’t expect them to be strong in defense, right?)
Is what Naga thought.
(Still, I don’t quite understand the way how things in this world should be, like why a city and a castle are working as one. From where I come from, a castle should be a castle, whereas, a city should be a city. At least, a castle being a castle should be….. defense-wise, much stronger, but…)
According to what Naga had heard from the witches, it didn’t seem to be rare for everyone to be massacred during a war between different ethnic groups, as everyone, including citizens, merchants, and laborers dwelled inside the same city. Even if there wasn’t any war, bandits and violent animals would roam near the outskirts, so, people preferred to set up residence inside a city.
Nevertheless, such a principle of this world was still incomprehensible to Naga.
(What I can’t comprehend the most is that there are beings called witches. Now, we can understand each other owing to the fact we’ve been living together, but….)
Or it could be that the witches had accepted him due to his eccentric nature.
Realizing that he was a bit eccentric himself, Naga made a weak, curious smile at that and at the sarcasm of his placed position right now.
“Soldier-san.”
He ceased to smiled and called out to the soldier.
“The citizens, does mean that citizens pick up weapons during siege?”
“Depends on how the battle progresses, however, that would also be the case. The citizens too, were trained to wield weapons, so to prepare themselves for a battle when necessary, you see.”
“Are you, enrolling people, for army?”
“We are.”
The soldier who replied so made a slightly bitter face.
“But, judging from how things looks like, it doesn’t seem like we’ll gather enough volunteers at a moment’s notice…. No, it’s nothing. Please forget what I’ve just said.”
“Still, I no luck.”
Naga said this as he looked up at the sky.
“If we no hold entertainment, we not be able to cover cost our travel to here, and therefore, return trip. Our troupe, fall into huge deficit.”
As he declared this and breathed out a sigh, the soldier showed a compassionate face.
“I guess, even leaders of troupes have it difficult.”
After that, the soldier lowered down his voice and asked.
“However, having such young and lovely girls by your side, there are probably lots of side benefits coming from that, right? With that many girls, wouldn’t you make a fortune, were you to assign them to a night job?”
“Ah no, we no do that. After all, we performers. People like us not lose dignity that way.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Naga had the feeling the soldier would visit them right away as a guest, were he to do so. The soldier replied in a fed up manner.
(Well, certainly I’ll agree that those girls, all of them are beauties. Speaking of which, could it be that someone like me is incredibly lucky to be mixed up with all these girls? Ah no, how should it be? On the other hand, I can tell my life has been put at risk numerous times.)
‘Well, whatever.’ – Naga decided not to brood over that matter any longer. As he did so, the sight of the city, seen from the top of a small hill, had finally come into his view.
(I see. Certainly, it has an impact similar to that of a giant citadel when seen from close like this, unlike that port city.)
Feeling admiration, Naga made a quick reckoning inside his head.
(Umm, so was it around 2000 soldiers in the garrison? And 2000 citizens? Assuming they recruit 500 additional soldiers from those citizens, the total number within their garrison would amount to 2500. If that’s the case, in order to capture the city, the enemy would need more than 10 thousand units. I see, it’s not like I don’t get why Kasandora wants to hole up, but…)
However, Naga soon understood the drawback coming from such a heavy defense.
(The number of people holing up is way too big. If it’s like this, they will need to consume a large amount of army provisions. And that’s not including unregistered citizens. 5000, perhaps 6000, if that many people are going to hole up in the capitol, just how much army provisions would they require? Do they have enough to supply themselves for a long time? And then, the biggest problem would be about whether reinforcements would be coming or not……)
Holing up, was, in the end, a defensive strategy adopted by those who couldn’t afford winning in the open field.
Naga didn’t know if the Kasandora Kingdom had any allies that could send them reinforcements, but judging from what he had heard till now, it didn’t look like there whereas any.
(Fumu, I wonder… if we could use this as an opportunity for something.)
As Naga was working his head off, their troupe kept closing the distance and finally reached the giant entrance of the city.
Once they crossed a bridge that spanned a dry moat, Naga dismounted his horse in front of the entrance.
Looking up from below, he could feel the actual size of the wall on his skin.
(Indeed, it’s big. What’s more, is it made from bricks? Or perhaps, it’s a mud wall made from tightly packed earth and covered with bricks? Whichever it is, it seems to be firm. To begin with, was there a castle with such firmly built walls like this in my world?)
Naga, whose memories were lost, couldn’t say for sure, but, he felt he hadn’t witnessed such a protective wall before in his life.
“Please wait here for a moment. I’ll go and contact my superior.”
The commanding officer went to the gate, in order to exchange some words with the guard on duty. As Naga saw him off, he looked up at the wall again.
(I wonder how should I capture such a heavily guarded city?)
As Naga pondered about that, the witches too, although they were female dancers in appearance, disembarked from the cart and gathered around him. They looked up at the massive wall just like Naga.
Apparently, there was a passage on top of the wall, in which people could walk on.
(Is the top of the wall this high, so as to prevent arrows from reaching it?)
Ais called out to Naga who was staring fixedly at the wall.
“It’s big, isn’t it? With this size and massiveness, it doesn’t look like I can break it with just 1 or 2 hits.”
(So you had such a plannn?!)
As he looked at Ais with an astonished face, she smiled back with a grin.
“Perhaps, 10 hits should be enough to do so.”
(This girl, she’s just like a human battering ram.)
Naga shivered with fear.
“I guess, it wouldn’t be easy for me to climb over these walls, even if someone was to throw me up.”
Vita stated this.
(So these girls too, have thought about ways on how to capture this city? How mindful of them.)
‘Kukuku.’ – Naga chuckled like this without himself realizing.
“What? Don’t you seem to be enjoying yourself?”
At Vita, who asked this question, Naga paid attention and lowered his voice.
“That’s just manner of speech, manner of speech.”
“I, Is that so?”
- Uhen* – Vita coughed and looked up again at Naga.
“You seem to be in a good mood, aren’t you, boss?”
“….This feel awfully, strange.”
As Naga muttered this, Vita kicked up at his calf.
“Aww! What you do if someone see us like this?!”
“Hmph, I made sure that nobody was looking at us.”
Vita’s tone returned back to its usual one.
“Hey, what are you laughing at?”
At Vita, who asked this question in a whispering manner, Naga replied while laughing.
“I, you, we both thought about capturing this city upon arriving. That, too funny.”
“What, you too? Well, I guess that’s the first thing you’d be thinking about in this kind of situation. Still, your manner of speech is way too unpleasant.”
Vita, who was observing the wall, shifted her gaze back at Naga while saying this. As she did so, Ais also nodded in agreement.
“Right? It too, creeps me out a bit.”
“You saying, cruel things, Ais. It’s because of charm, so can’t be help.”
“Couldn’t you do something about it, Lela?
“Eh? But…. I think this way of talking suits a stranger, like Naga-san, Vita, san.”
“No, it’s nothing but gross.”
“Vita, you, worst.”
“Then, have you come up with any good ideas?”
“Right plan comes with the right number, but, for us, we not enough. Just coming up with way, hard. “
Hmph – Vita snorted under her nose.
“That’s some convenient reasoning coming from you.”
“I come up with something if can think calmly. More important, us return to officer.”
At Naga’s words, Vita assumed her usual, haughty attitude once more.
(She would truly be a cute kid with that peculiar face, and that attitude from before, but, well….)
Naga thought so, however, by no means could he afford to let Vita know about that.
“Oi, Boss.”
Being called by the commanding officer, who had returned back, Naga drew near with a trot.
“Ligaya-sama said he would like to meet you.”
“Ligaya-sama, who that?”
“He’s the adjutant of our army’s supreme commander, Guiscard.”
(Again, quite a distinguished person has made their appearance, I guess.)
Naga displayed his astonishment in an exaggerated way, even though he was just a bit surprised.
“D, Do we really have to meet person of such eminence? I feeling nervous.”
The commander made a wry smile and replied:
“You don’t have to worry that much. It should be fine, as long as you can provide him with information about the fort of the witches. He may even reward you properly.”
“Thank you, very much.”
Bowing down respectfully, Naga thought this.
(I’m a surprisingly good actor, I guess. Speaking of which, things have become quite interesting.)
Raising up his head, Naga turned around and called out to the female dancers.
“Everyone, let’s go, inside.”
The girls returned back to the cart(?) in a bustling manner and gathered around their boss as he took the reins again.
“Excellent, now follow me.”
Being led by the commander, Naga’s troupe passed through the big gate and stepped into the fortified city.
3
What appeared in front of them was a path that turned in a ‘コ’ shape. Once they passed through it, there was a big main street running in the northern and southern direction. At some points of the ‘コ’ shaped path, there were spare places used in case of emergency to cut off the passage. From the inside of the walls, where the path was bending, there were watchtowers put up.
(I see. This place was arranged in this way so that the watchtowers could intercept the enemy, even if they were to break through that giant gate and rush in.)
Naga quickly saw through the mechanism of this place’s construction.
Certainly, those who would manage to storm in through the gate would be further hindered by this 2, no, 3-fold defense. It was also one of the methods to shoot down the enemy from above.
The enemy soldiers would crowd together inside this narrow passage while being unable to either hide or escape. A trap like this would produce heavy casualties.
On the other hand, the garrison that’s attacking from high above wouldn’t even have to expose themselves to the enemy. Because of that, the danger of incurring any losses is low. Not to mention, the garrison could also rely on throwing logs and pouring down boiling oil, causing huge damage to the enemy.
(Fumu. This might become a good reference.)
Naga would be troubled if he was asked where he get all those references from, despite him having lost his memory. However, he himself considered it vaguely as something intuitional when looking for a way to protect his own castle.
Exiting the place where the path was bending to the spacious main street, the troupe continued to head towards a castle.
Naga felt as if the number of people passing each other on the main road wasn’t adequate to the scope of this city. Could it be that the merchants left the city after sensing the danger of a potential war? Once the rumors about a war spreads, it’s natural for there to be less merchants visiting too. Obviously, with more merchants leaving than coming here, the number of people is bound to reduce inside the city.
(I guess there aren’t many travelers as well, so it’s likely the cost of services, such as renting a room in an inn, will rise. Speaking of which, we might be welcomed here, like outsiders are supposed to be, but, it doesn’t seem like we’ll have the spare time to stay in this city and do performances for long.)
Apparently, some permanent stores were running their business as usual, but despite there being people passing by, not many customers could be seen inside.
There were also defensive walls, placed on the 4-way crossroads that were located between each block. When necessary, the walls would be closed so as to prevent enemy troops from further advancement. As expected, there were also watchtowers built there.
Naga would be suspected, were he to stare at the places too much, so instead, he observed the defensive facilities, in a casual, however, proper manner.
Finally, they arrived at the entrance leading to the inside of the castle.
The commander exchanged some words with the guard, after which they proceeded further inside.
(Indeed, we are lucky to have this guy assist us. Not only are we able to see the city but also the interior of the castle.)
The pathway inside the castle wasn’t straight, which was similar to what Naga and the rest had seen till now. It was meandering and complex, just like a maze, making them stop and turn from time to time. Where they didn’t have to stop, there were defense zones that would hinder further movements when necessary.
As well as watchtowers raised here and there; the path was narrow and the wall was built on the edge, making it impossible for anyone to see what’s next, less they drew near.
No matter how smart Naga was, it was difficult for him to grasp how the inside of this castle roped off. Still, he counted his steps and the number of corners while walking.
The witches looked around with curious eyes, but, none of them would check how the interior stretched out, like Naga. Instead, they walked forward without a single care.
Soon after, the commander stopped and turned around, probably because they reached the right building.
What stood in front of them was a splendid, stone-made, 3 story building with a large garrison.
Naga perceived the garrison was full of well-equipped soldiers with high morale.
(In other words, only big shots are gathered here? Still, is this building made from stone? It feels like I’ve rarely seen things similar to this. A stone-made building. Stone-made? Certainly, it’s more firm than the wooden-made ones. But on the other hand, it’s much more bothersome to build.)
Naga looked at the building closely and again felt strange, however, the building gave off an impression of it probably serving some purpose.
4
It was decided that an enquiry would be held with Naga as a representative, and therefore, he was brought by a guide further inside the building. The rest of his troupe stayed in a waiting room.
“Will Naga-san be fine by himself? If they discover his identity and arrest him…. will it be really okay?”
Ais whispered this question to Vita while looking slightly anxious.
(Isn’t it rare for Ais to be this worried about a stranger?)
Vita however, replied with a voice as if she couldn’t care less about them being overheard.
“You don’t have to worry. To begin with, there’s no reason for him to be exposed.”
“However, back when Naga-san stole Fort Ein, he exposed his face to the soldiers there. There’s no telling if those who have seen Naga-san before will recognize him by his face.”
Vita made a wry smile at Ais’ manner of speaking.
“You’re overreacting way too much, Ais. Did you forget he told us to change our skin color and hairstyle? Our way of talking is also supposed to be completely different, so I don’t think anyone will notice.”
“Then, I guess that’s fine, but….”
“It will be the same for us if Naga becomes exposed by any chance. In that case, we can only run wild, rescue Naga-san and escape the city. Obviously, there might be some casualties among us, nevertheless…”
Ais swallowed her saliva and nodded down with a stern expression.
“Well, shouldn’t we place our expectations in Naga’s acting skill? Rather, if it’s the folks from Kasandora, they will certainly not detain some stranger upon asking him for information they need. To begin with, as long as they don’t learn of Raibach’s identity, they shouldn’t learn about Naga as well.”
Being called by his name, Raibach nodded down deeply.
“If it’s Naga-sama, he will be fine. He will get through that enquiry without fail.”
“I guess you’re right.”
Finally, a broad smile appeared on Ais’ stiff face.
“Still, Ais, you act as though your lover was taken away by soldiers. Do you care that much for Naga’s welfare?”
“Eh? Noooooo, what are you talking about, Vita-san?! I-I-I-It’s not because of that, you know? Naga-san is our leader, so shouldn’t it be an obvious thing to worry about him?”
Ais insisted this, however, both her conduct and expression looked as though she was panicking. Vita was fully aware of that.
(Hahaha, this girl is still wet behind her ears.)
“Houhou, are you sure?”
The moment Vita sent a lukewarm smile at her, Ais put her hands in front of her very red face and waved with them.
“Of course I am!”
“What’s your opinion of him, Lela?”
“Eh? Uhm…… that’s righ, t. For us, the family of Heindler, Naga-san is a very important be, ing.”
Lela replied that way while carefully choosing her words. As she did so, Kay, Nonoel, Cu, Ixine, Linne & Linna, and Harlequin nodded down at once, however, one could clearly see the anxiety drawn on their faces, as they cared for Naga.
Kukuku – Vita chuckled in a weeping manner upon seeing that.
(It looks like, these girls have been captivated by Naga. Well, maybe I too feel that way. Still, I’m not sure about the world where both humans and the witches can coexist. At least, he was able to shown these girls a dream. They have probably become happy while watching that dream. The same goes for me and my daughters, and for Harrigan, I guess. That’s why we decided to follow Naga, and most likely, Harrigan too, feels the same way about this. Indeed, he’s an interesting, yet strange man.)
4
The place to which Naga was guided to was a station, or rather, it would be more suitable to call it an interrogation room, as it actually had a simplistic build.
(Well, I guess that was to be expected. There’s no way they would let a person of doubtful origins, like me, enter a guest room.)
At one corner of the confined room, there were a desk and chair, in front of which, was placed a folding stool. A man with a sharp look and military suit, who was sitting in the chair, threw a glance at Naga walking in. On both the left and right side of the desk, there were guards standing at attention.
(They seem to be pretty capable.)
Naga felt that way as he ran his eyes over the guards.
(Well then, should I start to brace myself?)
The reason why Naga thought so wasn’t because he wanted to be careful not to expose himself. To begin with, he didn’t consider such a possibility.
Naga had to act skillfully in drawing out information from his opponent and finding out about the current situation in this city. Perhaps, one could say that the outcome of this interview will determine the future of the witches. That’s why, this is what he meant by bracing himself.
After he followed the guide, Naga moved to the man’s front and halted there. Not standing up, the man gave him the signal to sit. Naga bowed down in respect and sat down on the stool.
He could sense the man becoming slightly nervous.
(Is it because he’s cautious of me? No, I don’t think so. Wouldn’t you feel this way, in the face of a much more imminent threat? As expected, were the rumors about a war approaching true? However, for the atmosphere to become like this, perhaps…. I should respond to it? I guess, it should be natural for me to act nervous and excited. After all, I’m the leader of a troupe who has been pulled in front of this big shot.)
As Naga was thinking so, the man ran his eyes over Naga again, as if trying to evaluate him.
“You’ve done a great job by coming from this far away. My name is Ligaya, and I’m the adjutant of general-dono, Guiscard, who’s the king representative of this country.”
(King representative……representative? Did something happen to this country?)
Naga thought suspiciously, but nevertheless, he bowed down while feigning ignorance.
“So you’re the boss of the troupe, right?”
Ligaya’s wording was polite, but he gave an impression of being rude in intent.
“Yes, my name is, Negane.”
“Apparently, you stopped by at Fort Ein on your way, but…..”
Ligaya went straight to the point without any preface.
“Yes. It happened while passing near that place. Before coming to city, we thought about doing entertainment for soldiers stationed there for few days, but….”
“Did you follow the Schweiz River and reach there from Lancel?”
“That’s right.”
“And you weren’t hindered by the witches?”
“No, not really. There nobody besides us, therefore, I thought, must have been very lonely place. We crossed sea to arrive here, so we don’t quite, know current situation.”
Naga casted down his eyes and scratched his head. Obviously, it was an act, however, it probably didn’t look like much of an excuse.
“Ah no, it’s not like I’m trying to find any fault with you. Then, it was like that? Despite you walking along the river, you didn’t engage with the witches directly?”
“Yes.”
“However, you saw the witches inside Fort Ein, right?”
“Yes, they were. I was startled a bit, but, they chase us off with not doing any bad, so I stroke down chest in relief.”
“I’ll repeat this again and ask you, one more time. Were you, able to grasp how many witches were there?”
“4, maybe 5 went to deal with us. But, since we no enter inside, we not able to see how many there, exactly. I, apologize.”
Surely, Ligaya had already been able to obtain this much information. Being neither irritated nor fed up, Ligaya carried on his interrogation unconcerned.
“Is that so? By the way, did you remember how they look?”
Naga expected this question to appear, so he pretended to remember.
“Umm…. there was bluish black hair, with a large build, was giving orders to everyone. I think, she was leader.”
“Is this, what the witch looked like?”
As soon as Ligaya gave the signal, one of the guards showed Naga a personal description. There he saw a drawn face of a heinously smiling witch, however, it certainly gave off Harrigan’s aura.
(That woman, if she sees this interpretation, she’ll surely murder the guy who drew this! This picture just screams for that to happen.)
“Ah… certainly, that witch, that witch.”
“I see. As one would expect, it was the clique of Harrigan?”
Judging from Ligaya’s way of talking, it seemed that Harrigan was a famous witch, even among humans.
(Well, I guess that’s understandable. Until now, she’s been the one who’s borne the full brunt of humans’ attacks. And then, her party is the one that has been repelling the enemy’s attacks.)
Naga could recall Harrigan’s fighting style that’s based on controlling a large wooden puppet, and scattering Kasandora Kingdom’s troops from the cliff.
(I guess, she can’t avoid being seen when fighting in front.)
“Then, those witches that are occupying the fort, were they preparing for something?”
Ligaya’s voice brought Naga back to his senses.
“No, it not feel like they preparing anything in particular. I saw wall strengthening construction, but, atmosphere quite leisurely. Even some witches, threw down tools and drank.”
Fumu – Ligaya folded his arms and groaned in a low voice.
“So, it doesn’t seem like….. the witches will threaten us anytime soon, does it? If that’s true….”
Ligaya pondered for a moment, so Naga stayed calm and awaited his next words.
After a while of continued silence, Ligaya raised up his head and asked Naga:
“Did you notice something else that was unusual? Anything will do.”
“Something, unusual….. That’s right, all witches, fine girls. And wore awfully small, piece of cloths. I think maybe they want appeal to troupe…. ah, pardon me.”
Ligaya, who had a stern face all the time, couldn’t resist making a wry smile at Naga’s words.
“Well, for someone of your status, I don’t think it’s impossible…. so it was like that?”
Ligaya pondered again as if hitting upon something.
(Hmph. So I was given a chance to explain and didn’t get scolded? Since they’re the ones trying to exterminate the witches, I thought they would be much more biased against the witches, but….)
“It looks like, all the members in your troupe are girls. Were you the only one who dealt with the witches when stopping by the fort?”
“No, female dancers, I, together with them.”
“I see. I guess, we need to consider the possibility that the witches…. didn’t lay their hands on your troupe, since they were all girls.”
(What? So this guy is able to reason that way? I wouldn’t have expected this from him, I think)
“Then, what do you plan to do afterwards?”
Ligaya suddenly changed the topic of their conversation.
“If possible, we like to perform inside city. If not, there no meaning in coming. And if that the case, we be much in red.”
“You mean it? I feel pity for you, but, that would be a difficult request.”
“Is it, really difficult?”
Naga put on an act and dropped down his shoulders disappointedly.
“There’s a chance that, a war might break out soon, so we’re patrolling this city. Our soldiers and citizens are making strenuous efforts for the war, so it isn’t the right time for them to be watching performances. We need to remove any factors that can thwart our preparations. Even if you were to try to do so, there’s no way you would receive a permission for that.”
(As expected, they’re quite at their wits’ end.)
While thinking so, Naga hung his head and replied powerlessly.
“That right. Then, no other way than return to Lancel.”
“You’re going back the way you came from, right?”
“This is only option. We bit scared when, passed near the witches. However, nothing happened to us, so I think…. we be fine with retuning back.”
Ligaya gazed fixedly at Naga with a stern expression.
(What? Could it be that he saw through me?)
“I thought about giving you a reward if you plan to pass near that fort again, but well…”
“Eh? Yes? W, What you mean to say?”
Naga was half acting, however, he was honestly bewildered, as he couldn’t grasp Ligaya’s true intention.
“There’s been no local who managed to meet the witches, so your visit before might be the first and the last one. Also, there’s no doubt that the witches have already memorized your faces, right?”
“Is…. this true?”
“That’s why I wanted to ask if you feel like paying them a visit, once more, but this time with one of our messengers.”
“Wha…What?!”
As one would expect, Naga too became dumfounded at Ligaya’s words.
“Even if we send a messenger, there’s no guarantee the witches will hear us out. In the worst-case scenario, you might all be murdered without being given a chance to argue.”
(I haven’t given it any thought, but….. it’s not impossible for them to do so. That’s because, Harrigan has talked before about assassins sent by the church to aim for their lives. It could be that the witches had considered Kasandora’s messengers as assassins….. therefore, resulting in these guys thinking this way. I guess, they reap what they sow.)
Not revealing his thoughts, Naga waited for the next words from his opponent.
“Therefore, we’d like to entrust you with our messenger. And we shall reward you, provided you decide to go back there. Obviously, we can’t cover the cost of your trip, but….”
“Still, we driven away, last time we drop by. We go there, but, I think it result in same.”
“You don’t particularly need to talk with them. We’ll prepare a letter here for the witches, so you only have to pass it to them.”
“Ah….. yes, if that case…. I think it be doable.”
Naga bent his neck and worked his brain hard.
(What’s he trying to make me do? Could it be….. he’s testing me?)
“We return there either way. If just stopping by, we take care of request.”
“You mean it? Then, I shall make the arrangements. Please return back to the waiting room.”
“Understood.”
Naga bowed down multiple times and left the station.
As soon as he took his leave, Ligaya called out to one of his subordinates who was standing behind him.
“Now that it’s come to this, go and compose a letter to the witches immediately.”
“Still, are you really fine with this, Ligaya-sama? Having that group of vagabonds deliver our letter.”
“I don’t care. Will those performers be captured or killed by the witches? It’s no skin off my nose.”
“Nevertheless, I think we should also worry about them possibly fleeing.”
“Of course, even if they run away with the reward, it won’t be a big deal, since it’s not a big sum of money. On the other hand, if our plan goes favorably, there might be more gain to us….”
Ligaya slowly stood up from his chair.
“In the end, the matter regarding the witches is just something we are doing on the side. Rather than that, we should, right now, prioritize the direct threat coming from the extermination group against the witches that’s heading south. There’s no telling if those guys will take the opportunity to attack us, so we better hasten ourselves with the preparations.”
“Yes, understood. We shall prepare the letter immediately.”
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