A Request from Kazusa-chan

"Azu, wait here. If Leo comes out, keep him back."

"Got it."

I was curious, but decided to watch and wait for now.

I braced myself to move at a moment's notice in case things turned violent.

Kazusa-chan got up and headed toward the entrance.

Her footsteps were far rougher than usual. A clear sign of irritation.

I watched her back as she pushed through the dividers.

After a moment, I heard the front door open.

Even without trying, sound carried perfectly well in here.

"Who is it?"

"Good afternoon, Kazusa-san. Apologies for disturbing you at a busy time."

"Hey, I didn't say you could come in."

"Now, now. Surely you can allow me the entryway, at least."

A man's voice, pitched somewhat high.

His way of speaking felt slightly off-putting. It reminded me of Evris, that sleazy Temple Knight.

He'd died right in front of me, so it was just a resemblance. Probably.

"I have no business with you. Leave."

"Don't be so cold. I have a very attractive proposition for you."

"I'm telling you, I don't trust you!"

Kazusa-chan's voice rang through the church.

Leo-kun heard it and poked his head out, looking alarmed. I held a finger to my lips and shushed him.

She was right. Having Leo-kun around for this wouldn't be good.

"It's okay. Go do your studying over there."

"Okay…"

He didn't seem fully convinced, but he did as he was told.

A well-behaved kid.

"I've told you before, I'm renting this place under a proper contract."

"Yes, yes, I understand. However, the owner is willing to part with it…"

"Only if I agree to leave, right? Don't think I don't know how this works. He's elderly and having trouble managing the property, so that's already factored into the lease."

"My, how stubborn you are. We're even offering an eviction fee."

"Five gold coins and you show up acting like you own the place?"

Five gold coins.

I didn't know how much rent here cost per month, but the terms were presumably fairly good.

To demand she vacate in spite of that, the amount seemed low.

Especially since I was currently holding a draft worth five hundred gold coins.

"Ten coins. How about that? We'll arrange a new place for you, too. We'll keep the rent as low as possible."

"I've heard the rumors about you people. You've been strong-arming your way through buying up run-down properties in this area. I don't know what you're up to, but I'm not leaving. I don't trust you."

"It would be wise to accept while I'm being polite, don't you think?"

"Are you threatening me now? Hmph. Monsters are a lot scarier than you."

After Kazusa-chan said that, a long silence followed.

She was a porter, sure, but she'd been through her share of dangerous situations.

She could hold her own in a fight well enough, so an ordinary adult man wasn't going to intimidate her.

"Very well, I'll take my leave for today. The other old houses nearby have all been sold to us. Don't forget, this is the only one left."

"Get out."

The front door shut.

Kazusa-chan came back.

"Throw some salt! Salt! No wait, that'd be wasteful, so never mind!"

"Good work out there."

"You heard all that, huh, Azu? Can't be helped in a place like this."

"Ahaha…"

"They started coming around not long after I moved in. This area doesn't have many residents, right? Lots of empty houses, too. It looks like they've been buying up those houses, land and all. From what he just said, they've bought everything except this place."

"What do you think they're after?"

"Who knows? At first I thought they might level the area and build some big facility, but that'd make sense in the Royal Capital, not so much out here. They're not rebuilding, either. If anything, they're patching the buildings up and blocking them from view. It gives me a bad feeling."

Would Master know what they were up to?

I really wished he were here.

But my reliable master and companions weren't with me right now.

"I have to ask, but is leaving not an option?"

"… I talked tough, but I've been thinking about it. If it were just me, fine, but Leo's here too."

"I could only hear his voice, but he seemed unpleasant. Like the type who'd resort to harassment."

"Right? He's so condescending about everything. Ten gold coins would at least cover a while at an inn."

Kazusa-chan said that, but the look on her face made it obvious she wasn't satisfied with the idea.

I wanted to help her if I could, but I couldn't act on my own and risk causing trouble for Master.

I had more freedom than before, but I was still a slave.

If someone attacked us, self-defense gave me plenty of options. But that wasn't the case here.

"Sigh. Glad it wasn't during the meal. Would've ruined the stew."

"Don't you think you should have this after all?"

I lifted the draft.

"Taking that money… I feel like I'd lose something important. I still don't want it. But, well…"

Kazusa-chan seemed to struggle with what she wanted to say next.

"You're based in Kassad, right, Azu? I hear it's really growing these days. This place is basically the Royal Capital's bread basket, so we don't go hungry, but development's slow. Lots of empty houses because young people move away. On the plus side, rent's cheap, which is how I found this place. But now even that's being bought up by those shady people."

"Sounds rough."

The satellite city of Luido.

It commanded a vast breadbasket of farmland, supplying its harvest to the Royal Capital.

The surplus grain was used to raise livestock, and that livestock in turn plowed the fields.

The Royal Capital's ever-growing population owed much to the role this city played.

Life here was peaceful, but uneventful.

And when the government was your buyer, things were stable but never particularly profitable.

The price of grain stockpiled for famine didn't follow the open market, so it didn't change easily.

I remembered Master explaining that.

"So instead of taking the money, I was wondering if you could help me get set up in Kassad. I'd pay my own way, of course. It's just that you can't rent a place without a referral. I had a really hard time with this one."

"If that's all it is, I could ask. No guarantees, but it's worth a shot."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I don't want to get your hopes up, though."

"Worth a try is good enough! Thank you!"

Kazusa-chan threw her arms around me in a hug.

She must have been really happy.

I was certain that, in exchange for five hundred gold coins, he would happily arrange everything.

"Hey, you should stay the night. I've got a lot I want to talk about."

"Are you sure?"

I'd already considered staying at an inn.

I had permission to stay overnight, too.

If I could sleep here, it would save money. Two birds with one stone.

Besides, those people from earlier were worrying me. It might be better to stick together tonight.