TENKEN 434 (1533 words)

The Top Brass

幹部たち

Eliante said that she had an idea for more forces. When Colbert urged him to go on, Eliante called her men and told them to bring someone with them.

In less than five minutes, the guild member returned with a person. He got a short stature.

「Hey hey, did you called for me. What can I do  for you?」

「Fran, Colbert. This man is Faize (1). He's an adventurer and a member of the Thieves' Guild.」

「What?」

Colbert stares at Faize with a surprised look  in his eyes. Faize's eyes widened too as his identity was easily exposed.

「....Eliante-sama, if you expose me so easily,  you may got various problems aren't cha?」

「So noisy, I'm in a hurry right now, Shut up」

「....Yes」

It was a little better, but Eliante's bad mood  was still there. A murderous glare hit him, and Faize sighed and fell silent. Looks like he is having a hard time.

As Eliante explained, Faize seems to be a watchdog for the adventurer's guild's watcher and link to the bandit's guild.

Even though there is an unspoken rule not to openly get involved with each other, it is  impossible to have no relations at all when  they are active in the capital.

So, it seems that there are several personnel  who belong to both guilds, like Faize, and at least one of them is stationed at the guild.  It seems that only the adventurer's guild's  top brass knows who they are, though.

「It's urgent. Tell the top brass to gather.  Tell them that there may be a disturbance in  the royal capital. Anyway, they might already  have a general idea of what's going on, so  they'll know」

「.....Understood. Are they the ones who are  going to bring us together?」

「That kid there, she is Fran the Black Lightning Princess, You've heard of her, right?」

「Hou? She is.....I understand. If it's her,  the top brass won't say no.」

What does he mean? Does it mean that Fran's name is known to the Thieves' Guild? We've also met Kalk, maybe that's how they got the message.

「Then, let's make the arrangements right away」

He could tell from Eliante's attitude that it really was an emergency. Faize bowed and swiftly left the room.

「Guild master, can we trust the Thieves' Guild」

「I don't trust them. But I'm sure they can help  us this time. Royal capital is a place they can't afford to lose」

Eliante nodded with certainty in her voice. Well, if she's like that, I guess she's sure.

「But the way you explained it earlier, it sounded as if Miss Fran was the only one going to the Thieves' Guild」

「Because I can't leave this place.」

「No, you have me here, right?」

「Colbert. I have a few places I'd like you to visit. Hopefully we can add some more strength  to our forces」

「What?」

「The mercenary group 『Tentacles and Shells』(2). 

Do you know them? It's a small, elite group of mercenaries made up of half-insect kin」

「No, I don't know. But a mercenary in the royal capital? That's unusual」

Apparently, most of the ordinary mercenary groups are located near the borders as they cross the battlefield. This is probably because most of  the battles take place along the border.

That's why it's very rare to find the main unit  in an inland area like the royal capital, a place that is not involved in warfare. Normally, there are only a few liaison officers and logistical support personnel at the base.

「An acquaintance of mine leads that group, so if you have a letter of introduction, you should be able to at least meet the executives. The rest is up to you to negotiate. They have a rule about  not taking children into battle, so Colbert  should be better at negotiating than Fran」

「Thank you for that! In other words, I’ll take  the mercenaries, and the young lady will take  the thieves' guild」

「Yeah」

As long as Eliante is busy gathering adventurers, it can't be helped......She want Fran to  negotiate with the Thieves' guild? Isn't it impossible for her. Is this really the right  time to split up again?

After that we moved ahead of the others to the first floor of the guild. Colbert had Eliante  to write a letter of introduction for him.

『Fran, don't let your guard down, okay? You're dealing with the Thieves' Guild.』

(Of course)

However, whether or not they would be able to  send out a force, the Thieves' Guild would probably have people infiltrating various  laces to gather information, and there was a possibility that they would have some useful information. There was a loud commotion going  on, and if they were not careful, there was a possibility that both the Marquis and Count families had ears somewhere.

『Urushi, stay hidden.』

(woof!)

After that, Faize come back in about five minutes.

「Sorry to keep you waiting. This way, please.」

「Nn」

He led Fran to a building that looked familiar.  To my surprise, it was the same tavern where  I had brought my request to Kalk. But instead  of going through the front entrance, we went  in through the back door, which was hidden  from the street.

「We'll use the back door」

「Okay」

The watchmen looked at Fran, but said nothing  in particular. It was probably because she was Faize's guest. After a quick word with the man, Faize and us walked further into the room and  were ushered into a small private room. However, there was no one in the room.

「Here?」

「Wait a minute」

I wondered what he was going to do, but then he pulled the string by the entrance. To my  surprise, the wall opened to the left and  right, revealing a hidden staircase.

「Wow―」

Fran's eyes light up at this. Wow, a hidden passage is a roman (3), right?

Faize led the way down the stairs to a rather large basement, with an ornate round table in  the middle of the room, big enough for about  ten people.

There were three men and a woman sitting there. They were not necessarily our allies yet, so I felt free to appraise them. Although each of them had low combat power, they had an interesting skill set.

The scarred, bald-headed man sitting in the middle was a typical bandit in appearance and skills. He had a skill set similar to that of a scout adventurer. He also had the charisma and command abilities to be the leader of the bandits. However, the moment he saw Fran, he grabbed his cheeks pull into a big smile.

The handsome man in his early thirties sitting to his right was a complete marriage fraudster (4). He had acting skills and skills that might be  useful for lying and threatening. He also has  the skill of attracting the opposite sex and  the title of woman killer. He looks a little like that Serdio's bastard. In addition, he seems  to be able to use some magic.

The bewitching beauty on the left seemed to be  the head of the prostitutes. In addition to her skills for cajoling men, she had a lot of  skills related to poisons. A prostitute who  knows a lot about poison. She's scary!

「Well then, I'll leave her with you」

「Ou. Good work」

Faize bowed to the three of them and left 

the room.

「Oh, I’m Fist」

「I am Honest」

「I'm pink」(5)

They all were using fake names. No, they were criminals, so that was to be expected. The man  in the middle was Fist. The con man is Honest.  The prostitute is Pink.

Fist greeted us in a shaky voice, sweating profusely. He must have sensed Fran's ability  and was terrified. I could see his eyes checking the walls and floor.

At first glance, it looks like there are no guards,  but there are more than ten people around this room. There are hidden doors all over the place, and they must have a guard hiding in one of it.

It seems that Fist thought about how he could use the guards to get rid of Fran. Then he realized that it was useless. On the contrary, he seemed  to have regained his composure. 

「Adventurer, Fran」

「O, ou. Actually, we have some business with you. In fact, I was going to contact you even if this hadn't happened. Well, please have a seat

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____TLN_______________

(1) (TLN: フェイス Feisu)

(2) (TLN: 触角と甲殻 shokkaku to koukaku)

(3) (TLN: ロマン roman in here means for 

adventurous dream)

(4) (TLN: 結婚詐欺師 Kekkon ssagisha)

(5) (TLN: フィスト Fisuto, オネスト onesuto, ピンク Pinku)

(6) Fuck U thief

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